Sphere (深海圆疑) 原版小说-第21部分

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When　she　was　gone；　Harry　said；　〃She's　pretty　worked　up。〃　
Norman　said；　〃You　know　the　Ben　Stone　story？〃
〃Which　one？〃
〃Beth　did　her　graduate　work　in　Stone's　lab。〃
〃Oh。〃
Benjamin　Stone　was　a　biochemist　at　BU。　A　colorful；　engaging　man；　Stone　had　a　reputation　as　a　good　researcher　who　used　his　graduate　students　like　lab　assistants；　taking　their　results　as　his　own。　In　this　exploitation　of　others'　work；　Stone　was　not　unique　in　the　academic　munity；　but　he　proceeded　a　little　more　ruthlessly　than　his　colleagues。
〃Beth　was　living　with　him　as　well。〃
〃Uh…huh。〃
〃Back　in　the　early　seventies。　Apparently；　she　did　a　series　of　important　experiments　on　the　energetics　of　ciliary　inclusion　bodies。　They　had　a　big　argument；　and　Stone　broke　off　his　relationship　with　her。　She　left　the　lab；　and　he　published　＇＇97＇＇　five　papers…all　her　work…without　her　name　on　them。〃
〃Very　nice；〃　Harry　said。　〃So　now　she　lifts　weights？〃
〃Well；　she　feels　mistreated；　and　I　can　see　her　point。〃
〃Yeah；〃　Harry　said。　〃But　the　thing　is；　lie　down　with　dogs；　get　up　with　fleas；　you　know　what　I　mean？〃
〃Jesus；〃　Beth　said；　returning。　〃This　is　like　'The　girl　who's　raped　is　always　asking　for　it；'　is　that　what　you're　saying？〃
〃No；〃　Harry　said；　still　lifting　up　floor　panels；　following　the　wires。　〃But　sometimes　you　gotta　ask　what　the　girl　is　doing　in　a　dark　alley　at　three　in　the　morning　in　a　bad　part　of　town。〃
〃I　was　in　love　with　him。〃
〃It's　still　a　bad　part　of　town。〃
〃I　was　twenty…two　years　old。〃
〃How　old　do　you　have　to　be？〃
〃Up　yours；　Harry。〃
Harry　shook　his　head。　〃You　find　the　wires；　Butch？〃
〃Yes；　I　found　the　wires。　They　go　into　some　kind　of　a　glass　grid。〃
〃Let's　have　a　look；〃　Norman　said；　going　next　door。　He'd　seen　flight　recorders　before；　they　were　long　rectangular　metal　boxes；　reminiscent　of　safe…deposit　boxes；　painted　red　or　bright　orange。　If　this　was…
He　stopped。
He　was　looking　at　a　transparent　glass　cube　one　foot　on　each　side。　Inside　the　cube　was　an　intricate　grid　arrangement　of　fine　glowing　blue　lines。　Between　the　glowing　lines；　blue　lights　flickered　intermittently。　There　were　two　pressure　gauges　mounted　on　top　of　the　cube；　and　three　pistons；　and　there　were　a　series　of　silver　stripes　and　rectangles　on　the　outer　surface　on　the　left　side。　It　didn't　look　like　anything　he　had　seen　before。
〃Interesting。〃　Harry　peered　into　the　cube。　〃Some　kind　of　optronic　memory；　is　my　guess。　We　don't　have　anything　like　it。〃　He　touched　the　silver　stripes　on　the　outside。　〃Not　paint；　it's　some　plastic　material。　Probably　machine…readable。〃
〃By　what？　Certainly　not　us。〃
〃No。　Probably　a　robot　recovery　device　of　some　kind。〃
〃And　the　pressure　gauges？〃
〃The　cube　is　filled　with　some　kind　of　gas；　under　pressure。
＇＇98＇＇　Maybe　it　contains　biological　ponents；　to　attain　that　pactness。　In　any　case；　I'll　bet　this　large　glass　is　a　memory　device。〃
〃A　flight　recorder？〃
〃Their　equivalent；　yes。〃
〃How　do　we　access　it？〃
〃Watch　this；〃　Beth　said；　going　back　to　the　flight　deck。　She　began　pushing　sections　of　the　console；　activating　it。　〃Don't　tell　Barnes；〃　she　said　over　her　shoulder。
〃How　do　you　know　where　to　press？〃
〃I　don't　think　it　matters；〃　she　said。　〃I　think　the　console　can　sense　where　you　are。〃
〃The　control　panel　keeps　track　of　the　pilot？〃
〃Something　like　that。〃
In　front　of　them；　a　section　of　the　console　glowed；　making　a　screen；　yellow　on　black。

