The start of the Trisolar Crisis coincided with Cheng Xin’s completion of her graduate studies, and she was selected to join the task force working on the design of the propulsion system for the next generation of Long March rockets. To others, this seemed like the perfect job: important and high profile.
三体危机爆发时，程心刚结束学业参加工作，进人为新一代长征火箭研制发动机的课题组。这是一个在别人看来既重要又核心的地方。
But Cheng Xin had lost the enthusiasm for her chosen profession. Gradually, she had come to see chemical rockets as similar to the giant smokestacks of the early Industrial Age. Poets back then had praised those forests of smokestacks, thinking that they were the same as industrial civilization. People now praised rockets the same way, thinking they represented the Space Age. But if humanity relied on chemical rockets, they might never become a true spacefaring race.
但程心对自己专业的热情早已消退。她渐渐认识到，化学动力火箭就像工业革命初期的大烟简，那时的诗人赞美如林的大烟筒，认为那就是工业文明；现在人们同样赞美火箭，认为它代表着航天时代。事实上，依靠化学火箭可能永远也无法进人真正的航天时代。
The Trisolar Crisis simply highlighted this fact. Trying to build a Solar System defense system based on chemical rockets was pure lunacy. Cheng Xin had made an effort to keep her options open by picking some classes in nuclear propulsion. After the Crisis, all aspects of work within the aerospace system accelerated, and even the long-delayed first-generation space plane project was given the go-ahead. Her task force was also charged with designing the prototype for the engines that would be used by the plane in spaceflight. Professionally, Cheng Xin’s future seemed bright: Her abilities were recognized, and in China’s aerospace system, most chief engineers began their careers in propulsion design. But since she believed chemical rocketry was yesterday’s technology, she didn’t think she would get very far in the long term. Heading in the wrong direction was worse than doing nothing at all, but her job demanded her complete focus and attention. She was deeply frustrated.
三体危机的出现使这一事实一更加明显，依靠化学动力建立太阳系防御体系简直是痴人说梦。她一度有意使自己的专业面不要太窄，选修了许多核能方面的课程。危机爆发后，系统内各方面的工作都紧急加速，曾久拖不决的第一代空天飞机项目也飞快上马，她所在的课题组同时承担了空天飞机航天段发动机的前期设计。程心的专业前景似乎很光明，她的能力得到广泛赏识，而在航天系统中，总设计师们有很大比例是搞发动机专业出身的。但她坚信化学航天发动机已是夕阳技术，置身其中，个人和团队都走不了很远，在错误的方向上停止就等于前进，而她的工作意味着全身心投人错误的方向，这一度使她很苦脑。
The PIA Headquarters was located in an old six-story building not far from the UN Headquarters. Dating from the end of the eighteenth century, the building was thick and well-built, like a solid block of granite. When Cheng Xin entered it for the first time after her trans-Pacific flight, she felt a chill, as though entering a castle. The place wasn’t at all what she had expected from an intelligence agency for the whole world; it reminded her more of a place where byzantine plots were hatched through whispers.
PIA总部设在跟联合国大厦不远的一幢六层旧楼中，此楼建于18世纪末，结实厚重。像是一大块花岗岩。飞越大洋的程心第一次走进楼里，感到一阵城堡中的阴冷。这里与她想象中的地球世界的情报中心完全不同，更像一个在窃窃私语中产生拜占庭式阴谋的地方。
Cheng Xin took the job without hesitation.
程心毫不犹豫地接受了这个工作。
Then came an opportunity for her to leave chemical rockets behind. The United Nations began to create all sorts of agencies related to planetary defense. Unlike UN agencies from the past, these new agencies reported directly to the PDC, and were staffed by experts from various nations. The Chinese aerospace system sent many people to these agencies. A high-level official offered Cheng Xin a new position: Aide to the director of the Technology Planning Center for the PDC Strategic Intelligence Agency. Humanity’s intelligence-gathering work against the Trisolarans had so far focused on the ETO, but the PDC Strategic Intelligence Agency, or PIA, would focus their efforts directly on the Trisolaran Fleet and the home world of Trisolaris itself. They needed people with strong backgrounds in the technical aspects of aerospace technology.
很快出现了一个一个摆脱发动机专业的机会。联合国开始成立与行星防御有关的各种机构，这些机构与以前的联合国组织不同，它在行政上由行星防御理事会（PDC）领导，但主要由各国派遣人员组成。航天系统抽调了一大批各种级别的人员进人这类机构。领导找程心谈话，说那里有二个岗位想调她去，担任行星防御理事会战略情报局技术规划中心主任的航天技术助理。目前，人类世界的对敌情报工作主要集中在地球三体组。织这一渠道，试图通过他们获取三体世界的信息。但行星防御理事会战略情报局，简称PIA，是直接以三体舰队和母星为侦察目标的情报机构，有很强的宇技术背景。
The building was mostly empty; she was among the first to report for duty. In an office full of unassembled furniture and just-unsealed cardboard boxes, she met her boss, PIA’s Technology Planning Center director.
楼里空荡荡的，她是最早来报到的人。在办公室一堆刚拆封的办公设备和纸箱子中间，她见到了PIA技术规划中心主任。
Mikhail Vadimov was in his forties, muscular, tall, and spoke English with a heavy Russian accent. It took a few moments before Cheng Xin even realized that he was speaking English. He sat on a cardboard box and complained to her that he had worked in the aerospace industry for more than a dozen years and had no need for any technical assistance. Every country was eager to fill the PIA with its own people, but much less willing to give cold, hard cash. Then he seemed to realize that he was talking to a hopeful young woman who was growing rather dejected from his speech, and tried to comfort her by saying: “If this agency manages to make history — a big possibility, even if it probably won’t be very good history — we two will be remembered as the first to show up!”
米哈伊尔·瓦季姆，一个四十多岁魁梧强壮的俄罗斯人，说话带着突噜突噜的俄语调，程心好半天才意识到他在讲英语。他坐在纸箱子上向程心抱怨说，自己在航天专业做了十几年，不需要什么航天技术助理，各国都使劲向PIA塞人，却舍不得出钱。想到自己面前是一个年轻姑娘，他又安慰有些失落的程心说，如果这个机构以后创造了历史——这是完全有可能的，虽然不一定是好的历史一一那他们俩是最先到来的人。
Cheng Xin was cheered by the fact that she and her boss had both worked in aerospace. She asked Vadimov what he had worked on. He carelessly mentioned a stint on the Buran spacecraft; then that he’d served as the executive chief designer for a certain cargo-carrying spaceship; but after that, his explanations turned vague. He claimed that he had done a couple of years in diplomacy, then entered “some department” that “did the same kinds of things we do now.”
遇到同行使程心稍稍高兴了一些，她就向主任打听他都在专业上做过些什么，瓦季姆轻描淡写地说，他上世纪曾经参加过失败的前苏联“基风雪”号航天飞机的设计，后来担任过某型货运飞船的副总设计师，再后来的资历他有些含糊其辞，说在外交部干过两年，然后就到“某个部门”从事“我们现在这类工作”。
“The chief is here also. His office is upstairs. You should swing by and say hi, but don’t take up too much of his time.”
“局长也来了，他的办公室在楼上，你去见见他吧，但别耽误他太多的时间。”瓦季女说。
“It’s best if you don’t probe too much into the employment histories of your future colleagues, okay?” Vadimov said.
“对后面来的同事最好不要打听他们的工作经历。”瓦季姆说。
As soon as Cheng Xin walked into the PIA chief’s spacious office, she was greeted by the strong smell of cigar smoke. A large painting hung on the wall. A leaden sky and the dim, snow-covered ground took up most of the painting; in the distance, where the clouds met the snow, a few dark shapes lurked. A closer examination revealed them to be dirty buildings, most of them one-story clapboard houses mixed with a few European-style houses with two or three stories. Based on the shape of the river in the foreground and other hints in the geography, this was a portrait of New York at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The overwhelming impression given off by the painting was coldness, which Cheng Xin thought fit the person sitting under the painting rather well.
走进局长宽大的办公室，一股浓烈的雪茄味扑面而来。首先吸引程心目光的是墙上那幅大油画，广阔画面的大部分都被布满铅云的天空和晦暗的雪野所占据，在远景的深处，几乎到了云与雪交会的地方，有一片，黑糊糊的东西，细看是一片肮脏的建筑，大部分是低矮的板房，其间有几幢两三层的欧式楼房。从画面前方那条河流和其他的地形看，这可能是18世纪初的纽约。这画给程心最大的感觉就是冷，倒是很符合坐在画下那个人的形象。
Next to the large painting was a smaller picture. The main subject in the painting was an ancient sword with a golden cross guard and a bright, shining blade, held in a hand enclosed in bronze gauntlets — only the forearm was shown. The hand was lifting the sword to pick up a wreath woven from red, white, and yellow flowers floating over the water. In contrast to the larger painting, this picture was bright and colorful, but it nonetheless radiated eeriness. Cheng Xin noticed that bloodstains covered the white flowers in the wreath.
这幅画旁边还有一幅较小的油画，画面的主题是一把古典样式的剑，带着金色的护腕，剑锋雪亮，握在一只套着青铜盔甲的手中，这只手只画到小臂；这只握着剑的手正从蓝色的水面上捞起一个花冠，花冠由红、白、黄三色的鲜花编成。这幅画的色调与大画相反，华丽明艳，但隐藏着一种不祥的诡异，程心注意到，花冠的白花上有明显的血迹。
PIA Chief Thomas Wade, an American, was far younger than Cheng Xin had expected — he looked younger than Vadimov. He was also more handsome, with very classical features. Later, she would conclude that the classical appearance came mostly from Wade’s expressionless face, like a cold, lifeless statue transplanted out of the cold painting behind him. Wade didn’t look busy — the desk in front of him was completely empty, with no sign of a computer or paper documents. He glanced up as she entered, but returned to contemplating the cigar in his hand almost right away.
PLA局长托马斯·维德比程心想象的年轻许多，看上去比瓦季姆都年轻，也比后者长得帅，脸上的线条很古典。程心后来发现，这种古典的感觉多半来自他的面无表情，像从后面的油画中搬出来的一座冰冷的雕像。他看上去不忙，前面的大办公桌上空空荡荡，没有电脑和文件，他正专心致志地研究着手中雪茄的烟头，程心进来后，他只是抬头扫了一眼，然后，又继续研究烟头。
Cheng Xin thought she saw exhaustion and laziness in those eyes, but there was also something deeper, something sharp that made her uncomfortable. A smile appeared on Wade’s face, like water seeping out of a crack in the frozen surface of a river; there was no real warmth, and it didn’t relax her.
那目光给程心最初的印象是疲倦和懒散，但在深处隐约透出一丝令她不安的锐利。他脸上出现了一抹笑意，但丝毫没有使程心感到温暖和放松，那微笑像冰封的河面上一条冰缝中渗出的冰水，在冰面上慢慢弥散开来。
Cheng Xin introduced herself and expressed her pleasure at having a chance to study from him, and continued until Wade lifted his eyes to look at her.
当程心介绍完自己并请他以后多多指教时，他才抬起头来。
She tried to respond with a smile of her own, but the first words out of Wade’s mouth froze her face and entire body. “Would you sell your mother to a whorehouse?”
程心试着报以微笑，但维德的第一句话让她的微笑和整个人都凝固了。“你会把你妈卖给妓院吗？”维德问。
After she told Vadimov what had happened, Vadimov laughed. “That’s just a line that used to be popular in our… trade. I heard it started back during the Second World War. Veterans would use it as a joke on novices. The point is: Our profession is the only one on Earth where lies and betrayal are at the very heart of what we do. We have to be… flexible when it comes to commonly accepted ethical norms. PIA is formed from two groups of people: Some are technical experts like you; others are veterans of the various intelligence agencies in the world. These two groups have different ways of thinking and acting. It’s a good thing that I’m familiar with both and can help you adjust to the other.”
听程心说完这次跟局长见面的事后，瓦季姆一笑置之，“呵呵，这是业内曾流传的一句……一句……就是一句话吧，可能起源于二战时期。老鸟常用它来调侃新手，它是说：地球上只有我们这个行业是以欺骗和背叛为核心的。对于有些公认的准则，我们应该适当地……怎么说呢……灵活一些。PIA由两部分人组成，一部分是你这样的专业人页，另一部分来自情报和军队的秘密战部门，这两种人的思想方法和行为方式很不一样——好在两者我都熟悉，我会帮助你们互相适应的。”
Cheng Xin shook her head no, but she wasn’t even trying to respond to the question; she was terrified that she had not understood what he said. But Wade waved at her with his cigar. “Thanks. Go do what needs to get done.”
程心惊恐地摇摇头，不是表示她不会把她妈卖给妓院，而是怀疑自己是不是听错了。但维德挥挥夹雪茄的手说：“谢谢，忙你的事儿去吧。”
Two days after Cheng Xin’s arrival, PIA held its first all-hands meeting, even though not everyone had shown up yet. Other than PIA Chief Wade, there were three assistant chiefs: one from China, one from France, and one from the United Kingdom.
两天后，PIA第一次全体会议召开，其实这时人员仍未到齐。除了维德外，P认还有三位副局长，分别来自英国、法国和中国。
They were polite to each other, but there was no trust. The technical experts kept to themselves and acted as if they were on guard against theft every minute. The intelligence veterans were gregarious and friendly — but they were constantly on the lookout for something to steal.
