Back when she was still a second-year in college, Ye had already known the professor who would end up being her thesis advisor. He had told Ye that to do astrophysics research, it was useless to excel at theory without knowledge of experimental methods and observational skills — at least, that was true in China. This was very different from her father’s view, but Ye tended to agree with her professor. She had always felt that her father was too theoretical. Her advisor was one of the pioneers of Chinese radio astronomy. Under his influence, Ye developed a great interest in radio astronomy as well. Thus, she taught herself electrical engineering and computer science, the foundation for experiments and observations in the field. During the two years when she was a graduate student, the two of them had tested China’s first small-scale radio telescope and had accumulated a great deal of experience in the area. She hadn’t expected the knowledge would one day be useful at Red Coast Base.
早在上大二时，叶文洁同后来的研究生导师就很熟悉。他对叶文洁说，研究天体物理学，如果不懂实验技术，没有观测能力，理论再好也没有用，至少在国内是这样。这与她父亲的观点倒是大相径庭。但叶文洁是倾向于同意这种看法的，她总感觉父亲太理论了。导师是国内射电天文学的开创者之一，在他的影响下，叶文洁也对射电天文产生了浓厚的兴趣，她因此自学了电子工程和计算机专业（注：当时在大部分院校，这两个专业是一体的），这是该学科实验和观测的技术基础。在读研究生的两年中，她同导师一起调试国内第一台小型射电望远镜，又积累了不少这方面的经验。没有想到，她的这些知识竟在红岸基地派到了用场。
Ye wasn’t given a real job immediately after entering Red Coast Base. Under the watchful eyes of a security guard, she was only allowed to perform a few technical tasks.
刚进入红岸基地时，叶文洁没有被分配固定工作，只是在一名安全人员的监视下干一些技术上的杂事。
Eventually, Ye was assigned to the Transmission Department to maintain and repair equipment. She quickly became an indispensable part of their operations. Initially, this confused her a bit. She was the only person at the base who wasn’t in a military uniform. And given her political status, everyone kept their distance. She had no way to ward off the loneliness other than devoting herself to work. However, this wasn’t enough to explain why they relied on her so much. This was, after all, a key defense project. How could the technical staff here be so mediocre that she, who had not majored in engineering and who had no real working experience, easily took over their jobs?
叶文洁最初在发射部做设备维护和检修，很快成了发射部不可缺少的技术骨千，这让她有些不解。她是基地里唯一不穿军装的人，更由于她的身份，所有人都同她保持距离，这使得她只能全身心投入工作中以排遣孤寂。但这也不足以说明问题，这毕竟是国防重点工程，难道这里的技术人员就那么平庸，非要让她这个非工科出身也没有工作经验的人轻易代替吗？
She learned the reason soon enough. Contrary to appearances, the base’s staff was composed of the best technical officers from the Second Artillery Corps. She could study all her life and have no hope of catching up to those excellent electrical and computer engineers. But the base was remote, the conditions were poor, and the main research work of the Red Coast Project was already completed. All that was left was maintenance and operation, so there was little opportunity for achieving any interesting technical results. Most people did not want to be indispensable, because they understood that in highly classified projects like this, once someone was put into a core technical position, it would be very difficult for him to be transferred out. Thus, all of them tried to deliberately hide their technical competence as they went about their jobs. Yet, they couldn’t appear too incompetent. So if the supervisor said to go east, they would work hard to move west, purposely playing the fool. Their hope was to put the following thought into the supervisor’s head: This man is working hard, but he’s limited in his skills. There’s no point in keeping him, because he’ll only get in the way.
她很快发现了一些原因。与表面看到的相反，基地配备的都是二炮部队最优秀的技术军官，这些卓越的电子和计算机工程师，她再学一辈子可能也赶不上。但基地地处偏僻，条件很差。而且红岸系统的主要研制工作己经结束，只是运行和维护。在技术上也没有什么做出成果的机会，大多数人都不安心工作，他们知道，在这种最高密级的项目里，一旦进入技术核心岗位，就很难调走。所以人们在工作中都故意将自己的能力降低很多，但还不能表现落后，于是领导指挥向东，他就卖力气地向西，故意装傻，指望领导产生这样的想法：这人也尽力了，但就这么点能力和水平，留他没什么用，反而碍手碍脚的。
Many really did successfully obtain transfers through this method. Under such conditions, Ye gradually became a key technician at the base. But the other reason that she could achieve this position puzzled her, and for that she could find no explanation: Red Coast Base — at least the parts that she had contact with — had no real advanced technology at all.
