“You will be the culinary controller aboard Gravity.”
“派你到‘万有引力’号上去做餐饮控制员。”总参谋长说。
This position was just a glorified name for the ship’s cook. But since AI programming did most of the cooking on a warship, the culinary controller was responsible only for operating the system. This meant, for the most part, inputting the menu for each meal and choosing the staples. Most culinary controllers were petty officers, but Hunter had just been promoted to the rank of captain; in fact, he was the youngest captain in the fleet. But Hunter wasn’t surprised. He knew what he was really supposed to do.
这个岗位其实就是以前的炊事员，只不过现在战舰上炊事工作全部由人工智能完成，餐饮控制员只负责操作烹饪系统，主要是向其中输入餐的菜谱和主食种类。在这个岗位上的最高军衔也就是中士，而亨特刚被授予上校军衔，他是舰队中得到这一军衔鼓年轻的一位。但亨特没有感到奇怪，他知道自己是去做什么。
When the klaxons announced the droplet attack, only one man aboard Gravity felt a sense of relief: James Hunter, the oldest on the crew. He was seventy-eight, and everyone called him Old Hunter.
当水滴攻击的警报出现后，“万有引力”号上只有一个人如释重负。他就是詹姆斯·亨特。舰上年龄最大的人，已经七十八岁，人们都叫他老亨特。
Half a century ago, at Fleet Command in Jupiter’s orbit, a twenty-seven-year-old Hunter had received his mission from the chief of staff.
半个世纪前，在木星轨道的舰队总部，二十七岁的亨特从总参谋长那里接受了使命。
“Your real mission is to guard the gravitational wave transmitter. If the senior officers aboard Gravity lose control of the ship, you must destroy the transmitter. In unexpected situations, you may use whatever means you deem necessary to accomplish your goal.”
“你是一个潜伏者，任务是监控引力波发射台一且出现战舰高层指挥系统无法控制的危险，就销毁发射控制器。遇到非常情况时。你可以采取自己认为合适的一切手段。”
Hunter knew that men similar to himself had served on nuclear submarines in ancient times. Back then, in the ballistic missile submarine fleets of both the Soviet Union and NATO, there were seamen and low-ranked officers serving in humble posts who also had such missions. If anyone had come close to seizing control of a submarine and the missiles it carried, these men would have emerged, unexpectedly, to take drastic action to stop such plots.
亨特知道，像自己这样的潜伏者，在古代的核潜艇中也有过。当时不论是在苏联还是北约的战略核潜艇中，都有一些身处不起眼岗位上的士兵和低级军官肩负着这样的使命，随时准备在有人试图控制潜艇和洲际导弹的发射权时。从他们意想不到的方向采取果断行动制止阴谋。
Gravity’s gravitational wave broadcasting system included the antenna and the controller. The antenna was the ship’s hull, impossible to destroy, but disabling the controller was enough to stop transmission. Given the materials available on Gravity and Blue Space, it would be impossible to assemble a new controller.
“万有引力”号的引力波发射系统包括天线和发射控制器。天线就是船体本身，不可能破坏，似只要销毁发射控制器。整个系统就失效了。按照“万有引力”号和“蓝色空间”号上的条件。是不可能重新装配一台新的发射控制器的。
“You must pay attention to everything happening on the ship. Your mission requires you to monitor the situation during every duty cycle. Thus, you cannot hibernate.”
“你要密切监视舰上的一切动向，你的任务也需要你不间断地了解所有值勤周期的悄况，所以，在整个任务过程中，你不能冬眠。”
“You only need to live until you’re eighty. By then, the degenerate matter vibrating string in the ship will have reached its half-life, Gravity’s gravitational wave transmission system will fail, and you’ll have completed your mission. Thus, you just need to stay out of hibernation for the voyage out, but may return asleep. However, the mission will essentially require you to devote the rest of your life to it. You have the right to refuse.”
“你只需活到七十多岁，那时，船体中简并态振动弦的半衰期就到了，‘万有引力’号的引力波发射系统将会失效，于是你的使命也就完成了。算下来，你只需要在前半个航程保持苏醒状态，整个返航航程都可以冬眠。不过，这仍是一个极富献身精神的使命，几乎需要献出一生，你完全可以拒绝。”
“I don’t know if I can live until I’m a hundred.”
“我不知道自己能不能活一百多岁。”
“I accept.”
“我接受。”
“During the Doomsday Battle, I was a PIA intelligence analyst stationed aboard Newton. Before the droplet destroyed my ship, I escaped in a life pod. Though it was the smallest kind of life pod, it was capable of holding five. At the time, a group of my crewmates were headed toward me, and I was alone in my pod. But I released it –“
“末日战役中，我曾是战略情报局驻‘牛顿’号的情报分析军官，在战舰被水滴击毁前，我乘一艘救生艇逃生。那是舰上最小的一种救生艇，但上面也能坐五个人，当时有一群人向这边移动，可我单独一个人就把它开走了……”
“I know about that. The court-martial results are unequivocal. You did nothing wrong. Ten seconds after jettisoning your life pod, the ship exploded. You had no time to wait for anyone else.”
“这件事我知道，军事法庭已经有结论，你没有过失，你的救生艇开出后不到十秒钟飞船就爆炸了，你没有时间等其他人。”
“Yes. But… I still feel it would have been better if I had stayed with Newton.”
“是，但……我现在感觉当时还是和‘牛顿’号在一起的好。”
The two were silent for a while. Outside the window of the space station, the Great Red Spot of Jupiter stared at them like a gigantic eye.
两人沉默许久，窗外，木星的大红斑像一只巨眼一样注视着他们。
“Before I explain to you the details of your task, I want you to understand one thing: Your highest priority is preventing the system from falling into the wrong hands. When you cannot ascertain the degree of risk with confidence, you should err on the side of destroying the transmission system — even if you should turn out to be mistaken. When you do decide to act, don’t worry about collateral damage. If necessary, destroying the entire ship would be acceptable.”
“在交待其体的任务细节前，我首先要你明白一点：任务中行动的触发应该是极其敏感的，在无法判定危险的程度时，你首先应该选择销毁操作，即使误操作也不是你的责任。在操作中，不必考虑附带损失，如果需要，毁灭全舰也是可以接受的。”
The chief of staff asked a question that commanders in past eras would not have bothered with. “Why?”
总参谋长问了一个在过去时代的将领不会提出的问题：“为什么？”
“I understand how our failures haunt us with survivor’s guilt. But this time, you have a chance to save billions.”
“是啊，失败铭心刻骨，我们都觉得自己本不该活下来。不过这一次，你有可能救几十亿人。
Thus, throughout the whole voyage, Hunter had remained awake. Every time someone emerged from hibernation, they saw he had aged more. He told all the newly awakened the interesting things that had happened in the dozen or so years that had passed while they slept. The lowly cook became the most beloved figure on the ship, and he was popular with officers and enlisted men alike. Gradually, he turned into a symbol of the long voyage of Gravity. No one suspected that this easygoing, generous man held the same rank as the captain and was also the only man other than the captain with the authority and ability to destroy the ship in the event of a crisis.
于是在整个航程中亨特一直醒着，舰上每个再次苏醒的人都发现他老了一些。他向每一批新醒来的人讲述他们冬眠后那十几年的趣闻轶事，这个炊事兵因此成了舰上最受欢迎的人，无论军官还是士兵都喜欢他。渐渐地，他成了这次漫长远航的一个象征。谁也想不到这个宽厚随和的伙夫是一个与舰长平级的军官，也是除舰长外唯一一名拥有在危机出现时毁灭全舰的权限和能力的人。
Hunter was in the first duty cycle when Gravity left Earth. During those five years, he regularly took a certain kind of small blue pills. At the end of the duty cycle, when he was scheduled to go into hibernation, a physical revealed that he had cerebrovascular coagulation disorder, which was also called “no-hibernation disease.” Patients with this rare condition suffered no ill effects in daily life, but could not enter hibernation because the awakening process would cause massive brain damage. It was the only medical condition discovered so far that could prevent someone from going into hibernation. When the diagnosis was confirmed, everyone around Hunter looked at him as though they were at his funeral.
