# ■ 5 Forest fires

Later that morning，four guards took Rilla to Gog's of-fice．His face looked tired and his eyes were red．

‘Leave us，’he said to the guards．Then he looked at Rilla．‘Tell me about Kiah．When did you first meet him？Is Zadak his friend？What do they talk about？’

Rilla looked down at the floor and said nothing．

‘Come on，tell me！’Gog said angrily．He waited，but Rillasaid nothing．‘Tell me about Zadak，then．Your father and Commander Zadak were friends．Now， you're talking to Zadak about the AOL．I know that．What is Zadak saying？’

‘Why？Why do you want to know about Commander Zadak？’Rilla asked．

‘I'm asking the questions，not you，’Gog said．‘Did you see Zadak yesterday？’

‘The AOL is important，not Commander Zadak，’Rilla said．

Gog watched Rilla carefully．‘Zadak is dead．’

‘No！’Rilla cried．

‘He is dead，’Gog said again．‘You lost your friend，here in this building，early this morning．My guards shot him．’

Rilla's face went white．‘What happened？Tell me！’

‘I'm going to tell you one thing，’Gog said angrily．‘I'm going to destroy Australia．I'm going to burn Zadak's new forest there．You can tell all your friends！Zadak wanted to kill me，but I killed him．He wanted money for rain，money for the AOL，and now he's dead．You can tell all those prisoners in prison 888．They wanted to stop me，but they can't now．I'm going to Mars！Bel always wanted to go to Mars．’He began to hit the table with his hand．‘I'm going to leave this dead planet！Nobody can stop me！’

‘You're crazy，’Rilla said．‘You killed Zadak，but one day someone is going to kill you．’

Gog stood up．His face was tired and he looked ill．‘Be qui-et！’he said．‘Guards！Take her away．Back to 888．’

The guards came in and took Rilla out．

‘What happened？’she asked them．‘Commander Zadak is dead；why is Gog angry？’

The guards said nothing．But after they returned to the gate of 888，a guard said to Rilla，very quietly：‘Bel is dead．Zadak didn't shoot Gog，but he shot Bel，before the guards shot him．’

A guard took Rilla into the prison， and soon she was with Kiah again．

‘What happened？’Kiah asked．‘Tell me．’

Rilla put her hands over her face and began to cry．‘Zadak is dead，’she began．‘He didn't kill Gog．He killed Bel before the guards shot him，and now Gog is going to destroy Australia．’

Kiah sat down on the floor next to Rilla．His face was sad．

‘Don't cry，’he said quietly．

Three or four prisoners came across the room．

‘What's the matter？’they asked．

‘Zadak is dead，’Kiah said．‘But Bel is dead，too．’

‘What's going to happen next？’someone asked．But nobody answered．

The next afternoon，Captain Seru's brother took Kiah and Rilla to a little room at the back of the prison．They sat down，and five minutes later Captain Seru arrived．Nobody smiled．

‘You were right，Captain，’Kiah said．‘Gog sent us to prison because we told him about the holes in the AOL．’

Seru smiled．‘You were right，Kiah，’she said．‘Those satellite numbers were very bad．I began to tell Gog，but he didn't listen to me．’

‘Would you like some coffee？And some sandwiches？’seru's brother asked．

‘Yes，please，’seru said．‘I'm hungry．’she looked at Kiah and Rilla．‘Things are very bad．’

‘What's happening？’Rilla asked．

‘You know about Zadak？And Bel？’

‘Yes．Gog told Rilla yesterday，’Kiah said．

Seru smiled，but her eyes were not happy．‘Gog talked to me this morning，'she said．Her brother came in with the coffee and sandwiches and Seru began to eat．‘Gog wants to know about Zadak，and about you，’she said．‘He's going to kill us all，I think，before he goes to Mars．’

Suddenly，Rilla felt ill．‘I can't eat now！’she cried．But she took some coffee and began to drink．‘Let's get out of here，’she said．‘Perhaps we can get a plane to Brazil and go to my family．’

‘Difficult，’seru said．‘Last night fires began in the new forest in Europe，and they're moving across Europe．The fires in Africa are burning fast．Gog began to destroy Zadak's forest in Australia yesterday．’

‘Did you phone Adai？’Kiah asked．

‘Adai！You never stop talking about Adai．What can he do？’Rilla said．She felt angry．

Seru looked at Rilla for a minute．‘Yes，I phoned Adai be-fore I came here．I told him about Zadak and Bel，and about the fires．He asked about you，Kiah．He can't come down at Kisangani airport because Gog is there with a lot of his guards．Ship MARS 4 is nearly ready and Gog is watching it．He wants to leave Earth tomorrow．’

‘How can Adai help us？’Rilla asked．‘He can't shoot all the guards here．’

Captain Seru finished the last sandwich．‘Let's leave that to Adai，’she said．‘We can do nothing．’

‘Are you going to stay here？’Kiah asked．

‘Yes，'seru answered．‘Adai is coming to the prison after he arrives on Earth．’

‘Oh yes？’Rilla said tiredly．‘But when？Gog can kill us before Adai comes．’‘No，he can't，’seru's brother said．‘You can stay here，in this room．Gog's guards are all afraid—afraid of the fires，afraid of the people．They aren't going to look for you here．’

■ 5 森林大火

那天上午發生了這些事情之後，四個衛兵把瑞拉帶到了高格的辦公室。高格一臉疲憊，眼睛紅紅的。

“出去吧。”他吩咐衛兵。之後他轉向瑞拉：“跟我說說凱。你第一次見到他是什麼時候？扎達克是他的朋友嗎？他們都談些什麼呢？”

