# ■ 4 Prison 888

Commander Zadak was in his room at the biggest hotel in Kisangani．Suddenly，he heard the phone．

‘Commander？’someone said，very quietly．‘A man and a woman—from Ship OM-45—in prison 888．’the phone went dead．Zadak put the phone down，stood up，and left his room．

Prison 888 was a big white building without windows，near Gog's house．There were a lot of guards at the gate，and some more guards marched past the bulding．All the guards carried guns．

Commander Zadak walked across the road to the prison．‘I want to visit someone．My name is Commander Zadak．’

‘I'm sorry，Commander，’a guard said．‘We can't open the gate．Nobody can go in without a letter from Earth Commander．’

‘That's all right，’Zadak said，and walked along the road，past the prison．

A guard ran behind him．‘Excuse me，Commander，’he said quickly．‘Please come back tonight．I can open the back gate at midnight．You can see the two people from Ship OM-45．’

Zadak looked at the guard．‘Your captain's going to kill you．’

The guard smiled．‘My captain phoned you about the two people from OM-45．He's the brother of Captain Seru．’

Zadak didn't smile．‘The prison commander is going to kill you and your captain．’

‘It doesn't matter，’the guard said．‘We want to help．’

‘Midnight，’Zadak said，and walked away．

At midnight there were four guards at the front gate of prison 888，and there was one guard at the back gate．The guard opened the gate and Zadak went in．The guard said nothing．They walked downstairs into a big room．A lot of prisoners slept on the floor because there were no beds or chairs．Kiah and Rilla sat on the floor near the door．

‘You can talk for five minutes，’the guard said quietly．

‘The next guard arrives at 12．15．’

Kiah and Rilla stood up．‘Good evening，Commander，’they said．

Zadak looked at the prisoners．‘Why are all these people here？’he said to Kiah and Rilla．‘They're in prison because Gog doesn't like them．I talk to Gog about rain，I talk to him about the AOL，but he never listens．Today，someone told me about some fires in the new forest here in Africa；but Gog doesn't want to hear about those fires．’Zadak laughed angrily．‘And he doesn't want to hear about my trees in Australia．He never listens to me．He's always thinking about Mars，Not about our beautiful planet Earth．’

Kiah listened carefully．‘Take it easy，Commander，’he said quietly．‘Please talk to Adai．Adai wants to help．He can come back from the Moon and help you．’

‘No，’Zadak said．‘I phoned Adai this afternoon． He's a good man and he wants to help．But I don't need help．I'm going to stop Gog：I'm going to kill him．’

Kiah closed his eyes for a minute．‘Gog's guards have guns．They can kill you，Commander，’he said．‘You need more people to help．Wait for Adai．He can help you to look for more people．’

‘No，Kiah’，Zadak said quietly．‘I don't want more people．Adai can come back to Earth after Gog is dead—after I am dead，perhaps．I don't want Adai to die，too．’

‘Excuse me，Commander，’the guard said．He looked at the clock near the door．

‘OK．Let's go，’Zadak said to the guard．He looked at Rilla and then at Kiah．His eyes were very blue．‘Goodbye，’ he said．

‘Goodbye，Commander，’Kiah said．

‘Be careful！’Rilla cried．‘And good luck！’

Early that morning，Earth Commander's house was quiet．A guard opened the door．

‘Good morning， Commander Zadak，’he said．‘Earth Commander isn't in his office．’

‘That's all right，’Zadak said．‘I can wait．’

Zadak went upstairs and waited．

At eight o'clock Bel came into the room．‘Good morning，Commander，'she said．‘You're early this morning．Are you happier today？Earth Commander was very angry with you yesterday．Don't begin talking about rain or the AOL today．’

Zadak smiled，but his blue eyes were cold．‘No，’he said．‘I'm not going to talk about rain today．’

Just then，Gog came into the room．He looked at Zadak．‘What's wrong？Why are you here at eight o'clock in the morning？’

Zadak took his gun from his pocket．Gog saw the gun and his face went white．His eyes were dark and afraid．For a sec-ond nobody moved．

Suddenly，Bel's black and white cat ran into the room．

‘Guards！Guards！’Bel shouted．

The cat jumped at Zadak，and Zadak hit the cat away from him．Bel ran across the room to Gog and Zadak，at that second，shot at Gog．But Bel was between him and Gog．She gave a cry and fell to the floor．Her hair looked very red on the black floor．

‘No！’Gog cried．‘You shot Bel！’

Three guards ran into the room with their big guns and stood in front of Gog．

‘Kill him！’Gog shouted，and began to help Bel．

Zadak looked at the guards and then at Bel and Gog．Kiah was right：he was going to die．

