Tyler had been jumpy lately. Despite the setbacks, the mosquito swarm plan eventually won PDC approval. Development of the space fighters began, but progress was slow due to a lack of advanced technologies.
泰勒最近很紧张。尽管遭遇挫折，蚊子群计划最终还是获得了PDC的批准。太空战斗机的发展开始了，但由于缺乏先进技术，进展缓慢。
Year 8, Crisis Era Distance of the Trisolaran Fleet from the Solar System: 4.20 light-years.
危机纪年第8年，三体舰队距太阳系4.20光年。
Humanity continued to improve on the technology of its stone age axes and clubs, inventing chemically propelled rockets. Tyler’s supplemental project, the study of Europa, Ceres, and various comets, was odd enough that some people suspected that he had come up with it purely to add a sense of mystery to the overly direct main plan. However, since it could be incorporated into the mainstream defense program, he was allowed to start working on that as well.
人类继续改进航天石器时代的斧头和棍棒技术，发明了化学推进火箭。泰勒的补充项目，欧罗巴、谷神星和各种彗星的研究，很奇怪，有人怀疑他纯粹是为了给过于直接的主计划增加一种神秘感。然而，由于它可以被纳入主流防御计划，他也被允许开始这方面的工作。
So Tyler had to wait. He went home and, for the first time in his five years as a Wallfacer, led the life of a normal person.
泰勒只有等待，于是他回到了家中，在成为面壁者的五年来，第一次过上了正常人的生活。
The Wallfacers were subject to increasing scrutiny from the community. Whether they had asked for the role or not, they had been set up in the eyes of the masses as messiah figures. Accordingly, a Wallfacer cult sprang up.
与此同时，面壁者正在引起越来越多的社会关注，不管他们自己是否愿意，他们在公众心目中的救世主形象已经建立起来，顺理成章地出现了面壁者崇拜。
Luo Ji was the exception. He remained in seclusion, never showing his face. No one knew where he was or what he was doing.
罗辑是个例外，他一直在隐居中，从未露过面，谁也不知道他在哪里，在干什么。
No matter how many explanations the UN and PDC issued, legends of their supernatural abilities circulated widely and grew increasingly fanciful. In science fiction movies, they were shown as superheroes, and, in the eyes of many, they were the sole hope for humanity. This gave the Wallfacers an enormous amount of popular and political capital that guaranteed things would go smoothly when they tapped huge amounts of resources.
尽管联合国和PDC一再解释，关于他们拥有超能力的神话还是不胫而走，并且越传越神。他们在科幻电影中被表现为超人英雄，在许多人心目中，他们是人类未来唯一的希望。由此，面壁者们也拥有了巨大的号召力和政治能量，这就保证了他们对巨量资源的调用可以更顺利地进行。
One day, Tyler had a visitor. Like the other Wallfacers, his home was under heavy guard, and all visitors had to pass stringent background checks. But when he first saw the visitor in the living room, he knew that the man would pass through easily, because it was obvious at a glance that he posed no threat to anyone. On this hot day he wore a wrinkled suit, a similarly wrinkled tie, and, more annoyingly, the sort of bowler hat no one wore anymore. He evidently wanted to present a more formal appearance for his visit, since he had probably never attended a formal occasion before. Pale and emaciated, he looked malnourished. His glasses sat heavily on his skinny, pale face, his neck hardly seemed able to support the weight of his head, and his suit looked practically empty, as if it was hanging on a rack. As a politician, Tyler saw at a glance that he belonged to one of those mean social classes whose poverty was more spiritual than material, like Gogol’s petty bureaucrats who, despite their lowly social station, still worry about preserving that status and spend their whole lives engaged in uncreative, exhausting random tasks that they carry out exactingly. In everything they do, they fear making mistakes; with everyone they meet, they fear causing displeasure; and they dare not take the slightest glance through the glass ceiling to a higher plane of society. Tyler detested those people. They were utterly dispensable, and when he thought about how they made up the majority of the world that he wanted to save, it left a bad taste in his mouth.
这一天，泰勒有一个访客。与其他面壁者一样，他的家是戒备森严的，来访者必须经过严格的安全检查。但在客厅中见到来人时，泰勒就明白他肯定能很顺利地进来，因为这人一看就是一个对任何人都不会有威胁的人。他在大热天穿着一身皱巴巴的西装，还系着一条同样皱巴巴的领带，更让人不可忍受的是还戴着一顶现在已很少见的礼帽，显然是想让自己的来访显得正式些，而在这之前他大概没去过什么正式的场合。他面黄肌瘦，像营养不良似的，眼镜在瘦小苍白的脸上显得大而沉重，他那细小的脖子看上去支撑起脑袋和礼帽的重量都困难，那套起皱的西装更像是空荡荡地挂在一个衣架上。作为政治家的泰勒，一眼就看出这人属于社会上最可怜的那类人，他们的可怜之处不仅仅在于物质上，更多是精神上的卑微，就像果戈理笔下的那些小职员。虽然社会地位已经很低下，却仍然为保住这种地位而忧心忡忡，一辈子在毫无创造性的繁杂琐事中心力交瘁，成天小心谨慎，做每件事都怕出错，对每个人都怕惹得不高兴，更是不敢透过玻璃天花板向更高的社会阶层望上一眼。这是泰勒最看不起的一类小人物，他们是真正的可有可无之人，想想自己要拯救的世界中大部分都是这类人，他总是感到兴味索然。
Tyler made up his mind to send him off as soon as he spoke his first sentence, for even if what the man had to say was important to him, to Tyler it was meaningless.
泰勒打定主意，在这人说出第一句话后就赶他走，也许他要说的事对他自己很重要，但对泰勒没有任何意义。
The man walked gingerly through the living room door, but did not dare venture further. He seemed afraid of marking the carpet with the dirty soles of his shoes. He took off his hat and looked at the master of the house through his thick glasses as he bowed repeatedly.
那人小心翼翼地迈进客厅门，不敢再朝前走了，显然怕自己的鞋底弄脏了客厅的地毡。他摘下礼帽，透过厚厚的眼镜片用谦卑的目光看着主人，连连鞠躬。
In a frail voice, the pitiful man uttered his first sentence. It struck Tyler like a bolt of lightning and so dazed him that he practically sat down on the ground. Every word was like a thunderclap.
这个卑微的可怜人用赢弱的声音说出了第一句话，泰勒仿佛被一道闪电击中，几乎因眩晕而跌坐在地，对于他，这句话的每一个字都雷霆万钧。
“Who would have thought we’d one day be facing a battle map like this,” Chang Weisi exclaimed as he looked at a one-to-one-trillion-scale chart of the Solar System displayed on a monitor large enough to be a movie screen. It was almost entirely dark, except for the tiny spot of yellow in the center that was the sun. The chart radius reached the middle of the Kuiper Belt. When it was displayed in its entirety, it was like looking down on the Solar System from a distance of fifty AU above the ecliptic plane. The chart accurately marked the orbits of planets and satellites, as well as the conditions of known asteroids, and it could display a precise sectional layout of the Solar System for any point in the next millennium. Now that positional markings for celestial bodies had been turned off, the chart display was bright enough that you could make out Jupiter if you looked closely enough. It was just an indistinct, tiny bright spot, but from this distance the other seven major planets were invisible.
“谁能想到，我们有一天要面对这样的作战地图。”常伟思面对着一比一千亿的太阳系空间图感慨道。显示空间图的超大屏幕。面积相当于一个电影宽银幕，但屏幕上几乎是一片漆黑，只在正中有一个小小的黄色亮斑，那是太阳。空间图的范围是以柯柏伊带中线为边界，全幅显示时，相当于从垂直于黄道面的五十个天文单位远方看太阳系。空间图精确地标示了各行星和行星的卫星的轨道，以及目前已经探明的小行星带的情况。对今后一千年内各个时间断面的太阳系天体运行位置都可精确显示。现在空间图关闭了天体位置的标示。显示的是真实亮度，如果仔细观察，也许可以找到木星，但只是一个似有似无的微小亮点，在这个距离上，其他七大行星均看不见。
“Wallfacer Frederick Tyler, I am your Wallbreaker.”
“面壁者弗雷德里克·泰勒，我是您的破壁人。”
“Commander, I wonder if you noticed the eyes of our comrades when they saw this map,” he said.
“首长，不知你注意到同志们面对这幅图时的眼神没有？”章北海问。
“Yes, we are facing major changes,” Zhang Beihai said. The military had just completed a meeting to assess its first space map, and now only the two of them remained in the spacious war room.
“是啊，我们所面临的变化太大了。”章北海说。军方对第一版空间图的鉴定会剐刚结束，现在，宽阔的作战室中只剩他和常伟思两人。
“Of course I noticed. It’s understandable. They would have imagined a space map to be like what you find in popular science books. A couple of colored billiard balls rotating around a fireball. It’s only when they’re faced with one drawn to an accurate scale that they come to an appreciation of the vastness of the Solar System. And, whether they’re air force or navy, the furthest their air and water craft can go doesn’t even amount to one pixel on the big screen.”
“当然注意到了，可以理解，他们在会前肯定把空间图想成科普画那样，几个台球大小的彩色行星围着太阳的大火球转动……见到按真实比例绘制的空间图，才感受到了太阳系的广阔。不管是空军还是海军，他们能够航行或飞行的最远距离在这张屏幕上连一个像素的大小都不到。”
“And now we’re back to defeatism.”
“我们又要谈到失败主义了。”
“Commander, I don’t want to talk about the reality of defeatism today. That’s a subject for a formal meeting. What I’d like to discuss is… well…” He faltered, and smiled, a rare thing for someone who was usually so outspoken.
“首长，我并不是想谈现实中的失败主义，这应该是正式工作会议上讨论的问题，我想谈的……怎么说呢？”章北海犹豫地笑了笑，这对于说话一贯直率果敢的他是很少见的。
“It seems that looking at the battlefield of the future did not inspire a stitch of confidence or passion for battle in our comrades.”
“我感觉，他们面对未来的战场，没有表现出一点信心和战斗的激情。”
“Yes. Or something unprecedented, at least. I’m making a recommendation.”
“是，至少没有先例。这是我的一个建议。”
“Proceed. Get right down to the topic. Of course, you don’t need encouragement for that.”
“说吧，最好直奔主题，对于你，不需要这样的鼓励吧。”
“Yes, Commander. Over the past five years, little progress has been made in basic planetary defense and space travel research. The preliminary technology in those two programs — controlled nuclear fusion and the space elevator — are still at square one, with no hope in sight, and there are all kinds of problems with higher-thrust chemical rockets. If things continue in this vein, then I fear a space fleet, even at the low-tech level, will remain science fiction forever.”
“是，首长。这五年中，行星防御和宇宙航行的基础研究几乎没有进展，两项起步技术——可控核聚变和太空电梯，仍在原地踏步，让人看不到希望，连更大推力的传统化学火箭都困难重重，照这样下去，即使是低技术战略层次的太空舰队，怕也只能永远是科幻。”
“You chose high-tech, Comrade Beihai. You ought to be well aware of the rules of scientific research.”
“对于科学研究的规律，北海同志，在你选择进入高技术战略研究室时，就应该已经有了一个清醒的认识。”
Chang Weisi turned away from the map and smiled back at him. “Seems you’ve got something highly unorthodox to say.”
常伟思把目光从空间图上收回来，对着章北海笑笑：“看来你要说的事情很有些不寻常。”
“Of course I’m aware of them. Research is a process of leaping forward, and qualitative change is only produced by long-term quantitative accumulation. Breakthroughs in theory and technology are mostly achieved in concentrated bursts… Still, Commander, how many people understand the problem like I do? It’s very likely that in ten or twenty or fifty years, or even a century, we still won’t have any major breakthroughs in any scientific or technical field, and at that point, how far will defeatist thinking have developed? What spiritual and mental state will have taken hold in the space force? Commander, am I really taking this too far?”
“我当然明白，科学研究是一个跳跃前进的过程，长时间的量变积累才能产生质变，理论和技术突破大都是集中突发的……但，首长，有多少人是像我们这样认识问题的呢？很有可能，十年二十年或五十年，甚至一个世纪后，各个学科和技术领域仍无重大突破，那时的失败主义思潮将会发展到什么程度，太空军将会陷人怎样一种思想状态和精神状态，首长，你是不是觉得我想得太远了？”
“That’s where my worry lies, Commander. When that time comes, political work in the space force won’t be up to the task.”
“这正是我担忧的，首长，那时，太空军的政工力量可能严重不足。”
“Beihai, what I most admire about you is that you always keep the long term in mind as you work. It’s a rare thing among political cadres in this military. Please go on.”
“北海，我最看重你的一点就是对工作有长远的思考，这在部队政工干部中是难能可贵的，说下去。”
“Well, I can only speak from the scope of my own work. Working under the above assumptions, what sort of difficulties and pressures will be faced by our future comrades engaged in political and ideological work in the space force?”
“其实我也只是从自己的工作范围来考虑：在上面的那种假设下，未来太空军中从事政治思想工作的同志将面临怎样的困难和压力？”
“Your recommendation?”
“你的建议？”
Chang Weisi looked at Zhang Beihai for a few seconds, then turned back to the big screen. He moved the cursor and enlarged the sun until their epaulets reflected the sunlight.
常伟思默默地看了章北海几秒钟，然后把目光移向大屏幕，同时移动光标，把太阳向前拉进，直到他们的肩章都反射出阳光为止。
“A grimmer question is, how many ideologically qualified political cadres will be left in the forces?” added Chang Weisi. “To contain defeatism, we first need to have a firm faith in victory ourselves. But this is certain to be more difficult in your hypothetical future.”
“更严峻的是，那时部队中还能有多少思想上合格的政工干部呢，”常伟思接过话头，“遏制失败主义，首先自己要对胜利有坚定的信念，这在你所假设的未来肯定比现在更困难。”
“Send reinforcements!”
“增援未来！”
Chang Weisi stood up and turned on the lights, illuminating the war room. “No, Comrade Beihai, this is a job for you now. Drop everything else. Starting tomorrow, you will focus on the Space Force Political Department, do some research into the other branches, and draft a preliminary report for the Central Military Commission as soon as possible.”
常伟思站起身，把灯打开，使作战室中豁然明亮。“不，北海同志，这工作你现在就要做，从明天起，你先放下手头的事，以太空军政治部为主，也可以到其他军种做些调查，尽快起草一个上报军委的初步方案。”
“Commander, what I mean is…”
“首长，我的意思是……”
The sun was setting behind the mountains when Tyler arrived. Exiting the car, he faced a vision of paradise: the softest light of the day shining on the snow peaks, the lake, and the forest, and Luo Ji and his family enjoying the otherworldly evening in the grass on the lakeshore. What first caught his eye was the mother, so young-looking, like an older sister to the one-year-old child. From a distance it was hard to make her out, but as he drew closer, his attention shifted to the child. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed that such an adorable little being actually existed. Like a stem cell of beauty, the embryonic state of all that is beautiful. Mother and child were drawing on a large sheet of white paper as Luo Ji stood off to one side watching with interest as he had in the Louvre, gazing from a distance at his beloved, now a mother. Moving closer still, Tyler saw in his eyes an infinite bliss, a happiness that seemed to permeate everything between mountain and lake in this Garden of Eden… Having just arrived from the grim outside world made the scene before his eyes feel unreal. He had been married twice but was now single, and the joys of family had meant little to him in his pursuit of a man’s glory. Now, for the first time ever, he felt he had lived an empty life.
泰勒到达时，太阳已经快落山了，他一出车门，就看到了一幅天堂般的景象：一天中最柔美的阳光撒在雪山、湖泊和森林上，在湖边的草坪上，罗辑一家正在享受着这尘世之外的黄昏。泰勒首先注意到的是那位美丽的母亲，她仍是少女的样子，倒像是那个一周岁的孩子的姐姐。距离远时看不清，随着他走近，注意力便转移到孩子身上。如果不是亲眼见到，他真不相信世界上有这么可爱的小生命。这孩子像一个美丽的干细胞，是所有美的萌芽状态。母亲和孩子在一张大白纸上画画，罗辑则远远地站在一边入神地看着，就像在卢浮宫中，远远地看着他所爱的现在已成为母亲的少女一样。再走近些，泰勒从他的眼神中看到了无边的幸福，那幸福就像这夕阳的光芒般弥漫于伊甸园的雪山和湖泊之间刚刚从严峻的外部世界走来，眼前的一切给泰勒一种不现实的感觉。以前，结过两次婚后来仍单身的他对这类天伦之乐的景象并不在意，他只追求一个男人的辉煌，但现在，泰勒第一次感到自己虚度了一生。
“I realize that, Commander. I’m just voicing a personal suggestion. Big-picture thinking is, of course, up to my superiors.”
“我知道，首长，我只是提出自己的建议，全盘和整体的考虑当然要由上级来做。”
He raised a hand. “I know what you mean.” Then he pulled back until the entire map was displayed, plunging the war room back into gloom, and then brought the sun forward again… and again and again as he thought, until at last he said, “Has it ever occurred to you that if political and ideological work in the space force is a complex and difficult task right now, it will considerably weaken today’s work to hibernate the most outstanding political officers and send them to the future?”
“我明白你的意思。”常伟思抬起一只手说，同时又把太阳推远，一直推到空间图的全幅显示，使作战室重新笼罩在昏暗中，然后再把太阳拉近……将军在思考中反复这样做着，最后说：“你考虑过没有，现在的太空军政治思想工作已经任务繁重，困难重重，如果用冬眠技术，把优秀的现役政工军官送到未来，对目前的工作将是一个很大的削弱……”
“Madam, please excuse the interruption,” Tyler said with a slight bow to Zhuang Yan, who had come over with the child.
“请夫人原谅我的打扰。”泰勒对拉着孩子走过来的庄颜微微鞠躬说。
Luo Ji, captivated by his wife and child, only noticed Tyler when he had gotten quite close. Due to the psychological barriers erected by their common situation, there had been no personal contact between Wallfacers up to this point. But having spoken with him on the phone, Luo Ji showed no surprise at Tyler’s arrival, and met him with polite warmth.
直到泰勒走得很近了，一直陶醉地看着妻儿的罗辑才注意到他。出于由共同身份产生的心理障碍，到目前为止，四位面壁者之间没有任何私人联系。但因为事先已经通过电话，所以罗辑对泰勒的到来并不吃惊，井对他表现出了礼貌的热情。
He wanted to hug the child, but was afraid of losing control of his feelings, so he simply said, “Seeing you two angels is worth the trip.”
他想抱抱孩子，但又怕自己感情失控，只是说：“能见到你们两个天使，我已经不虚此行了。”
“Welcome, Mr. Tyler. We seldom have guests, so we are pleased that you could come.” Her English was strained, but her voice retained a childlike softness and she still had that cool spring of a smile, which stroked his weary soul like an angel’s hands. “This is our daughter, Xia Xia.”
“欢迎您泰勒先生，这里客人很少，您能来我们很高兴。”庄颜说，她说英语有些吃力，但她那仍带着稚气的柔美声音和清泉般的微笑，像一双天使的手抚摸着泰勒疲惫的心灵。
“No, that’s not necessary. I just want to have a brief chat with Dr. Luo. I won’t take up too much time.”
“不不，不用了，我只想和罗辑博士谈一会儿，不会待很长时间的。”
“We’ll let you talk. I’ll go and prepare dinner,” she said as she smiled at the two men.
“你们谈吧，我去准备晚饭。”庄颜微笑着看了看两个男人说。
Zhuang Yan warmly insisted that he stay for dinner, then left with the child.
庄颜热情地坚持留泰勒吃晚饭，然后带着孩子离去了。
“What happened? You don’t look well. Are you tired? What can I get you to drink?”
“什么事？你的脸色不好，很累吗？哦，喝点什么？”
“At least you haven’t wasted resources… So she doesn’t watch TV either? I mean, your angel.”
“至少你没有浪费资源……那她也不看电视吗？我是说你的那位天使。”
Luo Ji motioned for Tyler to sit on a white chair in the grass. When he sat down, his whole body went limp, as if his tendons had been removed. He was a traveler who had at last reached his destination after a long voyage.
罗辑示意泰勒在草坪上的一张白色椅子上坐下，泰勒一坐下，浑身就像抽去了筋一般软瘫下来，仿佛一个长途旅人终于到达了目标。
“You are truly a smart man, and at least from one perspective, a more responsible man than me.”
“你真是个聪明人。甚至从某个角度看，也比我们更有责任心。”
“Anything,” Tyler said, watching the last golden rays of the setting sun on the lake dazedly. “Four days ago, my Wallbreaker appeared.”
“随便……”泰勒迷茫地看着夕阳映在湖面上的最后的金波，“四天前，我的破壁人出现了。”
“Then you really don’t know what’s happened out there over the past few days?”
“那你确实不知道这几天外面发生的事了。”
“Doctor, it seems like you’ve been lost to the world for the past two years,” Tyler said.
“博士，这几年你好像对外界一无所知吧。”泰勒说。
“Yes.” Luo Ji remained standing. He swept a hand about him. “This is my everything.”
“是。”罗辑仍站着，挥手指了一下周围，“这就是我的全部。”
“Her? I don’t know. She’s always with Xia Xia these days, so I don’t think she watches much.”
“她，我不知道，最近一直和孩子在一起，好像也不怎么看吧。”
“What do you mean by that?” Luo Ji asked, with a puzzled smile.
“后一句话怎讲？”罗辑不解地笑着问。
“So soon?” Tyler said to the Wallbreaker. He tried to keep his voice calm but it ended up sounding feeble.
“这么快？”泰勒对破壁人说，他努力使自己的声音镇定从容，结果却显得很无力。
Luo Ji stopped pouring the wine, and after a moment’s silence, said, “So soon?”
罗辑正在向杯中倒葡萄酒，听得此言他立刻停了下来，沉默片刻说：“这么快？”
Tyler nodded heavily. “That’s the first thing I said to him, too.”
泰勒沉重地点点头，“见到他时我的第一句话也是这么说的。”
Then a suffocating silence took hold. At last Tyler screwed up the courage to look at the Wallbreaker, who then asked respectfully, “Sir, shall I go on?”
然后陷入了令人窒息的沉默，直到泰勒鼓起勇气抬头看破壁人时，后者才恭敬地问：“先生，我可以继续吗？”
Tyler nodded but averted his gaze. He sat down on the sofa and did his best to calm down.
泰勒点点头，收回目光，在沙发上坐下，尽可能地使自己镇定下来。
“Thank you, sir.” The Wallbreaker bowed again, his hat still in hand. “First, I’ll briefly describe the plan you’ve shown to the outside world: Using a fleet of nimble space fighters carrying hundred-megaton-class superbombs, your fighters will assist Earth’s fleet by executing a suicide strike on the Trisolaris Fleet. Perhaps I’ve oversimplified, but that’s basically it, right?”
“是，先生。”破壁人再次鞠躬，礼帽一直端在手里，“我首先简述您对外界显示的战略：建立一支独立于地球主力舰队的太空力量。以球状闪电和宏原子核聚变作为主要武器装备。”
“I’d liked to have come sooner, but I thought I’d collect more comprehensive evidence, so I’m late. I am sorry,” the Wallbreaker said. He stood behind Tyler like a servant and spoke slowly, with a servant’s humility. His final sentence even contained a meticulousness and thoughtfulness, the understanding that an executioner shows to his victim.
“本来还可以更快的，但我想收集更充分的证据，所以晚了，对不起。”破壁人说，他像一个仆役般站在泰勒身后，说话很慢，带着仆役的谦卑，最后三个字甚至带着一种无微不至的体贴——一个老刽子手对行刑对象的那种体贴。
“If that’s the case, sir, then I don’t have to go on, and you can arrest me. But you surely must know that regardless of what happens, your true strategy, and all of the evidence used to prove my hypothesis, will make the news across the world tomorrow, or maybe even tonight. At the cost of the rest of my life I stand before you today, and I hope that you will value my sacrifice.”
“如果是这样，先生，我可以不再继续说下去，您接着可以逮捕我，但有一点您肯定已经想到：不管怎么样，您的真实战略以及推测出这个战略的所有证据，都将在明天甚至今晚全世界的新闻中出现。我是以自已的后半生为代价来与您见面的，希望您能珍惜我的牺牲。”
“There’s no point in discussing this with you,” Tyler said. He had been considering whether to terminate the conversation. The moment the Wallbreaker revealed himself, Tyler’s intuition as a politician and strategist informed him that the other man was the victor, but at this point he would be lucky if his mind had not been laid entirely bare.
“同你讨论这些没有意义。”泰勒说。他一直在犹豫要不要彻底中止这场对话，早在破壁人亮出身份之际，政治家和战略家的直觉就告诉他这人是胜利者，但直到现在，他仍心存侥幸，希望最终证明自己的思想没有被看透。
“Thank you, sir. I am truly honored, and I will not use up too much time.” The Wallbreaker bowed again. A humble respect so rarely seen among modern people seemed to be in his blood, able to manifest at any time, like a noose gradually tightening around Tyler’s neck. “Then, sir, was my rendition of your strategy just now correct?”
“谢谢，先生，我真的很荣幸，不会用太长时间的。”破壁人又鞠了一躬，他那种现代人中已经很少见的谦卑恭敬似乎已经渗透到了血液中，随时都表现出来，像一根软软的绞索在泰勒的脖子上慢慢套紧，“那么，先生，我刚才对您的战略的表述正确吗？”
“You may continue,” Tyler said with a wave of his hand.
“你说下去吧。”泰勒对自己的破壁人摆了一下手说。
“Given humanity’s technological capabilities, the most powerful weapons we are likely to possess in the future are super hydrogen bombs. In a space-battle environment, the bombs must be detonated in direct contact with their target to be capable of destroying enemy ships. Space fighters are nimble and can be deployed in large numbers, so sending the fighter fleet in for swarmlike suicide strikes is undoubtedly the best option. Your plan is eminently reasonable. All of your behavior, including trips to Japan, China, and even the mountains of Afghanistan in search of space kamikaze pilots with a spirit of self-sacrifice, and your plan to put the mosquito fleet under your direct control once that search failed, was also entirely reasonable.”
“我首先注意到，您用了很多的精力和时间巡游世界各地，考察各国的军队和其他武装力量，试图找到人类社会中残存的自我牺牲精神，井组建一支具有这种精神的太空军。这种对牺牲精神的关注似乎有些过分了，很不正常。当然，您有自己的解释：球状闪电和宏原子武器需要近距离攻击目标，相对于其他太空武器，有更高的伤亡率，因而需要参战者具有自我牺牲精神。”
“It was.”
“正确。”泰勒说。
“What’s wrong with that?” Tyler asked, sitting up on the sofa.
“这有什么不对吗？”泰勒从沙发上扬起头问。
“Nothing’s wrong with that. But that’s just the strategy you presented to the outside.”
“没有什么不对，合情合理，但这种合理只是对您显示给外界的战略而言。”
The Wallbreaker bent down, drew near to Tyler’s ear, and continued speaking in a soft voice. “Your true strategy had small alterations. For quite a long time, you had me stumped. It was agonizing for me, and I nearly gave up.”
破壁人弯下腰，把嘴凑近了泰勒的耳朵，用更低的声音继续说，“但在您的真实战略中，情况稍有变化。很长一段时间以来，你一直把我难住。这让我很痛苦，我差点就放弃了。”
“Why?”
“为什么？”
“It was not,” the Wallbreaker said. “Sir, pardon my saying it, but it was not correct.”
“不正确。”破壁人说，“先生，请允许我说，不正确。”
Tyler realized that he had a death grip on a sofa handle, and tried to relax.
泰勒最后的希望破灭了，他已经知道后面将要发生的一切。并选择了沉默，此后，他真没必要再说什么了。
“Rabies sufferers fear the water and can go into spasms at the mere mention of the word. I imagine you have similar feelings right now.”
“狂犬病患者怕水，一提到这个词就会痉挛。我想你现在也有类似的感觉。”
The Wallbreaker drew close to Tyler and spoke directly into his ear. His breath was not the least bit warm, but felt like a ghostly wind flavored with the grave. “Water,” he whispered, as if talking in his sleep. “Water…”
破壁人靠近泰勒，直接对着他的耳朵说话。他的呼吸一点也不暖，但感觉像一股阴风，伴随着坟墓的味道。“水，”他低声说，好像在睡觉时说话。“水……”
“But then you gave me the key to unlock the whole puzzle. It was such a good fit that for a moment I doubted my good fortune. You know what I’m referring to: Your study of several bodies in the solar system, Europa, Ceres, and the comets. What do they have in common? Water. They all possess water, and in large quantities! On their own, Europa and Ceres have more water than in all of the oceans on Earth…”
“但后来你给了我解开整个谜团的钥匙。这是一个非常适合我的时刻，我怀疑我的好运气。你知道我指的是什么：你对太阳系、木卫二、谷神星和彗星中几个天体的研究。他们有什么共同点？水。它们都有水，而且数量巨大！欧罗巴和谷神星自身的水资源比地球上所有的海洋都要多……”
Tyler remained silent, his face like a statue’s.
泰勒保持沉默，他的脸像个雕像。
“No,” Tyler said in a low voice.
“不必，”泰勒低声说。
“But I’ll continue anyway,” the Wallbreaker said, almost gleefully. “I’ll leave historians with a complete record, even if history won’t endure for much longer. And an explanation for the Lord as well, of course. Not everyone has the keen intellect of the two of us, able to grasp the whole from the merest part. Particularly the Lord, who may not even understand a complete explanation.” He raised up a hand, as if acknowledge the Trisolaran listeners, and laughed. “Forgive me.”
“但不管怎样，我还是会继续，”破壁人几乎高兴地说。“我会让历史学家有一个完整的记录，即使历史不会持续太久。当然，还有对上帝的解释。不是每个人都有我们两个人敏锐的智慧，能够从最快乐的部分把握整体。尤其是上帝，他甚至可能不理解一个完整的解释。“他举起一只手，好像承认了特里索拉的听众，并笑了起来。“原谅我。”
“Is there any need for me to continue?” the Wallbreaker asked, standing up.
“我有必要继续吗？“破壁人站起来问道。
“After traveling the world you became utterly disillusioned with modern humanity’s dedication. You also became convinced that Earth’s space force did not stand a chance of defeating Trisolaris via standard combat. You therefore hatched a strategy even more extreme. In my opinion, this is a very faint hope, and an immense risk. Nevertheless, the principles of the Wallfacer Project dictate that in this war, the safest bet is to take a risk.”
“在周游世界之后，你对现代人类的奉献完全不抱幻想。你也开始相信，地球的太空部队没有机会通过标准战斗打败三体。因此，你策划了一个更为极端的策略。在我看来，这是一个非常微弱的希望，也是一个巨大的风险。不过，面壁计划的原则规定，在这场战争中，最安全的赌注是冒险。”
Tyler’s features slackened, and then his bones seemed to melt. He slumped into the sofa. He was finished, and his spirit no longer inhabited his body.
泰勒的面容松弛了，然后他的骨头似乎融化了。他瘫倒在沙发上。他完成了，他的灵魂不再停留在他的身体上。
“Now then. Setting aside the water, let’s talk about the mosquito swarm. Its first attack target will not be the Trisolaran invaders, but Earth’s own space force. This hypothesis is a bit of a reach based on the barest of signs, but I maintain that it is correct. You went around the world seeking to establish a kamikaze force for humanity, but your efforts failed. You anticipated this, but from this failure you were able to obtain two things you desired. One was total despair in humanity — this, you have achieved fully. The second I’ll discuss in a moment.”
“现在。把水放一边，我们来谈谈蚊子群。它的第一个攻击目标不是三极入侵者，而是地球自身的空间力量。这个假设有点基于最少的迹象，但我坚持认为它是正确的。你周游世界，寻求建立一支为人类服务的神风部队，但你的努力失败了。你预料到了这一点，但从这次失败中你可以得到两件你想要的东西。一是人类的彻底绝望这一点，你已经完全实现了。我马上就要讨论的第二个问题。”
“Of course, this was only the beginning. Your betrayal of humanity would be a long process, but you had time on your side. In the following months and years, you were prepared to engineer events that would add to the wall you erected between yourself and the human race. Your despair would gradually grow and your sorrow intensify, and you would leave the human world further and further behind, growing closer and closer to the ETO and Trisolaris. In fact, you took your first steps on this road when you urged mercy for the ETO at the PDC hearing not long ago. That wasn’t just for show, though. You truly need them to endure. You need members of the ETO to pilot your space fighters in the Doomsday Battle. It is a matter of time and patience, but you would succeed, because the ETO also needs you. It needs your assistance, and the resources you possess. It wouldn’t be difficult to turn over the mosquito fleet to the ETO, so long as it was kept a secret from the outside world. And if it were discovered, you could claim that it was all part of the plan.”
“当然，这只是开始。你对人性的背叛是一个漫长的过程，但你有时间站在你这边。在接下来的几个月和几年里，你已经准备好设计一些事件，这些事件会增加你在自己和人类之间竖起的墙。你的绝望会逐渐增长，你的悲伤会加剧，你会越来越远离人类世界，越来越靠近埃托和三体。事实上，你在这条路上迈出了第一步，不久前你在PDC听证会上为ETO呼吁怜悯。不过，这不仅仅是为了展示。你真的需要他们来忍受。你需要ETO的成员在世界末日的战斗中驾驶你的太空战斗机。这是一个时间和耐心的问题，但是你会成功，因为ETO也需要你。它需要你的帮助和你拥有的资源。只要向外界保密，把蚊子舰队移交给ETO就不难了。如果它被发现，你可以声称它是计划的一部分。”
“Very well. Let’s talk about the water now. In the Doomsday Battle, the ETO-controlled mosquito fleet would likely launch a sneak attack on Earth’s fleet and then flee to the Lord’s fleet. Because they had just demonstrated their disloyalty to earth, Trisolaris might be willing to let them join the fleet, but the Lord would not be so fast to accept the turncoat army. A sufficiently meaningful gift would be required to win them over. What would the Lord need that the Solar System possesses? Water. On their four-century voyage, most of the water in the Trisolaran Fleet would be used up. As they approached the Solar System, dehydrated Trisolarans on board would need to be rehydrated. Since the water used for this would become part of their bodies, clean water would certainly be preferred to the stale water that had been recycled innumerable times on the ship. The mosquito fleet would offer the Lord an iceberg formed out of huge quantities of water obtained from Europa, Ceres, and the comets. I’m not certain of the specifics — I expect you don’t know right now either — but let’s say tens of thousands of tons.
“很好。我们现在谈谈水。在世界末日之战中，ETO控制的蚊子舰队很可能会对地球舰队发动偷袭，然后逃到上帝的舰队。因为他们刚刚表现出对地球的不忠，特里索利斯可能愿意让他们加入舰队，但上帝不会这么快接受叛军。要赢得他们，就需要一份足够有意义的礼物。上帝需要太阳系拥有什么？水。在他们四个世纪的航行中，特里索拉舰队的大部分水域都将被耗尽。当他们接近太阳系时，船上脱水的三体需要再水化。由于用于这方面的水将成为他们身体的一部分，清洁的水肯定会比船上无数次循环使用的陈旧的水更受欢迎。蚊子舰队将为上帝提供一座冰山，它是由大量从欧罗巴、谷神星和彗星中获取的水形成的。我不确定具体情况——我想你现在也不知道，但我们假设数万吨。
Tyler did not seem to be listening to the Wallbreaker. He sat on his sofa with his eyes half-closed, looking fatigued, as if he had already given up and was beginning to relax.
泰勒似乎没有在听穿墙舞。他半闭着眼睛坐在沙发上，看上去很疲惫，好像已经放弃了，开始放松了。
“An outstanding plan. That’s not a lie. But certain oversights are inexplicable. Why were you so eager to pursue the study of water-bearing heavenly bodies? The technology to extract and transport water in quantity does not exist right now, and engineering-side R&D could take years or even decades. Even if you felt you had to start right away, why not toss in a few targets that don’t contain water — the moons of Mars, for instance? If you had done so, although it wouldn’t have prevented me from eventually exposing your plan, it would have vastly increased the difficulty. How could a great strategist such as yourself overlook such simple tricks? On the other hand, I do recognize the pressure you are under.”
“一个出色的计划。那不是谎言。但某些超视距是无法解释的。你为什么如此渴望研究含水天体？目前还不存在大量提取和运输水的技术，工程方面的研发可能需要几年甚至几十年的时间。即使你觉得你必须马上开始，为什么不扔一些不含水的目标，比如火星的卫星呢？如果你这样做了，尽管它不会阻止我最终公开你的计划，但它会大大增加困难。像你这样伟大的战略家怎么能忽视这些简单的技巧呢？另一方面，我确实认识到你所承受的压力。”
The Wallbreaker straightened up and, leaving Tyler’s side, approached the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the garden. The hellish wind he had blown into Tyler’s ear dissipated, but not before the chill had penetrated his body.
破壁人直起身，离开了泰勒，踱到落地窗前，看着外面的花园。他吹到泰勒耳根的地狱之风消失了，但那股寒气已经侵彻泰勒的全身。
“This giant chunk of ice would be propelled by the mosquito group. The mosquito fleet would likely draw very close to the Lord’s fleet when presenting the gift, at which point the second consequence of the failure of your attempt to build a kamikaze force would be put to use. That failure prompted your very logical request for independent control of the entire mosquito fleet. When Earth’s fleet draws close to the Lord’s fleet, you would take over control of the fighters from the ETO pilots and switch them to drone mode, ordering the fighters to strike their chosen targets. The superbombs would be detonated at point-blank range, annihilating all of the Lord’s ships.
这个巨大的冰块将由蚊子群推动。在赠送礼物的时候，蚊子舰队很可能会非常接近上帝的舰队，在这一点上，你试图建立一支神风部队失败的第二个后果将投入使用。这一失败促使你提出了一个非常合理的要求，要求独立控制整个蚊子种群。当地球舰队接近主舰队时，你将从ETO飞行员手中接管战斗机的控制权，并将其转换为无人机模式，命令战斗机攻击他们选定的目标。超级炸弹将在近距离引爆，摧毁主的所有船只。
When the Wallbreaker opened the door, Tyler croaked out a final question: “If what you say is true, so what?”
当破壁人拉开门时，泰勒又用僵硬的声音问：“如果你说的都是真的，那又怎么样？”
“Don’t beat yourself up. You did well enough, really. I hope history remembers you.” The Wallbreaker removed his land, a flush of restored energy on his formerly wan and sickly face. He stretched out his arms. “Well, Mr. Tyler, I’m done. Call your people.”
“别自责。你做得很好，真的。“我希望历史能记住你。”破壁人从窗前转过身来，他那刚才还苍白病态的脸上浮现出精神焕发的红晕，他对着泰勒张开双臂：“好了。我完成了，泰勒先生，叫人来吧。”
Tyler, his eyes still shut, said without energy, “You may leave.”
泰勒眼睛还闭着，没有力气说：“你可以走了。”
The Wallbreaker placed a gentle hand on Tyler’s shoulder, and Tyler felt a flash of tenderness, as of an executioner for his victim. He was even a little moved.
破壁人把一只手轻轻地放在泰勒的肩上，泰勒感到一阵温柔，像是一个为受害者处决的刽子手。他甚至有点感动。
The Wallbreaker turned back toward him. “So nothing. Mr. Tyler, regardless of whether or not I’ve broken your plan, the Lord does not care.”
破壁人回过头来，再次表现出那种刽子手的温柔体贴：“不会怎么样的，泰勒先生，不管地球舰队是坍缩态还是量子态，不管人类太空战士是活人还是量子幽灵，主都不在乎。”
When an ordinary person spoke with one of them, they would always be thinking, He’s a Wallfacer, his words can’t be trusted, and those suggestions would present a barrier to communication. But when two Wallfacers spoke with each other, the suggestions that existed in both minds cross-multiplied those communication barriers. Such an exchange, in fact, rendered anything either side said meaningless, so that communication itself lost all significance. This was why there had been no private interaction between Wallfacers.
当一个普通人与他们交流时，总是时时想到：他是面壁者，他的任何一句话都不可信，这种暗示造成了一种交流障碍。而当两个面壁者空流时，这种暗示同时存在于双方的意识中，使得交流的障碍是前者的平方。事实上，在这种交流中，双方的任何一句话都没有意义，因而使得整个交流也失去了意义，这就是以前面壁者之间没有私人交往的原因。
Luo Ji was rendered speechless for a long while after hearing Tyler’s account.
听完泰勒的叙述，罗辑久久无言以对。
“How do you evaluate the Wallbreaker’s analysis?” Luo Ji asked to break the silence, even though he knew there was no point to the question.
“您怎么评价破壁人的分析？”罗辑问，其实发问只是为了打破沉默，他立刻意识到这种问题没有意义。
“He guessed right,” Tyler said.
“他猜对了。”泰勒说。
Luo Ji wanted to say something, but what? What could be said? They were both Wallfacers.
罗辑欲言又止，说什么呢？有什么可说的？他们都是面壁者。
“The day after the Wallbreaker’s visit, a complete analysis of my strategy was posted online. The material ran into the millions of words, most of it obtained through sophon monitoring, and it caused a sensation. The day before yesterday, the PDC called a hearing on the issue, at which it resolved the following: ‘Wallfacer Plans may not contain anything that poses a threat to human life.’ If my plan actually existed, then its execution would be a crime against humanity. It must be stopped, and its Wallfacer punished by law. Notice how they invoke crimes against humanity, a term that’s being thrown around more than ever these days? But the resolution concluded by saying, ‘According to the basic principles of the Wallfacer Project, the evidence available to the outside world may just be a part of the Wallfacer’s strategy of deception and cannot be used to prove that the Wallfacer has actually developed and is executing this plan.’ So I won’t be charged.”
“破壁人出现后的第二天，网上就出现了对我的战略的全面分析，有上百万字的资料，其中有很大部分来自于智子的监测信息，引起了很大轰动。前天，PDC为此召开了听证会，会议做出的决议是这样的：面壁计划绝不能存在伤害人类生命的内容，如果我的这项计划真的存在，那计划的执行者就犯了反人类罪，必须得到制止，相应的面壁者也将受到法律的制裁。你听听，他们用了反人类这个词，这个词在这几年用得越来越多了。决议最后说，按照面壁计划的基本原则，目前外界出现的证据可能是面壁者战略欺骗的一部分，并不能证明该面壁者确实制定并在执行这样的计划，所以我不受指控。”
“And that was…?” Luo Ji felt like a machine for meaningless dialogue.
“那是什么？”罗辑感觉自己是一个无意义的对话机器。
“That was my true strategy,” Tyler went on. He evidently had a strong desire to speak and didn’t care whether or not his listener believed him. “Of course, it’s still in the preliminary stages. The technology alone is quite difficult, although I expected a gradual resolution to all of the theoretic and technical issues over the course of four centuries. But judging from the enemy’s attitude toward the plan, it wouldn’t make any difference. They don’t care, and that’s the height of contempt.”
“这真的是我的战略。”泰勒接着说，他显然有强烈的倾述需求，并不在乎对方是否相信，“当然还处于很初步的阶段，仅从技术上说难度也很大，关于量子态的人如何与现实发生作用，以及他们如何通过自我观察实现在现实时空中的定点坍缩，都是未知。这些需要实验研究，但用人做的任何这类宴验都属于谋杀，所以不可能进行。”
“I’d thought as much,” Luo Ji said.
“我也是这么想。”罗辑说。
“But at the hearing, I declared that the Wallbreaker’s analysis was correct, and that my strategy was indeed the mosquito swarm. I asked to be tried in accordance with national and international law.”
“但我在会议上声明，破壁人的分析是准确的，把地球舰队量子化确实是我的战略，我请求依照国际法和本国法律得到审判。”
“I can imagine their reaction.”
“我能想象到他们的反应。”
“I know the feeling.”
“我知道那种感觉。”
“The PDC’s rotating chair and all the permanent member representatives looked at me with that Wallfacer smile on their face, and the chair declared the meeting adjourned. Those bastards!”
“PDC轮值主席和所有常任理事国的代表都看着我，露出对面壁者的微笑，主席宣布会议结束。这群杂种！”
“That was a meaningless act, Mr. Tyler.”
“泰勒先生，这么做无意义。”
“I had a total breakdown. I fled out of the hall and into the square outside, shouting, ‘I am Wallfacer Frederick Tyler! My Wallbreaker exposed my strategy! He was right! I’m going to attack the Earth fleet with the mosquito swarm! I’m anti-human! I’m a devil! Punish me and kill me!'”
“我当时完全崩溃了，冲出会场，冲到外面的广场上大叫：我是面壁者弗雷德里克·泰勒！我的破壁人已经成功揭穿了我的战略！他是对的！我要用球状闪电消灭地球舰队！我要让他们变成量子幽灵去作战！我要杀人！我反人类！我是魔鬼！你们惩罚我。杀了我吧！”
“What I hate the most is the expression people have when they look at me. A crowd of people surrounded me in the square, their eyes revealing the fantasies of children, the reverence of the middle-aged, and the concern of the elderly. All of their eyes said, ‘Look, he’s a Wallfacer. He’s at work, but he’s the only one in the world who knows what he’s doing. See what a great job he’s doing? He’s pretending so well. How will the enemy know what his real strategy is? That great, great, great strategy that only he knows and that will be the salvation of the world…’ Complete and utter crap! Those idiots!”
“广场上一大群人围着我看，在他们的眼神里，孩子露出幻想，中年人露出崇敬，老人露出关爱，他们的目光都在说：看啊，他是面壁者，他在工作，世界上只有他自己知道自己在做什么，看啊，他做得多么好，他装得多么像啊，敌人怎么可能探知他的真实战略呢？而那个只有他知道的、将拯救世界的战略是多么多么的的伟大……啊呸！这群白痴！”
At last Luo Ji decided to remain silent, and merely smiled wordlessly at Tyler.
罗辑终于决定保持沉默，他对泰勒无言地笑笑。
“This is a vicious cycle we’ll never be free of, Mr. Tyler,” Luo Ji said, and sighed softly.
“泰勒先生，这是一个我们永远无法从中脱身的怪圈。”罗辑轻轻叹息。
Tyler nodded slowly. “Yeah, I need a break. We’re the only ones who understand each other’s pain, Doctor. That’s why I’ve come.” He looked up. The sun had set a while ago, and the Garden of Eden had grown indistinct in the twilight. “This is paradise. Can I go for a walk alone by the lake?”
泰勒缓慢地点点头：“是的，我需要休息，博士，只有我们之间才能相互理解对方的痛苦，这是我来找你的原因。”他抬头看看，太阳已经落下去一会儿了，伊甸园在暮色中渐渐模糊，“这里真是天堂，我可以一个人到湖边走走吗？”
Tyler’s laughter stopped abruptly. “Never be free? No, Dr. Luo, there’s a way out. There really is a way, and I’m here today to tell it to you.”
泰勒突然止住了笑：“永远无法脱身？不，罗辑博士，有办法脱身，真的有办法，我就是来告诉你这个办法的。”
As Tyler stared at him, a thin smile wavered on his pale face and then developed into full-blown hysterical laughter. “Ha! You’re smiling the Wallfacer smile! A smile from one Wallfacer to another! You think I’m at work. You believe I’m acting the part, and you think I’ll save the world!” He cackled again. “How did we end up in such a hilarious situation?”
泰勒盯着罗辑，一丝笑意在他那苍白的脸上荡漾开来，终于发展成歇斯底里的狂笑：“哈哈哈哈，你笑了，对面壁者的笑，一个面壁者时另一个面壁者的笑！你也认为我是在工作，你也认为我装得多么像，认为我在继续拯救世界！哈哈哈哈，我们怎么会被置于如此滑稽的境地？”
“You need a break. Rest here for a few days,” Luo Ji said.
“你需要休息，在这里好好休息几天吧。”罗辑说。
“You may do whatever you like here. Take it easy, and I’ll call you to dinner in a while.”
“你在这里可以做任何想做的事，好好放松一下吧，一会儿我叫你吃饭。”
Luo Ji suddenly woke up and looked up. The lake was dusk and Taylor disappeared.
罗辑突然猛醒过来，抬头望去，湖边暮色苍茫，泰勒巳不见踪影。
Tyler walked down to the lake, leaving Luo Ji to sit down, sunken in heavy thoughts.
泰勒向湖边走去后，罗辑坐下来，陷入沉重的思绪。
For five years, he had bathed in an ocean of happiness. The birth of his Xia Xia in particular had made him forget everything about the outside world. The love of his wife and child blended together and intoxicated his soul, and, in this gentle home isolated from the rest of the world, he had fallen deeper and deeper into an illusion: Perhaps the outside world really was something akin to a quantum state, and did not exist unless he observed it.
这五年来，他沉浸在幸福的海洋中，特别是孩子的出生，使他忘却了外部世界的一切，对爱人和孩子的爱融汇在一起，使他的灵魂深深陶醉其中。在这与世隔绝的温柔之乡，他越来越深地陷入一种幻觉里：外部世界也许真的是一种类似于量子态的东西，他不观察就不存在。
But it was a state that could no longer endure now that the abominable outside world had burst into his Garden of Eden to confuse and frighten him. His thoughts shifted to Tyler, whose last words still resounded in his ears. Was it really possible for Wallfacers to break free of the vicious cycle, to shatter the iron shackles of logic…?
但现在，可憎的外部世界豁然出现在他的伊甸园中，令他感到恐惧和迷茫，在这方面他无法再想下去，就把思绪转移到泰勒身上。泰勒的最后几句话在他耳边回荡，面壁者真有从怪圈中脱身的可能吗，如何打破这铁一般的逻辑枷锁……
“He seemed worse off than you.”
“他好像比你难。”
He jerked to his senses and ran toward the lake. He wanted to shout, but was afraid of scaring Zhuang Yan and Xia Xia, so he just ran as fast as he could through the quiet twilight, the swish of his feet against the grass on the hillside the only sound. But into this rhythm a soft crack inserted itself.
罗辑猛跳起身，向湖边跑去，他想大声喊，但又怕惊动了庄颜和孩子，只能拼命快跑，宁静的暮色中，只能听到他的脚步踏在草坪上的噗噗声，但在这个节奏中，突然插进了轻轻的“嗒”的一声。
The sound of a gunshot from the lake.
那是来自湖边的一声枪响。
“Yes. He’s gone,” he said wearily.
“是，他走了。”罗辑疲惫地说。
Luo Ji returned home late that evening after the child was sound asleep. Zhuang Yan asked softly, “Did Mr. Tyler leave?”
罗辑深夜才回到家中，孩子已经睡熟，庄颜轻声问：“泰勒先生走了吗？”
“No. I…” She paused, and Luo Ji knew what she was thinking. With the outside world growing more serious by the day, and the gap widening between life here and life outside, the difference made her uneasy. “Is our life really part of the Wallfacer plan?” she asked, looking at him with that same innocent face.
“不看，我……”庄颜欲言又止，罗辑知道她的思想：外面的世界一天天严峻起来，外部的生活与这里的差距越来越大，这种差异令她不安，“我们这样生活，真的是面壁计划的一部分吗？”她看着罗辑问，还是那个天真的样子。
“Yes. That’s because he didn’t take an easy path… Yan, have you watched TV recently?”
“是啊，那是因为有容易的路他不走……颜，你最近不看电视吗？”
“Of course. What is there to doubt?”
“当然，这有什么疑问吗？”
“But can we truly be happy when all humanity is unhappy?”
“可如果全人类都不幸福，我们能幸福吗？”
“My love, your responsibility when all of humanity is unhappy is to make yourself happy. With Xia Xia, your happiness gains a point, and the Wallfacer plan gains a point toward its success.”