许多人真的这样成功地调离了。在这种情况下，叶文洁不知不觉中成了基地的技术中坚。但走到这个位置的另一个原因却令她百思不得其解：红岸基地至少在她接触的部分，没有什么真正意义上的先进技术。
Over time, as Ye continued to work at the Transmission Department, the restrictions on her were gradually relaxed, and even the security guard assigned to watch her was called off. She was allowed to touch most components of Red Coast’s systems, and could read the relevant technical documents. Of course, there were still areas forbidden to her. For example, she wasn’t allowed near the computer control systems. However, Ye discovered that the impact of those systems on Red Coast was far smaller than she had imagined. For instance, the Transmission Department’s computers consisted of three machines even more primitive than DJS130.24 They used cumbersome magnetic core memory and paper input tape, and their longest uptime did not exceed fifteen hours. She also saw that the precision of Red Coast’s targeting system was very low, probably not even on par with that of an artillery cannon.
进入基地后。叶文洁主要在发射部工作，随着时间的推移，对她的限制渐渐放松，那名时刻陪着她的监视人员也取消了，她可以接触红岸系统的大部分结构。也可以阅读相应的技术资料。当然，禁止她接触的东西还是有的，比如计算机控制部分，就绝刘禁止她走近。但叶文洁后来发现，那一部分对红岸系统的作用远没有她以前想象的那么大。比如发射部的计算机，是三台比DJS130还落后的设备。使用笨重的磁心存贮器和纸带输入，最长的无故障小时数不超过十五小时。她还看到过红岸系统的瞄准部分，精度很低，可能还不如一门火炮的瞄准装具。
Commissar Lei said, “Wenjie, by now you’re pretty familiar with the transmission system. This is also Red Coast’s offensive component, its principal part. Can you give me your views of the system as a whole?” They were sitting at the lip of the steep cliff on Radar Peak, the most secluded spot on the base. The cliff seemed to drop straight off into a bottomless abyss. At first, the spot had frightened Ye, but now she liked to come here by herself.
“小叶啊，到了现在，对发射系统这块你已经很熟悉了，这也是红岸系统的攻击部分，是它的主体，说说你对这套系统的整体看法？”雷政委说，他们这时坐在雷达峰的那道悬崖前，这里是基地最僻静的所在。那笔直的绝壁似乎深不见底，最初令叶文洁胆战心惊，但现在她很喜欢一个人到这里来。
One day, Commissar Lei came to speak with Ye. By this time, Yang Weining and Lei Zhicheng had swapped places in her eyes. During those years, Yang, as the highest-ranked technical officer, did not enjoy a high political status, and outside of technical matters he had little authority. He had to be careful with his subordinates, and had to speak politely even to the sentries, lest he be deemed to have an intellectual’s resistant attitude toward thought reform and collaboration with the masses. Thus, whenever he encountered difficulties in his work, Ye became his punching bag. But as Ye gained importance as a technical staff member, Commissar Lei gradually shed his initial rudeness and coldness and became kind toward her.
这天，雷政委又找叶文洁谈话。现在，在她的眼中，杨卫宁和雷志成换了个位置。在这个年代，作为最高技术领导的杨卫宁在政治上的地位并不高，离开技术就没有什么权威了。对部下也只能小心翼翼的，连对哨兵说话都要客气些，否则就是知识分子对“三结合”和思想改造的态度问题。于是，遇到工作上不顺心的时候，叶文洁就成了他唯一的出气筒。但随着叶文洁在技术上变得越来越重要。雷政委渐渐改变了最初对她的粗暴和冷漠，变得和蔼起来。
“Go ahead, speak your mind,” Commissar Lei said. He ripped out a blade of grass next to him and played with it absent-mindedly.
