Sphere (深海圆疑) 原版小说-第37部分

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


〃You　know；　when　I　was　a　kid；　I　went　to　the　beach　with　my　younger　brother。　Tim。　He's　dead　now；　but　Tim　was　＇＇179＇＇　about　six　at　the　time。　He　couldn't　swim　yet。　My　mother　told　me　to　watch　him　carefully；　but　when　I　got　to　the　beach　all　my　friends　were　there；　body…surfing。　I　didn't　want　to　be　bothered　with　my　brother。　It　was　hard；　because　I　wanted　to　be　out　in　the　big　surf；　and　he　had　to　stay　close　to　shore。
〃Anyway；　in　the　middle　of　the　afternoon　he　es　out　of　the　water　screaming　bloody　murder；　absolutely　screaming。　And　tugging　at　his　right　side。　It　turned　out　he　had　been　stung　by　some　kind　of　a　jellyfish。　It　was　still　attached　to　him；　sticking　to　his　side。　Then　he　collapsed　on　the　beach。　One　of　the　mothers　ran　over　and　took　Timmy　to　the　hospital；　before　I　could　even　get　out　of　the　water。　I　didn't　know　where　he　had　gone。　I　got　to　the　hospital　later。　My　mother　was　already　there。　Tim　was　in　shock；　I　guess　the　poison　was　a　heavy　dose　for　his　small　body。　Anyway；　nobody　blamed　me。　It　wouldn't　have　mattered　if　I　had　been　sitting　right　on　the　beach　watching　him　like　a　hawk；　he　would　still　have　been　stung。　But　I　hadn't　been　sitting　there；　and　I　blamed　myself　for　years；　long　after　he　was　fine。　Every　time　I'd　see　those　scars　on　his　side；　I　felt　terrible　guilt。　But　you　get　over　it。　You're　not　responsible　for　everything　that　happens　in　the　world。　You　just　aren't。〃
There　was　a　silence。　Somewhere　in　the　habitat　he　heard　a　soft　rhythmic　knocking；　a　sort　of　thumping。　And　the　everpresent　hum　of　the　air　handlers。
Beth　was　staring　at　him。　〃Seeing　Edmunds　die　must　have　been　hard　for　you。〃
〃It's　funny；〃　Norman　said。　〃I　never　made　the　connection；　until　right　now。〃
〃Blocked　it；　I　guess。　Want　a　Valium？〃
He　smiled。　〃No。〃
〃You　looked　as　if　you　were　about　to　cry。〃
〃No。　I'm　fine。〃　He　stood　up；　stretched。　He　went　over　to　the　medicine　kit　and　closed　the　white　lid；　came　back。
Beth　said；　〃What　do　you　think　about　these　messages　we're　getting？〃
〃Beats　me；〃　Norman　said。　He　sat　down　again。　〃Actually；　I　did　have　one　crazy　thought。　Do　you　suppose　the　messages　and　these　animals　we're　seeing　are　related？〃
〃Why？〃
＇＇180＇＇　〃I　never　thought　about　it　until　we　started　to　get　spiral　messages。　Harry　says　it's　because　the　thing…the　famous　it…believes　we　think　in　spirals。　But　it's　just　as　likely　that　it　thinks　in　spirals　and　so　it　assumes　we　do；　too。　The　sphere　is　round；　isn't　it？　And　we've　been　seeing　all　these　radially　symmetrical　animals。　Jellyfish；　squid。〃
〃Nice　idea；〃　Beth　said；　〃except　for　the　fact　that　squid　aren't　radially　symmetrical。　An　octopus　is。　And；　like　an　octopus；　squid　have　a　round　circle　of　tentacles；　but　squid're　bilaterally　symmetrical；　with　a　matching　left　and　right　side；　the　way　we　have。　And　then　there's　the　shrimps。〃
〃That's　right；　the　shrimps。〃　Norman　had　forgotten　about　the　shrimps。
〃I　can't　see　a　connection　between　the　sphere　and　the　animals；〃　Beth　said。
They　heard　the　thumping　again；　soft；　rhythmic。　Sitting　in　his　chair；　Norman　realized　that　he　could　feel　the　thumping　as　well；　as　a　slight　impact。　〃What　is　that；　anyway？〃
〃I　don't　know。　Sounds　like　it's　ing　from　outside。〃
He　had　started　toward　the　porthole　when　the　inter　clicked　and　he　heard　Barnes　say；　〃Now　hear　this；　all　hands　to　munications。　All　hands　to　munications。　Dr。　Adams　has　broken　the　code。〃


