At this distance, the Earth still resembled a star, but it was possible to see a pale blue in its glow. The final deceleration stage had begun, and as the stellar drive came online, the crew, who had been floating in zero gravity, drifted toward the portholes like leaves falling in autumn, and finally landed against the broad sheets of glass. The artificial gravity generated by deceleration gradually increased until it reached 1G. The portholes now formed the floor, and the people lying down felt the weight like the embrace of Mother Earth ahead of them. Excitement echoed around the chamber. “We’re home!”
这时，地球还只是一颗星星，只能微微看出些蓝色。最后的减速开始了，随着星际引擎的启动，原来处于失重状态飘浮于广场上空的人们如落叶般缓缓向舷窗飘去，最后都贴在高大的舷窗玻璃壁上。过载缓缓加强，停在一个G，这是地球的重力，舷窗成了地面，趴在上面的人们感到这重力像是前方母亲星球的拥抱，玻璃壁像回音壁般传递着人们的声音：“回家了！”
It was now possible to see the Earth with the naked eye from the view window of Bronze Age. As the ship decelerated, those who weren’t on duty came to the open space at the stern to observe the Earth through the wide portholes.
从“青铜时代”号上可以用肉眼看到地球了，减速航行时舰尾对着地球方向，能离开岗位的人们纷纷来到舰尾广场，透过宽阔的舷窗观看地球。
“Can you believe it?”
“你能相信吗？”
“We can have kids!”
“我们能有孩子了！”
“I’ll get to see my kids again.”
“要见到孩子了。”
When Bronze Age left the Solar System, the law had dictated that no one could be born on the ship unless someone died.
按照“青铜时代”号在脱离太阳系时制订的法律，只有在舰上有人死亡时才能有新生儿出生。
“Oh, I haven’t seen flocks of birds in ages!”
“多少年没看到过鸟群了？”
“Doesn’t everything we’ve been through seem like a dream?”
“想想前面的事，真像梦。”
“She said she’d wait for me.”
“她说她还等着我。”
“If you’ll have her! You’re now a hero of the human race; you’ll have a flock of pretty girls after you.”
“到时候你肯定看不上她了，你是全人类的英雄，到时候会有一群漂亮的姑娘追你的。”
“I’m utterly terrified of space.”
“太空真可怕。”
“I feel like I’m dreaming now.”
“现在才像梦呢。”
It had been fourteen years since the complete destruction of the Earth’s combined fleet. The survivors, after engaging in separate internecine battles of darkness, cut off all contact with the home planet. However, for a year and a half thereafter, Bronze Age continued to receive transmissions from Earth, most of which were surface radio communications, but which also included some transmissions intended for space.
距地球舰队惨烈的覆灭已经十四年了，在太阳系的两端爆发黑暗役后，残存的舰队与地球的联系就中断了，但在其后一年半的时间里，“铜时代”号仍能监听到地球发出的大量信息，大部分是地球表面的广播通信，也有清晰度更高的太空通信。
And then, at the beginning of November in Year 208 of the Crisis Era, all radio transmissions from Earth ceased. Every frequency fell silent, as though the Earth was a lamp that had been suddenly shut off.
但突然，在危机纪元208年11月两天时间里，地球向太空溢散的带有信息的电磁波全部消失，所有的波段都陷入一片沉默，地球就像一盏突然关掉的灯。
“Me too. I’m retiring as soon as we get back. I’m going to buy a farm and spend the rest of my life on solid ground.”
“是啊。我回去就退役，开一个小农场，永远生活在大地上。”
When humanity finally learned that the universe was a dark forest in which everyone hunted everyone else, the child who had once cried out for contact by the bright campfire put out the fire and shivered in the darkness. Even a spark terrified him.
当人类得知宇宙的黑暗森林状态后，这个在篝火旁大喊的孩子立刻浇灭了火，在黑暗中瑟瑟发抖，连一颗火星都害怕了。
[Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time, Nyctohylophobia]
【摘自《时间之外的往事》黑暗森林恐惧症】
During the first few days, even mobile phone use was forbidden, and antennas around the world were forcibly shut down. Such a move, which would have once caused riots in the streets, was widely supported by the populace.
在最初的几天里，甚至民用移动通信都被禁止，全球大部分通信基站都被强令关闭。这在以前肯定会引发大动乱的措施，现在却得到了民众广泛的理解和赞同。
Gradually, as reason was restored, so were the mobile networks, but severe restrictions regarding electromagnetic radiation were put in place. All radio communications had to operate at minimum power, and any violators risked being tried for crimes against humanity.
