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.

‘I'm sorry，Kiah. I'm sorry，Adai，’he said quietly. The guards shot Zadak. Slowly，he fell to the floor.

译文

4 888号监狱

在基桑加尼最大的饭店，扎达克司令正呆在他的房间里。突然，电话铃响了。

“司令吗？”有人非常平静地说，“一个男的和一个女的——从OM-45号飞船上来的——正在888号监狱里。”电话挂断了。扎达克放下听筒，站起身，离开了他的房间。

888号监狱座落在高格家附近，是座没有窗户的高大的白色建筑。监狱门口有许多卫兵，还有更多的卫兵从监狱门口走过。所有的卫兵都带着枪。

扎达克司令穿过马路来到监狱门前：“我是扎达克司令。我要见一个人。”

“对不起，司令，”一个卫兵说，“我们不能开门。没有地球司令的信谁也不能进去。”

“好吧，”扎达克说。他顺着马路从监狱旁边绕了过去。

一个卫兵从后面赶了上来。“对不起，司令，”他说得很快，“请您今天晚上来吧。午夜的时候我可以打开后门。您能见到从OM-45号宇宙飞船来的那两个人。”

扎达克注视着那个卫兵：“你们队长会杀了你的。”

那个卫兵笑了：“是我们队长给您打电话，告诉您OM-45号那两个人的事的。他是塞鲁船长的哥哥。”

扎达克没有笑：“监狱长会把你和你们队长都杀掉的。”

“没关系，”那个卫兵说，“我们愿意帮忙。”

“午夜。”扎达克说了一声就走了。

午夜时分，888号监狱正门前有四个卫兵，还有一个卫兵守在后门。那个卫兵打开后门，扎达克走了进去。卫兵什么也没说。他们走下楼梯进了一个大房间。那个房间里没有床也没有椅子，许多犯人睡在地板上。凯和瑞拉坐在门边的地板上。

“你们可以谈五分钟，”那个卫兵悄悄说，“下一班卫兵十二点一刻来。”

凯和瑞拉站起身：“晚上好，司令。”他们说。

扎达克看了看那些犯人：“这些人为什么被关在这儿？”他问凯和瑞拉。“高格不喜欢他们，所以把他们关了起来。我跟高格说了下雨的事，还有人工臭氧层的事，可是他根本不听。今天有人告诉我非洲那些幼林失火了，可是高格根本不想听火灾的事。”扎达克愤怒地冷笑了一声：“他也不想知道澳大利亚我那些树林的事。他从来不听我的。他总想着火星，从来不想想我们美丽的地球。”

凯认真听着。“别太在意，司令，”他平静地说，“请您和阿岱谈谈。他会帮忙的。他可以从月球回来帮助您。”

“不行，”扎达克说，“今天下午我给他打了电话。他是个好人，也愿意帮忙。可我不需要帮助。我要阻止高格；我要杀了他。”

凯闭目凝神了一会儿。“高格的卫兵有枪。他们会杀了您的，司令。”他说，“您需要多一些人帮忙。等等阿岱。他能帮您找更多的人。”

“不，凯，”扎达克平静地说，“我不需要更多的人。阿岱可以在高格死了以后——也许我死了以后再回来。我不希望阿岱也来送死。”

“对不起，司令。”那个卫兵说。他看了看门边挂着的表。

“好吧，咱们走。”扎达克对卫兵说。他看了看瑞拉又看了看凯。他的双眼晶莹碧蓝。“再见了。”他说。

“再见，司令。”凯说。

“要小心！”瑞拉喊着，“祝您好运！”

那天清晨，地球司令的家里非常安静。一个卫兵打开房门。

“早晨好，扎达克司令，”他说，“地球司令不在办公室。”

“没关系，”扎达克说，“我可以等。”

扎达克来到楼上开始等待。

8点钟的时候贝尔走了进来。“早晨好，司令，”她说，“今天您可真早。您今天高兴点了吗？因为您地球司令昨天非常生气。今天可别上来就谈什么雨水或者人工臭氧层的事了。”

扎达克笑了，可他的蓝眼睛里透着寒光。“不会的，”他说，“今天我不准备谈雨水的事。”

正说着，高格走了进来。他看着扎达克：“这是怎么了？你为什么早晨8点钟就来这儿？”

扎达克从衣兜里掏出了枪。高格看见了那支枪，脸色煞白。他目光灰暗，充满恐惧。一时间大家都僵在了那儿。

突然，贝尔那只黑白相间的猫跑了进来。

“卫兵！卫兵！”贝尔喊了起来。

那只猫朝扎达克扑过来，扎达克把猫抢到一边。贝尔朝房间另一头的高格跑去，就在这时，扎达克朝高格开枪了。可是贝尔正好跑到他和高格之间。她叫了一声就倒在了地板上。在黑色地板的映衬下她的头发显得越发红艳。

“不！”高格大喊，“你打死了贝尔！”

三个拿着长枪的卫兵跑了进来，站在高格面前。

“杀了他！”高格叫着，一边去扶贝尔。

扎达克看了看那几个卫兵，又看了看贝尔和高格。凯说得对：他活不成了。

“凯，阿岱，我对不起你们。”他平静地说。

卫兵们朝扎达克开了枪。他缓缓地倒在地板上。