起航后，亨特被安排在第一轮值勤，为期五年。这五年间，他一直秘密地吃一种蓝色小药片。到值勤结束时，在冬眠前的体检中他被查出患有脑血管凝血障碍，又称冬眠障碍症，这是一种十分罕见的症状，对人的正常生活没有任何影响，只是不能冬眠，否则醒来时会导致严重的大脑损伤，这也是迄今发现的唯一影响冬眠的病症。当亨特被确诊后，他发现周围人的神情像在出席他的葬礼一般。
During the first thirty years of the journey, Hunter had several girlfriends. In this matter he held an advantage others did not possess: He could date women in different duty cycles, one after the other. But after a few decades, as Hunter became Old Hunter, the women, still young, treated him as only a friend with interesting stories.
在头三十年的时间里，亨特有过J几个女朋友，他在这方面有着让其他人嫉妒的优势，可以和不同时段执勤的女孩子交往。但几十年后，他渐渐老去，那些仍然年轻的女性就只拿他当一般朋友和一个有趣的人了。
During this half century, the only woman Old Hunter ever truly loved was Reiko Akihara. But most of that time, more than ten million AU separated them. This was because Sublieutenant Akihara was aboard Blue Space, where she was a navigator.
在这半个世纪中，亨特唯一爱过的女性叫秋原玲子，可是在大部分时间里，他与她之间的距离都大于千万个天文单位，因为秋原玲子在“蓝色空间”号上，是一名上尉导航员。
The hunt for Blue Space was the only undertaking where Earth and Trisolaris truly shared the same goal, because this lone ship heading into deep space was a threat to both worlds. During the Earth’s attempt to lure back the two ships that had survived the dark battles, Blue Space had learned the dark forest nature of the universe. If Blue Space someday mastered the ability to broadcast to the universe, the consequences would be unimaginable. The hunt thus received the total cooperation of Trisolaris. Before entering the blind region, the sophons had provided Gravity with a real-time, continuous view of the interior of the prey.
追击“蓝色空间”号是三体和地球两个世界间唯一真正有着共同目标的事业，因为这艘航向太空深处的孤船是两个世界共同的威胁。在诱使黑暗战役幸存的两舰返航的过程中，“蓝色空间”号知晓了宇宙的黑暗森林状态，如果有朝一日他们掌握了宇宙广播的能力，后果不堪设想。对“蓝色空间”号的追击得到了三体世界的全力配合，在进人智子盲区前“万有引力”号上一直可以收到智子发来的追击目标内部的实时图像。
He saw that Blue Space was a completely different society from Gravity. It was militaristic, authoritarian, and governed by strict codes of discipline. Everyone devoted their spiritual energy to the collective. The first time he saw Reiko was two years after the start of the chase. He was instantly smitten by this East Asian beauty. He would watch her for hours every day, and sometimes even thought he knew her life better than he knew his own. But a year later, Reiko went into hibernation, and the next time she woke up for duty was thirty years later. She was still young, but Hunter was already near sixty.
他看到那是一个与“万有引力”号完全不同的小社会。高度军事化集权，有着严格冷酷的纪律，人们在精神上都融入集体之中。第一次见到玲子是起航后第二年，亨特立刻就被这个美丽的东方姑娘迷住了，常常连续几个小时看着她。感觉对她的生活甚至比对自己的都熟悉。但仅仅一年后，玲子就进人了冬眠，她再次苏醒值勤已经是三十年以后了，这时她仍然年轻，而亨特己经由一个青年变成快六十的人了。
Over the decades, Hunter was promoted from petty officer second class to petty officer first class, and then, as a special promotion, became a commissioned officer. Starting as an ensign, he was promoted all the way up to lieutenant. But even at the end, he never had the formal authorization to view the live feed of the interior of Blue Space transmitted by the sophons. However, he did possess the backdoor codes to all the ship’s systems, and he often viewed a palm-sized version of the video feed in his own cabin.
在几十年的时间里，亨特先是由中士升为上士。后来又破格提拔为军官，先后由准尉升至上尉，但即使到最后。他也没有权限看到智子专来的“蓝色空间”号内部的影像。然而他掌报着舰上儿乎所有系统的后门指令，常常在自己的舱室中把来自“蓝色空间”号的图像缩至巴掌大小观看。
Hunter zoomed in some more. Reiko suddenly turned to face him, and, with a smile that made his heart clench, said, “Merry Christmas!” Hunter knew that Reiko wasn’t talking to him, but to all those hunting her ship. She was aware that she was being watched by sophons, though she couldn’t see her pursuers. Regardless, this was one of the happiest moments of Hunter’s life.
这次亨特特意把画面放大了些，这时，画面中的玲子突然转身面对着他，露出一个动人的微笑说：“圣诞快乐！”亨特当然知道玲子并不是对自己说的，她是在祝贺所有的追击者，她当然知道自己正在被智子监视，但却无法看到这边。不管怎样，这是亨特最幸福快乐的一刻。
On Christmas Eve, after a wild party, he returned to his cabin and brought up the live feed from Blue Space. The view began with a diagram of the complex overall structure of the ship. He tapped the location of the navigation center, and the view zoomed in to show Reiko on duty. She was looking at a large holographic star map, on which a bright red line traced the course of Blue Space. Behind it was a white line that almost coincided with the red line, indicating the path taken by Gravity. Hunter noticed that the white line deviated slightly from Gravity’s true course. Right now, the two ships were still a few thousand AU apart. At this distance, it was difficult to track a target as small as a spaceship with certainty. The white line probably only indicated their best guess, although the estimate of the distance between the two ships was pretty accurate.
在那个圣诞之夜，他在狂欢晚会后回到自己的小舱室，又调出了“蓝色空间”号的实时画面。首先显示的是那艘飞船复杂的整体结构图，他点击航行控制中心所在的位置，显示的画面中果然出现了正在值班的玲子。她面对着宽阔的全息星图，上面有一条醒目的红线标示出“蓝色空间”号的航迹，后面还有一条几乎与红线重合的白线，那是“万有引力”号的航迹。亨特注意到，白线所标示的与“万有引力”号真实的航线有一定的误差，目前两舰相距还有几千个天文单位，在这样的距离上，对飞船这样小的目标进行定位极其困难，那条航线可能只是他们的猜测，但两舰间的距离估计得很准确。
For half a century, Hunter faithfully carried out his mission. He remained alert for any unusual conditions aboard the ship, preparing in his mind action plans for various crises. But the mission didn’t really put too much pressure on him. He knew that another form of insurance, utterly reliable, accompanied Gravity. Like many others, he often watched the droplets cruising at a distance from the portholes. But the droplets, in his eyes, held another meaning. If anything unusual occurred on Gravity, especially if there were signs of a mutiny or illegal attempts to seize control of the gravitational wave transmission system, he knew that the droplets would destroy this ship. They could move far faster than he — a droplet could accelerate from a few thousand meters away and reach a target in no more than five seconds.
在半个世纪的航程中，亨特一直忠实地履行着自己的职责，他时时刻刻观察着舰上可能出现的异常情况，不断地在心中预演着各种危机下的行动预案。但任务本身并没有给他带来什么压力，因为他心里清楚，还有一道最可靠的保险时时伴随着“万有引力”号。与舰上的许多人一样。他也经常从舷窗中遥望编队航行的水滴，但太空中的水滴在他的眼里比其他人多了一层意义。他心里清楚，“万有引力”号上一旦出现异常，特别是出现叛乱和试图非法控制引力波发射系统的迹象，水滴会立刻摧毁这艘_战舰。它们的动作绝对比他快，水滴在几千米外从加速到击中目标，时间，不会超过五秒钟。
Because the crew aboard Blue Space was large, Reiko’s duty cycle didn’t last long. One year later, she entered hibernation again. Hunter looked forward to the day he would meet Reiko face-to-face, when Gravity finally caught up to Blue Space. Sadly, he knew that he would be almost eighty by the time that happened. He hoped he would get to tell her he loved her and then watch as she was taken away for trial.