“大胆说吧。没关系。”雷政委扯下身边的一根草手里摆弄着说。
“It… is just a radio transmitter.”
“它……一不过就是一台无线电发别机嘛。”
Ye wasn’t sure how to answer Commissar Lei’s question. She was only responsible for maintaining and repairing equipment and knew nothing about Red Coast as a whole, including its operation, targets, and so on. Indeed, she wasn’t allowed to know. She wasn’t even permitted to be present at the transmission. She pondered the question, began to speak, and stopped herself.
对雷政委的问话，叶文洁有些不知所措。她只负责设备的维护和维修，对红岸系统的整体情况，包括它的作用方式、攻击目标等，一概不知，也不允许她知道，每次常规发射她都不能在场。她想了想，欲言又止。
Ye shook her head.
叶文洁摇摇头。
“That’s right, just a radio transmitter.” The commissar nodded, satisfied. “Do you know about microwave ovens?”
“不错，它就是一台无线电发射机。”雷政委满意地点点头，“你知道微波炉吗？”
“They are a luxury plaything of the capitalist West. Food is heated by the energy generated from absorbing microwave radiation. At my previous research station, in order to precisely test the high-temperature aging of certain components, we imported one. After work, we would use it to warm mantou bread, bake a potato, that sort of thing. It’s very interesting: The inside heats up first while the outside remains cold.”
“西方资产阶级的奢侈玩意儿，用微波被吸收后产生的热效应加热食物。我以前在的那个研究所，为了精密测试某种元件的高温老化，从国外进口了一台。我们下了班也用它热馒头、烤土豆。很有意思，里面先热，外头还是凉的。”
Commissar Lei stood up and paced back and forth. He was so close to the edge of the cliff that it made Ye nervous. “Red Coast is a microwave oven, and its heating targets are the enemy’s space vessels. If we can apply microwave radiation at a specific power level of one-tenth of a watt to one watt per square centimeter, we’ll be able to disable or destroy many electronic components of satellite communications, radar, and navigation systems.”
雷政委说着站了起来，来回踱步，他走得如此贴近悬崖边缘，令叶文洁十分紧张，“红岸系统就是一台微波炉，加热的目标是敌人在太空中的航天器。只要达到0.1～1/平方厘米的微波能量辐射，就可直接使卫星通信、雷达、导航等系统的微波电子设备失效或烧毁。”
Ye finally understood. Even though Red Coast was only a radio transmitter, that didn’t mean it was conventional. The most surprising aspect was its transmission power: as high as twenty-five megawatts! This wasn’t just more powerful than all communication transmissions, but also all radar transmissions. Red Coast relied on a set of gigantic capacitors. Because the power requirements were so high, the transmission circuits were also different from conventional designs. Ye now understood the purpose of such ultrahigh power in the system, but something seemed wrong right away. “The emission from the system seems to be modulated.”
叶文洁恍然大悟。红岸系统虽然只是一台电波发射机，但并不等于它就是个寻常之物，最令她吃惊的是它的发射功率，竟然高达二十五兆瓦！这不仅远大于所有的通讯发射功率，也大于所有的雷达发射功率。红岸系统由一组庞大的电容提供发射能量，由于功率巨大，它的发射电路也与常规的有很大不同。叶文洁现在明白了这种超大发射功率的用途，但她立刻想到了个问题：“系统发射的电波，好像是经过调制的。”
Ye nodded. Many of her questions had now been answered.
叶文洁点点头，以前心中的许多其他疑问现在也都到了解答，
“That’s right. However, the modulation is unlike that used in conventional radio communications. The purpose isn’t to add information, but to use shifting frequencies and amplitudes to penetrate possible shielding by the enemy. Of course, those are still experimental.”