虽然随着理智的渐渐恢复，移动通信也恢复了。但对电磁发射的管制空前严格，无线通信都被限制在很低的功率。超过此功率的发射则可能被判处反人类罪。
Most people surely understood that these reactions were excessive and meaningless. The peak of the Earth’s projection of electromagnetic signals into space had occurred during the age of analog signals, when television and radio transmission towers operated at high power levels. But as digital communication became prevalent, most information was transmitted via wires and optical cables, and even radio transmissions for digital signals required far less power than analog signals. The amount of electromagnetic radiation spilling into space from the Earth had fallen so much that some pre-Crisis scholars had fretted that the Earth would become impossible to discover by friendly aliens.
其实，人们心里也明白这是毫无意义的过度反应。地球电磁信息向太空溢散的高峰是在模拟信号时代，那时的电视和无线广播都有很高的功率。但进入数字通信时代后，一方面大量的通信转入光纤和电揽，另一方面即使无线的数字通信功率也较模拟通信小许多，地球向太空的电磁滋散急剧减少。以至于三体危机前，还有学者忧虑地球越来越难以被外星朋友发现了。
Most of the crew aboard Bronze Age attributed the sudden cessation of all signals from the Earth to the complete conquest of the Solar System by Trisolaris. Bronze Age accelerated and headed for a star with terrestrial planets twenty-six light-years away.
对于地球电磁信息突然消失的原因，“青铜时代”号上的人们大多认为太阳系已经被占领了，“青铜时代”号增大了加速功率，向26光年外一颗带有类地行星的恒星进发。
As humanity’s technology advanced, two far more efficient methods of signaling became available: neutrinos and gravitational waves. The latter was the main method of deterrence that humanity later deployed against Trisolaris.
以人类的技术水平向前一步，高效的宇宙信息传递技术有两种：中微子和引力波，后者后来成为人类对三体世界的主要威慑手段。
Electromagnetic waves are, moreover, the most primitive and least power-efficient method of transmitting information in the universe. Radio waves attenuate and degrade rapidly in the vastness of space, and most electromagnetic signals spilling from the Earth could not be received beyond two light-years. Only something like the transmission by Ye Wenjie, which relied on the power of the sun as an antenna, could be intercepted by listeners among the stars.
其实电磁波是宇宙间最原始、效率最低的信息传递方式，在太空中电磁信号的衰减和畸变都很快，绝大部分自地球溢散的电磁信息都传不出两光年。只有叶文洁创造的那种恒星级功率的发射才有可能被星际监听者接收到。
The dark forest theory had a profound impact on human civilization. That child sitting by the ashes of the campfire turned from optimism to isolation and paranoia, a loner in the universe.
黑暗森林理论对人类文明的影响是极其深刻的：那个葺火余烬旁的孩子，由外向乐观变得孤僻自闭了。
[Deterrence Era, Year 12, Bronze Age]
【威慑纪元12年，“青铜时代”号】
Just as Bronze Age was about to begin accelerating away from home again, the unimaginable happened: A sophon unfolded into low dimensions on the ship, establishing a quantum communication channel with Earth. Finally, the crew received confirmation of all that had occurred.
正当“青铜时代”号准备再次启动加速时，一件不可思议的事情发生了：来自三体世界的智子在舰上低维展开，在“青铜时代”号和太阳系之间建立了量子通信信道。于是，一切才最终被证实。
But ten days later, Bronze Age received a radio transmission from Fleet Command. The transmission had been sent simultaneously to Bronze Age and Blue Space, which was at the other end of the Solar System. The transmission gave a brief account of what had happened on Earth and notified them of the successful creation of a deterrence system to defend against Trisolaris. The two ships were ordered to return to Earth immediately. Moreover, Earth had taken great risks to send out this message to the lost ships; it would not be repeated.
但在十天后，“青铜时代”号突然收到了一条来自太空舰队司令部的电波信息。信息同时发向“青铜时代”号和远在太阳系另一端的“蓝色空间”号，说明了刚刚发生在地球上的事，告诉他们人类对三体世界的威慑已经成功建立，让两舰立刻返航，并说明这条信息是冒险发出的，不会再重复。
At first, Bronze Age dared not trust this message — wasn’t it possible that it was a trap set by those who had conquered the Solar System? The warship stopped accelerating and repeatedly queried Earth for confirmation. No reply ever came, as Earth maintained radio silence.
对于这个信息，“青铜时代”号不敢轻信，不排除是太阳系的占领者设下的陷阱。但为可能的返航考虑，飞船停止了加速，同时向地球连续发电询问，不过均无答复，地球的电磁静默在继续着。
Bronze Age began its return voyage. It was currently in outer space, about twenty-three hundred AU from the Earth, far beyond the Kuiper Belt but still some distance from the Oort Cloud. As it was cruising near maximum speed, deceleration consumed most of its fusion fuel. Its journey toward the Earth had to be conducted at a low cruising speed, and took eleven years.