由于“蓝色空间”号上的人员数量多，玲子的值勤时间不长，一年后又再次冬眠了。亨特盼望着与玲子直接见面的那一天，那要到“万有引力”号追上“蓝色空间”号的时候。他悲哀地想，即使一切顺利，那时自己也已经快八十了。他只希望对她说一声“我爱你”，然后目送她去接受审判。
But then the sophons fell blind. During the voyage, he had imagined hundreds of possible crises, and this was one of the worst possibilities. The loss of the sophons meant that the droplets and Trisolaris no longer knew everything happening aboard Gravity. If the unexpected happened, the droplets could not react in time. This made the situation far more dangerous, and Hunter felt the weight on his shoulders increase tenfold, as though he had only started his mission.
但编队进人了智子盲区。在半个世纪的潜伏中，他曾设想过上百种危机。这是比较严重的一种情况。智子的失效使水滴和三体世界不再能够实时掌握‘万有引力“号内部的情况，这就意味着一旦出现意外情况，水滴不可能及时做出反应。这使得形势突然严峻起来，亨特肩上的责任陡然增加了十倍，突然出现的压力使他感觉自己的使命才刚刚开始。
Now, Hunter’s mission was almost over. The degenerate matter vibrating string at the heart of the gravitational wave antenna, less than ten nanometers in diameter but running the entire length of the fifteen-hundred-meter hull, had almost reached its half-life. In another two months, the density of the string would fall below the minimum threshold for gravitational wave transmissions, and the system would fail completely. Gravity would turn from a broadcast station that posed a threat to two worlds to an ordinary stellar spaceship, and Hunter’s work would be done. He would reveal his true identity at that time. He was curious whether he would face admiration or condemnation from his crewmates. In any case, he would stop taking those blue pills, and his cerebrovascular coagulation disorder would disappear. He would enter hibernation and awaken on the Earth to live out the rest of his days in a new era. But he would hibernate only after seeing Reiko, which should happen soon.
现在，亨特的使命已接近完成。监测系统显示，引力波发射天线的主体，那根不到十纳米粗、却贯穿一千五百米舰体的简并态振动弦即将到达它的半衰期，再有不到两个月的时间，振动弦的密度将降低到正常发射引力波的底线之下，天线将完全失效。到时，“万有引力”号不再是对两个世界都具有致命威胁的引力波广播台，将变成一艘普通的星际飞船，亨特的任务也就完成了。那时，他将表明自己的身份——他很好奇自己面对的是敬佩还是谴责，不管怎样，他将停止服用那种蓝药片，脑血管凝血障碍将消失，他会进人冬眠，醒来后在地球上的新纪元度过自己的余生。不过冬眠要在见到玲子之后，反正也快了。
Out of all these oddities, the experience of Commander Devon, head of the MP, made the deepest impression on Hunter. Devon was one of the senior officers on the ship. Normally Hunter did not interact with them much. But when he saw Devon seek out the psychiatrist — whom most people on the ship avoided — he grew alert. Over a bottle of vintage whiskey, he finally got Devon to spill the story of his strange encounter.
所有这些异象中，让亨特印象最深刻的是宪兵指挥官戴文中校所说的奇遇，戴文属于战舰的高级指挥层，亨特本来与他交往不多·但那天他看到戴文主动去找人人都避之不及的心理学家，便立刻警觉起来。他用一瓶陈年威七忌去接近戴文，与他攀谈，得知了那件怪事。
After the sophons were blinded, strange things began to happen all over the ship: An ecological area in the middle of the ship was struck by a micrometeoroid; more than one person claimed to have seen openings suddenly appear in bulkheads, accompanied by the disappearance of certain objects that reappeared later, undamaged…
进人智子盲区以后，形势变得越来越微妙，半个世纪的航程中都很少出现的异常情况突然大量涌现：处于舰体中心的生态区竟然遭到微陨石的袭击；不止一个人声称见到舱壁突然开口；某些物体部分或全部消失，一段时间后又恢复原状……
Hunter now paid even closer attention to happenings on the ship. The entire crew of Gravity had been awakened from hibernation, and that made monitoring difficult. But Hunter was the only member of the crew everyone was familiar with, and he was popular and had an abundance of social connections. Moreover, his easygoing manner and his insignificant post meant that most were not on guard in his presence. The enlisted men and junior officers, especially, told him things they wouldn’t dare say to senior officers or the psych corps. This allowed Hunter to have a full grasp of the situation.
亨特更加密切地关注舰内的各种动向，由于”万有引力“号已经处于全舰苏醒状态，他的监视困难了许多。但亨特是舰上唯一一个所有人都熟悉的人，有着很好的人缘和丰富的人际关系，同时，他表现出来的随和性格及所处的无关紧要的岗位使大多数人对他都没有戒心，特别是士兵和下层军官，把不敢对上层指挥官和心理军官说的话都对他说了，这使亨特对全局有了准确的掌握。
To be sure, other than the micrometeoroid strike, the most reasonable explanation for all the strange goings-on was that the crew was suffering from hallucinations. The loss of the sophons might have, in some unknown way, triggered a kind of mass mental disorder — at least that was how Dr. West and the psych corps explained it. Hunter’s duty did not allow him to accept this explanation easily; but other than hallucinations or a mass mental disorder, the strange stories told by the crew seemed impossible. However, Hunter’s mission was to respond to impossibilities that somehow became possible.
当然，除了微陨石那件事，所有这一切最合理的解释就是人们的幻觉，智子的消失以某种尚不知晓的方式诱发了群体的心理障碍，韦斯特博士和那些心理军官都是这么说的。亨特的职责不允许他轻易接受这种说法，虽然如果排除心理障碍和幻觉，那一切怪事都显得不可能，但亨特的使命就是应对可能出现的不可能。
Despite the massive antenna, the controller unit for the gravitational wave transmitter took up little space. Situated in a small spherical cabin at the stern, the controller was completely independent and not connected to the other parts of the ship. The spherical cabin was like a reinforced safe. No one aboard Gravity had the codes for entry, not even the captain. Only the Swordholder on Earth could activate the gravitational wave broadcast — in such an event, a beam of neutrinos would be transmitted to Gravity and switch on the transmitter. Right now, such a signal would take a year to arrive from the Earth.
相对于天线的巨大，引力波发射系统的控制单元体积却很小——处于舰尾一个很小的球形舱中，系统完全独立。与舰上的其他部分没有任何联系。那个球形舱像一只被加固的保险箱，包括舰长在内。舰上没人拥有进入的密码，只有地球上的执剑人才能启动系统发射。如果执剑人在地球上启动引力波广播，就会有一束中微子信息发向”万有引力“号，也启动飞船上的广播发射，当然，现在这个信号从地球到达这里需要一年时间。
In a sense, Hunter was an “Anti-Swordholder.”
从这个意义上看。亨特其实是一名”反执剑人“。
But if Gravity were hijacked, the safety measures around the spherical cabin would not last long.
但”万有引力“号一且被劫持，这些防护措施并不能起太大作用。
Hunter’s watch had a special button. When pressed, it would trigger a heat bomb inside the spherical cabin, which would vaporize everything inside. His job was very simple: No matter what the crisis, as soon as he judged the risk to be in excess of a certain threshold, he would press the button and destroy the controller, rendering the gravitational wave transmitter inoperable.
亨特的手表上有一个小按钮，按下后，将触发发射控制单元所在的球形舱里的一枚烧熔弹，能够高温熔化舱内的一切设备。他要做的就是以不变应万变，不管出现什么样的危机，只要其危险超出阈值，就按动那个小按钮毁掉发射控制单元，也就使引力波广播系统处于不可恢复的失效状态；事态是否超过危险阈值，由他白己来判断。
Hunter didn’t put all his trust in the button on his watch and the heat bomb in the cabin, which he had never laid eyes on. Ideally, he wanted to keep watch outside the control cabin day and night, but of course that would draw suspicion, and his hidden identity was his biggest advantage. Still, he wanted to be as close to the control cabin as possible, so he tried to regularly visit the astronomical observatory, also located at the stern. Since the entire crew was out of hibernation, Hunter had assistants to take care of his culinary duties, which gave him plenty of time to himself. In addition, as Dr. Guan Yifan was the only civilian scientist aboard and thus not subject to military discipline, no one thought it strange that Hunter often went to Guan to share the liquor that he was able to obtain due to his position. Dr. Guan, in turn, enjoyed the drinks, and lectured Hunter on the “universe’s three and three hundred thousand syndrome.” Soon, Hunter spent most of his time in the observatory, separated from the gravitational wave transmission controller by only a short corridor about twenty meters long.