“是的，但这种调制与常规无线电通讯完全不同，不是为了加载信息，而是用变化的频率和振幅突破敌人可能进行的屏蔽防护，当然，这些还都在试验中。”
“Recently, two target satellites were launched from Jiuquan. The test attacks by Red Coast were completely successful. Temperature inside the satellites reached nearly a thousand degrees, and all instruments and photographic equipment onboard were destroyed. In future wars, Red Coast can effectively strike at the enemy’s communication and reconnaissance satellites, like the KH-8 spy satellites on which the American Imperialists rely, as well as the KH-9, which are about to be launched. The lower-orbit spy satellites of the Soviet Revisionists are even more vulnerable. If necessary, we even have the capacity to destroy the Salyut space station of the Soviet Revisionists and the Skylab station that American Imperialists plan on launching next year.”
“最近，从酒泉发射了两颗靶标卫星，红岸系统进的攻击试验，完全成功，摧毁了目标，使卫星内部达到了近千度的高温，搭载的仪器和摄影设备全部被破坏。在未来实战中，红岸系统可以有效打击敌人的通信和侦察卫星，美帝目前的主力侦察卫星KH8，和即将发射的KH9，苏修那些轨道更低的侦察卫星就更不在话下了。必要的时候，还有能力摧毁苏修的礼炮号空间站和美帝计划于明年发射的天空实验室。”
“This is for work,” Commissar Lei said, and then left. Yang glanced at Ye without saying anything and followed Lei. Ye was left all by herself.
“我这是为了工作。”雷政委扔下一句话，转身走了。杨卫宁无言地看了叶文洁一眼，也跟着走去，只丢下叶文洁一人。
“Commissar! What are you telling her?” Someone spoke behind Ye. She turned and saw that it was Yang Weining, who stared at Commissar Lei severely.
“政委，你在对她说些什么？”有人在叶文洁身后说。她转身一看，是杨卫宁，他盯着雷政委，目光很严厉。
He’s the one who brought me here, but he still doesn’t trust me, a disconsolate Ye thought. She was worried about Commissar Lei. At the base, Lei had more authority than Yang, since the commissar had the final vote on most important matters, but the way he rushed away with Yang seemed to indicate that he felt the chief engineer had caught him doing something wrong. This convinced Ye that Lei had made a personal decision to tell her about the true purpose of the Red Coast Project. What will happen to him as a result of this decision? As she gazed at Commissar Lei’s burly back, Ye felt a wave of gratitude. For her, trust was a luxury that she dared not wish for. Compared to Yang, Lei was closer to her image of a real military officer, possessing a soldier’s frank and forthright manners. Yang, on the other hand, was nothing more than a typical intellectual of the period: cautious, timid, seeking only to protect himself. Even though Ye understood him, the wide gulf already between them grew wider.
“是他把我带进基地的。可到现在他还是不信任我。”叶文洁悲哀地想。同时在为雷政委担心。在基地，雷志成的权力大于杨卫宁，各项重大事务政委有最终决定权。但刚才他匆匆离去的样子，显然是觉得在总工程师面前做错了什么事，这让叶文洁确信他将红岸的真实用途告诉自己，可能只是个人的决定。对于他这将产生什么样的后果？看着雷政委那魁梧的背影，叶文洁心中涌上了股感激之情，对于她，信任无疑是一种不敢奢望的奢侈品。与杨卫宁相比。雷志成是叶文沽心目中真正的军人，有着军人的坦诚和直率，而杨卫宁只是一个她见过很多的这个时代典型的知识分子，胆小谨慎，只求自保平安。虽然叶文洁理解他，但与他本来就很远的距离更拉远了。
The next day, Ye was transferred out of the Transmission Department and assigned to the Monitoring Department. At first, she thought this was related to the events of the day before, an attempt to move her away from the core of Red Coast. But after arriving at the Monitoring Department, she realized that this was more like the heart of Red Coast. Even though the two departments shared some resources, such as the antenna, the technology level of the Monitoring Department was far more advanced.