“亲爱的，你的责任就在于，在全人类都不幸福的时候，使自己幸福，还有孩子。你们幸福快乐多一分，面壁计划成功的希望就增加一点。”
Zhuang Yan stared silently at him. The language of facial expressions she had envisioned in front of the Mona Lisa five years ago seemed to have been partially realized between her and Luo Ji. More and more, he could read her mind through her eyes, and what he read now was, How can I believe that?
庄颜无言地看着罗辑，现在，她五年前在蒙娜丽莎前设想的表情语言在她和罗辑之间似乎部分实现了，罗辑越来越多地从她的眼睛中读出心里的话来，现在他读到的是：我怎么才能相信这个呢？
Luo Ji pondered this for a long time, and finally said, “Yan, everything has an ending. The sun and the universe will die one day, so why should humanity believe that it ought to be immortal? Listen, this world is paranoid. Fighting a hopeless war is a fool’s errand, so look at the Trisolar Crisis from a different perspective and leave your cares behind. Not just the ones involving the crisis, but everything else from before that. Use the time that’s left to enjoy life. Four hundred years! Or, if we refuse the Doomsday Battle, then nearly five hundred. That’s a fair amount of time. Humanity used the same period to go from the Renaissance to the information age, and in the same space could create a carefree, comfortable life. Five idyllic centuries without needing to worry about the distant future, where the sole responsibility is to enjoy life. How wonderful…”
罗辑深思许久说：“颜，什么都有结束的那一天，太阳和宇宙都有死的那一天，为什么独有人类认为自己应该永生不灭呢？我告诉你，这世界目前正处于偏执中，愚不可及地进行着一场毫无希望的战斗。对于三体危机，完全可以换一个思考方式。抛弃一切烦恼，不仅是与危机有关的，还有危机之前的所有烦恼，用剩下的时光尽情享受生活。四百多年，哦，如果放弃末日之战的话就有近五百年，这时间不短了，用这么长的时间人类从文艺复兴发展到了信息时代，也可以用同样长的时间创造从未有过的无忧无虑的惬意生活，五个不用为长远未来担忧的田园世纪，唯一的责任就是享受生活，多么美妙……”
UN Planetary Defense Council, Wallfacer Project Hearing #89
联合国行星防御理事会第八十九次面壁计划听证会。
“When you say that, are you being a Wallfacer?” she asked.
“那……你这么说的时候，是面壁者吗？”庄颜问。
“Yes, of course I am,” he said, to fix the situation.
“是，当然是。”罗辑想做出一些补救。
He realized that he had spoken unwisely. Claiming that the happiness of her and the child were part of the plan added another layer of protection to her life by making her happiness into a responsibility. This was the only way to ensure that she maintained a balanced mind in the face of the cruel world. He could never resist her eternally innocent eyes, so he didn’t dare look at her when she questioned him. But now, because of the Tyler factor, he had involuntarily told the truth.
说到这儿罗辑自觉失言。声称她和孩子的幸福是计划的一部分，是庄颜生活的一层保护罩，使她把自己的幸福看做一种责任，这是使她面对严酷的外部世界保持心理平衡的唯一方法，可现在他居然说了真话。庄颜那永远清纯的目光是他无法抗拒的，每次她问这问题时他都不敢与她对视，现在，还加上了泰勒的因素，他才不由自主地说了这些。
At the start of the hearing, the rotating chair spoke to strongly urge that Luo Ji be required to attend the next hearing, arguing that refusal to participate was not part of the Wallfacer plan because the PDC’s supervisory authority over the Wallfacers trumped the Wallfacers’ own strategic plans. The proposal was unanimously adopted by all permanent member representatives, and with the emergence of the first Wallbreaker and the suicide of Wallfacer Tyler in mind, the other two Wallfacers attending the meeting heard the unspoken implications of the chairman’s words.
会议开始后，轮值主席讲话，敦促面壁者罗辑必须参加下一次听证会，拒绝参加听证会不应属于面壁计划的一部分，因为行星防御理事会对面壁计划的监督权是超越面壁者战略计划之上的。这一提议得到了所有常任理事周代表的一致通过，联系到第一个破壁人的出现和面壁者泰勒自杀事件，与会的两名面壁者也听出了主席讲话的弦外之音。
But her eyes said, You really did seem to believe that!
但庄颜的眼睛在说：你好像真是那么想的呀。
Hines spoke first. His neuroscience-based plan was still in its infancy, but he described the equipment he was envisioning as a basis for further research. He called it the Resolving Imager. Based on computed tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance, it operated by scanning in all cross sections of the brain at once, which required cross sectional accuracy on the scale of the internal structure of brain cells and neurons. This would bring the number of simultaneous CT scans to several million, to be synthesized by computer into a digital model of the brain. Other technical requirements were even greater: The scan needed to be conducted at a rate of twenty-four frames per second to produce a dynamic synthetic model that could capture all brain activity at a neuron-level resolution, making it possible to precisely observe thought activity in the brain, or even replay all neural activity throughout the thinking process.
希恩斯首先发言。他说自己的基于脑科学研究的战略计划还处于起步阶段，他描述了一种设想中的设备，作为进一步展开研究的基础，他把这种设备称为解析摄像机。这种设备以CT断层扫描技术和核磁共振技术为基础，但在运行时对检测对象的所有断面同时扫描，每个断面之间的间隔精度需达到脑细胞和神经元内部结构的尺度。这样，对一个人类大脑同时扫描的断层数将达到几百万个，可以在计算机中合成一个大脑的数字模型。更高的技术要求在于，这种扫描要以每秒24帧的速度动态进行，所以合成的模型也是动态的，相当于把活动中的大脑以神经元的分辨率整体拍摄到计算机中，这样就可以对大脑的思维活动进行精确的观察，甚至可以在计算机中整体地重放思维过程中所有神经元的话动情况。
Then Rey Diaz described the progress of his plan. After five years of research, the digital star model for super-high-yield nuclear weapons had been completed and was now being thoroughly debugged.
接着雷迪亚兹介绍了自己的战略计划的进展情况：经过五年的研究，超大当量核弹的恒星型数学模型已经接近完成，正在进行整体调试。
The advisory panel felt that although there were in theory no obstacles to Hines’s Resolving Imager, the technical difficulties far exceeded current conditions, and modern CT scanning was about as far from RI technology as black-and-white film was from modern high-definition cameras. Data processing presented the biggest technical hurdle to the RI device, because scanning and modeling an object the size of the human brain with neuron-level precision required power that was unavailable to modern computers.
关于希恩斯的解析摄像机，顾问团认为在理论上没有障碍，但其技术上的难度远远超出当代水平。现代断层扫描与解析摄像机的技术差距，相当于手动黑白腔片照相机与现代高分辨率数字摄像机的差距，解析摄像机最大的技术障碍是数据处理，对人脑大小的物体以神经元精度扫描并建模，所需要的计算能力是目前的计算机技术不具备的。
Next, the PDC scientific advisory panel presented a report on its feasibility study of the two Wallfacers’ plans.
接着，PDC科学顾问团就两位面壁者计划进一步实施的可行性研究做了汇报。
The obstacle to Rey Diaz’s stellar bomb was the same: present computing power was insufficient. After inspecting the calculations required by the completed portion of the model, the panel’s expert group felt that the most powerful of today’s computers would take twenty years to model a hundredth of a second of the fusion process. Since the model would need to be run repeatedly in the course of research, practical application was an impossibility.
关于雷迪亚兹的恒星型核弹模型。所遇到的障碍与希恩斯的计划相同：目前的计算能力达不到。顾问团相应的专业小组在对模型已经完成的部分考察后认为，按照模型的运算量，用现有的最高计算能力模拟百分之一秒的聚变过程，就需大约二十年时间。而研究过程中的模拟需要反复进行，这使得模型的实际应用成为不可能。
“Then there’s nothing that we can do for twenty years,” Hines said.
“那我们在这二十年间就无事可做了。”希恩斯说。
“Twenty years is the most optimistic estimate. As a scientist, you ought to know what cutting-edge research is like.”
“二十年只是一个乐观的估计，作为科学家，您当然知道这种尖端研究是怎么回事。”
The panel’s chief computer scientist said, “Right now, computer technology based on traditional integrated circuits and Von Neumann architecture is nearing the limit of its technological development. Moore’s law is going to collapse. Of course, we can still squeeze out the last few drops of lemonade from these traditional electronic and technological lemons. In our opinion, even given the present deceleration in supercomputer progress, the computing power required by the two plans is still achievable. It just requires time. Optimistically, twenty to thirty years. Those goals, if they are reached, will represent the peak of human computing technology, and any further progress will be difficult. With frontier physics under sophon lockdown, the next-gen and quantum computers that we once dreamed of are now very unlikely to be realized.”
科学顾问团计算机技术首席科学家说：“计算机技术发展到今天，传统的集成电路和冯·诺伊曼体系的计算机已经接近发展的极限，摩尔定律①即将失效。当然，我们还可以从传统电子和计算机技术这两颗柠檬中挤出最后几滴水，我们认为，即使在目前巨型计算机性能发展不断减速的情况下。这两个计划所需的计算机能力也是有可能达到的，但需要时间，乐观地估计也需要二十至三十年。如果达到预期目标，就是人类计算机技术的顶峰，再向前就难了，在前沿物理学已经被智于锁死的情况下，曾经最有希望的新一代计算机——量子计算机已经不太可能实现。”（注：①指集成电路芯片上所集成的电路的数目，每隔18个月就翻一翻。）
“We’ve reached the wall that the sophons have erected across our scientific road,” the chair said.
“我们已经触到了智子在人类科学之路上竖起的这堵墙。”主席说。
“If that’s the case, then I will ask the two of you to greet my successor in twenty years,” the chair said with a smile.
“如果是这样，请二位向二十年后我的继任致意。”主席笑着说。
“I’ve decided to hibernate, too,” Hines said.
“我也决定冬眠。”希恩斯说。
“Then the only thing to do is hibernate and wait the arrival of capable computers,” Rey Diaz said.
“我们只能冬眠，等待着能胜任的计算机出现。”雷迪亚兹说。
The mood of the hearing relaxed. Now that the two Wallfacers had decided to enter hibernation, the hearing’s participants sighed with relief. The emergence of the first Wallbreaker and his Wallfacer’s suicide had dealt a heavy blow to the entire project. Tyler’s suicide in particular had been a foolish act. If he had lived, people would still be in doubt about whether the mosquito swarm had really been his plan. His death was tantamount to a final confirmation of the existence of the terrible plan. He had vaulted out of the vicious cycle at the cost of his life, prompting increasing murmurs of criticism of the Wallfacer Project among the international community. Public opinion demanded further restrictions on Wallfacer power, but the very nature of the Wallfacer Project meant that too many restrictions would make it difficult for the Wallfacers to conduct their strategic deceptions, rendering the entire project meaningless. The Wallfacer Project possessed a leadership structure that human society had never before seen, and it required time to adjust and adapt to it. It was clear that the hibernation of the two Wallfacers would provide a buffer period for that to take place.
会场的气氛轻松起来，两位面壁者决定进入冬眠，使与会者都松了一口气。第一个破壁人的出现以及相应面壁者的自杀，对面壁计划是一个沉重打击。尤其是泰勒的自杀，更是愚不可及，只要他活着，量子舰队计划的真伪就永远是个谜，他的死等于最后证实了这个可怕计划的存在。他以生命为代价，确实使自己跳出了面壁者怪圈，但国际社会对面壁计划的质疑声也因此高涨，舆论要求对面壁者的权力加以进一步的限制。可是从面壁计划的实质而言，过多的权力限制必然使面壁者的战略欺骗难以进行，整个计划也就失去了意义。面壁计划是人类社会从未经历过的一种全新的领导体制，只能逐步调整和适应它，两位面壁者的冬眠，无疑为这种调整和适应提供了缓冲期。
A few days later, in a top-secret underground structure, Rey Diaz and Hines entered hibernation.
几天后，在一个绝密的地下建筑中，雷迪亚兹和希恩斯进入冬眠。
Luo Ji found himself in an ominous dream. He dreamt he was walking the halls of the Louvre. It was a dream he had never had before, because the past five years of bliss had given him no cause to dream of previous joys. In this dream, he was alone with the loneliness that had been absent for five years. His every footstep reverberated through the palace halls, and something seemed to leave him with every reverberation, until at last he dared not take another step. In front of him was the Mona Lisa. She no longer smiled, but looked on him with compassion in her eyes. When his footsteps stopped, the sound of the outdoor fountains trickled in and gradually grew louder, at which point he awoke to find that the sound was coming from the real world. It was raining. Luo Ji reached out to hold his beloved’s hand, and discovered that his dream had become a reality.
罗辑进入了一个不祥的梦境，他在梦中穿行于卢浮官无穷无尽的厅堂中，他从未梦到过这里，因为这五年中一直身处幸福之中，不需要再回梦以前的幸福。而在这个梦境中，他是孤身一人，感到了已经消失了五年的孤独，他的每一次脚步声都在宫中回荡多次，每一次回荡都像是什么东西远去了，以至于他最后不敢再迈步。前面就是蒙娜丽莎，她不再微笑，那双看着他的眼睛带着怜悯。脚步声一停下，外面喷泉的声音就渗了进来，这声音渐渐增强，罗辑醒了过来，那水声跟着他来到了现实中，外面下起了雨。他翻身想抓住爱人的手，但再次发现梦境变成了现实。
Zhuang Yan was gone.
庄颜不在了。
He rolled out of bed and entered the nursery, where a lamp was softly glowing, but Xia Xia wasn’t there. On the little bed, tidily made up, was one of Zhuang Yan’s paintings, a favorite of both of theirs. It was practically blank, and from a distance it looked like a sheet of paper. Closer in, you could see fine reeds in the lower left, and in the upper right the traces of a vanishing goose. In the blank center were two infinitesimally tiny people. But now, a graceful line of text had been added to it:
罗辑翻身下床，走进育儿室，那里亮着柔和的灯光，但孩子也不在了，在那张已经收拾整齐的小床上，放着一张画。那是庄颜画的他们两人都最喜欢的一张画，画幅上几乎全是空白，远看就是一张白纸，近看会发现左下角有几枝细小的芦苇，右上角有一只几乎要消失的飞雁，空白的中央，有两个小得不能再小的人儿，但现在，空白中还有一行娟秀的字：
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Could such a dream life last forever? It was bound to happen, so don’t worry. You’re mentally prepared for it, Luo Ji told himself, but a wave of dizziness came over him. As he picked up the painting and went toward the living room, his legs quavered and he felt as if he was floating.
迟早会有这一天的，这种像梦的生活怎么可能永远延续，迟早会有这一天，不怕，你已经做好了思想准备……罗辑这样对自己说，但还是感到一阵眩晕，他拿起画，向客厅走去，两腿虚软，仿佛在飘行。
My love, we’re waiting for you at doomsday.
亲爱的，我们在末日等你。
The living room was empty, but the embers in the fireplace glowed a hazy red that made everything look like melting ice. The rain continued outside. It was to the same sound of rain that she had walked out of his dreams five years ago, and now she had returned to them, taking their child with her.
客厅中空无一人，壁炉中的余烬发出模糊的红光，使得厅中的一切像是正在融化中的冰。外面的雨声依旧，五年前的那个傍晚，也是在这样的雨声中，她从梦中走来，现在，她又回梦中去了，还带走了他们的孩子。
Luo Ji immediately recognized the slender figure standing on the porch in the rain, even though he could only see a silhouette.
门廊上站着一个纤细的身影，虽然只是夜雨背景上的一个剪影，罗辑还是立刻认出了她是谁。
He picked up the phone to call Kent, but then he heard soft footsteps outside. A woman’s footsteps, but not Zhuang Yan’s. Even so, he tossed the phone down and went outside.
罗辑拿起电话，想拨坎特的号码，却听到门外有轻轻的脚步声，虽像女性的脚步，但他肯定不是庄颜的，尽管如此，他还是扔下电话冲出门去。
“Hello… Where are my wife and child?”
“您好……我妻子和孩子呢？”
“Hello, Dr. Luo,” Secretary General Say said.
“罗辑博士，您好。”萨伊说。
“We did not kidnap anyone.”
“我们没有绑架任何人。”
“They’re waiting for you at doomsday,” she said, repeating the words in the painting.
“她们在末日等你。”萨伊说出了画中的话。
“This is a PDC resolution, to let you work and fulfill your Wallfacer responsibilities. No harm will come to them, and children are better suited to hibernation than adults.”
“这是行星防御委员会的决议，为了让你工作，尽一个面壁者的责任。另外需要告诉你，孩子比成年人更适合冬眠，这对她不会有任何伤害。”
“Why?”
“为什么？”
“You’ve kidnapped them! That’s criminal!”
“你们，居然敢绑架她们，这是犯罪！”
“But after a thorough investigation, the PDC decided that it was not part of the plan, and so took steps to prompt you to get to work.”
“但PDC经过全面考察，认为这不是计划的一部分，所以要采取行动促使你工作。”
“Even if it’s not kidnapping, you took away my child without my consent, and that’s against the law.” When he realized who he was including in “you,” his heart quaked again and he leaned back feebly against the pillar behind him.
“就算不是绑架，你们没经同意就带走了我的孩子，这也是违法的！”罗辑意识到他说的“你们”中所包括的那个人，心再次颤抖起来，这使他虚弱地靠在身后的廊柱上。
Luo Ji’s heart quaked at the implications of Say’s statement, and he pushed them out of his mind rather than face that reality. “I said that having them here was part of the plan!”
萨伊最后这句话的含义使罗辑的心颤了一下，为了推迟面对这个现实，他极力把思路扭开：“我说过这是计划的一部分！”
“True, but it is well within acceptability. Do not forget, Dr. Luo, that this and all of the resources you have tapped do not fall under existing legal frameworks, so the UN’s actions in the present time of crisis can be justified under the law.”
“是的，但是在可以容忍的范围内，罗辑博士，不要忘记，您所得到的这一切所动用的资源，也不在已有的法律框架内，所以联合国所做的事，在目前的危机时代，从法律上也能解释得通。”
“Are you still working on behalf of the UN?”
“您现在还代表联合国吗？”
Then a gust of wind blew rain onto the porch. Its refreshing chill and Say’s words managed to cool the fire raging in Luo Ji’s heart to an extent.
这时，一阵风把雨丝吹进了门廊，这清凉和萨伊的话多少冷却了罗辑心中的灼烧。
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“Yes.”
“是。”
“This was your plan from the beginning, wasn’t it?”
“这一开始就是你们的计划，是吗？”罗辑问。
“You were reelected?”
“您连任了？”
He wanted to change the subject to avoid facing the cold facts, but he failed. What will I do without them? What will I do without them? his heart asked over and over. Finally it slipped out of his mouth as he slid down the pillar to the ground. It felt like everything was collapsing around him, turning to magma from the top down, except that this time the magma was burning and pooled inside his heart.
罗辑仍想努力岔开话题，避免面对残酷的事实，但他失败了。我怎么能没有她们？我怎么能没有她们……他心里一遍遍问自己，最后说出口来，他沿着柱子滑坐下来，感到周围的一切再次崩塌，化做岩浆自顶而下，但这次的岩浆是灼热的，都聚集在他的心中。
“They’re still here, Dr. Luo. They’re waiting for you safe and sound in the future. You’ve always been a sober person, and you must become even more sober now. If not for all humanity, then for your family.” Say looked down at the ground, where Luo Ji sat beside the column on the brink of a breakdown.
“她们还在，罗辑博士，她们还在，安然无恙，在未来等你。你一直是一个冷静的人，在这种时候一定要更冷静，即使不为全人类，也为了她们。”萨伊低头看着靠柱而坐处于崩溃边缘的罗辑说。
“Yes, but this step was taken only when there was no other choice.”
“是的。但走这一步，也是没有选择的选择。”
“How do you know she never let anything slip? Her soul was shrouded in melancholy from the first time you saw her on that rainy night five years ago. She didn’t hide it. That melancholy stayed with her for five years like an ever-present background music that never stopped the whole time, and that’s why you didn’t notice.”
“你怎么知道她不露声色？从五年前那个雨夜第一次见到你时，她的心灵就被忧伤笼罩着。她并没有掩盖，这忧伤在五年里一直伴随着她，就像永远播放着的背景音乐，在五年问一直没停，所以你觉察不到。”
“From the Central Academy of Fine Arts?”
“从中央美院毕业？”
“So she was… When she came, was she really a woman who did traditional painting?”
“那她……在来的时候真的是一个画国画的女孩？”
“Then was she…”
“那她……”
“Yes. Do you really think she could have faked it for five years? That’s how she really was. Innocent and gentle, like an angel. She didn’t fake anything, including her love for you, which was very real.”
“是，你以为她能在五年中一直伪装自己，她就是那个样子，纯真文静，像个天使。她没有伪装任何东西，包括对你的爱情，都是真实的。”
Now he understood. When he first saw her, what had it been that had touched the softest place in his heart? That made him feel like the entire world was an injury to her? That made him willing to protect her with his life? It was that gentle sadness concealed within her clear, innocent eyes — a sadness that, like the light in the fireplace, shone gently through her beauty. It was indeed an imperceptible background music that had quietly permeated his subconscious and pulled him step by step into the abyss of love.
现在罗辑明白了，在第一眼看到她的时候，是什么触动了他心中最柔软的东西，使他觉得整个世界对她都是一种伤害，使他愿意用尽一生去保护她。就是她那清澈纯真的目光中隐藏着的淡淡的忧伤，这忧伤就像壁炉的火光，柔和地拂照在她的美丽之上，真的像背景音乐般让他觉察不到，但悄悄渗入到他的潜意识之中，一步步把他拉向爱情的深渊。
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“You mean she really was that kind of woman?”
“您是说她真的是那样一个女孩？”
“Everything you saw was the real her. Everything you knew about her was true. Everything that made her her: Her past life, her family, her personality, and her mind.”
“你看到的是一个真实的她，你所知道的她的一切都是真实的，所有使她成为她自己的一切：她以前的生活、她的家庭、她的性格、思想等等。”
“Then how could she carry out such a cruel deception? To never let anything slip for five years?”
“那她就能够进行这样残酷的欺骗？！五年了，一直这样不露声色！”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“No. This time it really is fine. You know, since the birth of the Wallfacer Project there has always been dissent within the international community. Out of their own interests, most countries have supported some of the Wallfacers while opposing others, so there was always going to be a side that wants to be rid of you. Now that the first Wallbreaker is out and Tyler has failed, forces opposed to the project have grown more powerful and have driven its supporters to a stalemate. If at this point you proposed going directly to doomsday, it would be a compromise plan acceptable to both sides. But, Dr. Luo, are you truly willing to do that while humanity is fighting for survival?”
萨伊说：“没有，这次真的可以。你知道，从面壁计划诞生起，国际社会就一直存在着反对的声音，而且，不同的国家出于自己的利益，大都支持面壁者中的一部分而反对另一部分，总有想摆脱你的一方。现在，第一位破壁人的出现和泰勒的失败，使得面壁计划反对派的力量增强了，与支持力量处于僵持状态。如果你在这时提出直达末日的要求，无疑给出了一个双方都能接受的折衷方案。但，罗辑博士，你真的愿意这样做吗，在全人类为生存而战的时候？”
“Then I’ll go with them to doomsday.”
“那我就和她们一起去末日。”
“That’s right. Like I said, this is a PDC resolution.”
“是的，我说过，这是PDC的决议。”
Luo Ji had imagined he would be turned down, but — just as when he had given up his Wallfacer status — there was practically no space between his statement and Say’s reply. He knew that things weren’t as easy as that. He asked, “Is there a problem?”
罗辑本以为会被拒绝，但同上次他要放弃面壁者身份一样，萨伊的回答几乎无缝隙地紧跟而来，他知道，事情远不像这个回答那么简单，于是问：“有什么问题吗？”
“You may.”
“可以。”
“I can’t find them, can I?” he asked.
“我不可能找到她们了，是吗？”罗辑问。
Luo Ji said nothing.
罗辑无语了。
“You politicians sound off about humanity at the drop of a hat, but I can’t see humanity. I can only see individuals. I’m just one individual, an ordinary person, and I can’t take on the responsibility of saving all of humanity. I just want to live my own life.”
“你们政治家动辄奢谈全人类，但我看不到全人类，我看到的是一个一个的人。我就是一个人，一个普通人，担负不起拯救全人类的责任，只希望过自己的生活。”
“Very well. But Zhuang Yan and Xia Xia are two of those individuals. Don’t you want to fulfill your responsibility to them? Even if she hurt you, I can see you still love her. And there’s the child, too. From the moment Hubble II finally confirmed the Trisolaran invasion, one thing has been certain: Humanity will fight to the end. When your beloved and your child awaken in four centuries, doomsday and the flames of war will be upon them, but by that time you’ll have lost your Wallfacer status and will be powerless to protect them. They will only be able to share a hellish existence with you while you await the final annihilation of the world. Is that what you want? Is that the life you want to give your wife and child?”
“好吧，庄颜和你们的孩子也是这一个一个人中的两个，你也不想承担对她们的责任吗？就算庄颜伤害了你，看得出你仍然爱她，还有孩子。自从哈勃二号太空望远镜最后证实三体入侵以来，有一件事可以肯定：人类将抵抗到底。你的爱人和孩子在四个世纪后醒来时，将面临末日的战火，而那时的你，已经失去了面壁者身份，再也投有能力保护她们，她们只能和你一起，在地狱般的生活中目睹世界的最后毁灭，你愿意这样么，这就是你带给爱人和孩子的生活？”
“If you won’t think of anything else, then just imagine that Doomsday Battle four centuries from now, and the look in their eyes when they see you! What sort of a person will they see? A man who abandoned the woman he loves most, together with all of humanity? A man unwilling to save all of the world’s children? A man who wouldn’t even save his own child? Are you, as a man, capable of withstanding their gaze?”
“你不用想别的，就想想四个世纪后，在末日的战火里，她们见到你时的目光吧！她们见到的是一个什么样的人？一个把全人类和自己最爱的人一起抛弃的人，一个不愿救所有的孩子，甚至连自己孩子也不想救的人。作为一个男人，你能承受这样的目光？”
Leaning against the pillar, Luo Ji stared at Say, but saw nothing. He struggled to remember.
罗辑靠着柱子，双眼盯着萨伊，其实他什么都没看见，他在极力回忆。
“Go on, then. Why?”
“那你说吧，为什么选中我？”
“Because out of all of humanity, you are the only person that Trisolaris wants dead.”
“因为在全人类中，你是唯一一个三体文明要杀的人。”
“But I was just an ordinary person back then, with no special protection. It would’ve been simple to kill me. Why go to such lengths?”
“但那时我只是个没有任何保护的普通人，杀我很容易的，何必搞得这么复杂？”
Luo Ji bent his head in silence. The sound of the nighttime rain falling on grass and lake was like myriad entreaties from another time and space.
罗辑默默低下头，夜雨落在湖边的草丛中，仿佛来自另一个时空的无数倾诉声。
Say went on. “That car crash was meant for you. It just accidentally hit your girlfriend.”
萨伊接着说：“那起车祸，其实是针对你的，只是意外撞中了你的女友。”
“But that really was an accident. That car changed direction because two other cars collided.”
“可那次真的是一起意外车祸，那辆车是因为另外两辆车相撞而转向的。”
“Do you really believe that I can change all of that?” Luo Ji asked, raising his head.
“你们真的认为，我能改变这一切？”罗辑抬起头问。
“They had been planning that for a long time.”
“他们为此准备了很长时间。”
“To make the murder look like an accident, so as not to attract any attention. They almost succeeded. There were fifty-one traffic accidents that killed five people in the city that day. But a scout hidden within the ETO provided an intelligence report confirming that the ETO had orchestrated the attempt on your life. And what’s most frightening is this: The order came from Trisolaris itself, conveyed to Evans through the sophons. To this date, that is the only assassination they’ve ever ordered.”
“就是为了使谋杀像意外事故，不引起任何注意。他们几乎做到了，那一天，你所在的城市发生了五十一起交通事故，死亡五人。但潜伏在地球三体组织内部的侦察员有确切情报：这是ETO精心策划的谋杀！最令人震惊的是：指令直接来自三体世界，通过智子传达给伊文斯，这是迄今为止，它们发出的唯一的刺杀命令。”
“Why not try? Of all the Wallfacers, you may have the greatest hope of success. I’ve come today to tell you that.”
“为什么不试试？在所有面壁者中，你很可能是最有希望成功的，我这次来，就是为了告诉你这个。”
“Importance?” Luo Ji shook his head with a wry smile. “Look at me. Do I really look like someone with superpowers?”
“重要性，”罗辑摇头苦笑，“您看看我，真的像一个拥有超能力的人吗？”
“You don’t have superpowers, so don’t let your thoughts go in that direction. It’ll only lead you astray,” Say said, gesturing emphatically. “You had no special powers in your prior research, be they supernatural abilities or extraordinary technical skills within the known laws of nature. Or, at least, none that we have been able to discover. That Evans required that the assassination not attract attention demonstrates this point as well, because it proves that your ability can be acquired by others.”
“你没有超能力，也别向那方面想，那会使你误人歧途的！”萨伊抬起一只手以强调自己的话，“对你早有过专门研究，你没有超能力，不管是超自然能力，还是在已知自然规律内的超技术能力，你都没有，正如你所说：你是个普通人，作为学者你也是个普通的学者，没有什么过人之处，至少我们没有发现。伊文斯在谋杀令中附加的要求：不引起注意，也问接证明了这一点，因为这说明你的能力也可能被别人所拥有。”
“Me? Trisolaris wants to kill me? For what reason?” Again, Luo Ji felt displaced from himself.
“我吗？三体文明要杀我？原因呢？”罗辑再次对自己有一种陌生感。
“We were afraid of influencing whatever it is you have. Too many unknowns. We felt it best to let things ride.”
“怕影响到你可能拥有的那种能力，由于未知因素太多，我们认为最好能让你顺其自然。”
“I don’t know. No one knows, now. Evans may have known, but he’s dead. He was evidently the one who added the requirement to the assassination order that it not attract attention. That only reinforces your importance.”
“不知道，现在没有人知道，伊文斯可能知道，但他死了。谋杀指令中‘不引起任何注意’的要求显然是他附加的，这也进一步说明了你的重要性。”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“为什么不早告诉我这些？”
“I’d once had a notion to work on cosmic sociology, because…” Then a small voice deep within him said, You’re a Wallfacer! This was the first time he had heard that voice. He also heard another nonexistent sound: the buzzing of the sophons as they flew about him. He even thought he saw a few blurry, firefly-like points of light. So for the first time, he acted like a Wallfacer and swallowed his words, saying only, “Is that relevant?”
“我曾经打算从事宇宙社会学研究，因为……”这时，罗辑意识深处有一个声音轻轻说：你是面壁者！他是第一次听到自己的这个声音，他还仿佛听到了另一个并不存在的声音，那是在周围飞行的智子的嗡嗡声，他甚至好像看到了几个萤火虫般迷离的光点。第一次，罗辑做出丁一个面壁者应有的举动，把要说的话咽了回去，只是说：“是不是与这个有关系？”
Say shook her head. “Probably not. As far as we are aware, that’s just the topic of a research application that never actually went forward, much less obtained any results. Besides, even if you had done the research, we wouldn’t expect you to come up with results any more valuable than any other researcher.”
萨伊摇了摇头，“应该没有关系，据我们所知，这只是你提出的一个科研选题申请，研究还没有开始，更没有任何成果。况且，即使你真的从事了这项研究，我们也很难指望得到比其他学者更有价值的成果。”
“And why is that?”
“此话怎讲？”
“Dr. Luo, we’re speaking frankly here. As I understand it, you’re a failure of a scholar. You perform research not out of any thirst for exploration, nor out of a sense of duty and mission, but simply as a way to make a living.”
“罗辑博士，我们现在的谈话只能是坦率的。据我们了解，你作为一名学者是不合格的，你从事研究，既不是出于探索的欲望，也不是出于责任心和使命感，只是把它当做谋生的职业而已。”
“Isn’t that the way things are these days?”
“现在不都这样吗？”
When Say finished, she stepped off the porch, got into the waiting car, and disappeared into the rainy mist.
萨伊说完，转身走下门廊，坐进了在那里等候的汽车，车开动后很快消失在雨雾中。
Standing there, Luo Ji lost his sense of time. Gradually, the rain stopped and the wind picked up, blowing the night sky free of clouds, revealing the snow peaks, and letting the bright round moon bathe the world in silvery light.
罗辑站在那里，失去了时间感。雨渐渐停了，风大了起来，刮走了夜空中的乌云，当雪山和一轮明月都露出来时，世界沐浴在一片银光中。
“There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but you exhibit all kinds of behaviors unbecoming a serious and dedicated scholar. Your research is utilitarian, your techniques opportunistic, you seek out sensationalism, and you have a history of embezzling funding. Character-wise, you’re cynical and irresponsible, and you harbor a mocking attitude toward a scholar’s vocation… We’re actually well aware of the fact that you don’t care about the fate of the human race.”
“这当然无可厚非，但你有很多与一名严肃和敬业的学者不相称的行为：你做研究的功利性很强，常常以投机取巧为手段，哗众取宠为目的，还有过贪污研究经费的行为；从人品方面看，你玩世不恭，没有责任心，对学者的使命感更是抱着一种嘲笑的态度……其实我们都清楚，对人类的命运你并不在意。”
“And that’s why you would stoop to such despicable means to coerce me. You’ve despised me all along, haven’t you?”
“所以你们用这种卑鄙的方式来要挟我……您一直轻视我，是吗？”
“Under normal circumstances, a man like you would never be tasked with such an important duty, but there is this one overriding detail: Trisolaris is afraid of you. Be your own Wallbreaker. Find out why.”
“通常情况下，你这样的人是不可能承担任何重要职责的，但现在有一点压倒了一切：三体世界怕你。请你做自己的破壁人，找出这是为什么。”
Before going back inside, Luo Ji took one last look at the silver Garden of Eden, and his heart said to Zhuang Yan and Xia Xia, My love, wait for me at doomsday.
在转身走进房门前，罗辑最后看了一眼这银色的伊甸园，在心里对庄颜和孩子说：“亲爱的，在末日等我吧。”
Standing in the giant shadow cast by the space plane High Frontier and looking up at its massive body, Zhang Beihai was involuntarily reminded of the carrier Tang, now long dismantled, and even wondered if the hull of High Frontier could contain a few steel plates from Tang. Over the course of more than thirty reentries, the burning heat had left scorch marks on the body of the space plane, and it really did look the way Tang had when it was under construction. The body had the same sense of age, but the two cylindrical booster rockets beneath the wings were new, making it resemble repairs to ancient architecture in Europe: The newness of the patches stood in stark contrast to the coloring of the original building, reminding visitors that those parts were modern additions. But if the boosters were removed, High Frontier would look like a big old transport plane.
站在“高边疆”号空天飞机投下的大片阴影中，仰望着它那巨大的机体，章北海不由想起了“唐”号航空母舰，后者早已被拆解，他甚至有这样的想象：“高边疆”号机壳上是不是真的有几块“唐”号的钢板，经过三十多次太空飞行归来时再人大气层的燃烧，在“高边疆”号宽阔的机腹上留下了烧灼的色彩，真的很像建造中的“唐”号，两者有着几乎一样的沧桑感，只是机翼下挂着的两个圆柱形助推器看上去很新，像是欧洲修补古建筑时的做法：修补部分呈全新的与原建筑形成鲜明对比的色彩，以提醒参观者这部分是现代加上的。确实，如果去掉这两个助推器，“高边疆”号看上去就像是一架古老的大型运输机。
“Are there naval officers who’ve never been to sea?” Chang Weisi said, smiling.
“有没出过海的海军军官吗？”常伟思笑着问。
“I once imagined that we would never get the chance to go to space in our lifetime,” Zhang Beihai said to Chang Weisi, who had come to see him off. He and twenty other space force officers, all of them members of the three strategic institutes, would take High Frontier to the ISS.
“本来以为，我们这辈子没机会上太空了，”章北海对前来送行的常伟思说，他将和其他二十名太空军军官一起，乘坐“高边疆”号登上国际空间站，他们都是三个战略研究室的成员。
The space plane was a very new thing, one of the few breakthroughs in aerospace technology over the last five years, and quite possibly the last generation of chemically propelled spacecraft. The concept had been proposed the previous century as a replacement for the space shuttle that could take off from a runway like an ordinary plane and fly conventionally to the top layer of the atmosphere, at which point the rockets would be turned on for spaceflight and it would enter orbit. High Frontier was the fourth such space plane in operation, and many more were under construction. They would, in the near future, take on the task of building the space elevator.
空天飞机其实是很新的东西，是这五年航天技术不多的突破之一，同时也可能是化学动力航天器的最后一代了。空天飞机的概念在上世纪就已经提出，是航天飞机的换代产品，它可以像普通飞机一样从跑道起飞，以常规的航空飞行升至大气层顶端，再启动火箭发动机开始航天飞行，进入太空轨道。“高边疆”号是目前已经投入使用的四架空天飞机中的一架，更多的空天飞机正在建造中，将在不久的未来担负起建造太空电梯的任务。
“Of course there are. Lots of them. Some people in the navy sought exactly that. But I’m not that sort of person.”
“当然有，很多。在海军中，有人谋求的就是不出海，但我不是这种人。”
“Experience is the mission. A space strategist ought to have a consciousness of space. This wasn’t feasible before the space plane, since sending up one person cost tens of millions, but it’s much cheaper now. We’ll try to put more strategists into space soon, since we’re the space force, after all. Right now we’re more like a college of bullshit, and that just won’t do.”
“体验就是任务嘛，太空战略的研究者，当然应该有太空意识。空天飞机出现以前这种体验不太可能，上去一个人花费就是上千万，现在便宜多了，以后要设法让更多的战略研究人员上太空，我们毕竟是属于太空的军种，现在呢，太空军竟像一个空谈的学院了，这不行。”
“Beihai, be aware of one thing: The active-duty astronauts are still air force personnel, so you are the first representatives of the space force to go into space.”
“北海啊，你还应该清楚一点：现役航天员仍属于空军编制，所以，你们是太空军中第一批进入太空的人。”
“It’s a shame there’s no specific mission.”
“可惜没什么具体任务。”
Then the boarding call was issued, and the officers began climbing the airstair to the plane. They wore uniforms but not space suits, and looked no different than if they were taking standard air travel. It was a sign of progress, demonstrating that going to space was a little more normal than it had been. From the uniforms, Zhang Beihai noticed that there were people from other departments boarding the plane as well.
这时，登机指令发出，军官们开始沿舷梯上机，他们都只穿作训服，没有人穿航天服，看上去只是要进行一次普通的航空旅行。这种情形是进步的标志，至少表明进入太空比以前稍微寻常了一些。章北海从服装上注意到，登机的除了他们外还有其他部门的人。
“The higher-ups have affirmed your long-term thinking and commend you for it. The document stresses one point: The plan to send reinforcements to the future has not been denied. Research and planning will continue, but present conditions are still premature for execution. I feel — and this is of course my personal opinion — that we need additional qualified political cadres in our ranks to lessen the current work pressures before we can consider it.”
“上级肯定了你这种长远的思考方式，并提出表扬。文件上强调了一点：增援未来计划没有被否决，计划的研究和制定仍将继续进行，只是目前执行的条件还不成熟。我想，当然只是自己的想法，可能要等更多合格的政工干部充实进来，使目前的工作压力减轻一些再考虑此事吧。”
“Ah, Beihai, there’s another important thing,” Chang Weisi said as Beihai was about to pick up his carry-on. “The CMC has studied the report we submitted on sending political cadres to the future as reinforcements, and the brass feel that conditions are still premature.”
“哦，北海，还有一件重要的事。”在章北海提起自己的配备箱时，常伟思说，“军委已经研究了我们呈报的关于政工干部增援未来的报告，上级认为现在条件还不成熟。”
Zhang Beihai squinted, as if warding against a glare, though they were still in the space plane’s shadow. “Commander, my feeling is that we ought to keep the entire four-century period in mind when making plans, and to be clear about what’s urgent and what’s important… But please be assured that I won’t say that in any formal setting. I know very well that our superiors are considering the bigger picture.”
章北海眯起了双眼，他们处于空天飞机的阴影中，他却像看到了刺眼的强光：“首长，我感觉，应该把四个世纪的进程当做一个整体，应该分清什么是紧急的，什么是重要的……不过请你放心，我不会在正式场合这么说，我当然清楚，上级有更全面的考虑。”
“Commander, surely you are aware of what ‘qualified’ means in the context of the Space Force Political Department, and what the basic requirements are. Qualified people are becoming increasingly rare.”
“首长，你当然清楚，对太空军政丁干部而言，所谓合格，最基本的要求是要具备什么，现在这样的人不是越来越多，而是越来越少。”
“But we’ve got to look forward. If there are breakthroughs in the two key technologies of phase one, the space elevator and controlled fusion — and there’s hope of this in our lifetimes — then things will be better… Okay then. Off with you.”
“但也要向前看，如果第一阶段的两项关键技术：太空电梯和可控核聚变取得突破——这在我们这一代可见的未来应该是有希望吧——情况就会好些……好了，在催你了。”
Zhang Beihai saluted him and then stepped onto the stairs. His first feeling upon entering the cabin was that it wasn’t much different than a civilian airliner, except the seats were wider, having been designed to accommodate space suits.
章北海向常伟思敬礼后，转身走上舷梯。进入机舱后，他的第一感觉就是这里与民航客机没有太大差别，只是座椅宽了许多，这是为穿航天服乘坐而设计的。
During the first flights of the space plane, all passengers had to wear space suits as a precaution, but there was no need for that now.
在空天飞机最初的几次飞行中，为防万一，起飞时乘员都要穿航天服，现在则没有这个必要了。
He had a window seat, and the seat immediately next to his was also occupied. A civilian, judging from his clothing. Zhang Beihai nodded to him in greeting before turning his attention to fastening the seat’s complicated safety belt.
章北海坐到一个靠窗的座位上，旁边的座位上立刻也坐上一个人，从服装看他不是军人。章北海冲他简单地点头致意后，就专心致志地系着自己座位上复杂的安全带。
There was no countdown. High Frontier started its air engines and began taxiing. Because of its weight, it spent longer on the ground during takeoff than an ordinary plane, but at last it lifted ponderously off the ground and embarked on its voyage into space.
没有倒计时，“高边疆”号就启动了航空发动机，开始起飞滑行，由于重量很大，它比一般飞机的滑跑距离要长，但最后还是沉重地离开地面，踏上了飞向太空的航程。
“Not much different from civil aviation, you think?”
“与乘民航没什么两样，是吗？”
“This is the thirty-eighth flight of the space plane High Frontier. The aviation phase has started and will last approximately thirty minutes. Please do not unfasten your safety belts,” said a voice over the intercom.
“这是‘高边疆’号空天飞机第三十八次飞行，航空飞行段开始，约持续三十分钟，请不要解开安全带。”扩音器中的一个声音说。
As he watched the ground recede through the cabin window, Zhang Beihai’s thoughts turned to the past. During training to become a carrier captain, he had completed naval aviation pilot training and had passed the level three fighter pilot exam.
从舷窗中看着向下退去的大地，章北海想起过去的日子。在航母舰长培训班中，他经历了完整的海军航空兵飞行员训练，并通过了=级战斗机飞行员的考核。
He was a man destined to fly high and fly far.
他注定是一个向高处飞、向远方去的人。
He turned to see the speaker sitting in the next seat, and recognized him at last. “You must be Dr. Ding Yi. I’ve been wanting to meet you.”
章北海扭头看坐在旁边的说话的人，这才认出他来：“您是丁仪博士吗？啊，久闻大名！”
On his first solo trip he had watched Earth recede like this and suddenly discovered that he loved the sky even more deeply than the ocean. Now, his longing was for the space beyond the sky.
在第一次放单飞时，他也是这样看着离去的大地，突然发现自己喜欢蓝天要甚于海洋，现在，他更向往蓝天之上的太空了。
“I thought you went up on the space shuttle the first time. On TV, that didn’t look like a very nice trip,” Zhang Beihai said with a grin.
“您第一次好像是乘航天飞机上去的吧？从电视上看那次旅程好像不太愉快。”章北海笑着说。
“But it’s going to get rough in just a little bit,” the man said, ignoring Zhang Beihai’s salutation. He went on, “The first time, I didn’t take off my glasses after the aviation phase, and they crushed my nose with the weight of a brick. The second time I took them off, but then they flew off after gravity went away. It wasn’t easy for the guy to find them for me in the air filter in the plane’s tail.”
“不过一会儿就难受了……”丁仪没有理会章北海的敬意，继续说，“第一次，我在航空飞行完了后没摘眼镜，眼镜就像砖头那么沉地压在鼻粱上；第二次倒是摘了，可失重后它飞走了，人家好不容易才帮我在机尾的空气过滤网上找到。”
Four branches had been set up for the controlled fusion project, each pursuing a different direction of research.
可控核聚变项目设立了四个研究分支，分别按不同的研究方向进行。
Restrained by the safety belt, Ding Yi lifted a hand to point at Zhang Beihai. “You study controlled fusion and you can’t go to space? You sound the same as those guys. The ultimate goal of our research is spaceship engines, and the real power held by the aerospace industry today remains to a large degree in the hands of the people who used to make chemical rocket engines. They’re saying now that we’re just supposed to devote ourselves to controlled fusion on the ground, and that we basically have no say in the general plan of the space fleet.”
丁仪在安全带的束缚下抬起一只手指点着章北海：“研究可控核聚变就不能上太空？你怎么和那些人一个论调？我们的最终研究目标是宇宙飞船的发动机，现在在航天界掌握实权的，有很大比例是以前搞化学火箭发动机的人，可现在，照他们的意思，我们只应该老老实实在地面搞可控核聚变，对太空舰队的总体规划没有多少发言权。”
“Oh, I’m talking about taking the space plane. If we count the shuttle, then this is my fourth time. On the shuttle, they took away my glasses before takeoff.”
“啊，我说的是乘空天飞机的事儿，要算上航天飞机，这是第四次了，航天飞机那次眼镜起飞前就被收走了。”
“Why are you going to the station this time? You’ve just been put in charge of a controlled fusion project. The third branch, isn’t it?”
“这次去空间站做什么呢，您刚被任命为可控核聚变的项目负责人，好像是第三研究分支吧？”
“There’s nothing to be done. At least they’ve managed to come up with this in the course of five years.” He pointed around him. “And this gives them the capital to squeeze out outsiders.”
“没办法，人家毕竟在五年内搞出了这个，”丁仪四下指指，“这更给了他们排挤外人的资本。”
“Dr. Ding, your views are identical to mine.” Zhang Beihai loosened his safety belt and leaned over. “For a space fleet, space travel is an entirely different concept from chemical rocketry. Even the space elevator is different from today’s aerospace techniques. But right now the aerospace industry of the past still holds too much power. Its people are ideologically ossified and legalistic, and if things continue, there will be all kinds of trouble.”
“丁博士，在这一点上我和您的看法完全相同。”章北海把安全带松了一下，探过身去说，“太空舰队的宇宙航行与现在的化学火箭航天根本不是一个概念，就是太空电梯也与现在的航天方式大不相同，可如今，过去的航天界还在这个领域把持着过大的权力，那些人思想僵化墨守成规，这样下去后患无穷。”
The cabin intercom started up. “Please take care: We are approaching an altitude of twenty thousand meters. Due to the thin atmosphere we will now be flying through, there may be sharp drops in altitude that will produce momentary weightlessness. Please do not panic. Again, please keep your safety belts fastened.”
这时，舱内扩音器又响了：“请注意：现在正在接近两万米高度，由于后面的航空飞行将在稀薄大气中进行，有可能急剧掉落高度，届时将产生短暂失重，请大家不要惊慌。重复一遍：请系好安全带。”
Ding Yi said, “But our trip to the station this time is unrelated to the controlled fusion project. It’s to recover those cosmic ray catchers. That’s some expensive stuff.”
丁仪说：“不过我们这次去空间站真的和可控核聚变项目无关，是要把那些宇宙射线捕捉器收回来，都是些很贵的东西。”
“The space-based high-energy physics research project has been stopped?” asked Zhang Beihai, retightening his safety belt.
“空间高能物理研究项目停了，”章北海边重新系紧自己的安全带边问。
“The sophons won.”
“智子胜利了。”
“That’s right. So humanity only has a few reserves of theory remaining: classical physics, quantum mechanics, and a still-embryonic string theory. How far their applications can be pushed is up to fate.”
“是啊，现在，人类手里就这么点儿理论储备了：古典物理、量子力学、加上还在娘胎中的弦论，在应用上能走多远，听天由命吧。”
“It’s stopped. Knowing that there’s no need to waste effort in the future counts as a kind of success.”
“停了，知道以后没必要白费力气，也算一个成果吧。”
High Frontier continued to climb, its aviation engines rumbling under the strain as if it were struggling up a tall mountain, but there were no sudden drops. The space plane was now approaching thirty thousand meters, the limit of aviation. Looking out, Zhang Beihai saw that the blue of the sky was fading as it got dark, even though the sun became even more dazzling.
“高边疆”号继续爬高，航空发动机发出吃力的隆隆声，像在艰难地攀登一座高峰，但掉高度的现象没有发生，空天飞机正在接近三万米，这是航空飞行的极限。章北海看到，外面蓝天的色彩正在褪去，天空黑下来，但太阳却更加耀眼了。
“Our current flight altitude is thirty-one thousand meters. The aviation phase is complete and the spaceflight phase is about to begin. Please adjust your seats according to the illustration onscreen to minimize the discomfort of hypergravitation.”
“现在飞行高度31000米，航空飞行段结束，即将开始航天飞行段，请各位按显示屏上的图倒调整自己的坐姿，以减轻超重带来的不适。”
“For them, this is the real launch. Enjoy,” Ding Yi said, and closed his eyes.
“对他们来说，这才开始真正的发射，好好享受吧。”丁仪说，随即闭上眼睛。
“Aircraft engine assembly separated. Aerospace engine ignition countdown: ten, nine, eight…”
“航空发动机组脱离，航天发动机点火倒计时：10、9、8……”
Then Zhang Beihai felt the plane rise gently, as if it had discarded a burden.
这时，章北海感到飞机轻轻上升了一下，像是抛掉了什么负担。
Five minutes later, the boosters detached, and after another five minutes of acceleration, the main engine cut off. High Frontier had entered orbit.
五分钟后，助推器脱离，又经过五分钟的加速，主发动机关闭，“高边疆”号进入太空轨道。
The giant hand of hypergravity suddenly let go and Zhang Beihai’s body bounced back from the depths of his seat. Although the restraint of his safety belt kept him from floating away, to his senses he and the High Frontier were no longer parts of the same whole. The gravity that had once bonded them together was gone, and he and the plane were now flying in parallel paths through space. Out the window were the brightest stars he had ever seen in his life. Later, when the space plane adjusted its attitude, the sun streamed in through the windows and myriad points of light danced in its beams: dust particles that had weightlessly taken to the air. As the plane gradually rotated, he saw the Earth. From this low orbital position he couldn’t see the entire sphere, only the arc of the horizon, but he could clearly make out the shapes of the continents.