瑞拉低頭看著地板，一言不發。

“說呀，告訴我！”高格生氣地喊。他等待著，瑞拉仍舊什麼也沒說。“那就說說扎達克吧。你爸爸和扎達克司令是朋友。現在你把人工臭氧層的事告訴了他。我知道這些。扎達克他怎麼說？”

“為什麼？為什麼你想知道扎達克司令的事？”瑞拉問。

“是我在提問，不是你，”高格說，“昨天你見到扎達克了嗎？”

“人工臭氧層才是重要的，不是扎達克司令。”瑞拉說。

高格凝視著瑞拉：“扎達克死了。”

“不！”瑞拉叫了起來。

“他死了，”高格重複了一遍，“你失去了你的朋友。就在這座樓裡。今天清晨，我的衛兵開槍打死了他。”

瑞拉的臉白了：“出了什麼事？告訴我！”

“有一件事我得告訴你，”高格惱怒地說，“我要毀掉澳大利亞。我要把扎達克新栽的樹木燒燬，你可以告訴你所有的朋友。扎達克想殺死我，可我殺了他。他想為下雨的事，為人工臭氧層要錢。可現在他死了。你可以告訴888號監獄裡所有的人。他們想阻止我，可現在他們不可能了。我要去火星。貝爾一直想去火星的。”他用手敲打著桌面，“我要離開這個死亡的星球！沒人能阻攔我！”

“你瘋了，”瑞拉說，“你殺了扎達克，但總有一天也會有人把你殺掉的。”

高格站起身。他面色疲憊，憔悴不堪。“住嘴！”他喊著，“衛兵！把她帶走。帶回888號監獄去。”

衛兵們把瑞拉帶了出去。

“出了什麼事？”她問他們，“扎達克司令死了，高格為什麼那麼生氣？”

衛兵們什麼也沒說。可是到了888號監獄門口，一個衛兵小聲告訴瑞拉：“貝爾死了。扎達克沒打著高格，可他打死了貝爾，然後衛兵才朝扎達克開的槍。”

一個衛兵把瑞拉帶進監獄，很快瑞拉就回到了凱身邊。

“出了什麼事？”凱問，“告訴我。”

瑞拉捂著臉哭了起來。“扎達克死了，”她說，“他沒能殺死高格。他打死貝爾之後那些衛兵殺了他，現在高格要毀掉澳大利亞。”

凱在瑞拉身邊坐了下來。“別哭了。”他輕輕對瑞拉說，臉上流露出悲傷的神情。

三四個犯人走了過來。“出了什麼事？”他們問。

“扎達克死了，”凱說，“貝爾也死了。”

“以後還會出什麼事呢？”一個人問。可是沒人回答。

第二天下午，塞魯船長的哥哥把凱和瑞拉帶到監獄後面的一個小房間。他們坐了下來，5分鐘後，塞魯船長來了。大家都很嚴肅。

“船長，不出您所料，”凱說，“我們告訴高格人工臭氧層有洞的事，他就把我們送進了監獄。”

塞魯笑了。“你說得對，凱，”她說，“那些衛星數據的確很糟糕。我試著跟高格說，可他根本不聽我的。”

“要點咖啡嗎？還有三明治？”塞魯的哥哥問。

“好吧，要一點，”塞魯說，“我餓了。”她看著凱和瑞拉：“情況非常糟糕。”

“出了什麼事？”瑞拉問。

“你知道扎達克的事嗎？還有貝爾？”

“瑞拉知道，高格昨天告訴她了。”凱說。

塞魯笑了，可她的目光中卻沒有喜悅的神情。“高格今天早晨跟我談過了。”她說。她哥哥拿著咖啡和三明治走了進來，塞魯邊吃邊說：“高格想知道關於扎達克的情況，他也想知道關於你們的情況。”她說，“我想，他要把我們大家都殺掉，然後再去火星。”

突然，瑞拉感到很難受。“我現在吃不下去！”她喊著，一邊倒了杯咖啡喝起來。“咱們出去吧，”她說，“也許我們能搭上去巴西的飛機回我家去。”

“很困難，”塞魯說，“昨天夜裡歐洲的新森林起了火，火勢正向整個歐洲蔓延。非洲的大火越燒越猛。昨天高格開始摧毀扎達克在澳大利亞的森林。”

“你給阿岱打電話了嗎？”凱問。

“阿岱！你怎麼老是說起他，他能幹什麼呢？”瑞拉非常生氣。

塞魯注視了一陣瑞拉：“是的，我來之前給阿岱打過電話。我告訴了他扎達克和貝爾的事，還有火災。他還問到你，凱。他不能降落在基桑加尼機場，因為高格在那兒，他還佈置了許多士兵。火星4號宇宙飛船已經基本準備就緒，高格正密切關注著它的進展。他想明天離開地球。”

“阿岱怎麼幫助我們呢？”瑞拉問，“他也不能把這兒所有的衛兵都打死。”

塞魯船長吃完了最後一個三明治。“這個問題就留給阿岱吧，”她說，“我們什麼也做不了。”

“您準備呆在這兒嗎？”凱問。

“是的，”塞魯說，“阿岱降落在地球上之後就會到這座監獄來的。”

“噢，真的嗎？”瑞拉疲憊地說，“可是什麼時候呢？阿岱來之前高格可能就把我們殺了。”

“不，他不會，”塞魯的哥哥說，“你們可以呆在這兒，在這個房間裡。高格的衛兵都害怕——怕那些火災；怕那些人。他們不會到這兒來找你們的。”