第二天，叶文洁被调离了发射部，安排到监听部工作。她原以为这与昨天的事有关，是将她调离红岸的核心部门，但到监听部后，才发现这里更像红岸的核心。虽然两个部门在设备系统上有重叠之处，比如共用同一个天线，但监听部的技术水平比发射部要先进一个层次。
The Monitoring Department had a very sophisticated and sensitive radio receiver. A ruby-based traveling-wave maser25 amplified the signals received by the gigantic antenna, and in order to minimize interference, the core of the reception system was immersed in liquid helium at -269 degrees Celsius. Periodically, a helicopter came to replenish the supply of liquid helium. The reception system was thus capable of picking up very faint signals. Ye couldn’t help but imagine how wonderful it would be to use the equipment for radio astronomy research.
监听部有套十分先进的电波灵敏接收系统，从巨型天线接收到的信号通过红宝石行波微波激射器放大——为了抑制系统本身的干扰，竟将接收系统的核心部分浸泡于—269℃的液氮中，液氮由直升机定期运来以补充消耗。这使得系统具有极高的灵敏度，能够接收到很微弱的讯号。叶文洁不禁想，如果用这套设备从事射电天文研究，那将是多么美妙的事情啊。
The Monitoring Department’s computer system was also much bigger and more complex than the one at the Transmission Department. The first time she entered the main computer room, Ye saw a row of cathode ray tube displays. She was stunned to see programming code scrolling across each of them, and the operators were free to edit and test the code using the keyboard. When she learned programming in college, the source code was always written on the grids of special programming paper, then transferred to paper tape using a typewriter. She had heard of input using a keyboard and screen, but this was the first time she had seen it. The software available astonished her even more. She learned about something called FORTRAN, which allowed you to program using a language close to natural language. You could even type mathematical equations directly into the code! Programming in it was several times more efficient than programming in machine code. And then there was something called a database, which allowed for easy storage and manipulation of vast amounts of data.
监听部的计算机系统也远比发射部庞大复杂，叶文洁第一次走进主机房时，看到一排阴极射线管显示屏，她惊奇地发现，屏幕上竟滚动着排排程序代码，可以通过键盘随意进行编辑和调试。而她在大学里使用计算机时，代码都写在一张张打格的程序纸上，再通过打字机噼噼啪啪地打到纸带上。她听说过从键盘和屏幕输入这回事，现在竟然真的看到了。但更令她吃惊的是这里的软件技术。她知道了一种叫FORTRAN的东西（注：第一代计算机高级语言），竟能用接近自然语言的代码编写程序。能将数学公式直接写到代码里，它的编程效率比机器码汇编不知高了多少倍。还有一种叫数据库的东西，竟能那样随心所欲地操纵海量数据。
Yang interrupted, “Commissar Lei, I don’t think what you’re doing is a good idea. There’s no need to tell her these things.”
杨卫宁插进来说：“雷政委，我觉得你这样不好，真的没必要对她说这些。”
“Wenjie,” Commissar Lei began, “let me explain the work of the Monitoring Department to you. Simply put, the goal is to keep an eye on enemy activities in space, including intercepting communications between enemy space vessels and the ground, and between the space vessels themselves; collaborating with our telemetry, tracking, and command centers to determine the orbits of enemy space vessels and provide data for Red Coast’s combat systems. In other words, the eyes of Red Coast are here.”
雷政委说：“小叶，现在我向你说明监听部的上作内容，简单地说。就是对敌人的太空活动进行监视，包括监听敌人航天器与地面和航天器间的通讯，与我航天测控部门配合，锁定敌航天器的轨道位置，为红岸系统的作战提供依据。可以说，是红岸的眼睛。”
Ye glanced at Yang and anxiously said, “Commissar, if it’s not appropriate for me to know, then –“
叶文洁看看不远处的杨卫宁，不安地说：“政委。如果不适宜让我了解，就……”
Two days later, Commissar Lei sought Ye out for another talk. This time, they were in the main computer room of the Monitoring Department, in front of the row of green-glowing screens. Yang Weining sat close by, not part of their conversation, but also not willing to leave, which made Ye very uncomfortable.
两天后，雷政委又找叶文洁谈话，这次是在监听部的主机房里。在那一排闪着绿光的计算机显示器前。杨卫宁坐在距他们不远处，既不想参加他们的谈话，又不能放心离开，这令叶文洁感到很不自在。
Yang stood up. “I will report this to our superiors.”