超重的巨掌骤然松开，章北海的身体从深陷的座椅中弹出来，安全带的束缚使他飘不起来，但在感觉中他已经与“高边疆”号不再是一个整体，粘接他们的重力消失了，他和空天飞机在太空中平行飞行着。从舱窗望出去，他看到了有生以来见过的最明亮的星空。后来，空天飞机调整姿态，阳光从舷窗中射入，光柱中有无数亮点在舞蹈，这是因失重升起的大颗粒尘埃。随着飞机的缓缓旋转，章北海看到了地球，在这个低轨道位置，看不到完整的球体，只能看到弧形的地平线，但大陆的形状清楚地显现出来。
When the countdown reached zero, there was a huge roar, as if the entire sky outside was shouting, and then hypergravity came like a giant, slowly tightening fist. With effort, Zhang Beihai twisted his head to look out the window. He was unable to see the flames spurting from the engine, but a wide swath of the rarified air of the sky outside was painted red, as if High Frontier was floating through a sunset.
倒计时到零以后，巨大的轰鸣声响起，听起来仿佛外部的整个天空都在怒吼，超重像一个巨掌把一切渐渐攥紧。章北海吃力地转头看舷窗外面，从这里看不到发动机喷出的火焰，但外面空气已经很稀薄的天空被映红了一大片，“高边疆”号仿佛飘浮在稀薄的晚霞中。
Then the starfield, that long-awaited sight, finally came into view, and he said in his heart, Dad, I’ve taken the first step.
接着，星海又出现了，这是章北海最渴望看到的，他在心里说：“爸爸，我走出了第一步。”
For five years, General Fitzroy had felt like a Wallfacer in the actual sense of the word, in that the wall he faced was the big screen with the image of the stars between Earth and Trisolaris. At first glance it was entirely black, but closer inspection of the screen revealed points of starlight. He had grown so well acquainted with those stars that when he had attempted to sketch their position on a piece of paper at a dull meeting the previous day and compared it to the actual photo afterward, he was basically correct. The three stars of Trisolaris lying inconspicuously at the center looked like a single star in the standard view, but every time he magnified them he found that their positions had changed. This chaotic cosmic dance so fascinated him that he forgot what he was looking for in the first place. The brush that had been observed five years ago had gradually faded away, and no second brush had appeared. The Trisolaran Fleet left a visible wake only when it passed through interstellar dust clouds. Earth’s astronomers had verified through observations of the absorption of background starlight that during the fleet’s four-century-long voyage through space, it would pass through five of them. People dubbed these “snow patches” after the way that passersby left tracks on snowy ground.
这五年来，斐兹罗将军觉得自己更像实际意义上的面壁者，他所面对的墙壁就是大屏幕上三体世界方向的星空照片，照片粗看一片黑暗，细看有星光点点。对于这一片星空。斐兹罗已经很熟悉了，昨天，在一次无聊的会议上，他曾试着在纸上画出那些星星的位置，之后和实际照片对照，基本正确。三体世界的三颗恒星处于正中，很不显眼，如果不进行局部放大，看上去只是一颗星，但每次放大后就会发现，三颗星的位置较上次又有了变化，这种随机的宇宙之舞令他着迷，以至于忘了自己最初是想看到什么。五年前观测到的第一把“刷子”已经渐渐淡化了，至今，第二把“刷子”仍未出现。三体舰队只有穿过星际尘埃云时才能留下可观察的尾迹，地球天文学家通过观察对背景星光的吸收，在三体舰队长达四个世纪的航程要穿越的太空中，已探明了五片尘埃云。现在，人们把这些尘埃云称做“雪地”，其含义是雪地上能够留下穿越者的痕迹。
Fitzroy arrived at the Hubble II Space Telescope Control Center early. Ringier laughed when he saw him. “General, why do you remind me of a child who wants another present so soon after Christmas?”
斐兹罗早早来到了哈勃二号太空望远镜控制中心，林格看到他笑了起来。“将军，您怎么像个圣诞刚过又要礼物的孩子？”
If the Trisolaran Fleet had maintained a constant acceleration over the past five years, it would pass the second snow patch today.
如果三体舰队在五年中恒定加速，今天就要穿越第二块“雪地”了。
“That’s right, but the Trisolaran Fleet has only traveled 0.22 light-years, so it’s still four light-years away. Light reflected from its passage through the snow won’t reach Earth for another four years.”
“不错，但三体舰队目前只航行了0.22光年，距我们还有4光年，反映其穿越‘雪地’的光线要四年后才能到达地球。”
“Didn’t you say that they would cross the snow patch today?”
“你说过今天要穿越‘雪地’的。”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot about that,” Fitzroy said with an embarrassed shake of his head. “I really wanted to see them again. This time, we’ll be able to measure their speed and acceleration at the time of passage, and that’s very important.”
“哦，对不起，我忘了这点。”斐兹罗尴尬地摇摇头，“我太想再次看到它们了，这次能测出它们穿越时的速度和加速度，这很重要。”
“It’s what physicists call the cone shape that light describes as it emanates along the time axis. It’s impossible for people outside the cone to comprehend events taking place inside the cone. Think about it: Information about who-knows-how-many major events in the universe is flying toward us right now at the speed of light. Some of it has been traveling for hundreds of millions of years, but we’re still outside the light cones of those events.”
“光的传播沿时间轴呈锥状，物理学家们称为光锥，光锥之外的人不可能了解光锥内部发生的事件。想想现在，谁知道宇宙中有多少重大事件的信息正在以光速向我们飞来，有些可能已经飞了上亿年，但我们仍在这些事件的光锥之外。”
“I’m sorry. We’re outside the light cone.”
“没办法，我们在光锥之外。”
“What’s that?”
“什么？”
Ringier considered this, then gave him an appreciative nod. “General, that’s an excellent analogy! But sophons outside the light cone can see events on the inside.”
林格略一思考，赞赏地冲斐兹罗连连点头，“将军，这个比喻很好！可是智子就能在光锥之外看到锥内发生的事。”
“So the sophons have changed fate,” Fitzroy said with feeling, and turned back to an image-processing terminal. Five years before, the young engineer Harris had started to cry at the sight of the brush, and afterward had suffered from depression so severe that he became practically useless at his job and was let go. No one knew where he had ended up.
“所以智子改变了命运。”斐兹罗感慨地说，同时朝一台图像处理终端看了看。五年前，那个叫哈里斯的年轻工程师在那里工作，看到“刷子”后他哭了起来，后来这人患上严重的抑郁症，几乎成了个废人，被中心辞退了，现在也不知流落何方。
“Fate lies within the light cone.”
“光锥之内就是命运。”
Temperatures were cooling rapidly these days, and it had started to snow, causing the green to gradually disappear from the surrounding area and a thin layer of ice to freeze on the surface of the lake. Nature lost its bright coloring, like a color photograph turned black-and-white. Warm weather here had always been short-lived, but to Luo Ji, the Garden of Eden felt like it had lost its aura since the departure of his wife and child.
这段时间，天气很快冷了下来，开始下雪，周围的绿色渐渐消失，湖面结上了一层薄冰。大自然像一张由彩色变成黑白的照片那样褪去了亮丽的色彩。在这里，温暖的气候本来就是很短暂的，但在罗辑的感觉中，这个伊甸园仿佛是因爱人和孩子的离去而失去了灵气。
Fortunately, there weren’t many people like him.
好在像他这样的人还不多。
He quickly retraced the steps his thoughts had already completed.
罗辑很快重复了已经完成的思考的头几步。
When Luo Ji began to think, he was surprised to find that his thoughts were already in progress. He remembered back to middle school and a lesson a teacher had taught him for language arts exams: First, take a look at the final essay question, then start the exam from the top, so that as you work on the exam, your subconscious will be thinking over the essay question, like a background process in a computer. Now he knew that from the moment he became a Wallfacer, his thinking had started up and had never stopped. The entire process was subconscious and he had never been aware of it.
当罗辑开始思考时，惊奇地发现自己的思绪已到了中途。记得上中学时，老师曾告诉过他一个语文考试的经验：先看卷子最后的作文题，然后再接顺序答卷，这样在答卷过程中，会下意识地思考作文题，很像电脑中后台执行的程序。罗辑现在知道，其实从成为面壁者的那一刻起，他就开始了思考，而且从未停止过，只是整个过程是下意识的，自己没有感觉到。
Winter was a season for thinking.
冬天是思考的季节。
He was now certain that everything about his current situation stemmed from his chance encounter with Ye Wenjie nine years ago. Afterward, he had never spoken of the meeting with anyone for fear of causing unnecessary trouble for himself, but with Ye Wenjie gone, the meeting was a secret known only to him and Trisolaris. In those days, only two sophons had reached Earth, but he could be certain that on that evening, they had been there by Yang Dong’s grave, listening to their every word. And the fluctuation in their quantum formation that instantly crossed the space of four light-years meant that Trisolaris had also been listening.
现在可以肯定，这一切的一切，都源白九年前与叶文沽的那次偶然会面。会面以后，罗辑从未与任何人谈起过这次会面，怕给自己惹来不必要的麻烦。现在。叶文洁已不在人世，这次会面成了只有他自己和三体世界知道的秘密。那段时间，到达地球的智子只有两个，但可以肯定，在黄昏的杨冬墓前，它们就悬浮在他们身边，倾听着他们的每一句话，量子阵列的波动瞬间越过四光年的空间，三体世界也在倾听。
But what had Ye Wenjie said?
但叶文洁说了什么？
He recalled over and over Ye Wenjie’s words: “I have a suggestion: Why don’t you study cosmological sociology?”
他一遍遍地回忆叶文洁的话：“我倒是有个建议：你为什么不去研究宇宙社会学呢？”
The aborted research project wasn’t important in and of itself. What mattered was the instruction that Ye Wenjie had given him, so that’s where Luo Ji’s mind was stuck.
这项没有开始的研究本身并不重要，重要的是叶文洁给他的提示，罗辑的思维就堵塞在这里。
Over and over again he recalled her words: Suppose a vast number of civilizations are distributed throughout the universe, on the order of the number of detectable stars. Lots and lots of them. The mathematical structure of cosmic sociology is far clearer than that of human sociology.
他一次又一次地回忆起她的话：假设宇宙中分布着数量巨大的文明，它们的数目与能观测到的星星是一个数量级的，很多很多，这些文明构成了一个总体的宇宙社会，宇宙社会学就是研究这个超级社会的形态。
Secretary General Say had been wrong about one thing. Luo Ji’s never-begun research into cosmic sociology was quite likely the immediate reason why Trisolaris wanted to kill him. Of course, Say didn’t know that the project had been Ye Wenjie’s suggestion, and although it had just seemed to Luo Ji like an excellent opportunity to make scholarship entertaining, he had been looking for just such an opportunity. Prior to the Trisolar Crisis, the study of alien civilization was indeed a sensational project that would have garnered easy media attention.
萨伊有一点是错的，罗辑那并未开始的宇宙社会学研究很重要，很可能就是三体世界要杀他的直接原因。萨伊当然不知道，这项研究是在叶文洁的建议下进行的，虽然罗辑自己不过是看到了一个绝佳的学术娱乐化的机会——他一直在寻找这样的机会。三体危机浮现之前，外星文明的研究确实是一个哗众取宠的项目，容易被媒体看上。
The factors of chaos and randomness in the complex makeups of every civilized society in the universe get filtered out by the immense distance, so those civilizations can act as reference points that are relatively easy to manipulate mathematically.
我这么想是因为能把你的两个专业结合起来，宇宙社会学比起人类社会学来呈现出更清晰的数学结构。
First: Survival is the primary need of civilization. Second: Civilization continuously grows and expands, but the total matter in the universe remains constant.
第一，生存是文明的第一需要；第二，文明不断增长和扩张，但宇宙中的物质总量保持不变。
He had returned countless times to these words, analyzing each sentence from every angle and chewing over every word. The component words had been strung into a set of prayer beads, and like a pious monk he stroked them time and again; and unstrung them, scattered them, and restrung them in different orders until a layer of each had been worn away.
罗辑无数遍地回想着这些话，从各个角度分析每个句子，咀嚼每一个字。组成这些话的字已经串成了一串念珠，他像一个虔诚的僧人那样一遍遍地抚摸着，他甚至解开连线把念珠撒成一片，再把它们按各种顺序串起来，直到每粒珠子都磨掉了一层。
One more thing: To derive a basic picture of cosmic sociology from these two axioms, you need two other important concepts: chains of suspicion and the technological explosion. I’m afraid there won’t be that opportunity… Well, you might as well just forget I said anything. Either way, I’ve fulfilled my duty.
还有一件事：要想从这两条公理推论出宇宙社会学的基本图景，还有两个重要概念，猜疑链和技术爆炸。怕没有机会了……或者，你就当我随便说说，不管是哪种情况，我都尽了责任。
By this time, most of the prayer beads had been worn faint, except for twenty-one of them. These ones seemed only to get newer the more he polished them, and now emitted a faint light:
这时，那串念珠上大部分的珠子已经被磨损得黯淡了，但有三十二粒除外，它们似乎越磨越新，最后竟发出淡淡的光来：
A month went by without him knowing it, and then winter came in full force. But he still conducted his lengthy thought process outside, sharpening his mind on the cold.
不知不觉中，一个月过去了，冬天彻底来临，但罗辑仍在外面进行着他那漫长的思想行程，寒冷使他的思想锐利起来。
During his lengthy contemplation he strolled aimlessly. He walked along the desolate lakeside, walked through the wind as it grew ever colder, oftentimes completing a circuit of the lake unawares. Twice he even walked to the foot of the snow peak, where the patch of exposed rock that looked like a moonscape was blanketed with snow, becoming one with the snowcap ahead of him. Only then did his mood leave the track of his thoughts, Zhang Yan’s eyes appearing before his own in the boundless blank white of the natural painting. But he was now able to keep his mood in check and continue turning himself into a thinking machine.
漫长的思考是在漫无目的的散步中进行的，罗辑走在萧瑟的湖边，走在越来越冷的风中，常常不知不觉中已经绕湖走了一周。有两次，他甚至走到了雪山脚下，那片像月球表面的裸露岩石带已经被白雪覆盖，与前面的雪山连为一体。只有在这时，他的心绪才离开思考的轨道，在这自然画卷中的无边的空白上，庄颜的眼睛浮现出来。但他总是能够及时控制住这种心绪，继续把自己变成一台思维机器。
Try as he might, he couldn’t extract the clue from those words, the clue that made him the only person that Trisolaris wanted to destroy.
不管怎样，罗辑也无法从这些话中提炼出那个提示，那个使他成为三体世界唯一要消灭的人的提示。
With this in mind, he looked around him. All that surrounded him was huddled up against the icy cold of winter, but most of the world still teemed with life. It was a living world brimming with a complex profusion of oceans, land, and sky as vast as the foggy sea, but all of it ran according to a rule even simpler than the axioms of cosmic civilization: survival of the fittest.
想到这里，罗辑四下看看，周围的一切都蜷伏在冬天的寒冷中，但这时地球上的大部分区域仍然生机盎然。这充满着海洋、陆地和天空的生命世界，纷繁复杂，渺如烟海，其实也是运行在一个比宇宙文明公理更简单的法则下：适者生存。
He fixated on these two sentences, the axioms Ye Wenjie had proposed for cosmic civilization. Although he did not know their ultimate secret, his long meditation told him that the answer lay within them.
罗辑锁定了这两句话，虽然还不知道最终的奥秘，但漫长的思考告诉他，奥秘就在这两句话中，在叶文洁提出的宇宙文明公理中。
Survival is the primary need of civilization.
生存是文明的第一需要。
Civilization continuously grows and expands, but the total matter in the universe remains constant.
文明不断增长和扩张，但宇宙中的物质总量保持不变。
Don’t dismiss simplicity. Simple means solid. The entire mansion of mathematics was erected on a foundation of this kind of irreducibly simple, yet logically rock-solid, axiom.
不要轻视简单，简单意味着坚固，整个数学大厦，都是建立在这种简单到不能再简单，但在逻辑上坚如磐石的公理的基础上。
Luo Ji now saw his problem: Where Darwin had taken the boundless living world and made a rule to sum it up, Luo Ji had to use the rules he knew to uncover a picture of cosmic civilization. It was the opposite road to Darwin’s, but a more difficult one.
现在，罗辑看到了自己的困难：达尔文是通过生命的大干世界总结出了这条法则，而他是已经知道了法则，却要通过它复原宇宙文明的图景，这是一条与达尔文相反的路，但更加艰难。
But it was too simple a clue. What could he and the human race gain from two self-evident rules?
但这个提示毕竟太简单了，两个不证自明的法则，罗辑和全人类能从中得到什么呢？
Gradually, the two concepts Ye Wenjie had left unexplained came into focus: chains of suspicion and the technology explosion.
渐渐地，那两个叶文洁没有说明的神秘概念变得清晰起来：猜疑链、技术爆炸。
The weather that day was colder than usual, and from Luo Ji’s vantage point on the lakeshore, the cold seemed to make the stars into an even purer silver lattice against the black sky, solemnly displaying for him their clear mathematical configuration. All of a sudden, he found himself in a state that was entirely new. In his perception, the entire universe froze, all motion stopped, and everything from stars down to atoms entered a state of rest, with the stars just countless cold, dimensionless points reflecting the cold light of an outside world… Everything was at rest, waiting for his final awakening.
这天夜里比往常冷，罗辑站在湖边，严寒似乎使星空更加纯净，那些黑色空间中的银色点阵，把那明晰的数学结构再一次庄严地显示出来。突然间，罗辑进入一种从未有过的状态中，在他的感觉里，整个宇宙都被冻结了，一切运动都已停止，从恒星到原子，一切都处于静止状态，群星只是无数冰冷的没有大小的点，反射着世外的冷光……一切都在静止中等待，在等待着他最后的觉醒。
So he began sleeping in the daytime and thinking at night. Whenever the perils of his mental roadway terrified him, he found comfort in the stars overhead. Like Ye Wenjie had said, the distance hid the complex structure of each star, making them just a collection of points in space with a clear mathematical configuration. It was a thinker’s paradise, his paradise. To Luo Ji, at least, it felt like the world in front of him was far clearer and more concise than Darwin’s.
于是，罗辑开始在白天睡觉，晚上思考，每当这条思想之路的艰险让他望而生畏时，头顶的星空便给他以安慰。正如叶文洁所说，遥远的距离使星星隐去了复杂的个体结构，星空只是空间中点的集合，呈现出清晰的数学构彤。这是思想者的乐园，逻辑的乐园，至少在感觉上，罗辑面对的世界比达尔文的世界要清晰简洁。
But this simple world held a perplexing riddle: The entire galaxy was a vast empty desert, but a highly intelligent civilization had appeared on the star nearest to us. In this mystery, his thoughts found an entry point.
这个简洁的世界却有一个诡异的谜：在距我们最近的恒星上，出现了高等智慧文明，但整个银河系，却是一片如此空旷的荒漠①，正是在这个疑谜中，罗辑找到了思考的切入点。（注：①此既关于外星文明的费米悖论：从理论上讲，人类能用100万年时间飞往银河系的各个星球，那么，外星人只要比人类早进化100万年，现在就应该来到地球了。这个悖论之所以具有说服力，是因为它是基于银河系的两个事实。一、银河系非常古老已有约100亿年的年龄；二、银河系的直径只有大约10万光年。所以，即使外星人只以光速的千分之一在太空中旅行，他们也只需要1亿年左右的时间就可横穿银河系——这十时间远远短于银河系的年龄。如果真存在外星人的话，按这个道理他们早该到达太阳系了。）
Luo Ji was beside himself with excitement. Although he hadn’t actually glimpsed that final mystery, he had clearly felt its presence just now.
罗辑激动不已，刚才，他并没有看到那个最后的奥秘，但真切地感到了它的存在。
The distant bark of a dog brought him back to reality. Probably a service canine belonging to the security forces.
远处一声狗叫，把罗辑拉回了现实，可能是警卫部队的军犬。
He collected his thoughts and tried to reenter that state, but was unsuccessful. Though the stars remained the same, the world around him interfered with his thinking. All was shrouded in darkness, but he could make out the distant snowcap, the lakeside forest and grassland, and the house behind him, and through the house’s half-open door he could see the dark glow of the fire… Next to the simple clarity of the stars, everything in the vicinity represented a complexity and chaos that mathematics would be forever unable to grasp, so he attempted to remove them from his perception.
罗辑集中思想，试罔再次进入刚才的状态，却没有成功。星空依旧，但周围的世界在于扰着他的思考。虽然一切都隐藏于夜色中，仍能分辨出远方的雪山和湖边的森林草地，还有身后的别墅，从半开的门能看到壁炉中暗红的火光……与星空的简洁明晰相比，这近处的一切象征着数学永远无法把握的复杂和混沌，罗辑试图从感觉中剔除它们。
He walked out onto the frozen lake — cautiously, at first, but when he found that the icy surface seemed solid, he walked and slid ahead more quickly, until he reached a point where he could no longer make out the lakeshore through the night around him. Now he was surrounded on all sides by smooth ice. This distanced him somewhat from earthly complexity and chaos, and by imagining that the icy plane extended infinitely in every direction, he obtained a simple, flat world; a cold, planar mental platform. Cares vanished, and soon his perception reentered that state of rest, where the stars were waiting for him… Then, with a crunch, the ice beneath Luo Ji’s feet broke and his body plunged straight into the water.
他走上了冰封的湖面，开始小心冀翼，后来发现冰面似乎很结实，就边滑边走，更快地向前去，一直走到四周的湖岸在夜色中看不清为止。这时，他的四周都是平滑的冰面，把尘世的复杂和混沌隔远了些。他想象着这冰的平面向所有方向无限延伸，使得到了一个简单的平面世界，一个寒冷而平整的思想平台。困扰消失了，他很快又进入了那种状态，感觉一切都静止下来，星空又在等待他哗啦一声，罗辑脚下的冰面破碎了，他的身体径直跌入水中。
At the precise instant the icy water covered Luo Ji’s head, he saw the stillness of the stars shatter. The starfield curled up into a vortex and scattered into turbulent, chaotic waves of silver. The biting cold, like crystal lightning, shot into the fog of his consciousness, illuminating everything. He continued to sink. The turbulent stars overhead shrank into a fuzzy halo at the break in the ice above his head, leaving nothing but cold and inky blackness surrounding him, as if he wasn’t sinking into ice water, but had jumped into the blackness of space.
就在冰水淹没罗辑头部的一瞬间，他看到静止的星空破碎了，星海先是卷成旋祸，然后散化成一片动荡的银色乱波。刺骨的寒冷像晶莹的闪电，瞬间击穿了他意识中的迷雾，照亮了一切。他继续下沉，动荡的星空在他的头顶上缩化为冰面破口那一团模糊的光晕，四周只有寒冷和墨水般的黑暗，罗辑感觉自己不是沉人冰水，而是跃入黑暗的太空。
He surfaced quickly. His head surged out of the water and he spat out a mouthful. He tried crawling onto the ice at the edge of the hole but could only bring his body up halfway before the ice collapsed again. He crawled and collapsed, forging a path through the ice, but progress was slow and his stamina began to give out from the cold. He didn’t know whether the security team would notice anything unusual on the lake before he drowned or froze to death. Stripping off his soaked down jacket to lessen the burden on his movement, he had the idea that if he spread out the jacket on the ice, it might distribute the pressure and allow him to crawl onto it. He did so, and then, with just enough energy left for one last attempt, he used every last ounce of strength to crawl onto the down jacket at the edge of the ice. This time the ice didn’t collapse, and at last his entire body was lying on top of it. He crept carefully ahead, daring to stand up only after putting a fair distance between him and the hole. Then he saw flashlights waving on the shore and heard shouts.
罗辑很快上浮，头部冲出水而，他吐出一口水，想爬上破口边缘的冰面，可是身体只爬上一半，冰就被压塌了，再爬再塌，他就这样在冰面上开出一条路来，但进展很慢，寒冷中体力渐渐不支。他不知道，在自己被淹死或冻死之前，警卫部队能否发现湖面的异常。他把浸水的羽绒服脱下来，这样动作的负担就小了许多。随后他马上想到，如果把羽缄服铺在冰面上再向上爬，也许能起到一些分散压强的作用。他这么做了，剩下的体力也只够再爬一次，他竭尽全力爬上铺着羽绒服的冰缘，这一次。冰面没有下塌，他终于全身趴在了冰上，小心地向前爬，直到距离破口很远才敢站起来。这时，他看到岸边有手电光在晃动，还有人的喊声。
In the dead, lonely, cold blackness, he saw the truth of the universe.
就在这死寂的冷黑之间，他看到了宇宙的真相。
“Wallfacer Luo Ji, I am your Wallbreaker.”
“面壁者罗辑，我是你的破壁人。”
He stood on the ice, his teeth chattering in the cold, a cold that seemed to come not from the lake water or icy wind, but from a direct transmission from outer space. He kept his head down, knowing that from this moment on, the stars were not like they once were. He didn’t dare look up. As Rey Diaz feared the sun, Luo Ji had acquired a severe phobia of the stars. He bowed his head, and through chattering teeth, said to himself:
罗辑站在冰面上，牙齿在寒冷中格格地碰撞着，这寒冷似乎不是来自湖水和寒风，而是从外太空直接透射而来。罗辑没有抬头，他知道，从这一刻起，星空在自己的眼里已经是另一个样子，他不敢再抬头看了。和雷迪亚兹害怕太阳一样，罗辑从此患上了严重的星空恐惧症。他低着头，牙齿在寒颤中格格作响，对自己说：
“For many years to come, at least, it’s not going to get any whiter,” Kent said, laughing. In Luo Ji’s presence, he had always worn a courteous, studied face. This was the first time Luo Ji had seen him with such a sincere smile. In his eyes, he saw the words that remained unspoken: You’ve finally begun to work.
“至少在以后的很多年，不会继续白下去了。”坎特笑着说，以前，他在罗辑面前总是一副彬彬有礼、老到周全的样子，这样真诚的笑容罗辑还是第一次看到，从他的眼中，罗辑看到了段说出来的话：你终于开始工作了。
“Your hair’s turned white over the years,” Luo Ji said to Kent.
“这些年，你的头发都白了。”罗辑对坎特说。
“Doctor, an absolutely safe place does not exist, but we can come very close. I’ll have to warn you, though, these places are always underground. And as for comfort…”
“博士，绝对安全的地方是不存在的，但我们可以做到很接近，不过我需要提醒您，这样的地方往往是在地下，所以舒适方面……”
“I need someplace safer,” he said.
“我需要一个更安全的地方。”罗辑说。
“Not a problem, Dr. Luo. Any particular requests?”
“这没有问题，罗辑博士，您对那个地方有什么其他的要求吗？”
“Nothing apart from safety. It must be absolutely secure.”
“除了安全，没有任何要求，要绝对安全。”
“Disregard comfort. However, it’d be best if it’s in China.”
“不用考虑舒适，不过这个地方最好能在我的国家内。”
“Not a problem. I’ll take care of it immediately.”
“没有问题，我立刻去办。”
When Kent was about to leave, Luo Ji stopped him. Pointing out the window at the Garden of Eden, which was now completely blanketed in snow, he said, “Can you tell me the name of this place? I’m going to miss it.”
在坎特要走时，罗辑叫住了他，指着窗外已经完全被冰雪覆盖的伊甸园说：“能告诉我这儿的地名吗，我会想念这里的。”
Greeting him was a man named Zhang Xiang, the same young man who — along with Shi Qiang — had sent him off five years ago, and who now was in charge of security. He had aged considerably in five years and now looked like a middle-aged man.
迎接他的人中有一个叫张翔，就是五年前同史强一起进他走的年轻人，现在是这里安全保卫的负责人，五年后的他老成了许多，看上去是一个中年人了。
The elevator was still operated by an armed soldier — not the one from back then, of course, but Luo Ji still felt a certain warmth in his heart. The old-style elevator had been swapped for one that was completely automated and did not require an operator, so the soldier merely pressed the “-10” button and the elevator started its descent.
开电梯的仍是一名武警士兵，当然不是当年那个，但罗辑心中还是有一种亲切感。其实当年的老式电梯已经换成了全自动的，不用人操纵，那名士兵只是按了一下“—10”的按钮，电梯便向地下降去。
Luo Ji traveled more than ten hours under tight security before reaching his destination. When he exited the car, he knew immediately where he was: It was here, in the broad, squat hall that looked like an underground parking garage, that he had embarked on his fantastic new life five years before. Now, after five years of dreams alternating with nightmares, he had returned to the starting point.
经过十多个小时在严密保卫下的旅行，罗辑到达了目的地，他一出车门，就立刻知道了这是哪里——地下车库模样的宽敞但低矮的大厅，五年前，罗辑就是从这里出发，开始了自己全新的梦幻人生，现在，在噩梦和美梦交替的五年后，他又回到了起点。
The administrator made a particular point of showing Luo Ji a set of light switches in the room, each of which bore a small picture of the sun. The administrator called them “sun lamps” and said they needed to be turned on for no fewer than five hours a day. Originally intended as labor-safety products for mine workers, they could simulate sunlight, including UV rays, as supplementary daylight for people spending long periods underground.
管理员特别指给罗辑看房间里的一类照明开关，每个开关上都有一个小太阳标志。管理员说这一类叫太阳灯的灯具每天必须开够不少于五小时的时间，这原是矿井工作者的一种劳保用品，能模拟包括紫外线在内的太阳光线，为长期处于地下的人补充日照。
The underground structure had clearly undergone a recent renovation: The ventilation ducts in the hallways had been hidden, the walls coated with moisture-proof tile, and all traces of the civil air defense slogans had disappeared.
地下的建筑显然经过了新的装修，走廊里的通风管道隐藏起来。墙上贴了防潮的瓷砖，包括人防标语在内的旧时的痕迹已全部消失。
Luo Ji’s living quarters took up the whole of the tenth basement floor. While it was no match in comfort for the house he had just left, it was equipped with comprehensive communications and computer equipment, along with a conference room set up with a remote video conferencing system, giving the place the feel of a command center.
地下十层全部都作为罗辑的住处，虽然在舒适上与他刚刚离开的那个地方没法比，但配备了完善的通讯和电脑设施，还有安装丁远程视频会议系统的会议室，使这里像一个指挥部。
The next day, as Luo Ji had requested, the astronomer Albert Ringier visited the tenth basement.
第二天，按罗辑的请求，天文学家艾伯特·林格来到了地下十层。
Ringier looked a little unhappy to hear this. “I’ve repeatedly issued statements to reporters, but they insist on forcing this honor on my head. It should be credited to General Fitzroy. He was the one who demanded that Hubble II observe Trisolaris during testing. Otherwise we might have missed the chance, since the wake in the interstellar dust would have faded.”
听到这话，林格显得有些不高兴，“我多次对记者声明过，可他们还是把这个荣誉强加到我头上，它本应属于斐兹罗将军，是他坚持哈勃二号在测试期就观察三体世界的，否则可能错过观测时机，星际尘埃中的尾迹会淡化的。”
“What I’d like to talk to you about isn’t connected to that. I did a bit of astronomy once, but not in much depth, and I’m no longer familiar with the subject. My first question is this: If, in the universe, there exists another observer apart from Trisolaris, has Earth’s position been revealed to them?”
罗辑说：“我要同您谈的事情与此无关，我也曾搞过天文学，但没有深入，现在对这个专业已经不熟悉了。首先想请教一个问题：在宇宙间，如果存在着除三体之外的其他观察者，到目前为此，地球的位置暴露了吗？”
When he saw him, Luo Ji said, “You were the first to observe the flight path of the Trisolaran Fleet?”
见到林格后，罗辑说：“是您首先观察到三体舰队的航迹？”
“You’re sure of that?”
“您这么肯定？”
“But Earth has exchanged communication with Trisolaris.”
“可是地球已经与三体世界进行过交互通讯。”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“No.”
“没有。”
“That low-frequency communication would reveal only the general direction of Earth and Trisolaris in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the distance between the two worlds. That is, if there’s a third-party recipient, the communication would make it possible for them to know of the existence of two civilized worlds 4.22 light-years apart in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, but they would still be ignorant of the precise position of those two worlds. In fact, determining each other’s position through this kind of exchange is only feasible for stars in close proximity, like the sun and the stars of Trisolaris. For a slightly more distant third-party observer, however, even if we communicate directly with them, we wouldn’t be able to determine each other’s position.”
“这种低频通讯，只能暴露地球和三体世界在银河系中的大致方向，以及地球与三体世界间的距离，也就是说，如果存在第三方的接收者，那他们通过这些通讯可能知道的，只是在银河系猎户旋臂的这一区域中存在着两个相距4.22光年的文明世界，但这两个世界的精确位置仍不得而知。其实，通过这样的交互通讯来相互确定位置，也只有在太阳和三体这样相距很近的恒星问能够实现，对于稍远些的第三方观察者，即使我们与他们直接进行交互通讯，也无法确定彼此的位置。”
“Why is that?”
“为什么？”
Luo Ji didn’t answer, but asked instead, “Using our present level of technology, is there a way to indicate the position of a star in the universe?”
罗辑没有回答，而是问道：“那么，以我们的技术水平。如何向宇宙问标示某颗恒星的位置呢？”
“Marking the position of a star for another observer in the universe is hardly as easy as people imagine. Here’s an analogy: You’re taking a plane through the Sahara Desert and a grain of sand below you shouts ‘Here I am!’ You hear the shout, but can you fix a location for that grain of sand from the plane? There are nearly two hundred billion stars in the Milky Way. It’s practically a desert of stars.”
“向宇宙中的其他观察者标示一颗恒星的位置，远没有人们想象的那么简单，做个比喻吧：您乘飞机飞越撒哈拉沙漠时，下面沙漠中的一粒沙子冲您大声喊‘我在这儿’，而您也听到了这喊声，您能够在飞机上就此确定这粒沙的位置吗？银河系有近两千亿颗恒星，几乎就是一个恒星的沙漠了。”
Luo Ji nodded in apparent relief. “I understand. So that’s it, then.”
罗辑点点头，似乎如释重负，“我明白了，这就对了。”
“What is?” Ringier asked in confusion.
“什么对了？”林格不解地问。
“This far exceeds our present technical capabilities.”
“这远超出了我们的技术能力啊。”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I overlooked your precondition. At our present technical capabilities, it would be fairly difficult to show a star’s position to the far reaches of the universe. There’s still a way, but interpreting the positional information requires a level of technology far beyond that of humanity, and even, I believe, beyond that of Trisolaris.”
“哦，对不起，我没注意到您这个前提。以人类目前的技术能力，向遥远宁宙显示一颗恒星的位置相当用难，办法倒是有一个，但解读这种位置信息所需要的技术水平远高于人类，甚至……我想，也高于三体文明。”
“Yes, by using directed very high frequency electromagnetic waves, equal to or higher in frequency than visible light, and then harnessing stellar power to transmit information. In simple terms, you’d make the star flash, like a cosmic lighthouse.”
“用可定位的甚高频电磁波，这种频率应该达到或超过可见光频率，以恒星级功率发出信息。简单地说，就是让这颗恒星闪烁，使其本身变成一座宇宙灯塔。”
“I’m starting to understand. We send out a message containing the position of the star we wish to point out, relative to the surrounding stars, and the recipient compares the data to its star map to determine the star’s location.”
“我有些明白了：如果把要指明的恒星与周围恒星的相对位置信息发送出去，接收者把它与星图进行对照，就确定了这颗恒星的位置。”
“No, it’s not simple at all. It’s like recording the relative position of every grain of sand in the desert.”
“这真的不容易，相当于把一个沙漠中每粒沙子的相对位置都记录下来。”
“The key information is the relative position of stars. If you specify a region of space in the Milky Way that contains a sufficient number of stars — perhaps a few dozen would be sufficient — their relative arrangement in three-dimensional space would be totally unique, like a fingerprint.”
“恒星间的相对位置是一个重要信息，如果在银河系中指定一片体空间区域，其中包含的恒星数量足够多，大概有几十颗就够了吧，那么这些恒星在这片三维空间的相对排列在宇宙中几乎是独一无二的，像指纹一样。”
“Right. But things aren’t that simple. The recipient must possess a three-dimensional model of the entire galaxy that precisely indicates the relative position of every one of a hundred billion stars. Then, after receiving our message, they would have to search through that enormous database to find an area of space that matches the pattern of positions we sent out.”
“是的，但事情没这么简单，接收者需要拥有整个银河系的三维模型，这个模型中包含了所有的千亿颗恒星，精确地标明它们的相对位置。这样在接收到我们发送的信息后，他们可以从这个庞大的数据库中进行检索，找到与我们发出的位置构图相匹配的那片空间。”
“Tell me about that approach.”
“请说说这个办法。”
“Good. Now I’ll ask a third question: Outside the Solar System, there are other stars with planets. You’ve discovered several hundred, right?”
“好，现在我问第三个问题：太阳系外其他带有行星的恒星，你们好像已经发现了几百个？”
“No, because we would only need to have a position pattern for a limited number of stars. And now that I’ve had time to think about it, given the average stellar density of the outer arm of the galaxy, a position pattern with no more than thirty stars should be sufficient. That’s a small amount of information.”
“这倒不困难，因为我们只需掌握有限的恒星位置构图就行了，现在想想，以银河系外旋臂平均的恒星密度，有三十颗恒星的位置构图就足够了，甚至还可以更少，这只是个很小的信息量。”
“244J2E1, sixteen light-years from the sun.”
“244J2E1，距太阳16光年。”
“Even harder than that. The Milky Way, unlike the desert, is in motion, and the relative positions of its stars are constantly changing. The later the position information is received, the greater the error caused by these changes. This means the database has to be able to predict the changes in position of each of those hundred billion stars. In theory, it’s not a problem, but to actually do it… God…”
“还有更难的呢，银河系与沙漠不同，它处在运动之中，恒星间的位置在不断地发生变化，位置信息接收越晚，这种位置变化产生的误差就越大，这就需要那个数据库具有预测银河系所有千亿颗恒星位置变化的能力，理论上没问题，但实际做起来，天啊……”
“Would it be hard for us to send that positional information?”
“我们发送这种位置信息困难吗？”
“And the closest to the sun?”
“距太阳最近的是？”
“More than a thousand to date.”
“到目前为止，五百一十二个。”
“What time is it now? It’s not nighttime already?”
“现在是什么时候？不是晚上吗？”
Ringier went to the computer room next door, and Luo Ji called in Kent and Zhang Xiang. He first explained to Kent that he wanted the PDC to hold the next Wallfacer hearing as soon as possible.
林格到隔壁的电脑室去了，罗辑又叫来了坎特和张翔，他首先对坎特表明，想请行星防御理事会尽快召开一次面壁计划听证会。
“I can do it here if there’s a computer with Internet. For a pattern of, say, thirty stars, I can give it to you tonight.”
“只需要一台能上网的电脑，我在这里就能做，按三十颗恒星的构图吧，今天晚上就可以给您。”
“187J3X1, 49.5 light-years from the sun.”
“187J3X1，距太阳49.5光年。”
“As I remember it, the serial numbers are set like this: the prefix digits represent the order of discovery; the letters J, E, and X stand for Jupiter-type planets, Earth-type planets, and other planets, respectively; and the digits following the letter indicate the number of that type of planet in the system.”
“我记得序号是这样定的：前面的数字代表发现的顺序，J、E、X分别代表类木行星、类地行星和其他类型的行星，字母后面的数字代表这类行星的数量。”
“That’s right. 244J2E1 is a star with three planets, two of them Jupiter-type and one Earth-type.”
“是的，244J2E1表示有三颗行星，两个类木行星和一个类地行星。”
“That one’s fine. Can you draw up a position pattern for that star?”
“这个很好，你能做出这颗恒星的位置构图吗？”
“How long would it take? Would you need help?”
“需要多长时间？需要什么帮助吗？”
Luo Ji thought for a moment, then shook his head. “That’s too close. How about a little farther, like… around fifty light-years?”
罗辑想了想，摇摇头：“太近了，再远些的呢，比如……50光年左右的。”
“I’d say it’s probably morning, Dr. Luo.”
“罗辑博士，我想应该是早晨吧。”
“Of course I can.”
“当然可以。”
“Then I’ll have to wait. But I’d really like it as soon as possible. Also, I have a request: to attend the hearing here via video rather than go to the UN.”
“那也只好等，但我真的希望尽快。另外，还有一个要求：我不去联合国，就在这里通过视频系统参加会议。”
“You know…” Kent faltered.
“您知道……”坎特欲言又止。
Kent said, “There are lots of PDC meetings these days. Once you’ve submitted the application, you’ll probably only have to wait a few days.”
坎特说：“最近PDC的会议很多，提出申请后，您可能需要等几天。”
“I know that a Wallfacer’s status isn’t like it once was, but I insist on this.” When he continued, it was in a softer voice, even though he knew that the sophons hanging in the vicinity could still hear. “There are two possibilities now: One, if everything is like it used to be, I wouldn’t mind going to the UN. But there’s another possibility: I may be in a very dangerous situation, and I can’t take that risk.” Then he said to Zhang Xiang, “That’s why I’ve brought you here. We may become a target for a concentrated enemy attack, so security must be strengthened.”
“我知道现在面壁者的地位不比从前，但我坚持这个要求。”罗辑后面的话压低声音，尽管他知道悬浮在周围的智子仍能听到，“现在有两种可能，一种是一切都与以前一样，那我去联合国也就无所谓了；但如果另一种可能出现，我现在就处于极其危险的境地，我不能冒这个罗辑又对张翔说：“这也是我找你来的原因，这里很可能成为敌人集中袭击的目标，安全保卫工作一定要加强。”
“It’s part of the plan. All those bizarre requests I made in the past were fulfilled, but this one’s over the line?”
“这是计划的一部分。我以前提出的那么多离奇古怪的要求都能得到满足，这一个不算过分吧？”
Kent looked reluctant. “Dr. Luo, don’t you think that’s a little inappropriate? For such a high-level international meeting… It’s a question of respect for the participants.”
坎特面露难色：“罗辑博士，这不太合适吧？这样级别的国际会议……这涉及到对与会者的尊重问题。”
The virtual three-body world in the Internet.
互联网中的虚拟三体世界。
When the two men left, Luo Ji took a walk down the hallway, his thoughts turning involuntarily to the Garden of Eden (he knew its name now, but still called it that in his heart) and its lake and snow peak. He knew that it was quite likely he would spend the rest of his life underground.
两人走后，罗辑到走廊里散步，不由想起了伊甸园——他已经知道了那个地名，但仍在心里这么称呼它——的湖水和雪山，他知道，自己很可能要在地下度过余生。
He looked around at the sunlamps in the hallway ceiling. The light they emitted was nothing like the sun.
他看看走廊顶部的那些太阳灯，它们发出的光一点也不像阳光。
“Don’t worry, Dr. Luo. We’re located two hundred meters below ground. The area above us is under lockdown, an antimissile system has been deployed, and a state-of-the-art subterranean warning system has been installed to detect the digging of a tunnel from any direction. I guarantee to you that our security is foolproof.”
“罗老师您放心，这里处于地下二百多米，上面整个地区都戒严了，部署了反导系统，还安装了一套先进的地层检测系统，任何从地下向这个方向的隧道掘进都能被探测到，我向您保证，在安全上是万无一失的！”
Two meteors moved slowly across the starfield. All was dark on the ground, and the distant horizon blended into one with the night sky. A burst of whispers sounded through the dark, although the speakers remained unseen, as if the voices themselves were invisible creatures floating in the darkness.
有两颗飞星在缓缓地穿过星海，大地上的一切都处于黑暗中，远方的地平线在漆黑中与夜空融为一体。黑暗中有一阵私语声，看不到说话的人，这语声仿佛本身就是黑暗中飘浮的无形生物。
Qin Shi Huang leapt up on a stone and brandished his sword, and the crowd fell silent.
秦始皇跳上一块岩石，举起长剑，众人立刻安静下来。
With a clink, a small flame appeared in the darkness, its dim light revealing three faces: Qin Shi Huang, Aristotle, and Von Neumann. The flame came from a lighter in Aristotle’s hand. When a few torches were extended, he lit one, which then passed fire among the others to form a shaky light in the wilderness and illuminate a group of people drawn from every era. Their whispers continued.
锵地一声轻响，一个小火苗在黑暗中出现，三个人的面孔在徽弱的火光中时隐时现，他们是秦始皇、亚里士多德和冯·诺伊曼，火光来自亚里士多德手中的打火机，几支火把伸了过来，亚里士多德点燃了其中的一支，然后几支互相点燃，在荒原上形成一片摇晃不定的光亮，照亮了一群各个时代的人，他们之间的私语仍在继续着。
“We too have received this command. This is the second assassination order that the Lord has issued for Luo Ji,” Mozi said.
“我们也接到了这个指令，这是主对罗辑发出的第二道诛杀令了。”墨于说。
“The Lord has issued a new command: Destroy Wallfacer Luo Ji,” he said.
“主发布了新指令：消灭面壁者罗辑。”秦始皇说。
“But it will be difficult to kill him now,” someone said.
“可现在杀他不容易啊。”有人说。
“Difficult? It’s impossible!”
“不是不容易，是根本不可能。”
“Perhaps Evans was right to do so. After all, we don’t know his reasons. Luo Ji was lucky to escape a second time in the UN Plaza.”
“也许伊文斯有道理，我们毕竟不知道真相。罗辑也真命大，在联合国广场又让他逃过一次。”
Qin Shi Huang stopped the debate with a wave of his sword. “Shall we talk instead about what to do?”
秦始皇挥剑制止了议论：“还是讨论一下怎么办吧。”
“If Evans hadn’t added that condition to the first assassination order, he would have been dead five years ago.”
“如果不是伊文斯在主的第一道诛杀令中附加了条件，五年前他就死定了。”
“The place is an antinuke bunker from the Cold War, damn it.”
“见鬼！那地方就是上世纪冷战时的防核掩体。”
“Can that be done? We’ve had years. Has there ever been a successful infiltration?”
“这可能吗？这么多年了，有谁成功渗透过？”
“Cut the crap. The Lord ought to tell us the truth, and maybe we can come up with a better option.”
“别扯淡了，主应该告诉我们真相，也许能想出别的办法。”
“Shall we consider nuclear weapons?”
“考虑过用核武器吗？”
“There’s nothing we can do. Who can even get anywhere near a bunker two hundred meters deep, much less get inside? It’s guarded too tightly.”
“没办法，谁能接近那个二百米深的地堡？更别说进去了！那里防守太严了。”
“The only viable option is sending someone to infiltrate security.”
“唯一可行的办法，是派人渗透到警卫部队内部。”
“Infiltrate his kitchen!” This prompted some laughter.
“渗透到他的厨房！”这话引起了几声轻笑。
Qin Shi Huang answered the last speaker: “I also made that request, but the Lord said the truth was the most important secret in the universe and could not be revealed. The Lord spoke of it with Evans under the impression that humanity already knew but later learned otherwise.”
秦始皇回答了最后那人的话：“我也提出过这个要求，但主说这个真相是宇宙中最重要的秘密，绝对不能透露，当时同伊文斯谈起，是因为主以为人类已经知道了真相。”
Many other voices echoed this. Qin Shi Huang said, “This was another request I made. To my surprise, the Lord uncharacteristically did not reject it entirely.”
这个声音得到了很多附和，秦始皇说：“这个要求我也提了，出乎预料，主一反常态，没有完全拒绝。”
“Then ask the Lord to transfer technology!”
“那就请主传递技术！”
“The Lord is afraid of him.”
“主很怕他。”秦始皇说。
“Is he really that important?” Von Neumann asked, unable to conceal a note of jealousy in his voice. As the first successful Wallbreaker, he had risen rapidly in the organization.
“他真有这么重要吗？”冯·诺伊曼问，他的语气中带着掩饰不住的妒忌，作为第一个成功的破壁人，他在组织中的地位迅速提高。
A commotion took hold of the crowd, but Qin Shi Huang’s next words quieted the excitement: “But once the Lord learned the location of the target, the request was swiftly rejected. It said that as far as the target’s location was concerned, any technology It could transfer to us would be ineffective.”
人群中出现了一阵兴奋的骚动，但秦始皇接下来的话平息了兴奋：“但主在得知目标的位置后，很快又拒绝了这个要求，它说就目标所处的位置而言，能够向我们传递的技术也无能为力。”
Einstein said, “I have thought this over for a long time, and I believe that the Lord’s fear of Luo Ji has only one possible reason: He is the mouthpiece of certain power.”
爱因斯坦说：“我考虑了很久，认为主对罗辑的恐惧只有一个可能的原因：他是某种力量的代言人。”
Qin Shi Huang shut down further discussion of the subject: “Don’t get into that. Instead, let’s think of how to fulfill the Lord’s command.”
秦始皇制止了在这个话题上的进一步讨论：“别说这些了，还是想想怎么完成主的指令吧。”
“It really can’t be done. It’s a mission that can’t be completed.”
“真的没办法，一个无法完成的使命。”
“It can’t be done.”
“没办法。”
Qin Shi Huang clanged his sword on the rock beneath his feet. “This mission is crucial. The Lord may really be under threat. Besides, if we complete it, the organization will be greatly elevated in the Lord’s eyes! Gathered here are the elite of every sphere throughout the world, so how can we fail to think of something? Go back and think it over, and send your plans here to me through other channels. We’ve got to get on this!”
秦始皇用长剑铛地敲了一下脚下的岩石：“这个使命很重要，主可能真的遇到了威胁，况且，如果能够完成，组织在主眼中的地位就会大大提高！这里聚集了世界上各个领域里的精英，怎么会想不出办法？大家回去好好考虑一下，把方案通过别的渠道汇集到我这里，这事要抓紧做！”
The torches burned out in succession and darkness swallowed everything. But the whispering went on.
火把相继燃尽，黑暗又吞噬了一切，窃窃私语仍在继续。
Luo Ji and Kent awaited the start of the meeting in the videoconference room. The conference video connection had been made, and the big screen displayed the PDC auditorium, where the circular table familiar from the Security Council days was still completely empty. Luo Ji had arrived early as something of an apology for not attending in person.
罗辑和坎特在视频会议室中等待开会，会议视频已经接通，大屏幕上出现了行星防御理事会的会场，那早在安理会时代已为世人所熟悉的大圆桌旁还空无一人，罗辑早早来到这儿，是为了多少弥补一下不亲临会场的失敬。
The PDC Wallfacer Project Hearing did not convene for two weeks. After Tyler’s failure and the hibernation of the other two Wallfacers, the PDC’s main priority and attention had turned to mainstream defense.
行星防御理事会面壁计划听证会两个星期后才召开，随着泰勒的失败和另外两名面壁者的冬眠，PDC的主要工作重点和注意力转移到主流防御方式上。
“You sound like you have a cold,” Luo Ji said.
“你听起来好像感冒了？”罗辑问。
While they waited, he chatted with Kent and asked him how he was managing. Kent said that he had lived in China for three years when he was younger, so he was quite accustomed to it and was doing well. At any rate, he didn’t have to spend all day underground like Luo Ji, and his rusty Chinese had recently regained its fluency.
在等待中罗辑与坎特闲聊，问他在这里过得怎么样，坎特说他年轻时就在中国生活过三年，对这里很适应，过得还不错，毕竟他不用像罗辑这样整天生活在地下，这些天，他那很生疏的汉语又流利起来。
“Bird flu?” Luo Ji said in alarm.
“禽流感？！”罗辑吃了一惊。
“No. Bed flu. That’s what the media’s calling it. It started going around in a nearby city a week ago. It’s infectious, but symptoms are light. There’s no fever, just a runny nose, and some patients get a sore throat. There’s no need for medication, and it goes away on its own in three days or so after a little bed rest.”