大家相互之间彬彬有礼，但充满了猜忌和不信任。专业人员一副老死不相往来的样子，捂紧口袋总怕被别人偷走些什么。
“But our enemy is Trisolaris. This is nothing like traditional intelligence.”
“可我们是直接面对三体世界的，这不是传统的情报工作。”程心说。
Over the next few days, other new PIA staff members reported for duty. Most of them came from countries that were permanent members of the PDC.
后续报到的人员陆续到来，主要来自行星防御理事会的常任理事国。
Assistant Chief Yu Weiming spoke first. Cheng Xin had no idea what kind of work he had done in China — and he had the sort of face that took multiple meetings to remember what he looked like. Fortunately, he didn’t engage in the habit — common among Chinese bureaucrats — of giving long, meandering speeches. Though he was just repeating platitudes about the PIA’s mission, at least he spoke succinctly.
来自中国的于维民副局长首先讲话，程心不知道他来自国内什么部门，他属于那种让人见三次才能记住长相的人，好在他的讲话没有国内官员的冗长拖拉，很简洁明了，不过说的也是这类机构成立时的陈词滥调。
It was just like Vadimov had predicted: These people were far more interested in spying on each other than gathering intelligence on Trisolaris.
情报人员则异常活跃友好。总想偷到些什么。正如瓦季姆所说，相对于侦察三体世界，这些人对相互之间搞情报更感兴趣。
“Some things are constant.”
“有些东西是不会改变的。”
While Assistant Chief Yu was giving this speech, Cheng Xin noticed that Wade was kicking the table legs and slowly maneuvering his chair away from the conference table as though he didn’t want to be there. Later, whenever anyone asked him to say a few words, he shook his head and refused.
当于副局长开始讲话时，程心注意到维德用一只脚蹬着桌腿，把自己慢慢推离了会议桌，一副置身事外的样子。后面每一个官员讲完后请他讲话，他都摆摆手谢绝了。
Finally, after everyone who wanted to make a speech had done so, he spoke. Pointing at the pile of boxes and fresh office supplies in the meeting room, he said, “I’d like the rest of you to take care of these matters on your own.” Apparently, he was referring to the administrative details of getting the agency up and running. “Please don’t take up my time or theirs”– here he pointed at Vadimov and his staff. “I need everyone in the Technology Planning Center with experience in spaceflight engineering to stay. The rest of you are dismissed.”
最后实在没官员再有话可讲厂，他才开门。他指指会议室中堆放的未安装的办公设备和包装箱，“这些事，”显然是指机构建立时的事务性工作，“请你们辛苦一下自己去做，不要用它们来占我的时间，也不能占他们的时间。”他指指瓦季姆，“谢谢！请技术规划中心航天专业的人员留下，散会。”
Assistant Chief Yu said that he understood that everyone in the PIA was sent by their own country, and so they had dual loyalties. PIA didn’t demand, and didn’t even hope, that they would place their loyalty to the agency above their duties to their own nations. However, since the PIA’s task was the protection of the entire human race, he hoped that everyone present would at least try to balance the two appropriately. Considering that the PIA was going to work directly against the Trisolaran threat, they ought to become the most united of the new agencies.
于维民副局长说，在座的各位从本质上属于国家派遣人员，显然都在双重领导之下，PIA不要求、也不奢望他们把对本机构的忠诚置于国家责任之上，但鉴于PIA从事的是保卫人类文明的伟大事业，希望各位把这两者做一个较好的平衡。由于PIA直接面对外星人侵者，无疑应成为最团结的团体。
“What are the specific requirements?” asked Vadimov. He was the only one who seemed to take Wade’s announcement in stride.
“有具体指标吗？”瓦季姆问，他是唯一代个不动声色的人。
About a dozen people remained in the now much less crowded conference room. As soon as the heavy oak doors closed, Wade dropped his bomb. “The PIA must launch a spy probe at the Trisolaran Fleet.”
留下来的有十几个人，会场清静了许多。会议室那古旧的橡木大门刚刚关上，维德便像出膛子弹般地吐出一句话：“各位，PIA要向三体舰队：发射探测器。”
The stunned staff members looked at each other. Cheng Xin was surprised as well. She had certainly hoped to get to substantive technical work quickly, but she hadn’t expected such directness or speed. Considering that the PIA had just been formed and there were, as yet, no national or regional branches, it seemed ill-equipped to take on big projects. But the real shocker was the boldness of Wade’s proposal: The technical challenges and other barriers seemed insurmountable.
大家先是呆若木鸡，然后面面相觑。程心也十分吃惊，她当然希望尽早摆脱杂事进人专业工作，但没想到这么快，这么单刀直人。目前，PIA刚刚成立，各国和地区的分支机构一个都没有建立。不具备正式开展工作的条件。但令程心震惊的是维德出的想法本身，无论从技术上还是从其他方面看，都太不可思议了。
“I’ve consulted with the delegates of the permanent members of the PDC in private, but the idea hasn’t yet been formally presented. Based on what I know, the PDC members are most interested in one specific requirement — and this is something that they won’t compromise on: The probe must achieve one percent of lightspeed. The permanent members of the PDC have different ideas about other parameters, but I’m sure they’ll come to some compromise during formal discussions.”
“我已经就这个设想与各常任理事国代表私下协商过，但没有在PDC会议上正式提出。就目前我所知道的，各常任理事国对一个指标最感兴趣，这是他们同意投人的不可妥协的死条件：让探测器达到百分之一的光速。其他指标各国说法不一，但都是可以在正式会议上协商的。”
Wade shook his head. “With those sophons zipping about at lightspeed, spying on us constantly, and completely blocking all fundamental physics research, it’s no longer certain that we’ll make significant technological progress in the future. If humanity is doomed to crawl at a snail’s pace through space, we’d better get started as soon as possible.”
维德摇头说：“未来的技术进步现在已成为不确定的事情，如果人类在太空中一直是蜗牛的速度，那我们就应该尽早开始爬。”
Cheng Xin suspected that Wade’s plan was at least partly motivated by politics. The first effort by humanity to make active contact with an extraterrestrial civilization would enhance the PIA’s status.
程心想，这里面可能还有政治因素。这是人类最先做出的直接接接触外星文明的行动，对PIA的地位至关重要。
An expert from NASA spoke up. “Let me get this straight. Given those mission parameters, and supposing we only worry about acceleration and provide no way for the probe to decelerate, the probe will take two to three centuries to reach the Oort Cloud. There, it will intercept and examine the decelerating Trisolaran Fleet. Forgive me, but this seems a project better reserved for the future.”
一位来自NASA1的顾问说：“就是说，如果考虑加速阶段，但不考虑减速，探测器将在两到三个世纪到达奥尔特星云，并在那里接触和探测已开始减速的三体舰队？似乎应该是未来做的事。”
“But given the current state of spaceflight technology, it will take twenty, maybe thirty thousand years to reach the Oort Cloud. Even if we launch the probe right now, we won’t have gotten very far from Earth’s front door by the time the Trisolaran Fleet arrives in four hundred years.”
“可是按照人类现在的宇航速度，到达奥尔特星云需要两三万年时间，如果现在发射探测器，可能四百年后敌方舰队到达时还没有飞出家门口。”
“That is precisely why the probe must achieve one percent of lightspeed.”
“所以说光速的百分之一是一个必须达到的指标。”
Wade slammed his fist down on the table. “You forget that we now have resources! Before, spaceflight was merely a luxury, but now it’s an absolute necessity. We can ask for resources that far exceed what was imaginable before. We can throw resources at this problem until the laws of physics bend. Rely on brute force if you have to, but we must accelerate the probe to one percent of lightspeed!”
维德坚定地用拳头一砸桌子，“别忘了我们有资源！以前航天只是一个边缘化的事业，现在进人主流了，所以我们有以前难以想象的巨大资源可以动用！我们用资源改变原理，把巨大的资源聚焦在那个小小的东西上，美国国家航空航天局用野蛮的力量把它推进到光速的百分之一！”
“You’re talking about boosting our current maximum speed a hundredfold! That requires a brand-new form of propulsion. We can’t achieve that kind of acceleration with current technology, and there’s no reason to expect a technical breakthrough within the foreseeable future. This proposal is fundamentally impossible.”
“把目前的宇航速度提高一百倍？别说飞船或探测器，就是发动机喷口喷出的工质的速度都比那个速度低几个数量级。按照动量原理，要使飞船达到光速的百分之一，喷出的工质要首先超过那个速度，进一步使加速的时间在可接受的范围内，工质的速度就要大大超出光速的百分之一，这在目前绝对做不到。我们也不可能期待短期内的技术突破，所以这个设想从基本原理上讲不可能。”
Vadimov instinctively looked around the room. Wade glanced at him. “Don’t worry. There are no reporters or outsiders anywhere near here.”
瓦季姆本能地抬头四下肴看，维德敏锐地察觉到了他在看什么，“放心，没有记者和外人。”
Vadimov laughed. “Please don’t take offense. But saying we want to throw resources at the problem until the laws of physics bend is going to make our agency the laughingstock of the world. Please don’t repeat it in front of the PDC.”
瓦季姆笑着摇摇头，“我不想冒犯您。用资源改变原理这话，传出去会让人笑话的，这里讲讲可以。可千万别在PDC会议上说。”
Everyone held their tongue. The staff just wanted the meeting to be over. Wade looked at everyone in turn, then returned his gaze to Cheng Xin. “No, not everyone. She’s not laughing.” He pointed at her. “Cheng, what do you think?”
所有人都沉默着，大家只想让这个讨论快些结束。维德的目光扫过会议室，突然说：“啊，不是所有人，她没笑话我。”他抬手直指程心，“程，你的想法？”
Cheng Xin was even more baffled. MD? McDonald’s? Doctor of medicine?
程心更茫然了，MD，麦道？医学博士？
“But you’re Chinese! How can you not know MD?”
“你是中国人，不知道MD？”
Under Wade’s keen gaze, Cheng Xin felt as if he were pointing a sword at her, not a finger. She looked around helplessly. Who was she to talk?
在维德锐利的目光下，程心感到维德指向她的不是手指，而是一把剑。她茫然四顾，这里轮得到她说话吗？
Cheng Xin looked at the other five Chinese in the room; they looked just as confused.
程心求助地看看在场的另外五名中国人，他们也一样茫然。
“We need to implement MD here,” said Wade.
“我们这里应该提倡MD。”维德说。
“During the Korean War, the Americans discovered that even common Chinese soldiers taken as prisoners seemed to know a lot about their own field strategies. It turned out that your commanders had presented the battle plans to the troops for mass discussion, hoping thereby to find ways to improve them. Of course, if you become Trisolaran prisoners of war in the future, we don’t want you to know that much.”
“朝鲜战争中，美军发现你们被俘的士兵竞然知道得那么多，你们把作战方案交给基层部队讨论，希望从士兵的讨论中得到更多的好办法，这就是MD。当然，未来你被俘时，我们可不希望你知道那么多。”
“I already know you’re all laughing at me.”
“我知道你们己经在笑话我了。”
Cheng Xin began: “I do have an idea –“
程心说：‘我是有一个想法……”
A few of those present laughed. Cheng Xin finally understood that MD meant “military democracy.” The others in the conference room enthusiastically supported Wade’s proposal. Of course, these elite experts didn’t expect a mere technical aide to have any brilliant ideas, but they were mostly men, and they thought that by giving her a chance to talk, they would have a perfect excuse to appreciate her physical attributes. Cheng Xin had always made an effort to dress conservatively, but this sort of harassment was something she had to deal with constantly.
会场上响起了几声笑，现在程心知道了MD是’军事民主“。与会者们对这个提议也很赞同。这些航天界的技术精英当然不指望从一个技术助理那里听到什么有价值的东西，但他们大多是男人，至少在这个过程中，可以毫无顾忌地欣赏她了。程心尽量使自己的穿着庄重低调，但并没有降低她的吸引力。
“Well, more like getting around the laws of physics.” Cheng Xin smiled at Camille politely. “The most promising resource at our disposal is the stockpile of nuclear weapons from around the world. Without some technical breakthrough, these represent the most powerful sources of energy we can launch into space. Imagine a spaceship or probe equipped with a radiation sail, similar to a solar sail: a thin film capable of being propelled by radiation. If we set off nuclear bombs behind the sail periodically –“
“绕开原理。”程心礼貌地对柯曼琳点点头，“目前最可能被利用的资源，我想是核武器，在没有技术突破的情况下，那是人类可能投放到太空中的最大能量体。想象有这样一艘飞船或探测器，带有一个面积巨大的辐射帆，就是类似于太阳帆的那种能被辐射推动的薄膜；在辐射帆的后面不远处。以一定的时间间隔连续产生核爆炸……”
“An idea for bending the laws of physics?” The speaker was an older Frenchwoman named Camille, a highly respected and experienced consultant from the European Space Agency. She looked at Cheng Xin contemptuously, as though she didn’t belong in the room.
“用资源改变原理？”一个叫柯曼琳的上了年纪的法国女人用轻蔑的口吻说，她是来自欧洲航天局的高级顾问，觉察到了男人们集中到程心身上的那种眼光，她感到很不舒服。
“She didn’t manage to bend the laws of physics, but she did fulfill the other aspect of the chief’s demand,” another consulting expert said. “I’m just sorry to see such a pretty girl fall under the spell of brute force.” The wave of laughter reached a crescendo.