RV…LHOOQ　DI U。S。S。　STAR　VOYAGER

Then　nothing。
Harry　said；　〃Now　we'll　get　the　bad　news。〃
〃What　bad　news？〃　Norman　said。　And　he　wondered：　Why　had　Harry　stayed　behind　to　look　for　the　flight　recorder；　instead　of　going　with　Ted　and　Barnes　to　explore　the　rest　of　the　ship？　Why　was　he　so　interested　in　the　past　history　of　this　vessel？
〃Maybe　it　won't　be　bad；〃　Harry　said。
〃Why　do　you　think　it　might　be？〃
〃Because；〃　Harry　said；　〃if　you　consider　it　logically；　something　vitally　important　is　missing　from　this　ship…〃
＇＇99＇＇　At　that　moment；　the　screen　filled　with　columns：

SHIP　SYSTEMS PROPULSION　SYSTEMS
LIFE　SYSTEMS WASTE　MANAG　（V9）
DATA　SYSTEMS STATUS　OM2　（OUTER）
QUARTERMASTER STATUS　OM3　（INNER）
FLIGHT　RECORDS STATUS　OM4　（FORE）
CORE　OPERATIONS STATUS　DV7　（AFT）
DECK　CONTROL STATUS　V　（SUMMA）
INTEGRATION　（DIRECT）　 STATUS　REC　（2）　
LSS　TEST　1。0 LINE　A9…11
LSS　TEST　2。0 LINE　A　12…BX
LSS　TEST　3。0 STABILIX

〃What's　your　pleasure？〃　Beth　said；　hands　on　the　console。　〃Flight　records；〃　Harry　said。　He　bit　his　lip。

FLIGHT　DATA　SUMMARIES　RV…LHOOQ　
FDS　01/01/43…12/31/45
FDS　01/01/46…12/31/48　
FDS　01/01/49…12/31/51　
FDS　01/01/52…12/31/53　
FDS　01/01/54…12/31/54　
FDS　01/01/55…06/31/55　
FDS　07/01/55…12/31/55　
FDS　01/01/56…01/31/56　
FDS　02/01/56…ENTRY　EVENT　
FDS　ENTRY　EVENT
FDS　ENTRY　EVENT　SUMMARY　
8&6　！！OZ/010/Odd…000/XXX/X　
FS　XXX/X％　^/XXX…X@X/X！X/X