Harry　wouldn't　tell　them　the　message　right　away。　Relishing　his　triumph；　he　insisted　on　going　through　the　decoding　process；　step　by　step。　First；　he　explained；　he　had　thought　that　the　messages　might　express　some　universal　constant；　or　some　physical　law；　stated　as　a　way　to　open　conversation。　〃But；〃　Harry　said；　〃it　might　also　be　a　graphic　representation　of　some　kind…code　for　a　picture…which　presented　immense　problems。　After　all；　what's　a　picture？　We　make　pictures　on　a　flat　plane；　like　a　piece　of　paper。　We　determine　positions　within　a　picture　by　what　we　call　X　and　Y　axes。　Vertical　and　horizontal。　But　another　intelligence　might　see　images　and　organize　them　very　differently。　It　might　assume　more　than　three　dimensions。　Or　it　might　work　from　the　center　of　the　picture　outward；　for　example。　So　the　code　＇＇181＇＇　might　be　very　tough。　I　didn't　make　much　progress　at　first。〃　Later；　when　he　got　the　same　message　with　gaps　between　number　sequences；　Harry　began　to　suspect　that　the　code　represented　discrete　chunks　of　information…suggesting　words；　not　pictures。　〃Now；　word　codes　fall　into　several　types；　from　simple　to　plex。　There　was　no　way　to　know　immediately　which　method　of　encoding　had　been　used。　But　then　I　had　a　sudden　insight。〃
They　waited；　impatiently；　for　his　insight。
〃Why　use　a　code　at　all？〃　Harry　asked。
〃Why　use　a　code？〃　Norman　said。
〃Sure。　If　you　are　trying　to　municate　with　someone；　you　don't　use　a　code。　Codes　are　ways　of　hiding　munication。　So　perhaps　this　intelligence　thinks　he　is　municating　directly；　but　is　actually　making　some　kind　of　logical　mistake　in　talking　to　us。　He　is　making　a　code　without　ever　intending　to　do　so。　That　suggested　the　unintentional　code　was　probably　a　substitution　code；　with　numbers　for　letters。　When　I　got　the　word　breaks；　I　began　to　try　and　match　numbers　to　letters　by　frequency　analysis。　In　frequency　analysis　you　break　down　codes　by　using　the　fact　that　the　most　mon　letter　in　English　is　'e；'　and　the　second　most　mon　letter　is　't；'　and　so　on。　So　I　looked　for　the　most　mon　numbers。　But　I　was　impeded　by　the　fact　that　even　a　short　number　sequence；　such　as　two…three…two；　might　represent　many　code　possibilities：　two　and　three　and　two；　twenty…three　and　two；　two　and　thirtytwo；　or　two　hundred　and　thirty…two。　Longer　code　sequences　had　many　more　possibilities。〃
Then；　he　said；　he　was　sitting　in　front　of　the　puter　thinking　about　the　spiral　messages；　and　he　suddenly　looked　at　the　keyboard。　〃I　began　to　wonder　what　an　alien　intelligence　would　make　of　our　keyboard；　those　rows　of　symbols　on　a　device　made　to　be　pressed。　How　confusing　it　must　look　to　another　kind　of　creature！　Look　here；〃　he　said。　〃The　letters　on　a　regular　keyboard　go　like　this。〃　He　held　up　his　＇＇182＇＇　pad。

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
tab　　 Q W E R T Y U I O P
caps A S D F G H J K L ；
shift Z X C V B N M ； 。 ？

〃And　then　I　imagined　what　the　keyboard　would　look　like　as　a　spiral；　since　our　creature　seems　to　prefer　spirals。　And　I　started　numbering　the　keys　in　concentric　circles。
〃It　took　a　little　experimentation；　since　the　keys　don't　line　up　exactly；　but　finally　I　got　it；〃　he　said。　〃Look　here：　the　numbers　spiral　out　from　the　center。　G　is　one；　B　is　two；　H　is　three；　Y　is　four；　and　so　on。　See？　It's　like　this。〃　He　quickly　penciled　in　numbers。

1 2 3 4 5 612 711 9 9 0
tab Q W E R13 T5 Y4 U10 1 O P
caps A S D14 F6 G1 H3 J9 K L ；
shift Z X C15 V7 B2 N8 M ； 。 ？

〃They　just　keep　spiraling　outward…M　is　sixteen；　K　is　seventeen；　and　so　forth。　So　finally　I　understood　the　message。〃
〃What　is　the　message；　Harry？〃
Harry　hesitated。　〃I　have　to　tell　you。　It's　strange。〃
〃How　do　you　mean；　strange？〃
Harry　tore　another　sheet　off　his　yellow　pad　and　handed　it　to　them。　Norman　read　the　short　message；　printed　in　neat　block　letters：

HELLO。　HOW　ARE　YOU？　I　AM　FINE。　WHAT　IS　YOUR　NAME？　MY　NAME　IS　JERRY。


THE　FIRST　EXCHANGE

〃Well；〃　Ted　said　finally。　〃this　is　not　what　I　expected　at　all。〃
〃It　looks　childish；〃　Beth　said。　〃Like　something　out　＇＇183＇＇　of　those　old　'See　Spot　run'　readers　for　kids。〃
〃That's　exactly　what　it　looks　like。〃
〃Maybe　you　translated　it　wrong；〃　Barnes　said。
〃Certainly　not；〃　Harry　said。
〃Well；　this　alien　sounds　like　an　idiot；〃　Barnes　said。
〃I　doubt　very　much　that　he　is；〃　Ted　said。
〃You　would　doubt　it；〃　Barnes　said。　〃A　stupid　alien　would　blow　your　whole　theory。　But　it's　something　to　consider；　isn't　it？　A　stupid　alien。　They　must　have　them。〃
〃I　doubt；〃　Ted　said；　〃that　anyone　in　mand　of　such　high　technology　as　that　sphere　is　stupid。〃
〃Then　you　haven't　noticed　all　the　ninnies　driving　cars　back　home；〃　Barnes　said。　〃Jesus；　after　all　this　effort：　'How　are　you？　I　am　fine。'　Jesus。〃
Norman　said；　〃I　don't　feel　that　this　message　implies　a　lack　of　intelligence；　Hal。〃
〃On　the　contrary；〃　Harry　said。　〃I　think　the　message　is　very　smart。〃
〃I'm　listening；〃　Barnes　said。
〃The　content　certainly　appears　childish；〃　Harry　said。　〃But　when　you　think　about　it；　it's　highly　logical。　A　simple　message　is　unambiguous；　friendly；　and　not　frightening。　It　make