“改变原理没有做到，但野蛮做到了，真遗憾是你这样一个美人儿做的。”另一位顾问说，把笑声推向高潮。
A few titters. Camille laughed the loudest. “My dear, you have sketched for us a scene out of a cartoon. Your spaceship is filled with a pile of nuclear bombs, and there’s a giant sail. On the ship is a hero who bears more than a passing resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger. He tosses the bombs behind the ship, where they explode to push the ship forward. Oh, it’s so cool!” As the rest of the staff joined in the mirth, she continued. “You may want to review your homework from freshman year in college and tell me: one, how many nuclear bombs your ship will have to carry; and, two, with that kind of thrust-to-weight ratio, what sort of acceleration you can achieve.”
又响起几声笑，柯曼琳笑得最响，“亲爱的，你给我们提供了一个卡通式的场景：一艘载着一大堆核弹的飞船，有巨大的帆，船上的一个像施瓦辛格般强壮的男人把一枚枚核弹抛向船尾，让它们在那里爆炸，真的很酷。”在越来越多的笑声中，她接着说，“你最好重做一遍大一的作业，算算推重比。”
“The bombs will not be on the ship,” Cheng Xin replied calmly. The laughter ceased abruptly; it was as if she had put her hand on the surface of a struck cymbal. “The probe itself will be a tiny core equipped with sensors attached to a large sail, but the total mass will be light as a feather. It will be easy to propel it with the radiation from extravehicular nuclear detonations.”
“核弹不在飞船上。”程心从容地说，她这句话像一只手捂在锣面上，使周围的笑声戛然而止，“飞船只是由帆和探测器组成，轻得像一片羽毛，很容易被核爆炸的辐射加速。”
The conference room became very quiet. Everyone was trying to think where the bombs would be. While the others were mocking Cheng Xin, Wade’s mien had remained chilly and unmoved. But now, that smile, like water seeping from a crack in the ice, gradually reappeared on his face.
会场陷人沉默，大家都在想核弹在哪里，但没有人问。刚才众人哄笑时，维德一直一脸冰霜地坐在那里，现在，那种冰水似的微笑却在他的脸上慢慢浮现。
Cheng Xin retrieved a stack of paper cups from the drinking water dispenser behind her and laid them out on the conference table in a line. “We can use traditional chemical rockets to launch the nuclear bombs in advance, and distribute them along the first segment of the probe’s route.” She took a pencil and moved its tip along the line, from one cup to the next. “As the probe passes each bomb, we detonate it right behind the sail, accelerating it faster and faster.”
程心从身后的饮水机旁拿过一打纸杯，把它们一个个在桌面上按等距离放置好，“核弹分布在飞船的最初一小段航线上，预先用传统的推进方式发射到那里。”她拿着一支笔沿那排杯子移动，“飞船在经过每一颗核弹的一瞬间，核弹在帆后爆炸，产生推进力。”
The men now moved their gazes away from Cheng Xin’s body. They were finally willing to take her proposal seriously. Only Camille continued to stare at her, as though at a stranger.
男人们的目光依次从程心身上移开了，现在他们终于开始认真考虑她所说的话，对她的欣赏暂时顾不上了，只有柯曼琳始终盯着程心看，好像不认识她似的。
“We can call this technique ‘en-route propulsion.’ This initial segment is the acceleration leg, and it takes up only a tiny fraction of the overall course. As a very rough estimate, if we use one thousand nuclear bombs, they can be distributed along a path of about five astronomical units stretching from the Earth to Jupiter’s orbit. Or we could even compress it further and distribute the bombs within Mars’s orbit. That’s definitely achievable with our current technology.”
“我们可以把这种方式叫航线推进，这段航线叫推进航段，它只占整条航线中极小的一部分，以一千颗推进核弹估算，可以分布在从地球到木1即发动机的推力和发动机质量的比值。程心想象的飞船如果运载大童核弹，本身质量大，推重比极低，不可能达到很高的速度。星的五个天文单位上，甚至更短，把推进航段压缩到火星轨道以内，以目前的技术。这是可以做到的。”
The silence was broken by a few whispers. Gradually, the voices grew louder and more excited, like a drizzle turning into a rainstorm.
沉默中出现零星的议论声，渐渐密集，像由零星的雨点转为大雨。
Cheng Xin smiled at him. “It’s based on an old idea in aerospace circles. Stanislaw Ulam first proposed something like it back in 1946. It’s called nuclear pulse propulsion.”
程心对他笑笑说：“以前航天界就有这种构想，叫脉冲推进方式。”
“You didn’t just come up with this idea, did you?” asked Wade. He had been listening to the discussion intently.
“你好像不是刚刚才有这种想法吧？”一直在专心听讨论的维德突然问道。
“Dr. Cheng,” Camille said, “we all know about nuclear pulse propulsion. But those previous proposals all required the fuel to be carried aboard the ship. The idea of distributing the fuel along the spacecraft’s route is indeed your invention. At least, I’ve never heard the suggestion before.”
柯曼琳说：“程博士，脉冲推进设想我们都知道，但推进源是装载在飞船上的。把推进源放置在航线上确实是你的创造，至少我没听说过这种想法。”
Wade slammed the table again. “Enough! Don’t get bogged down on details right now. We’re not evaluating feasibility; rather, we’re trying to figure out if it’s worthwhile to study the idea’s feasibility. Focus on big-picture barriers.”
维德拍了拍桌子，“现在不要纠缠在细节上。我们不是在搞可行性研究，而是在探讨对它进行可行性研究的可行性，看看大的方面还有什么障碍。”
The discussion grew heated. The assembled experts tore into the idea like a pack of hungry wolves presented with a piece of fresh meat.
稍微平息了一下的讨论又继续下去，并很快超过了刚才的热度，这些人就像一群饿狼遇到了一大块鲜肉。
After a brief silence, Vadimov said, “The best thing about this proposal is that it’s easy to get started.”
短暂的沉默后，瓦季姆说：“这个方案的一大优势是：启动很容易。”
A few seemed to want to speak up, but finally decided to remain quiet. None of them thought their own ideas could compete with Cheng Xin’s. Eventually, everyone’s eyes focused on her again, but this time, the meaning was completely different.
没人说话，有人欲言又止，显然觉得自己的想法很难同程心的竞争大家的目光又渐渐集中到她身上，只是眼神与上次不同了。
Everyone immediately caught on to Vadimov’s meaning. The first step in Cheng Xin’s plan involved launching a large number of nuclear bombs into orbit around the Earth. Not only did humanity possess such technology, the bombs were already on launch vehicles: the ICBMs in service could easily be repurposed for this use. American Peacekeepers, Russian Topols, and Chinese Dongfengs could all directly launch their payloads into near-Earth orbits. Even intermediate-range ballistic missiles, if retrofitted with booster rockets, could do the job. Compared to the post-Crisis nuclear disarmament plans that required destroying the missiles, this plan would be far cheaper.
在这里的都是聪明人，很快明白了瓦季姆这话的含义：方案的第一步是把大量核弹送人地球轨道，运载工具是现成的，用在役的洲际导弹即可，美国的”和平卫士“、俄罗斯的”白杨“和中国的”东风“，都可以直接把核弹送人近地轨道，甚至中程弹道导弹加上助推火箭都能做到这一点。比起危机出现后达成的大规模削减核武器协议的方案——在地面把导弹和核弹头拆解销毁，这个方法成本要低得多。
“Excellent. For now, let’s pause our discussion of Cheng Xin’s en-route propulsion idea. Any other proposals?” Wade looked around the room.
“好了，现在停止对程的航线推进的讨论。其他的方案？”维德用询问的目光扫视着程心之外的所有人。
“Since the probe’s velocity would go up a level each time a bomb explodes, it’s a bit like climbing a flight of stairs,” Vadimov said. “I suggest we call it the Staircase Program. Besides the requirement of a final velocity exceeding one percent of lightspeed, another parameter to keep in mind is the mass of the probe.”
“核弹的每一次爆炸都使飞船的速度增加一级，很像在登一道阶梯，就叫阶梯计划吧。”瓦季姆说，“除了光速的百分之一。对该方案进行可行性性研究还需要一个重要指标：探测器的质量。”
“We’ll meet twice more to brainstorm and see if we can come up with a few more options. But we might as well get started on the feasibility study for en-route propulsion. We’ll need a code name.”
“这样的会要再开两次，希望能有更多的方案和选择。在此之前，航线推进方案立刻进行可行性研究，为它起一个代号吧。”
“Then the key will be the mass of the probe itself.”
“那就剩探测器本身了。”
“A radiation sail can be made very thin and light. Based on the current state of material sciences, we can make a sail of about fifty square kilometers and limit the mass to about fifty kilograms. That should be big enough.” The speaker was a Russian expert who had once directed a failed solar sail experiment.
“辐射帆可以做得很薄很轻，按现有的材料技术，五十平方千米的面积可控制在五十公斤左右，这么大应该够了。”一名俄罗斯专家说，他曾主持过那次失败的太阳帆试验。
“If we include some basic sensors and take into account the necessary antenna and radioisotope power source to transmit information back from the Oort Cloud, about two to three thousand kilograms ought to do it.”
“考虑到基本的探测设备，以及从奥尔特星云发回可识别信号所需的天线尺寸和同位素电源的质金，总重两至三吨吧。”
Everyone’s eyes turned to another man in the room, the chief designer of the Cassini-Huygens probe.
大家的目光集中到一个人身上，他是“卡西尼”号探测器的总侧十师。
“No!” Vadimov shook his head. “It has to be like Cheng Xin said: light as a feather.”
“不行！”瓦季姆坚决地摇摇头，“必须像程所说的那样：像羽毛一样轻。”
“If we stick with the most basic sensors, maybe one thousand kilograms would be enough. I can’t guarantee that’s going to succeed — you’re giving me almost nothing to work with.”
“把探测功能压缩到最低，一吨左右吧，这有点太少了，还不知行不行。”
“You’re going to have to make it work,” said Wade. “Including the sail, the entire probe cannot exceed one metric ton in mass. We’ll devote the strength of the entire human race to propel one thousand kilograms. Let’s hope that’s light enough.”
“你必须行。再把帆算进去，总体重不能超过一吨。”维德说，“用全人类的力量推进一吨的东西，应该够轻了。”
During the next week, Cheng Xin slept only on airplanes. As part of a task force led by Vadimov, she shuttled back and forth between the space agencies of the US, China, Russia, and Europe to coordinate the feasibility study of the Staircase Program. During that week, Cheng Xin got to travel to more places than she had in her life up to that point, but she didn’t get to do any sightseeing except through the windows of cars and conference rooms.
在以后的一周时间里，程心的睡眠几乎全是在飞机上完成的。她现在属于由瓦季姆率领的一个小组中，在美、中、俄和欧盟这四大航天实体问奔波，布置和协调阶梯计划的可行性研究。程心这一周到过的地方比她预计一生要去的都多，但都只能从车窗和会议室的窗户看到外面的风景。
At first, they had thought they could get all the space agencies to do a combined feasibility study, but that turned out to be an impossible political exercise. In the end, each space agency performed an independent analysis. The advantage of this approach was that the four studies could be compared to get a more accurate result, but it also meant that the PIA had to do a lot more work. Cheng Xin worked harder on this project than anything in her professional career — it was her baby, after all.
本来计划各大航天机构组成一个可行性研究组，但做不到，可行性研究只能由各国航天机构各自进行，这样做的优点是能够对各国的结果进行对比，得到更准确的结果，但PIA的工作量就增大了许多。程心对此产生了前所未有的工作热情，因为这毕竟是她提出的方案。
Wade’s expression didn’t change. “Don’t be sad. I have even worse news: At the last session of the PDC, the resolution proposing the Staircase Program was voted down.”
在汇报会上听到这个信息后，维德无动于衷地说：“不必沮丧，因为我带来了更坏的消息：在最近的一届行星防御理事会会议上，阶梯计划的提案被否决了。”
Then came some very bad news: In order to reach the required speed of 1 percent of lightspeed, the mass for the entire probe assembly had to be reduced by 80 percent — to only 200 kilograms. Subtracting the mass reserved for the sail left only 180 kilograms for sensors and communication devices.
然后是一个大大的坏消息：要想达到P1A要求的百分之一光速，探测器的整体质量要减到计划中的五分之一，也就是两百公斤，去掉帆的质量留给探测和通信装置的只有一百八十公斤了。
Of the seven permanent members of the PDC, four voted no. Their reasons were surprisingly similar. In contrast to the technical staff of the PIA with background in spaceflight, the delegates were not interested in the propulsion technology. They objected that the probe’s intelligence value was too limited — in the words of the American representative, “practically nil.”
七个常任理事国中的四个对阶梯计划投了否决票，否决的理由惊人地一致：与PlA的航天专业人员的关注不同，他们对推进方式兴趣不大，主要是认为探测器的侦察效果极其有限，用美国代表的话说：“几乎等于零。”
The four feasibility studies quickly reached preliminary conclusions, which were very similar to each other. The good news was that the area of the radiation sail could be shrunk to twenty-five square kilometers, and with even more advanced materials, the mass of the sail could be reduced to twenty kilograms.
PHA很快收到了来自美、中、俄和欧洲航天局的四份初步可行性研究报告，结果十分接近。首先是一个小小的好消息：辐射帆的面积可以大大减小，只需二十五平方千米，加上材料的进一步优化，其质量可减至二十公斤。
Moreover, due to the presence of sophons, the plan for sending a probe would be completely transparent to the enemy, making its chances of successfully gathering any valuable intelligence nonexistent. Considering the enormous investment required to implement such a plan, the benefits were too minuscule. Most of the plan’s value was purely symbolic, and the great powers were simply insufficiently interested. The other three permanent members of the PDC voted yes only because they were interested in the propulsion technology.