“青铜时代”号立刻返航，这时，它位于距太阳两千三百个天文单位的太空中。早已越出柯伊伯带。但距奥尔特星云还十分遥远。由于已经接近最高航速，减速消耗了大量聚变燃料，最后向太阳系方向只能到达较低的速度，回家的航行用了十一年。
The crew found that, as some of the only survivors of the holocaust suffered by the combined space forces of Earth, they were now heroes of the human race. The whole world awaited their return with bated breath. Fleet Command awarded all members of the crew with the highest military honors.
“青铜时代”号上的太空军人们得知，作为末日战役中幸存的战舰，他们已成为人类的英雄，整个地球世界都在盼望着他们的回归，舰队司令部宣布对“青铜时代”号上的全体官兵集体授予最高荣誉勋章。
Gravity was the first stellar-class warship built after the Doomsday Battle. Deterrence-Era spaceships were no longer constructed along fixed body plans. Rather, most large spaceships were constructed out of multiple modules that could be assembled into various configurations. But Gravity was an exception. It was a white cylinder, so regular that it seemed unreal, like a basic shape dropped into space by mathematical modeling software, a platonic ideal rather than reality.
“万有引力”号是末日战役后地球建造的第一艘恒星级战舰。现在，星际飞船的外形越来越不规则。一般的巨型飞船都是由几个模块组成，可以组合成多种形状，但“万有引力’，号则相反，呈一个白色圆柱体，这个圆柱体是如此规则。以至产生了一种不真实感，好像某种超级绘图软件以太空位屏幕绘出的一个基本形状，仿佛是柏拉图理想世界中的一个元素，而不是现实中的实体。
As they finally neared Earth, a small white dot appeared ahead of them and quickly grew. It was Gravity, the warship that had been dispatched to welcome Bronze Age.
前方出现一个小白点，迅速清晰起来，这是迎接“青铜时代”号的“万有引力”号战舰。
If the crew of Bronze Age had seen the gravitational wave antennas on the Earth, they would have recognized Gravity as an almost perfect replica of them. Indeed, the entire hull of Gravity was a large gravitational wave antenna. Like its twins on the Earth’s surface, the ship was capable of broadcasting gravitational wave messages toward all corners of the universe at a moment’s notice. These gravitational wave antennas on Earth and in space comprised humanity’s dark forest deterrence system against Trisolaris.
如果”青铜时代“号上的人们看到过地球上的引力波天线，会立刻发现这艘飞船几乎是它的完美复制品。事实上，”万有引力“号的整个船体就是一个引力波天线，它等同于一个能进行行星际航行的引力波发射器，同地球上的那个发射器一样，可以随时向宇宙的各个方向广播引力波信息——这两个巨型引力波发射装置，共同构成了人类对三体世界的黑暗森林威慑。
After another day of coasting, Bronze Age, escorted by Gravity, entered geosynchronous orbit and slowly sailed into the orbital spaceport. Bronze Age’s crew could see dense crowds filling the broad expanse of the habitat sector of the spaceport like the opening ceremony of the Olympics or the Hajj in Mecca. The warship drifted through a colorful snowstorm of bouquets. The crew looked through the crowd for their loved ones. Everyone seemed to have tears in their eyes, crying out in joy.
编队航行了一天后，”青铜时代“号在”万有引力“号的护送下进人地球同步轨道，缓缓泊人太空港。从”青铜铜时代“，号上可以看到。在太空港广阔的空气区，人山人海，世界上这么多的人聚集在一起，能想起来的只有奥运会开幕式和麦加朝圣了。战舰缓缓进人一片彩色的大雪中。那是人海中向他们抛出的鲜花。舰上的人都向两侧的人海中眺望。试图找到他们的亲人，他们远远看到每个人都热泪盈眶，忘情地欢呼着。
With a final tremor, Bronze Age came to a complete stop. The captain gave a status report to Fleet Command and declared his intent to leave a skeleton crew behind on the ship. Fleet Command replied that the priority was to quickly reunite all members of the crew with their loved ones. There was no need to leave anyone behind on the ship. Another captain from the fleet boarded the ship with a small duty team who greeted everyone they encountered with tearful embraces.
“青铜时代”号微微震动了一下，终于停泊。舰长向舰队总部报告飞船的情况，同时说明将留下执勤人员，得到的回答是：应该让他们尽快与亲人团聚。不必留舰执助。一名上校率领替代的执勤小组很快登舰，他们和舰上遇到的姆个人拥抱。共同洒下重逢的泪水。
It was unclear from the duty team’s uniforms which of the three space fleets they belonged to, but they explained to those aboard the ship that the new Solar System Fleet was a single, unified force, and all those who had been part of the Doomsday Battle — including all the men and women aboard Bronze Age — would be key figures in the new fleet.