但亨特并不完全相信手表上那个按钮和控制单元舱中那枚他从未见过的烧熔弹的可靠性，他认为最理想的状态是日夜守护在控制单元舱外。只是这样做会引起怀疑。而身份隐蔽是自己最大的优势。不过他还是想尽量离控制单元舱近一些，就常常去同样位于舰尾的宇宙学观测站，这样做不会引起别人的怀疑。在全舰苏醒的状态下，亨特的炊事工作已有人去做，他很清闲，同时因为关一帆博士是舰上唯一不受军纪约束的军外学者。老亨特去那里找他喝酒聊天是很正常的事。关一帆则在享用亨特利用特权搞来的美酒的同时，向他大谈宇宙的”三与三干万综合征“。亨特大部分时间都待在舰尾观测站电与引力波发射系统控制单元舱之间只相距二十多米的廊道。
During these final moments, Old Hunter felt only relief and joy. No matter what happened next, he would have completed his mission. He looked forward not to death, but to his victory.
在这最后的短暂时间里，老亨特感到的只有解脱和欣慰，不管以后的世界会怎样，他终于完成了使命，等待他的不是死亡是自己的胜利。
Hunter was on his way to the observatory again when he passed Guan Yifan and Dr. West heading for the bow of the ship. He decided that he would take a peek at the control cabin. When he was about ten meters away, the klaxons for the droplet attack started blaring. Due to his rank, the information window appearing before him displayed very few details, but he knew that the droplets were, at this time, farther away from the ship than when they had flown in formation. He had about ten to twenty seconds until impact.
刚才，亨特又来到观测站，在来路上遇到关一帆和那个心理学家前往舰首，于是他决定直接到控制单元舱去看看。就在距那里不到十米时，水滴攻击的警报出现了。由于他的级别所限，在面前出现的信息窗口只显示了很粗略的内容，但他知道，水滴此时距飞船比编队航行时远许多，可能还有十几秒的时间。
This was why, half a minute later, when the klaxons stopped, Hunter became the only one aboard who felt no relief from his extreme terror. The cessation of the alarm indicated, for him, great danger: In a situation of great uncertainty, the gravitational wave transmitter was still intact. Without hesitation, he pressed the button on his watch.
正因为如此，当半分钟后警报解除时，亨特反而成了全舰唯一一个陷人极度恐惧的人。对于他的使命而言，水滴攻击是一个解脱，但警报的解除则隐含着巨大的危险，因为这意味着在已经出现的莫测局势中，引力波发射系统将保持完好。毫不犹豫地，他按动了手表上的销毁按钮。
Nothing happened. Even though the control cabin was tightly sealed, he should have been able to feel the tremors from the detonation. A line of text appeared on his wristwatch display:
一片寂静，虽然控制单元舱密封很严，但应该能感觉到内部烧熔弹爆炸的震动，手表的小屏幕上显示：
Failure: The self-destruct module has been dismantled.
销毁操作无法完成，销毁模块已被拆除。
Three minutes after the attack alert was lifted, Joseph Morovich, captain of Gravity, finally managed to gather his senior staff at the combat center, in the middle of which was a giant situation map. No stars were shown against the dark expanse of space, only the positions of the two ships and the attack trajectories of the droplets. The two long white trails appeared as straight lines, but the data indicated they were parabolas with very low curvature. As the two droplets accelerated toward their targets in the simulation, their headings began to drift. The changes were small, but cumulatively, they resulted in the droplets barely missing their targets. Many of the senior officers had participated in the Doomsday Battle, and their memory of the sharp turns the droplets were capable of executing while moving at extremely high velocities still brought heart-stopping terror. However, the trajectories on the display were completely different: It was as though some outside force perpendicular to the attack vectors of the droplets had steadily pushed them out of the way.
警报解除三分钟后，”万有引力“号的舰长约瑟夫·莫沃维奇才来得及和高层指挥官们聚集到作战中心。中心显示着巨大的模拟态势图，漆黑的太空背景上隐去了虽有的星星，只标出两舰的相对位置和水滴的攻击路线。那两条长三十万千米的白线看上去都是直线，但数据显示两条长线其实都是抛物线，只是曲率大小看不出来。两个水滴开始加后不久，它们的航向就在不断改变，这种改变十分微小，但累积起来最终造成了它们对各自攻击目标的几十米误差。指挥官们都认识到，这根本不是水滴的航线。他们中的许多人都参加过末日战役，水滴在超高速动中凌厉的锐角转向至今想起仍令他们胆战心惊；而现在这条航线，看上去像是有一个与航线垂直的外力连续地作用于水滴，把它从攻击航线上推开。
Hunter wasn’t even surprised. He had already intuitively anticipated that the worst had happened. He had been but a few seconds from relief, but the relief would never come.
亨特甚至没感到意外，他早就凭直觉预感到最坏的情况已经出现，刚才那只差十几秒的幸运终于还是没有降临。
Neither droplet struck their respective targets. Both brushed by Gravity or Blue Space at extremely close range — only a few tens of meters.
两个水滴都没有击中目标，它们分别近距离擦过”万有弓}力“号和”蓝色空间“号，与两飞船最近时仅相距几十米。
The stars and the galaxy appeared. This was no longer a computer simulation. In one corner, flickering numbers showed the passage of time. Everyone relived the terror of a few minutes ago, when all they could do was wait for death because evasive maneuvers and defensive shots were all meaningless. Soon, the numbers stopped changing. The droplets had already swept past the ships, but because they were moving so fast, no one could see them.
群星和银河出现了，这是真实的太空影像，在一角有一个时间数字飞快跳动。所有人都在重温几分钟前的恐怖，那时能做的只有等待死亡，机动躲避飞行和拦截射击都没有任何意义。很快时间数字停止了，这时水滴已经擦过了飞船，但由于速度太决，肉眼不可见。
“Replay the recording,” the captain ordered. “Visible light range.”
“可见光录像。”舰长说。“可见光范围。”
Half a century of cruising in formation with the droplets made everyone familiar with their appearance, and what they saw now shocked them. The droplet on the display was still shaped like a teardrop, but its surface was no longer a perfectly smooth mirror. Instead, it was dim and coppery yellow, as though full of rust. It was as if a magician’s spell of eternal youth had failed, and the marks left by three centuries of spaceflight had all appeared at once. Instead of a shining spirit, the droplet had turned into an ancient artillery shell drifting through space. Communications with the Earth during the last few years had given these officers some basic insight into the principles of strong-interaction materials. They knew that the surface of a droplet was held in a force field generated by mechanisms inside. This force field counteracted the electromagnetic force between particles, allowing the strong nuclear force to spill out. Without the force field, strong-interaction material reverted to ordinary metal.
半个世纪的编队航行令他们对水滴十分熟悉，也使得眼前的情景更令他们震惊：画面中的水滴形状依旧，但表面不再是绝对光滑的镜面，而是呈现晦暗的黄铜色，看上去好像锈迹斑斑，仿佛一个巫师维持青春的巫术突然失效，三个世纪的太空岁月留下的痕迹一下子全部显现出来，它不再是一个亮晶晶的精灵，变成了一枚飘浮在太空中的旧炮弹。近年来，与地球的通信使他们了解了强互作用力材料的一些基本原理，知道水滴的表面处于一种由内部装置产生的力场中，这种力场能够抵消粒子间的电磁力，使强互作用力溢出，如果力场消失，强互作用力材料就变成了一块普通的金属。
The display shifted to slow-motion replay of the high-speed recording. Since the complete recording, over ten seconds long, would take a long time to play through, only the last few seconds were shown. The officers saw a droplet pass in front of the camera like a faint meteor across the sea of stars in the background. The recording was played again, and froze when the droplet was in the middle of the screen. The image zoomed in until the droplet took up most of the display.