还有一个重要原因：由于智子的存在，探测器计划从头到尾对敌人而言完全透明，使成功的机会更渺茫了。总之，相对于计划的巨大投人而言，所获甚微，更多的是象征意义，各大国对此不感兴趣。他们最感兴趣的是把探测器推进到光速百分之一的技术，正因为这一点，另外三个常任理事国才投了赞成票。
This was because the proposed probe had no way to decelerate. Even taking into account the fact that the Trisolaran Fleet would be decelerating, the probe and the fleet would pass by each other at a relative speed of around 5 percent of lightspeed (assuming the probe wasn’t captured by the fleet). The window for gathering intelligence would be extremely small. Since the small mass of the probe made active sensors such as radar impractical, the probe was limited to passive sensing, mainly of electromagnetic signals. Given the advanced state of Trisolaran technology, it was almost certain that the enemy would not be using electromagnetic radiation, but media such as neutrinos or gravitational waves — techniques beyond the current state of human technology.
因为探测器没有减速能力，就是考虑到三体舰队的减速，双方也将至少以光速的百分之五的相对速度擦肩而过（在探测器没有被敌舰捕获的情况下），探测窗口很狭窄。由于探测器的质量限制，不可能进行雷达等主动探测，只能进行信息接收的被动探测。可接收的信息主要是电磁波，而敌人的通信肯定早就不用电磁波了，而是使用中微子或引力波一类目前人类技术鞭长莫及的媒介。
“And the PDC is right,” said Wade.
“他们是对的。”维德说。
“What’s our next step?” asked Vadimov.
“那下一步该做什么呢？”瓦季姆问。
Everyone silently mourned the Staircase Program. Cheng Xin was the most disappointed, but she comforted herself that as a young person with no record of achievements, having gotten this far on her first original idea wasn’t too bad. Certainly, she had exceeded her own expectations.
大家沉默下来，为阶梯计划默哀。最难受的当然是程心，不过她安慰自己，作为一个没有资历的年轻人，她这第一步走得很不错了，远远超出自己的预料。
“Ms. Cheng, you look unhappy,” Wade said. “Apparently you think we’re going to back off from the Staircase Program.”
“程，你很不快乐。”维德看着程心说，“你显然认为，我们要从阶梯计划退却了。”
“We’re not going to stop.” Wade stood up and paced around the conference room. “From now on, whether it’s the Staircase Program or any other plan, you do not stop until I tell you to stop. Understand?” He dropped his habitual indifferent tone and screamed like a crazed wild animal. “We’re going to advance! Advance! We’ll stop at nothing to advance!”
“我们不退却。”维德站了起来，绕着会议桌边走边说，“以后，不管是阶梯计划，还是别的什么计划什么事，只有我命令退却你们才能退却，在此之前，你们只能前进。”他突然一改一贯沉稳冷淡的语调，像发狂的野兽般声嘶力竭地咆哮起来，“前进！前进！！不择乎段地前进！！！”
Everyone now stared at Wade, speechless.
人们吃惊地看着维德，眼神传达的意思很明白：不退却还能怎么样？
Wade was standing right behind Cheng Xin. She felt as if a volcano had erupted behind her, and she cringed and almost screamed herself.
这时维德恰在程心身后，她感觉背后像有座火山在爆发，吓得紧缩双肩差点惊叫起来。
“We’re going to send a person.”
“送一个人去。”
Wade kicked the leg of the conference table and sent his chair flying backwards so that he could sit behind everyone as they continued to discuss. But no one spoke. It was a repeat of the meeting a week ago when he had first brought up the idea of sending a probe to the Trisolaran Fleet. Everyone tried to chew over his words and unravel the riddle. Shortly, they came to see that the idea wasn’t as ridiculous as it seemed at first.
维德又重复他的习惯动作，一蹬桌腿把自己推离会议桌，置身事外等着听他们讨论。但没有人说话，同一周前他第一次提出向三体舰队发射探测器时一样，每个人都在艰难地咀嚼着他的想法，一点点解开他扔来的这个线团。很快，他们发现这想法并不像初看起来那么荒唐。
Wade had resumed his calm, emotionless voice. Still in shock at his explosion, it took a while before those in the room understood what Wade meant. He wasn’t talking about sending someone to the PDC, but out of the Solar System. He was proposing sending a live scout to the bleak, frigid Oort Cloud one light-year away to spy on the Trisolaran Fleet.
维德吐出这几个字时又恢复了他冰冷的语调，这简短的一句与刚才惊天动地的咆哮相比太不引人注意了，像是顺口滑出的一个余音。好半天人们才反应过来，维德说的正是瓦季姆问的下一步，阶梯计划的下一步，不是把这个人送到PDC或别的什么很近的地方，而是送出太阳系，送到一光年之遥远的寒冷的奥尔特星云去侦察二体舰队！
Hibernation was a relatively mature technology. A person could complete the voyage in suspended animation. Assuming the person weighed 70 kilograms, that left 110 kilograms for the hibernation equipment and the hull — which would resemble a coffin. But what then? Two centuries later, when the probe met the Trisolaran Fleet, how would they wake this person up, and what could he or she do?
人体冬眠技术已经成熟，这个人可以在冬眠状态下完成航行，人的质量以七十公斤计算，剩下一百一十公斤装备冬眠设备和单人舱（可以简单到像一口棺材））o但以后呢？两个世纪后与三体舰队相遇时，谁使他（她）苏醒，苏醒后他（她）能做什么？
“This would require the Trisolaran Fleet to capture the probe,” Vadimov said. “And to keep our spy.”
“这就需要让三体舰队截获探测器，或者说截获那个人。”瓦季姆说。
“This is very likely.” Wade looked up. “Isn’t it?” Those inside the conference understood that he was speaking to the sophons hovering around them like ghosts. Four light-years away, on that distant world, other invisible beings were also “attending” their meeting. The presence of the sophons was something that people tended to forget. When they remembered it, besides fright, they also felt a kind of insignificance, as though they were a swarm of ants under the magnifying glass of some playful, cruel child. It was very difficult to maintain confidence when one realized that whatever plans one came up with would be known by the enemy long before they were even explained to the supervisor. Humanity had to struggle to adjust to this kind of warfare, in which they were completely transparent to the enemy.
“这有很大的可能，不是吗？”维德说“不是吗？”的时候两眼向上翻，似乎是说给上面另外一些人听的。会议室中的每个人都知道，此时智子正幽灵般地悬浮在周围，在四光年外的那个遥远世界，还有一些“与会者”在聆听他们的发言。每个人都时常忘记这件事，突然想起来时，除了恐惧，还有一种怪异的渺小感，感觉自己像是一群被一个顽童用放大镜盯着的蚂蚁中的一个。想到自己制订的任何计划，敌人总是先于上级看到任何（人的）自信心都会崩溃。人类不得不艰难地适应着这种自己在敌人眼中全透明的战争。
These thoughts revolved inside the heads of everyone present, but no one spoke up. But Wade seemed to be reading everyone’s minds.”We need to send a representative of humanity into the heart of the enemy,” he said.
这些想法都是在每个人的脑子里运行，谁也没有说出来，会议室仍在一片沉默中，但维德似乎一直在读着众人的思想，当大部分人想到这一步时，他说：“把一个人类送进敌人的心脏。”
In traditional intelligence warfare, sending a spy whose identity was known to the enemy was a meaningless gesture. But this war was different. Sending a representative of humanity into the Trisolaran Fleet was, by itself, a valiant gesture, and it made no difference that the Trisolarans would know the individual’s identity ahead of time. The PIA didn’t even need to figure out what the spy had to do once he or she got there: As long as the person could be safely and successfully inserted into the fleet, the possibilities were endless. Given that the Trisolarans were transparent in thought and vulnerable to stratagems, Wade’s idea became even more attractive.
在人类传统的情报战中，把一个身份完全暴露的间谍送人敌人内部是毫无意义的举动，但这不是传统的战争，一个人类进人外星舰队的内部，本身就是一个伟大的壮举，即使他（她）的身份和使命暴露无遗也一样。他（她）在那里能做什么不是现在需要考虑的，只要他（她）成功地进入那里，就存在无限的可能性；而三体人的透明思维和谋略上的缺陷，使这种可能性更加诱人。
But now, Wade seemed to have changed the situation slightly. In his scenario, the enemy’s knowledge of the plan was an advantage. The Trisolarans would know every detail about the trajectory of the probe, and could easily intercept it. Even though the sophons allowed the Trisolarans to learn about humanity, surely they would still be interested in capturing a live specimen for up-close study.
但这次，维德似乎多少改变了这种状况。在他的设想中，计划对于敌人的全透明是一个有利因素。对于那个被发射出太阳系的人，他们无疑知道其精确的轨道参数，如果愿意，可以轻易截获。虽然智子的存在已经使他们对人类世界了如指掌，但直接研究一个人类活标本的好奇心可能仍然存在，三体舰队是有可能截获那个冬眠人的。
We need to send a representative of humanity into the heart of the enemy.
把一个人类送进敌人的心脏。
A new technology can transform society, but when the technology is in its infancy, very few people can see its full potential. For example, when the computer was first invented, it was merely a tool for increasing efficiency, and some thought five computers would be enough for the entire world. Artificial hibernation was the same. Before it was a reality, people just thought it would provide an opportunity for patients with terminal illnesses to seek a cure in the future. If they thought further, it would appear to be useful for interstellar voyages. But as soon as it became real, if one examined it through the lens of sociology, one could see that it would completely change the face of human civilization.
一项新技术，如果从社会学角度看可能呈现出完全不同的面貌，但当这项技术在孕育中或刚出生时，很少有人从这个角度来审视。比如计算机，最初不过是一个提高计算效率的工具，以至于有人认为全世界有五台就够了。冬眠技术也是这样，在它没有成为现实之前，人们认为那只是为绝症病人提供了一个未来的治愈机会；想得再远些，也不过是一种远程星际航行的手段。但当这项技术即将成为现实时，从社会学角度对它仅仅一瞥，就发现这可能是一个完全改变人类文明面貌的东西。
All this was based on a single idea: Tomorrow will be better.
这一切都基于一个信念：明天会更好。
Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time. Hibernation: Man Walks for the First Time Through Time
摘自《时间之外的往事》人体冬眠——人类在时间上的首次直立行走
This was a relatively new faith, a product of the last few centuries before the Crisis. Previously, such an idea of progress would have been laughable. Medieval Europe was materially impoverished compared to the Classical Rome of a thousand years earlier, and was more intellectually repressed. In China, the lives of the people were worse during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties compared to the earlier Han Dynasty, and the Yuan and Ming Dynasties were much worse than the earlier Tang and Song Dynasties. But after the Industrial Revolution, progress became a constant feature of society, and humanity’s faith in the future grew stronger.
其实人们拥有这个信念只是近两三个世纪的事，更早的时候这个想法可能很可笑。比如欧洲中世纪与千年前的古罗马时代相比不但物质更贫困，精神上也更压抑；至于中国，魏晋南北朝与汉朝相比，元明与唐相比，都糟糕了许多。直到工业革命之后，人类世界呈不间断的上升态势人们对未来的信心逐渐建立起来。
When examined from the perspective of sociology, the biotechnology breakthrough of human cloning was far less complicated than hibernation. Cloning raised moral questions, but they mostly troubled those with a moral view influenced by Christianity. The troubles brought about by hibernation, on the other hand, were practical, and affected the entire human race. Once the technology was successfully commercialized, those who could afford it would use it to skip to paradise, while the rest of humanity would have to stay behind in the comparatively depressing present to construct that paradise for them. But even more worrisome was the greatest lure provided by the future: the end of death.
从社会学角度审视冬眠技术，人们发现，同为生物学上的突破，与冬眠带来的麻烦相比，克隆人真是微不足道一后者的问题只是伦理上的，且只有基督教文化会感到头痛；冬眠的隐患却是现实的，并影响整个人类世界。这项技术一旦产业化，将有一部分人去未来的天堂，其余的人只能在灰头土脸的现实中为他们建设天堂。但最令人担忧的是未来最大的一个诱惑：永生。
If hibernation were possible, why would you linger in the present?
所以，如果能够冬眠，很少有人愿意留在现在。
This faith reached its apex on the eve of the Trisolar Crisis. The Cold War had been over for some time, and though problems such as environmental degradation persisted, they were merely unpleasant. The material comforts of life improved at a rapid pace, and the trend seemed to accelerate. If one surveyed people about visions of the future, they might give different answers for how things would be in ten years, but few would doubt that in another hundred years, humanity would be living in paradise. It was easy to believe such a thing: They could just compare their own lives with the lives of their ancestors a hundred years earlier!
这种信心在三体危机到来前夕达到了高潮。这时，冷战已经过去一段时间，虽然有环境问题等不愉快的事，但也仅仅是不愉快，人类在物质享受方面急速进步，呈一种春风得意马蹄疾的态势，这时如果让人预测十年后，可能结果不一，但对于一百年后，有人怀疑那是天堂。确定这点很容易，看看一百年前过的是什么日子就行了。
But the Trisolar Crisis changed everything. In a single night, the paradise of the future turned into a hell on Earth. Even for terminal patients, the future no longer appealed: By the time they woke up, perhaps the world would be bathed in a sea of fire, and they wouldn’t even be able to find an aspirin.