“不是，是轻重的轻，媒体上都这么叫。是一个星期前在附近城市流行的，感染率很高，但症状很轻，不发烧，就是流鼻涕，部分患者可能嗓子疼。不用吃药，三天左右就自动痊愈了。”
“The flu is usually more serious than that.”
“流感一般都很重的啊。”
“I’ve just caught the bed flu,” he replied.
“只是染上了轻流感。”坎特回答。
“Not this time. A lot of soldiers and staff here have already been infected. Haven’t you noticed that they replaced the caretaker? She caught the bed flu too, but was afraid of giving it to you. But as your liaison, I can’t be replaced for the time being.”
“这次不是。这里的很多士兵和工作人员都传染上了，你没发现房间里的勤杂工换人了吗？她也得了轻流感，怕传染上你，但我这个联络员一时还换不了。”
Onscreen the national delegates had begun to enter the auditorium. They sat down and started talking in low voices, as if they hadn’t noticed Luo Ji’s presence. The incumbent rotating chair of the PDC opened the meeting, saying, “Wallfacer Luo Ji, the Wallfacer Act was amended at the special session of the UN General Assembly that just adjourned. You’ve seen it?”
屏幕上显不，各国代表开始陆续进入会场，他们坐下后低声交谈，似乎没有注意到罗辑的存在。行星防御理事会轮值主席宣布会议开始，他说：“面壁者罗辑，在刚刚结束的特别联大上经修正后的联合国面壁法案，您应该已经看过了。”
“Then you must have noticed that the Act strengthens the examinations and restrictions on Wallfacer resource allocation. I hope that the plan you will submit to the hearing today will comply with the Act’s requirements.”
“您一定注意到，法案加强了对面壁者调用资源的审查和限制，希望您将在这次会议上提交的计划能够符合法案的要求。”
“Yes,” he answered.
“是的。”罗辑回答。
“Resource allocation privileges depend on the plan itself, and you must be aware that the other three Wallfacer plans are not in conflict with mainstream defense. In other words, the research and engineering they are conducting would have been carried out even without the Wallfacer Project. I hope that your strategic plan is also of this nature.”
“资源调用权限取决于计划本身，您应该注意到，另外三位面壁者的计划与主流防御是不矛盾的，就是说，即使没有面壁计划，这些研究项目和工程也要进行，希望您的战略计划也具有这种性质。”
“Even under the old plan, I couldn’t allocate all that much. However, this isn’t a problem, Mr. Chair. My strategic plan consumes practically no resources at all.”
“即使在旧法案中，我能调用的资源数量也不大。不过主席先生。这不是问题，我的战略计划几乎不消耗任何资源。”
“Mr. Chair,” Luo Ji said, “the other three Wallfacers have allocated an enormous amount of resources to the execution of their own strategic plans. To limit my plan’s resources in this way is unfair.”
“主席先生，”罗辑说，“另外三位面壁者都已经在自己的战略计划执行过程中调用了大量的资源，对我的计划的这种资源限制是不公平的。”
“I’m sorry to say that my plan is not of this nature. It has absolutely nothing to do with mainstream defense.”
“很遗憾，我的汁划没有这种性质，它与主流防御没有任何关系。”
“Then I’m sorry, too. Under the new Act, the resources you can allocate to this plan are very limited.”
“那我也感到遗憾，根据新法案，您能够在这项计划中调用的资源是很小的。”
The chair’s remark prompted snickers from several participants.
主席的话引起了几名与会者的窃笑。
“Just like your previous plans?”
“就像您前面的计划一样？”
“Even less than in the past. Like I said, it consumes practically no resources at all,” he said simply.
“比前面的还少，我说过，几乎不消耗任何资源。”罗辑坦然地说。
“Then let’s have a look,” the chair said, nodding.
“那就让我们来了解一下吧。”主席点点头说。
“The specifics of the plan will be introduced by Dr. Albert Ringier, although I presume you all received the corresponding file. To sum up, using the radio wave magnification capabilities of the sun, a message will be sent into the cosmos containing three simple images, along with additional information to demonstrate that these images have been sent by an intelligence as opposed to occurring naturally. The images are included in the file.”
“计划的详细内容将由艾伯特·林格博士为大家介绍，同时我想各位代表已经拿到了相应的文件。简而言之，就是通过太阳的电渡放大功能，向宇宙中发送一份信息，信息只包括三幅简单的图形，还有一些附加信息，表明这些图形是由智慧体发送而不是自然形成的，图形都附在会议文件中。”
The sound of rustling paper filled the auditorium as the attendees located the three sheets. The images were also displayed on the screen. They were quite simple. Each consisted of black dots, seemingly scattered at random, but they all noticed that each image contained one conspicuously larger dot that was marked with an arrow.
会场上响起了哗哗的翻纸声，很快每个与会者都找到了那三张纸，同时，屏幕上也显示出这三幅图形，真的十分简单，每幅图形只是一些似乎是随机分布的黑点，人们注意到，每张图中都有一个黑点画得大些醒目些，同时还有一个小箭头注明它。
“That’s unknown right now. But one thing is certain: The effect of the spell will be catastrophic.”
“现在还不知道，但有一点可以明确：咒语的作用，肯定是灾难性的。”
“What effect will it have?”
“会有什么作用呢？”
The rustling and murmuring in the auditorium stopped abruptly. Everyone looked up in the same direction, so that Luo Ji now knew the location of the screen displaying his feed.
会场上的翻纸和低语声戛然而止，所有的人都抬头望着一个方向，现在罗辑知道会场上显示这边图像的屏幕在什么位置了。
“He said it’s a spell,” someone seated at the circular table said loudly.
“他说是咒语。”大圆桌旁有人高声说。
“What is it?” asked the US representative, who, like the rest of the attendees, was inspecting the images carefully.
“这是什么？”美国代表问道，同时和其他与会者一样，依次细看那几张图。
“I consulted repeatedly with the astronomical community on that point. From present observational data, the answer is no,” Luo Ji said, narrowing his eyes like the chair had. He prayed silently, May they be right.
“对于这一点，我反复咨询过天文学界，从目前已有的观测资料上看，没有。”罗辑说到这里，也像主席一样眯起了双眼，在心里默默祈祷：但愿他们是对的。
“Wallfacer Luo Ji, according to the basic principles of the Wallfacer Project, you do not need to answer that question,” the chair said.
“面壁者罗辑，根据面壁计划基本原则，您可以不回答这个问题。”主席说。
“What?” asked the chair, with narrowed eyes.
“什么？”主席眯起双眼问。
Luo Ji answered, “Against the planets of star 187J3X1. Of course, it could also work directly against the star itself.”
罗辑回答：“187J3X1恒星所拥有的行星，当然，也可能直接作用到恒星上。”
“A spell against whom?”
“针对谁的咒语？”主席问。
“Er, is there a chance these planets have life?”
“那么，这些行星上可能有生命吗？”
“It’s a spell,” he said.
“这是一句咒语。”罗辑说。
“After the spell is sent out, how long will it take to work?”
“咒语在发出后，多长时间能起作用？”
“A god hiding in a cellar,” added the UK representative, to peals of laughter.
“躲在地窖中的神。”英国代表附和道，会场上响起了一片笑声。
After a moment of silence in the auditorium, the US representative was the first to move, tossing the three sheets and their printed black dots onto the table. “Excellent. We finally have a god.”
在会场的一阵静止后，美国代表首先有了动作，把手中的那三张印着黑点的纸扔到桌面上，“很好，我们终于有了一个神。”
“The star is around fifty light-years from the sun, so the spell will be complete in fifty years at the earliest. But we won’t be able to observe its effects for one hundred years. This is just the earliest estimate, however. The actual time it takes might stretch out much farther.”
“这颗恒星距太阳约50光年左右，所以咒语起作用的时间最早为五十年后，我们则要在一百年后才能观测到作用的图像，但这是能估计到的最早时间，实际起作用的时间可能要推后很多。”
“More like a sorcerer,” sniffed the representative of Japan, which had never been admitted to the Security Council, but had been accepted immediately once the PDC was established.
“更可能是位巫师。”日本代表哼了一声说，日本始终未能进入安理会，但在行星防御理事会成立时立刻被吸收进来。
“Dr. Luo, you have succeeded in making your plan weird and baffling, at least,” said Garanin, the Russian representative who had held the rotating chair on several occasions during Luo Ji’s five years as a Wallfacer.
“罗辑博士，仅就使计划的诡异和让人莫名其妙而言，您做到了。”俄罗斯代表伽尔宁说，他曾在罗辑成为面壁者的这五年中担任过几次PDC轮值主席。
“Can’t Trisolaris be used as the test target?”
“三体世界难道不能作为实验咒语的目标吗？”
Luo Ji said, “This is a proof of concept. Its actual implementation will wait for the Doomsday Battle.”
罗辑说：“这是一次实验，用来证实我自己的战略设想，战略真正的实施要在末日之战到来时。”
Luo Ji shook his head with finality. “Absolutely not. It’s too close. It’s close enough that the effects of the spell might reach us. That’s why I rejected any planetary star system within fifty light-years.”
罗辑断然摇摇头，“绝对不行，太近了，距我们太近了，咒语发生作用时很可能波及到我们，我为此甚至放弃了五十光年以内的带有行星的恒星。”
“One final question: Over the next hundred or more years, what do you plan on doing?”
“最后一个问题：在这一百年或更长的时间里，您打算做什么？”
As he was preparing for hibernation, Luo Ji came down with the bed flu. His initial symptoms were no different from everyone else, just a runny nose and a slight throat inflammation, and neither he nor anyone else paid it any attention. But two days later his condition worsened and he began to run a fever. The doctor found this abnormal and took a blood sample back to the city for analysis.
在准备进入冬眠的期间，罗辑患上了轻流感。最初的症状与别人一样，只是流鼻涕和嗓子轻微发炎，他自己和别人都没在意。但两天后，罗辑的病情加重了，开始发烧，医生感觉有些异常，就取了血样回市里分析。
The chair banged the gavel, silencing the commotion in the auditorium. “Wallfacer Luo Ji, I have a question for you. Given that this is a spell, why don’t you direct it at the enemy’s world?”
主席敲了一下木槌，制止了会场上出现的喧声：“面壁者罗辑，有一个问题：“既然是咒语，为什么不直接针对敌人的世界？”
“You’ll be free of me. Hibernation. Wake me when the effects of the spell on 187J3X1 are detected.”
“你们可以摆脱我了：冬眠，当观测到咒语在187J3X1星系上发生作用时叫醒我。”
Then the swirling stars clustered into an enormous vortex, and in that mad spiral the vortex transformed again into a giant serpent formed from the congealed silver of every star, which drilled into his brain with a roar…
后来，纷乱的星海渐渐聚成一个巨大的旋涡，在疯狂的旋转中，大旋涡又幻化成一条由所有星星凝成的银色的大蛇，呼啸着钻进他的大脑……
Luo Ji spent the night in a fevered torpor, haunted endlessly by restless dreams in which the stars in the night sky swirled and danced like grains of sand on the skin of a drum. He was even aware of the gravitational interaction between these stars: It wasn’t three-body motion, but the 200-billion-body motion of all of the stars in the galaxy!
这天夜里，罗辑在高烧中昏睡，一直被狂躁的梦境所缠绕。梦中，夜空中的群星在纷乱地舞动着，像振动着的鼓皮上的沙粒，他甚至意识到了这些星球问的引力联系，它们做的不是三体运动，而是银河系中所有恒星的2000亿体运动！
As soon as he hung up the phone, it rang again, this time with a call from the doctor in the tenth basement, who reported that the patient’s condition had sharply deteriorated and he was now in a state of shock. Zhang Xiang descended the elevator at once, and the panicked doctor and nurse informed him that Luo Ji had begun spitting up blood in the middle of the night and then had gone unconscious. Zhang Xiang saw Luo Ji lying on the bed with a pale face, purple lips, and practically no signs of life in his body.
张翔刚放下电话，铃声又响了，是地下十层的医生打来的，报告病人的病情急剧恶化，现在已处于休克状态。张翔立刻乘电梯下去，惊慌的护士和医生告诉他，半夜里罗辑先是呕吐，接着开始吐血，然后就昏迷不醒了。张翔看到病床上的罗辑脸色煞白，嘴唇发紫，在他身上几乎看不到生命的迹象了。
At around four in the morning, Zhang Xiang was awakened by his phone. It was a call from the Planetary Defense Council Security Department leadership who, in severe tones, demanded that he report immediately on Luo Ji’s condition, and ordered the base to be put under a state of emergency. A team of experts was on its way over.
凌晨四点左右，张翔被电话铃惊醒，是行星防御安全部的领导打来的，声音严厉，让他立刻报告罗辑的病情，并命令基地处于紧急状态，一个专家组正在赶来。
As they observed Luo Ji’s condition, one expert from the AMMS took Zhang Xiang and Kent outside and described the situation to them. “This flu came to our attention a while ago. We felt that its origin and characteristics were highly abnormal, and it’s clear now that it’s a genetic weapon, a genetic guided missile.”
在其他人察看病情时，军事医学科学院的一位专家把张翔和坎特拉到门外，向他们交待了情况。“我们早就在注意这场流感，感觉其来源和性状都很异常，现在明确了，这是基因武器，或者叫基因导弹。”
“A guided missile?”
“基园导弹？”
The team, consisting of experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, doctors from the general hospital of the PLA, and an entire research team from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences soon arrived.
专家组很快赶到，有国家紧急疫情处理中心的专家、解放军总医院的医生和军事医学科学院的一个研究小组的全部成员。
Zhang Xiang and Kent glanced at each other, first in incredulity and then in despair. Zhang Xiang blanched and bowed his head. “I accept full responsibility.”
张翔和坎特面面相觑，先是难以置信，然后陷入绝望，张翔脸色变得苍白，缓缓低下头说：“我负完全责任。”
“It’s a genetically altered virus that is highly infectious, but only causes mild flu symptoms in most people. However, the virus has a recognition ability which allows it to identify the genetic characteristics of a particular individual. Once the target has been infected, it creates deadly toxins in his blood. We now know who the target is.”
“就是一种经过基因改造的病毒，传染性很强，但对一般人而言，它只是产生轻流感这样的轻微症状，但这种病毒具有基因识别能力，能够识别某个人的基因特征，一旦这个攻击目标被感染，病毒就会在他的血液中制造致命的毒素，现在我们知道目标是谁了。”
“No, I accept full responsibility,” Zhang said, covering his eyes. “If Captain Shi was here, this wouldn’t have happened.” He dropped his hand and his eyes shone with tears. “The last thing he said to me before hibernation was to warn me of what you said about no defense. He said, ‘Xiao Zhang, in this job of ours we need to sleep with one eye open. There’s no certainty of success, and some things we can’t defend against.'”
“不，我负全部责任。”张翔用一只手捂住眼睛，“要是史队长在的话，这事就不会发生。”他放下手，眼中闪着泪光，“他冬眠前最后对我说的一句话，就是你刚才说的防不胜防，他说小张啊，我们这工作，睡觉时都要睁半只眼，现在没什么万无一失，有些事防不胜防啊。”
The researcher, a senior colonel, said, “Director Zhang, you can’t say that. There’s no defense against this. Although we had begun to suspect something odd about the virus, we never even considered this possibility. The concept of genetic weapons first appeared in the last century, but no one believed that anyone would actually produce one. And although this one’s imperfect, it truly is a frightening tool for assassination. All you need to do is spread the virus in the target’s general vicinity. Or, rather, you don’t even need to know where the target is: You could just spread it across the globe, and because the virus causes little to no illness in ordinary people, it will spread quickly and would probably strike its target in the end.”
这位大校研究员说：“张主任，也不能这样说，这真是防不胜防，我们开始虽然怀疑，也没有向这方面考虑。基因武器的概念上世纪就出现了，但谁能相信竟然真有人把它造出来了，虽然还很不完善①，不过作为暗杀武器真的很可怕：只需要在目标所在的大致范用撒播这种病毒就行了，甚至连目标的大致范闹也不需要知道，可以在全球撒布，因为这种病毒对一般人致病性很弱甚至没有，可以快速大范围传播，最后也有很大的可能击中目标。”（注：①概念中的基因武器在非目标人群中只是隐性传染，不产生任何症状。）
“So what do we do next?” Kent asked.
“那下一步怎么办呢？”坎特问。
“The virus has penetrated deep. The patient’s liver and cardiopulmonary functions have failed, and modern medicine is helpless. Hibernate him as soon as possible.”
“病毒已经侵彻很深，病人肝脏和心肺功能都已衰竭，现代医疗手段无能为力了，尽快冬眠吧。”
He saw a snow-white patch in which there first was nothing but infinite white. Then a small black dot appeared its very center, and he could gradually make out a familiar figure, Zhuang Yan, holding their child. He walked with difficulty through a snowy wilderness so empty that it lost all dimension. She was wrapped in a red scarf, the same one she had worn seven years ago on the snowy night he first saw her. The child, red-faced from the cold, waved two small hands at him from her mother’s embrace, and shouted something that he couldn’t hear. He wanted to chase them through the snow, but the young mother and child vanished, as if dissolved into snow. Then he himself vanished, and the snowy white world shrank into a thin silver thread, which in the unbounded darkness was all that remained of his consciousness.
他看到一片雪白，开始除了这无边的白色什么都没有，后来白色的正中出现了一个小黑点，渐渐地，看出那是一个熟悉的身影，是庄颜，她抱着他们的孩子，艰难地走在空旷得失去立体感的雪野中。她围着一条红色的围巾，就是他在七年前的那个雪夜第一次见到想象中的她时围的那条，孩子小脸冻得红红的，在妈妈的怀抱中向他拼命挥着两只小手，喊着什么，但他听不见声音。他想在雪中追过去，但年轻的母亲和孩子都消失了，像是融化在白雪中。接着他自己也消失了，雪白的世界缩成一条极细的银丝，在无边的黑暗中，这细丝就是他残存意识的全部。
After a long while, when Luo Ji recovered a little of the consciousness that had totally disappeared, he had sensations of cold, a cold that seemed to emanate from within his body and diffuse outward like light to freeze the entire world.
不知过了多长时间，罗辑已完全消失的潜意识又恢复了一些，他有了感觉，是寒冷，这寒冷仿佛是从他的体内发源的，像光芒般扩散出去，冻结了整个世界。
Another brush had appeared in space. The Trisolaran Fleet had crossed the second patch of interstellar dust, and because Hubble II had been closely monitoring the area, the fleet’s wake was captured as soon as it appeared. This time, it looked nothing like a brush. Rather, it resembled a patch of grass that had just begun to sprout in the dark abyss of space. Those thousand blades of grass grew with a speed that was perceptible to the naked eye, and they were much clearer than the wake had been nine years before, due to nine years of acceleration that had greatly increased the fleet’s speed and had made its impact on the interstellar dust more dramatic.
“刷子”在太空中出现了，三体舰队正在穿越第二片星际尘埃。由于哈勃二号一直在密切监视这片区域，所以舰队航迹刚刚出现就被捕捉到了。这时，它们看上去根本不像刷子，而是像漆黑的太空深渊上刚刚萌发的一丛小草，这上千株小草每天都以肉眼能够觉察到的速度生长。而且，这些航迹看上去比九年前要清晰许多，这是由于经过九年的加速，舰队的速度已经提高了很多，对星际尘埃的冲击更剧烈了。
It was the thread of time, a thin, motionless strand that extended infinitely in both directions. His soul, strung on this thread, was gently sliding off at a constant speed into the unknowable future.
这是时间之线，细丝本身是静止不动的，向两个方向无限伸延，罗辑的灵魂穿在丝上，以恒定的速度轻轻滑向不可知的未来。
Year 12, Crisis Era, Distance of the Trisolaran Fleet from the Solar System: 4.18 light-years
危机纪年第12年，三体舰队距太阳系4.18光年。
Two days later, a stream of high-power radio waves was sent off from Earth toward the sun, penetrating the convection zone and reaching the energy mirror in the radiation zone, where its reflection, magnified hundreds of millions of times, carried Wallfacer Luo Ji’s spell into the cosmos at the speed of light.
两天后，一束地球发出的强功率电波射向太阳，电波穿透了对流层，到达辐射层的能量镜面，在增益反射中被放大了几亿倍，携带着面壁者罗辑的咒语，以光速飞向宇宙。危机纪年第12年，三体舰队距太阳系4.18光年哈勃二号太空望远镜控制中心。
“General, look closely here. What can you see?” Ringier said to Fitzroy as he pointed to the magnified image on the screen.
“将军，您仔细看看，能不能发现什么？”林格指着屏幕上放大后的图像对斐兹罗说。
Fitzroy looked carefully for a long moment, then pointed to the middle of the brush. “It looks like… one, two, three, four… ten bristles are longer than the others. They’re extended out.”
斐兹罗细看了好一会儿，指着“刷子”中央的一点说：“好像有一、二、三、四……十根刷毛比别的长得快，它们伸出来了。”
“There still seem to be about a thousand.”
“好像仍然是一千根左右。”
“Right. Those ten wakes are quite weak. They’re only visible after image enhancement.”
“是的，那十道航迹很微弱，经过图像增强您才能看出来。”
“All of them are accelerating. But those ten show a greater acceleration. But they’re not ten warships. The number of wakes has increased by ten, to one thousand and ten. An analysis of the morphology of those ten wakes shows that they are far smaller than the warships behind them: about one ten-thousandth the size, or about the size of a truck. But due to their high speed, they still produce detectable wakes.”
“它们都在加速，但这十条航迹显示了更大的加速度，不过那不是十艘战舰，航迹总数现在增长到一千零一十根，多出了十根。通过对这十条航迹形态的分析，这些东西的体积比后面的战舰要小得多，大约只有它们每艘的几十万分之一，也就是一辆卡车大小吧，不过由于速度很高，它产生的航迹仍能观测到。”
“No, look closer.”
“不，您再仔细看看。”
Fitzroy turned to Ringier, wearing the same expression he had when the Trisolaran Fleet had been discovered a decade earlier. “Doctor, does this mean that those ten warships are accelerating?”
斐兹罗转身看着林格，露出了十年前第一次发现三体舰队航迹时的表情：“博士，这是不是意味着，有十艘战舰在加速驶来，”
“We can’t say for certain. It depends on the acceleration, but they will definitely arrive before the fleet. A conservative estimate would be half a century earlier. The fleet acceleration is evidently at a maximum, but for some reason we don’t understand, they want to reach the Solar System as quickly as possible, so they launched probes that can accelerate even faster.”
“还说不清，要看今后的加速情况，但肯定会比舰队提前到达，最保守的估计也要提前一个半世纪。舰队的加速度显然已经达到了极限，因为某些我们不知道的原因，它们想尽快到达太阳系，所以发射了能够更快加速的探测器。”
“Yes, they must be probes.”
“十个探测器。”
“When will they reach the Solar System?” Fitzroy asked nervously.
“它什么时候到达太阳系，”斐兹罗紧张地问。
This was another of Hubble II’s shocking discoveries: Humanity would make contact with Trisolaran entities ahead of schedule, even if they were just ten small probes.
这是哈勃二号又一个令人震惊的发现：人类将与来自三体世界的实体提前接触，虽然只是十个小小的探测器。
“No,” Fitzroy said, raising a hand. “We can figure out at least a part of it… We’re looking at events from four years ago. Can you determine the exact date that the fleet launched the probes?”
“不，”斐兹罗举起一只手说，“到少能想出来一部分……我们看到的是四年前发生的事，请问，你们能确定舰队发射探测器的确切日期吗？”
“So small. Are they probes?”
“这么小，十个探测器？”
This question made them all stop and think, but Ringier soon broke the silence. “Forget it. This isn’t something we can figure out.”
这个问题使大家陷入了沉思，但林格很快打破了沉默：“别想了，这不是我们能想出来的。”
“If they have sophons, then what’s the need for probes?” one engineer asked.
“既然有了智子，发射探测器有什么必要呢？”一名工程师问。
“What’s so special about that date?” Ringier asked, uncertainly.
“这个日期…有什么意义吗？”林格不解地问。
The scientists and engineers glanced at each other.
科学家和工程师们面面相觑。
“We’re fortunate that the fleet launched them on the snow… I mean, in the dust… allowing us to pinpoint the time from our observations of the intersection of the probe wakes and the fleet tracks.” Then Ringier told him the date.
“当然可以，很幸运，舰队发射它的时候正在雪地，哦，尘埃中，我们观测到了探测器的航迹与舰队航迹的交点。”林格接着告诉了斐兹罗一个日期。
Fitzroy was speechless for a moment, then lit a cigarette and sat down to smoke. After a while, he said, “Doctor, you’re not politicians. Just like I couldn’t make out those ten longer bristles, you can’t tell that this is a crucial fact.”
斐兹罗呆立了片刻，点上一支烟，坐下抽了起来，过了好一会儿才说：“博士，你们毕竟不是政治家，就像我看不出那十根长出来的刷子毛一样，你们也没看到一个至关重要的事实。”
“On that day four years ago, I attended the PDC Wallfacer Hearing, at which Luo Ji proposed using the sun to send a spell out into the universe.”
“就在四年前的那一天，我参加了行星防御理事会的面壁计划听证会，会上，罗辑提出通过太阳向宇宙发出咒语。”
Fitzroy went on, “And it was right around that time that Trisolaris issued a second command to the ETO calling for Luo Ji’s elimination.”
斐兹罗接着说：“就在那时，三体世界第二次向ETO发出了消灭罗辑的指令。”
“Him? Is he really that important?”
“他，真有这么重要？”
“You think he was first a sentimental playboy and then a pretentious sham sorcerer? Of course. We thought so too. Everyone did, except for Trisolaris.”
“你以为他先是个风花雪月的花花公子，然后是装腔作势的假巫师？当然，我们也这么认为，谁都这么认为，除了三体人。”
“Well… what do you think he is, General?”
“那……将军，您认为他是什么？”
“Doctor, do you believe in God?”
“博士，您相信上帝吗？”
The suddenness of the question left Ringier momentarily speechless. “… God? That’s got a variety of meanings on multiple levels today, and I don’t know which you –“
这突兀的问题令林格一时语塞，“……上帝嘛，目前在多个层次上有多种含义，不知道您……”
“I believe, not because I have any proof, but because it’s relatively safe: If there really is a God, then it’s right to believe in him. If there isn’t, then we don’t have anything to lose.”
“我是相信的，倒不是有什么证据，而是这样做比较保险：如果真有上帝，我们的信仰就对了；如果没有，我们也没什么损失。”
The general’s words prompted laughter, and Ringier said, “The second half is untrue. There is something to lose, at least as far as science is concerned… Still, so what if God exists? What’s he got to do with what’s right in front of us?”
将军的话让人们都笑了起来，林格说：“您后面这句话不确实，不会没损失的，至少对科学来说……不过，如果上帝存在又怎么样？它和眼前这些事有什么关系吗？”
They all stared at him for ages before they understood the implication of his words. Then one astronomer said, “General, what are you talking about? God wouldn’t choose a mouthpiece from an atheist nation.”
人们愣了好半天，才理解丁这话的含义，一名天文学家说：“将军，您在说些什么？上帝会在一个无神论的国家选择代言人？”
“If God really exists, then he may have a mouthpiece in the mortal world.”
“如果上帝确实存在，它在尘世间可能会有代言人的。”
Fitzroy ground out his cigarette end and spread out his hands. “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Can you think of a better explanation?”
斐兹罗捻灭烟头，两手一摊说：“如果其他可能都被排除，剩下的一种无论多么离奇也是真的，你们还能想出别的解释吗？”
Fitzroy stopped him with a raised hand, as if the divine power of what they had just learned would be reduced if it were stated outright. “So believe, all of you. You can now start believing.” And then he made the sign of the cross.
斐兹罗抬手制止他说下去，仿佛把一切都挑明会降低这个事实的神力，”所以，各位，信仰吧，可以开始信仰了。“他说着，自己在胸前面了一个十字。
Ringier mused, “If by ‘God’ you mean a force of justice in the universe that transcends everything –“
林格沉吟道：“如果上帝是指宇宙间存在的某种超越一切的公正力量的话“
The trial run of Tianti III was airing on television. Construction on three space elevators had begun five years ago, and since Tianti I and Tianti II had been put into operation at the start of the year, the test of Tianti III did not cause much of a commotion. All space elevators were currently being built with just a single primary rail, giving them a far smaller carrying capacity than the four-rail models still under design, but this was already an altogether different world from the age of chemical rockets. Setting aside construction, the cost of going into space by elevator was substantially lower than by civilian aircraft. This in turn had led to an increase in the number of bodies in motion in Earth’s night sky: These were humanity’s large-scale orbiting structures.
电视上正在播出天梯三号试运行的实况，在五年前同时开始建造的三部太空电梯中，天梯一号和二号已经在年初投入正式运行，所以天梯三号的试运行没有引起前面那么大的轰动。目前，所有的太空电梯都只铺设了一条初级导轨，与设计中的四条导轨相比，运载能力小许多，但与化学火箭时代已不可同日而语，如果不考虑天梯的建造费用，现在进入太空的成本已经大大低于民航飞机了。于是，在地球的夜空中，移动的星星目益增多，那是人类在太空轨道上的大型建筑物。
Tianti III was the only space elevator based on the ocean. Its base was located on the Equator on an artificial floating island in the Pacific Ocean that could navigate at sea under its own nuclear power, which meant that the elevator’s position on the Equator could be adjusted if necessary. The floating island was a real-life version of the Propeller Island Jules Verne had described, and so it had been dubbed “Verne Island.” The ocean wasn’t even visible on the television, which was showing a shot of a metal, pyramid-shaped base surrounded by a steel city, and — at the bottom of the rail — the cylindrical transport cabin that was ready to launch. From this distance, the guide rail extending into space was invisible due to its sixty-centimeter diameter, although at times you could catch a glint of reflected light from the setting sun.
天梯三号是唯一一部基点在海上的太空电梯，它的基点是在太平洋赤道上的一座人工浮岛，浮岛可以借助自身的核动力在海上航行，因此可以报据需要沿着赤道改变太空电梯的位置。浮岛是凡尔纳笔下机器岛的现实版，所以被命名为”凡尔纳岛“。从现在的电视画面上根本看不到海，只有一座被钢铁城市围绕着的金字塔形基座，基座的顶端就是即将升空的圆柱形运载舱。从这个距离是看不到向太空延伸的导轨的，它只有六十厘米宽，但有时可以看到夕阳在导轨上反射的弧光。
Three old men, Zhang Yuanchao and his two old neighbors, Yang Jinwen and Miao Fuquan, were watching this on television. All of them were now past seventy, and while no one would call them doddering, they were now definitely old. For them, recalling the past and looking toward the future were both burdens, and since they were powerless to do anything about the present, their only option was to live out their waning years without thinking about anything in this unusual era.
看电视的是三位老人：张援朝和他的两个老邻居杨晋文和苗福全，他们都巳年过七十，虽说不上老态龙钟，也都是真正的老人了，回忆过去和展望未来对他们而言都是一种负担，而对现实他们又无能为力，唯一的选择就是什么都不想地在这非常岁月里安度晚年了。
Zhang Yuanchao’s son Zhang Weiming led his grandson Zhang Yan through the door. He was carrying a paper sack, and said, “Dad, I’ve picked up your ration card and your first batch of grain tickets.” Then he took out a pack of colorful tickets from the bag and gave them to his father.
这时，张援朝的儿子张卫明领着孙子张延走进家门，他拿出一个纸袋说：“爸，我把你们的粮卡和第一批粮票领回来了。”张卫明说着，首先从纸袋中把一摞粮票拿出来，递给父亲。
“How much is on it?”
“定量都是多少啊？”
Zhang Yuanchao said to his grandson, “It’s not money, child. But, from now on, if you want to buy nonquota grain, like bread or cake, or want to eat at a restaurant, you’ll need to use these along with money.”
张援朝对孙子说：“不是钱，孩子，但以后买定量以外的粮食，像面包蛋糕什么的，还有去饭店吃饭，都得拿它和钱一起花才行。”
“Is that money?” asked Yan Yan, looking at the bits of paper.
“这是钱吗？”小延延看着那摞花花绿绿的小纸片说。
“Ah, just like in the old days,” Yang Jinwen said, as he watched from the side.
“哦，和那时的一样啊。”杨晋文在旁边看着说。
“I get twenty-one and a half kilos, or forty-three jin. You and Xiaohong get thirty-seven jin, and Yan Yan gets twenty-one jin.”
“我是21.5公斤，也就是43斤，晓虹和你们都是37斤，延延21斤。”
“It’s come back. It always comes back,” Zhang Yuanchao murmured emotionally to himself, as he took the tickets.
“回来了，又回来了。”张援朝接过粮票感慨地自语道。
“About the same as back then,” the elder man said.
“和那时差不多。”老张说。
“This is a little different from the old days,” Zhang Weiming said, taking out an IC card. “This is a ration card.”
“这个和那时可不一样了，”张卫明拿出一张IC卡，“这是粮食定量卡。”
“Oh, and industrial coupons16 may be coming soon, too,” Zhang Yuanchao said, putting the grain tickets and ration card on the table and turning his attention to the television.
“唉，可能马上要用工业券①了。”张援朝说着，把粮票和定量卡扔到桌子上，转向电视。（注：①国内二十世纪六七十年代购买大件电器等商品所用的凭证。）
Zhang Weiming shook his head. “Mr. Yang, you lived through those days. Don’t you remember? It might be fine now, but very soon there’ll be fewer nonstaples, and you’ll need numbers to buy vegetables and meat. So this paltry bit of grain really won’t be enough to eat!”
张卫明摇摇头说，“杨老师啊，您可是那时过来的人，都忘了？现在倒是够，可很快副食就少了，买菜买肉都要号票，这点粮食还真不够吃呢！”
On the screen, the cylindrical cabin was rising from the base. It ascended quickly and accelerated rapidly, then disappeared into the evening sky. Because the guide rail was invisible, it looked like it was ascending on its own. The cabin could reach a maximum speed of five hundred kilometers per hour, but even at that speed it would take sixty-eight hours to reach the space elevator’s terminus in geostationary orbit. The scene cut to a downward-facing camera installed beneath the cabin. Here, the sixty-centimeter rail occupied the larger part of the screen. Its slick surface made motion practically undetectable, except for the fleeting scale markings that showed the camera’s upward velocity. The rail quickly tapered into nothing as it extended downward, but it pointed at a spot far below where Verne Island, now visible in total, seemed like a giant platter suspended from the lower end of the rail.
屏幕上，那个圆柱形运载舱从基座升起，飞快加速，消失在黄昏的天空中，由于看不到导轨，它好像是自己飞升而上的。运载舱的最高速度能达到每小时500公里，即使这样，到达太空电梯的同步轨道终点站也需68小时。镜头转换到安装在运载舱底部的摄像机撮下的画面，60厘米宽的导轨占据了画面相当大的一部分，由于表面光滑，几乎看不出运动，只有导轨上转瞬即逝的标度才显示出摄像机上升的速度。导轨在向下延伸中很快变细消失，但在它所指的遥远下方，“凡尔纳岛”呈现出完整的轮廓，仿佛是被吊在导轨下端的一个大盘子。
“That should be enough for a month,” Yang Jinwen said.
“一个月这么多应该够的。”杨晋文说。
“It’s not that serious,” Miao Fuquan said with a wave of his hand. “We’ve been through times like these a few decades ago. We won’t starve. Drop it, and watch TV.”
“没那么严重，”苗福全摆摆手说，“这日子我们几十年前就过过，饿不着的，别说了，看电视。”
Something occurred to Yang Jinwen. “I’ll show you two a real rarity,” he said, as he got up and walked somewhat less nimbly out the door, perhaps to his own home. He soon returned with a thin slice of something about the size of a cigarette box and laid it on the table. Zhang Yuanchao picked it up and looked at it: The object was gray, translucent, and very lightweight, like a fingernail. “This is the material Tianti is made out of!” Yang Jinwen said.
杨晋文想起了什么，“我给你们俩看一件稀罕东西。”他说着站起身，迈着已经不太利落的步子走出去。可能是回了趟自家，他很快又回来了，把一片烟盒大小的薄片放在桌子上。张援朝拿起来看了看，那东西呈灰色，半透明，分量很轻，像手指甲盖。“这就是建造天梯的材料！”老杨说。
“Great. Your son stole strategic materials from the public sector,” Miao Fuquan said, pointing at the slice.
“好啊，你儿子竟然偷拿公家的战略物资。”苗福全指着薄片说。
“It’s just a leftover scrap. He said that when Tianti was under construction, thousands upon thousands of tons of this stuff was shot into space, and it was made into the guide rail there and then hung back down from orbit again… Soon, space travel will be popularized. I’ve asked my son to hook me up with business in that area.”
“剩下的边角料而已，据他说，建造天梯时这东西成千上万吨地向太空发射，在那里做成导轨后再从轨道上垂下来……马上，太空旅行就平民化了，我还托儿子联系了一桩这方面的业务。”
“It’s not such a big deal. I’ve heard there’s not even hypergravity when you go up. It’s just like taking a long-distance sleeper train,” Miao Fuquan said dismissively. In the many years he had been unable to operate his mines, his family had gone into decline. He had sold off his villa four years ago, leaving this as his only residence. Yang Jinwen, whose son worked on the space elevator project, had in a single bound become the wealthiest of the three, and this sometimes made old Miao jealous.
“那也没什么了不起，听说上升时根本不超重，就像坐一趟长途卧铺车似的。”苗福全不以为然地说，由于已多年不能经营煤矿，他早已成了破落户，别墅四年前就卖了，这儿是唯一的住处；而杨晋文由于有一个在太空电梯工程中工作的儿子，家里条件一跃成为他们三家中最好的，有时很让老苗妒忌。
“You want to go to space?” asked Zhang Yuanchao, surprised.
“你想上太空？”老张吃惊地问。
“And if the aliens are defeated?”
“要是外星人被打败了呢？”
“I’m not going to space,” Yang Jinwen said, looking up, and when he saw that Weiming had taken the boy to another room, he went on. “But my remains will. Hey, you two fellows don’t have any taboos about talking about this, do you?”
“不是我上太空。”杨晋文说着抬头看看，看到卫明已经领着孩子到另一个房间去了，才接着说，“是我的骨灰上太空，我说，你们老哥俩不忌讳说这个吧。”
“That’s practically impossible. Still, if it really happens, it’s no great loss. I get to roam the universe!”
“几乎不可能，不过要真是那样我也没有什么损失，漫游宇宙嘛！”
“What’s taboo about it? Still, why do you want to put your remains up there?” Zhang Yuanchao asked.
“有啥忌讳的，不过你把骨灰整上去干什么？”张援朝问。
Zhang Yuanchao shook his head. “You intellectuals with your weird ideas. They’re pointless. The fallen leaf returns to the root. I’m going to be buried in the yellow soil of the Earth.”
张援朝连连摇头：“你这都是知识分子的怪念头，没什么意思。落叶归根，我还是埋在地球的黄土里吧。”
“You know there’s an electromagnetic launcher at the end of Tianti. When it’s time, my casket will be fired off at the third cosmic velocity and will fly out of the Solar System. It’s called a cosmic burial, you know. After I die, I don’t want to stay on an alien-occupied Earth. It’s a form of Escapism, I guess.”
“你们知道，天梯的尽头有电磁发射器，到时候骨灰盒能发射到第三宇宙速度，飞出太阳系，这叫宇宙葬，知道了吧……我死了后可不想待在外星人占领的地球上，这也算是逃亡主义吧。”
“Aren’t you afraid that the Trisolarans will dig up your grave?”
“你就不怕三体人挖了你的坟？”
“You want to be buried there?”
“你想葬在那儿？”
At this, Miao Fuquan, who had been silent, suddenly grew excited. He motioned for the others to draw closer, and lowered his voice, as if afraid that the sophons would hear: “Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve thought of something. I have lots of empty mines in Shanxi…”
听到这话，一直没吱声的苗福全似乎兴奋起来，他示意另外两人靠近些，好像怕智子听到似的压低声音说：“你们别说，我还真想到了这点：我在山西有好几处挖空了的矿……”
Looking at Zhang Yuanchao, Miao Fuquan was unable to hold back his laughter. “Lao Zhang, have you gone stupid?” Seeing him still at a loss, he pointed to Yang Jinwen, who had grown bored with their conversation and was watching the television broadcast again. “Let an educated man tell it to you.”
苗福全看着张援朝哑然失笑：“你，老张，傻了不是？”看着老张茫然的样儿，他指指杨晋文，后者对他们的谈话已经没有兴趣，在继续看电视转播，“让有学问的告诉你。”
“No, no. They’re all small pit mines. How deep can they be? But in several places they’re connected to major state-owned mines, and by following their abandoned works, you can get all the way down to four hundred meters below ground. Is that deep enough for you? Then we blast the shaft wall. I don’t think the Trisolarans will be able to dig down there.”
“不不，那都是小窑矿，能有多深？但有几处与国有大矿挖通了，沿着他们的废巷道一直可以下到地下四百多米，够深了吧？然后把井壁炸塌，我就不信三体人能挖到那儿。”
“Sheesh. If Earthlings can dig that far, why can’t the Trisolarans? They’ll find a tombstone and just keep digging down.”
“嗨，地球人都能挖到那儿，三体人就不能，沿着墓碑向下挖不就行了。”
After a long silence, Zhang Yuanchao finally sighed, “Yes, no one, everything is empty.”
张援朝呆呆地沉默了好一会儿，终于长叹一声：“是啊是啊，没有人了，什么都是空的了。”
Yang Jinwen chuckled. “Lao Zhang, what do you want a tombstone for? Tombstones are meant for people to see. By then, there won’t be any people left.”
杨晋文对着电视嘿嘿一笑说：“老张你要墓碑干吗？墓碑是给人看的，那时已经没有人了。”
All along the way to the Third Nuclear Fusion Test Base, Zhang Beihai’s car drove through deep snow. But as he neared the base, the snow melted entirely, the road turned muddy, and the cold air turned warm and humid, like a breath of springtime. On the slopes lining the road he noticed patches of peach flowers blooming, unseasonable in this harsh winter. He drove on toward the white building in the valley ahead, a structure that was merely the entrance for the majority of the base, which was underground. Then he noticed someone on the hillside picking peach flowers. Looking closer, he saw it was the very person he had come to see, and he stopped his car.
在去一号核聚变实验基地的路上，章北海的车一直行驶在厚厚的雪中，但在接近基地时地上的雪全化了，路变得十分泥泞，本来寒冷的空气变得温暖而潮湿，有一种春天的气息。章北海看到，在路边的山坡上，一丛丛桃花在这严冬季节不合时令地开放了。他驱车向前方山谷里的那幢白色建筑驶去，基地主体位于地下，这幢建筑物只是入口。就在这时，他注意到路边山坡中有一个人在摘桃花，细看发现此人正是自己要找的人，于是把车停下来。
“Dr. Ding!” he called to him. When Ding Yi came over to the car carrying a bunch of flowers, he laughed and asked, “Who are those flowers for?”
“丁博士！”他对那人喊道。当丁仪章着一大把桃花走到车前时，他笑着问，“这花是送给谁的？”
“There’s no money or time to build a power plant. But that doesn’t matter. From now on, energy is not something that Earth needs to conserve.”
“没有钱也没有时间建一个发电厂，不过也没什么，从今以后，能源在地球上不是什么需要节约的东西了。”
Zhang Beihai pointed at the flowers in Ding Yi’s hands. “Dr. Ding, I really was hoping that you had gotten distracted. This breakthrough would have happened later without you.”
章北海指着丁仪手中的花束说：“丁博士，我真希望有些事情能让你分分心，使这个突破晚些实现。”
“They’re for myself, of course. They’re flowers that have bloomed from fusion heat.” He practically beamed under the influence of the brightly colored flowers. Evidently he was still in the throes of excitement at the breakthrough that had just been achieved.
“这是核聚变的热量催开的花，当然是送给我自己的。”在鲜艳花朵的衬托下，丁仪显得满面春风，显然还沉浸在刚刚实现的技术突破带来的兴奋中。
“Without me here, it would’ve happened even earlier. There are over a thousand researchers at the base. I just pointed them in the right direction. I’ve felt for a long time that the tokamak approach17 is a dead end. Given the right approach, a breakthrough was a certainty. Me, I’m a theoretician. I don’t get experimentation. My blind pointing probably only delayed the progress of research.”
“没有我突破得更快，基地有上千名研究人员，我只是指出了正确的方向。我早就感觉到托卡马克方式是一条死路，方向对了，突破肯定会产生。至于我，是搞理论的，不懂实验又瞎指挥，可能还拖延了研究进度。”
“It’s pretty wasteful, letting all this heat disperse.” Zhang Beihai got out of the car, took off his sunglasses, and took stock of the mini-spring. He couldn’t see his breath, and he could feel the heat of the ground even through the soles of his shoes.
“这么多的热量就这么扩散，太浪费了。”章北海走下车，摘下墨镜，打量着这片小小的春天，在这里呼吸时没有白汽，他的脚底甚至都能感受到地面的温热。
“How could we postpone it? The media has been actively tracking the progress of all three fusion test bases.”
“怎么可能昵？对三个研究工程的进展，新闻媒体一直在追踪报道。”
“Can’t you postpone the announcement of your results? I’m being serious here. And I’m also informally conveying the wish of Space Command.”
“你们能不能推迟一下成果发布的时间，这话我是认真的，也是非正式转达了太空军司令部的意思。”
Zhang Beihai nodded and let out a sigh. “That’s bad news.”
章北海点点头，叹口气说：“那就很糟糕了。”
“I know a few of the reasons, but why don’t you tell me why.”
“我知道一些原因，不过你还是说说为什么吧。”
“If controlled nuclear fusion is achieved, spacecraft research will begin immediately. Doctor, you know about the two current research forks: media-propelled spacecraft and non-media radiation-drive spacecraft. Two opposing factions have formed around these two directions of research: the aerospace faction advocates research into media-propelled spacecraft, while the space force is pushing radiation-drive spacecraft. The projects will consume enormous resources, and if the two directions can’t progress simultaneously on equal footing, then one direction must take the mainstream.”
“可控核聚变技术一旦实现，马上就要开始太空飞船的研究了。博士，你知道，目前有两大方向——工质推进飞船和工介质的辐射驱动飞船，围绕着这两个研究方向，形成了对立的两大派别：航天系统主张研究工质推进飞船，而太空军则力推辐射驱动飞船。这种研究要耗费巨大的资源，在两个方向不可能平均力量同时进行，只能以其中一个方向为主。”
“The fusion people and I are in favor of the radiation drive. For my part, I feel that it’s the only plan that enables interstellar cosmic voyages. Of course, I’ll grant that Aerospace has its logic, too. Media-propelled spacecraft are actually a variant of chemical rockets that use fusion energy, so the prospects are a little safer for that line of research.”
丁仪说：“我和核聚变系统的人都赞成辐射驱动，从我而言，感觉这是唯一能进行恒星际宇宙远航的方案。当然得承认，航天系统也有道理，工质推进飞船实际上就是化学火箭的变种，不过是以核聚变为能源而已，在研究前景上要保险些。”
“That’s a keen analogy,” Ding Yi said, raising his bouquet at Zhang Beihai.
“这个类比很深刻。”丁仪冲着章北海举举手中的花。
“But there’s nothing safe in the space war of the future! As you said, media-propelled spacecraft are just huge rockets. They have to devote two-thirds of their carrying capacity to their propulsion media, and it’s consumed very quickly. That type of spacecraft requires planetary bases in order to navigate through the Solar System. We do that, and we would be reenacting the tragedy of the Sino-Japanese War, with the Solar System as Weihaiwei18.”
“可在未来的星际战争中不保险！就像你说的，工质推进飞船不过是个大火箭，要用超过三分之二的运载能力运载推进工质，且工质消耗很快，这种飞船只能以行星基地为依托，在太阳系内航行，这样做，是在重复甲午战争的悲剧，太阳系就是威海卫！”
“It’s a fact. A navy’s front line defenses ought to be at the enemy’s ports. We can’t do that, of course, but our defensive line ought to be pushed out as far as the Oort Cloud, and we should ensure that the fleet possesses sufficient flanking capabilities in the vast reaches outside the Solar System. This is the foundation of space force strategy.”
“这是事实，海军的最前沿应该是敌人的港口，我们当然做不到这一点，但防卫前沿至少应前推至奥尔特星云，并且要保证舰队在太阳系外的广阔空间有足够的迂回能力，这是太空军的战略基础。”
“Internally, Aerospace isn’t entirely monolithic,” Ding Yi said. “It’s the old guard left over from the chemical rocket era that’s pushing for media spacecraft, but forces from other disciplines have entered the sector. Take the people on our fusion system. They’re mostly pushing for radiation spacecraft. These two forces are evenly matched, and all that’s needed is three or four people in key positions to break the equilibrium. Their opinions will decide the ultimate course of action. But those three or four key people are, I’m afraid, all part of the old guard.”
丁仪说：“其实航天系统内部也不是铁板一块，主张工质飞船的是那些从化学火箭时代过来的老航天们，但其他学科的力量也在进入航天界，比如我们核聚变系统的，他们大都主张辐射飞船。这两种力鼍目前已经势均力敌，打破平衡的就是那三四个处于关键位置的人，他们的意见决定最终的规划方案，真的，就那么三四个人，可惜都是老航天。”
“But you and I aren’t in a position to fix it.”
“这你我都没有办法。”
“This is the most critical decision in the entire master strategy. If it’s a misstep, the space fleet will be built atop a mistaken foundation, and we might waste a century or two. And by that time, I’m afraid there will be no way to change direction.”
“这是总体战略中最关键的一步决策，如果这一步走错，太空舰队就要在一个错误的基础上进行建设，有可能浪费一两个世纪的时间，到时再转向怕也没机会了。”
After lunching with Ding Yi, Zhang Beihai left the fusion base. Before he had driven very far, the moist ground was again covered with wet snow that glowed white under the sun. As the air temperature plummeted, his heart also chilled.
同丁仪吃过午饭后，章北海离开了核聚变基地。车开出不久，潮湿的地面就变成了皑皑的白雪，在阳光中泛出一片白光，空气温度急剧降低，章北海的内心也迅速冷静下来。
When Zhang Beihai entered the home of the meteorite collector, situated in a courtyard house in the depths of a hutong alleyway, he noticed that the old, dimly lit home was like a miniature geological museum. Each of its four walls was lined with glass cases in which professional lights shone on rock after unremarkable rock. The owner, in his fifties, hale in spirit and complexion, sat at a workbench examining a small stone with a magnifying lens, and he greeted the visitor warmly when he saw him. He was, Zhang Beihai noticed immediately, one of those fortunate people who inhabited a beloved world of his own. No matter what changes befell the larger world, he could always immerse himself in his own and find contentment.
章北海走进了位于胡同深处四台院中的陨石收藏者的家，看到这间光线黯淡的老宅像一个小型的地质博物馆，四壁都立着玻璃柜子，里面很专业的灯光照着一块块貌不惊人的石头。主人正在一张工作台上用放大镜仔细看着一块小石头，见到来客便很热情地打招呼。这人五十开外的样子，面色和精神都很好，章北海一眼就看出他属于那样一类幸运的人，有自己钟爱的小世界，不管大世界怎样变化都能沉浸其中自得其乐。
He was in dire need of a spacecraft capable of interstellar travel. If other roads led nowhere, then just one was left. No matter how dangerous it might be, it had to be taken.