接着放高速摄影，十几秒钟的过程全放完需要很长时间，只选择最后一段，大家看到了从摄影镜头前方掠过的水滴，在群星背景前像一颗黯淡的流星一闪而过。然后影像重放，当水滴运动至画面正中时定格，然后逐级放大，直至水滴占据了大半个画面。
Next, they reviewed the post-attack data. The simulation showed that after the droplet brushed by Gravity, the mysterious perpendicular force making small heading changes vanished, and the droplet coasted along its final vector. But this only lasted a few seconds. Thereafter, the droplet began to decelerate. The combat analysis computer concluded that the force decelerating the droplet was equal in magnitude to the force that had changed its heading. The obvious conclusion was that the source of the force had shifted from pushing at the side of the droplet to pushing from the front.
接下来显示后面的监测记录。模拟图显示，水滴擦过“万有引力”号后，航向停止缓慢的改变，变成了直线匀速滑行。那个神秘的外加推力消失了。这种状态只持续了几秒钟，接着水滴开始减速，战场分析系统的计算显示，使水滴减速的推力与刚才改变它航向的推力大小相等，似乎是同一个推力源由垂直于航向转移到了水滴的正前方。
Since the recording was made by high-magnification telescopic lens, it was possible to see the back of the departing droplet. The droplet turned ninety degrees so that it was perpendicular to its own direction of motion and continued to coast. Then it began to decelerate. The next scene seemed to be taken from a fairy tale — good thing Dr. West was also present, or else he would again declare the others to be suffering from hallucinations. A triangular object, about twice as long as the droplet, appeared in front of it. The staff immediately recognized it as a shuttle from Blue Space! In order to increase its propulsive power, multiple small fusion drives were attached to the hull of the shuttle. Although the nozzles of the drives all pointed away from the camera, it was still possible to see the glow they made as they operated under maximum output. The shuttle was pushing against the droplet to slow it down. And it was easy to deduce that it was also the source of the force that caused the droplets to deviate from their attack vectors.
在高倍望远镜拍摄的可见光影像中，可以看到正在远去的水滴的背面，接着，水滴自身倒转了九十度，以与航向垂直的状态开始减速。就在这时。一幕神话般的情景出现了——现在韦斯特医生也在场，如果不是他亲眼所见，肯定又一口咬定这是心理幻觉——水滴前方出现了一个三角形的物体，长度大约是它的一倍，大家一眼就认出那是“蓝色空问”号上的太空穿梭机！为了增加推力，穿梭机上外挂了多台小型聚变发动机，虽然发动机的喷口都背对着画面，但仍可以看到它们全力开动喷出的光柱。穿梭机紧顶着水滴使它减速，可以推测刚才使水滴航向改变从而拯救“万有引力”号的推力也是同一来源。
The droplets had died.
水滴死了。
After the shuttle’s appearance, two human figures wearing space suits appeared on the other side of the droplet — the side closest to the camera. The deceleration caused the figures to stick to the surface of the droplet; one of them held some kind of instrument in his hands and appeared to be analyzing the droplet. In the past, droplets had seemed almost divine in the eyes of humankind, not belonging to this world and not approachable. The only people who had ever come close to touching a droplet had been vaporized in the Doomsday Battle. But now, the droplet had lost all its mystery. Without its mirrorlike sheen, it seemed ordinary, broken-down, older and less advanced than the shuttle and the astronauts — some antique or piece of trash collected by the latter. A few seconds later, the shuttle and the astronauts disappeared, and the dead droplet was once again alone in space. But it continued to decelerate, indicating that the shuttle was still there pushing against it, only now invisible.
在穿梭机出现后，水滴的另一侧又出现了两个穿宇宙服的身影，减速产生的过载使那两人的身体紧贴在水滴上，其中一人的手中拿着一个什么仪器，似乎在对捕获品进行研究。以前，在人们的印象中，水滴是一种具有神性的东西，似乎不属于这个世界，也是人不可能接近的，末日战役前，唯一一次与水滴进行零距离接触的人都已灰飞烟灭。但在眼前的接触中，水滴已经神性全无，失去镜面后它看上去平淡无奇，显得比旁边的太空穿梭机和宇航员都陈旧，全无灵气，像是后者收集的一个古董或废品。穿梭机和宇航员只出现了几秒钟就消失了，已经死去的水滴再次孤零零地飘浮在太空中，但仍在减速，说明穿梭机还在那里推着它，只是隐形了。
“They know how to disable the droplets!” someone cried out.
“他们能摧毁水滴？！”有人惊叫。
Failure: The self-destruct module has been dismantled.
销毁操作无法完成，销毁模块已被拆除。
Captain Morovich could think of only one thing. Like Hunter a few minutes ago, he didn’t hesitate to push the button on his watch. The error message appeared in a red information window that appeared midair:
莫沃维奇舰长的第一反应只想到一件事，同警报解除时的亨特一样，他没有片刻犹豫，按动白己手表上的一个按钮，那是与亨特那只一样的手表。这一次，错误信息显示在空中跳出的一个红色信息窗口中：
The first person from Gravity to arrive at the gravitational wave transmission control room was Old Hunter. Though he had no authorization to enter the cabin, he wanted to try to break the link between the controller and the antenna. This would at least temporarily disable the transmission system until he figured out how to destroy the controller itself.
“万有引力’，号上最先到达引力波发射控制单元舱的是老亨特，他也没有进入此舱的权限，遂打算首先断开控制单元与天线舰体的联系，这样可以暂时使引力波发射系统失效，再设法销毁舱内的控制单元。
The captain dashed out of the combat center and headed for the stern. The other officers followed.
舰长转身冲出作战中心，向舰尾冲去，其他的军官都紧跟在后。
Hunter took out his sidearm and aimed it at the man. He wore the uniform of a sublieutenant on Gravity, not the uniform dating from the Doomsday Battle that Hunter expected to see — the man had stolen it. Hunter recognized him from the back. “I knew Commander Devon was right.”
亨特拔出手枪对准那人——此人穿着”万有引力“号上的中尉军装，这与他应该穿的末日战役时的太空军服装不同，可能是从舰上偷来的。对方正在打量着控制单元舱，亨特一看背影就认出了他。“我知道戴文中校没看错。”亨特说。
But someone was already there, examining the control cabin.
但已经有人在那里了。
Lieutenant Commander Park Ui-gun, head of the marines on Blue Space, turned around. He looked no older than thirty, but his face showed that he had endured experiences that no one aboard Gravity could imagine. He was slightly surprised. Perhaps he didn’t expect anyone here so soon; perhaps he didn’t expect to see Hunter. Yet, he remained calm. With both hands half raised, he said, “Please let me explain –“
“蓝色空间”号陆战队指挥官朴义君少校转过身来，他很年轻，看上去不超过三十岁，但脸上透出一种“万有引力”号上的人所没有的沧桑感。他看上去多少有些意外·也许没想到这么快就有人来，也许没想到来人是老亨特。但他仍很镇静，半抬起双手说：“请听我解释。”
Old Hunter wasn’t interested in an explanation. He didn’t want to know how this man had boarded Gravity, and didn’t even want to know if he was a man or a ghost. Whatever the facts, the situation was too dangerous. All he wanted was to destroy the transmission controller unit. It was his only goal in life, and this man from Blue Space stood in the way. He squeezed the trigger.
老亨特不想听解释，他不想知道这人是怎么进入‘万有引力“号的，甚至不想知道他是人是鬼，不管真相如何，情况已经到了最危急的时刻。他现在只想销毁引力波发射控制单元，这是他生命的全部目的，而现在这个来自”蓝色空间“号上的人挡在他的路上，他毫不犹豫地开枪了。
The bullet struck Park in the chest, and the impact threw him against the cabin door. Hunter’s gun was loaded with special bullets designed for use inside the ship: They wouldn’t damage the bulkheads or other equipment, but they also weren’t as deadly as laser beams. Some blood oozed out of the wound, but Park managed to stay erect in the weightlessness and reached into his bloody uniform for his own weapon. Hunter shot again, and there was a fresh wound in Park’s chest. More blood oozed out, floating in the gravity-less air. Finally, Hunter took aim at Park’s head, but he didn’t get a chance for the third shot.