杨卫宁站了起来，“我要向上级汇报！”
Yang got up and left with a bitter expression.
杨卫宁起身悻悻地离去。
“Don’t mind him. That’s just the way Chief Yang is.” Commissar Lei chuckled and shook his head. Then he stared at Ye and his tone became solemn. “Wenjie, when we first brought you to the base, the goal was simple. Red Coast’s monitoring systems often had interference caused by electromagnetic radiation from solar flares and sunspots. Fortuitously, we saw your paper and realized that you had researched solar activity. Among Chinese scholars, your predictive model turned out to be the most accurate, so we wanted to ask for your help in solving this problem. But after you came, you showed very strong abilities, so we decided to give you more responsibilities. My thought was this: assign you first to the Transmission Department, then the Monitoring Department. This way, you’d gain a comprehensive understanding of Red Coast as a whole and we could wait and see where to assign you after that. Of course, as you can see, this plan has met with some resistance. But I have trust in you, Wenjie. Let me be clear: Until now, the trust placed in you has been mine, personally. I hope that you can continue to work hard and earn the trust of the organization as a whole.”
“你别在意，杨总就这样，过分谨慎。有时工作放不开手脚。”雷政委笑着摇摇头，然后直视着文洁，语气郑重起来，“小叶，最初带你来基地，目的很单纯红岸监听系统经常受到太阳斑耀和黑子活动产生的电磁辐射的干扰，我们意外地看到了你的那篇论文，发现你对太阳活动有比较深入的研究，在国内。你提出的预测模型是最准确的，所以就想让你协助解决这个问题。但你来了后，在技术上表现出了很强的工作能力。所以我们决定让你承担更多、更重要的工作。我是这么打算的：让你先到发射部，再到监听部，对红岸系统有一个整体的了解和熟悉，至于以后安排什么工作，我们再研究。当然，你也看到了，这有阻力，但我是信任你的。小叶，这里要说明，到目前为止，这种信任还只是我个人的，希望你能努力工作，最后赢得组织上的信任。”
“No, no, Wenjie.” The commissar held up a hand to stop Ye from speaking. He turned to Yang. “Chief Yang, I’m going to tell you the same thing I did before. This is for work. For Wenjie to perform her duties better, she must be told the purpose of her work.”
“不不，小叶，”雷政委抬起一只手制止叶文洁说下去，转身对杨卫宁说，“杨总，还是那句话，为了工作，要进一步发挥小叶的作用，她该知道的还是得知道。”
“That is your right, of course. But do not fret, Chief Yang. I will assume responsibility for all consequences.”
“这当然是你的权利。不过，杨总，请你放心，对这事，我负一切责任。”雷政委平静地说。
Lei stood up and strode away in the confident manner of a soldier. Ye’s eyes were filled with tears. Seen through them, the code on the screen became flickering flames. This was the first time she had cried since the death of her father.
雷政委说完站起来，迈着军人的稳健步伐离去。叶文洁的双眼盈满了泪水。透过眼泪，屏幕上的代码变成了一团团跳动的火焰。自父亲死后，这是她第一次流泪。
Commissar Lei placed a hand on Ye’s shoulder. She felt the warmth and strength conveyed through it. “Wenjie, let me tell you my sincere hope: One day, I’d like to call you Comrade Ye.”
雷政委把只手放到叶文洁的肩上，她感到了这只有力的手传递的温暖和力量，“小叶啊，告诉你我的一个真切的希望吧：希望有一天，能称呼你叶文洁同志。”
As Ye familiarized herself with the work of the Monitoring Department, she discovered that she was far less successful here than at the Transmission Department. The computer science knowledge she had was outdated, and she had to learn the software techniques from scratch. Even though Commissar Lei trusted her, the restrictions on her were severe. She was allowed to view the software source code, for example, but was forbidden from touching the database.