他绝对需要能够进行恒星际远航的飞船，如果其他的路都走不通，那剩下的一条，不管多么险恶，也是必须走的了。
In the old-fashioned atmosphere unique to old houses, Zhang Beihai was reminded that he and his comrades were fighting for the survival of the human race, while the majority of people were still clinging to their existing lives. This gave him a sense of warmth and peace of mind.
在老宅所特有的那种陈旧气息中，章北海意识到在自己和同志们为人类的生存而战时，大部分人仍然执着于自己固有的生活，这让他心里感到温暖和踏实。
The completion of the space elevator and the breakthrough in controlled fusion technology were two enormous encouragements to the world, and eased defeatist sentiment to a considerable extent. But sober leaders were aware that this was only the beginning: If the construction of the space fleet was analogous to naval fleets, then humanity had just now arrived at the seashore, carrying tools. Not even the shipbuilding dockyards had been built yet. Apart from the construction of the main spacecraft body, research into space weapons and recirculating ecosystems, as well as the construction of space ports, represented an unprecedented technological frontier for humanity. Just getting the foundations in place might take a century.
太空电梯的建成和可控核聚变技术的突破，对世界是两个巨大的鼓舞，也在很大程度上缓解了失败主义情绪。但冷静的领导者们知道，这一切仅仅是开始，如果把太空舰队的建设与海洋舰队相类比的话，人类现在也只是拿着工具刚刚来到海岸边，连造船的船坞都还没有搭建起来。除了太空飞船本体的建设，星战武器和飞船循环生态系统的研究，以及太空港口的建设。都将面临着人类从未面对过的技术深渊，这一切，仅在技术上完成准备，可能就需要一个世纪的时间。除令人望而生畏的技术深渊外，人类社会还将面临另一个严峻的考验：太空防御系统的建设将消耗超量的资源，这种消耗很可能使人类的生活水平倒退一个世纪。
Human society faced another challenge aside from the terrifying abyss: The construction of a space defense system would consume an enormous amount of resources, and this consumption would likely drag the quality of life back a century, which meant that the greatest challenge to the human spirit was still to come. With that in mind, the military leadership had decided to begin implementing the plan to use political cadres from the space force as future reinforcements. As the initial proponent of the plan, Zhang Beihai had been named commander of the Special Contingent of Future Reinforcements. Upon accepting the mission, he proposed that all of the officers in the special contingent ought to undergo at least a year of space-based training and work before entering hibernation in order to provide them with the necessary preparations for their future work in the space force. “The brass won’t want their political commissars to be landlubbers,” he said to Chang Weisi. This request was swiftly approved, and one month later, he and the first special contingent of thirty comrades went to space.
所以，对人类精神的最大挑战还在未来。正是在这种情况下，上级决定开始实施太空军政工干部增援未来计划，章北海作为计划的最初提出者，被选定为第一批增援未来特遣队的指挥官。他在接到任命后提出，在进入冬眠前，应该让所有特遭队军官至少在太空中实习和工怍一年时间。这是对他们未来在太空军中的工作必需的准备。“上级不希望我们在那时成为不能出海的舰队政委吧？”他这样对常伟思说。这个请示很快得到了批准，一个月后，他将和第一支特遣队的三十名同志进入太空。
“Good eye. I spent most of my life serving in the General Staff Department’s Surveying and Mapping Bureau.”
“好眼力，我大半辈子都是在总参测绘局服役。”
“You were a soldier once too,” Zhang Beihai said.
“您也曾经是军人。”章北海说。
“How did you get interested in meteors?” Zhang Beihai asked as he looked appreciatively at the rich collection.
“怎么会对陨石感兴趣呢？”章北海赞赏地打量着这丰富的收藏问道。
“You’re a soldier?” the collector asked as he served tea. After receiving a nod, he went on: “Soldiers these days aren’t much like soldiers used to be, but you, I could tell at a glance.”
“您是军人吧。”收藏者端茶时间道。得到对方肯定的点头后，他说，“现在的军人已经不太像军人了，但您我一眼就能看出来。”
“Over a decade ago I went with a survey team to Antarctica in search of meteorites buried beneath the snow, and I got hooked. They come from outside of Earth, from distant space, so naturally they’ve got that attraction. Whenever I pick one up, it’s like I’m going to a new and alien world.”
“十多年前，我随考察队穿越南极大陆，任务就是负责在雪下面找陨石，以后就迷上了这东西。它们来自尘世之外，遥远的太空，当然是很有魅力了，我每拿到一块陨石，就像去了一个新的外星世界一样。”
Zhang Beihai shook his head with a smile. “That’s just a feeling. The Earth itself is formed out of aggregated interstellar matter, so it’s basically just a giant meteorite. The stone beneath our feet is meteorite. This teacup I’m holding is meteorite. Besides, they say that the water on Earth was brought here by comets, so”– he raised the teacup –“what’s contained in this cup is meteorite, too. There’s nothing particularly special about what you have.”
章北海笑着摇摇头，“这只是您的感觉而已，地球就是由星际物质汇聚形成的，所以地球就是一块大陨石，我们脚下的石头都是陨石，我手里的茶杯也是陨石。而且，据说地球上的水是由彗星带来的，所以……”他说着举举茶杯，“这茶杯里面盛的也是陨石，您这些东西应该是不稀罕的。”
The collector couldn’t resist taking Zhang Beihai on a tour, and he even opened a safe to show him the treasure of his house: a Martian achondrite the size of a fingernail. He had him view the small round pits on the meteorite’s surface and said that they might be microbial fossils. “Five years ago, Robert Haag wanted to buy her for a thousand times the price of gold, but I didn’t agree.”
收藏者说着，迫不及待地拉章北海欣赏自己的藏品，他甚至打开保险柜展示自己的镇宅之宝：一块来自火星的无球粒陨石，指甲大小。他让章北海在显微镜下观看陨石表面那些小圆坑，说它们有可能是微生物的化石。“五年前，黑格①想以黄金价格的一千倍买它，我都没答应。”（注：①罗伯特。黑格，美国加州大学洛杉矶分校的教授，是全世界最权威的陨石收藏家。从二十三岁起开始收集陨石，拥有的陨石成为世界上最大的私人陨石收藏。）
The collector pointed at him and laughed. “You’re sharp. You’ve already started to bargain… Still, I trust my feelings.”
收藏者指点着章北海笑了起来：“呵呵呵，你很精明，已经开始砍价了……不过我还是相信自个儿的感觉。”
“How many of these did you collect on your own?” asked Zhang Beihai, pointing around the room.
“这些有多少是您自己亲自采集的？”章北海指指周围的藏品问。
“Only a small part. The majority were bought from the private sector or traded from the community… So, let’s hear it. What sort do you want?”
“只占很小一部分，大部分是民间购买和圈子里交流来的……说说看，您需要什么样的？”
He nodded. “You could say that. It would be great if I could use a lathe.”
章北海点点头，“算是吧，最好能用车床加工。”
“Nothing too valuable. It should be high density, shouldn’t break easily under impact, and should be easily workable.”
“不需要很贵重的，但要比重大，在冲击下不易破碎，易加工。”
“I see. You want to engrave it.”
“明白了，要雕刻是吧。”
“Then an iron meteorite,” the collector said as he opened a glass case and took out a dark-colored stone the size of a walnut. “This one. It’s composed mainly of iron and nickel, with cobalt, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur, and copper. You want dense? This one’s eight grams to the cubic centimeter. It’s easily workable, and highly metallic, so the lathe won’t be a problem.”
“那就是铁陨石了。”收藏者说着打开玻璃柜，拿出了核桃大的一块暗色的石头，“这个就是，主要是由铁和镍组成，还有钴、磷、硅、硫、铜等等，要说比重，它可真大，每立方厘米八克多，加工起来很容易，金属性很强，车床加工没问题。”
The collector took out another piece the size of an apple.
收藏者又拿出一块，苹果大小。
The collector brought out three iron meteorites of roughly the same size and began to lay the groundwork for his asking price: “Iron meteorites are not very common. They represent just five percent of all meteorites, and these three are fine specimens. See here — this one’s an octahedrite. Look at the crisscross pattern on the surface. They’re called Widmanstätten patterns. And here’s a nickel-rich ataxite. These parallel lines are called Neumann lines. This piece contains kamacite, and this one is taenite, a mineral not found on Earth. This piece is one I found in the desert using a metal detector, and it was like fishing a needle out of the ocean. The car got stuck in the sand and the drive shaft snapped. I almost died.”
收藏者拿出了三块大小差不多的铁陨石，开始为要价做铺垫：“铁陨石数量不多，只占陨石总数的百分之五，而且这三块成色都很好。您看，这一块是八面石，这块是富镍角砾斑杂岩，看这上面的交错条纹，这叫韦氏条纹；这种平行的叫牛曼条纹；这块含有锥纹石，这块有镍纹石，这可都是地球上没有的矿物。这一块是我在沙漠中采集到的，用金属探测器找，简直是大海捞针。那一次车陷到沙里，把传动轴顶断了，差点丢了命。”
“Do you have anything even bigger?”
“有再大些的吗？”
The collector looked at him and said, “This stuff’s not sold by weight. The big ones are expensive.”
收藏者看看章北海说：“这东西的价格可不是论斤称的，大的很贵。”
“Good. It’s just a little too small.”
“很好，就是小了点儿。”
“Well, do you have three the size of this one?”
“那么，这样大小的要三块有吗？”
“Name your price.”
“你出个价吧。”
Zhang Beihai took out his phone. “Tell me your account number. I’ll pay right away.”
章北海拿出手机说：“给个账号吧，我现在就付款。”
“On the international market, a specimen of this size and grade would have a price of about twenty USD per gram. So how’s this: sixty thousand yuan per piece, or three for one hundred eighty thousand?”19
“这样大小和档次的陨石，国际市场上的价格大概是每克二十美元，这样吧，每块六万，三块十八万，怎么样？”
The collector said nothing for quite some time. When Zhang Beihai looked up, he gave a slightly embarrassed laugh. “Actually, I was ready for you to counter-offer.”
收藏者半天没吱声，章北海抬头看看，见他有些尴尬地笑着：“呵呵，其实，我是准备你还价的。”
“No. I accept.”
“不，我接受。”
“Look. Now that space travel is for everyone, the market price has dropped somewhat even though it’s not as easy to get meteorites in space as it is on the ground. These, well, they’re worth –“
“你看，现在毕竟太空航行平民化了，虽然目前上太空中搞陨石还不如地球上方便，但市场上的价格毕竟跌了些，这些嘛，也就值…”
After leaving the collector’s house, Zhang Beihai took the meteorites to a modeling workshop in a research institute belonging to the space force. Work had let out and the workshop, which contained a state-of-the-art CNC mill, was empty. First, he used the mill to slice the three meteorites into cylinders of equal diameter, about the thickness of a pencil lead, and then cut them into small segments of equal length. He worked very carefully, trying to minimize waste as much as possible, and ended up with thirty-six small meteorite rods. When this was done, he carefully collected the cutting debris, removed the special blade he had selected for cutting the stone from the machine, and then left the workshop.
从收藏者家中出来后，章北海带着陨石来到了一个模型制作车间。这个车间位于太空军所属的一个研究所内，这时已经下班，周围空无一人，这里有一台最先进的数控机床。他首先把三块陨石在机床上按照一定的直径切割成许多根铅笔粗细的圆柱体，然后又按照一定的长度把这些圆柱体切成小段。他很小心地操作，尽量减少原料的浪费，最后得到了三十六个小圆柱形的陨石。这一切做完后，他小心地把切割的陨石碎屑收集起来，把机床上那把为加工石材选用的特别刀具拆下，才起身走出车间。
Zhang Beihai cut him off decisively. “No. That’s the price. Treat it as a sign of respect for their recipients.”
章北海很坚决地打断了他：“不，就这个价，就算表示我对要送的人的尊重吧。”
The remainder of the work he conducted in a secret basement. He set thirty-six 7.62 mm pistol cartridges on the table before him and removed each projectile in turn. If they had been old-style brass cartridges, this would have required a lot of effort, but two years ago the entire military had updated its standard guns to use caseless ammunition, whose projectile was glued directly to the propellant and was easy to detach. Next, he used a special adhesive to affix a meteorite rod onto each propellant. The adhesive, originally developed to repair the skin of space capsules, ensured that the bond would not fail in the extreme hot and cold temperatures of space. In the end he had thirty-six meteorite bullets.
剩下的工作，章北海是在一个隐蔽的地下室中完成的，他面前的小桌上，放着三十六发7.62毫米口径的手枪子弹。他用钳子依次把这些子弹的弹头取下来。如果是以前的铜壳子弹。这件事会很费力，有时还要用螵栓松动剂才行，但两年前全军换装的制式枪支均使用无壳子弹，弹头是直接粘在发射药上的，取下来很容易。接着，他用特殊胶合剂把每支发射药上都粘上一个陨石段，这样就做成了三十六颗陨石子弹。所用的胶粘剂原是用于修补太空舱表皮的，能够保证在太空剧烈的冷热交替环境中不失效。
He inserted four meteorite bullets into a magazine, which he then loaded into a P224 pistol and fired at a sack in the corner. The gunshot was deafening in the narrow basement room and left behind a strong scent of gunpowder.
章北海把四发陨石子弹压进弹夹，然后把弹夹推入一支2010制式手枪中，对着墙角的一个布包开了枪，在地下室狭小的空间中。枪声像爆炸般震耳欲聋，硝烟昧很浓。
He carefully examined the four holes in the sack, noting that they were small, which meant that the meteorite had not shattered upon firing. He opened the sack and withdrew a large hunk of fresh beef, and with a knife carefully extracted the meteorite that had penetrated it. The four meteorite rods had shattered completely, leaving a small pile of rubble that he poured onto his palm. It showed practically no sign of having been worked. This outcome satisfied him.
章北海仔细审视着布包上的四个弹洞，看到弹洞很小，说明陨石在发射中没有破碎。他打开布包，取出了裹在里面的一大块生牛肉，他用刀子小心地取出射入牛肉中的陨石，看到那四段陨石圆柱都已破碎，成了他掌心中的一小堆碎石，基本上看不出加工的痕迹，这结果令他很满意。
Zhang Beihai hung in space five kilometers out from Yellow River Station, a wheel-shaped space station that lay three hundred kilometers above the space elevator terminus as a counterweight. It was the largest structure humanity had ever constructed in space and it could house over a thousand long-term residents.
章北海悬浮在距黄河空间站五公里的太空中，这个车轮形状的空间站是太空电梯的一部分，位于电梯终点上方三百公里处，是作为电梯的平衡配重物建造的①，是目前太空中规模最大的人造物体，其中可以常驻上千人。（注：①太空电梯实是一颗运行于地球同步轨道的人造卫星，为了在运行中取得平衡，需要在轨道的外侧加上与电梯同等的重。）
The sack that held the beef was made out of materials used in space suits. To make the simulation even more realistic, it had been arranged in layers that sandwiched insulation sponges, plastic tubing, and other material.
那块包牛肉的布，是制作航天服的材料，为了使模拟更接近真实，布做成了夹层，在其中放置了保温海绵和塑胶管道等物。
He carefully packed up the remaining thirty-two meteorite bullets and exited the basement, heading off to make preparations for his visit to space.
章北海把剩下的三十二发陨石子弹小心地收起来，走出地下室，去做进入太空的准备。
The region of space within a five-hundred-kilometer radius of the space elevator was home to other space facilities, all of them much smaller than Yellow River Station and scattered about like the nomadic tents that dotted the prairie during the opening of the American West. These formed the prelude of humanity’s large-scale entrance into space. The shipyards that had just commenced construction were the largest yet and would eventually cover an area ten times greater than Yellow River Station, but right now, all that had been put up was scaffolding that looked like the skeleton of a leviathan. Zhang Beihai had come from Base 1, a separate space station eighty kilometers away and just one-fifth the size of Yellow River Station, the space force’s base in geostationary orbit. He had been living and working with the other members of the first Special Contingent of Future Reinforcements for three months now and had only been back to Earth once.
以太空电梯为圆心，在半径五百公里的范围内还有其他太空的设施，规模都比黄河站小许多，它们零星地散落着，像美国西部开发初期大草原上的游牧帐篷，这是人类大规模进入太空的前奏。其中刚刚开始建造的太空船坞是规模最大的，其体积可能是黄河站的十倍，但目前只搭起了一个施工框架，像一架巨兽的骨骼；在距章北海八十公里的远处，有一个独立的空间站，规模只有黄河站的五分之一，那是太空军在同步轨道上建立的第一个基地，章北海就是从那里飞来的。现在，他已经同增援未来第一特遣队的其他成员在那里生活和工作了三个月，其间只返回过地面一次。
The meeting was over, but he was waiting for the participants to come out and take a group photo.
章北海知道，现在会议已经结束，他在等待着全体与会者出来照像。
Before leaving Base 1, Zhang Beihai had dropped his space suit’s positioning unit in his own cabin so the surveillance system would not be aware that he had left the base and there would be no record of his movements. Using the thrusters on his suit, he flew eighty kilometers through space to the position he had selected. Then he waited.
在从一号基地飞出前，章北海把航天服上的定位单元留在了基地中自己的舱室内，这样，一号基地的监测系统不会知道他已经离开基地，他的这次外出不会留下任何记录。用航天服上的小型喷射推进器，他在太空飞行了十公里，来到了这个早已选定的位置，静静地等待着。
At Base 1, he had been waiting for an opportunity, and now an opportunity presented itself: the aerospace faction was holding a high-level work conference on Yellow River Station, and all three of his targets for elimination would be attending. Once Yellow River Station went into operation, Aerospace had held quite a few meetings there, as if to make up for the regrettable fact that most of the people in the aerospace sector had never gotten the chance to go to space.
在一号基地中，章北海一直在等待机会，现在机会出现了：航天系统在黄河站召开一次高层工作会议，他要消灭的三个目标都是与会者。黄河空间站投入使用后，航天系统的许多会议都在其中召开，好像是要弥补以前从事航天事业的人大都没机会进入太空的遗憾。
It was a tradition for all meeting participants to take a group photo in space. Usually, the photograph would be taken against the sun, because that was the only way to get a clear shot of the space station. Since every person in the group shot had to turn their helmet visors to transparent to expose their face during the photo, they would have to keep their eyes shut against the sun’s intense rays if they faced it, not to mention the fact that the inside of their helmets would get intolerably hot. So the best time for a group shot was when the sun was just about to rise or fall over the horizon of the Earth. In geosynchronous orbit, one sunrise and one sunset took place every twenty-four hours, although the night was very short. Zhang Beihai was waiting for the sun to set.
这是一个惯例，与会者都要到太空中拍合影。一般来说，拍照应该是逆着阳光的，因为这样才能把作为背景的空间站拍清楚，在拍照时，合影的每个人需要把航天头盔面罩调成透明的，以便从面罩中露出脸来，这时如果太阳在正空，强烈的阳光会使人睁不开眼，同时也会使头盔内部很快就热得难受，所以，拍合影的时间最好是在太阳从地球边缘升起或落下的时刻。在同步轨道上，日出和日落也是每二十四小时各一次，只是夜的时间很短，章北海现在在等着日落。
He knew that Yellow River Station’s surveillance system was able to detect his presence, but that wouldn’t attract any attention. As the point of origin for space development, the region was littered with construction materials both unused and abandoned, as well as an even greater quantity of garbage. Much of this floating material was roughly the size of a human. Moreover, the space elevator and the surrounding facilities had a relationship like a metropolis and its surrounding villages, with the supplies for the latter coming entirely from the former, so traffic between them was quite busy. As people became used to the environment of space, they gradually adopted the habit of crossing solo. Using space suits as a sort of space bicycle with thrusters that could push them to speeds of up to five hundred kilometers per hour was the easiest means of travel within a few hundred kilometers of the space elevator. By this point, people were flying between the space elevator and the surrounding stations all the time.
他知道，黄河站的监测系统肯定能检测到自己的存在，但这不会引起任何注意。在这片太空开发的起源地，散落着大量的建设材料，包括待用的和废弃的，还有更多的垃圾，这些飘浮物中，有很多大小与人体相当。另外，太空电梯与周围太空设施的关系就像大城市与周围的村庄，后者的供给完全来自前者，两者间有着繁忙的交通。随着对太空环境的适应，人们渐渐习惯了只身穿行于太空中，这时，航天服就像太空自行车，喷射推进器可以使它的时速达到五百公里，在电梯周围几百公里范围内是最方便的交通工具，现在，几乎每时每刻都有人穿着航天服在电梯和周围的空间站之间飞行。
But right now, Zhang Beihai knew the surrounding space was empty. Apart from the Earth (which was visible as a complete sphere from geosynchronous orbit) and the sun, about to dip below its edge, everything in all directions was a pitch-black abyss, and the myriad stars were shining dust that was powerless to alter the emptiness of the universe. He knew that his suit’s life-support system would only hold up for twelve hours, and before that time ran out he had to make it eighty kilometers back to Base 1, now just a shapeless point far off in the distance of the abyss of space. The base itself would not survive very long, either, if it left the umbilical cord of the space elevator. But now, as he floated in the vast void, he felt like his contact with the blue world down below had been cut off. He was an independent presence in the universe, unattached to any world, dangling in the cosmos, no ground beneath his feet and surrounded by empty space on all sides, with no origin or destination, like the Earth, the sun, and the Milky Way. He simply existed, and he liked this feeling.
但此时，在章北海的感觉中，周围的太空是十分空旷的，除了地球——在同步轨道上已经可以看到完整的球形——和将要在其边缘落下的太阳，其他的方向都是漆黑的深渊，无数星星似乎只是闪亮的尘埃，改变不了宇宙的空虚。他知道，航天服中的生命维持系统只能维持十二个小时，这之前，他必须回到八十公里外的一号基地中去，虽然现在它看上去只是远方太空深渊上一个几乎没有形状的点。而一号基地本身，如果离开了太空电梯这条脐带，也生存不了太长的时间。但此时，他飘浮在这广大的虚空中，在感觉上已经斩断了与下面那个蓝色世界的联系，感觉自己就是宇宙中的一个独立的存在，不依附于任何世界，脚下没有大地，四周只有空间，同地球、太阳和银河系一样悬浮于宇宙中，没有从哪里来，也不想到哪里去，只是存在着，他喜欢这种感觉。
He turned his head toward the sun, which had now set halfway and looked like a glittering ring atop the Earth.
他扭头看看太阳，它已经沉下去一半，成了地球的一个光芒四射的戒指。
The sun made contact with the edge of the Earth.
这时，太阳开始接触地球的边缘了。
He even sensed that his father’s departed spirit might share this very same feeling.
他甚至想到，父亲的在天之灵可能也是这种感觉。
Zhang Beihai raised one hand. The glove of his suit held a telescopic sight which he used to observe one of Yellow River Station’s exits, ten kilometers distant. On the large, curved-metal exterior wall, the round air lock door was still sealed.
章北海举起一只手，航天服手套中握着一个瞄准镜，他用这东西当望远镜观察着十公里外黄河站的一个出口，看到在宽大的弧形金属外壁上，圆形密封门仍紧闭着。
Looking back through the scope at the station, this time he saw that the beacon light next to the exit had turned from red to green, indicating that the air inside the air lock had been emptied. Immediately afterward, the hatch slid open and a group of figures wearing white space suits filed out. There were about thirty of them. As they flew off in a group, the shadow they cast on the outer wall of Yellow River Station expanded.
冉通过瞄准镜远望黄河站，章北海看到出口旁边的标志灯由红变绿。表示后面过渡舱中的空气已经抽空。紧接着，出口滑开了，一群穿着白色航天服的身影鱼贯而出，有三十人左右。他们集体向外飞行，投在黄河站外壁上的影子越来越大，他们需飞出一段距离，才能把背景上的空间站拍全。很快，所有人都减速停了下来，在摄影师的指挥下开始在失重环境下排队。
They had to fly a considerable distance to fit the entire station into frame, but before long they slowed down and began their weightless lineup under the photographer’s direction. By now the sun had sunk by two-thirds. The remainder looked like a luminous object inlaid into the Earth above a smooth sea mirror that was half blue and half orange-red, its top covered by sun-soaked clouds that looked like pink feathers.
这时，太阳已经沉下去三分之二，剩下的部分看上去像是镶嵌在地球上的一个发光体，夕照下的海洋像一面光滑的镜子，一半深蓝一半橘红，而浸透了阳光的云层像一大片覆盖在镜面上的粉红色羽毛。
As the light dropped in intensity, the people in the distant group photo began to turn their visors transparent, revealing the faces in the helmets. Zhang Beihai increased his scope’s focal length and quickly found his targets. Just as he had expected, due to their rank, they were in the center of the front row.
随着光照度的降低，远方合影的人们开始纷纷把自己的面罩调成透明，在头盔中露出自己的面容。章北海拉大了瞄准镜的焦距，很快找到了三目标，正如他所料，由于这三人的级别，他们都在最前排正中。
He released the scope, leaving it suspended in front of him, and with his left hand he twisted the metal retaining ring of his right glove to detach it. Now that his right hand was wearing just a thin cloth glove, he immediately felt the minus-one-hundred-degree temperature of space, so to avoid a quick freeze he turned his body to an angle that let the weak sunlight shine on his hand. He extended the hand into a side pocket of his suit and withdrew a pistol and two magazines.
章北海松开瞄准镜，任它悬浮在面前，用左手转动右手航天手套的金属护环，把手套摘了下来。这时，他的右手只戴着薄布手套，立刻感到了太空中零下百度的寒冷，为了避免这只手很快冻僵，他把身体转动了一个角度，让已经在变弱的阳光照到手上。他把这只手仲进航天服侧面的工作袋，取出了手枪和两个弹夹。
Then, with his left hand, he grasped the floating scope and affixed it to the pistol. The scope had been a rifle sight that he had modified with a magnetic attachment so it could be used on a pistol.
接着，他用左手抓住悬浮的瞄准镜，把它安装到手枪上。这种瞄准镜原是步枪使用的，他进行了改装，把原来的夹具换成磁铁，使其能在手枪上使用。
The vast majority of firearms on Earth could shoot in space. The vacuum was not a problem, because the bullet’s propellant contained its own oxidizer, but you did need to worry about the temperature of space: Both extremes differed greatly from atmospheric temperatures and had the potential to affect the gun and ammunition, so he was afraid to leave the pistol and magazines exposed for too long. To shorten that time, over the past three months he had drilled repeatedly in taking out the gun, mounting the sight, and changing magazines.
地球上的绝大部分枪支都可以在太空中射击，真空不是问题，因为子弹的发射药都是自带氧化荆的，需要考虑的是太空中的温度：不管是低温还是高温都与大气层中相差甚大，都有可能对枪支和弹药产生影响，所以章北海不敢让手枪和弹夹长时间暴露在外。为了缩短时间，这三个月来他把失重中取枪、装瞄准镜和换弹夹的动作反复演练。
In Earth’s atmosphere, even the most sophisticated sniper rifles couldn’t hit a target at a distance of five kilometers, but an ordinary pistol could in space. The bullets moved in a zero-gravity vacuum, free of any outside interference, so as long as their aim was true, they would follow an extremely stable trajectory directly to the target. Zero air resistance, meanwhile, meant that the bullets would not decelerate during flight and would strike the target with the initial muzzle velocity, ensuring a lethal blow from a distance.
在地球大气层内，即使最精良的狙击步枪也不可能在五千米的距离上击中目标，但在太空中，一支普通手枪就可以做到。因为子弹是在真空和无重力中前进，不受任何干扰，只要瞄准正确，子弹就能沿着极其稳定的直线弹道击中目标；同时，由于空气阻力为零，子弹在整个飞行过程中根本不减速，击中目标时的速度就是飞出枪口时的初速度，保证了远距离上的杀伤力。
He pulled the trigger. The pistol fired in silence, but he saw the muzzle flash and felt the recoil. He fired ten rounds at the first target, then quickly replaced the magazine and fired another ten rounds at the second target. Replacing the magazine again, he fired the last ten rounds at the third target. Thirty muzzle flashes. If anyone in the direction of Yellow River Station had been paying attention, they would have seen a firefly against the dark backdrop of space.
章北海扣动了扳机，手枪在寂静中击发，但他看到了枪口的火光，感到了后坐力。他对第一个目标击发了十次，马上飞快换上新的弹夹，对第二个目标又射出十发子弹；再次换上弹夹，把最后十颗子弹射向第三个目标。枪口闪烁丁三十次，如果黄河站方向这时真有人注意到的话，就像看到太空暗黑背景上的一只萤火虫。
He started to aim, and captured his first target in the cross hairs of the scope.
然后，他开始瞄准，瞄准镜的十字线很快套住了第一个目标。
Now the thirty meteorites were speeding toward their targets. The Type 2010 pistol had a muzzle velocity of five hundred meters per second, so they would take around ten seconds to cross the distance, during which Zhang Beihai could only pray that his targets did not change position. This hope wasn’t groundless, because the two back rows had not yet gotten situated for the group photo, and even when they were all situated, the photographer had to wait until the mist sprayed out by the space suit thrusters dissipated, so the leaders in the front row had to wait. But since the targets were, after all, floating in space and weightless, they could easily drift, causing the bullets to not only miss their targets but possibly hurt innocents.
现在，三十枚陨石弹头正在飞向目标，2010型手枪的弹头初速度是500米/秒，子弹飞完这段距离约需十秒钟，这时章北海只能祈祷目标在这段时间不要移动位置。这个希望也是有根据的，因为现在后两排的合影者还没有排好位置，前排的领导们只能等待，即使队形都排好了，摄影师还要等待航天服推进器喷出的白雾散去。但目标毕竟是悬浮在太空中的，位置很容易在失重中漂移，这时子弹不但会错过目标，还可能伤及无辜。
Innocent? The three people he was about to kill were innocent, too. In the years before the Trisolar Crisis, they had made what, looking back now, seemed like particularly meager investments, and had crept carefully over the thin ice toward the dawn of the space age. That experience had imprisoned their thinking. They had to be destroyed for the sake of interstellar-capable spacecraft. Their deaths could be viewed as their final contribution to the cause of humanity’s endeavors in space.
无辜，他要杀的这三个人也是无辜的，在三体危机出现前的岁月里，他们用现在看来十分微薄的投入，小心翼翼如履薄冰地开启了太空时代的黎明……然而正是那段经历禁锢了他们的思想，为了得到能够在恒星际航行的飞船，必须消灭他们！而他们的死，也应该看作为人类太空事业做出的最后贡献。
Time passed second by second, and at last there were signs that a target had been hit. Zhang Beihai did not see the hole in the space suit, but a white gas spurted out. Immediately afterward, an even larger burst of white steam erupted from between the first and second rows, perhaps because the bullet had passed out the target’s back and penetrated his thruster pack. He was confident of the bullets’ power: When the meteorite projectiles struck their targets with practically no decrease in speed, it would be like being shot at gunpoint. Cracks suddenly appeared across the helmet visor of one target, rendering it opaque, but he could still see the blood that splashed up on the inside before mixing with leaking gasses and spraying out of the bullet hole, where it quickly froze into snowflake-like crystals. His observations soon confirmed that five people, including the three targets, had been hit, and each target had been struck at least five times.
时间在一秒一秒地流逝，终于，目标被击中的迹象出现了。章北海并没有看到航天服上的弹洞，但有白色的气体喷出。紧接着，在第一排和第二排之间，爆发出了一团更大的白汽，可能是子弹穿透目标后又击穿了背后的喷射推进器。对子弹的威力他是有信心的，丝毫没有减速的陨石子弹击中目标时，就如同枪口顶着目标开枪一样。他看到，一个目标的头盔面罩突然布满了裂纹，变得不透明了，但能看到血从内部飞溅在上面，然后血随着从弹洞中泄漏的气体喷到外面，很快冷凝成雪花状的冰晶。章北海在观察中很快确定，被击中的有包括那三个目标在内的五人，每个目标的中弹至少在五发以上。
As a matter of fact, Zhang Beihai had deliberately sent a few bullets wide of the mark in the hope of hitting people other than his targets. Ideally he would only wound them, but if he happened to kill an extra person or two, that didn’t matter. That would only serve to reduce any potential suspicion.
事实上，章北海故意使几颗子弹稍稍走偏，期望能击中目标之外的人，最理想的情况是致伤，但如果真的多死一两个人，他也不在意，这样做的目的是为了减少可能出现的怀疑。
He lifted the empty gun and looked soberly through the scope. He was prepared for failure. In that eventuality, he would dispassionately begin the search for a second opportunity.
章北海举着已经打空的枪，透过瞄准镜冷静地观察着，他做好了失败的准备，如果那样，他将若无其事地开始寻找第二次机会。
Through their visors he saw everyone in the crowd screaming in terror, and from the shape of their lips he knew that their words included the ones he was expecting:
透过几个人的透明面罩，章北海看到他们都在惊叫，从口型上看出他们喊的话中肯定有一个他期待的词：
“Meteor shower!”
“陨石雨！”
He activated his own thruster pack and accelerated toward Base 1. His heart was now as cold and calm as the empty space around him. He knew that the death of the three key aerospace figures did not guarantee that the non-media radiation drive would become the mainstream of spacecraft research, but he had done all he could. No matter what happened next, as far as the watchful eyes of his father in the beyond were concerned, he could now relax.
章北海开动喷射推进器，向一号基地方向加速，此时他的心就像周围空寂的太空一般寒冷而平静。他知道，航天界那咕个关键人物的死，并不能保证无工质辐射推进飞船成为主要研究方向，但他做了自己能做的，不管以后发生什么。在父亲从冥冥中投下的目光中，他可以安心了。
Everyone in the photo group turned their thrusters to full power and sped back to the station, trailing tails of white mist behind them, and then they were through the round hatch and back inside Yellow River Station. Zhang Beihai saw that the five who had been hit were dragged back with them.
合影者们的喷射推进器都全功率打开，他们拖着条条白雾迅速返回，很快由那个圆形人口进入了黄河站。章北海注意到，那五名中弹者是被别人拖回去的。
At practically the same time as Zhang Beihai was returning to Base 1, back on Earth’s Internet, a group of people hastily assembled in the wilderness of the virtual Three Body world to discuss what had just happened.
几乎就在章北海返回一号基地的同时，在地球上的互联网中，三体虚拟世界的荒漠上很快聚集起一群人，讨论刚刚发生的事。
“Are we just going to sit by and let him do this?” Einstein asked.
“我们对这人的行为坐视不管吗？”爱因斯坦问。
“This time, the information transmitted via sophon was very thorough, or we wouldn’t have believed he actually did it,” Qin Shi Huang said as he waved the sword about him in his uneasiness. “Look at what he did, and then look at our three attempts on Luo Ji.” He sighed. “Sometimes we’re just too nerdy. We don’t have that kind of cool competency.”
“智子这一次传回的信息很完整，否则我们真不敢相信他真那么做了。”秦始皇说，同时用长剑在地上随意地划着，显示出他心里的不安，“看看人家做的，再看看我们对罗辑的三次行动，唉，有时我们真的是太书呆子气，缺少这种冷酷和干练。”
“In accordance with the Lord’s intentions, that’s all we can do. The man is an extremely stubborn holdout and a triumphalist, and the Lord doesn’t want us to interfere unnecessarily with that type of human. Our attention must be focused on Escapism. The Lord believes that defeatism is more dangerous than triumphalism,” Newton said.
“按照主的意思，只能这样。这人是一个极端顽固的抵抗主义者和胜利主义者，对这类人，主让我们不必做任何干预，我们的注意力应该集中到逃亡主义者上，主甚至认为，连失败主义者都比胜利主义者危险。”牛顿说。
Qin Shi Huang knocked his sword on the ground. “Nevertheless, nonintervention is correct as far as this matter is concerned. Let them turn their development in the direction of radiation drive spacecraft. With physics under sophon lockdown, that will be a technological peak that’s practically unsurpassable. Not to mention a bottomless abyss into which humanity will pour all of their time and energy and end up with nothing.”
泰始皇用长剑敲敲地面说：“不过就此事而言，不干预是对的，就让他们把发展方向确定在辐射驱动飞船上吧。在智子锁死物理学的情况下，这几乎是一个不可逾越的技术高峰，它也是一个无底深渊，人类将把所有的时间和资源扔进去，最后却一事无成。”
“If we are to work sincerely and seriously in the service of the Lord, we can’t wholly believe the Lord’s strategy. After all, it’s just the counsel of a child,” Mozi said.
“我们要真正认真对待为主服务的使命，就不能完全听信主的战略，它毕竟只有孩子的谋略。”墨子说。
“We are agreed on this point. But I believe this man is critical. He’s dangerous,” Von Neumann said.
“这一点大家基本同意，但我认为最重要的是这个人，这人太危险了。”冯·诺伊曼说。
“He won’t be hard to deal with. All we have to do is denounce his murders,” Newton said.
“收拾掉他并不难，我们去告发他的谋系行为就行了。”牛顿说。
“He is indeed dangerous. His faith is rock-solid, he’s farsighted and dispassionately ruthless, and he acts with calm resolve. Ordinarily he’s precise and serious, but when there’s a need he can go outside the lines and take extraordinary action,” Confucius said with a sigh. “Just like the First Emperor said, this is the sort of person we lack.”
“这人确实危险，他信念坚定，眼光远大又冷酷无情，行事冷静决断，平时严谨认真，但在需要时，可以随时越出常轨，采取异乎寻常的行动。”孔子说着长叹一声，“正如赢政刚才所说，我们缺这样的人啊。”
“Precisely!” Aristotle said, nodding repeatedly. “We used to think he was a pure soldier, but is this the behavior of a soldier who acts in accordance with strict discipline and rules?”
“确实如此！”亚里士多德连连点头，“以前我认为他是个纯正的军人，可这件事，哪像一个一直按严格的纪律和规则行事的军人所为？”
“And we don’t have any conclusive evidence,” Mozi said. “His plans were thorough. The bullets shattered when they hit, so any autopsy would retrieve only authentic meteorites from the bodies of the dead and wounded. Everyone is going to think they died in a meteor shower. The truth is so bizarre that no one would believe it.”
“而且我们手上也没有确实的证据。”墨子说，“他的策划很周密，子弹射入人体后已经破碎，如果验尸，从死去和受伤的人体内取出的就是地地道道的陨石，谁都会相信那些人是死于一场陨石雨。事情的真相真的太离奇，没人会相信的。”
“It’s not that simple!” Qin Shi Huang said, flipping a sleeve at him. “It’s all your fault. You’ve been using the information you receive from the sophons to sow discord in the space force and the UN, so how did this happen? Denunciation would be an honor, or even a symbol of loyalty!”
“没那么容易！”秦始皇冲着牛顿一甩长袖说，“这都是你们的错，这几年你们一直借着智子信息的名义在太空军和联合国中挑拨离间，搞到现在怎么样，被你们告发倒成了一种荣誉，甚至成了忠诚的象征！”
When the Special Contingent of Future Reinforcements headed to the hibernation center, Chang Weisi and a number of other senior space force generals came to the airport to see them off. He handed a letter to Zhang Beihai.
增援未来的政工特遣队将前往冬眠地，常伟思同太空军的几名高级将领一起到机场送行，他把一封信交给章北海。
Einstein let out a long sigh. “Gone. Everyone’s gone. Some of us should go to the future too.”
爱因斯坦长叹一声：“走了，都走了，我们中的一些人也该动身去未来了吧。”
“It’s a good thing he’s going to reinforce the future. At least he won’t be making trouble for us for a while.”
“好在他要去增援未来了，在相当长的一段时间里不会成为我们的烦恼。”
“This letter is for my future successor. In it, I explain your circumstances and strongly recommend you to the future Space Command. You’ll awaken no sooner than fifty years in the future, possibly longer than that, at which time you may be faced with a more challenging work environment. You’ll have to adapt to the future first, even as you preserve the spirit of the soldiers of our time. You must be cognizant of our working methods today, and know which are obsolete and which should be carried on. This may turn out to be your greatest advantage in the future.”
“这是给我未来继任者的信，我在信中介绍了你们的情况，并向未来的太空军司令部做出郑重推荐。你们苏醒的时间最早是五十年后，还可能更长，那时你们可能面临更加严峻的工作环境，首先要适应未来，同时要保持我们这个时代军人的灵魂，要弄明白我们现在的和作方法，哪些是过时的，哪些是需要坚持的，这都有可能成为你们在未来的巨大优势。”
Although they said they would meet again, everyone knew in their hearts that this was a final farewell.
虽然将要说再见，但每个人心里都明白这是永别了。
Zhang Beihai said, “Commander, for the first time I feel a bit of regret that I’m an atheist. Otherwise, we’d have the hope of meeting again at some other time and place.”
章北海说：“首长，我第一次为无神论者感到一些遗憾，否则我们就可以怀着希望在某个时间某个地方晟后相聚。”
Chang Weisi was a little taken aback at this sentiment coming from the ordinarily sober man, and the words resonated in the hearts of everyone else. But, as soldiers, they kept the beating of their hearts deeply hidden.
一贯冷峻的他说出这样的话，让常伟思有些意外，这话也在所有人的心中再次掀起了波澜，但作为军人，他们都把内心的悸动深深隐藏起来。
“I’m gratified that we’ve been able to meet in this lifetime. Be sure to greet our future comrades for us,” Chang Weisi said.
“此生能相聚已经很幸运了，代我们向未来的同志问好吧。”常伟思说。
After a final salute, the special contingent boarded the plane.
敬过最后的军礼，特遣队开始登机。
Chang Weisi’s eyes did not leave Zhang Beihai’s back for a moment. A steadfast soldier was leaving, and there might never be another like him. Where did his firm faith come from? The question had always lain hidden in the depths of his mind, and sometimes it even prompted a bit of jealousy. A soldier with faith in victory was fortunate. In the Doomsday Battle, those lucky people would be few and far between. As Zhang Beihai’s tall frame disappeared inside the cabin door, Chang Weisi had to admit that, up to the very end, he had never really understood him.
常伟思的目光一直没有离开章北海的背影，这个坚定的战士走了，可能不会再有第二个他这样的人。他那种坚定的信念是从哪里来的？这个问题一直藏在常伟思心底，有时想到这个甚至令他有些嫉妒。一个拥有胜利信念的军人是幸运的，在这场终极战争中，能有这种幸运的人少之又少。章北海挺拔的身影消失在舱门中，常伟思不得不承认，到最后，自己也没能彻底了解他。
Rey Diaz and Hines were awakened from hibernation at the same time to the news that the technology they awaited had appeared.
雷迪亚兹和海因斯从冬眠中醒来，同时听到他们等待的技术出现的消息。
Year 20, Crisis Era, Distance of the Trisolaran Fleet from the Solar System: 4.15 light-years
危机纪年第10年，三体舰队距太阳系4.15光年。
They were informed that due to unprecedented investment, technology had progressed with amazing speed over the past few years. But not everything was optimistic. Humanity was simply making a final sprint across the distance between them and the sophon barrier, so the progress they were making was purely technological. Cutting-edge physics remained stopped up like a pool of stagnant water, and the reservoir of theory was being drained. Technological progress would begin to decelerate and eventually come to a complete halt. But, for the time being at least, no one knew when the end of technology would arrive.
他们接着被告知，由于前所未有的大量投入，这几年的技术进步确实神速，但这没有什么值得乐观的，人类不过是在他们和智子障碍之间的最后距离上加速冲刺而已。进步的只是技术，前沿物理学如一池死水般停滞不前。理论的储备正在被消耗完，人类的技术进步将出现减速，直至完全停止，但目前人们仍不清楚技术的尽头将在何时出现。
“So soon?!” they exclaimed upon learning that just eight years had passed.
“这么快？”当两人得知时间仅仅过去了八年时，都发出了这样的感叹。
The plane took off, carrying those who would perhaps have the chance to see humanity’s final outcome, then disappeared behind thin, pale clouds. It was a bleak winter’s day. The sun that shone listlessly behind a shroud of gray clouds and the chilly wind that blew across the empty airport gave the air the feel of solidified crystal, conjuring up the sense that the springtime might never really arrive. Chang Weisi tightened the collar of his army coat. He turned fifty-four years old today, and in the dreary winter wind he saw his own end, and the end of the human race.
飞机起飞了，载着这些有机会看到人类最后结局的人，消失在苍白的薄云后面。这是一个萧瑟的冬日，太阳在这层灰纱般的薄云后面发出无力的白光，寒风吹过空荡荡的机场，寒冷使空气像一块凝固的水晶，此景使人怀疑春天真的还会到来。常伟思拉紧了军大衣的领口，今天是他五十四岁生日，在这凄凉的冬风中，他同时看到了自己和人类的尽头。危机纪年第20年，三体舰队距太阳系4.15光年雷迪亚兹和希恩斯被同时从冬眠中唤醒，他们被告知，等待的技术已经出现了。
“Even so, you’re still a year younger than me,” he said as he looked her over. Time seemed to have left no mark on her body, but she looked pale and weak in the fog’s watery moonlight. In the fog and moonlight, she reminded him of that night in the bamboo grove in their yard in Japan. “Didn’t we agree that you would enter hibernation two years after me? Why have you waited all this time?”
“即使这样，你还是比我小一岁。”希恩斯说着，打量着妻子，时光似乎在她身上没有留下太多的痕迹，在白雾里如水的月光中，她显得苍白而柔弱。她和这雾、这月光，让希思斯回到了那个日本庭院里的竹林之夜，“我们不是说好，你两年后也冬眠吗，为什么一直等到现在？”
On feet that were still stiff from hibernation, Hines walked into a stadium-like structure whose interior was shrouded in a white fog, although it felt dry to him. He couldn’t identify what it was. A soft moonlight glow illuminated the fog, which was fairly sparse at the height of a person but grew dense enough up above that the roof was obscured. Through the fog, he saw a petite figure whom he recognized at once as his wife. When he ran to her through the fog, it was like chasing a phantom, except that in the end they came together in an embrace.
希恩斯拖着冬眠后仍然僵硬的脚步，走进了一个外形像体育馆的建筑物。建筑内部笼罩在一片迷蒙的白雾中，希恩斯感觉这里很干燥，不知道这是什么雾。有月光般的柔光把雾照亮，雾积聚在上方。显得很浓，看不到建筑物的穹顶。但在一人多高的空间里雾很淡。在雾中，他看到了一个娇小的身影，立刻认出是山杉惠子，他向她奔去，像是追逐一个雾中的幻影，但他们最终还是拥抱在了一起。
“I wanted to work on preparations for our post-hibernation work, but there was too much to do, so that’s what I’ve been doing,” she said as she brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.
“本来只是想为我们冬眠后的事业做一些准备，但事情太多，就一直做下来了。”山杉惠子把额前的一缕头发轻轻拨开说。
“I’m sorry, love. I’ve aged eight years,” Keiko Yamasuki said.
“对不起亲爱的，我老了八岁。”山杉惠子说。
“It was very hard. Six next-gen supercomputer research projects were launched not long after you went into hibernation. Three of them employed traditional architecture, one used non-Von Neumann architecture, and the other two were quantum and biomolecular computing projects. But two years later, the lead scientists of those six projects told me that the computing power we desired was impossible. The quantum computing project was the first to be terminated, because it failed to find sufficient support in current theoretic physics: Research had run into the sophon barrier. Next, the biomolecular project was discontinued. They said it was only a fantasy. The last to end was the non-Von Neumann computer. Its architecture was actually a simulation of the human brain, but they said it was a shapeless egg that would never turn into a chicken. Only the three traditional architecture projects were still ongoing, but for a long time there was never any progress.”
“真的很难，你冬眠后不久，就有六个新一代超级计算机大型研究项目同时开始，其中三个是传统结构的，一个是非冯结构的，另外两个分别是量子和生物分子计算机研究项目。但两年后，这六个项目的首席科学家都对我说，我们要的计算能力根本不可能实现。量子计算机项目是最先中断的，现有的物理理论无法提供足够的支持，研究撞到了智子的墙壁上。紧接着生物分子计算机项目也下马了，他们说这只是一个幻想。最后停止的是非冯结构计算机，这种结构其实是对人类大脑的模拟，他们说我们这只蛋还没有形成，不可能有鸡的。最后只有三个传统结构计算机项目还在运作，但很长时间没有任何进展。”
“Was it hard?”
“很难吧？”
“So that’s it… I ought to have been with you the whole time.”
“是这样……我该一直和你在一起的。”
“To put the previous software simulation into hardware by using a microprocessor to simulate one neuron, letting all the microprocessors interact, and allowing for dynamic changes to the connection model.”
“把以前的软件模拟转化为硬件，用一个微处理器模拟一个神经元，所有微处理器互联，并可以动态地变更联接模式。”
“That’s… that’s practically the sum total of all the microprocessors that have been manufactured in human history!”
“这……大概相当于人类有史以来制造过的微处理器的总和吧？”
“It would have been no use. You only would have wasted eight years. It was only recently, during a period of time when we were totally discouraged, that we came up with the crazy idea of simulating the human brain in a practically barbaric way.”
“没有用的，那样你只是浪费八年时间而已。后来，有段时间。我们真的完全绝望了，就想出了一个疯狂的主意，要用一种近乎野蛮的方式来模拟人类大脑。”
“And what was that?”
“怎么做呢？”
Hines thought about this for a few seconds, then realized what she meant. “Do you mean manufacturing a hundred billion microprocessors?”
希恩斯想了几秒钟，才理解了山杉惠子这话的意义：“你是说，制造一千亿个这样的微处理器？”
She nodded.
惠子点点头。
“Even if you really had all those chips, how long would it take to connect them all together?”
“就算你们真的拥有了这么多芯片，要用多长时间把它们互联起来？”
Keiko Yamasuki smiled wearily. “I knew it wasn’t workable. It was just a desperate idea. But we really thought about doing it back then, and making as many as we could.” She pointed around her. “This here is one of the thirty virtual brain assembly shops we had planned. But it’s the only one that got built.”
山杉惠子疲倦地笑笑：“我知道不行，但那是绝望中的想法嘛。可那时真打算那么做的，当时就想能做多少算多少。”她指指周围，“看这里，就是计划中的三十个模拟大脑总装车间中的一个，不过也只建了这一个。”
“I didn’t run the numbers, but it’s probably more than that.”
“我没统计过，应该比那多吧。”
“I really should have been here with you,” Hines repeated with more emotion.
“我真该和你在一起的。”希恩斯激动地又说了一句。
“Fortunately we still got the computer we wanted. Its performance is ten thousand times better than when you entered hibernation.”
“好在我们要的计算机还是出现了，它的性能是你冬眠时最强计算机的一万倍。”
“Traditional architecture. A few more drops squeezed out of the lemon of Moore’s law. It astonished the computing community — but this time, my love, we’ve really come to the end.”
“传统结构，能从摩尔定律这个柠檬里又榨出这么多汁来，计算机科学界都很吃惊……但这次，亲爱的，这次真的到头了。”
“Traditional architecture?”
“传统结构？”
“We’re in the middle of the supercomputer’s holographic display,” she said as she manipulated a gadget hanging at her chest. He noticed a scroll wheel on it, and thought it might be something like a mouse.
“我们正在超级计算机的全息显示器中。”山杉惠子说着，一手摆弄着挂在胸前的一个小玩意儿，希恩斯看到上面有一个滚轮，可能这东西是类似于鼠标的东西。
A peerless computer. If humanity failed, it would never be equaled, Hines thought, but did not say it out loud.
这是空前的计算机，如果人类失败的话，也是绝后的。希恩斯这么想，但他没有说出来。
“With this computer, research on the Resolving Imager became much easier.” Then she suddenly asked, “Love, do you have any idea of what a hundred billion looks like?” When he shook his head, she smiled and stretched out her hands around her. “Look. This is a hundred billion.”
