Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Another Offspring

Cadia was devastated.Mandemus' words had too much impact on her.She went back to the bedroom and fell into a heavy sleep. "Ma'am—" Daniel called her softly. Cadia was startled. "The colonists are coming?" "Yes, ma'am." "Where did you put him?" "In the drawing-room, madam. Guiscart is attending to him." "Hopefully he can prepare a lunch that the colonists like to eat." "Giscart will do well, ma'am." "Then let's go see him!" Jiadia dressed up a little after getting up. The colonists rose to their feet. "Good afternoon, ma'am."

Gadia replied absent-mindedly, "Good afternoon!" The colonist had a thick and dense beard, which almost covered most of his face. "Did you tell my robot what you like for lunch?" "Madam, I can eat anything. In the past year, I have been to more than 20 colonized worlds, and each planet has its own characteristics. Merchants run around and eat whatever they have. I would rather try Aurora's dishes. " "Which colony world are you from?" Jadia asked. "I'm from Baili World." "Berry World?" Jiadia frowned again. "It's named after the leader of the first generation of colonists. His name is Ben Bailey."

"Alia Bailey's son?" "yes." "Your surname is Bai Li too?" "Yes. My name is Dagie Bailey." They enter the restaurant together.Giscart led the way, and Daniel followed behind.Dishes are already set on the table. "Dudgey Bailey? What do you mean?" "Dagie is the initial of two names - Danielle Guiscart. My full name is Danielle Guiscart Bailey. In every generation of my family there has been at least one person named Dani Or Guiscart. But my father gave me both. For convenience, Dagie Bailey!" "Why use these two names?"

"That was the idea of ​​our patriarch, Elijah Bailey. He named the eldest grandson Daniel and the younger one Giscart. It has been a tradition in our family ever since." "What if it's a girl?" "The girl's name is Jessie. It's her wife's name, you know, from our ancestors." "I know." "He didn't use the name Cadia, because he thought there was no one in the world who could be as beautiful as Cadia. There could only be one, one and only, and no one in the world. He didn't use the name Arya, Ellie. Ya can only be one!"

"That's interesting, sounds romantic, doesn't it?" "Yes. I'm his seventh generation. But you did see him—he was young then, didn't you?" "I've seen him three times in seven years. Each time was very short." "I know. Grandpa's son Ben wrote him a biography; it's become a literary classic in the world of Bailey. I've read it, too." "Really? I don't know about it yet. What's in the book about me?" Dudge looked happy. "There are good things about you in the book, really. It amazes me that I can see you, after seven full generations. How old are you, ma'am? May I ask that?"

"Never mind. I'm 233 years old in galactic standard years. "You look only in your 40s. Your ancestor died at the age of 79, so he was already an old man. I am 39 years old. When I die, you will still be alive." "Do you envy me?" "Personally, of course I like longevity. But as far as the race is concerned, longevity is not a good thing. The development of history and the progress of human wisdom will slow down - just like your world." Jiadia looked up and said, "Aurora is still prosperous!" "I don't mean Aurora, I mean your planet—Solaria!"

Jiadia hesitated for a moment, then said firmly, "Solaria is not my world." Dargy said, "No, that's your world. I came to see you in Aurora because you're a Solarian." "If that's why you're coming to see me, you're wasting your time, young man!" "You were born in Solaria and lived there for a while. You can help me." "I can't help you with anything, young man." "The stakes are high, ma'am, a matter of war and peace. The universe world is in danger of war with the colonial world. War would cause irreparable damage to both parties! And you, ma'am, can prevent war, Keep the peace!"

Lunch is over.Jiadia looked at Dudge Bailey coldly. She has lived in Aurora for 200 years.Solaria's life and tragedy, she had forgotten.And this young man reopened the scars in her heart... "Why do you have to say I'm a Solarian?" "You know, there's no one left on Solaria. The planet is abandoned." "I heard. Why are you interested in this abandoned world?" Jiadia asked coldly. "Allow me to explain. We - or the merchants of the colonial world - are interested in Solaria because there is business to do, money to make, and an entire planet to gain. Solari Asia is a transformed world, and life is very comfortable. People in your cosmic world don't seem to be interested in it. Why can't we colonize it?"