叶文洁开始熟悉监听部的工作。她很快发现，自己在这早远不如在发射部顺利，她已有的计算机知识早己落后，大部分软件技术都得从头学起。虽然有雷政委的信任，但对她的限制还是很严的，她可以看程序源代码，但不许接触数据库。
On a day-to-day basis, Ye was mainly supervised by Yang. He became even ruder to her, and would get angry at her for the smallest things. Commissar Lei talked to him about it multiple times without effect. It seemed that Yang became filled with a nameless anxiety as soon as he saw Ye.
在日常工作中，叶文洁更多是接受杨卫宁的领导，他对她更加粗暴了，动不动就发火。雷政委多次劝他也没用，好像一见到叶文洁，他就充满了一种无名的焦虑。
One day, the monitoring system intercepted a transmission that, after being deciphered by the computer, turned out to be a few satellite photographs. The blurry images were sent to the General Staff Department’s Surveying and Mapping Bureau for interpretation. They turned out to be images of important military targets in China, including the naval harbor at Qingdao and several key factories of the Third Front program.26 Analysis confirmed that these images came from the KH-9 American reconnaissance system. The first KH-9 satellite had just been launched. Although it mainly relied on recoverable film capsules for intelligence gathering, it was also being used to test out the more advanced technique of radio transmission of digital images. Due to the technology’s immaturity, the satellite transmitted at a low frequency, which increased its range of reception sufficiently for it to be intercepted by Red Coast. And because it was only a test, the encryption was not very secure and could be broken. The KH-9 was without a doubt an important monitoring target, as it presented a rare opportunity to gather more information about American satellite reconnaissance systems. Yet, after the third day, Yang Weining ordered a change in the frequency and direction of monitoring and abandoned the target. Ye found the decision incomprehensible.
这天，监听系统接收到一系列值得注意的信息，经过计算机译解，发现是几幅卫星照片，很模糊。送到总参测绘局判读。发现均为我境内重要目标，其中有青岛军港和几个大三线重点军工企业的照片。经过分析，确认这些照片来自美国的HK9（KH9？）侦察卫星，第一颗KH9刚刚完成试验发射，主要是以胶片舱回收方式传递情报。但也在进行更加先进的无线电数码传递试验，由于技术不成熟，传送频率较低，所以信息泄漏较大，能被红岸系统接收到。由于是试验传送，加密级别较低，能够被限免，这无疑是最重要的监视对象，是了解美国太空侦察系统不可多得的机会。可是第三天，杨卫宁竟命令转移监听频率和方向，丢开了这个目标，叶文洁总觉得这不可理解。
Gradually, as Ye encountered more and more unexplainable matters in her work, she came to realize that the Red Coast Project was far more complex than she had imagined.
渐渐地，叶文洁在工作中发现的许多不可理解的事，使她感觉到红岸工程远比她想象的复杂。
As she walked into the office, the scene before her seemed familiar: All the senior officers of the base were present, along with two officers she didn’t know. However, she could tell at a glance that they were from higher up in the chain of command. Everyone’s icy stares focused on her, but the sensitivity she had developed over the stormy years informed her that she wasn’t the one in big trouble today. She was at most a sideshow. She saw Commissar Lei sitting in a corner with a dejected look. He’s finally going to pay for trusting me, she thought. At once, she decided that she would do whatever she could to save him. She would take responsibility for everything, even lie if necessary.
走进办公室后，一个似曾相识的场景出现了：基地的主要领导都在场，还有两名不认识的军官，一看就是更高一级部门来的人，所有人冰冷的目光聚焦到她身上。但这么多年的风风雨雨形成的敏感告诉她，今天倒霉的人可能不是她，她最多是一个陪葬品。她看到雷志成政委坐在一角，神色黯然。他终于要为对我的信任付出代价了，这是叶文洁心中冒出的第一个念头，她在一瞬间暗下决心，为了不牵连到雷政委，一定要将事情向自己身上揽，甚至不惜说谎。但她没有想到第一个开口的竟然就是雷政委，他的话更是完全出乎自己的预料。
Another event also shocked her. Even though she was now in the Monitoring Department, sometimes the Transmission Department still needed her. One time, she accidentally saw the frequency settings for a few upcoming transmissions. She discovered that the designated frequencies for transmissions 304, 318, and 325 were lower than microwave range and could not result in any heating effect in the target.