但三体危机改变了一切，一夜之间，未来由天堂变成了地狱，甚至对于绝症患者，未来都失去了吸引力，也许他们醒来时世界已是一片火海，连阿司匹林止痛片都吃不上了。
The situation was akin to the dire conditions of post-Crisis Escapism. Later, historians would call it Early Escapism or Time Escapism. Thus, even pre-Crisis, governments around the world suppressed hibernation technology more zealously than cloning technology.
这种局面很像危机爆发后的逃亡主义，以至于后来的历史学家们把它称为前逃亡主义或时间逃亡主义。危机前，各国政府对冬眠技术采取了比对克隆人更严厉的压制措施。
Thus, after the Crisis, hibernation was allowed to develop without constraints. Soon, the technology became commercially viable, and the human race possessed the first tool that allowed them to traverse large swaths of time.
危机出现后，对冬眠技术的限制被全面解除，这项技术很快进入实用阶段，人类第一次拥有了大幅度跨越时间的能力。
As modern biology advanced apace, people began to believe that death’s end would be achievable in one or two more centuries. If so, those who chose hibernation were taking the first steps on the staircase to life everlasting. For the first time in history, Death itself was no longer fair. The consequences were unimaginable.
随着分子生物学的进步，人们相信永生在一到两个世纪后肯定能成为现实，那么那些现在就冬眠的幸运者就踏上了永生的第一个台阶。这样，人类历史上第一次连死神都不公平了，其后果真的难以预料。
Cheng Xin went to Sanya on Hainan Island to research hibernation.
为了调研佛那个面技术，程心来到海南三亚。
This tropical island seemed an incongruous site for the largest hibernation research center, which was operated by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. While it was the middle of winter on the mainland, spring ruled here.
中国医学科学院最大的冬眠研究中心居然设在在这个炎热的地方。此时内地正值隆冬，这里却像春天般舒适。
The hibernation center was a white building hidden behind lush vegetation. About a dozen test subjects inside engaged in experimental, short-term hibernation. So far, no one had been put into hibernation with the intent of crossing the centuries.
冬眠中心是一片被绿树掩映着的雪白建筑，目前在里面处于冬眠状态的人又十几个人，但都是短期试验者，现在还没有一个真正要跨越世纪的冬眠者。
Cheng Xin first asked whether it was possible to shrink the equipment necessary to support hibernation down to one hundred kilograms. The director of the research center laughed. “One hundred kilograms? You’d be lucky getting it down to one hundred metric tons!”
当程心问能否把一个人的冬眠设备质量降到一百公斤时，中心负责人哑然失笑：一百公斤？一百吨都难！
Crisis Era, Years 1-4, Cheng Xin
危机纪元，1—4年，程心
The director was exaggerating, but only slightly. He showed Cheng Xin around the center, and Cheng Xin learned that artificial hibernation didn’t exactly match its public image. For one thing, it didn’t involve ultra-low temperatures. The procedure replaced the blood in the body with an antifreeze cryoprotectant, then brought the body temperature down to minus-fifty-degrees Celsius. Relying on an external cardiopulmonary bypass system, the body’s organs maintained an extremely low level of biological activity. “It’s like standby mode on a computer,” said the director. The entire system — hibernation tank, life-support system, cooling equipment — weighed about three metric tons.
当然，负责人自己也知道他的话有些夸张，在随后的参观和介绍中，程心得知冬眠并不是常人想象的那样把人冻起来，它的温度不是太低，在零下五十掇氏度左右，这时冬眠人体内的血液被一种不冻的液体替代，在体外循环系统的作用下，人体主要器官仍保持着最低限度的生理活动，只是这种活动极其微弱缓慢。“很像电脑待机。”负责人说。一个冬眠人的全部设备包括冬眠舱、体外生命维持系统和冷却设备，总重量在三吨左右。
“What are you all looking at? I’m not God!” Wade surveyed the conference room. “Why do you think your countries sent you here? To collect a paycheck and to give me bad news? I don’t have a solution. Finding a solution is your job!” He kicked the leg of the conference table, and his chair slid back farther than ever. Ignoring the conference room’s non-smoking rule, he lit up a cigar.
“都这样看着我干什么？我不是上帝！”维德扫视着会场说，“你们的国家把你们派到这里来做什么？肯定不是养老和只报告坏消息吧？我没有办法，解决这样的问题是你们的事情！”他说完使劲一蹬桌腿，在刺耳的响声中，椅子比哪次滑得都远，同时他第一次违反会议室不能抽烟的规定，点上了一支雪茄。
As Cheng Xin discussed possible ways to miniaturize the hibernation setup with the center’s technical staff, she was startled by a realization: If the body’s temperature must be maintained around minus-fifty-degrees Celsius, then in the frigid conditions of outer space, the hibernation chamber needed to be heated, not cooled. In the long journey through trans-Neptunian space in particular, outside temperature would be close to absolute zero. In contrast, minus-fifty-degrees Celsius was like the inside of a furnace. Considering that the journey would take one to two centuries, the most practicable solution was radioisotope heating. The director’s claim of one hundred metric tons was thus not too far from the truth.
当与中心的技术人员探讨设备的小型化时，程心突然发现了一个惊人的事实：如果冬眠中的人体温度要维持在零下五十摄氏度，那在寒冷的外太空中，冬眠舱需要的不是冷却，而是加热！特别是在海王星轨道外远离太阳的漫长航程中，空间温度接近绝对零度，维持零下五十摄氏度几乎像烧一个锅炉，考虑到一至两个世纪的续航时间，最可行的是使用同位素电池加热，那样的话，负责人说的一百吨竟没太大夸张！
Cheng Xin returned to PIA Headquarters and gave her report. After synthesizing all relevant research results, the staff again sank into depression. But this time, they gazed at Wade with hope.
在回到总部的汇报会上，各方的调研结果汇总后，人们再次陷人深深的沮丧之中，与上次不同的是，他们对维德有所期待。
The rest of the team looked at her, looked at each other, and then turned to the hibernation experts. They shook their heads, uncertain what Cheng Xin meant.
程心说。人们面面相觑，然后都询问地看着冬眠专家们，他们都摇摇头，表示不送活人的事自己什么也不知道。
“Maybe…” Cheng Xin looked around hesitantly. She was still unused to MD.
“也许……”程心怯生生地吐出两个字，犹豫地看看周围，她还是不习惯MD。
The attendees turned their attention back to the new hibernation experts in the room. None of them said anything, but they made no effort to disguise the anger and frustration of professionals faced with ignorant zealots who were asking for the impossible.
人们又把目光转到新来的几位冬眠技术专家身上，他们都一言不发并非是在思考，而是带着一种来自专业尊严的怒气：这些偏执狂在要求一件根本不可能做到的事。
“Maybe… we don’t need to send a live person.”
“也许……不一定要送活人。”
“Advance! We stop at nothing to advance!” Wade spewed smoke at her along with the words.
“前进，不择手段地前进！”维德把这话同烟雾一齐向她吐出来。
“We could flash-freeze a person to minus-two-hundred-degrees Celsius or below, then launch the body. We wouldn’t need life support or heating systems, and the capsule holding the body could be made very small and light. The total mass should not exceed one hundred and ten kilograms. For us, such a body is a corpse, but that may not be the case for Trisolarans.”
程心接着解释：“把人急速冷冻到超低温，零下两百摄氏度以下，然后发射。不需要生命维持和加热系统，只有单人太空舱，可以做得很小很轻薄，加上人体，总质量一百一十公斤左右应该够了。这个人对人类而言肯定是处于死亡状态，但对三体人呢？”
“Very good,” Wade said, and nodded at her. This was the first time he had praised one of his staff since she had known him.
“很好。”维德对程心点点头，在她的记忆中，这是他第一次表扬下属。
One of the hibernation experts said, “You’re talking about cryopreservation, not hibernation. The biggest barrier to reanimating a flash-frozen body is preventing cell damage from ice crystals during the thawing process. It’s like what happens to frozen tofu: When you defrost it, it turns into a sponge. Oh, I guess most of you haven’t had frozen tofu.” The expert, who was Chinese, smiled at the confused Western faces around him. “Now, maybe the Trisolarans know techniques to prevent such damage. Perhaps they can restore the body to normal temperature within an extremely short period of time: a millisecond, or even a microsecond. We don’t know how to do such a thing, at least not without vaporizing the body in the process.”
一位冬眠专家说：“把急速深冻的人体复活，最大的障碍是防止解冻过程中细胞结构的破坏，就像冻豆腐，解冻后成了海绵状，哦，你们大概没吃过冻豆腐吧？”这个来自中国的专家问在场的西方人，大家都表示即没吃过，也知道是怎么回事，“至于在三体人那里，也许他们有某种方法防止这种损害，比如在极短的时间内，一毫秒，甚至一微秒，使整个人体瞬同时解冻到正常体温，这个人类做不到。我们当然可以做到一毫秒解冻，但同时人体将被高温气化。“
Cheng Xin wasn’t paying much attention to this discussion. Instead, she was focused on one thing: Who would this minus-two-hundred-degree corpsicle that would be shot into deep space be? She was trying her hardest to advance without regard for consequences, but she couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.
程心并没有太注意听他的话，她现在的思想集中在一点上：这个被冷冻到零下两百多摄氏度送人太空的人将是谁。她努力不择手段地前进，但脚步还是在颤抖。
Since the special session of the General Assembly was going to announce the Wallfacer Project to the world tonight, the PDC session was delayed by more than an hour. PIA personnel waited in the lobby outside the General Assembly Hall. During previous PDC sessions, only Wade and Vadimov were allowed to attend, while others had to remain outside, waiting to be summoned if their specific area of technical expertise was needed. But this time, Wade asked Cheng Xin to accompany him and Vadimov to the PDC session itself, a high honor for a lowly technical aide.
由于特别联大今晚向世界公布面壁计划，PDC会议推迟了一个多小时，PI1A的人只能在会场外的大厅中等待。在以前的各次会议上，只有维德和瓦季姆能够进入会场，其他人只能等在外面，当咨询涉及到他们中某人的专业时才被进去。但这次。维德让程心同他们一起去开会，对一名低级助理而言。这是不寻常的重视。
The latest version of the Staircase Program was brought back to the current PDC session for a vote. Private discussions between Wade and the delegates of the various nations called for optimism. Since the plan, as modified, would represent the first direct contact between humanity and an extraterrestrial civilization, its meaning was qualitatively different from merely sending a probe. Moreover, the person sent to the Trisolarans could be said to represent a ticking bomb implanted in the heart of the enemy. By skillfully using humanity’s absolute superiority in tricks and ruses, he or she could change the course of the entire war.
本届PDC常任理事国会议将审议阶梯计划的最新方案，从维德与各国代表的私下协商看，预期很乐观，因为这一方案的实质其实是人类第一次与地外文明直接接触，其意义比单纯的探测器提高一个层次。尤其是，邵个进人三体舰队的人类可以说是一颗植人敌人心脏的炸弹，运用自己在谋略上的绝对优势，他（她）有可能改变战争的走向。
“Who are the Wallfacers?” asked Wade. His tone indicated no particular interest.
“面壁者都是谁？’维德冷淡地问道，”眼前的事件仍没引起他太大的兴趣。
After the General Assembly finished its announcement, Cheng Xin and the others watched as a man surrounded by a swarm of reporters passed through the lobby and left the building through another exit — clearly one of the just-revealed Wallfacers. Since everyone from the PIA was focused on the Staircase Program, most weren’t interested in the Wallfacers, and only a couple of them left the building to catch a glimpse of the man. Thus, when the famous assassination attempt of Luo Ji occurred, no one from the PIA heard the gunshot; they only saw the sudden commotion through the glass doors. Cheng Xin and the others ran outside and were immediately blinded by the bright searchlights from helicopters hovering overhead.
当特别联大的会议结束时，他们看到一个人被蜂拥而上记者围在了中间、那个人显然是刚公布的面壁者。PIA的人们心都悬在阶梯汁划的命运上。对此兴趣不大，只有一两个人跑去看。当那个着名的刺杀事件发生时，这里没有人听到枪声，只是透过玻璃大门看到外面突然出现的骚乱。程心随着其他人跑出去，立刻被空中直升机的探照灯炫花了眼。
“Oh my God, one of the Wallfacers has been killed!” One of her colleagues ran over. “I heard that he was shot several times. In the head!”
“哦，天啊！刚有个面壁者干掉了耶！”较早出去的一个同事跑过来喊道，“听看到的人说他中了好儿枪，给打爆了头！”
“I’m not too sure either. I think three of them are from the pool of well-known candidates. But this fourth one, the one who was shot, was one of your people.” He pointed at Cheng Xin. “But no one had heard of him. He’s just some guy.”
“我也不太清楚。听其中有三个都是受到关注的候选人，只有这个，被杀的这个，”他指指程心，“是你的同胞，可没人知道他，一个无名小辈。”
“In this extraordinary time, no one is ‘just some guy,'” Wade said. “Any random person could suddenly be handed a heavy responsibility, and anyone important could be replaced at any time.” He looked at Cheng Xin and Mikhail Vadimov in turn. Then a PDC secretary called him aside.
“这个非常时代没有无名小辈。”维德说，“任何普通人都可能随时被委以重任，任何显要人物也可能随时被取代。”后面这两句话。说前一句时他看着程心，后一句看着瓦季姆，然后，他被一名PDC会议秘书叫到一边去了。
Vadimov held up his hand to stop her. The bright searchlight from one of the helicopters shone through his palm and revealed the blood under his skin. “He wasn’t joking. Our agency does not need to follow normal HR procedures. You’re steady, calm, hardworking, and also creative; you display a sense of responsibility far above your official position. This is a rare combination of qualities in someone your age. Xin, really, I’m glad that you could replace me — but you can’t do quite what I can do.” He looked around at the chaos surrounding them. “You won’t sell your mother to a whorehouse. You’re still a child, when it comes to that aspect of our profession. My fervent hope is that you will always remain so.”