〃What　do　you　make　of　that？〃　Norman　said。
Harry　was　peering　at　the　screen。　〃As　you　see；　the　earliest　records　are　in　three…year　intervals。　Then　they're　shorter；　one　year；　then　six　months；　and　finally　one　month。　Then　this　entry　event　business。〃
〃So　they　were　recording　more　and　more　carefully；〃　Beth　said。　〃As　the　ship　approached　the　entry　event；　whatever　it　was。〃
〃I　have　a　pretty　good　idea　what　it　was；〃　Harry　said。　〃I　just　can't　believe　that…let's　start。　How　about　entry　event　summary？〃
Beth　pushed　buttons。
On　the　screen；　a　field　of　stars；　and　around　the　edges　of　the　field；　a　lot　of　numbers。　It　was　three…dimensional；　giving　the　illusion　of　depth。
〃Holographic？〃
〃Not　exactly。　But　similar。〃
＇＇100＇＇　〃Several　large…magnitude　stars　there　。。。〃
〃Or　planets。〃
〃What　planets？〃
〃I　don't　know。　This　is　one　for　Ted；〃　Harry　said。　〃He　may　be　able　to　identify　the　image。　Let's　go　on。〃
He　touched　the　console；　the　screen　changed。
〃More　stars。〃
〃Yeah；　and　more　numbers。〃
The　numbers　around　the　edges　of　the　screen　were　flickering；　changing　rapidly。　〃The　stars　don't　seem　to　be　moving；　but　the　numbers　are　changing。〃
〃No；　look。　The　stars　are　moving；　too。〃
They　could　see　that　all　the　stars　were　moving　away　from　the　center　of　the　screen；　which　was　now　black　and　empty。　〃No　stars　in　the　center；　and　everything　moving　away　。。。〃　Harry　said　thoughtfully。
The　stars　on　the　outside　were　moving　very　quickly；　streaking　outward。　The　black　center　was　expanding。
〃Why　is　it　empty　like　that　in　the　center；　Harry？〃　Beth　said。
〃I　don't　think　it　is　empty。〃
〃I　can't　see　anything。〃
〃No；　but　it's　not　empty。　In　just　a　minute　we　should　see…There！〃
A　dense　white　cluster　of　stars　suddenly　appeared　in　the　center　of　the　screen。　The　cluster　expanded　as　they　watched。　It　was　a　strange　effect；　Norman　thought。　There　was　still　a　distinct　black　ring　that　expanded　outward；　with　stars　on　the　outside　and　on　the　inside。　It　felt　as　if　they　were　flying　through　a　giant　black　donut。
〃My　God；〃　Harry　said　softly。　〃Do　you　know　what　you　are　looking　at？〃
〃No；〃　Beth　said。　〃What's　that　cluster　of　stars　in　the　center？〃
〃It's　another　universe。〃
〃It's　what？〃
〃Well；　okay。　It's　probably　another　universe。　Or　it　might　be　a　different　region　of　our　own　universe。　Nobody　really　knows　for　sure。〃
〃What's　the　black　donut？〃　Norman　said。
＇＇101＇＇　〃It's　not　a　donut。　It's　a　black　hole。　What　you　are　seeing　is　the　recording　made　as　this　spacecraft　went　through　a　black　hole　and　entered　into　another…Is　someone　calling？〃　Harry　turned；　cocked　his　head。　They　fell　silent；　but　heard　nothing。　〃What　do　you　mean；　another　universe…〃　
〃…Sssssh。〃
A　short　silence。　And　then　a　faint　voice　crying　〃Hellooo　。。。〃
〃Who's　that？〃　Norman　said；　straining　to　listen。　The　voice　was　so　soft。　But　it　sounded　human。　And　maybe　more　than　one　voice。　It　was　ing　from　somewhere　inside　the　spacecraft。
〃Yoo…hoo！　Anybody　there？　Hellooo。〃
〃Oh；　for　God's　sake；〃　Beth　said。　〃It's　them；　on　the　monitor。〃
She　turned　up　the　volume　on　the　little　monitor　Edmunds　had　left　behind。　On　the　screen　they　saw　Ted　and　Barnes；　standing　in　a　room　somewhere　and　shouting。　〃Hellooo　。。。　Hel…lo…oooo。〃
〃Can　we　talk　back？〃
〃Yes。　Press　that　button　on　the　side。〃　Norman　said；　〃We　hear　you。〃
〃High　damn　time！〃　Ted。
〃All　right；　now；〃　Barnes　said。　〃Listen　up。〃
〃What　are　you　people　doing　back　there？〃　Ted　said。　
〃Listen　up；〃　Barnes　said。　He　stepped　to　one　side；　revealing　a　piece　of　multicolored　equipment。　〃We　now　know　what　this　ship　is　for。〃
〃So　do　we；〃　Harry　said。
〃We　do？〃　Beth　and　Norman　said　together。
But　Barnes　wa