子弹击中了朴义君的前胸，冲击力把他推到身后的舱门上。亨特的手枪发射的是飞船内部专用的特制子弹，不会对舱壁和内部设备造成损坏，但杀伤力显然不如激光枪。朴义君胸前的弹洞中溅出几滴血珠，但他仍然在失重中直起身，把手伸进染血的军服，从右肋掏出自己的枪来。亨特又开了一枪，仍然击中了对方的胸部，在失重中溅出了更多的血珠。亨特随后瞄准了目标的头部，但没来得及射出第三颗子弹。
Rhythmically, it pulsed in midair, and with every pulse, more blood was squeezed out of its two tubular tails. The object propelled itself forward like a crimson jellyfish swimming through the air.
由于不透明，很容易同血球区分开，那东西有节奏地搏动着，每次搏动都从拖在后面的细管中挤出一些血来，这就产生了一个推进力，使它在失重中向前飞行，像一只游动的暗红色小水母。
This was the scene that greeted Captain Morovich and the other officers when they arrived: Hunter’s gun was floating far away from him. The old cook’s body was stiff, his open eyes showing only white, his limbs twitching. Blood erupted forth from his mouth like a fountain, coagulating into spheres of various sizes drifting around him in a cloud. In the middle of the bloody, translucent spheres was a dark red object about the size of a fist, dragging two tubes behind it like tails.
刚赶到的包括舰长在内的军官们看到这样一幕情景。亨特的手枪飞出好远，他的身体僵直，两眼上翻只有眼白，四肢微微抽搐；他的口中血似喷泉，那些血液在失重中凝成大大小小的圆球散布四周，在这些血球中有一个暗红色的物体，拳头大小，后面拖着两根尾巴一样的管状物。
“He can be saved if we get him into surgery right away,” Sublieutenant Park said with some difficulty, his voice very hoarse. Blood continued to spill from the two wounds in his chest. “Good thing that doctors don’t need to open his chest to reattach his heart anymore… Don’t move! It’s as easy for them to pluck out your heart or brain as it is for you to pick an apple dangling from a branch in front of you. Gravity has been captured.”
“马上手术也许还能救活他。”朴义君少校用沙哑的声音吃力地说胸前的两个弹洞仍在冒血，“现在医生不需要开胸就能把心脏接回去……其他的人不要乱动，否则，他们摘除你们的心脏或大脑就像从眼前的树枝上摘个苹果一样容易。’万有引力‘号已经被占领了。”
It was Hunter’s heart.
那是亨特的心脏。
During the struggle a few moments earlier, Hunter had slammed his right hand against his chest, and then, desperately, torn open his clothes. Thus, his bare chest lay revealed, and everyone could see that the skin was perfect, with not a single scratch.
在刚才的挣扎中。亨特的右手先是猛地捂住胸口，接着拼命撕扯胸前的衣服把外衣扯开了，人们可以清楚地看到他露出的胸膛，完好无损，没有一点伤痕。
Captain Morovich nodded at his officers. Without speaking, they tossed their weapons away. Blue Space had ten times more people than Gravity, and just their detachment of marines numbered more than a hundred. They could easily control Gravity.
舰长向周围的军官们示意了一下，他们都默默地扔出武器。“蓝色空问”号上的人数是“万有引力”号的十倍，仅陆战队员就有一百多名，可以轻易控制’万有引力“号全舰。
There was nothing beyond belief anymore. Blue Space had turned into a supernatural warship wielding magic. The crew of Gravity again experienced the shock they had last suffered during the Doomsday Battle.
现在已经没有什么是不可置信的，”蓝色空间“号已经变成一艘超自然的魔法战舰，”万有引力“号上的人们在重温末日战役中的震撼。
Fully armed marines rushed in from another corridor. Most of them wore the dark blue lightweight space suits dating from before the Doomsday Battle — apparently they were all from Blue Space. All the marines were equipped with powerful laser assault rifles.
一群全副武装的人从另一条廊道冲进来，他们大部分身穿末日战役前的深蓝色陆战队轻便宇宙服，显然都来自“蓝色空间”号。陆战队员们都端着杀伤力很大的激光冲锋枪。
More than fourteen hundred people floated in the middle of Blue Space’s spherical great hall. The largest portion, over twelve hundred, belonged to the crew of Blue Space. Sixty years ago, the officers and enlisted men of this ship had also lined up here to accept Zhang Beihai’s command, and most of them were still here. Since only a few individuals needed to be awake and on duty for regular cruising, the crew had aged only three to five years on average. They hadn’t experienced the bulk of the intervening years, and the searing flames of the dark battles and the cold funerals held in space remained fresh in their minds. The remainder belonged to the one-hundred-strong crew of Gravity. The two crews — one large, one small, wearing distinct uniforms and suspicious of each other — gathered into two clusters far apart from each other.
在”蓝色空间“号的球形大厅中央悬浮着一千四百多人，他们大部分是”蓝色空间“号上的人员，有一千二百多人。六十多年前，也是在这里，“蓝色空间”号上的官兵列队宣誓接受章北海的指挥，现在他们基本上还是那些人。由于飞船上常规航行时苏醒状态的值勤人数很少，所以六十多年后他们的平均年龄只老去三到五岁，大部分人并没有感到时光的流逝，黑暗战役的烈焰和太空中冷寂的葬礼都历历在目。其余是来自“万有引力”号的一百多人。除了军装的颜色明显不同外，两舰的人员分别聚成了一大一小两个人群，他们互存戒心，拉开了很大的距离。
Before the two crews, the senior officers of the two ships were mixed together. Captain Chu Yan of Blue Space drew the most attention. He was forty-three, but looked younger, and he was the model of the scholarly military officer. Refined and calm in his speech and mannerisms, he even gave off a hint of shyness. But on Earth, Chu Yan was already a figure of legend. During the dark battles, he was the one who had given the order to turn the interior of Blue Space into a vacuum, thereby preventing the crew from death in the infrasonic nuclear bomb attack. Even now, public opinion on Earth remained divided as to whether Blue Space’s actions during the dark battle should be classified as self-defense or murder. After the founding of dark forest deterrence, he was the one who had resisted the heavy pressure of majority opinion aboard and delayed Blue Space’s return, thus giving the ship sufficient time to escape after the warning from Bronze Age. There were many other rumors concerning Chu Yan. For instance, when Natural Selection had chosen to defect and escape the Doomsday Battle, he was the only captain to ask to give chase. Some claimed that he had a different purpose in mind, wanting to hijack Blue Space and escape along with Natural Selection. Of course, those were just rumors.
两群人之前，两舰的高级指挥官倒是混聚在一起。他们中最引人注目的是“蓝色空间”号的舰长褚岩上校，他四十三岁，看上去还要年轻些，是一位学者型的军人，风度儒推，言行举止沉稳中甚至带着一丝羞涩。但在地球世界，褚岩已是一个传奇人物。黑暗战役中，是他命令提前抽空了“蓝色空间”号内部的空气。在次声波核弹的最初攻击中免于覆灭，以至于在地球的舆论中，“蓝色空问”号在黑暗战役中是属于自卫还是谋杀仍有争议，黑暗森林威摄建立后。也是他力排众议，顶肴全舰思乡心切的巨大压力，没有全速回航地球。使得在接到“青铜时代”号的警报后有足够的时间逃离。关于褚岩还有许多传说，比如当初“自然选择”号叛逃时，他是唯一一名主动要求出航追击的舰长。有证据表明这是别有用心，他的真实目的是想劫持“蓝色空问”号与“自然选择”号一起叛逃，但这也只是传说。
“These trails were observed eight days ago in the stellar dust cloud near Trisolaris. Please pay attention to the video.”
“这是三体星系附近星际尘埃中的航迹，是我们在八天前观察到的。请各位注意看。”
“Almost everyone from the two ships is gathered here,” said Chu Yan. “Although much still divides us, we prefer to think of everyone as belonging to the same world, formed from Blue Space and Gravity. Before we plan the future of our world together, we need to take care of an urgent matter.”