瓦季姆对程心抬起一只手，探照灯的光芒穿过他的手，照出里面的血色。“他不是开玩笑，这个机构的人事操作不需遵循常规。而你，沉稳、扎实，勤奋，又不乏创造力，特别是你的贵任心，超出工作层面之上的责任心，我很少在其他姑娘身上看到。程，真的。我很高兴你能代替我，但你还代替不了我。”他抬头望着周围的混乱，“因为你不会把你妈卖给妓院，在这方面你还是个孩子。我希望你永远是。”
“Mikhail, I –“
“瓦季姆，我……”
“He’s threatening me,” Vadimov whispered to Cheng Xin. “He threw a fit yesterday and told me that you could easily replace me.”
“他在威胁我。”瓦季姆低声对身边的程心说，“昨天发脾气时，他说你都可以取代我。
“Fuck them all!” Camille screamed. Even with the helicopters thundering overhead, a few onlookers turned to stare. “Fucking pigs don’t know how to do anything except fuck around down here in the mud.”
“见鬼！”柯曼琳气急败坏地大叫，即使在压倒一切的直升机的轰鸣中，也引得周围儿个人转头看，“猪，都是猪！只会在享乐的泥坑里打滚的猪！”
“Who are you talking about?” asked Vadimov.
“你说谁？”瓦季姆吃惊地问。
“Everyone! The human race! Half a century ago, we walked on the moon. But now, we have nothing, can’t change anything!”
“所有人！全人类！半个世纪前就登上了月一球，可现在还是什么都拿不出来，什么都做不了！”
Camille marched over to them holding a stack of paper. Cheng Xin guessed that it was the interim report on the feasibility of the Staircase Program. Camille held up the document for a few seconds, but instead of handing it over to either of them, she slammed it against the ground.
有人急步走进来插到他们中间，她手里举着一份文件，程心看着像是阶梯计划可行性研究的阶段报告。她把文件举了几秒钟，并没有把它递给谁，而是狠狠地摔在地上。
Cheng Xin bent down and picked up the document. Indeed, it was the interim feasibility report. She and Vadimov flipped through it, but it was highly technical and difficult to skim. Wade had also returned to their circle — the PDC secretary had informed him that the session would begin in fifteen minutes.
程心拾起地上的文件，和瓦季姆翻看着。果然是可行性研究的阶段报告，写得很专业，这样扫几眼看不出什么。这时维德也回来了，PDC会议秘书刚通知他会议将在十五分钟后开始。看到局长，柯曼琳才稍微冷静一些。
Camille calmed down a bit in the presence of the PIA chief. “NASA has conducted two small tests of nuclear pulse propulsion in space, and you can read the results in the report. Basically, our proposed spacecraft is still too heavy to reach the required speed. They calculate the entire assembly needs to be one-twentieth its proposed mass. One-twentieth! That’s ten kilograms!
“NASA已经完成两次太空小型核爆炸推力试验，结果就在这份报告里，要想达到额定速度，飞行器的整体质量仍大得离谱，要再降低，降到现在的十分之一，十分之一！也就是说只剩十公斤了！
“But wait, they also sent us some good news. The sail, it turns out, can be reduced to under ten kilograms. They took pity on us and told us that we can have an effective payload of half a kilogram. But that is the absolute limit, because any increase in the payload will require thicker cables for attachment to the sail. Every additional gram in the payload means three more grams of cables. Thus, we’re stuck with zero point five kilograms. Haha, it’s just like our angel predicted: light as a feather!”
“他们甚至还送来了好消息，说辐射帆可以降到十公斤，有效载荷嘛，他们很慈悲地说可以有半公斤，但不能再多了，因为载荷的增加必然导致帆索加粗，载荷增加一克，帆索就增加三克，使得达到光速十分之一成为不可能。所以我们只有半公斤，啊哈哈，半公斤！真如我们的天使所说：像羽毛一样轻。”
Wade smiled. “We should ask Monnier, my mother’s kitten, to go. Though, even she would have to lose half of her weight.”
维德微笑着点点头，“可以让莫妮尔去，我母亲的猫，不过它也得减肥一半才行。”
Whenever others were happily absorbed by their work, Wade appeared gloomy; when others were forlorn, he became relaxed and jokey. Initially, Cheng Xin had attributed this quirk to part of his leadership style. But Vadimov told her that she didn’t know how to read people. Wade’s behavior had nothing to do with his leadership style or rallying the troops — he just enjoyed watching others lose hope, even if he himself was among those who ought to be in despair. He took pleasure in the desperation of others. Cheng Xin had been surprised that Vadimov, who always tried to speak of others generously, held such an opinion of Wade. But right now, it did look as though Wade took pleasure in watching the three of them suffer.
在别人愉快工作时，维德总是处于阴沉状态；而大家都处于绝望中时，他却轻松幽默起来，总是这样。开始程心以为这是领导者的风度，瓦季姆说她不会看人，这与领导风度和鼓舞士气都没关系，只是因为维德喜欢看到别人绝望，即使处于绝望中的也包括他自己。欣赏人的绝望对他而言有一种快感。瓦季姆是个很忠厚的人，却对维德做出如此阴暗的评价，让程心有些吃惊，但现在看来，维德确实在欣赏着他们三个人的绝望。
“You, and you,” Wade said, pointing to Camille and Cheng Xin. “You’re not allowed to lose control like this in the future. You must advance, stop at nothing to advance!”
“你，还有你，”维德指指程心和柯曼琳，“以后不允许出现这样没有意义的精神失控，你们只能前进，不择手段地前进！”
For the first time, Cheng Xin refused to obey an order from him. She remained on the ground. “I’m tired.” Her voice was wooden.
程心第一次没听他的命令，只是坐着。“我真的累了。”她木然地说。
“Of course not.”
“都不是。“
“There’s no way forward,” said Vadimov. “We have to give up.”
“前面没路了，放弃吧。”瓦季姆看着维德恳切地说。
Cheng Xin felt weak. Days of exhaustion hit her at once, and she sank to the lawn.
程心感到自己的身体已经抽去了支撑，多日的劳累一起显形，她软软地坐到草坪上。
Vadimov’s and Camille’s eyes brightened. Cheng Xin also seemed to have recovered her strength. She stood up.
维德最后这句话让瓦季姆和柯曼琳的眼睛亮了起来，程心也瞬间恢复了活力，弹簧般从草坪上跳起来。
“Get up,” said Wade.
“站起来_。”维德说。
“No, we should proceed as though nothing has happened. But we can’t prepare new documents, so we have to orally present the new plan.”
“不，议程按计划进行。文件来不及准备了，我们只能口述。”
Accompanied by military escort vehicles and helicopters, an ambulance departed with the Fourth Wallfacer. Against the lights of New York City, Wade’s figure appeared as a black ghost, his eyes glinting with a cold light.
这时，载着中弹的罗辑的救护车在军警车和直升机的簇拥下开远了，纽约的灯海又恢复了光芒。在这光灿的背景之上，维德像一个黑色的鬼魅，只有双眸的冷光时隐时现。
“What new plan? A five-hundred-gram cat?”
“口述什么？半公斤的探测器还是五百克的猫？”
“What about the PDC session? Cancel it?”
“那会议怎么办，取消议程吗？”
“The reason you think there’s no path forward is because you don’t know how to disregard the consequences.”
“你们认为没有路，是因为没有学会不择手段。”
In fourteenth-century China, during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese navy invented a weapon called Huolong Chu Shui, literally meaning “fiery dragon issuing from water.” This was a multistage gunpowder rocket similar in principle to antiship missiles of the Common Era. The missile itself (Huolong) was augmented with booster rockets. When launched, the booster rockets propelled the missile toward the enemy ship by flying just above the surface of the water. As the booster rockets burnt out, they ignited a cluster of smaller rocket arrows stored inside the missile, and these would shoot out the front, causing massive damage to enemy ships.
在中国明朝曾经出过这样一种武器：由一个内装多枚小火苛的母箭（火龙）和母箭身上的助推火箭组成。这种武器从海面发射，助推火箭将母箭推离水面贴水飞行，母箭则在飞行中射出内置的小火箭。
Ancient warfare also saw the use of repeating crossbows, which prefigured Common Era machine guns. These appeared in both the West and the East, and Chinese versions have been discovered in tombs dating from the fourth century B. C.
另外，古代战争中还出现过连发弓箭，东西方都有记载，中国的记载最早出现在三国时期。
Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time, The Staircase Program
摘自《时间之外的往事》火龙出水、连发弩和阶梯计划
Both of these weapon systems were attempts to utilize primitive technology in novel ways that demonstrated a power incongruous for their time period.
以上两种武器都是把落后的技术以先进两方式组合起来，试图产生貌似趟时代的能力。
“We’ll send only a brain,” he said.
“只送大脑。“他说。
Every bomb had to detonate just as the radiation sail passed it. The distance from each bomb to the sail at the moment of the explosion ranged from three thousand to ten thousand meters, depending on the bomb’s yield. As the probe’s velocity increased, the timing needed to be more precise. However, even as the sail’s speed reached 1 percent of lightspeed, the margin for error remained above the nanosecond range, well achievable by the technology of the time.
每枚核弹必须在辐射帆刚刚飞越它时起爆，距离由三千米至十千米不等，依核弹的爆炸当量而定。随着帆的速度增加，所需的拉制精度越来越高，但即使帆的速度达到光速的百分之一，控制精度也在纳秒级以上以当时的技术，经过努力还是可以做到的。
At the time of the Staircase Program, humans had already successfully launched a few spacecraft outside the Solar System and had managed to land probes on Neptunian satellites. Thus, the requisite technology to distribute nuclear bombs along the acceleration leg of the probe’s course was relatively mature. But controlling the flight path of the probe to pass by each bomb, and detonating each at the precise moment, posed great technical challenges.
这时人类的探测器已缘飞出太阳系，并且能够使探测器在海王星的卫星上着陆，所以在航线的推进段上布放核弹的技术是比较成熟的。困难的是控制飞行器航线与每枚核弹精确交错，以及核弹的起爆控制。
Looking back, the Staircase Program implemented at the beginning of the Crisis Era was a similar advance. Using only the primitive technology available at the time, it managed to boost a small probe to 1 percent of lightspeed. This achievement should have been impossible without technology that would not appear for another one and a half centuries.
现在回望危机纪元之初的阶梯计划，就是这样一种东西·它试图用当时的落后技术把一个很轻的载荷推进到光速的百分之一，这样的宇航，速度本来需要一个半世红后的技术才能实现。
The probe itself contained no engine. Its direction was entirely determined by the relative positions of the detonating bombs. Each bomb along the route was equipped with small positional thrusters. As the sail passed each bomb, the distance between them was only a few hundred meters. By adjusting this distance, it was possible to alter the angle between the sail and the propulsive force generated by the nuclear explosion, and thus control the direction of flight.
飞行器本身没有任何动力，它的航行方向完全由核弹的爆炸位置进行控制，航线上的每枚核弹都带有位置担制发动机，在帆到来之前精确定位，在交错时两者相距只有几百米，调整这个距离就可使爆炸推力与帆形成不同的角度，进而控制飞行器的航向。
The radiation sail was a thin film, and the only way to carry the payload was to drag it behind in a capsule. The entire probe thus resembled a giant parachute — except that the parachute flew “upwards.” To avoid damage to the payload from the nuclear explosions occurring three to ten kilometers behind the sail, the cables connecting the sail to the payload had to be very long: about five hundred kilometers. An ablative layer protected the payload capsule itself. As the nuclear bombs exploded, the ablative material gradually vaporized, cooling the capsule as well as lowering the total mass.
辐封帆是软性薄膜，只能把有效荷载用帆索施曳在后方，这使得整个飞行器看起来像一个沿航行方向横放的巨大的降落伞，按当量不同，核爆在伞后三千米至十千米处发生。为避免核爆辐射对太空舱的影响，帆索很长，使太空舱尽量向后靠，这个距离长达五百千米，太空舱表面由蒸发降温材料履盖，在每次核爆中一不断蒸发，在降温的同时不断降低自身量。
The mass launch of Peacekeeper missiles had been in process for over half an hour. Trails from six missiles merged together, and, lit up by the moon, resembled a silvery road that reached into heaven.
“和平卫士”洲际导弹的集群发射已经进行了半个小时，之前发射的六枚导弹的尾迹重合在一起，浸透了月光，像一条银色的天国之路。
Of course, Huolong Chu Shui was not, in fact, equivalent to a two-stage rocket, and the repeating crossbow was not the same as a machine gun. Similarly, the Staircase Program could not bring about a new Space Age. It was only a desperate attempt that drew upon everything humanity’s primitive level of technology could offer.
火龙出水和连发弩没能发挥两级导弹和机关枪的作用，同样，阶梯计划也难以把人类带入宇航新时代，它只是用当时的技术所进行的孤注一掷的努力。
Crisis Era, Years 1-4, Cheng Xin
危机纪元，1—4年，程心
The cables were made from a nanomaterial called “Flying Blade.” Only about a tenth of the thickness of a strand of spider silk, the cables were invisible to the naked eye. Eight grams of the material could be stretched into a cable one hundred kilometers long, yet it was strong enough to securely pull the payload capsule during acceleration, and would not break from the massive radiation generated by the nuclear explosions.