另一件事则令她震惊：虽然身在监听部，但发射部有些事情还让她去做。一次，她无意中看到了未来几次发射计划的频率设置，发现在第304、318和325次发射中，确定的发射频率己低出了微波范围，不可能在目标上产生任何热效应。
One day, an officer summoned Ye to the main base administrative office out of the blue. From the officer’s tone and expression, Ye knew that something had gone wrong.
这天，突然有人通知叶文洁到基地总部办公室去，从那名军官的语气和神色中，叶文洁感到了不样。
But Commissar Lei was the first to speak, and what he said was completely unexpected. “Ye Wenjie, I must make it clear at the start that I do not agree with what is about to be done. The decision was made by Chief Engineer Yang after requesting instructions from our superiors. He alone will be responsible for all consequences.” Commissar Lei turned to look at Yang, who nodded solemnly. Lei continued, “In order to better utilize your skills at Red Coast Base, Chief Engineer Yang repeatedly requested permission from our superiors to abandon the cover story we’ve been using with you. Our comrades from the Army Political Department”– he indicated the two officers Ye didn’t know –“were sent to investigate your work situation. Finally, with the approval of our superiors, we’ve decided to inform you of the true nature of the Red Coast Project.”
“叶文洁，首先声明，我是不同意这么做的，下面的决定是杨总工程师请示上级后做出的，他将对后果负完全责任。”说完他看了杨卫宁一眼，后者郑重地点点头，“为了更好地发挥你在红岸基地的作用，这些天来，经过杨总工程师反复向上级请示，兵种政治部派来的同志也了解了你的工作情况，”他指了指那两名陌生的军官，“经过上级同意，我们决定将红岸工程的真实情况告诉你。”
Only after a long pause did Ye finally understand Commissar Lei’s meaning: He had been lying to her all along.
过了好半天，叶文洁才明白了雷政委这话的含意：他一直在欺骗她！
“I hope you will treasure this opportunity and work hard to redeem your sins. After this, you must behave with the utmost propriety. Any reactionary behavior will be severely punished!” Commissar Lei stared at Ye. He was a completely different person from the image Ye had formed of him. “Are we clear? Good. Now Chief Yang can explain.”
“希望你珍惜这次机会。努力工作，立功赎罪。今后，你在基地只许老老实实，不许乱说乱动，任何反动行为都将受到最严厉的惩罚。”雷政委盯着叶文洁厉声说道，与以前叶文洁眼中的他相比仿佛换了一个人，“听明白了吗？那好，请杨总工程师为你介绍红岸工程的情况吧。”
“I agree,” Ye said, softly, but resolutely. Thus, on this early summer evening, as the wind howled through the giant parabolic antenna, and as the forest rustled over the Greater Khingan Mountains in the distance, Yang Weining explained to Ye Wenjie the true nature of Red Coast. It was a fairy tale for the ages, even more incredible than the commissar’s lies.
“我同意。”叶文洁轻轻地。但坚定地说。于是，在这个初夏的黄昏，在巨型天线风中的轰鸣声和远方大兴安岭的松涛声中，杨卫宁向叶文洁讲述了真实的红岸工程，这是一个比雷志成的谎言更加令人难以置信的时代神话。
The others left, leaving only Yang and Ye.
其他人纷纷离去，办公室中只剩下杨卫宁和叶文洁两人。
“If you don’t want this, there’s still time.” Ye discerned the weight behind these words. She now understood Yang’s anxiety whenever he had seen her the last few weeks. To make full use of her skills, it was necessary for her to know the truth about Red Coast. However, this choice would extinguish the last ray of hope she had of ever leaving Radar Peak. Once she said yes, she really would spend the rest of her life at Red Coast Base.
“如果你不同意，现在还来得及。”杨卫宁说。叶文洁知道这话的分量，也理解了杨卫宁这些天见到她时的那种焦躁。为了在基地发挥她的才华，必须让她知道红岸工程的真实情况，但这又意味着叶文洁走出雷达峰的最后一线希望也将不复存在。红岸基地将是她一生最终的归宿。
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