褚岩说：“这里聚集了两艘飞船上的大部分人员，虽然我们之间还存在分歧，我们仍然把所有人看做是一个共同世界的人。这是一个由‘蓝色空间’号和‘万有引力’号共同组成的世界。在我们共同规划这个世界的未来之前，先要完成一件迫在眉睫的事。”
A large holographic display window appeared midair, showing somewhere in space where the stars were sparse. In the middle of the region was a faint white fog, and the fog was etched with several hundred straight parallel lines, like brush bristles. The white lines had clearly been enhanced and stood out in the image. In the past two centuries, these “brushes” had become very familiar to people, and some brands even used them in their logos.
空中出现一个巨大的全息显示窗口，显示着太空中一片星光稀疏的区域，画面正中有一片淡淡的白雾，雾中有一组刷子样的白色直线，由几百条平行线段组成，这些线段显然经过图像处理的加强，在画面中很醒目。两个多世纪以来，“雾中刷子”图案已为人们所熟悉，甚至被用来做商标。
Everyone stared at the image, and the trails could be seen to grow in the fog.
人们都盯着图像看，很快发现那些白线都有肉眼可以觉察的延伸。
“How many times have you sped up the video?” an officer from Gravity asked.
“这是多少倍快放？““万有引力”号的一名军官问。
“It’s not sped up at all.”
“没有快放，是原速。”
The crowd grew agitated, like a forest struck by a sudden rainstorm.
这话引发了人群中的一阵骚动，像初降的暴雨落人树丛一般。
“By a rough estimate… these ships are moving at close to the speed of light,” Captain Morovich of Gravity said. His voice was very tranquil. He had experienced too many incredible sights in the last two days.
“粗算一下，这……接近光速了。”“万有引力”号莫沃维奇舰长说，声音倒是很平静，这两天令人难以置信的事情太多了。
“That’s right. The Second Trisolaran Fleet is heading for Earth at lightspeed, and should arrive in four years.” Chu Yan looked at Gravity’s crew with caring eyes, as though sorry that he had to deliver this news. “After you left, the Earth sank into a dream of universal peace and prosperity, and completely misjudged the situation. Trisolaris has been waiting patiently, and now they’ve finally seized their chance.”
“是的，第二支三体舰队正在以光速驶向地球，四年后到达。”褚岩说，他用关切的目光看着“万有引力”号的人群。似乎对把这个信息告诉他们感到很不安，“你们起航后，地球世界一天天陷入大同盛世的梦幻中不能自拔，完全误判了形势。三体世界一直在等待，现在他们等到了机会。”
“How do we know this is authentic?” someone from Gravity called out.
“谁能证明这不是伪造的？！”‘万有引力“号的人群中有人喊。
“I can attest to it!” said Guan Yifan. Among the small gathering in front of the crews, he was the only one not in a military uniform. “My observatory had also detected the same trails. However, since I was focused on large-scale cosmological observations, I didn’t pay much attention to them. But I’ve gone back and retrieved the recorded data. The Solar System, the Trisolaran system, and our ships form a scalene triangle. The side between the Solar System and the Trisolaran system is the longest. The side between the Solar System and us is the shortest. The side going from the Trisolaran system to us is in between. In other words, we are closer to the Trisolaran system than the Solar System is to the Trisolaran system. About forty days from now, the Earth will also detect the trails we’re seeing.”
“我证明！”关一帆说，他在前面和军官们站在一起，是他们中唯一一个没穿军装的人，“我的观测站也观测到了同样的航迹，只是我主要进行大尺度的宇宙学观测，没有注意，经他们提醒我才把与此有关的观侧数据调出来看了。我们和三体星系、太阳系构成了一个不等边的三角形星系与太阳系是最长的一条边，我们与太阳系是最短的边，我们与三休星系连线的长度介于两者之间，就是说，我们与三体星系的距离比太阳系要近一些，地球大约将在四十天后观察到航迹。”
Chu Yan tapped in the air and brought up Cheng Xin’s picture on the holographic display. This picture of the new Swordholder had also just been obtained from Gravity. Cheng Xin stood in front of the UN Secretariat Building, holding a baby. Her picture had been blown up to be as large as the “brush” bristles, and the contrast between the two images couldn’t be sharper. The basic color scheme of space was black and silver — the depth of space and the cold light of the stars. But Cheng Xin resembled a Madonna from the East. A warm, golden glow bathed her and the baby, giving all those present the feeling of being close to the sun, a sensation that they had missed for half a century.
褚岩说着，在空中又调出了程心的照片，这是刚从“万有引力”号上得到的。画面上的程心在联合国大厦前抱着婴儿，这个画面放得与航迹的画面一样大，两者形成了鲜明的对比。太空的基色是肃杀的黑色和银色，分别来自空间的深渊和冰冷的星光；而程心真的像一个美丽的东方圣母，她与怀中的婴儿沐浴在柔和的金色阳光中，让人们又找回已久违半个世纪的离太阳很近时的感觉。
“I must conclude that the peace brought by dark forest deterrence has been breached. There are only two possibilities: The gravitational wave universal broadcast has been initiated, or it hasn’t.”
“现在可以肯定，黑暗森林威慑状态已不复存在，可能的结果有两个：引力波宇宙广播已经启动，或者没有启动。我们相信——”
Chu Yan took over. “We believe that something has already taken place on the Earth. More specifically, it happened about five hours ago, when the droplets attacked our two ships. Based on information provided by Gravity, that was the scheduled time for the Swordholder to transfer his authority to his successor. This was the opportunity Trisolaris had been waiting for for half a century. The two droplets had clearly been given orders before entering the blind zone. This was a long-planned, coordinated attack.
褚岩说：“我们相信，在地球那边事变已经发生，具体时间就是五小时前水滴对我们两舰发动袭击的时间，根据从”万有引力“号上得到的信息，那正是地球上两任执剑人之间刚刚完成交接的时间，这就是三体世界等待了半个世纪的机会。两个水滴显然在进人盲区之前就接到了指令，这是一个策划已久的整体计划。”
“How did they pick such a person to be Swordholder?” someone from Blue Space asked.
“你门怎么选了这样一个执剑人？”‘蓝色空间’号的人群中有人问。
“Don’t you know that there are no more men on Earth?” someone from Gravity shouted.
“你们不知道地球上已经没男人了吗？”‘万有引力’号的人群中有人喊道。
“Humans on Earth lost the ability to maintain dark forest deterrence,” Chu Yan said. “We had planned to capture Gravity and re-establish dark forest deterrence. But we’ve just found out that due to decay in the antenna, the ability to broadcast gravitational waves will only last two more months. Believe me, this has been an incredible blow to all of us. We have only one choice: immediately activate the universal broadcast.”
“地球人类确实巳经没有能力维持黑暗森林威慑。”褚岩说，“按照计划。我们将占领’万有引力‘号重建威慑。但刚刚知道了引力波天线衰变这回事。我们发射引力波的能力只能再维持两个月。请相信，这对我们所有的人都是极大的打击，现在只剩一个选择：立刻启动引力波宇宙广播。”
“We believe the latter scenario is true,” Chu Yan said.
“——我们相信是后者。”褚岩接着说。
The crowd erupted. Next to the view of cold space showing the lightspeed trails of the Trisolaran Fleet, Cheng Xin gazed at them, full of love. The two images portrayed their two choices.
人群大乱。在显示着三体舰队光速航迹的冷酷太空旁。怀抱婴儿的程心充满爱意地看着他们。这两幅对比鲜明的巨大画面，彰显着他们面临的两种选择。
Captain Morovich answered. “It’s been sixty years since you left home, and fifty for us. Everything on Earth has changed. Deterrence made a comfortable cradle, and as humanity napped inside, it regressed from an adult to a child.”
莫沃维奇舰长说：“‘万有引力’号起航已经六十多年，我们也飞了有半个世纪了，地球社会的一切椰在变化，威慑是个舒服的摇篮。人类躺在里面，由大人变成了孩子。”
“Then you’re just seeking revenge!” an officer from Gravity said.
“你们这是报复！”‘万有引力’一号的一名军官说。
“Vengeance against Trisolaris is our right. They must pay for the crimes they’ve committed. In war, it is right and just to destroy one’s enemies. If my deduction is correct, humankind’s gravitational wave transmitters have all been destroyed, and the Earth is now under occupation. It’s very likely that the genocide of the human race is underway.