这个超级降落伞如果降落到地球上，其下坠物接触地面时，伞本身还在五百千米高的太空。那几根帆索将用纳米材料”飞刃“制成，只有蛛丝的十分之一粗，肉眼不可见，一百千米的重量只有八克，但强度足以在加速时拖动太空舱，且不会被核辐射切断。
Every five minutes, another fiery ball ascended this silvery road into the sky. Shadows cast by trees and people swept along the ground like the second hands of clocks. This first launch would involve thirty missiles, sending three hundred nuclear warheads with yields ranging from five hundred kilotons to 2.5 megatons into orbit.
这以后每隔五分钟，就有一团火球沿着这架银桥升上高空，周围的树影和人影在它的光芒中像秒针一般走动。首批将发射三十枚导弹，将三百颗核弹头送人地球轨道，它们的当量从五十万到二百五十万吨级不等。
The last session of the PDC marked the first time a resolution had been passed based on a proposal that wasn’t even written down. And Cheng Xin got to witness the debating skills of Wade, usually a man of few words. He argued that if we assumed the Trisolarans were capable of reviving a body in deep freeze, then it made sense to assume they were also capable of reviving a bare brain in similar condition and conversing with it through an external interface. Surely such a task was trivial for a civilization capable of unfolding a proton into two dimensions and etching circuits over the resulting surface. In some sense, a brain was no different from the whole person: It possessed the person’s thoughts, personality, and memories. And it most definitely possessed the person’s capacity for stratagems. If successful, the brain would still be a ticking bomb in the heart of the enemy.
在那次PDC常任理事国会议上，第一次通过了一个还没有形成文本的提案，程心也第一次见识了平时沉默寡言的维德的雄辩能力。他说，如果三体人能够复活一个深冻的人体，也一定能够复活一个这样的大脑，并且用某种外部接口与它交流、对午一个能够把质子展开成二维并在上面蚀刻电路的文明来说，这并不是一件很困难的事。从某种意义上讲，一个大脑与一个完整的人没有什么区别，它有这个人的意识，这个人的精神，这个人的记忆，特别是，有这个人的谋略。如果成功这仍然是进人敌人心脏的二颗炸弹。
Cheng Xin’s eyes filled with hot tears. Each ascending rocket lit them up like bright, glistening pools. She told herself again and again that no matter what happened next, it was worth it to have pushed the Staircase Program this far.
程心仰望夫空热泪盈眶一，每次发射的光芒都使她的泪花格外晶莹。她在心中一次次对自己说：即使只做到这一步，阶梯计划也值了。
At the same time, in Russia and China, Topol and Dongfeng missiles were also rising into the sky. The scene resembled a doomsday scenario, but Cheng Xin could tell by the curvature of the rocket trails that these were orbital launches instead of intercontinental strikes. These devices, which could have killed billions, would never return to the surface of the Earth. They would pool their enormous power to accelerate a feather to 1 percent of the speed of light.
与此同时，在俄罗斯和中国，“白杨”和“东风”导弹也在不间断地发射中。这很像世界末日的景象，但程心专业的眼光从这条夫国之路尽头的弯曲度看出，这不是洲际攻击轨道，一而是太空发射轨道。那些本来可能致几亿人死亡的东西，现在一去不回了，用它们那巨大的能量去把那片羽毛推进到光速的百分之一。
But the two men beside her, Vadimov and Wade, seemed unmoved by the spectacular scene playing out before them. They didn’t even bother looking up; instead, they smoked and conversed in low voices. Cheng Xin knew very well what they were discussing: who would be chosen for the Staircase Program.
但旁边的两个男人，维德和瓦季姆娜却对这壮丽的景象无动于衷，甚至懒得抬头看，只是抽着烟冷漠地谈论着什么，程心知道他们谈话的内容。阶梯计划的人选。
The other leaders and implementers of the Staircase Program did not suffer her pangs of guilt. If PIA were a national intelligence agency, this matter would have been resolved long ago. However, since PIA was only a joint intelligence committee formed by the permanent member nations of the PDC, after the Staircase Program was revealed to the international community, the issue became extremely sensitive.
但阶梯计划的其他领导者和执行者并没有她这种心理障碍，如果PIA是一个国家的情报机构。事情早就解决了。但PIA实质上只是一个由PDC各常任埋事国组成的情报联席会议。同时阶梯计划对国际社会完全透明，这件事因此变得极其敏感。
Once the Staircase Program was approved, the problem of who should be sent came to the forefront. Cheng Xin lacked the courage to even imagine such a person. Even if his or her brain could be captured by the Trisolarans and revived, life afterwards — if such an existence could be called life — would be one interminable nightmare. Every time she thought about this, her heart felt squeezed by a hand chilled to minus-two-hundred-degrees Celsius.
阶梯计划全面启动，人选问题的困难渐渐凸现出来。。对于程心来说，她甚至没有对那个人进行想象的勇气，即使他（她）的大脑真的能被截获并复活，那以后的生活（如果那能被称为生活的话）对他（她）来说也将是一个联梦。每次想到这一点，她的心就像被一只同样处于零下两百多摄氏度超低溢的冰手攥紧了。
Although the PDC members did not fully agree that a brain was the same as a whole person, they lacked better choices, especially since their interest in the Staircase Program was largely based on the technology for accelerating the probe to 1 percent of lightspeed. In the end, the resolution passed with five yeses and two abstentions.
尽管各常任理事国并不认为大脑等同于一个人，但也没有别的选择，特别是他们对阶梯计划的兴趣有很大一部分在于那推进百分之一光速的技术，提案便以五票赞成、两票弃权的结果通过了。
After the initial panic of the Crisis subsided, a mainstream consensus gradually dominated international politics: It was important to prevent the Crisis from being leveraged as a tool to destroy democracy. PIA personnel were instructed by their respective nations to be extra careful during the process of selecting potential Staircase Program subjects and not commit political errors that would embarrass their countries.
随着危机爆发之初的恐惧尘埃落定，另一种声音渐渐成为国际政治的主流：要防止危机被利用，成为摧毁民主政治的武器。PIA的人都收到自己政府的再三指示。在阶梯计划的人选上必须慎重，千万不能让别人抓住把柄。
The key problem was this: Before launch, the subject would have to be killed.
关键问题在于：在派出这个人之前，必须杀死他（她）。
Once again, Wade came up with a unique solution to the difficulty: advocating, through the PDC and then the UN, the passage of euthanasia laws in as many countries as possible. But even he wasn’t confident that this plan would work.
面对这个困难，维德同样提出了自己的解决方案：通过PDC，再由它通过联合国，推动尽可能多的国家建立安乐死法律。与以前不同，他在提出这个想法时并不太自信。
Of the seven permanent members of the PDC, three quickly passed euthanasia laws. But these laws all clearly provided that euthanasia was only available to those suffering terminal illnesses. This was not ideal for the Staircase Program, but it seemed the outer boundary of political acceptability.
PDC的七个常任理事国中很快有三个通过了安乐死法，但在法律中都明确阐明：安乐死只适用子身患目前医疗技术无法救治的绝症的病人，这离阶梯计划的要求相去甚远，但再向前走一步几乎不可能了。
Thus, candidates for the Staircase Program had to be chosen from the population of terminally ill patients.
阶梯计划的人选只能从绝症患者中寻找了。
When she went to see Chief Wade to give a status report, her happiness was so palpable that Wade asked her what the matter was with her. She showed him the deed.
在去局长那里汇报工作时，她的欢欣如此光芒四射，令维德也不由得问她发生了什么事。她告诉了他，并把证书给他看。
The thunderous noises and bright lights in the sky faded. The missile launches had come to an end. Wade and a few other PDC observers got into their cars and left, leaving only Vadimov and Cheng Xin.
天空中的轰鸣声和火光消失了，发射告一段落。维德和几名PDC观察员上车离开了，这里只剩下瓦季姆和程心。
Four days ago, Cheng Xin had received the deed to DX3906. She was utterly surprised and fell into a delirium of joy. For a whole day, she kept on repeating to herself: Someone gave me a star; someone gave me a star; someone gave me a star…
程心是在四天前收到DX3906所有权证书的，那是一个巨大的惊喜，使她陷人一种从未有过的幸福感，一时晕头转向。一整天。她都在心中不停地对自己说：有人送我一颗星星，有人送我一颗星星。我有了一颗星星……
“Why don’t we take a look at your star?” he said.
“咱们看看你的星星吧。”他说。
But Cheng Xin wasn’t bothered by his cynicism — she had already known what he was going to say. She knew very little about Wade except his work history: service in the CIA, then deputy secretary of Homeland Security, and finally here. As for his personal life, other than the fact that he had a mother and his mother had a kitten, she knew nothing. No one else did, either. She didn’t even know where he lived. He was like a machine: When he wasn’t working, he was shut down somewhere unknown.
他这话丝毫没有影响程心的心情，其实她已经料到他会这么说。对于维德，程心知道的只有他的工作资历：先是在CIA，后升任美国国土安全局副局长，然后到这里。至于他的私生活，除了那天他透露自己有个妈和他妈有只猫，她一无所知，也没听谁说过，连他住在哪里都不清楚，他仿佛就是—台工作机器，工作之外就在某个不为人知的地方关机了。
“A useless piece of paper,” he said, and handed it back to her. “If you’re smart, you should drop the price and resell it right away. Otherwise you’ll end up with nothing.”
“一张废纸。”维德不以为然地把证书扔还给她，”你要是明智些的话就早些把它降价转卖了，还不至于什么都得不到。“
She couldn’t help but bring up the star to Vadimov, who enthusiastically congratulated her. “Every girl in the world must be jealous,” he said. “Including all living women and dead princesses. You’re certainly the first woman in the history of humankind to be given a star.” For a woman, was there any greater happiness than to be given a star by someone who loved her?
程心又忍不住把星星的事告诉了瓦季姆，后者倒是热烈地祝贺了她，说她让全世界的女孩都嫉妒，包括所有活着的女孩和所有死去的公主，因为可以肯定，她是人类历史上第一个得到一颗星星的姑娘。试问，对于一个女人，还有什么比爱她的人送她一颗星星更幸福呢？
Cheng Xin sighed as well. A much younger Cheng Xin had once indulged in rose-tinted fantasies that the Cheng Xin of the present would mock. This real star that appeared out of nowhere, however, far exceeded those romantic dreams.
程心也在感叹中。少女时代她也曾在玫瑰色的梦想中沉醉过，现在，虽然自己还年轻，却已经开始为那些梦想自嘲了，但没有想到，这颗现实中突然飘来的星星，其浪漫和传奇的程度已经远远超出了她少女时的梦幻。
“But who is he?” Cheng Xin muttered.
“可他是谁呢？”程心自问。
“Shouldn’t be hard to guess. He must be rich, for one thing. He just spent a few million on a symbolic gift.”
“应该不难猜到吧，首先可以肯定这人很有钱，资产至少应该在九位数，才可能花几百万送一件只具有象征意义的礼物。”
“He’s also a cultured soul. Stands apart from the crowd.” Vadimov sighed. “And he just made a romantic gesture that I’d call fucking ridiculous if I read it in a book or saw it in a movie.”
“同时，此人文化程度很高，是一个在精神修养上极不寻常的人。”瓦季姆说着，不由得仰天感叹起来，“浪漫到这个程度，即使在爱情小说和电影中，我他马都从没看到过。”
Cheng Xin shook her head. She’d had many admirers and suitors, but none of them were that wealthy.
程心摇摇头。从学校到工作，程心有过许多仰慕者和追求者，但他们中没有这样富有的。
Maybe it was a secret admirer from afar who, on impulse, decided to use a tiny part of his vast wealth to indulge in a bit of whimsy, to satisfy some desire she would never understand. Even so, she was grateful.
也许只是一个遥远的暗恋者，冲动中用自己巨额财富中的一小部分完成一个奇想，满足一个她永远不知道实情的愿望，即使这样，她也很感激他。
She was certain that she knew no man like that.
她不用想就可以肯定。自己不认识这样的男人。
That night, Cheng Xin climbed onto the top of One World Trade Center, eager to see her new star. She had carefully reviewed the materials that accompanied the deed explaining how to find it. But the sky in New York was overcast. The next day and the day after were the same. The clouds formed a giant teasing hand that covered her gift, refusing to let go. But Cheng Xin wasn’t disappointed; she knew she had received a gift that couldn’t be taken away. DX3906 was in this universe, and it might even outlast the Earth and the Sun. She would see it, one day.
晚上，程心登上新世贸大厦的楼顶，迫不及待地想看到自己的星星。这之前她已经仔细看过随证书寄来的观星资料，但当天纽约上空阴云密布。第二天第三天也都是阴的，云层像一只逗弄她的巨掌，捂着她的礼物不放开。但程心并没有失落，她知道她收到的是一件最不可能丢失的礼物，DX3906就在宇宙中，可能比地球和太阳的寿命还长，她总有一天能看到它的。
She stood on the balcony of her apartment at night, gazing up at the sky and imagining her star. The lights of the city below cast a dim yellow glow against the cloud cover, but she imagined her star giving the clouds a rosy glow.