"That's not your planet!" "Miss, do you object because it's your world? Solaria doesn't belong to Aurora, nor does it belong to Bailey's world. It belongs to whoever colonizes it?" "Have you colonized yet?" "Not yet—because it hasn't been completely abandoned." "You mean there are Solarians on it?" Jadia asked immediately. Dudge smiled. "Before the Solarians left, they were down to 5,000 people - that's our estimate. The population has been declining. 5,000 people left? We don't know. Even if they all left, the planet would Not for nothing. There are more than two hundred million droids on it—droids without masters—some of the most advanced models in the galaxy."

Jadia said, "As far as I know, you colonize worlds that don't allow robots, so you wouldn't colonize Solaria." "Yes, until all the robots are driven out. So we merchants go first." "What are you going to do?" "We don't want to build a robot society, but we're not afraid to be in the robot business. A robot society is bound to die. The universe has become our negative lesson in this regard. But we can sell robots to spacemen - they don't seem to have woken up yet come over." "Do you think spacemen are going to buy these robots?"

"I'm sure they'll buy it. They'll welcome those well-made robots from Solaria. As we all know, the Solarians are famous throughout the galaxy for their robot industry. Our asking price will be high, but compared to the value of these robots themselves It is still much lower. Therefore, both the seller and the buyer benefit.—this is the business rule!" "Then why don't you sell it?" "I'm out of stock right now. Two spaceships landed in Solaria, but the spaceships were attacked as soon as they landed, and the entire crew was killed. None of them survived." "Their last report was that the aliens were coming—whether it was the Solarians, or people from other universes. We can only guess that the aliens attacked without warning." "This is impossible!" "This is a fact!" "Why are they attacking you?" "Don't let us go to Solaria." "If they don't want you to have Solaria, they can just declare that they haven't given up on the planet. Why attack you?" "Kill one as an example! At least many colonists think so. Now the government of the colonial world is under pressure from the people. The government is required to send warships to establish a military base in Solaria." "It's a dangerous step." "Yes. This will cause war. Some of our militants are just asking for it, and some militants in the universe world want to fight us. The attack on these two merchant ships is to provoke discord and cause war. " Jiadia felt the seriousness of the situation and had to be concerned. "Have you contacted the Universe World Federation on this matter?" "We have contacted it and brought it up to the Aurora Council. They want us to believe that it may be the result of a spontaneous fire between two merchant ships." "Are these two merchant ships from two different colonial worlds?" "Yes. But this possibility is very small. Generally speaking, there has never been a conflict between the colonial worlds. Of course, there were some small frictions between them, but they were all resolved smoothly through the arbitration of the Earth Government. In order to avoid war, we must get to the truth of the matter." "Us?" "Yes, we—you and me! They sent me to Solaria to investigate. I think we're being attacked because we don't know Solaria. So if I can It's much easier to take a Solarian with you." "Are you taking me there?" "Yes, ma'am!" "This is a matter between your governments. I am a citizen and there is nothing I can do about it." "You are wrong, you should at least repay your kindness!" "what do you mean?" "Twice our ancestors rescued you from trouble—" Cadia interrupted him. "What can I do with you?" "I'll talk about that later. Will you come with me?" Cadia was desperate.She wanted to refuse, but the thought of Alia Bailey made it difficult for her to speak. She said: "What good is it if I am willing to go? Will the Parliament allow me to go?" "Ma'am, you always thought you were an Aurora, but they always saw you as a Solarian. So, they let you go." "I'm not going anywhere without a robot." "I thought of that too. Why don't you take Daniel and Giscart? My name is Daniel Giscart too?" After speaking, the young man burst out laughing. Jiadia looked at Daniel, the humanoid robot remained calm, and then she looked at Giscart - there was no reaction on his face.She had to trust him. Jiadia said: "Okay, just go, it's enough to bring them two robots."