无
Chu Yan maintained his serenity against the chaos. Ignoring Captain Morovich, he spoke to the crowd. “For us, initiating the broadcast is meaningless. Neither the Earth nor Trisolaris can catch us now.”
面对混，褚岩仍保持着平静，他没有理会莫沃维奇舰长，径自对人群说：“启动广播对我们没有任何意义。现在，不论是地球的追捕还是三体的追杀，我们都逃脱了，两个世界对我们都不再有威胁。”
“Activating the universal broadcast would give the Earth one last chance. If the location of the Solar System is revealed, it would no longer have any value to Trisolaris because it could be destroyed at any moment. This would force the Trisolarans to leave the Solar System, and their lightspeed fleet would have to turn away. We may be able to save the human race from immediate annihilation. To give them more time, our broadcast will include only the location of Trisolaris.”
“我们有权报复三体世界，他们应该为已经犯下的罪行负责。这是战争，消灭敌人天经地义。对于人类世界，按照上面的推论，现在他们所有的引力波发射装置都己被摧毁，地球己被控制，很可能，对人类的整体灭绝已经开始。启动宇宙广播是给地球一个最后的机会，太阳系的坐标暴露后，那里再没有任何占领的价值，毁灭随时可能降临，借此就能把太阳系的三体力量赶走；他们的光速舰队也不会再把太阳系作为目标，这就使人类至少避开了迫在眉睫的灭绝。另外，我们的引力波厂一播只公布三体星系的坐标。”
“Are you really willing to commit mundicide?” Captain Morovich demanded.
“你们要犯世界灭绝罪？！“莫沃维奇舰长质问道。
Everyone understood this. The sophons were permanently severed from home, and the droplets had been destroyed. Earth and Trisolaris thus had no way to trace them. In the vast, deep space beyond the Oort Cloud, even Trisolaran ships operating at lightspeed would never be able to find two motes of dust.
这是所有人都明白的一件事。隐伏在两舰上的智子进人盲区后不可恢复，它们与三体世界的联系永远中断，水滴也被摧毁，这样，两个世界就丢失了对两舰的跟踪。在奥尔特星云之外的茫茫太空中，即使以三体达到光速的技术力量，重新搜索到两艘灰尘般的飞船也是不可能的。
“That’s the same as revealing the Solar System! It’s too close.”
“这也等于公布了太阳系的坐标。”
“We all know that, but hopefully this will give the Earth a little more time and allow more humans to escape. Whether they will choose to do so is up to them.”
“是的，但希望能给地球更多的时间，让尽可能多的人类逃离太阳系，至于他们到底逃不逃，那是他们自己的事。”
A holographic rectangular red button about a meter long appeared between the two existing information windows. Below it was a number: 0.
褚岩说完，在空中已经出现的两个显示窗口之间又出现了一个全息窗口，显示的图形极为简洁，只有一个长方形的红色按钮，长度一米左右，下方有一个数字，目前显示为0。
“You’re talking about destroying two worlds!” said Captain Morovich. “And one of them is our mother. This decision is the Last Judgment. It cannot be made so lightly.”
“这毕竟是灭绝两个世界的行为，其中一个还是我们的母星，这个决定就像最后审判日的判决一样重大，是不能这么轻易做出的！”莫沃维奇说。
Chu Yan continued. “As I said earlier: together, we are one world. Everyone in this world is an ordinary person, but fate has put us into the position of making the last judgment about two worlds. This decision must be made, but a single person or even a few persons shouldn’t make it. This will be the decision of the whole world through a referendum. All in favor of broadcasting the location of Trisolaris to the universe, please press this red button. All opposed or abstaining, do nothing.
“我说过。我们是一个完整的世界，这个世界中的所有人都是普通人，但命运把我们推到了对两个世界做出最后审判的位置上。最后的决定必须做出，但不能由某个人或某些人做出，这将是这个世界的决定举行全民公决。现在，赞同对三体星系的坐标进行引力波宇宙广播的人，请按动这个红色按钮；反对或弃权的什么都不要做。”
“I agree.”
“同意。”
As the red button flashed, the tally crept up. These were the final beats of the heart of history, the final steps taken toward the terminal point.
随着按钮的红光一次次闪起，下面的统计数字在不断增长，这是历史心脏的最后跳动，是踏向一切的终点的最后步伐，令所有的人惊心动魄。
“Right now, the total number of people aboard Blue Space and Gravity, including all present and those on duty, is one thousand four hundred and fifteen. If the ayes reach or exceed two-thirds of the total, nine hundred forty-four, the universal broadcast will begin immediately. Otherwise, we will never activate the broadcast and let the antenna decay and fail. Begin.”
“各位，目前’蓝色空间‘号和’万有引力‘号上的人员总数，包括在场的和正在值勤岗位的，共1415人，如果赞成人数达到或超过总人数的三分之二，即944人，宇宙广播将立刻启动；否则，将直到天线失效，永不启动。下面，全民公决开始。”
Chu Yan turned and pressed the giant red button hovering in air. The button flashed, and the number below it turned from 0 to 1. Next, the two vice-captains of Blue Space pressed the buttons in quick succession. The tally went up to 3. Then the other senior officers of Blue Space, followed by the junior officers and enlisted men, filed past the red button in a long line, pressing the button again and again.
褚岩说完，转身按动了悬浮在空中的硕大的红色按钮，按钮闪了一下红光，表示点击生效，下面的数字由“0”变为“I”。紧接着，“蓝色空间”号的两位副舰长也先后按动按钮，统计数字跳到“3”；接下来是“蓝色空间”号上的其他高层军官，然后是人群中的中下层军官和士兵，他们以一列细长的队列飘过红色按钮，一次次按动它。
When the number reached 795, Guan Yifan pressed the button. He was the first person from Gravity to support the broadcast. After him, several more officers and enlisted men from Gravity also pressed the button.
数字跳到“795”时，关一帆按动了按钮，他是“万有引力”号上投赞成票的第一人。之后，又有几名“万有引力”号的军官和士兵按动按钮。
Finally, the number reached 943, and a large line of text appeared above the button:
终于，数字跳到了’‘944，一行醒目的大字浮现在按钮上方：
Three hundred fifteen years had passed since that morning in the twentieth century when Ye Wenjie had pushed another red button.
这时，距叶文洁在公元20世纪的那个清晨按下那个红色按钮已经三百一十五年了。
“Please wait,” Captain Morovich said. He drifted over and, as everyone watched, placed his hand atop the pile.
“请等一下。”莫沃维奇舰长突然说，他飘过来，在众目睽睽之下把手放在那摞手的最上方。
The next person to vote was an enlisted man. Many others were lined up behind him. He placed his hand above the button, but didn’t push. He waited until the ensign behind him put his hand on his, and then more hands joined theirs in a thick stack.
这时正好轮到队列中的一名士兵，排在他后面的还有很多人。他把，手放到按钮上，但没有按动，等着后面的一名少尉把手放到他的手上，接着又有许多双乎放上来，叠成高高的一摞。
The next affirmative vote will activate the universal broadcast.
再次点击，引力波宇宙广播将启动。
Then dozens of hands moved together, and the button flashed one more time.
然后，这几十只手一起按下，按钮闪起了最后的红光。
The gravitational wave broadcast began. Everyone present felt a strong tremor. The feeling seemed to come not from without, but from within each body, as though every person had become a vibrating string. This instrument of death played for only twelve seconds before stopping, and then everything was silent.
引力波发射启动了。所有人都感到了一阵强劲的振动，这振动似乎不是来自外部，而是自己的身体发出的，似乎每个人都变成了一根嗡嗡作响的琴弦。这死亡之琴只弹奏了十二秒就停止了，然后一切陷人寂静。
Outside the ship, the thin membrane of space-time rippled with the gravitational waves, like a placid lake surface disturbed by a night breeze. The judgment of death for both worlds spread across the cosmos at the speed of light.
在飞船外面，时空的薄膜在引力波中泛起一片涟漪，像风吹皱了暗夜中的湖面，对两个世界的死亡判决以光速传向整个宇宙。
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