Sphere (深海圆疑) 原版小说-第35部分

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〃It'll　go　to　the　surface？〃
〃Yes。　The　gas　expands　continuously　as　outside　pressure　diminishes。〃
〃And　what　then？〃
〃Sharks；〃　Beth　said。　〃Probably。〃
In　a　few　moments　the　body　disappeared　into　blackness；　＇＇165＇＇　beyond　the　reach　of　the　lights。　Barnes　and　Fletcher　still　watched　the　body；　helmets　tilted　up　toward　the　surface。　Fletcher　made　the　sign　of　the　cross。　Then　they　trudged　back　toward　the　habitat。
A　bell　rang　from　somewhere　inside。　Tina　went　into　D　Cyl。　Moments　later　she　shouted；　〃Dr。　Adams！　More　numbers！〃　
Harry　got　up　and　went　into　the　next　cylinder。　The　others　trailed　after　him。　Nobody　wanted　to　look　out　the　porthole　any　longer。



Norman　stared　at　the　screen；　entirely　puzzled。
But　Harry　clapped　his　hands　in　delight。　〃Excellent；〃　Harry　said。　〃This　is　extremely　helpful。〃
〃It　is？〃
〃Of　course。　Now　I　have　a　fighting　chance。〃
〃You　mean　to　break　the　code。〃
〃Yes；　of　course。〃
〃Why？〃
〃Remember　the　original　number　sequence？　This　is　the　same　sequence。〃
〃It　is？〃
〃Of　course；〃　Harry　said。　〃Except　it's　in　binary。〃
〃Binary；〃　Ted　said；　nudging　Norman。　〃Didn't　I　tell　you　binary　was　important？〃
〃What's　important；〃　Harry　said；　〃is　that　this　establishes　＇＇166＇＇　the　individual　letter　breaks　from　the　original　sequence。〃　〃Here's　a　copy　of　the　original　sequence；〃　Tina　said；　handing　them　a　sheet。

00032125252632　032629　301321　04261037　18　3016　06180821
32　29033005　1822　04261013　0830162137　1604　08301621　1822　0　
33013130432

〃Good；〃　Harry　said。　〃Now　you　can　see　my　problem　at　once。　Look　at　the　word：　oh…oh…oh…three…two…one；　and　so　on。　The　question　is；　how　do　I　break　that　word　up　into　individual　letters？　I　couldn't　decide；　but　now　I　know。〃
〃How？〃
〃Well；　obviously；　it　goes　three；　twenty…one；　twenty…five；　twenty…five。　。。。〃
Norman　didn't　understand。　〃But　how　do　you　know　that？〃
〃Look；〃　Harry　said　impatiently。　〃It's　very　simple；　Norman。　It's　a　spiral；　reading　from　inside　to　outside。　It's　just　giving　us　the　numbers　in…〃
Abruptly；　the　screen　changed　again。



＇＇167＇＇　〃There；　is　that　clearer　for　you？〃
Norman　frowned。
〃Look；　it's　exactly　the　same；〃　Harry　said。　〃See？　Center　outward？　Oh…oh…oh…three…twenty…one…twenty…five…twentyfive　。。。　It's　made　a　spiral　moving　outward　from　the　center。〃
〃It？〃
〃Maybe　it's　sorry　about　what　happened　to　Edmunds；〃　Harry　said。
〃Why　do　you　say　that？〃　Norman　asked；　staring　curiously　at　Harry。
〃Because　it's　obviously　trying　very　hard　to　municate　with　us；〃　Harry　said。　〃It's　attempting　different　things。〃
〃Who　is　it？〃
〃It；〃　Harry　said；　〃may　not　be　a　who。〃
The　screen　went　blank；　and　another　pattern　appeared。