“有了这样的电脑，解析摄像机的研制就变得容易一些了……亲爱的，你对一千亿有一个形象的概念吗？”山杉惠子突然问，看到丈夫摇摇头，她微笑着伸出双手指指四周，“看，这就是一千亿。”
“What?” At a loss for words, Hines looked at the white fog around him.
“什么？”希恩斯茫然地看着周围的白雾。
“Every star is a neuron,” she said. Their bodies were plated in silver by the ocean formed from a hundred billion stars.
“每一颗星星就是一个神经元。”山杉惠子说，一千亿颗星星构成的星海给他们的身躯镀上了银边。
The image enlarged further, and every star began to exhibit a structure that was familiar to him from electron microscopy, that of brain cells and synapses.
图像继续放大，每颗星星开始呈现出结构，希恩斯看到了他早已通过电子显微镜熟悉了的脑细胞和神经元突触的结构。
As she adjusted it, he felt a change in the surrounding fog. It thickened in what was clearly a magnification of a particular region. Then he noticed that it was made up of an uncountable number of tiny glowing particles, and these particles were emitting the moonlike illumination rather than scattering light from an outside source. As the magnification continued, the particles became shining stars, but instead of seeing the starry sky over Earth, it was like he was situated at the heart of the Milky Way, where the stars were dense and left practically no room for darkness.
与此同时，希恩斯感觉到围绕着他们的白雾发生了变化，雾被粗化了，显然是对某一局部进行了放大。他这时发现所谓的雾其实是由无数发光的小微粒组成的，那月光般的光亮是由这些小微粒自身发出的，而不是对外界光源的散射。放大在继续，小微粒都变成了闪亮的星星。希恩斯所看到的，并不是地球上的那种星空，他仿佛置身于银河系的核心，星星密密麻麻，几乎没有给黑夜留出空隙。
As the hologram continued to enlarge, he noticed innumerable thin tentacles extending radially from every star to form intricate connections, wiping out the starfield and situating him inside an infinitely large network structure.
全息图像继续放大，希恩斯看到了每颗星星向周围放射状伸出的细细的触须，这无数触须完成了星星间错综复杂的联接。希恩斯眼中星空的图景消失了，他置身于一个无限大的网络结构中。
She pressed the mouse and the image returned instantly to the white fog state. “This is a full view of the structure of the brain captured using the Resolving Imager scanning three million cross sections simultaneously. Of course, what we’re seeing now is the processed image — for the convenience of observation, the distance between neurons has been magnified by four or five orders of magnitude so it looks like we vaporized a brain. However, the topology of the connections between them has been preserved. Now, let’s take a look at a dynamic view…”
惠子接动鼠标，图像瞬间恢复到白雾状态：“这是一个大脑结构的全视网，是由解析摄像机拍摄的，三百万个截面同时动态扫描。当然，我们现在看到的这个图像是经过处理的，为了便于观察，把神经元之间的距离拉大了四至五个数量级，看上去就像把一个大脑蒸发成气体，不过它们之间突触联接的拓扑结构是保持原样的。现在看看动态的……”
Disturbances appeared in the fog, glittering points in the mist that looked like a pinch of gunpowder sprinkled onto a flame. Keiko Yamasuki enlarged the image until it resembled a starfield, and Hines saw the surging of startide in a brain-universe, the disturbances in the ocean of stars appearing in different forms at different locations: some like streams, others like vortexes, and others like the sweeping tides, all of it instantly mutable and giving rise to stunning pictures of self-organization within the teeming chaos. Then the image changed again to resemble a network, and he saw myriad nerve signals busily passing messages along thin synapses, like flashing pearls within the flow of an intricate network of pipes…
雾气中出现了扰动，就像把一撮火药均匀地撒在火焰上，璀璨的光点在雾气中出现。山杉惠于把图像放大到星空模式，希恩斯看到大脑宇宙中星潮汹涌，星海的扰动在不同位置以不同的形式出现，有的像河流，有的像旋涡，有的像横扫一切的潮汐。所有的扰动都瞬息万变，在浩渺的混沌中，不时出现自组织的美图。当图像放大到网络模式时，希恩斯看到了无数神经信号沿着纤细的突触繁忙地传递着，像错综管网里流淌着的闪光珍珠……
“Mine,” she said, looking lovingly at him. “When this thought picture was taken, I was thinking of you.”
“我的。”山杉惠子含情脉脉地看着希恩斯，“出现这幅思维图景时，我正在想你。”
“Whose brain is this?” he asked in wonder.
“这是谁的大脑？‘希恩斯在惊叹中问道。
Proposition 2: 1 + 1 = 2.
命题2号：1+1=2
Proposition 3: The temperature in winter is lower than in summer.
命题3号：冬季的气温比夏季低
Please note: When the light turns green, the sixth batch of test propositions will appear. If the proposition is true, press the right-hand button. If the proposition is false, press the left-hand button.
请注意，当亮点变绿时，第六批测试命题将显示，命题为真按右手按钮，命题为伪按左手按钮。
Proposition 1: Coal is black.
命题1号：煤是黑色的
Proposition 5: A straight line is the shortest distance between two points.
命题5号：两点之间直线最短
Proposition 6: The moon is brighter than the sun.
命题6号：月亮比太阳亮
Proposition 4: Men are generally shorter than women.
命题4号：男人的个子一般比女人矮
The statements were displayed in succession on the small screen in front of the test subject. Each proposition was displayed for four seconds, and the subject pressed the left-hand or right-hand buttons according to his own judgment. His head was encased in a metal cover that allowed the Resolving Imager to capture a holographic view of his brain, which the computer would process into a dynamic neural network model for analysis.
以上信息依次显示在受试者眼前的小屏幕上，每一个命题显示时间为四秒钟，受试者根据自己的判断按动左右手相应的按钮。他的头部处于一个金属罩中，解析摄像机拍摄大脑的全息视图，经计算机处理后形成可供分析的动态神经元网络模型。
The research teams led by Hines and Keiko Yamasuki had made some progress. They discovered that critical thinking was not produced in any specific location in the cerebral neural network but used a particular mode of nerve impulse transmission, and that with the powerful computer’s assistance, this model could be retrieved and located from among the vast network of neurons using a method quite similar to the star positioning the astronomer Ringier had provided to Luo Ji. Unlike finding a particular position pattern in a starfield, in the universe of the brain the pattern was dynamic and was only identifiable by its mathematical characteristics. It was a little like looking for a small whirlpool in an expansive ocean, which meant that the computing power it required was many orders of magnitude greater than that of the starfield and was only feasible on this latest machine.
希恩斯和山杉惠子领导的研究小组已经取得了一些进展，他们发现，判断思维并非产生于大脑神经元网络的特定位置，但却拥有特定的神经冲动传输模式，借助强大的计算机，可以从浩瀚的神经元网络中检索和定位这种模式，这很像天文学家林格为罗辑提供的那种定位恒星的方式：在星海中查找某种特定的位置构图。但在大脑宇宙中，这种构图是动态变化的，只能从其数学特征上识别，如同在浩森的大洋中寻找一个小小的旋涡。所需的计算量比前者要大几个数量级，也只有最新的超级电脑才能做到。
In this, the initial stage of Hines’s research project, the subject engaged in only the simplest of critical thinking, and the test propositions had concise and clear answers. During such simple thoughts, the operation of the cerebral neural network was relatively easy to identify and provided a starting point for a more in-depth study of the nature of thought.
这是希恩斯思维研究项目的初级阶段，受试者只进行最简单的判断思维，测试命题都是最简洁且有明确答案的，在这种简单思维中。大脑神经网络的运作机制较易识别，由此可以作为深入研究思维本质的起点。
This was actually just a way to provide a more intuitive feast for the eyes and was not strictly required by the study. The important thing was the analysis of the internal structure of nerve impulse transmission at the point of thought, for there lay hidden the mysteries of the essence of the mind.
其实，这种显示方式只是提供了一场直观的视觉盛宴，在具体研究中并无必要，最重要的是对思维点内部神经冲动传输结构的分析，那里隐藏着思维最本质的奥秘。
Hines and his wife strolled through the cloud map of the brain in the holographic display. Every time a point of critical thinking was identified in the subject’s brain, the computer would indicate its position on the image with a flashing red light.
希恩斯夫妇漫步在全息显示器显示的大脑云图中，每当受试者大脑中的一个判断思维点被识别时，计算机就会在云图上相应的位置以闪烁的红光标示出来。
When the Resolving Imager had just been developed, scanning such a huge quantity of cross sections generated powerful radiation that was fatal to any life being scanned, but successive improvements had brought the radiation below the danger line, and a large number of tests had demonstrated that so long as filming was kept below a set length of time, the Resolving Imager would not cause any damage to the brain.
在解析摄像机剐研制出来时，巨量断面的同时扫描产生强大的辐射，会对任何被拍摄的生命体产生致命的损害，但经过多次改进，拍摄时的辐射已经降低到安全线以下。大量试验表明，只要不超过规定的拍摄时间，解析摄像机不会对大脑产生任何损害。
Just then the research team’s medical director came in and said that Subject 104 was experiencing problems.
这时，项目组医学部主任匆匆走来，说104号受试者出现了问题。
The medical director raised a hand and tried to sort out his thoughts: “Oh, I’m sorry. That wasn’t accurate. He doesn’t have any physical problems, and his brain and other organs have not been damaged at all. It’s just that he’s afraid of the water, like someone with rabies. He refuses to drink, and he won’t even eat moist food. It’s an entirely psychological effect. He just believes that water is toxic.”
医学部主任抬起一只手，在极力理清自己的思维：“哦，对不起，我说得不准确，他在生理上没有任何问题，大脑和其他器官也没有受到任何损害，但确实像狂犬病人那样怕水，他拒绝喝水，甚至连含水的食物都不敢吃。这完全是精神上的作用，他认为水有毒。”
Hines and Keiko Yamasuki stopped in their tracks in surprise. Hines stared at the medical director: “Hydrophobia? Did he somehow get rabies?”
希恩斯和山杉惠子都惊奇地停下了脚步。希恩斯瞪着医学部主任说：“据我所知，恐水症就是狂犬病！”
“He seems to have caught hydrophobia,” the medical director said, as they hurried toward the medical center.
“他好像得了恐水症。”在匆匆赶往医疗中心的路上，医学部主任说。
“Persecutory delusion?” Keiko Yamasuki asked.
“迫害幻想？”山杉惠子问。
Again, Hines and his wife stopped still, and the medical director shook his head helplessly. “But psychologically, he’s completely normal in every other way… I can’t explain it. You’ve got to see it for yourselves.”
希恩斯夫妇再次站住了，医学部主任无奈地摇摇头：“可是他的精神在别的方面都很正常……我说不清，你们亲自看看吧。”
The medical director waved a hand. “No, no. He doesn’t think that anyone put poison in the water. He just believes the water itself is toxic.”
医学部主任摆摆手：“不不，他并不是认为有人在水里下毒，他认为水本身就有毒。”
Subject 104 was a volunteer college student who had come to earn some pocket money. Before they entered the patient’s room, the director told Hines and his wife, “He hasn’t had a drink in two days. If this continues, he’ll become severely dehydrated and we’ll have to hydrate him by force.” Standing at the door he pointed to a microwave oven, and said, “You see that? He wants bread and other food baked completely dry before he’ll eat it.”
104号受试者是一名自愿的大学生，接受试验只是为了挣些零花钱。在走进病房前，医学部主任对希恩斯夫妇说：“他已经两天没喝水了，再这样下去会出现严重脱水的，以后只能强制进水了。”他在门边指着病房中的一台家用微波炉说，“看那个，他要把面包或其他食物放进去烤到完全干燥时才吃。”
Hines looked at the glass of clear water, certain that the subject did not have rabies, because true hydrophobia would cause spasms of terror at the mere sight of it. The sound of running water would induce madness, and there might even be an intense fear response if others simply talked about it.
希恩斯看看那杯清水，肯定受试者没有得狂犬病，因为真正的恐水症会使患者见到水后就发生恐怖的痉挛，连流水声都会令他们疯狂，甚至别人谈到水都会引起强烈的恐惧反应。
Hines and his wife entered the patient’s room. Subject 104 looked at them with fear in his eyes. His lips were cracked and his hair disheveled, but otherwise he looked entirely normal. He tugged at Hines’s sleeve and said in a hoarse voice, “Dr. Hines, they want to kill me. I don’t know why.” Then he pointed a finger at a glass of water sitting on the cabinet next to the head of the bed. “They want me to drink water.”
希恩斯夫妇走进病房时，104号受试者用恐惧的目光看着他们，他嘴唇干裂，头发蓬乱，但其他方面看上去都正常。他拉着希恩斯的衣袖，声音嘶哑地说：“希恩斯博士，他们要杀我，真的不知道为什么。”他用另一只手指指床头柜上放着的一杯水，“他们让我喝水。”
“Do you really believe that water is toxic?” Hines asked.
“你真的认为水有毒？”希恩斯问。
Hines leaned on his shoulder and said, “Young man, life was born in the water and can’t exist without it. Your own body is seventy percent water.”
希恩斯扶着他的肩膀说：“年轻人，生命在水中产生并且离不开水，体现在的身体百分之七十是水。”
“From his eyes and speech, he ought to be in a normal psychological state,” Keiko Yamasuki said to Hines in Japanese. She had a degree in psychology.
“从目光和语气看，他的精神应该是处于正常状态的。”山杉惠子用日语对希恩斯说，她有一个心理学学位。
Subject 104’s eyes darkened, and he slumped back in bed, clutching his head. “That’s right. This question tortures me. It’s the most incredible thing in the universe.”
104号受试者的日光黯淡下来，他捂着头颓然坐在床上：“是的，这个问题在折磨着我，这是宇宙中最不可思议的事了。”
The test propositions displayed on the computer screen one by one:
命题在电脑屏幕上逐条显示：
“Let me see Subject 104’s experiment record,” Hines said to the medical director after they left the patient’s room. When they reached the director’s office, Keiko Yamasuki said, “Look at the test propositions first.”
“我要看104号的实验记录。”走出病房后，希恩斯对医学部主任说，他们来到主任的办公室，山杉惠子说：“先看测试命题。”
“Is there any question? Just like the sun has light and the air has oxygen. You can’t deny this basic fact, can you?”
“这有什么可怀疑的吗？就像太阳有光和空气中有氧一样，你们不至于否认这个常识吧。”
Proposition 2: Rocks are not living.
命题2号：石头是没有生命的
Proposition 1: Cats have a total of three legs.
命题l号：猫共有三条腿
Proposition 3: The sun is shaped like a triangle.
命题3号：太阳的形状是三角形
“Look at all parameters and operations following the answer to Proposition 5.”
“看看命题5得到回答后的所有操作和参数。”
“Stop,” Hines said, pointing to Proposition 5.
“停。”希恩斯指着命题5号说。
Proposition 5: Water is toxic.
命题5号：水是剧毒的
Proposition 4: Iron is heavier than cotton of the same volume.
命题4号：同样的体积，铁比棉花重
“His answer was ‘false,'” the director said.
“他的回答是伪。”医学部主任说。
The records indicated that once Proposition 5 was answered, the Resolving Imager increased the strength of its scan of the critical thinking point in the subject’s cerebral neural network. To improve the accuracy of the scan of this area, the intensity of the radiation and the magnetic field were increased in this small region. Hines and Keiko Yamasuki carefully examined the long list of recorded parameters on the screen.
记录显示，命题5号得到回答后，解析摄像机对受试者大脑神经网络中的判断思维点进行了强化扫描，这是为了提高这一区域的扫描精度，因而在这一小范围内加强了扫描的辐射强度和电磁场强度。希恩斯和山杉惠子仔细研究着屏幕上一大片参数记录。
The director said, “Because the effect of the enhanced scan was not particularly good, it was canceled after four tries due to fears of excessive localized radiation. The previous three…” He consulted the computer, and then said, “were all benign true propositions.”
医学部主任说：“因为强化扫描效果并不好，而且担心局部辐射超标，只做过四次就取消了，前三次……”在电脑上查询过后他说，“都是无害的真命题。”
“Has this enhanced scan been done to other subjects and on other propositions?” Hines asked.
“这样的强化扫描在别的命题和受试者上还做过吗？”希恩斯问。
Water is toxic.
水是剧毒的
“But… who will do it?” asked the director.
“可……让谁做呢？医学部主任问。
“We should use the same scanning parameters and repeat the experiment for Proposition 5,” Keiko Yamasuki said.
“应该用相同的扫描参数，在命题5号上把实验重做一遍。”山杉惠子说。
Proposition 5 appeared in black text on a white background. Hines pressed the left “False” button, but he felt nothing apart from a slight sensation of heat produced by the intensive scanning at the back of his head.
在白色的背景上，命题5号以黑色的字体出现。希恩斯按下了左手处的“伪”键，除了密集扫描在脑部产生的微热感外，他没有其他的感觉。
“I will,” Hines said.
“我。”希恩斯说。
He exited the Resolving Imager lab and sat down at a table, as a crowd, which included Keiko Yamasuki, watched. On the table stood a glass of clear water. He picked up the glass and slowly drew it to his lips and took a sip. His movements were relaxed and he wore an expression of quiet calm. Everyone began to sigh with relief, but then they noticed that his throat wasn’t moving to swallow the water. The muscles of his face stiffened and then twitched slightly upward, and into his eyes came the same fear Subject 104 exhibited, as if his spirit was fighting with some powerful, shapeless force. Finally he spat out all of the water in his mouth and knelt down to vomit, but nothing came out. His face turned purple. Hugging Hines to her, Keiko Yamasuki clapped him on the back with one hand. When he had recovered his senses, he held out a hand: “Give me some paper towels,” he said. He took them and carefully wiped off the droplets of water that had splashed on his shoes.
希恩斯走出了解析拍摄室，在包括山杉惠子在内的众人的注视下走到一张桌子旁。桌子上放着一杯清水，希恩斯拿起杯子，慢慢地凄到嘴边喝了一小口，他动作从容，表情镇定。众人开始松了一口气，但接下来他们迟迟没有看到希恩斯咽下水时喉部的动作，却见他的脸部肌肉先是僵硬，然后微微抽搐起来，他的目光渐渐露出和104号受试者一样的恐惧，似乎在精神上和一种无形的巨大力量搏斗着。最后，他哇地一下把含在口中的水全部吐出来，并蹲下来开始呕吐，并没有吐出什么，脸却憋成了紫色。山杉惠子抱住了他，一手拍着他的后背，刚刚回过气来的希恩斯伸出一只手说：“给我些纸巾什么的。”他拿到纸巾后，仔细地把溅到皮鞋上的水擦掉。
He nodded. “I do.” He looked up at the crowd, helplessness and confusion in his eyes. “I do. I really do.”
希恩斯缓缓点头：“我是这样想的，”他抬头看看众人，目光中充满着无助和迷茫，“我想，我是这样想的。”
“Do you really believe that water is toxic, love?” Yamasuki asked, tears in her eyes. Prior to the experiment she had asked him repeatedly to replace the proposition with a false one that was entirely harmless, but he had refused.
“亲爱的，你真的相信水有毒？”山杉惠子含泪问道，在实验前她曾经多次要求改变命题，用另一个无害的伪命题代替，但都被希恩斯拒绝了。
Three years after the breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion, new and unusual heavenly bodies had taken their place in the Earth’s night sky, up to five of them now simultaneously visible in one hemisphere. The bodies changed dramatically in luminance, outshining Venus at their brightest, and often blinked rapidly. Sometimes one of them would suddenly erupt with a rapid increase in brightness, then go out after two or three seconds. They were fusion reactors undergoing tests in geosynchronous orbit.
在可控核聚变技术取得突破三年后，地球的夜空中陆续出现了几颗不寻常的星体，最多时在同一个半球可以看到五颗，这些星体的亮度急剧变化，最亮时超过了金星，还时常急剧闪烁。有时这些星体中的某一个会突然爆发，亮度急剧增强，然后在两三秒内熄灭。这些星体是位于同步轨道上的实验中的核聚变反应堆。
“Let me repeat your words,” she said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Life was born in the water and can’t exist without it. Your own body is seventy percent water!”
“我重复你的话，”山杉惠子抓着他的肩膀说，“生命在水中产生并且离不开水，你现在的身体百分之七十是水！”
Hines bowed his head and looked at the water stains on the floor. Then he shook his head. “That’s right, dear. This question tortures me. It’s the most incredible thing in the universe.”
希恩斯低头看着地面上的水渍点点头，接着又摇摇头：“是的，亲爱的，这个问题在折磨着我，这是宇宙中最不可思议的事了。”
Non-media radioactive propulsion had won out as the research path for future spacecraft. This type of propulsion required high-powered reactors that could only be tested in space, leading to these glowing reactors thirty thousand kilometers out in space known as nuclear stars. Every time a nuclear star erupted, it represented a disastrous defeat. But contrary to what most people believed, nuclear star eruptions were not explosions in the nuclear reactor, but the exposure of the core when the outer hull of the reactor melted from the heat produced by fusion. The fusion core was like a small sun, and because it melted Earth’s most heat-tolerant materials as if they were wax, it had to be contained by an electromagnetic field. These restraints frequently failed.
未来太空飞船的发展方向被最终确定为无工质辐射推进，这种推进方式需要的大功率反应堆只能在太空中进行实验，这些在三万公里的高空发出光芒的聚变堆被称为核星。每一次核星的爆发就标志着一次惨重的失败，与人们普遍认为的不同，核星爆发并不是聚变堆发生爆炸，只是反应器的外壳被核聚变产生的高温烧熔了，把聚变核心暴露出来。聚变核心像一个小太阳，地球上最耐高温的材料在它面前就像蜡一般熔化，所以只能用电磁场来约束它，但这种约束常常失效。
“The third time this month,” Chang Weisi said.
“这个月已经是第三次了。”常伟思说。
On the balcony of the top floor of Space Command, Chang Weisi and Hines had just witnessed one such eruption. Its moonlike glow cast its shadows onto the wall before disappearing. Hines was the second Wallfacer that Chang Weisi had met, after Tyler.
在太空军司令部顶层的阳台上，常伟思和希恩斯就刚刚目睹了一次核星爆发，他们的影子被那满月般的光芒投在墙上，转瞬间消失。继泰勒后，希恩斯是常伟思会见的第二位面壁者。
“That’s true. The sophons are blocking our every path,” Chang Weisi said as he looked off into the distance. The sea of lights in the city seemed even more brilliant now that the light in the sky had disappeared.
“是啊，智子挡在所有的路上。”常伟思看着远方说，天空中的光芒消失后，城市的灯海似乎比以前更加灿烂了。
Hines looked out at the now-darkened night sky. “The power of these reactors only reaches one percent of what’s needed for future spacecraft engines, and they don’t operate stably. And even if the required reactors were developed, engine technology will be even more difficult. We’re sure to encounter the sophon block there.”
希恩斯看看黑下来的夜空说：“这种聚变堆的功率，只及未来飞船发动机所要求的百分之一，可还是无法稳定运行……即使所要求的聚变堆研制出来，发动机的技术更难，这中间，他们肯定要遇到智子障碍。”
“A glimmer of hope fades as soon as it is born, and one day it will be destroyed forever. It’s like you said: The sophons block our every path.”
“刚刚出现的希望之光又黯淡了，总有彻底破灭的那一天，正如您所说，智子挡在所有的路上。”
Chang Weisi said, with a laugh, “Dr. Hines, you’re not here to talk defeatism with me, are you?”
常伟思笑笑说：“希恩斯博士，您不是来和我谈失败主义的吧。”
“That’s precisely what I want to talk about. The resurgence of defeatism is different this time. It’s based on the drastically reduced living conditions in the general population and has an even greater impact in the military.”
“我正是要谈这个，这次失败主义的回潮与上次不同，是以生活水平急剧降低的民众为基础的，对太空军的影响更大。”
Chang Weisi looked back from the distance but said nothing.
常伟思从远方收回目光，没有说话。
This got Hines excited. “General, you’re not so primitive, at least compared to others! I notice you said ‘mental ability’ rather than ‘intelligence.’ The former is much broader than the latter. To overcome defeatism, for example, we can’t simply rely on intelligence. Given the sophon block, the higher your intelligence, the more trouble you have establishing a faith in victory.”
这话令希恩斯兴奋起来：“将军，至少与其他人相比，您不那么原始了！我注意到，您说的是’思想能力‘而不是’智力‘，前者比后者的内涵要大得多，比如，目前战胜失败主义仅凭智力是不行的，在智子障碍面前，智力越高的人越难以建立胜利的信念。”
“But is it really possible to use technology to enhance mental ability?”
“但，用技术提升思想能力是可能的吗？”
Chang Weisi looked at Hines in silence for a few seconds, his expression unreadable to the other man. Then, without replying to his offer, he said, “The evolution of the human brain needs twenty thousand to two hundred thousand years to achieve noticeable changes, but human civilization has a history of just five thousand years. So what we’re using right now is the brain of primitive man… Doctor, I really applaud your unique ideas, and perhaps this is where the real answer lies.”
常伟思静静地看了希恩斯几秒钟，后者感到他的目光深不可测，他没有回应希恩斯的话，而是说：“人类大脑的进化需要两万至二十万年才能实现明显的改变，而人类文明只有五千年历史，所以我们目前拥有的仍然是原始人的大脑……博士，我真的很赞赏您这种独特的思路，也许这真的是关键所在。”
“Thank you. All of us are basically Flintstones.”
“谢谢，我们真的都是摩登原始人。”
“I understand your difficulties, General, and I’d like to help you.”
“所以，将军，我理解您的难处，我想帮助你们。”
Chang Weisi smiled and nodded, showing cautious interest.
常伟思微微点头，表现出了谨慎的兴趣。
Hines shook his head. “How much do you know about my and Keiko Yamasuki’s work before the Trisolar Crisis?”
希恩斯摇摇头，“您对我和山杉惠子在三体危机出现以前的工作有了解吗？”
“So give me an answer. Is it possible?”
“那么，你还是回答我，可能提升吗？”
“Not too much. I believe it was: The essence of thought is not on the molecular level but is carried out on the quantum level. I wonder, does that imply –“
“我不是太懂，好像是：思维在本质上不是在分子层面，而是在量子层面进行的，我想，这是不是意味着……”
“It implies that the sophons are waiting for me. Just like we’re waiting for them,” Hines said pointing at the sky. “But right now, our research is still quite a ways from our goal. Still, we’ve come up with an unexpected by-product.”
“这意味着智子也在前面等着我，”希恩斯指指天空，“就像在等着他们一样。但目前，我们的研究虽离目标还很遥远，却产生了一个意想不到的副产品。”
“I won’t talk about the details. Basically, we discovered the mind’s mechanism for making judgments in the cerebral neural network, as well as the ability to have a decisive impact on them. If we compare the process by which a human mind makes judgments to a computer’s process, there’s the input of external data, calculation, and then the final outcome. What we’re able to do is omit the calculation step of the process and directly produce an outcome. When a certain piece of information enters the brain, it exerts an influence on a particular part of the neural network, and we can cause the brain to render a judgment — to believe that the information is genuine — without even thinking about it.”
“不谈技术细节了，简单说吧，在大脑神经元网络中，我们发现了思维做出判断的机制，并且能够对其产生决定性的影响。把人类思维做出判断的过程与计算机作一个类比：从外界输人数据，计算，最后给出结果。我们现在可以把计算过程省略，直接给出结果。当某个信息进入大脑时，通过对神经元网络的某一部分施加影响，我们可以使大脑不经思维就做出判断，相信这个信息为真。”
“Has this already been achieved?” Chang Weisi asked softly.
“已经实现了吗？”常伟思不动声色地问。
“Yes. It started with a chance discovery, which we subjected to in-depth research, and now we’ve done it. We call it the ‘mental seal.'”
“是的，从一个偶然发现开始，我们进行了深入的研究，已经实现了，我们把这种设备称为思想钢印。”
“Then the faith will eventually be overturned. But the process will be quite painful, because the judgment produced in the mind by the mental seal is particularly stubborn. Once, this had me convinced that water was toxic, and it was only after two months of psychotherapy that I was able to drink unimpeded. That process is… not something I want to remember. But the toxicity of water is an extremely clear false proposition. Other beliefs may not be. Like the existence of God, or whether humanity will be victorious in war. These don’t have a clearly determined answer, and in the normal course of establishing these beliefs, the mind is slightly tilted in a certain direction by all sorts of choices. If the belief is established by the mental seal, it will be rock-solid and absolutely unshakeable.”
“那信念最终会被推翻，但这个过程是相当痛苦的，因为思想钢印在意识中所产生的判断异常牢固。我曾经因此而坚信水有毒，经过两个月的心理治疗后才能没有障碍地饮水，那过程……真是不堪回首。而水有毒是一个极其明确的伪命题，其他的信念却并非如此，比如上帝的存在，人类在这场战争中的胜利等等，本来就没有明确的判定答案，这类信念建立的正常过程，就是思维在各种选掸中向一方微微的倾斜，而这类信念一旦由思想钢印建立，就坚如磐石，绝对不可能被推翻。”
“And if the judgment — or if you will, faith — is at odds with reality?”
“如果这种判断或者说信念与现实不符呢？”
“That is truly a great achievement.” Chang Weisi grew serious. “I mean, for neuroscience. But in the real world, Dr. Hines, you have created a truly troublesome thing. Really. The most troublesome thing in history.”
“这真是一个伟大的成就。”常伟思认真起来，“我是说在脑科学上，但在现实中，希恩斯博上，你造出了一个最麻烦的东西，真的，有史以来最麻烦的东西。”
“But is it possible to establish faith in a victory in this war on the basis of rational, scientific thought?”
“可这场战争的胜利信念，有可能用科学理性思维建立起来吗？”
“Political and ideological work establishes faith through rational, scientific thinking.”
“政治思想工作是通过科学的理性思维来建立信念。”
“You don’t want to use this thing, the mental seal, to create a space force possessing an unshakeable faith in victory? In the military, you have political commissars and we have chaplains. The mental seal is just a technological means of accomplishing their work more efficiently.”
“您不想用这个东西，思想钢印，来造就一支拥有坚定胜利信念的太空军队吗？在军队中，你们有政委，我们有牧师，思想钢印不过是用技术手段高教率地完成他们的工作而已。”
“If not, Doctor, we’d rather have a space force that lacks faith in victory yet retains independent thought.”
“博十，如果这样，我们宁愿要一个虽无胜利信念但能够自主思维的太空军。”
“Apart from this one belief, the rest of the mind would of course be entirely autonomous. We would just be performing a tiny intervention in the mind, using technology to leapfrog thought to implant a conclusion — just one alone — into the mind.”
“除了这个信念外，别的思维当然是自主的，我们只是对思维进行了一点点干预，用技术越过思考，把一个结论——仅仅是这一个结论——固化在意识中。”
“You must have read A Clockwork Orange.”
“您一定看过《发条橙》。”
“Of course the latter is more tragic!” Hines retorted, standing up. “Because under the first condition, humanity at least has the chance of regaining independent thought!”
“当然是后者更悲惨！”希恩斯起身反驳道，“因为在前面那种情况下，人类至少还有重获思想自由的机会！”
“But one is enough. Technology is now capable of modifying thoughts just like modifying a computer program. After the modifications, are people still people, or are they automatons?”
“这就够了，技术已经做到了能像修改计算机程序那样修改思想，这样被修改后的人，是算人呢，还是自动机器？”
At the next PDC Wallfacer Project Hearing, Hines’s introduction of his mental seal triggered rare emotion in the assembly. The US representative’s concise evaluation expressed the feeling of the majority of the attendees: “With their extraordinary talent, Dr. Hines and Dr. Yamasuki have opened up a great door into darkness for humanity.”
在行星防御理事会面壁计划听证会上，希恩斯对思想钢印的介绍在会场引发了少有的激动情绪，美国代表简清的评价代表了大多数与会者的想法。“希恩斯博士和山杉惠子博士以自己过人的才华，为人类开启了一扇通向黑暗的大门。”
“It’s a profound book.”
“一本思想很深刻的书。”
“General, your attitude is what I expected,” Hines said with a sigh. “I’ll continue my efforts in this area, the efforts a Wallfacer must exert.”
“将军，您的态度在我预料之中，”希恩斯叹息一声随，“我会继续在这方面努力的，一个面壁者必须做出的努力。”
The French representative left his seat in his excitement. “Which is more tragic for humanity: the loss of the ability and right to think freely, or defeat in this war?”
法国代表激动地离开了自己的座位：“人类失去自由思想的权利和能力，与在这场战争中失败，哪个更悲惨？”
The US representative said, “Dr. Hines, you haven’t gone just one hundred paces. You’ve walked up to the threshold of darkness and are threatening the very foundations of modern society.”
美国代表说：“希恩斯博士，您走的不只是一百步，你已经走到了黑暗的门槛，威胁到现代社会的基础。”
His words caused a commotion.
这话引起了一阵共鸣。
Hines said, “Why is it that everyone gets so sensitive at the mention of thought control? From commercial advertising to Hollywood culture, thought control is everywhere in modern society. You are, to use a Chinese phrase, mocking people for retreating a hundred paces when you’ve retreated fifty yourselves.”
希恩斯说：“怎么一提到思想控制，大家都这样敏感？其实就是在现代社会，思想控制不是一直在发生吗，从商业广告到好莱坞文化，都在控制着思想。你们，用一句中国话来说，不过是五十步笑百步而已”
“I have doubts about that. If this thing really does get used… Look at all you Wallfacers,” the Russian representative said, raising his hands toward the ceiling. “Tyler wanted to deprive people of their lives, and you want to deprive them of their minds. What are you trying to do?”
“我怀疑，如果那东西真被使用的话……看看你们这些面壁者吧，”俄罗斯代表时着天花板扬起双手，“泰勒要剥夺人的生命，你要剥夺人的思想，你们到底想干什么？”
The UK representative said, “Today we are merely proposing a motion, but I believe that the governments of all countries will be unanimous in banning this thing. Regardless of what happens, nothing is more evil than thought control.”
英国代表说：“我们今天只是提出议案，但我相信，各国政府会一致同意封杀这个东西，不管怎样，没有比思想控制更邪恶的东西。”
Sure enough, there was a lull in the noise after his utterance. “What little boy?” asked the rotating chair.
会场的喧哗果然让他的最后一句话暂时平息了。“什么小男孩儿？”轮值主席问。
Another commotion swept through the assembly, and Hines knew that now was the time to seize control of the situation. He raised his voice and said, “Learn from the little boy!”
会场上又嘈杂起来，希恩斯知道，此时他必须控制住局势，他提高了声音说：“学学那个小男孩儿吧！”
Hines saw with satisfaction that no one in the meeting room had attempted to interrupt him, at least. He went on. “Humanity is now facing a life-and-death problem. The life or death of our species and civilization as a whole. In these circumstances, how can we not give up a few things?”
希恩斯满意地看到，会场上至少没有人试图打断他的话，他继续说道：“人类现在面临的问题是生存还是死亡，整个种族和文明作为一个整体的生存或死亡，在这种情况下，怎么可能不舍弃一些东西？”
Two light thumps sounded. The chair was banging the gavel, even though there wasn’t much noise in the assembly. The attendees were reminded that the German man had maintained an unusual silence during the course of the hearing.
“啪啪”两声轻响，是主席在敲木槌，尽管这时会场上并没有喧哗。这时人们才注意到，这个德国人是会场上少有的保持平静的人。
“I think we’re all familiar with this story: In a forest, a little boy got his leg caught under a fallen tree. He was alone at the time, and his leg was bleeding uncontrollably. It would have killed him, except that he made a decision that would shame every one of you delegates: He took up his saw and sawed off the leg that was pinned, then climbed into a car and found a hospital. He saved his own life.”
“我想大家都听过这个故事的：一个在林场中被倒下的树木压住腿的小男孩儿，当时只有他一个人，腿流血不止，这样下去他会失血而死，但他做出了一个能令各位代表汗颜的决定：拿起锯子，锯断了被压住的那条腿，爬上车找到医院，拯救了自己的生命。”
The chair’s words calmed the assembly completely. After a silence of nearly half a minute, he continued. “Like each of you, when I learned of the existence of the mental seal, I felt the kind of fear and loathing I’d get from seeing a poisonous snake. But the most rational approach to take right now is to calm down and seriously consider it. When the devil does actually appear, the best option is calmness and rationality. At this hearing, we are simply putting forward a votable motion.”
主席的话使会场彻底冷却下来，他让沉默延续了近半分钟，才继续说：“同各位一样，在得知思想钢印的存在时，我像看到毒蛇般恐惧和厌恶……但我们现在最理智的做法是冷静下来，认真思考一下，即使魔鬼真的出现了，冷静和理智也是最好的进择。在这次会议上，我们仅仅是提出一个供表决的议案。”
In a gentle voice, the chair said, “First of all, I hope that each of you can take a good look at the current situation. Investment in building a space defense system is constantly increasing, and the world economy is experiencing a sharp recession during this time of transition. The prediction that the standard of living will retreat a century may come to pass in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, space defense-related scientific research is running up against the sophon block, and technological progress is slowing. This will trigger a new wave of defeatism in the international community, and this time, it may cause the total collapse of the Solar System Defense Program.”
主席用平缓的语气说：“首先，我希望各位正视目前的形势。太空防御体系的建设，投入越来越大，世界经济在转型的同时急剧衰退，人类社会生活水平后退一个世纪的预言，很可能在不远的将来就变成现实。与此同时，与太空防御相关的科学研究，越来越多地遭遇到智子障碍，技术进步日益减速。这一切，都将在国际社会引发新一轮失败主义浪潮，而这一次，可能导致太阳系防御计划的全面崩溃。”
Hines saw a thread of hope. “Mr. Chair, Representatives, since my initial proposal is unable to be put to an assembly vote, maybe we all can take a step back.”
希恩斯看到了一线希望：“主席先生，各位代表，既然我最初提出的议案不能付诸会议表决，我们是不是可以各自后退一步。”
“No matter how many steps back you take, thought control is absolutely unacceptable,” the French representative said, but in a slightly softer tone than before.
“不管后退多少，思想控制是绝不能被接受的。”法国代表说，但语气不像刚才那般强硬了。
“And if it weren’t thought control? Perhaps something in between control and freedom?”
“如果不是思想控制，或介于控制和自由之间呢？”
“Not so. In thought control, there must be a controller and a subject. If someone voluntarily places a seal in their own mind, then tell me, where is the control in that?”
“不然，所谓控制，必然存在控制者和被控制者，假如有人自愿在自己的意识中打上思想钢印，请问这能被称为控制吗？”
“The mental seal equals thought control,” the Japanese representative said.
“思想钢印就是思想控制。”日本代表说。
The assembly fell silent again. Feeling that success was near, Hines went on, “I propose that the mental seal be opened up, like a public facility. It would have but one proposition: belief in a victory in the war. Anyone willing to gain that faith through the use of the seal could, totally voluntarily, take advantage of the facility. Of course, all of this would be conducted under strict supervision.”
会场再次陷入沉默，希恩斯感到自己已经接近成功了，他接着说：“我提议把思想钢印作为一种类似公共设施的东西对社会开放，它的命题只限一个，就是对战争胜利的信念，愿意借助思想钢印获得这种信念的人，在完全自愿的情况下，都可以使用这个设施。当然，这一切都是应该在严格监督下进行的。”
“How about calling it the Faith Relief Center?” the UK representative said. The British humor of the odd name drew a burst of laughter.
“叫信念救济中心怎样？”英国代表说，这带着英国式幽默的古怪名称引起了一阵笑声。
The assembly opened up a discussion and added to Hines’s basic proposal a fair number of new restrictions on the use of the mental seal. The most crucial of these was the one limiting its use to the space forces, because it was relatively easy for people to accept the idea of uniform thinking in the military. The hearing continued for nearly eight hours, the longest ever, and eventually formulated a motion to be voted on at the next meeting, and which the permanent member states would take back to their own governments.
会议对此展开了讨论，在希恩斯提议的基础上，对思想钢印的使用又提出了许多限制，其中最关键的一条是使用范围仅限于太空军，军队中的思想统一毕竟是让人比较容易接受的。听证会连续进行了近八小时，是最长的一次，最后终于形成了一份供下次会议表决的议案，由各常任理事国代表向自己的政府做出汇报。
“Shouldn’t we come up with a name for this facility?” asked the US representative.
“我们是不是需要给这个设施起个名字？”美国代表说。
“Take out ‘relief,’ and call it the Faith Center,” Hines said, in all earnestness.
“把救济去掉，就叫信念中心吧。”希恩斯认真地说。
At the gate to the Faith Center stood a reduced-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty. Its purpose was unknown — perhaps it was an attempt to use “liberty” to dilute the feeling of “control”– but the most notable thing about the statue was the altered poem on its base:
信念中心的大门前立着一座缩小比例精确复制的自由女神像，谁也说不清其用意，也许是想用“自由”冲淡“控制”的色彩，但最引人注意的是女神像基座上那首被篡改了的诗①：（注：①自自士神像基座上的埃玛·拉扎的诗原文为：把你们疲惫的人，你们贫穷的人，你们渴望呼吸自由空气的挤在一堆的人都给我/把那些无家可归、饱经风浪的人都送来/在这金色的大门旁，我要为他们把灯举起。）
Give me your hopeless souls, Your fearful crowds that thirst for victory, The dazed refuse of your treacherous shoals. Send these, the downcast, wand’ring ones to me, For lo, my lamp of golden faith consoles.
把你们绝望的人，你们迷茫的人，把你们渴望看到胜利之光的畏惧徘徊的人都给我把那些精神失落、是魂在流浪的人都送来：在这金色的信念旁，我要为他们把灯举起。
In the war of resistance against the invasion from Trisolaris, humanity will be victorious. The enemy invading the Solar System will be destroyed. Earth will endure in the cosmos for ten thousand generations.
在抗击三体世界入侵的战争中，人类必胜，入侵太阳系的敌人将被消灭，地球文明将在宇宙中万代延续。
“Do you get the feeling we’re running a struggling mom-and-pop store?” she said.
“你觉得，这儿像不像一个经营惨淡的夫妻店？”山杉惠子说。
The golden faith of the poem was prominently inscribed in many different languages on a black granite stone called the Faith Monument that stood beside the statue:
诗中所说的金色信念，被醒目地用多种文字刻在女神像旁边的一块叫信念碑的黑色花岗岩方碑上：
The Faith Center had been open for three days, during which time Hines and Keiko Yamasuki had been waiting in the majestic foyer. The smallish building erected near the United Nations Plaza had become the latest tourist attraction, with people constantly coming up to take photos of the Statue of Liberty and the Faith Monument, but no one had entered. They all seemed to be maintaining a cautious distance.
信念中心已经开放了三天，希恩斯和山杉惠子一直守候在庄严的门厅里。这幢建在联合国广场附近的不大的建筑成了一个新的旅游景点，不断有人在门前的自由女神像和信念碑前拍照，但一直没有人走进来，人们似乎都谨慎地与这里保持着距离。
“My dear, one day this will be a sacred place,” Hines said solemnly.
“亲爱的，这里总有一天会成为圣地的。”希恩斯庄严地说。
“The Faith Center is only open to members of national space forces. Please show your ID,” Keiko Yamasuki said while bowing. She seemed to Hines like a polite waitress at the Tokyo Plaza Hotel.
“信念中心只有各国太空军成员才能使用，请出示您的证件。”山杉惠于鞠躬说，这时，在希恩斯的眼中，她像一个礼貌周到的东京大饭店服务生。
On the afternoon of the third day, someone finally walked into the Faith Center. The bald, melancholy-looking, middle-aged man walked unsteadily and smelt of alcohol when he approached. “I’ve come to get faith,” he slurred out.
第三天下午，终于有一个人走进信念中心，这是一个面露忧郁的秃顶中年男人，走路有些摇晃，靠近时能闻到酒味。“我来获取一个信念。”他口齿不清地说。
After inspecting the ID, Hines nodded. “Mr. Wilson, do you want to do it now?”
细看过证件后，希恩斯点点头：“威尔逊先生，您打算现在进行吗？”
The man fished out his ID. “I’m a space force member. Civilian personnel. Is that okay?”
男人摸索着拿出了证件：“我是太空军成员，不过是文职人员，可以吗？”
Keiko Yamasuki wanted to explain that according to the PDC resolution, the mental seal was only permitted to operate on one proposition, the one written on the monument at the gate. It had to be done exactly as written, and any alteration was prohibited. But Hines gently stopped her. He wanted to take a look at the proposition the man had submitted first. Unfolding the paper, he read what was written on it:
山杉惠子，本想解释：接照行星防御理事会的决议，思想钢印被允许操作的命题只有一个，就是门前石碑上所写的内容，必须一字不差，其他任何命题都是严格禁止的。但希恩斯轻轻制止了她，他想先看看这人提交的命题是什么，打开耶张纸，见上面写着：
“That would be great,” he said, and nodded. “The… the thing you call a belief proposition. I’ve written it here. I want to believe this.” He pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from his breast pocket.
“那当然。”男人点点头，从胸前的衣袋中掏出一张整齐折好的纸：“那个，你们叫信念命题吧，写在这里，我想获得这个信念。”
“He looks mentally and physically exhausted,” she said.
“他看上去身心疲惫的样子。”惠子说。
After Wilson left, another man passed the Faith Monument, the boundary beyond which ordinary tourists maintained their distance. As the man paced behind the monument, he soon came to Hines’s attention. Hines called Keiko Yamasuki over and said, “Look at him. He must be a soldier!”
在威尔逊被赶走后，又有一个人越过了信念碑，那是一般游人与信念中心保持距离的界限。那人在碑后徘徊着，希恩斯很快注意到了他，招呼惠子说：“看那人，他应该是个军人！”
Katherine loves me. She has never and will never have an affair!
凯瑟琳是爱我的，她根本没有也永远不可能有外遇！
Keiko Yamasuki stifled a laugh, but Hines angrily crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the drunken man’s face. “Get the hell out!”
山杉惠子极力忍住笑，希恩斯则气恼地把那张纸团成一团扔在那个醉汉悲伤的脸上：“滚出去！”
“My name is Wu Yue. I’d like to get belief,” the visitor said. Hines noticed how he referred to “belief” instead of “faith.”
“我叫吴岳，我来获取信仰。”来人说，希恩斯注意到他说的是信仰而不是信念。
“But he’s a soldier. Believe me,” he said. He was about to go out and talk to the man when he saw him heading up the steps. The man looked about Wilson’s age and, though his Asian features were handsome, it was like Keiko Yamasuki had said: He seemed a little melancholy, but in a different way from the previous hard-luck case. His melancholy looked lighter, but also deeper, as if it had been with him for years.
“可他是个军人，你相信我吧。”希恩斯说着，正想出门去与那人交流。却见他迈步走上门前的台阶。这人年龄看来比威尔逊大些，有一副英俊的东方面孔，但正如惠子所言，看上去有些忧郁，不过这种忧郁与刚才那个失意者不同，显得淡些但更深沉，似乎已经伴随他多年。
“You served for one month? Well, if you don’t mind my asking, what was your reason for retiring?” Hines asked.
“服役过一个月？那，如果不介意的话，您退役的原因呢？”希恩斯问。
Wu Yue did not move, but he said, “Sixteen years ago, I spent a month serving in the space force, and then I retired.”
吴岳站着没有动，只是说：“十六年前，我曾经在太空军中服役过一个月，但之后就退役了。”
Keiko Yamasuki bowed and repeated her earlier line: “The Faith Center is only open to members of every country’s space force. Please show your ID.”
山杉惠子鞠躬并重复那句话：“信念中心只有各国太空军成员才能使用，请出示您的证件。”
“Defeatism is a common mentality. You’re evidently just an honest defeatist, and stated your own ideas forthrightly. Your colleagues who continued serving may have harbored an even stronger defeatist complex, but they just kept it hidden,” Keiko Yamasuki said.
“失败主义是一种很普遍的思想，您显然只是一个诚实的失败主义者，坦率地说出了自己的想法。您的那些继续服役的同事可能有着更重的失败主义情绪，他们只是把这种情绪隐藏起来。山杉惠于说。
“Because you left the service?”
“因为离开军队？”
“I’m a defeatist. My superiors and I felt that I was no longer suited to work in the space force.”
“我是一个失败主义者，上级和我本人都认为我不再适合在太空军中工作。”
Wu Yue shook his head. “No. I was born into a family of scholars, and the education I received made me treat humanity as a single unit, even after I became a soldier. I always felt that a soldier’s highest honor would be to fight for the entire human race. This opportunity came, but it was a war that we were destined to lose.”
吴岳摇摇头，“不，我出生于一个学者家庭，所受的教育一直使我把人类作为一个整体来看待，虽然后来成为军人，但总认为只有为全人类而战才是军人的最高荣誉，这种机会真的到来了，却是一场注定要失败的战争。”
“Maybe. But I’ve been lost all these years.”
“也许是吧，但我这些年来很失落。”
“Fifty-one.”
“五十一。”
Hines could see that she didn’t have the heart to refuse him directly. No doubt this deeply melancholy man was very attractive to a woman’s eyes. But this didn’t worry him, because the man was obviously so consumed by his despair that nothing else had any meaning for him.
希恩斯看出，惠子显然不忍心直接拒绝他，这个深沉忧郁的男人在女人眼中无疑是很有魅力的。但希恩斯倒不担心什么，这人显然已经万念俱灰，对任何事都没有兴趣了。
Hines was about to say something, but was interrupted by Keiko Yamasuki. “Permit me to ask a question. How old are you?”
希恩斯要说话，却被惠子抢先了，她说：“冒昧地问一下，您多大年纪了？”
“If you are really able to return to the space force after obtaining faith in victory, don’t you think that at your age it’s a little late to start up in the service again?”
“如果得到胜利的信念后真能重回太空军，以您这个年龄，在军队中重新开始是不是晚了些？”
Wu Yue shook his head. “You misunderstand. I don’t want to gain faith in victory. I’m just looking for peace for my soul.”
吴岳又摇摇头：“您误会了，我并不是来获取胜利信念的，只是来寻求灵魂的安宁。”
Hines wanted to speak, but again Keiko Yamasuki stopped him.
希恩斯想说话，又被惠子制止了。
Wu Yue went on. “I met my present wife when I was studying at the naval academy in Annapolis. She was a fervent Christian and faced the future with a calmness that made me jealous. She said that God had everything planned out, from the past to the future. We children of the Lord did not need to understand his plans. We just needed to firmly believe that this plan was the most reasonable one in the universe, and then live peacefully according to the Lord’s will.”
吴岳接着说：“我是在安那波利斯海军学院留学时认识现在的妻子的，她是一个虔诚的基督徒，面对未来很坦然，一种让我嫉妒的坦然。她说上帝把一切都安排好了，过去和未来的一切，我们这些主的孩子不需要理解这种安排，只需坚信这种安排是宇宙中最合理的安排，然后按主的意愿平静地生活就是了。”
Wu Yue nodded. “I’ve written out my belief proposition. Please have a look.” He reached into his shirt pocket as he spoke.
吴岳点点头：“我写了信仰命题。请您看看。”他说着伸手去上衣袋中掏。
“So you mean that you’ve come to gain a belief in God?”
“这么说，您是来获取对上帝的信仰？”希恩斯问。
The former space force captain showed a trace of a wry smile. “I grew up under a materialist education. I’m a staunch atheist. Do you think gaining this belief would be easy for me?”