从他们的军装上看不出是属于哪支舰队，他们告诉舰上的人，重建的太阳系舰队将是一个整体，而包括他们在内的参加过末日战役的精英们将成为舰队的骨干力量。
“In our lifetimes, we will conquer Trisolaris and open up a second solar system for human colonization!” the fleet captain said.
“我们将在有生之年征服三体世界，并为人类开辟第二个太阳系！”那位登舰迎接的上校说。
Someone replied that they found space too terrifying and they would rather remain on the Earth. The fleet captain said that was perfectly acceptable. As heroes of humanity, they were free to choose their own paths in life. However, after a bit of R&R, they might change their minds. He, for one, hoped to see this famed warship in action again.
立刻有人回答说外太空太可怕了，他们愿意永远待在地球上。上校回答说那当然好，他们是全人类的英雄，有权选择自己今后的生活，不过在休息一阵后他们会改变想法的，他渴望看到这艘伟大的战舰再次起航。
The crew of Bronze Age began to disembark. Everyone entered the habitable region of the spaceport through a long passageway. Open space stretched around the crew. In contrast to the air on the ship, the air here smelled fresh and sweet, like after a rainstorm. Against the background of the spinning blue globe that was the Earth, the joyous shouts of the welcoming crowd filled the expansive area.
“青铜时代”号上的人们开始离舰，所有官兵穿过一条长长的通道进人空气区。眼前豁然开朗。与舰上相比，这里的空气异常清新，像雨后初晴般香甜，在蓝色地球的背景下，人海发出的欢呼声充满了广阔的空间。
Per a request from the fleet captain, the captain of Bronze Age conducted a roll call. At the fleet captain’s insistence, the roll call was repeated, to confirm that every member of the crew had disembarked and was present and accounted for.
在上校的要求下，舰长开始点名。上校坚持要求点了两遍，确认全舰人员都在此。
Then there was silence. Although the celebrating crowd around them continued to dance and wave their arms, they made no sound. All that anyone from Bronze Age could hear was the fleet captain’s voice. His face still bore a kind smile, but in that eerie silence, his voice sounded as sharp as the edge of a sword. “You’re hereby informed that you have been dishonorably discharged. You are no longer members of the Solar System Fleet. But the stain you have brought upon the fleet can never be erased! You will never see your loved ones again, because they have no wish to see you. Your parents are ashamed of you, and most of your spouses have long ago divorced you. Even though society has not discriminated against your children, they spent the past decade growing up in the shadow of your disgrace. They despise you! You are hereby transferred to Fleet International’s justice system.”
突然，一切陷人寂静，周围的人海依旧沸腾着，但发出的声浪完全消失了。上校的声音响了起来，他脸上仍残留着温暖的微笑，但声音在这诡异的寂静中如利剑般锋利：“现在声明：你们都已被开除军籍，不再属于太阳系舰队，但你们给舰队带来的耻辱永远无法抹去！你们现在也不能与亲人团聚，他们并不希望见到你们。你们的父母以你们为耻，你们的配偶大部分已经离你们而去。虽然社会并没有歧视你们的孩子，但他们这十多年也是在耻辱中长大，他们恨你们！你们已经被移交给舰队国际的司法系统。”
Power to the magnetic boots worn by the crew was cut off, and they floated up in free fall, like a bunch of helpless target dummies.
脚下的磁力鞋都同时失效，他们在失重中失去支撑飘浮起来，像一群动弹不得的靶子。
Some members of the crew turned around and saw that the bouquets of flowers floating around Bronze Age were real, not holographic mirages. But now they made the warship seem like a giant coffin about to be buried.
有人回头看看，“青铜时代”号周围的那些花束倒是真的，在飘浮的花丛中，他们的战舰像一口待葬的巨大棺材。
A cold voice spoke to them from somewhere. “All armed crew members must immediately relinquish your weapons. If you do not cooperate, we cannot guarantee your safety. You’re under arrest for murder in the first degree and crimes against humanity.”
一个冷漠的声音从什么地方向他们喊话：“所有携带武器的人请把武器交出来！请各位配合，否则无法保证你们的生命安全。从现在起你们所有人都因一级谋杀罪和反人类罪被逮捕了！”
The fleet captain left with his team. Simultaneously, the celebratory crowd disappeared and was replaced by darkness. A few roving spotlights revealed the ranks of fully armed military police surrounding the crew of Bronze Age. Standing on platforms around the broad square, they aimed their guns at the crew.
上校说完，与几位随行军官匆匆离去。同时，人海消失了，周围暗了下来。几束探照灯光来回扫射，照出包围他们的大批武装宪兵，他们分布在周围广场上和远处的台阶上，所有的枪口都对准这里。
0 条评论