＇＇168＇＇　〃All　right；〃　Harry　said。　〃This　is　very　good。〃
〃Where　is　this　ing　from？〃
〃Obviously；　from　the　ship。〃
〃But　we're　not　connected　to　the　ship。　How　is　it　managing　to　turn　on　our　puter　and　print　this？〃
〃We　don't　know。〃
〃Well；　shouldn't　we　know？〃　Beth　said。
〃Not　necessarily；〃　Ted　said。
〃Shouldn't　we　try　to　know？〃
〃Not　necessarily。　You　see；　if　the　technology　is　advanced　enough；　it　appears　to　the　na？ve　observer　to　be　magic。　There's　no　doubt　about　that。　For　example；　you　take　a　famous　scientist　from　our　past…Aristotle；　Leonardo　da　Vinci；　even　Isaac　Newton。　Show　him　an　ordinary　Sony　color…television　set　and　he'd　run　screaming；　claiming　it　was　witchcraft。　He　wouldn't　understand　it　at　all。
〃But　the　point；〃　Ted　said；　〃is　that　you　couldn't　explain　it　to　him；　either。　At　least　not　easily。　Isaac　Newton　wouldn't　be　able　to　understand　TV　without　first　studying　our　physics　for　a　couple　of　years。　He'd　have　to　learn　all　the　underlying　concepts：　electromagnetism；　waves；　particle　physics。　These　would　all　be　new　ideas　to　him；　a　new　conception　of　nature。　In　the　meantime；　the　TV　would　be　magic　as　far　as　he　was　concerned。　But　to　us　it's　ordinary。　It's　TV。〃
〃You're　saying　we're　like　Isaac　Newton？〃
Ted　shrugged。　〃We're　getting　a　munication　and　we　don't　know　how　it's　done。〃
〃And　we　shouldn't　bother　to　try　and　find　out。〃
〃I　think　we　have　to　accept　the　possibility；〃　Ted　said；　〃that　we　may　not　be　able　to　understand　it。〃
Norman　noticed　the　energy　with　which　they　threw　themselves　into　this　discussion；　pushing　aside　the　tragedy　so　recently　witnessed。　They're　intellectuals；　he　thought；　and　their　characteristic　defense　is　intellectualization。　Talk。　Ideas。　Abstractions。　Concepts。　It　was　a　way　of　getting　distance　from　the　feelings　of　sadness　and　fear　and　being　trapped。　Norman　understood　the　impulse：　he　wanted　to　get　away　from　those　feelings　himself。
Harry　frowned　at　the　spiral　image。　〃We　may　not　＇＇169＇＇　understand　how；　but　it's　obvious　what　it's　doing。　It's　trying　to　municate　by　trying　different　presentations。　The　fact　that　it's　trying　spirals　may　be　significant。　Maybe　it　believes　we　think　in　spirals。　Or　write　in　spirals。〃
〃Right；〃　Beth　said。　〃Who　knows　what　kind　of　weird　creatures　we　are？〃
Ted　said；　〃If　it's　trying　to　municate　with　us；　why　aren't　we　trying　to　municate　back？〃
Harry　snapped　his　fingers。　〃Good　idea！〃　He　went　to　the　keyboard。
〃There's　an　obvious　first　step；〃　Harry　said。　〃We　just　send　the　original　message　back。　We'll　start　with　the　first　grouping；　beginning　with　the　double　zeroes。〃
〃I　want　it　made　clear；〃　Ted　said；　〃that　the　suggestion　to　attempt　munication　with　the　alien　originated　with　me。〃
〃It's　clear；　Ted；〃　Barnes　said。
〃Harry？〃　Ted　said。
〃Yes；　Ted；〃　Harry　said。　〃Don't　worry；　it's　your　idea。〃
Sitting　at　the　keyboard；　Harry　typed：　
00032125252632
The　numbers　appeared　on　the　screen。　There　was　a　pause。　They　listened　to　the　hum　of　the　air　fans；　the　distant　thump　of　the　diesel　generator。　They　all　watched　the　screen。
Nothing　happened。
The　screen　went　blank；　and　then　printed　out：　
0001132121051808012232
Norman　felt　the　hair　rise　on　the　back　of　his　neck。
It　was　just　a　series　of　numbers　on　a　puter　screen；　but　it　still　gave　him　a　chill。　Standing　beside　him；　Tina　shivered。　〃He　answered　us。〃
〃Fabulous；〃　Ted　said。
〃I'll　try　the　second　grouping　now；〃　Harry　said。　He　seemed　calm；　but　his　fingers　kept　making　mistakes　at　the　keyboard。　It　took　a　few　moments　before　he　was　able　to　type：
032629
The　reply　immediately　came　back：　
0015260805180810213
〃Well；〃　Harry　said；　〃looks　like　we　just　opened　our　line　of　munication。〃
＇＇170＇＇　〃Yes；〃　Beth　said。　〃Too　bad　we　don't　understand　what　we're　saying　to　each　other。〃
〃Presumably　it　knows　what　it's　saying；〃　Ted　said。　〃But　we're　still　in　the　dark。〃
〃Maybe　we　can　get　it　to　explain　itself。〃
Impatiently；　Barnes　said；　〃What　is　this　it　you　keep　referring　to？〃
Harry　sighed；　and　pushed　his　glasses　up　on　his　nose。　〃I　think　there's　no　doubt　about　that。　It；〃　Harry　said；　〃is　something　that　was　previously　inside　the　sphere；　and　that　is　now　released；　and　is　free　to　act。　That's　what　it　is。〃

THE　MONSTER


ALARM

Norman　awoke　to　a　shrieking　alarm　and　flashing　red　lights。　He　rolled　out　of　his　bunk；　pulled　on　his　insulated　shoes　and　his　heated　jacket；　and　ran　for　the　door；　where　he　collided　with　Beth。　The　alarm　was　screaming　throughout　the　habitat。
〃What's　happening！〃　he　shouted；　over　the　alarm。
〃I　don't　know！〃
Her　face　was　pale；　frightened。　Norman　pushed　past　her。　In　the　B　Cylinder；　among　all　the　pipes　and　consoles；　a　flashing　sign　winked：　〃LIFE　SUPPORT　EMERGENCY。〃　He　looked　for　Teeny　Fletcher；　but　the　big　engineer　wasn't　there。
He　hurried　back　toward　C　Cylinder；　passing　Beth　again。
〃Do　you　know？〃　Beth　shouted。
〃It's　life　support！　Where's　Fletcher？　Where's　Barnes？〃
〃I　don't　know！　I'm　looking！〃
〃There's　nobody　in　B！〃　he　shouted；　and　scrambled　up　the　steps　into　D　Cylinder。　Tina　and　Fletcher　were　there；　working　behind　the　puter　consoles。　The　back　panels　were　pulled　off；　exposing　wires；　banks　of　chips。　The　room　lights　were　flashing　red。
The　screens　all　flashed　〃EMERGENCY…LIFE　SUPPORT　SYSTEMS。〃
〃What's　going　on？〃　Norman　shouted。
Fletcher　waved　a　hand　dismissingly。
〃Tell　me！〃
He　turned；　saw　Harry　sitting　in　the　corner　near　Edmunds's　video　section　like　a　zombie；　with　a　pencil　and　a　pad　of　paper　on　his　knee。　He　seemed　pletely　indifferent　to　the　sirens；　the　lights　flashing　on　his　face。
〃Harry！〃
＇＇174＇＇　Harry　didn't　respond；　Norman　turned　back　to　the　two　women。
〃For　God's　sake；　will　you　tell　me　what　it　is？〃　Norman　shouted。
And　then　the　sirens　stopped。　The　screens　went　blank。　There　was　silence；　except　for　soft　classical　music。
〃Sorry　about　that；〃　Tina　said。
〃It