前太空军上校露出了一丝苦笑：“我是接受唯物主义教育长大的，是坚定的无神论者，您认为取得这种信仰对我是容易的事吗？”
Again Keiko Yamasuki stopped Hines from saying anything. She said to Wu Yue, “If that’s the case, then just go and believe. There’s no need to resort to such extreme, technological means.”
惠子再次制止了希恩斯说话，她对吴岳说：“如果是这样，您去信仰就可以了，没有必要通过这种极端的技术手段。”
“Absolutely not!” Hines said, getting out in front of Keiko Yamasuki. He decided to clear things up as quickly as he could. “You ought to know that according to the UN resolution, the mental seal can only operate on one proposition.” As he spoke, he took out a large, exquisitely fashioned red card case and opened it up for Wu Yue to see. There, on the black velvet lining, in letters engraved in gold, was the victory oath from the Faith Monument. He said, “This is a faith book.” He took out a set of cases in different colors. “These are faith books in different languages. Mr. Wu, let me tell you how stringent the supervision is for use of the mental seal. To guarantee safe and reliable operation, the proposition is not put up on a display but is given to the volunteer to read from this primitive faith book. As a reflection of the voluntary principle, the specific procedure is completed by the volunteer. He opens up this faith book, then presses the Start button on the mental seal device. Prior to actually performing the procedure, the system will give three confirmation opportunities. Before each procedure, the faith book is inspected by a panel of ten special commissioners from the members of the UN Human Rights Commission and the permanent member states of the PDC. During the operation of the mental seal device, the ten-member panel will be on site to strictly supervise the entire affair. So, sir, your request can’t be fulfilled. Forget about your proposition for religious belief. Changing even one word in the faith book is a crime.”
“这绝对不行。”希恩斯抢在惠子前面说，他决定尽快把事情说清楚，“您应该知道，按照联合国决议，思想钢印能够操作的命题只有一个。”他说着，从接待台中拿出一个精致的红色大纸夹，打开来让吴岳看，在里面黑色的天鹅绒衬面上，用金字镌刻着信念碑上的胜利信念，他说：“这叫信念簿。”他又拿出一摞不同颜色的大纸夹，“这是信念簿不同语言的版本。吴先生，我现在向您说明对思想钢印使用的监督是多么严格：为了保证操作时的安全可靠，命题不是用显示屏显示，而是用信念簿这种原始的方法给自愿者读出。在具体操作时，为体现自愿原则，操作都由自愿者自己完成，他将自己打开这个信念簿，然后自己按动思想钢印的启动按钮，在真正的操作进行前，系统还要给出三次确认机会。每次操作前，信念簿都要由一个十人小组核查确认，这个小组是由联合国人权委员会和行星防御理事会各常任理事国的特派员组成，在思想钢印的整个操作过程中，十人小组也在场进行严格监督。所以，先生，您的要求绝对不可能实现，不要说这种宗教信仰的命题，就是在信念簿上的命题上改动一个字都是犯罪。”
“The rest of his life will be hard,” Keiko Yamasuki said softly, with a voice full of tenderness.
“他的余生会很难的。”山杉惠子低声说，声音里充满柔情。
“Then I’m sorry to have troubled you,” Wu Yue said, nodding. He appeared to have anticipated this outcome. As he turned to walk out, he appeared lonely and old from the back.
“那对不起，打扰了。”吴岳点点头说，他显然已经预料到了这个结果，然后转身走去，背影看上去孤独而苍老。
“Isn’t it obvious? Isn’t God dead? Screw the Lord’s plan. Screw his mild yoke!”
“这不是很明显的事吗，上帝没死吗，去他妈的主的安排，去他妈的温和的轭！”①（注：①源自弥尔顿的诗《我的失明》：神勒令人们工作/难道却不给予光明吗/我痴痴地问道/但是“忍耐”想要阻止这喃语/就马上回答道，神并不需要人工或人自已的才斌/谁能最好地承受他温和的轭/就侍奉得他最好。）
“Sir!” Hines called, stopping Wu Yue just outside the door. He ran out to where the light of the setting sun was reflecting like fire off the Faith Monument and the glass-walled UN building in the distance. He squinted his eyes against the flames and said, “You might not believe me, but I nearly did the exact opposite.”
“先生！”希恩斯叫住已经走出门的吴岳，跟到了门外，这时，信念碑和远处联合国大厦的玻璃幕墙反射着即将落下的夕阳光芒，像着了火似的，希恩斯眯眼看着那一片火焰说：“也许你不相信，我差点做了与你相反的事。”
“Why?” asked Wu Yue, raising his head.
“为什么？”吴岳抬头问道。
God is dead.
上帝死了。
Wu Yue looked puzzled. Hines looked back and, seeing that Keiko Yamasuki had not followed him, took out a piece of paper from his pocket and opened it for Wu Yue. “This is the mental seal I wanted to apply to myself. I was hesitant, of course, and in the end didn’t do it.” The bold text on the paper read:
吴岳露出不解的眼神。希恩斯回头看看，见惠子没有跟出来，就从贴身衣袋中掏出一张纸，展开来让吴岳看：“这就是我想给自己打上的思想钢印，当然，我犹豫了，最后没有做。”纸上写着几个粗体字：
Wu Yue looked at Hines in silence for a moment, then turned and walked down the steps.
吴岳无语地看了希恩斯一会儿，转身走下台阶。
When Wu Yue walked into the shadow cast by the Faith Monument, Hines called after him, “Sir, I wish I could disguise my contempt for you, but I can’t.”
希恩斯在台阶上对着已经走进信念碑阴影中的吴岳大声说：“先生，我想掩盖对您的鄙视，但我做不到！”
The next day, the people Hines and Keiko Yamasuki were waiting for finally started to arrive. In the bright sunshine that morning, four people walked in, three men with European faces and one woman with Asian features. Young, standing straight and tall, and walking at a steady pace, they looked confident and mature. But Hines and Keiko Yamasuki saw in their eyes something familiar, the same melancholy confusion that had been in Wu Yue’s.
第二天，希恩斯和山杉惠子终于等来了他们期待的人。这天上午，从门外明媚的阳光中走进来四人，三个欧洲面孔的男性和一个东方相貌的女性，他们都很年轻，身材挺拔，步伐稳健，看上去自信而成熟。但希恩斯和惠子都从他们眼中看到了一种似曾相识的东西，那就是吴岳眼中的那种忧郁和迷茫。
The mental seal process was quite fast. After the faith books were passed among the ten members of the oversight panel, each of whom carefully checked the contents, they signed their names to the notary certificate. Then, under their supervision, the first volunteer received the faith book and sat down in front of the mental seal scanner. In front of him was a small platform on which he placed the book, and which had a red button in the lower right-hand corner. When he opened the faith book, a voice asked, “Are you certain that you want to obtain a faith in this proposition? If so, please press the button. If not, please leave the scanning area.”
思想钢印的操作过程十分快捷，信念簿在十人监督小组的成员手中传递，他们每个人都仔细地核对了上面的内容，并在公证书上签字。然后，在他们的监督下，第一位自愿者接过了信念簿，坐到了思想钢印的扫描器下，他的面前有一个小平台，他把信念簿放到上面，在平台的右下角有一个红色按钮。他打开信念簿，有一个声音提问：“您确信自己要获取对这个命题的信念吗？如果是，请按按钮；如果不是，请离开扫描区。”
They set their documents neatly down on the reception desk, and their leader said solemnly, “We’re space force officers, and we’ve come to get faith in victory.”
他们把自己的证件整齐地排放在接待台上，为首的一位庄重地说：“我们是太空军军官，来获取胜利信念。”
“How do you feel?” she asked, smiling.
“你们感觉怎么样？”她微笑着问道。
When the button was pressed, it turned green, and after about half a minute, it went out. The voice said, “The mental seal procedure is complete.” The positioning apparatus separated, and then the volunteer got up and left.
当按钮被按下时，它发出绿光，大约半分钟后，绿光熄灭，提示声音说：“思想钢印操作完成。”定位装置分离，自愿者起身离开。
“Excellent,” one young officer said, returning her smile. “How it ought to be.”
“很好，”一位年轻军官也对她回应着微笑，“应该是这样的。”
After all four officers completed the procedure and returned to the foyer, Keiko Yamasuki carefully looked them over, confirming almost immediately that her perception of their improved moods was not just her imagination. The melancholy and confusion had disappeared from the four pairs of eyes, which now were serene as water.
当四名完成操作的军官都回到门厅时，山杉惠子仔细观察着他们，她很快肯定不是自己的心理作用：四双眼睛中，忧郁和迷茫消失了，日光宁静如水。
When they left, the Asian woman turned around and added, “Doctor, I really feel great. Thank you.”
在他们离去时，那个东方姑娘回身加了一句：“博士，真的很好，谢谢您。”
The question was repeated three times, and each time it was asked, the button glowed red. A positioning apparatus slowly contracted to fix the volunteer’s head in place, and then the voice said, “The mental seal procedure is ready to start. Please read the proposition silently and then press the button.”
这样的提问重复了三遍，在均得到确定同答后，按钮发出红光，一个定位装置缓缓地合拢，固定了自愿者的头部，那个声音说：“思想钢印准备启动，请默读命题，然后按动按钮。”
One week later, more than a hundred space force members had obtained faith in victory through the mental seal. They ranged in rank from private to senior colonel, the highest rank permitted by national space forces to use the mental seal.
一个星期后，已经有超过一百名的太空军成员接受了思想钢印给予的胜利信念，他们的军衔最低为列兵，最高为大校。后者是各国太空军允许使用思想钢印的最高军衔。
That night, in the moonlight at the Faith Monument, Hines said to Keiko Yamasuki, “Dear, we need to go.”
这天深夜，在月光下的信念碑前，希恩斯对山杉惠子说：“亲爱的，我们该走了。”
From that day forward, members of the space force came without pause to obtain faith — at first mostly on their own, but eventually in larger groups. They wore civilian clothes at first, but later most of them wore military uniforms. If more than five people came at a time, the supervisory panel convened a review meeting to verify that no one had been coerced.
从这天开始，获取信念的太空军成员不断到来，开始多是一个人前来，后来则成群结队。开始来人都穿便服，后来则大都身着军装。如果一次同来的为五人以上，监督组便要召开一个审查会议，以确定其中无人被胁迫。
“That’s right. We’re not any better than other scientists in the study of the mind, and we’ve accomplished everything we needed to. We have pushed forward the wheel of history, so now let’s go to the future and wait for it.”
“是的，从事思维研究，我们做得并不比其他科学家好，我们该做的都做了，历史的车轮已经被我们推动，我们到未来去等着历史吧。”
At that moment, the future was certain, at least in the minds of those four young people.
从这一时刻起，至少在这四个年轻人的心中，未来是确定的。
“To the future?”
“去未来吗？”
“Of course, dear. I miss it too.”
“当然，亲爱的，我也想念那里。”
“Before we do that, let’s go back to that house in Tokyo for a while. After all, this age is going to be buried forever.”
“这之前，我们先回京都那个小院住一阵吧，这个时代毕竟是要永远过去了。”
“Very far, Keiko. Very far. To the day when the Trisolaran probes reach the Solar System.”
“很远，惠子，很远。我们将前往三体探测器抵达太阳系的那个年代。”
“How far?”
“走多远呢？”
Six months later, as Keiko Yamasuki sank into the deepening cold and was about to enter hibernation, the cold froze and filtered out the riot of noise in her mind. This brought the thread of her focused thoughts into sharp relief in the lonely darkness, like the moment ten years before when Luo Ji plunged into the icy lake. All of a sudden, her hazy thoughts became unusually clear, like the chilly sky in the dead of winter.
半年后，即将进入冬眠的山杉惠子沉浸在越来越深的寒冷中，和十多年前罗辑掉人冰湖那一刻一样，严寒冻结和滤去了她意识中的纷繁和嘈杂，把她集中思考的那条线索在冷寂的黑暗中凸现出来，以前模糊不清的思绪突然异常清晰起来，像严冬冷测的天空。
The operators and doctors noticed that just as she was entering hibernation, her eyes suddenly opened a crack, revealing an expression full of horror and despair. If the cold hadn’t frozen her eyelids, her eyes would have been wide open. But this was just a normal reflex during the process that had been seen on previous hibernators, so they paid it no mind.
操作人员和医生看到，这个即将进入冬眠的女人的眼睛突然睁开了条缝，透出的眼神充满了惊惧和绝望，如果不是因为严寒冻僵了眼皮，她的双眼一定会睁圆的。但他们都认为这是冬眠过程中正常的神经反射，以前在少数冬眠者身上也出现过，所在没有在意。
She wanted to shout for the hibernation to stop, but it was too late. The ultra-low temperatures had seeped into her body and she had lost the ability to produce sound.
山杉惠子想呼叫停止冬眠进程，但已经晚了，超低温已经渗入了她的肌体，她失去了发声的能力；
The giant breakthrough in computing technology meant that computers were at last capable of handling the theoretical stellar model of a nuclear explosion developed over the past decade, and the manufacture of large-yield stellar hydrogen bombs could begin forthwith. The projected yield of the first bomb was the equivalent of 350 megatons of TNT, or seven times more powerful than the largest hydrogen bomb ever manufactured by humanity. It was impossible for this superbomb to be tested in the atmosphere, and a detonation in an underground shaft of the depth previously used would eject the surrounding rock into the air, so testing on Earth would require digging an ultra-deep shaft. But even detonating in an ultra-deep shaft would cause powerful shock waves to spread across the world and might have an unanticipated effect on a broad range of geological structures, possibly touching off disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis. Therefore, the stellar hydrogen bomb could only be tested in space. Yet it was impossible in high orbit, because at that distance, the electromagnetic pulse the bomb generated would have a catastrophic effect on Earth’s telecommunications and power systems. The ideal test location, then, was on the back side of the moon. However, Rey Diaz chose differently.
随着巨型计算机技术的突破，过去十年在理论上已经完善的核爆炸恒星模型得以在计算机上实现，超大当量的恒星型氢弹随即开始制造。预计首颗氢弹的爆炸当量为3.5亿吨TNT，是人类以往所制造的最大氢弹的十七倍。这样的超级核弹是不可能在大气层中进行试验的，地下试验则需挖掘超深井，如果在以往深度的试验井中引爆，地层将被掀起。而在超深井中进行这样的爆炸，其强大的震波将波及全球，可能对广大范围的地质结构产生不可预料的影响，进而诱发包括地震海啸在内的地质灾害。所以恒星型氢弹的试验只能在太空中进行，但在高轨道试验也不可能，氢弹产生的电磁脉冲在这样的距离上会对地球通讯和电力系统产生巨大影响，最理想的试验位置是在月球背面，但雷迪亚兹另有选择。
The UN PDC Wallfacer Project Hearing deliberated the stellar hydrogen bomb test.
联合国行星防御理事会面壁计划听证会讨论恒星型氢弹的试验问题。
“I’ve decided to conduct the tests on Mercury,” he said.
“我决定在水星进行试验。”雷迪亚兹说。
This proposal surprised the representatives in attendance, and they voiced questions about the meaning of the plan.
这个提议令与会代表们很吃惊，纷纷质问这个计划的意义。
“According to the basic principles of the Wallfacer plan, I do not have to explain,” he answered icily. “The tests should be conducted underground. We need to dig ultra-deep shafts on Mercury.”
“按照面壁计划基本原则，我不需要解释。”雷迪亚兹冷冷地回答，“试验应该是地下式的，要在水星上挖掘超深井。”
Rey Diaz said with a laugh, “Even if I used as few resources as Dr. Luo, you’d still be keen to veto my plan.” He turned to the rotating chair. “I would ask the chair and each representative to remember that out of all the strategies proposed by the Wallfacers, my plan is most closely in harmony with mainstream defense, to the point that you could view it as part of the mainstream. In absolute numbers the consumption of resources might look large, but a considerable portion of that overlaps the mainstream. Therefore –“
雷迪亚兹笑笑说：“即使我消耗的资源同罗辑博士一样少，你们也热衷于否决我的计划。”他转向轮值主席，“我请主席先生和各位代表们注意，在所有面壁者提出的战略计划中，我的计划与主流防御体系是最贴近最融洽的，完全可以看做主流防御的一部分，资源的消耗从其绝对数量看是很大，但有相当部分与主流防御是重叠的，所以……”
The Russian representative said, “We can consider tests on the surface of Mercury, but underground tests are too expensive. Digging deep shafts there could cost a hundred times what a similar engineering project would cost on Earth. Besides, the effects of a nuclear bomb on the environment of Mercury would tell us nothing useful.”
俄罗斯代表说：“在水星表面试验也许可以考虑，但地下试验投资太大了，在那里挖超深井，费用可能是在地球上进行同样工程的上百倍，况且也没有意义，在水星不用考虑核爆炸对环境的影响。”
“Even a surface test on Mercury is impossible!” the US representative said. “To date, Rey Diaz has consumed the most resources of all of the Wallfacers. The time has come to stop him!” This sentiment was echoed by representatives from the UK, France, and Germany.
“水星表面试验也不可能！”美国代表说，“迄今为止，雷迪亚兹是对资源消耗最大的一位面壁者，现在是制止他的时候了！”这话引起了英、法、德代表的附和。
The UK representative cut him off. “You still ought to explain why you need to conduct underground tests on Mercury. Unless you’re just doing it to spend money. We can’t find any explanation for it.”
英国代表打断雷迪亚兹的发言：“你还是解释一下为什么要在水星上进行地下核试验吧，除了变着法子花钱外，我们找不到别的解释。”
“Mr. Chair, Representatives,” Rey Diaz countered calmly, “you may have noticed that the PDC no longer has even the barest respect for Wallfacers or for the Wallfacer principle. If we have to explain every detail of our plans, then how is the Wallfacer Project meaningful?” One by one, he turned his scorching gaze on every representative, forcing them to turn away.
“主席先生，各位代表，”雷迪亚兹冷静地反击道，“你们应该看到，到目前为止，行星防御理事会已经失去了对面壁者起码的尊重，也失去了对面壁原则的尊熏，如果我们的所有计划细节都要做出解释，那面壁计划意义何在？”他用灼人的目光挨个逼视各大国代表，令他们都把眼睛转向别处。
He went on, “Even so, I am willing to offer an explanation of the issue just raised. The goal of conducting deep underground tests on Mercury is to blast out a large cave on the planet to serve as a future Mercury base. This is clearly the most economical way of conducting an engineering project of this kind.”
雷迪亚兹接着说：“尽管如此，我还是愿意对刚才的问题做出解释：在水星进行超深地下核试验的目的，是想在行星的地下炸出一个大洞窟，作为日后的水星基地，对这样一个工程来说，这显然是一个最节省的方案。”
His words stirred up whispers, and one representative asked, “Wallfacer Rey Diaz, do you mean you want to use Mercury as the launch base for stellar hydrogen bombs?”
雷迪亚兹的话引起了一片窃窃私语，有代表问：“面壁者雷迪亚兹，你的意思是要把水星作为恒星型氢弹的发射基地？”
“It doesn’t matter, Mr. Chair. I’ve grown accustomed to this lack of respect. I was used to it even before I became a Wallfacer,” Rey Diaz said with a wave of his hand. “But all of you should respect the facts at hand. When the outer planets and Earth have fallen, the Mercury base will be the last bastion of humanity. Backed by the sun and situated amid the cover of radiation, it will be the most rugged of positions.”
“没什么，主席先生，对这种不尊重我已经习惯了，在成为面壁者之前就习惯了。”雷迪亚兹摆摆手说，“但各位应该尊重如下事实：在外侧行星甚至地球均已陷落后，水星基地将是人类最后的堡垒，它背靠太阳，处于其辐射的掩护之中，将成为最坚固的阵地。”
With confidence, Rey Diaz answered, “Yes. Current strategic theory in mainstream defense holds that emphasis should be placed on the outer planets, and so the inner planets, which are not believed to be defensively significant, have not been given sufficient attention. The Mercury base I have planned is intended to mend this weak link in mainstream defense.”
雷迪亚兹胸有成竹地说：“是的，目前主流防御的战略理论认为，防御体系的重点应该放在地球外侧行星上，而对内侧行星没有给予足够的重视，认为它们不具备防御意义，我所规划的水星基地，正是对主流防御的薄弱环节的补充。”
“He’s afraid of the sun, but he wants to go to the planet closest to it. Isn’t that a little strange?” the US representative said. There was a bit of laughter, followed by a warning from the chair.
“他怕见太阳，却要跑到距太阳最近的行星上去，这不是很奇怪吗？”美国代表说，引起了一些笑声，接着受到了主席的警告。
“Wallfacer Rey Diaz, does this mean that your plan’s entire significance lies in a last stand when humanity’s situation is already hopeless? This is quite consistent with your character,” the French representative said.
“面壁者雷迪亚兹，如此说来，你的计划的全部意义，就在于人类已经大势已去之际的最后抵抗？这和你的性格倒是很吻合。”法国代表说。
“Gentlemen, we can’t simply refuse to consider the final resistance,” Rey Diaz said gravely.
“先生们，不能不考虑最后的抵抗。”雷迪亚兹庄重地说。
Laughter shook the auditorium at Rey Diaz’s words.
雷迪亚兹的话引起了哄堂大笑。
“Very well, Wallfacer Rey Diaz,” the chair said. “Now, would you be able to tell us, in your overall deployment scenario, how many stellar hydrogen bombs you’ll need, all told?”
“很好，面壁者雷迪亚兹，”主席说，“下面，您能不能告诉我们，在整体部署方案中，总共需要多少颗恒星型氢弹？”
“The more the better. Manufacture as many as the Earth has capacity to produce. The specific number depends on the yield that hydrogen bombs will be able to achieve in the future, but according to current figures, the first batch in the deployment plan requires at least a million.”
“越多越好，要尽地球的生产能力来制造，具体数量要看未来氢弹能达到多大当量，按现在的标准来看，在第一批部署计划中，至少需要一百万颗。”
“Evidently Wallfacer Rey Diaz doesn’t just want to make a small sun. He wants to make a small galaxy!” the US representative said loudly. Then he leaned toward Rey Diaz. “Do you really think that the ocean’s protium, deuterium, and tritium were prepared just for you? Because of your perverted affection for the bomb, the Earth should be turned into a bomb workshop?”
“看来，面壁者雷迪亚兹不仅要制造出小太阳，还要创造一个银河系！”美国代表高声说，然后探身向雷迪亚兹，“你是不是真的认为，海洋中的氕氘氚都是为你准备的，由于你对核弹的变态情感，地球就要变成一个氢弹生产车间？”
By this point Rey Diaz was the only one in the assembly with a straight face. He waited quietly until the clamor he had sparked died down, and then said, one word at a time, “This is the ultimate war of the human race, so the number I ask for is not at all large. But I did anticipate today’s outcome. Nevertheless, I will work hard. I will build bombs. I will build as many as I can, I tell you. I will work hard and I won’t stop.”
此时会场中只有雷迪亚兹一个人仍一脸严肃，他静静地等待着自己引起的喧闹平息下来，一字一顿地说：“这是人类的终极战争，所要求的这个数目并不多，不过我预料到了今天的结果，但我会努力的，我要多造核弹，能多造一颗就多造一颗，告诉你们，我会不断努力的。”
Only two colors were visible on the surface of Mercury: black and gold. The black was the planet’s land, and its low reflectance meant that even under close illumination from the fierce sun, it remained a sheet of black. The gold was the sun, which occupied a considerable portion of the sky. In its broad wheel you could clearly see the surging of its fiery seas and the sunspots drifting by like black clouds, and, at its edges, the graceful dance of solar prominences.
水星世界只能看到两种色彩：黑色和金色，黑色是行星的大地，在烈日近距离的照射中，低反射率的大地仍然是深黑一片；金色是太阳，在这个世界太阳占据了天空相当大的一部分，在广阔的日轮中，可以清晰地看到火海中的浪涌，看到黑子像乌云般飘过，在日轮边缘，也可以看到绚丽的日珥曼妙的舞姿。
In response, the representatives of the US, UK, and France put forth a joint proposal, P269, to terminate the strategic plan of Wallfacer Rey Diaz.
作为回应，美国、英国和法国的代表提出了一项联合提案，即第269页，终止面壁者雷迪亚兹的战略计划。
With the completion of the space elevator, humanity had begun the large-scale exploration of the other planets in the Solar System. Manned spacecraft landings on Mars and the moons of Jupiter had not caused much of a stir because people knew that the purpose of these expeditions was much clearer and more practical than in the past: They were purely intended to establish bases for the defense of the Solar System. These voyages, which relied mainly on chemical-propulsion rockets and spacecraft, were merely the tiniest of steps toward that goal. Initial explorations focused primarily on the outer planets, but as the study of space strategy deepened, neglecting the strategic value of the inner planets was increasingly called into question. Hence the exploration of Venus and Mercury was stepped up, and so it was that the PDC narrowly passed Rey Diaz’s plan to test the stellar hydrogen bomb on Mercury.
随着太空电梯的建成，人类开始了对太阳系行星的大规模探索。载人飞船相继登陆火星和木星的卫星，并没有引起太大的轰动，因为人们知道，这些探险的目的与以前相比既现实又明确，只是为了建立太阳系防御基地，就这个目的而言，这些以化学动力火箭和飞船为主的航行只是一个微不足道的开端。初期的探索主要集中在地球外侧行星上，但随着太空战略研究的深入，对内侧行星战略价值的忽略受到了越来越多的质疑，于是对金星和水星的探索有所加强，这也是雷迪亚兹的水星恒星型氢弹试验计划在行星防御理事会被勉强通过的原因。
And on this hard chunk of rock suspended atop the sun’s fiery sea, humanity was planting another small sun.
就在这块悬浮于太阳火海之上的坚硬大石块上，人类又种下一颗小太阳。
Excavating the shaft through the rock of Mercury was the first large-scale engineering project humanity had undertaken on another planet in the Solar System. Because construction could only take place during Mercury’s night, in stretches of eighty-eight Earth days, the project would take three years to complete. However, in the end it only reached one-third of the projected depth, due to the discovery of an unusually hard layer farther down, a mixture of metal and rock. Continued excavation would be much slower and far more costly. Ultimately, it was decided to terminate the project. If tests were carried out at the present depth, the surrounding rock would most certainly be ejected by the blast and would form a crater, making it basically a watered-down atmospheric test. And because of the interference from the surrounding crust, it would be far harder to observe the test’s outcome than with a purely atmospheric test. But Rey Diaz thought that if a cover were fitted onto this crater, it could still serve as a base, and insisted on conducting the test underground at the current depth.
在水星地层中开挖试验深井是人类在太阳系其他行星上进行的第一个大型工程。由于施工只能在水星长达八十八天的夜间进行，所以工期长达三个地球年，但最后只掘进到预定深度的三分之一，再往下，出现了一种金属与岩石混合的异常坚硬的地层，继续掘进不仅进度缓慢，且耗资巨大，最后决定结束工程。如果在现有深度进行试验，地层肯定要被核爆炸掀开，形成一个大坑，这实际上是一次打了折扣的地面试验，而由于地层的干扰。对试验效果的观测比纯粹的地面试验困难许多。但雷迪亚兹想到，这个坑如果加上顶盖。也能作为基地，就仍坚持在现有深度进行地下试验。
Ten hours after the conclusion of the blast, observers noticed that a ring had appeared around Mercury. This was due to the considerable amount of rock that had achieved cosmic velocity in the violent explosion and had turned into myriad satellites of various sizes. They spread out evenly in orbit, making Mercury the first ringed terrestrial planet.
在核爆结束十多个小时后，观测者们发现水星出现了一圈星环，这是因为有相当部分的岩石在剧烈的爆炸中达到了水星的第一宇宙速度，成为了这颗行星的无数大小不一的卫星，并在轨道上散开来，使水星成为了第一个有环的类地行星。
The test was carried out at dawn. Sunrise on Mercury was a process that took over ten hours, and a faint light had just appeared on the horizon.
试验是在黎明时进行的，水星的日出过程长达十多小时，这时天边刚出现了微徽的亮色。
When the detonation countdown reached zero, rings of ripples centered on ground zero spread outward, and the ground on Mercury seemed momentarily to become soft as satin. Then, at the blast site, a mountain slowly rose like the back of a waking giant. When the peak had risen to around three thousand meters, the entire mountain exploded, sending billions of tons of mud and rock flying into the air in a towering display of rage by the ground toward the sky. And alongside the surging ground came the radiant light of the underground nuclear fireball, which shone on the rock and earth flying through the air to cause a grand spectacle of fireworks in the black Mercury sky. The fireball lasted for five minutes, as chunks of rock fell to the ground amid a nuclear glow, before it went out.
起爆倒计时数到零后，有一圈圈环形的波纹以爆心投影点为圆心向外扩散，—时间水星的大地似乎变得像绸缎般柔软，紧接着，爆心处出现了一座缓缓隆起的山峰，像一个苏醒的巨人的脊背。当峰顶升至三千米左右时，整座山峰爆发开来，亿万吨的泥土和岩石飞向空中，水星的大地上长出了一束冲天的怒发！随着地层被掀起，地下核火球的光芒暴露出来，照在空中飞散的岩土上，在水星漆黑的天空中形成了壮丽的焰火。火球持续了近五分钟才熄灭，这期间，岩块纷纷在核光芒的照耀中落下。
Another proportion of the rocks achieved escape velocity and left Mercury behind entirely, becoming satellites of the sun in their own right and forming an extremely sparse asteroid belt in Mercury’s orbit.
还有一部分岩石达到了水星的第二宇宙速度，完全脱离水星，成为太阳的卫星，在水星的太阳轨道上形成了一条极其稀疏的小行星带。
The ring was thin, and as it sparkled in the harsh light of the sun, it looked almost like someone had taken a highlighter to the planet.
星环很细，在强烈的阳光中闲耀，像是对这颗行星的一个圈注。
Rey Diaz lived underground not out of any concern for security, but because of his heliophobia. The claustrophobic environment, far removed from the sunshine, made him feel a little more comfortable. He watched the live broadcast of the Mercury test from the basement where he lived. It wasn’t actually live, since the images took about seven minutes to reach Earth. When the blast on Mercury had concluded and the rock rain was still falling in the post-fireball darkness, he received a telephone call from the rotating chair of the PDC, who said that the tremendous power of the stellar hydrogen bombs had made a deep impression on the PDC leadership, and that the permanent member states had requested that the next Wallfacer hearing be held as soon as possible to discuss the bombs’ manufacture and deployment. The chair said that although the number of bombs Rey Diaz had requested was an impossibility, the major powers were indeed interested in the production of this weapon.
雷迪亚兹是在自己居住的地下室中看到水星核试验实况转播的。其实并不是实况，画面到达地球约有七分钟的时差。当水星上的核爆炸刚结束，岩石雨还在火球熄灭后的黑暗中降落时，雷迪亚兹就收到了行星防御理事会轮值主席的电话，说恒星型氢弹的巨大威力给主流防御的领导者们留下了深刻印象，各常任理事国都要求尽快召开下一次面壁计划听证会，讨论恒星型氢弹的制造和部署问题。主席说，雷迪亚兹要求的氢弹数目是根本不可能的，但各大国确实对这种武器产生了兴趣。雷迪亚兹住在地下室中并不是出于安全考虑，而是由于恐日症，这远离日照的幽闭环境让他感到舒适一些。
Over ten hours after the conclusion of the Mercury test, as he was watching Mercury’s new ring sparkling on the television, a guard’s voice came over the intercom to tell him that his psychiatrist had arrived for an appointment.
水星试验结束十多个小时后，当雷迪亚兹看到电视屏幕上闪烁的水星新环时，送话器中传来了门岗的声音，说他预约的心理医生来了。
“I never asked for any psychiatrist. Send him away!” He felt exasperated, like he had suffered some great indignity.
“我从没叫过什么心理医生，让他走开！”雷迪亚兹感到很恼怒，像受到了莫大的羞辱。
“… because I know the cause of your condition,” the voice continued, still calm. “Mr. Rey Diaz, please believe me. You and I are the only ones in the world who know.”
“……因为我知道您的病因。”那个声音从容地继续说，“雷迪亚兹先生，请相信我，这世界上只有我们两人知道。”
“Don’t be like that, Mr. Rey Diaz,” said another, calmer voice, evidently the visitor’s. “I can let you see the sun…”
“别这样，雷迪亚兹先生。”另一个更沉稳声音响了起来，显然是来访者，“我能让您见到太阳。”
“Get the hell out,” he shouted, but then immediately changed his mind. “No. Seize that idiot and find out where he came from.”
“滚！”雷迪亚兹大叫道，旋即又改变了主意，“不，把这个白痴扣押起来，查查他从哪儿来。”
At this, Rey Diaz suddenly grew alert, and said, “Let him in.” He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds through haggard eyes, then got up slowly and picked up a tie from the cluttered sofa, only to toss it back again. He walked over to the mirror, straightened his collar, and combed his hair with his hands, like he was preparing for a solemn event.
这话令雷迪亚兹顿时警觉起来，他立刻说：“让他进来。”然后，他用失神的目光对着天花板凝视了几秒钟，缓缓站起身，从零乱的沙发上拿起领带，马上又扔下了，走到镜子前整理自己的衣领，又用手把乱发梳理了一下，像是要迎接什么庄重的事。
“That’s not strange, Mr. Rey Diaz. Everyone says I look like Superman, from the old movies.”
“不奇怪，雷迪亚兹先生，他们都说我像超人，老版电影中的那个。”
“Why do I have the feeling I’ve seen you before?” he said, as he looked at the visitor.
“我怎么觉得在哪儿见过你？”雷迪亚兹打量着来客说。
Rey Diaz found that the man was standing directly in front of him, peering down at him through the cloud of smoke he had just exhaled. So he stood up.
雷迪亚兹发现他已经站到了自己面前，透过刚吐出的一口烟雾居高临下俯视着自己，于是也站了起来。
The visitor was a handsome middle-aged man who walked in but did not introduce himself. He frowned slightly at the room’s heavy odor of cigars and alcohol, then simply stood there calmly as Rey Diaz looked him over.
来人是一名很帅气的中年人，他走进门后没有做自我介绍，房间里浓重的雪茄味和酒味让他微微皱了皱眉，然后只是站在那里，坦然地接受着雷迪亚兹的审视。
“Do you really believe you’re Superman?” Rey Diaz said. He sat down on the sofa, picked up a cigar, bit off the end, and began to light it.
“你真以为自己是超人了？”雷迪亚兹说，他在沙发上坐下，拿起一支雪茄，咬开头部开始点燃。
The visitor said, “Wallfacer Manuel Rey Diaz, I am your Wallbreaker.”
来人说：“面壁者曼努尔·雷迪亚兹，我是您的破壁人。”
He knew that it was indeed a solemn event.
他知道，这确实是一件庄重的事。
“That question shows that you already know what kind of man I am. I’m not Superman, Mr. Rey Diaz. Nor are you.” As he spoke, the younger man took a step forward.
“这样问，说明您已经知道了我是什么人。我不是超人，雷迪亚兹先生，您也不是。”年轻人说着，向前迈了一步。
Gloomily, Rey Diaz nodded.
雷迪亚兹目光阴沉地点点头。
“May I sit down?” the Wallbreaker asked.
“我可以坐吗？”破壁人问。
The Wallbreaker walked over to the wall and flipped a switch. Somewhere, ventilator fans started humming.
破壁人走到墙边，扳动了一个开关，换气扇在什么地方嗡嗡地响了起来。
“Don’t mess with things around here,” Rey Diaz warned.
“别乱动这里的东西。”雷迪亚兹警告说。
“Don’t be depressed,” the Wallbreaker said with a considerate smile.
“您不必沮丧。”破壁人露出很体贴的做笑说。
“You may not,” Rey Diaz said, slowly blowing smoke in the other man’s face.
“不可以。”雷迪亚兹缓缓地把一口烟吐到他脸上。
“I’m not,” Rey Diaz said, his voice cold and hard like stone.
“我没有。”雷迪亚兹的声音像石头般坚硬冰冷。
“You need a little fresh air. And, more than that, you need sun. I’m quite familiar with this room, Wallfacer Rey Diaz. In the images sent by the sophons I have often watched you pace back and forth like a caged beast. No one in the world has stared at you for as long as I have, and on those days, believe me, it wasn’t any easier for me.”
“您需要新鲜一些的空气，更需要阳光，面壁者雷迪亚兹，我对这个房间很熟悉，在智子传来的图像中，我常常看着您连着几个小时像困兽般在这里走来走去，这个世界上除了我没有人这么长时间凝视过您，而那时的我，请相信，并不比您更轻松。”
The Wallbreaker looked straight at Rey Diaz, whose expression was as blank as an ice sculpture, and then he went on.
破壁人直视着雷迪亚兹，后者仍像一尊冰冷的塑像般面无表情，他便继续说下去。
“Compared to Frederick Tyler, you are a brilliant strategist. A competent Wallfacer. Please trust that this is not flattery. I must admit that for quite some time, for nearly a decade, you had me fooled. Your mania for the superbomb, such an inefficient weapon in a space battle, successfully concealed your own strategic direction, and for a long while I couldn’t find any clue to crack your true strategy. I struggled in the maze that you laid down, and at one point almost despaired.” The Wallbreaker looked up at the ceiling, overcome by the memory of those difficult times. “Later, I thought of checking out information from before you became a Wallbreaker, but this wasn’t easy, because the sophons were unable to help. You know, in those days, only a limited number of sophons had reached Earth, and as a South American head of state you had not attracted their attention. So I had to resort to conventional means to gather materials. This took three years. In those materials, one man stood out: William Cosmo. You met him in secret on three occasions. The sophons did not record the content of your conversations, so I will never know, but for the head of a small, undeveloped country to meet three times with a Western astrophysicist is highly unusual. We now know that at that time you had already been preparing to become a Wallfacer.”
“与弗雷德里克泰勒相比，您是一个更加优秀的战略家，一个合格的面壁者，请相信我这不是恭维。得承认，有相当一段时间，几乎十年吧，我被您迷惑了。您用疯狂的热情追寻超级核弹——这样一种在太空战争中效率很低的武器，同时成功地隐藏了自己的战略方向。长时间里我找不到任何可以限免您真实战略的线索，在您布下的迷宫中挣扎，一度几乎绝望。”破壁人感慨地看着天花板，回忆着自己的艰难岁月，“后来，我想到查询您成为面壁人之前的信息，这很不容易，因为这无法得到智子的帮助。您知道，那一时期到达地球的智子数量有限，作为一名拉美小国的元首，您没有引起它们的注意。所以我不得不用常规手段搜集资料，这用了三年时间。在这些资料中，有一个人引起了我的注意：威廉·科兹莫，您先后二三次秘密会见他。你们谈话的内容智于没有记录下来，我也永远不可能知道了。但一位不发达小国的元首三次会见一名西方天体物理学家，这很不寻常，现在我们知道，您在那时已经为自己成为面壁者做准备了。”
“Once the Trisolar Crisis began, Dr. Cosmo’s research team worked on studying the atmosphere of the Trisolaran stellar system. They speculated that the atmosphere had been produced by a former planet that had collided with a star. As it collided, it broke apart the outer layers, its photosphere and troposphere, causing the stellar matter inside to be ejected into space and form a surrounding atmosphere. Due to the total irregularity of the system’s motion, there are times when the stars pass each other quite closely, and at those times, one star’s atmosphere is dispersed by the gravity of the other star, only to be replenished by eruptions on the stellar surface. These aren’t constant eruptions, more like volcanoes that experience sudden outbreaks. This is the reason for the continual contraction and expansion of the stars’ atmosphere. To prove this hypothesis, Cosmo searched the universe to find another star with an atmosphere that was ejected following a collision with a planet. In the third year of the Crisis Era, he succeeded.”
“三体危机出现后，科兹莫博士所领导的研究小组一直从事三体恒星所带大气层的研究，他们推测，大气层是以前行星的坠落产生的，坠落的行星击破了恒星的外壳，使内部的恒星物质喷射到太空中，形成周围的大气层。由于三体恒星的运动完全没有规律，三颗恒星之间有可能近距离交错，这时，一颗恒星的大气层就会被另一颗恒星的引力所驱散，但之后又会被恒星表面的喷发所补充，这种喷发并不是恒定的，像火山一样，有时会发生突然的爆发，这就是三体恒星大气层不断收缩和膨胀的原因。为了证明这个假说，科兹莫试图在宇宙中找到其他由于行星坠落撞击喷发出大气层的恒星，在危机第三年后，他成功了。”
“No doubt what interested you was the fruit of Dr. Cosmo’s research. How those results first came to your attention I am not clear on at this time, but you had a background in engineering, and you had the successful experience of your socialism-loving predecessor, who had equal enthusiasm for a nation ruled by engineers. This was a major reason why you became his successor. So you ought to have had the capability and sensitivity to notice the potential significance of Cosmo’s research.”
“您感兴趣的无疑是科兹莫博士的研究成果。这之前您是如何注意到那个成果的，我现在也不清楚，但您是学理工出身的，您那热衷于社会主义的前任同样热衷于工程师治国的成功经验，这也是您成为他继任者的重要原因，所以您应该有足够的能力和敏感注意到科兹莫的成果的潜在意义。”
“Dr. Cosmo’s team discovered planetary system 275E1, about eighty-four light-years from the Solar System. Hubble II had not gone into operation at that time, so they used the wobble method. By observing and calculating the wobble frequency and light mask, they learned that the planet was quite close to its parent star. At first, this discovery did not attract too much attention because the astronomy community had by then discovered more than two hundred planetary systems, but further observations revealed a shocking fact: The distance between planet and star was continually shrinking, and the rate of shrinkage was accelerating. This meant that humanity would, for the first time, observe a planet falling into a star. One year later — or, rather, eighty-four years prior to observation — it happened. Observational conditions at the time meant that the collision could only be determined based on the gravitational wobble and the periodic light mask. But then something wondrous happened: A spiral of matter appeared around the star, and this spiral flow continued to expand. It looked like a mainspring slowly unwinding with the star as its center. Cosmo and his colleagues realized that the material flow had been ejected from the planet’s crash point. The chunk of rock had crashed through the shell of that distant sun and ejected its stellar matter into space, where, due to the star’s own rotation, it formed a spiral.”
“科兹莫博士的研究小组发现了一颗带有行星的恒星275E1，距太阳系约八十四光年。当时哈勃二号太空望远镜还没有投入使用，他们是用引力摆动测量法②，接着，通过对摆动频率和掩光。的观测和计算，得知这颗行星距母星很近。开始时，这个发现没有引起太大注意，因为当时天文学界观测到的带有行星的恒星已达二百多颗，但后来的进一步观测却有了一个震撼的发现：行星与母星已经很近的距离仍在不断缩短中，而且这种缩短在很快加速，这就意昧着，人类将第一次观察到一颗行星坠入恒星的景象。这事在一年后——或者说在观测时间的八十四年前——发生了，以当时的观测条件，只是从那颗恒星引力摆动和周期掩光的消失来判断行星的坠落。但接下来，奇观出现了：恒星的周围出现了一道螺旋状的物质流，这个围绕着恒星的螺旋流不断扩展，看上去像是一盘以恒星为中心的正在松开的发条。科兹莫和他的同事们很快意识到，物质流是从行星的坠落点喷出的，那块石头击破了那个遥远太阳的外壳，使其内部的恒星物质喷射到太空中，由于恒星的自转，射流成为螺旋状。”（注：①恒星由于所带的行星的引力，在行星围绕其运行时产生微小的摆动，在望远镜的观测能力不能直接观察到太阳系外行星的条件下，常通观测恒星的这种周期摆动来间接推测测行星的存在。②行星运行时经过恒星与观测者之间时，恒星亮度产生的周期性微小变化。）
“There were several key pieces of data here, sir. The star is a yellow G2 class with an absolute magnitude of 4.3 and a diameter of 1.2 million kilometers. Quite similar to our sun. The planet was about four percent of the mass of Earth, or a little smaller than Mercury, and the spiral cloud of material produced from the collision had a radius of up to three AU, more than the distance between our sun and the asteroid belt.”
“雷迪亚兹先生，这其中有几个关键数据：那颗恒星是一颗黄色G2型星，绝对星等为4.3，直径为120万公里，是一颗与太阳极其相似的恒星；那颗行星约为0.04个地球质量，比水星还小一些，而它的坠落所产生的螺旋形物质云的半径达三个天文单位，超出了太阳至小行星带的距离。”
“Supposing that you are ultimately able to obtain those million or more stellar hydrogen bombs, you will, as you promised to the PDC, stockpile them all on Mercury. If the bombs are detonated in the rock of Mercury, they’ll be like a turbo-engine decelerating the planet. Eventually its speed will no longer be able to keep it in low orbit and it will fall into the sun. Next, what happened on 275E1 eighty-four light-years away is reenacted here: Mercury punctures the sun’s convective shell and ejects a huge amount of stellar matter from its radiation layer into space at high speed; which, as the sun rotates, forms a spiral atmosphere similar to that in 275E1. The sun differs from the Trisolaran system in that, as a lone star, it will never cross paths with another star, and therefore its atmosphere will continue to increase uninhibited until it becomes even thicker than the atmosphere of those stars. This was also confirmed by observations of 275E1. When the spiral flow of ejected matter expands outward from the sun like an unwound mainspring, its thickness eventually passes Mars’s orbit, at which point a magnificent chain reaction begins.”
“假设最后真的得到了那一百万颗甚至更多的恒星型氢弹，您就会像对PDC承诺的那样，把它们全部部署在水星上，如果在水星的地层中引爆这些氢弹，就会像一台超级发动机那样对这颗行星产生减速作用，最终会使水星失去维持其低轨道的速度，坠入太阳。接下来，在八十四光年外的275E1发生的事就会在太阳上重演：太阳的对流层外壳将会被水星击穿，深处辐射层中巨量的恒星物质将高速射入太空，在太阳的自转中，将形成一个类似于215E1的螺旋形大气层。太阳与三体恒星不同，是一颗孤星，不存在与其他恒星近距离交错的可能，所以它的大气层将不受干扰地增长，最终其厚度将远大于三体恒星的大气层，这也在对275E1的观察中证实了。太阳喷出的这条螵旋形物质流将像松开的发条那样迅速向外扩张，它的厚度最终将超过火星轨道，这时，一个宏大的连锁反应开始了。”
“And it was in this discovery that I found the crack with which to break open your real strategic plan. Now, as your Wallbreaker, I will explain your grand strategy.”
“正是从这个发现中，我找到了限免您真实战略意图的突破口，下面，是我作为破壁人，对您的伟大战略的理解。”
“First, three terrestrial planets — Venus, Earth, and Mars — pass through the sun’s spiraling atmosphere, losing speed due to the atmospheric friction and turning into three giant meteors that eventually crash into the sun. But well before this happens, the Earth’s atmosphere is stripped away by the intense friction of the solar matter. The oceans evaporate, and the lost atmosphere and evaporated oceans turn the Earth into a giant comet whose tail extends along its orbit to wrap all the way around the sun. The surface of the Earth returns to the fiery magma sea of its birth, where no life can survive.”
“首先，金星、地球和火星这三颗类地行星都将在太阳的螺旋大气层中运行，在磨擦中很快失去速度，最终将变成三颗巨型流星坠人太阳。其实早在这之前，地球大气层就在与太阳物质的剧烈磨擦中被剥离，海洋蒸发殆尽，剥离的大气和蒸发的海洋将把地球变成一颗巨型彗星，它的彗尾可能长得沿着轨道绕太阳一周，地球表面将回到其形成之初的岩浆火海状态，投有任何生命能够幸存。”
“When Venus, Earth, and Mars crash into the sun, it exacerbates the sun’s ejection of solar matter into space. The single spiral flow of matter increases to four flows. Because the total mass of those three planets is forty times that of Mercury, and because their higher orbits mean they impact the sun at a much higher speed, each new spiral is ejected with a ferocity tens of times greater than Mercury’s. The existing spiral atmosphere rapidly expands until its edge approaches the orbit of Jupiter.”
“金星、地球和火星三星的坠落，将大大加剧太阳物质向太空中的喷发，喷射的螺旋形物质流由一条增加到四条，这三颗行星的质量总和是水星的四十倍，且由于轨道高，坠落时的冲击速度远大于水星，每条物质流喷发的猛烈程度是水星坠落的几十倍甚至更多，将使已形成的螺旋大气层急剧膨胀，它的顶端最终将到达木星轨道。”
“Friction produces only a very small deceleration effect on the huge mass of Jupiter, so it is quite some time before the spiral has a noticeable effect on Jupiter’s orbit. But Jupiter’s satellites meet one of the following two fates: friction strips them away from Jupiter and they lose speed and fall into the sun, or they lose speed in Jovian orbit and fall into the liquid planet.”
“木星质量巨大，磨擦产生的减速很小，轨道受到的影响要很长时间后才能看到，但木星的所有卫星将面临着以下两种命运：在磨擦中被剥离木星，然后各自失去速度坠入太阳；或者在木星轨道上失去速度坠入液态的木星。”
“As the chain reaction continues, the decrease in speed from the spiral atmosphere, though small, is still present, and Jupiter’s orbit gradually decays. This causes it to pass through an increasingly dense atmosphere whose friction accelerates its loss in speed, thereby causing the orbit to decay even more quickly… In this way, Jupiter eventually falls into the sun, too. Its mass is six hundred times that of the previous four planets, and the impact that such a massive body makes on the sun will, even according to the most conservative reasoning, produce an even more violent ejection of stellar matter, increasing the density of the spiral atmosphere and exacerbating the bitter cold of Uranus and Neptune. But another possibility is more likely: The fall of the Jovian giant pushes the edge of the spiral atmosphere out to the orbit of Uranus or even Neptune, and though the atmosphere is quite thin at the top, friction’s decelerating effects pull these two planets and their satellites toward the sun, too. What state the sun will be in and how the Solar System will have been transformed after the chain reaction finishes and the four dense terrestrial planets and four gas giants are consumed is unknowable. But one thing is certain: For life and for civilization, this will be a hell even crueler than attack by Trisolaris.”
“连锁反应仍在继续，虽然螺旋大气层对木星的减速很小，但减速毕竟存在，木星轨道将向太阳缓慢下沉。随着这种下沉的发生，木星将在越来越密集的螺旋大气层中运行。磨擦产生的减速将迅速增加，进而导致轨道更快地下沉……这样，木星最终也将坠入太阳。木星的质量是前面四颗类地行星质量总和的六百倍，如此巨型的质量体冲击太阳，即使按最常规的推论，也将产生更猛烈的恒星物质喷射，使螺旋大气更为稠密，加剧了天王星和海王星世界的严寒。但还有一个更大的可能性：巨大木星的坠人，使螺旋大气层的顶端延伸至天王星甚至海王星轨道，即使大气层的顶端很稀薄，磨擦产生的减速最终也会把剩下的这两颗大行星和它们的所有卫星一起拉向太阳。当这最后的连锁反应完成后，先后受到四颗致密的类地行星和三颗巨大的类木行星的冲击，太阳将变成什么状态，太阳系将变成什么样子，谁都无法预料，但有一点可以肯定：对生命和文明来说，这里将是一个比三体世界更严酷的地狱。”
“What I’ve just presented is the outcome of the years of work that I, your Wallbreaker, have performed. I am not seeking your opinion or critique, because I know that all of this is true.”
“以上就是我，您的破壁人多年工作的结果，我并不想征询您的意见和评价，因为我们都知道这是真的。”
“This is your strategy: death for both sides. Once everything is prepared, with all of the stellar hydrogen bombs in place on Mercury, you will use it to coerce Trisolaris to surrender and gain the ultimate victory for humanity.”