晚上。她长久地站在公寓的阳台上，看着夜空想象那颗星星的样子，城市的灯海在云层上映出一片暗黄色的光晕，她却想象那是她的DX3906给云照出的玫瑰色。
In her dream, she flew over the star’s surface. It was a rose-colored sphere, but instead of scorching flames, she felt the coolness of a spring breeze. Below her was the clear water of an ocean, through which she could see swaying, rose-colored clouds of algae…
她梦到那颗星星，梦中她在恒星的表面飞翔，那是一颗玫瑰色的星球。没有灼人的烈焰，只有春风般的清凉，恒星表面是清澈的海洋，能清晰地看到水中玫瑰色的藻群……
The trails left behind by the missiles gradually faded against the clear night sky. Cheng Xin and Vadimov reviewed the observation guide for her star. Both had had some training in astronomy, and soon they were looking at the approximate location. But neither could see it.
此刻，夜空万里无云，导弹的尾迹正在散去。程心和瓦季姆再次看那份观星指南，他们都是对天文学并不陌生的人，很快找到了那个位置，但都没看到那颗星。
Vadimov took out two pairs of military-issue binoculars. With them, it was easy to see DX3906. After that, even without the binoculars, they could find the star. Cheng Xin stared at the faint red dot, mesmerized, struggling to comprehend the unimaginable distance between them, struggling to translate the distance into terms that could be grasped by the human mind.
瓦季姆从车里拿出两架军用望远镜，用它们再次朝那个方向看，很轻易地找到了DX3906，然后拿开望远镜，用肉眼也能看到了。程心陶醉地长时间看着那个暗红色的光点，努力想象着那不可想象的遥远，努力把这距离转化为可以把握的形象。
After she woke up, she laughed at herself. As an aerospace professional, even in her dreams she couldn’t forget that DX3906 had no planets.
醒后她笑自己：作为一个航天专业毕业的人，她在梦中都没忘记DX3906没有行星。
On the fourth day after she received the star, Cheng Xin and a few other PIA employees flew to Cape Canaveral to attend the launch ceremony for the first batch of missiles. Achieving orbit required taking advantage of the Earth’s spin, and the ICBMs had been moved here from their original deployment bases.
收到星星的第四天，她和几个PIA认的人飞到卡拉维拉尔角（由于太空发射的位置要求。洲际导弹不能从原部署位置发射，只能集中到这里），参加首批导弹的发射。
“If you put my brain on the Staircase Program probe and launched it at the star, it would take thirty thousand years to get there.”
“如果把我的大脑放到阶梯计划飞行器上，向它飞。要三万年才能到啊。”
“Have you been pressured?” Cheng Xin was thinking of Wade.
“有人向你暗示过什么吗？”程心首先想到的是维德。
“What’s wrong?”
“瓦季姆，怎么了？”程心关切地间。
“What are you talking about?”
“什么贵任？”
“Sure. But I’m still running from my responsibility.”
“是的，但我还是在逃避。”
After a momentary shock, Cheng Xin realized that Vadimov was right: He had extensive experience in spaceflight, diplomacy, and intelligence; he was steady and mature… Even if they were able to expand the pool of candidates to include healthy individuals, Vadimov would still be the best choice.
程心十分吃惊，她从来没向这方面想过，经他这一提醒，才突然发现确实如此：瓦季姆有深厚的航天专业背景，又同时有外交工作和情报工作的丰富经验，心理稳定而成熟……即使在健康人中遴选，他也是最合适的人。
“But you’re healthy.”
“可你是一个健康人。”
“No, but I know what I must do; I just haven’t done it. I got married three years ago, and my daughter just turned one. I’m not afraid to die, but my family matters to me. I don’t want them to see me turned into something worse than a corpse.”
“没有，但我还是在逃避。我三年前才结婚，女儿才一岁多，妻子和女儿对我很重要。我不怕死，可真不想让她们看到我那样连死都不如。”
Cheng Xin heard no response. When she turned around, she saw that Vadimov was no longer looking at the star with her, but leaning against the car and looking at nothing. She could see that his face was troubled.
程心没有得到回答，转头看，发现瓦季姆没和她一起看星星，而是正靠着车平视前方，夜色中隐约能看到他满脸优郁。
Vadimov was silent for some time. “I’ve been avoiding my duty.”
瓦季姆沉默许久才回答：“我在逃避责任。”
“I’m the best candidate for the Staircase Program.”
“我是阶梯计划的最合适人选。”
“Yes, but I wanted to tell you… in the end, I’m the best candidate.”
“是，我只是想对你说说……我毕竟是最合适的人。”
“You don’t have to do this. Neither the PIA nor your government has ordered you to do this, and they can’t!”
“可你根本就没这个责任，无论是PIA还是你的政府，都没有命令你承担这个使命，也不可能有这样的命令。”
“Mikhail, humankind isn’t just some abstraction. To love humanity, you must start by loving individual persons, by fulfilling your responsibility to those you love. It would be absurd to blame yourself for it.”
“瓦季姆，人类不是一个抽象的概念，对人类的爱是从对一个一个人的爱开始的，首先负起对你爱的人的责任，这没什么错，为这个自责才荒唐呢！”
The process of selecting a subject for the Staircase Program was fully underway, but the effort imposed little direct pressure on Cheng Xin. She was asked to perform some basic tasks such as examining candidates’ knowledge of spaceflight, a primary requirement. Since the pool of candidates was limited to terminally ill patients, it was almost impossible to find someone with the requisite expertise. The PIA intensified efforts to identify more candidates through every available channel.
阶梯计划的人选工作必须加紧进行，但这项任务对程心的压力很小，她只是参与其中的一些事务性工作，主要是对人选的航天专业背景进行考查，这个专业背景是人选的先决条件。由于人选的范围只能是三个通过安乐死法的常任理事国中的绝症患者，几乎不可能找到具有这项使命所要求的超级素质的人，PLA努力通过各种渠道寻找尽可能多的候选者。
“Thank you, Cheng Xin. You deserve your gift.” Vadimov looked up at Cheng Xin’s star. “I would love to give my wife and daughter a star.”
“谢谢你的安慰，程心，你是配得到这个札物的。”瓦季姆仰头看程心的星星，“我也真想送她们一颗星星。”
A bright point of light appeared in the sky, then another. Their glow cast shadows on the ground. They were testing nuclear pulse propulsion in space.
夜空中亮起一个光点，然后又是一个、在地面上照出了人影，那是太空中进行的核爆推进试验。
Cheng Xin needed to return to China for business. Since she was Tianming’s classmate, Assistant Chief Yu asked her to represent the PIA and discuss the matter with Tianming. She agreed, still not thinking much of it.
程心要回国一次。因为她与云天明的同学关系，于维民让她代表PIA去与云天明谈这件事，她立刻答应了，也没多想什么。
For the rest of her life, Cheng Xin would remember that moment. Every time, she had to admit to herself that she just didn’t think much about Tianming as a person.
在程心的余生中，她无数次回忆那一时刻，每次都不得不承认：她当时真没有多想什么。
One of Cheng Xin’s college classmates came to New York to visit her. The talk turned to what had happened to others in their class, and her friend mentioned Yun Tianming. She had heard from Hu Wen that Tianming was in the late stages of lung cancer and didn’t have much time left. Right away, Cheng Xin went to Assistant Chief Yu to suggest Tianming as a candidate.
碰巧这时程心的一个大学同学来到纽约，她们见面后谈起了其他同学的下落，这个同学提到去天明，她从胡文那里听说他已是肺癌晚期时日无多了。当时程心没多想什么，立刻找到阶梯计划人选的负责人于维民副局长，推荐云天明为候选人。
After hearing Cheng Xin’s story, Tianming slowly sat up on the bed. Cheng Xin asked him to lie down, but he said he wanted to be by himself for a while.
听完程心的讲述，云天明慢慢从床上坐起来，程心让他继续躺下，他只是木然地说自己想一个人待会儿。
Cheng Xin closed the door lightly behind her. Tianming began to laugh hysterically.
等轻步离开的程心刚把门关上。云天明就爆发出一阵歇斯底里的狂笑。
What a fucking idiot I am! Did I think that because I gave her a star out of love, she would return that love? Did I think that she had flown across the Pacific to save me with her saintly tears? What kind of fairy tale have I been telling myself?
真是个大傻瓜！还有比他更傻的吗？！他以为给了所爱的人一颗星星那人就爱他了？就流着圣洁的眼泪飞越大洋来救他了？多美的童话。
No, Cheng Xin had come to ask him to die.
不是，程心是来让他死。
He made another logical deduction that made him laugh even harder, until it was hard to breathe. Based on Cheng Xin’s timing, she could not know that he had already chosen euthanasia. In other words, if Tianming hadn’t already chosen this path, she would try to convince him to take it. Maybe she would even entice him, or pressure him, until he agreed.
接下来的一个简单推论更是让他笑得窒息：从程心到来的时间看，她肯定不知道云天明已经选择了安乐。换句话说。假如云天明没有选择安乐，她来了以后也要让他安乐，引诱他，甚至逼他安乐。
Euthanasia meant “good death,” but there was nothing good about the fate she had in mind for him.
错了，她给他的死法并不安乐。
Cheng Xin wanted a part of him, the part that carried his soul, to wander forever in that frigid, endless, lightless abyss.
而程心，想让他的一部分，承载灵魂的那一部分。永远流浪在那无边无际无限寒冷的黑暗深渊中。
His sister had wanted him to die because she thought money was being wasted. He could understand that — and he believed that she genuinely wanted him to die in peace. Cheng Xin, on the other hand, wanted him to suffer in eternity. Tianming was terrified of space. Like everyone who studied spaceflight for a living, he understood space’s sinister nature better than the general public. Hell was not on Earth, but in heaven.
姐姐让他去死，只是怕他白花钱，这完全可以理解，况且。她是真心想让他死得安乐。但程心，却想让他成为死得最惨的人。云天明俱怕太空，同每一个学航天的人一样。他比别人更清楚太空的险恶，知道地狱不在地下而在天上。
Then they would search his memory to identify what forms of suffering he feared the most. They would discover a torture technique he had once read in a history book — first, the victim was whipped until not an inch of his skin remained intact; then the victim’s body was tightly wrapped in bandages; and after the victim had stopped bleeding, the bandages would be torn off, ripping open all the wounds at once — then send signals replicating such torture into his brain. The victim in his history book couldn’t live for long in those conditions, but Tianming’s brain would not be able to die. The most that could happen was that his brain could shut down from shock. In the eyes of Trisolarans, it would resemble a computer locking up. They’d just restart his brain and run another experiment, driven by curiosity, or merely the desire for entertainment…
他们会搜索他的记忆，看看他最俱怕的酷刑是什么，他们会发现的。那是他从某个变态的历史记载中看到的：首先把人打得皮开肉绽，然后用纱布裹紧他的全身，当一天后血干了，再嘶嘶啦啦地把纱布全扯下来……如果搜索，他们会发现他的这个恐惧，然后他们会把撕纱布时的感觉编人他的大脑。历史上真正经历那个酷刑的人很快就死了。但他的大脑死不了，最多也就是休克，在他们看来也就像芯片锁死一样平常，重新启动后可以再试，一遍遇地试，出于好奇，或仅仅是为了消遣……
If the Trisolarans were to really capture his brain as Cheng Xin wished, then his true nightmare would begin. Aliens who shared nothing with humanity would attach sensors to his brain and begin tests involving the senses. They would be most interested in the sensation of pain, of course, and so, by turn, he would experience hunger, thirst, whipping, burning, suffocation, electric shocks, medieval torture techniques, death by a thousand cuts…
如果他的大脑真如程心所愿。被三体人截获并复活，那才是真正的噩梦。那些冷酷的异类会首先给他的大脑连上桥官接口。然后做各种感觉的输人试验，对他们最有吸引力的当然是痛苦感，他们会依次让他体验饿感、渴感、鞭打火烧的感觉、室息的感觉、还有老虎凳和电刑的感觉、凌迟的感觉……
Actually, that would be the best outcome.
这还是最好的结果。
Cheng Xin opened the door. “Tianming, what’s wrong?”
程心推门进来，关切地问：“天明，你怎么了？！”
He would have no escape. Without hands or body, he would have no way to commit suicide. His brain would resemble a battery, recharged again and again with pain. There would be no end.
他没有任何解脱的可能，他没有手和身体，咬舌自杀都不可能，他的大脑就像一节电池，一遍遍地被充人痛苦的电流，绵绵无期，永无止境。
He choked off his laugh and turned still as a corpse.
他的笑戛然而止，把自己变成一具僵尸。
He howled with laughter.
他接着笑，笑得喘不过气来。
He gazed at her face, at her solemn but eager expression. She was fighting for humanity, for Earth… But what was wrong with the scene all around him? The light of the setting sun coming through the window fell against the wall like a pool of blood; the lonesome oak tree outside the window appeared as skeletal arms rising out of the grave…
看她圣洁的庄严，看她殷切的期待，她在为人类文明而战，她在保卫地球……周围怎么是这样，看这束夕阳透进窗里的余晖，投在白墙上如一摊肮脏的血；外面孤独的橡树，不过是坟墓中伸出的枯骨……
“Tianming, on behalf of the UN-PDC Strategic Intelligence Agency, I ask you whether you’re willing to shoulder your responsibility as a member of the human race and accept this mission. This is entirely voluntary. You are free to say no.”
“云天明，我代表联合国行星防御理事会战略悄报局问你：你愿意尽一个人类公民的责任，接受这个使命吗？这完全是自愿，你可以拒绝。”
The hint of a smile — an agonized, melancholic smile — appeared at the corners of his mouth. Gradually, the smile spread to the rest of his face.
一抹凄惨的微笑出现在云天明的嘴角，渐渐溢散开来。
“Of course. I accept,” he said.
“好的，我接受。”他说。
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