■ 4 888號監獄

在基桑加尼最大的飯店，扎達克司令正呆在他的房間裡。突然，電話鈴響了。

“司令嗎？”有人非常平靜地說，“一個男的和一個女的——從OM-45號飛船上來的——正在888號監獄裡。”電話掛斷了。扎達克放下聽筒，站起身，離開了他的房間。

888號監獄座落在高格家附近，是座沒有窗戶的高大的白色建築。監獄門口有許多衛兵，還有更多的衛兵從監獄門口走過。所有的衛兵都帶著槍。

扎達克司令穿過馬路來到監獄門前：“我是扎達克司令。我要見一個人。”

“對不起，司令，”一個衛兵說，“我們不能開門。沒有地球司令的信誰也不能進去。”

“好吧，”扎達克說。他順著馬路從監獄旁邊繞了過去。

一個衛兵從後面趕了上來。“對不起，司令，”他說得很快，“請您今天晚上來吧。午夜的時候我可以打開後門。您能見到從OM-45號宇宙飛船來的那兩個人。”

扎達克注視著那個衛兵：“你們隊長會殺了你的。”

那個衛兵笑了：“是我們隊長給您打電話，告訴您OM-45號那兩個人的事的。他是塞魯船長的哥哥。”

扎達克沒有笑：“監獄長會把你和你們隊長都殺掉的。”

“沒關係，”那個衛兵說，“我們願意幫忙。”

“午夜。”扎達克說了一聲就走了。

午夜時分，888號監獄正門前有四個衛兵，還有一個衛兵守在後門。那個衛兵打開後門，扎達克走了進去。衛兵什麼也沒說。他們走下樓梯進了一個大房間。那個房間裡沒有床也沒有椅子，許多犯人睡在地板上。凱和瑞拉坐在門邊的地板上。

“你們可以談五分鐘，”那個衛兵悄悄說，“下一班衛兵十二點一刻來。”

凱和瑞拉站起身：“晚上好，司令。”他們說。

扎達克看了看那些犯人：“這些人為什麼被關在這兒？”他問凱和瑞拉。“高格不喜歡他們，所以把他們關了起來。我跟高格說了下雨的事，還有人工臭氧層的事，可是他根本不聽。今天有人告訴我非洲那些幼林失火了，可是高格根本不想聽火災的事。”扎達克憤怒地冷笑了一聲：“他也不想知道澳大利亞我那些樹林的事。他從來不聽我的。他總想著火星，從來不想想我們美麗的地球。”

凱認真聽著。“別太在意，司令，”他平靜地說，“請您和阿岱談談。他會幫忙的。他可以從月球回來幫助您。”

“不行，”扎達克說，“今天下午我給他打了電話。他是個好人，也願意幫忙。可我不需要幫助。我要阻止高格；我要殺了他。”

凱閉目凝神了一會兒。“高格的衛兵有槍。他們會殺了您的，司令。”他說，“您需要多一些人幫忙。等等阿岱。他能幫您找更多的人。”

“不，凱，”扎達克平靜地說，“我不需要更多的人。阿岱可以在高格死了以後——也許我死了以後再回來。我不希望阿岱也來送死。”

“對不起，司令。”那個衛兵說。他看了看門邊掛著的表。

“好吧，咱們走。”扎達克對衛兵說。他看了看瑞拉又看了看凱。他的雙眼晶瑩碧藍。“再見了。”他說。

“再見，司令。”凱說。

“要小心！”瑞拉喊著，“祝您好運！”

那天清晨，地球司令的家裡非常安靜。一個衛兵打開房門。

“早晨好，扎達克司令，”他說，“地球司令不在辦公室。”

“沒關係，”扎達克說，“我可以等。”

扎達克來到樓上開始等待。

8點鐘的時候貝爾走了進來。“早晨好，司令，”她說，“今天您可真早。您今天高興點了嗎？因為您地球司令昨天非常生氣。今天可別上來就談什麼雨水或者人工臭氧層的事了。”

扎達克笑了，可他的藍眼睛裡透著寒光。“不會的，”他說，“今天我不準備談雨水的事。”

正說著，高格走了進來。他看著扎達克：“這是怎麼了？你為什麼早晨8點鐘就來這兒？”

扎達克從衣兜裡掏出了槍。高格看見了那支槍，臉色煞白。他目光灰暗，充滿恐懼。一時間大家都僵在了那兒。

突然，貝爾那隻黑白相間的貓跑了進來。

“衛兵！衛兵！”貝爾喊了起來。

那隻貓朝扎達克撲過來，扎達克把貓搶到一邊。貝爾朝房間另一頭的高格跑去，就在這時，扎達克朝高格開槍了。可是貝爾正好跑到他和高格之間。她叫了一聲就倒在了地板上。在黑色地板的映襯下她的頭髮顯得越發紅豔。

“不！”高格大喊，“你打死了貝爾！”

三個拿著長槍的衛兵跑了進來，站在高格面前。

“殺了他！”高格叫著，一邊去扶貝爾。

扎達克看了看那幾個衛兵，又看了看貝爾和高格。凱說得對：他活不成了。

“凱，阿岱，我對不起你們。”他平靜地說。

衛兵們朝扎達克開了槍。他緩緩地倒在地板上。