“这就是您的同归于尽战略。当一切都准备完毕，所有氢弹都已在水星上就位时，您将以此来要挟三体世界，最终使人类赢得胜利。”
“As for Trisolaris, the Solar System is their only hope before their planet is engulfed by their stars. There is no other world they can migrate to in time, and therefore, their civilization will follow humanity into total destruction.”
“对三体世界而言，在他们的行星被三颗恒星吞噬之前，太阳系是唯一的希望，再没有第二个可以及时移民的世界，这样，继人类之后，三体文明也必将彻底灭亡。”
As the Wallbreaker spoke, Rey Diaz had been listening quietly. The cigar in his hand was more than halfway gone, and he now turned it about as if appreciating the glow of the tip.
在破壁人讲述的过程中，雷迪亚兹一直默默听着，他手上的雪茄已经抽了大半。现在他不停地转动着雪茄，似乎在欣赏烟头透出的火光。
The Wallbreaker sat down on the sofa, close beside him. Like a teacher evaluating a student’s homework, he continued unfatigued: “Mr. Rey Diaz, I said you are a brilliant strategist, or at least you demonstrated many excellent qualities in the formulation and implementation of this plan.
破壁人在沙发上紧靠着雷迪亚兹坐下，像一位教师评价学生的作业那样娓娓说道：“雷迪亚兹先生，我说过，您是一位出色的战略家，至少在这个战略计划的制定和执行过程中表现出了许多卓越之处。
“For one thing, you took advantage of your own background. Right now, people clearly remember the humiliations you and your country suffered when the Orinoco nuclear facility was forced to be taken down as you were developing nuclear energy. The whole world saw your gloomy face, and you took advantage of outside perceptions of your paranoia about nuclear weapons to reduce or even eliminate any possible suspicion.
“首先，您成功地利用了自己的背景。现在，人们都对您和您的国家在核能开发方面遭遇的屈辱记忆犹新。当时在奥里诺科的核设施被迫拆除的现场，全世界都看到了您阴郁的表情。您正是利用了外界所看到的自己对核武器的这种偏执，减轻甚至消除了可能引起的怀疑。
“But every detail in the execution of your plan demonstrates your talent as well. I will mention but one example: During the Mercury test, you wanted the rock to be blasted into the sky, but you insisted on excavating an ultra-deep shaft in a farsighted gambit. You quite precisely understood the tolerance of the PDC’s permanent member states for the cost of this enormous undertaking, and that is admirable.
“计划执行过程中的每个细节都表现了您的才能，这里仅举一例：在水星试验中，您本来就想把地层炸飞①，却坚持要挖掘超深井，这是很有远见的高帽子战术，您了解PDC各常任理事国对这个耗资巨大的工程的忍耐力，把握之精确，令人敬佩。（注：①不管氢弹的当量有多大，其辐射作对水星的减速效果甚微，真正有效的减速，是把巨量的地层物质炸飞到水星的第二宇宙速度而产生反冲力，按照动量守恒原理，即使地层物质达到水星第一宇宙速度成为其卫星，也起不到任何减速作用。所以，对于雷迪亚兹的计划而言，最有意义的是那些在爆炸中脱离水星成为太阳小行星的岩石。）
“But you had one major slipup. Why did the first test have to be carried out on Mercury? There would have been plenty of time to bring the bombs there in a later phase, but maybe you got impatient and wanted to see the outcome of a stellar hydrogen bomb blast there. You saw it: lots of rock matter blasted to escape velocity, perhaps even exceeding your expectations. You were satisfied. But this provided the final confirmation of my hypothesis.
“但您还是有一个重大纰漏：为什么首次核试验非要在水星上进行呢？以后有的是时间，也许您太急躁了，急于看到恒星型氢弹在水星上爆炸的效果。您看到了，有大量地层物质被炸飞到逃逸速度，很可能超出了您的预期，您很满意，但也使我的推测得到了最后的证实。
Rey Diaz did not look at him. He took a puff of his cigar and blew out the smoke as he continued to examine it. “Fine. Then I’ll ask the question that Tyler asked.”
雷迪亚兹没有看破壁人，抽了一口雪茄，吐着白烟继续研究烟头：“好吧，那我就问泰勒问过的问题。”
“Yes, Mr. Rey Diaz, even given all my previous work, without that final event I might never have been able to determine your true strategic intentions. The notion was too mad. But it was grand, and even beautiful. If the chain reaction triggered by Mercury’s fall actually took place, then it would be the most magnificent movement of the entire symphony of the Solar System… although, unfortunately, humanity would only be able to enjoy the first section. Mr. Rey Diaz, you are a Wallfacer with the makings of a god. It is my honor to become your Wallbreaker.”
“真的，雷迪亚兹先生，尽管有前面的工作，但如果不是通过最后这件事，我也许永远不能确定您的真实战略意图，因为这想法太疯狂了，不过真的很壮观，甚至，很美。如果水星的坠落引发的连锁反应真的实现，那将是太阳系最壮丽的乐章，可惜人类只能欣赏最初的一个半小节。雷迪亚兹先生，您是一个具有上帝气质的面壁者，能成为您的破壁人，是我的荣幸。”
Rey Diaz stared at the lit end of the cigar and nodded.
雷迪亚兹凝视着烟头的火光点点头。
The Wallbreaker asked the question for him. “If what I say is true, then so what?”
破壁人替他把问题说出来：“如果这一切都是真的，会怎么样？”
Rey Diaz lifted his eyes from the cigar and looked questioningly at his Wallbreaker.
雷迪亚兹从烟头上抬起目光，探询地望着自己的破壁人。
The Wallbreaker stood up and offered Rey Diaz a genial bow.
破壁人站起身，很真诚地向雷迪亚兹鞠躬致意。
“My answer is the same as Tyler’s Wallbreaker’s: The Lord does not care.”
“我的回答与泰勒的破壁人一样：主不在乎。”
As Rey Diaz looked at the Wallbreaker, his expression gradually filled with an elusive softness, and hints of convulsions showed on his coarsely lined face, gradually taking shape, until at last his suppressed laughter erupted.
雷迪亚兹看着破壁人的目光渐渐充满了一种不可捉摸的柔和，他那线条粗放的脸上出现了隐约的抽搐，很快这种抽搐变得明显起来，最后被压抑的狂笑突然爆发。
“You look crude, but your mind is sharp. Yet in the depths of your soul, you’re still crude. Your nature is that of a crude man. And this crudeness is revealed in the basis of this strategic plan. It’s greedy. Humanity doesn’t have the ability to manufacture so many stellar hydrogen bombs. Even if all of Earth’s industrial resources were exhausted, it wouldn’t produce even one-tenth of that number. And a million stellar hydrogen bombs is far from enough to decelerate Mercury into the sun. With a soldier’s recklessness, you formulated this impossible plan, and then stubbornly carried it forward step by step with the wily calculations of a superior strategist. Wallfacer Rey Diaz, this is truly a tragedy.”
“您外表粗鲁内心精明，但再往灵魂的最深处，又是粗鲁的。您在最本质上是一个粗人，这种粗鲁在这个战略计划的基础上表露无遗：这是一个蛇吞象的计划，人类没有能力制造出那样数量的恒星型氢弹，即使倾尽全部地球的工业资源，还是可能十分之一都生产不出来。把水星减速到坠入太阳，即使真有一百万颗恒星型氢弹，也远远不够。您以一介武夫的鲁莽制定了这个根本不可能实现的计划，却以一个卓越战略家的老谋深算，坚韧不拔地一步步推进它，面壁者雷迪亚兹，这真的是个悲剧。”
“Ha ha ha ha ha…” he laughed, pointing at the Wallbreaker. “Superman! Ha ha ha ha. I remember now. That… that old Superman. He could fly, and he could reverse the rotation of the Earth, but when he was riding a horse… ha ha ha ha… when he was riding a horse, he fell and broke his neck… ah ha ha ha…”
“哈哈哈哈哈哈……”雷迪亚兹在大笑中指着破壁人，“呵呵，超人，哈哈哈哈，我想起来了，那个，那个旧版的超人，会飞，能让地球倒转，却在骑马时……哈哈哈哈……在骑马时摔断了脖子……啊哈哈哈哈……”
“You’ll die first,” Rey Diaz said, smiling with his entire face as he pressed the cigar end directly between the Wallbreaker’s eyes. Then, when the Wallbreaker was covering his face with his hands, Rey Diaz took up a military-issue belt from the sofa, wrapped it around the Wallbreaker’s neck, and strangled him with every ounce of his strength. Although the Wallbreaker was young, he had no way to defend himself against Rey Diaz’s agile strength, and was thrown to the floor by his neck. Rey Diaz bellowed, “I’ll wring your neck! You bastard! Who sent you here to play smart? Who the hell are you? Bastard! I’ll wring your neck!” He tightened the belt and slammed the Wallbreaker’s head into the ground repeatedly, to the crunch of teeth smacking into the floor. When the guards burst in to separate them, the Wallbreaker’s face was purple, he was foaming at the mouth, and his eyes were protruding like a goldfish’s.
“最先死的是你。”雷迪亚兹满脸笑容地说，同时把手中的烟头一下子按在破壁人两眼之间，就在后者用手捂脸之际，雷迪亚兹拿起沙发上的一根军用皮带套住了他的脖子，用尽全力狠勒。破壁人虽然年轻，但在剽悍的雷迪亚兹手中毫无还手之力，被勒着脖子从沙发捧到地板上，雷迪亚兹在狂怒中大叫着：“我扭断你的脖子！你个杂种！谁让你到这里来自作聪明？你算什么东西？杂种！我扭断你的脖于！”他紧勒着皮带，同时把破壁人的头不断地向地板上狠撞，后者的牙齿碰击地板时发出响亮的咔咔声。当门外的警卫冲进来拉开两人，破壁人已经脸色青紫，口吐白沫，两眼像金鱼般凸出。
“Since coming here, I have no regard for my fate. I’ve lived a full life,” the Wallbreaker said evenly. “But you, Mr. Rey Diaz, ought to think about your own fate.”
“我既然来，就不在意自己的命运，我已经度过了充实的一生。”破壁人平静地说，“倒是您，雷迪亚兹先生，应该想想自己的下场。”
“It was Christopher Reeve, the actor who played Superman, who fell and broke his neck,” the Wallbreaker corrected him, quietly.
“摔断脖子的是里夫，演超人的演员。”破壁人不动声色地纠正道。
“Do you imagine… imagine that your fate will be better than his? Ha ha ha ha…”
“你是不是觉得，觉得自己的下场会比他好些……哈哈哈哈……”
“Just wait, you bastard. You won’t die easy,” he said, abandoning his efforts to escape the guard and have another go at the Wallbreaker. He let out a long sigh.
“等着吧杂种，你不得好死。”雷迪亚兹放弃了摆脱警卫再次攻击破壁人的努力，长出一口气说。
The Wallbreaker looked back over the guard’s shoulder, a smile on his bruised and swollen face. He opened up a mouth that was missing several teeth and said, “I’ve lived a full life.”
破壁人从警卫肩上回过头来，青紫肿胀的脸上露出一副笑容，他张开缺了好几颗牙的嘴说：“我度过了充实的一生。”
Rey Diaz, still in a fury, struggled with the guards as he continued to shout, “Wring his neck! String him up and hang him! Right now! This is part of the plan! Do you fucking hear me? Part of the plan!”
处于狂怒状态的雷迪亚兹在与警卫的拉扯中继续大叫：“扭断他的脖子！吊死他！绞死他！就现在！这是计划的一部分！他妈的听见了吗？计划的一部分！”
But the three guards did not carry out his order. One of them held Rey Diaz tightly while the other two lifted up the Wallbreaker, who had recovered his breath somewhat, and started to carry him out.
但三名警卫没有执行他的命令，其中一人死死拉着他，另外两人架着已经部分缓过气来的破壁人向外走。
As the meeting commenced, the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany put up another proposition, this one demanding the immediate suspension of Rey Diaz’s position as Wallfacer and his trial before the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.
会议开始。美、英、法、德四国就抛出了一个提案，要求中止雷迪亚兹的面壁者身份，并以反人类罪将其送交国际法庭审判。
PDC Wallfacer Hearing
行星防御理事会面壁者听证会。
The UK representative retorted, “Wallfacer Rey Diaz’s claim is baseless. In fact, the countries he is accusing are the ones who invested the most money into his plan, far exceeding what they invested in the other three Wallfacers.”
英国代表反驳道：“面壁者雷迪亚兹的说法没有依据。事实上，正是他所指责的这些国家，对他的战略计划投入了大量的资金，远超过对其他三位面壁者所投入的。”
The US representative declared, “After substantial investigation, we believe that Rey Diaz’s strategic intent as disclosed by the Wallbreaker is credible. What we are facing now is a person whose crime dwarfs all of the crimes ever committed in human history. We were unable to find a single law applicable to his crime, so we recommend that the crime of Extinction of Life on Earth be added to international law, and that Rey Diaz be tried under it.”
美国代表发言说：“经过大量的调查，我们认为破壁人所公布的雷迪亚兹的战略意图是真实可信的。现在我们所面对的是这样一个人，与他所犯的罪行相比，人类历史上的一切罪行都显得微不足道了。在现有的所有法律中，甚至找不到适用于他的罪行条款。所以我们建议在国际法中增加地球生命灭绝罪这一罪行条款，以对雷迪亚兹进行审判。”
Rey Diaz appeared quite relaxed at the hearing. Sneering, he said to the US representative, “You’ve been trying to get rid of me, haven’t you? Ever since the Wallfacer Project began, you have all applied a double standard to the Wallfacers. I’m the one you like least.”
雷迪亚兹在会议上显得很轻松，他玲笑着对美国代表说：“你们早就想除掉我了，不是吗？自面壁计划开始以来，你们一直在以双重标准对待不同的面壁者，我是你们最不想要的人。”
“Sure,” Rey Diaz said with a nod, “but the real reason you invested so heavily in my plan is because you wanted to get your hands on the stellar hydrogen bombs.”
“不错，”雷迪亚兹点点头，“但在我的计划上投入巨资，是因为你们确实想得到恒星型氢弹。”
“Ridiculous! What would we do with them?” the US representative shot back. “They’re incredibly inefficient weapons in a space battle, and on the Earth, there’s no practical significance even for those old twenty-megaton hydrogen bombs, much less a three-hundred-megaton monster.”
“可笑，我们要那东西干什么？”美国代表反问道，“它在太空战场是效率很低的武器，在地球上，曾经出现过的两千万吨级氢弹就已经没有实战意义，更不用说三亿多吨级的怪物了。”
Rey Diaz responded calmly, “But the bombs will be the most effective weapon in battles on other planets, particularly in wars among humans. On the desolate surface of other planets, there’s no need to be concerned with civilian casualties or environmental damage, so you’re free to carry out wide-area destruction, or even a devastating sweep of the entire surface. Here’s where the stellar hydrogen bombs will prove useful. You must have anticipated that, as humanity expands into the Solar System, Earth’s conflicts will expand outward as well. This won’t change even with Trisolaris as a common enemy, and you’re preparing for it. Right now, it’s politically indefensible to develop superweapons for use against humans, so you took advantage of me to make them.”
雷迪亚兹冷静地反驳道：“但在太阳系其他行星表面的战场上，恒星型氢弹却是最有效的武器，尤其是在人类之问的战争中。在荒凉的其他行星表面，人类之间一旦爆发战争，不用顾及平民伤亡和环境破坏，可以放心地进行大面积的摧毁，甚至可以对整个行星表面进行毁灭性清扫，这时，恒星型氢弹就能够发挥它的作用。你们清醒地预见到，随着人类向太阳系的扩张，地球世界的争端必然扩展到其他行星，尽管有三体世界这样共同的敌人，这一点也无法改变，你们在为此做准备。在这个时候发展对付人类自己的超级武器，在政治上说不过去，所以，你们就利用我来做。”
“They’re as good as their word,” Rey Diaz said, turning to Garanin, the incumbent rotating chair. “The CIA has men waiting outside to arrest me as soon as I go outside after this hearing.”
“他们在这方面言行一致。”雷迪亚兹转身对轮值主席说，“CIA的人就在大厦外面，会议结束后我一走出去就会被逮捕。”
The US representative said, “That’s the preposterous logic of a terrorist and a dictator. Rey Diaz is the kind of man who, granted the status and power of a Wallfacer, turns the Wallfacer Project into as big a danger as the Trisolaran invasion. We must take decisive action to correct this mistake.”
美国代表说：“这不过是一个恐怖分子和独裁者的荒唐逻辑，雷迪亚兹就是这样一个人，在他拥有面壁者身份和权力的情况下，面壁计划本身就变得和三体入侵一样危险，我们必须采取果断措施改正这个错误。”
The rotating chair glanced in the direction of the US representative, who was fiddling intently with his pen. Garanin had first taken office at the start of the Wallfacer Project, and even he had forgotten the number of short terms in office he had served during the ensuing two decades. But this was the last time. Now white-haired, he was about to retire.
轮值主席向美国代表方向看了一眼，看见后者专注地把玩着手中的铅笔。这届轮值主席是伽尔宁，在面壁计划开始时他第一次成为PDC轮值主席，以后的二十多年中，他自己也记不清担任过多少次这个短暂的职务，但这是最后一次了，已经满头白发的他即将退休。
“Wallfacer Rey Diaz, if what you say is true, then that is inappropriate. So long as the principles of the Wallfacer Project still hold, Wallfacers have legal immunity, and none of their words and actions can be used as evidence to charge them of a crime,” he said.
“面壁者雷迪砸兹，如果你说的是事实，那这种做法是不适宜的，只要面壁计划的原则继续有效，面壁者就享有法律豁免权，他们的任何言行都不能在法律上作为有罪指控的证据。”伽尔宁说。
“According to the relevant provisions in the Wallfacer Act, placing limitations and curbs on the strategic plans of Wallfacers who exhibit dangerous tendencies is an entirely separate matter from the Wallfacer’s own legal immunity,” Garanin said.
“依据面壁法案中的相应条款，对面壁者表现出危险倾向的战略计划进行限制和制止，与面壁者本人的法律豁免权是两回事。”伽尔宁说。
“So does that mean,” the US representative said, raising a pencil, “that even when Rey Diaz is about to detonate the million superbombs he’s buried on Mercury, society still won’t be able to charge him with a crime?”
“那是不是说……”美国代表竖起手中的铅笔，“等雷迪亚兹把一百万枚超级核弹都埋到水星上准备引爆时，人类社会仍然不能对他进行有罪指控？”
“Additionally, please remember that this is international territory,” the Japanese representative said.
“而且，请注意，这里是国际领土。”日本代表说。
“May I remind the chair and the representatives,” Rey Diaz said, rising from his seat, “that this is a PDC Wallfacer hearing, and that I’m not on trial.”
“我提请主席先生和各位代表注意。”雷迪亚兹从座位上站起身说，“这是行星防御委员会的面壁计划听证会，而不是对本人的审判法庭。”
“Rey Diaz’s crimes have crossed outside the boundary of legal immunity. He must be punished. This is a precondition for the continued existence of the Wallfacer Project,” the UK representative said.
“雷迪亚兹的罪行已经越出了法律豁免权的底线，必须受到惩罚，这是面壁计划继续存在的前提。”英国代表说。
“You’ll stand in court soon,” the US representative said, with a chilly smile.
“您会很快站到那个法庭上的。”美国代表冷笑着说。
“I agree with Wallfacer Rey Diaz. We should return to the discussion of his strategic plan,” Garanin said, seizing the opportunity to temporarily bypass the thorny issue.
“同意面壁者雷迪亚兹，我们应该回到对他的战略计划本身的讨论上来。”伽尔宁立刻抓住了这次暂时绕过棘手问题的机会。
“Then Proposition P269, proposed at the previous Wallfacer hearing, regarding halting Rey Diaz’s strategic plan, can now be put to a vote,” Garanin said.
“那么，上次会议提出的关于中止面壁者雷迪亚兹战略计划的P269号提案应该可以投票表决了。”伽尔宁说。
“Mr. Chair, wait one moment.” Rey Diaz raised his hand. “Before the vote, I hope I might be able to offer a final explanation of some of the details of my plan.”
“主席先生，请等等。”雷迪亚兹举起一只手说，“在表决前，我希望对自己战略计划的一些细节进行最后陈述。”
The Japanese representative broke his silence. “From the way it looks now, the representatives have reached a consensus on the following point: Rey Diaz’s strategic plan exhibits dangerous tendencies toward clear violations of human rights, and according to the relevant principles in the Wallfacer Act, it should be stopped.”
一直沉默的日本代表发言：“从现在看来，各位代表已对如下一点达成了共识：雷迪亚兹的战略计划存在着明显的侵犯人类生存权的危险倾向，依据面壁法案相应的原则，应该予以制止。”
“If they’re just details, is this really necessary?” someone asked.
“如果仅仅是细节，有必要吗？”有人问。
“Save it for court,” the UK representative said sarcastically.
“您可以到法庭上说。”英国代表讥讽道。
“No, these details are important,” Rey Diaz persisted. “Right now, let us assume that what the Wallbreaker has disclosed about my strategic intentions is true. One representative spoke of the moment when the million hydrogen bombs deployed on Mercury are ready to be detonated, at which point I will face the omnipresent sophons and declare to Trisolaris humanity’s intent to die with them. What will happen then?”
“不，这个细节很重要，现在，我们假设破壁人所公布的我的战略意图是真实的。”雷迪亚兹坚持说下去，“刚才有代表提到一百万颗氢弹在水星上部署完毕准备引爆的情况，届时我会对着无所不在的智子向三体世界发出人类的同归于尽宣言，在那一时刻，会发生什么？”
His words focused the attention of the entire assembly. He went on: “The system is code-named ‘cradle,’ meaning that when the cradle stops rocking, the baby will wake. It sends a continuous signal, received continuously on Mercury. If the signal is interrupted, then the system will immediately detonate the hydrogen bomb.”
雷迪亚兹的这句话令会场上的所有人集中了注意力。雷迪亚兹接着说：“这个系统的代号为‘摇篮’，意思是摇篮停止摇动婴儿就会醒。它不断地发出信号，水星上的氢弹系统不断地接收，信号一旦中断，系统将立刻引爆氢弹。”
“Exactly. So I took certain measures to deal with such a situation. Take a look at this.” Rey Diaz raised his left hand and displayed his wristwatch to the assembly. It was entirely black, and the dial was twice as large and thick as a normal men’s watch, although it didn’t appear large on his thick wrist. “This is a transmitter sending a signal through a space link directly to Mercury.”
“很对，那么我必须采取一定的措施来应对这种局面，各位请看，就是这个。”雷迪亚兹抬起左手，向会场展示他腕上的一块手表，那块表是全黑色的，无论是表盘面积还是厚度都是一般男士手表的一倍，但戴在雷迪亚兹粗壮的手臂上也不显硕大，“这是一个信号发射器，它发出的信号通过一个太空链路直达水星。”
“The Trisolarans’ reaction can’t be predicted, but on Earth, it’s certain that billions of people will want to wring your neck, just like you did to that Wallbreaker,” the French representative said.
“三体人的反应无法预测，但在地球上，一定会有几十亿人想扭断您的脖子，就像您对自己的破壁人做的那样。”法国代表说。
“Precisely the opposite. It sends a non-detonation signal.”
“恰恰相反，它发出的是不引爆的信号。”
“You’ll use it to send the detonation signal?” someone asked.
“用它发出引爆信号吗？”有人问。
Rey Diaz brought down his left hand and covered the cradle with his sleeve. “I was taught this wonderful idea not by an expert in nuclear strategy but by an American film. In it, a man has one of these gadgets that sends out a continuous signal, but if his heart stops beating, the signal is terminated. Another man has a bomb strapped to him that’s impossible to remove, and if the bomb doesn’t receive the signal, it’ll explode. So even though this hapless fool doesn’t like the first guy, he has to do everything he can to protect him… I like watching American blockbusters. Even today I can still recognize the old version of Superman.”
雷迪亚兹放下左手，把那个叫“摇篮”的东西用衣袖遮住。“教会我这个奇妙想法的倒不是核战略专家，而是一部美国电影，里面的一个男人就戴着个这玩意儿，它不停地发信号，但如果这人的心脏停止跳动，它的信号也就停止了；另一个人身上被装上了一枚无法拆除的炸弹，如果炸弹收不到信号就立刻爆炸，所以，这个倒霉鬼虽然不喜欢前面那个人，还是必须尽全力保护他……我喜欢看美国大片，直到现在还能认出老版超人。”
“It’s called a dead-man’s switch,” the US representative said stoically. “In the Cold War there was research into using anti-triggers and dead-man’s switches on strategic nukes, but they were never implemented. Only a madman would actually do it.”
“这叫反触发系统。”美国代表面无表情地说，“冷战时期曾经研究过战略核武器的反触发策略，但从未真正实施过，只有你这样的疯于才真的这么干。”
“Do you mean that this device is tied to your heartbeat?” the Japanese representative asked. He reached over to Rey Diaz, who was standing next to him, to touch the device under his sleeve, but Rey Diaz moved his arm and stood a bit farther away.
“这么说，这个装置，也与您的心跳相联系吗？”日本代表问，此时雷迪亚兹正站在他旁边，他伸手去摸雷迪亚兹那藏在衣抽下的装置，后者把他的手拨开了，同时站到离他远些的地方。
A nervous-looking man entered the auditorium and whispered something into Garanin’s ear. Before he had finished whispering, Garanin glanced up at Rey Diaz with a peculiar look in his eyes, which did not escape the keen-eyed representatives.
这时，有一个人神色紧张地进入会场，在伽尔宁耳边低声说着什么，他的耳语还没说完，伽尔宁就抬头用异样的耳光看了雷迪亚兹一眼，目光敏锐的代表们都注意到了这一幕。
“There’s a way to disarm your cradle. Countermeasures for anti-triggers were studied during the Cold War, too,” the US representative said.
“有一个办法可以限免你的摇篮，这种对付反触发的方法在冷战时期也被深入研究过。”美国代表说。
“It’s not my cradle. It’s the cradle for those hydrogen bombs. If the cradle stops rocking, they’ll wake up,” Rey Diaz said.
“不是我的摇篮，是那些氢弹的摇篮，摇篮一停摇它们就会醒。”雷迪亚兹说。
“I’ve thought of the same technique,” the German representative said. “When the signal is transmitted from your watch to Mercury, it must pass through a complicated communications link. Destroying or shielding any node, then using a false signal source to continue to transmit the anti-trigger signal farther down the chain, will render your cradle system useless.”
“我也想到了这个办法，”德国代表说，“信号从你的手表传到水星，必然要经过一个复杂的通讯链路，摧毁或屏蔽链路上的任何一个节点，然后用一个伪信号源向下一级链路继续发送反触发信号，就可以使‘摇篮’系统失去作用。”
“Of course. But the cradle is more advanced and refined than that. It monitors not just the heartbeat but lots of other physiological indicators such as blood pressure, body temperature, and so forth, and conducts a comprehensive analysis of these parameters. If they’re not normal, then it immediately stops the anti-trigger signal in the dead-man’s switch. It can also recognize many of my simple voice commands.”
“当然，但‘摇篮’更先进更精致一些，它监测的不只是心跳，还有很多其他生理指标，如血压、体温等，对这些参数综合分析，如发现不正常，就立刻停止反触发的信号发射，它还能识别我的许多简单的语音命令。”
“You’ve perhaps come up with another approach?” someone asked.
“您也许想出了其他办法？”有人问。
“A crude approach. Me, all my approaches are clumsy and crude,” Rey Diaz said, with a self-mocking laugh. “I have increased the sensitivity of each node’s monitoring of its own state. Specifically, each communication node is composed of several units that may be separated by a large distance, but are connected into a whole by continuous communication. If any one unit fails, the entire node will issue a command terminating the anti-trigger, after which, even if the false signal source resumes sending a signal to the next node, it will not be acknowledged. The monitoring of every unit can achieve a microsecond level of accuracy, which means that — using the German representative’s approach — every unit of a node must be simultaneously destroyed and the signal resumed from the false signal source within the space of a microsecond. Every node is composed of at least three units, but may have dozens of them. These units are separated by a distance of about three hundred kilometers. Each one is built to be extremely rugged, and it will issue its warning upon any outside touch. Causing these units to fail within the space of a microsecond might be possible for the Trisolarans, but it’s not currently possible for humans.”
“一个笨办法，我这人，只能想出粗俗的笨办法。”雷迪亚兹自嘲地笑笑说，“增加每个节点对自身状态监测的灵敏度，具体作法就是每个通讯节点由多个单元组成，这些单元相距很远，但相互之间由连续的通讯联为一个整体，任何一个单元失效，整个节点就会发出终止反触发的命令，这之后，即使伪信号源再向下一节点发送信号也不被承认。各单元相互之间的监测精度目前可以达到微秒级，就是说，要按照刚才那位先生的办法，必须在一微秒内同时摧毁组成一个节点的所有单元，再用伪信号源进行信号接续。每个节点最少由三个单元组成，最多可能有几十个单元，这些单元之间的间距为三百公里左右①，每一个都做得极其坚固。外界的任何触动都会令其发送警告。在一微秒之内同时使这些单元失效，也许三体人能做到，但人类目前肯定是做不到的。”（注：①由于信号传输的光速限制，距离再远就达不到微秒级的监测精度了。）
“That is indeed a problem,” Rey Diaz said, with a nod at the German representative. “Without the sophons, the problem is easily solved. All the nodes are loaded with an identical encryption algorithm that generates every signal sent. To the outside world, it looks as if the signal values are random and different every time, but the cradle’s sender and recipient produce a sequence of values that are identical. Only when the recipient receives a signal corresponding to its own sequence is the signal considered valid. Without this encryption algorithm, the signal sent out by your false source won’t match the recipient’s sequence. But the damn sophons can detect the algorithm.”
“这确实是个难题。”雷迪亚兹对德国代表点点头说，“如果没有智子，这个问题很容易解决：所有节点都装入一个相同的加密算法，每次发送的信号都由这种算法产生，在外界看来每次的信号值都是随机的，每次都不同，但‘摇篮’的发送和接收方却产生完全相同的序列值，接收方只有在收到与自己序列相对应的信号值时才认为信号有效。您的伪信号源没有这种加密算法，它发出的信号与接收方的序列肯定对应不上。但现在有智子这鬼东西，它能探测出这种算法。”
The air froze, and everyone in the assembly, apart from Rey Diaz, stood as shocked as wooden chickens.
空气凝固了，会场上除雷迪亚兹之外的所有人都呆若木鸡。
“I have just received a report that the thing on Rey Diaz’s wrist has been sending out an electromagnetic signal,” Garanin said. The atmosphere of the assembly turned tense at the news. “I’d like to ask you, Wallfacer Rey Diaz: Is the signal from your wristwatch being sent to Mercury?”
“我刚刚得到报告，雷迪亚兹先生手腕上的东西一直在向外界发送电磁信号。”伽尔宁说，这个信息令会场气氛顿时紧张起来，“我想问，面壁者雷迪亚兹，您手表中的信号是发向水星吗？”
His final sentence put everyone on alert.
雷迪亚兹的最后一句话使所有人警觉起来。
“If the signal sustaining the cradle is terminated, what will it trigger?” the UK representative asked sharply, no longer attempting to mask his tension.
“如果‘摇篮’的维持信号终止，那触发的是什么？”英国代表厉声问道，他已不再试图掩饰自己的紧张。
Rey Diaz chuckled a few times, then said, “Why would I be sending it to Mercury? There’s nothing there but a giant pit. Besides, the cradle’s space communication link hasn’t been set up yet. No, no, no. You don’t need to worry. The signal isn’t going to Mercury. It’s going somewhere in New York City, very close to us.”
雷迪亚兹大笑了几声说：“我为什么要向水星发？那里现在除了一个大坑外什么都没有，再说，‘摇篮’的太空通讯链路也没有建立。不不不，各位不要担心，信号不是发向水星，而是发向纽约市内距我们很近的一个地方。”
“Oh, something will be triggered, all right,” Rey Diaz said to him with a broad laugh. “I’ve been a Wallfacer for more than twenty years, and I’ve always been able to get a few things of my own.”
“总会有东西被触发。”雷迪亚兹对他宽厚地笑笑，“我已经做了二十多年的面壁者，总会私下得到一些东西的。”
Rey Diaz widened his eyes at the Frenchman, as if he thought the question bizarre. “What? The number of people makes a difference? I thought all of you here were respectable gentlemen who prize human rights above all. What’s the difference between one life and 8.2 million? If it’s the former, then you don’t have to respect it?”
雷迪亚兹对着法国人瞪大双眼，仿佛觉得他的问题不可思议：“怎么？”多少人有关系吗？我原以为在座的都是把人权奉为至高无上的可敬绅士，一个人或八百二十万人①的生命，有区别吗？如果是前者你们就可以不尊重吗？”（注：①纽约市市的人口数。）
The US representative stood up and said, “More than twenty years ago when the Wallfacer Project began, we pointed out what he was.” Pointing a finger at Rey Diaz and spraying saliva as he spoke, he strove to contain himself, but ended up losing control. “He’s a terrorist. An evil, filthy terrorist! A devil! You unstopped the bottle and let him loose, and you must take responsibility! The UN must be held responsible!” he shouted hysterically, sending his papers flying.
美国代表站起身说：“早在二十多年前面壁计划开始时，我们就指出了他是个什么东西。”他指着雷迪亚兹，吞咽着口水，极力维持着镇定，但还是失去了控制。“他是个恐怖分子，邪恶、肮脏的恐怖分子！一个魔鬼！是你们打开瓶盖儿放出了他，你们要对此负责！联合国要对此负责！”他声嘶力竭地大喊着，把文件扔得四处飞扬。
“Well then, Mr. Rey Diaz, would you be able to answer an even more direct question?” the French representative said. He looked entirely calm, but there was a tremble in his voice. “How many lives will you, or will we, be responsible for?”
“那么，雷迪亚兹先生，您是否可以回答我的一个更直接的问题？”法国代表看上去十分镇静，但声音却有些颤抖，“您，或我们，此时要为多少人的生命负责？”
A bit of sadness crept into the smile on Rey Diaz’s face as he turned toward Garanin and shook his head. “Mr. Chair, what other conditions could I name? To leave here and return to my own country. A charter plane is waiting for me at Kennedy Airport.”
雷迪亚兹脸上的笑变得有些凄惨，他对着伽尔宁摇摇头：“主席先生，我能有什么条件？离开这里回到自己的国家而已。有一架专机在肯尼迪机场等着我。”
“Mr. Rey Diaz, I’ll take you home,” Garanin said, leaving the rostrum.
“雷迪亚兹先生，我送您回国。”伽尔宁从主席台上走下来说。
“What are your conditions?” Garanin asked softly.
“您的条件？”伽尔宁低声问道。
Rey Diaz slowly nodded, then stood up and walked out.
雷迪亚兹缓缓点点头，起身向外走去。
“Calm down, Mr. Representative,” Rey Diaz said with a slight smile. “The cradle is very sensitive to my physiological indices. If I were to go into hysterics like you, if my mood wavered, it would immediately stop sending the anti-trigger signal. So you, and all of you sitting here, shouldn’t make me too upset. It would be better for all of us if you could try and keep me happy.”
“镇静，代表先生。”雷迪亚兹微笑着说，……‘摇篮’对我的生理指标的监测是很灵敏的，如果我像您那样歇斯底里，它早就停止发送反触发信号了。我的情绪不能波动，所以您，还有在座的所有人，都不要让我不高兴，如果可能的话，最好努力使我感到愉快，这对我们大家都有好处。“
The assembly was silent. Unconsciously, they had all gradually turned their attention from Rey Diaz to the US representative, who, unable to stand all the eyes on him, threw himself back into his chair and hissed, “Get the hell out.”
会场沉默下来，不知不觉中，所有人的目光渐渐从雷迪亚兹转移到美国代表身上，美国人终于承受不住这些目光，向椅背上猛一靠，从牙缝里挤出一个单词：“滚吧。”
The two were at the door when Rey Diaz grabbed Garanin and turned with him back toward the auditorium. “Gentlemen, I won’t miss this place. I’ve wasted these two decades, and no one here understands me. I want to go back to my homeland, back to my people. Yes, my homeland and my people. I miss them.”
两人走到门口，雷迪亚兹拉住了伽尔宁，同他一起转身面对会场：“先生们，我不会想念这里的，我虚度了二十多年的时光，在这里没有人理解我，我要回到我的祖国，回到我的人民中间。是的，我的祖国，我的人民，我想念她们。”
Rey Diaz stood waiting for Garanin as he walked over, less nimbly than before. “Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thought you might like to get out of here too.”
雷迪亚兹站住，等着步伐已不太灵活的伽尔宁走过来，“谢谢，主席先生，我想起来您也是要离开这里的人了。”
When he walked out the door of the UN General Assembly building, Rey Diaz opened his arms wide to the sun and called out with relish, “Ah, my sun!” His two-decade-long heliophobia had vanished.
在同伽尔宁走出联合国会议厅的大门时，雷迪亚兹对着正午的太阳张开了双臂，陶醉地呼唤道：“啊，我的太阳！”他持续二十多年的恐日症消失了。
To everyone’s surprise, the big man’s eyes shone with tears. At last he said, “I want to go back to my homeland. This is not part of the plan.”
人们惊奇地发现，这个壮汉的眼中竟闪着泪光。他最后说：“我要回到祖国了，这不是计划的一部分。”
Rey Diaz’s flight took off, and crossed the eastern coastline to fly over the vast Atlantic Ocean.
雷迪亚兹的专机起飞后，很快越过海岸线，飞行在浩瀚的大西洋上。
In the cabin, Garanin said to him, “With me here, this aircraft is safe. Please tell me the location of the device you have connected to the dead-man’s switch.”
机舱中，伽尔宁对雷迪亚兹说：“有我在，这架飞机是安全的，请您告诉我那个处于反触发状态的装置的位置。”
Six hours later, the plane touched down at Caracas International Airport on the Caribbean coast. Garanin did not get off. He would be taking the plane back to the UN.
六个小时后，飞机在加勒比海之滨的加拉加斯国际机场降落，伽尔宁没下飞机，他将乘它返回联合国。
“There’s no device. There’s nothing. It was just a trick to escape.” Rey Diaz took off his watch and handed it to Garanin. “This is just a simple transmitter converted from a Motorola phone. It’s not connected to my heartbeat, either. It’s been turned off. Keep it as a souvenir.”
“没有什么装置，什么都没有，只是逃跑的伎俩而已。”雷迪亚兹摘下手表，扔给伽尔宁，“这不过是个简单的信号发射器，摩托罗拉手机改的，与我的心跳什么的也没有关系，已经关了，你留下做个纪念吧。”
For a long time neither of them spoke. Then Garanin sighed and said, “How did this happen? The Wallfacers’ privilege of sealed-off strategic thinking was meant to be used against the sophons and Trisolaris. But you and Tyler both used it against humanity.”
在长时间的相对无语后，伽尔宁长叹一声说：“怎么会是这样？面壁者的封闭性战略思考特权，本意是对付智子和三体世界的，现在，你和泰勒都用它来对付人类自己。”
When they parted, Rey Diaz said, “Don’t abort the Wallfacer Project. It really is a hope amid this war. There are still two Wallfacers. Please wish them the best for me.”
临别时，雷迪亚兹说：“不要中止面壁计划，这场战争中，它真的是一个希望，还有两位面壁者，代我祝他们一路走好。”
“There’s nothing strange about that,” Rey Diaz said. He sat next to the window, enjoying the sunlight shining in from the outside. “Right now, the greatest obstacle to humanity’s survival comes from itself.”
“这没什么奇怪的。”雷迪亚兹坐在舷窗旁，享受着外面射入的阳光，“现在，人类生存的最大障碍其实来自自身。”
“I won’t be seeing them, either,” Garanin said, with emotion. By the time Rey Diaz walked off, leaving him alone in the cabin, he was in tears.
“我也见不到他们了。”伽尔宁伤感地说，当雷迪亚兹走后，舱中留下他独自一人时，已经老泪纵横。
The sky over Caracas was as clear as in New York. Rey Diaz walked down the airstair and smelled the familiar tropical atmosphere, then bent down and gave a long kiss to the ground of his homeland. Then, guarded by a large detachment of military police, he took a motorcade to the city. After half an hour on a winding mountain road, they entered the capital and drove up to the city center and Plaza Bolívar. At the statue of Simón Bolívar, Rey Diaz got out of the car and stood on the statue’s base. Above him on horseback was the great armor-clad hero who had defeated the Spanish and tried to establish a unified Republic of Gran Colombia in South America. In front of him, a crowd of frenetic people boiled under the sun, swelling forward, only to be met with the vigorous resistance of the military police. Shots were fired into the air, but the tide of people eventually surged past the police line and poured toward the living Bolívar at the foot of the statue.
加拉加斯和纽约一样晴空万里，雷迪亚兹走下舷梯，嗅到了他所熟悉的热带气息，他伏下身，长时间地亲吻祖国的土地，然后在大量军警的护卫下，乘车驶向城区。车队在盘山公路上行驶了半个小时就进入了首都市区，驶入市中心的渡利瓦尔广场。雷迪亚兹在波利瓦尔铜像前下车，站在铜像的基座上，他的上方，曾打败西班牙并试图在南美建立大哥伦比亚统一共和国的英雄身披铠甲，纵马驰骋。他的前方，由狂热的民众组成的人群在阳光下沸腾，人们向前拥来，军警的队伍极力阻挡，甚至对空鸣枪，但汹涌的人潮最终还是冲垮了军警线，向铜像下的活着的“渡利瓦尔”拥来。
Rey Diaz held up his hands, and, with tears in his eyes, called out to the crowd in a voice dripping with emotion, “Ah, my people!”
雷迪亚兹高举双手，含着热泪对着拥向他的人潮深情地呼唤道：“啊，我的人民！”
The first stone thrown by his people struck him on his outstretched left hand, the second hit him in the chest, and the third smashed into his forehead and nearly knocked him out. After that, the people’s stones came like raindrops, and had practically buried his lifeless body by the end. The last stone that hit Wallfacer Rey Diaz was thrown by an old woman, who struggled to carry it up to his corpse, then said, in Spanish, “Evildoer! You would kill everyone. My grandson would have been there. You’d have killed my grandson!”
他的人民扔来的第一块石头打在他高举的左手上，第二块石头击中了他的前胸，第三块砸在前额上并击倒了他。随后，人民的石头像雨点般飞来，最后几乎埋住了他那早巳没有生命的躯体。砸向面壁者雷迪亚兹的最后一块石头是一位老太太扔的，她吃力地举着那块石头一直走到雷迪亚兹的尸体前，用西班牙语说：“恶人，你要杀所有的人，那里面可是有我的孙子，你竟想杀我的孙子！”
Then, using all the strength in her trembling hands, she slammed her stone against Rey Diaz’s broken skull, where it lay exposed beneath the pile of rocks.
说着，她用尽力气，颤巍巍地把手中的石头砸到雷迪亚兹从石堆中露出的已经破碎的头颅上。
Time is the one thing that can’t be stopped. Like a sharp blade, it silently cuts through hard and soft, constantly advancing. Nothing is capable of jolting it even the slightest bit, but it changes everything.
唯一不可阻挡的是时间，它像一把利刃，无声地切开了坚硬和柔软的一切，恒定地向前推进着，没有任何东西能够使它的行进产生丝毫颠簸，它却改变着一切。
The same year as the Mercury test, Chang Weisi retired. In his final media appearance, he frankly acknowledged that he himself had no confidence in victory, but this did not affect history’s high opinion of the work of the space force’s first commander. Working for so many years in a state of anxiety had damaged his health, and he died at the age of sixty-eight. The general was lucid on his deathbed and mentioned Zhang Beihai’s name many times.
在水星核试验的同一年，常伟思退役了。最后一次在媒体上露面时，他坦率地承认，自己对战争的胜利没有信心，但这并不影响历史对太空军首任司令员工作的高度评价。这种多年处于忧虑状态下的繁重工作损害了他的健康，他在六十八岁时去世，将军在弥留之际仍然十分清醒，并多次念叨章北海的名字。
After leaving her second term in office, Secretary General Say launched the Human Memorial Project, whose goal was the comprehensive collection of data and commemorative artifacts of human civilization that would ultimately be sent out into the cosmos on unmanned spacecraft. The project’s most influential component was called the Human Diary, a Web site that was set up to allow as many people as possible to record their lifetimes in the form of text and images from their everyday lives, to become part of the data of civilization. The Human Diary Web site eventually grew to have more than two billion users and formed the largest-ever body of information on the Internet. Later, the PDC, believing that the Human Memorial Project contributed to defeatism, passed a resolution stopping its further development, and even equated it with Escapism. But Say continued to pour her individual efforts into the project until she passed away at the age of eighty-four.
曾连任两届联合国秘书长的萨伊，在离任后发起了人类纪念工程，目标是全面收集人类文明的资料和纪念实物，最后用无人飞船发向宇宙。这个工程最具影响力的是一个名为“人类日记”的活动，为此建立了许多网站，让尽可能多的人把自己有生之年每天的日常生活用文字和图像记录下来，作为文明资料的一部分。人类日记网站的用户一度达到二十亿之多，成为互联网上有史以来规模最大的信息体。后来，行星防御理事会认为人类纪念工程可能助长失败主义情绪，通过决议制止了它的进一步发展，甚至把它等同于逃亡主义。但萨伊一直在为这项事业做着个人的努力，直到八十四岁逝世。
After retirement, Garanin and Kent made the same choice: to seclude themselves in that Garden of Eden in northern Europe where Luo Ji had lived for five years. They were never again seen by the outside world, and no one even knew the exact date they died. But one thing was certain: They lived a long time. Some said that the two of them reached the century mark before dying a natural death.
伽尔宁和坎特退休后，都做出了同一个选择：到面壁者罗辑曾经生活过五年的那个北欧伊甸园去隐居，他们再也没有在外界露过面，人们甚至连他们去世的确切日期都不知道，但有一点可以肯定，他们都很长寿，据说这两个人都活过一百岁无疾而终。
Just as Keiko Yamasuki had predicted, Wu Yue spent the remainder of his life in depression and confusion. He worked for more than a decade on the Human Memorial Project but was unable to find any solace in it, and he passed away in loneliness at the age of seventy-seven. Like Chang Weisi, Wu Yue had Zhang Beihai’s name on his lips in his final moments. They pinned their shared hopes for the future on the stalwart warrior now hibernating through time.
正像山杉惠子预料的那样，吴岳度过了苦闷迷茫的余生。他曾经在长达十几年的时间里参加人类纪念工程，但也并未从中找到精神安慰，在七十七岁时孤独地逝去。同常伟思一样，他在最后的时刻也叨念着章北海的名字，这个正在冬眠中跨越时间的坚强战士，寄托了他们对未来共同的希冀。
Dr. Albert Ringier and General Fitzroy both lived into their eighties and saw the completion of the hundred-meter Hubble III Space Telescope, which they used to look at the planet Trisolaris. But they never again saw the Trisolaran Fleet or the probes now flying ahead of it. They did not live long enough for them to cross the third patch of snow.
艾伯特·林格博士和斐兹罗将军都活到了八十多岁，看到了镜片直径达百米的哈勃三号太空望远镜的建成，并通过它看到了三体行星。但他们再也没有看到三体舰队和已经飞在前面的探测器，他们没能等到它们穿过第三块“雪地”。
Yang Jinwen lived till ninety-two, and the alloy vessel containing his remains headed out of the Solar System and into the vast cosmos at the third cosmic velocity. This consumed all of his savings.
杨晋文活到九十二岁，盛装骨灰的合金容器以第三宇宙速度飞向太阳系外的茫茫宇宙，这花光了他的全部积蓄。
The lives of ordinary people continued and ended as well. Out of the three old Beijing neighbors, Miao Fuquan was the first to depart, passing away at the age of seventy-five. He really did have his son bury him two hundred meters down an abandoned mine, and his son obeyed his last wishes to blow up the mine wall and erect a tombstone to remember him. According to his father’s will, the last generation before the Doomsday Battle was supposed to clear out the tombstone, and if humanity won, then it could be restored to its original location. But, in fact, less than half a century after his death, the area over the mine shaft became a desert. The tombstone disappeared, the mine’s location was lost, and the Miao family’s descendants couldn’t be bothered to look for it.
普通人的人生也在一样延续和终结着。北京的三个老邻居中，苗福全是最先辞世的，享年七十五岁，他真的让儿子把自己葬到一个深达二百多米的废矿井中，儿子照他的遗嘱炸塌了井壁，同时在地面上立了个墓碑以供凭吊。按照父亲的遗嘱，末日之战前的那一代后人一定要把墓碑清除，如果人类胜利，则必须再把碑在原地恢复。其实，他死后还不到半个世纪，废矿井上面的地区就沙漠化了，漫漫黄沙中，墓碑早已不知去向，废矿井的位置丢失了，苗家的后人们也没人费心去找过。
Zhang Yuanchao died of illness like an ordinary person at the age of eighty, and, like an ordinary person, he was cremated. His ashes were laid in an ordinary rectangular slot on a long rack in a public cemetery.
张援朝在八十岁时像一个普通人那样病死，也像普通人那样火化，骨灰放在公墓中长架子上的一个普通方格中。
But Ding Yi lived on. After the breakthrough in controlled fusion technology, he turned his attention to theoretical physics, looking for ways to escape sophon interference in high-energy particle physics experiments. He had no success. When he reached his seventies, he had, like other physicists, abandoned all hope of the possibility of a breakthrough. He entered hibernation and planned to wake at the Doomsday Battle. His sole desire was to be able to see with his own eyes the superior technology of Trisolaris.
丁仪却一直活了下来，在可控核聚变技术取得突破后，他又转向了理论物理研究，寻找着在高能粒子实验中摆脱智子干扰的方法，但没有任何建树。过了七十岁后，与其他物理学家一样，他对物理学取得突破的可能性完全绝望。他进入冬眠，计划在末日之战时醒来，唯一的期望就是能够在有生之年亲眼看看三体世界的超级技术是什么样子。
In the century following the start of the Trisolar Crisis, everyone who had lived through the Golden Age passed away. It was an era that was constantly recalled, and the old folks who had lived through those grand times chewed over their memories of it like ruminants, savoring the flavors. They always closed with one line: “Ah, if only we knew how to cherish things back then.” Young people would listen to their stories with a mixture of envy and skepticism. That fabled peace, prosperity, and happiness, that ideal utopia free from care: Did it ever really exist?
在三体危机出现后的一个世纪，曾经在黄金时代生话过的人们都离开了人世。所谓黄金时代，是指从上世纪八十年代开始至三体危机出现时结束的美好时光，这个时代在今后一直被人不断地回忆，经历过这段美好岁月的老人像反刍动物似的不断把那段记忆吐出来，甜蜜地咀嚼，最后总是加上一句：“唉，那时咋就不懂得珍惜呢？”而听他们讲述的年轻人目光中充满嫉妒，同时也将信将疑：那神话般的和平、繁荣和幸福，那世外桃源般的无忧无虑，是否真的存在过？
As the elderly passed away, the departed Golden Shore vanished into the smoke of history. The ship of human civilization floated alone in the vast ocean, surrounded on all sides by endless, sinister waves, and no one knew if there even was an opposite shore.
随着老人们的离去，渐渐远去的黄金海岸完全消失在历史的烟波之中。现在，人类文明的航船已经孤独地驶到了茫茫的大洋中，举目四望，只有无边无际的险恶波涛，谁也不知道，彼岸是不是真的存在。
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