經典科幻文學:《基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》第21章10

Each of the monitors was showing a kaleidoscope of different images: a few seconds from a game show, a few seconds from a cop show, a few seconds from a supermarket warehouse security system, a few seconds from somebody’s holiday movies, a few seconds of sex, a few seconds of news, a few seconds of comedy. It was clear that the Leader was very proud of all this stuff and he was waving his hands like a conductor while continuing at the same time to talk complete gibberish.

每一個監視器上都顯示着萬花筒般的圖像：幾秒鐘的比賽畫面，幾秒鐘的警匪片，幾秒鐘的超市貨倉的安全錄像，幾秒鐘的某人度假的家庭錄像，幾秒鐘性，幾秒鐘新聞，幾秒鐘喜劇。首領顯然對這一切非常自豪，他像個指揮家一樣揮動雙手，嘴裏繼續着自己徹頭徹尾的胡言亂語。

Another wave of his hands, and all the screens cleared to form one giant computer screen showing in diagrammatic form all the planets of the solar system and mapped out against a background of the stars in their constellations. The display was completely static.

他又一揮手，監視器上的圖像全部消失，它們組成了一個巨大的屏幕，顯示出太陽系的所有行星，背景則是各星座的恆星。畫面完全是靜止的。

‘We have great skills,’ the Leader was saying. ‘Great skills in computation, in cosmological trigonometry, in three-dimensional navigational calculus. Great skills. Great, great skills. Only we have lost them. It is too bad. We like to have skills only they have gone. They are in space somewhere, hurtling. With our names and the details of our homes and loved ones. Please,’ he said, gesturing her forward to sit at the computer’s console, ‘be skilful for us.’

“我們擁有偉大的技術，”首領說到，“無論是計算，宇宙三角學還是三維航行微積分上。偉大的技術，非常，非常偉大的技術，只不過我們失去了它們。這太糟了。我們喜歡這些技術，可它們卻走了。它們就在這宇宙裏的什麼地方，在飛馳，帶着我們的名字以及我們的故鄉和愛人的詳細資料。請你，”他揮手讓她坐到計算機地控制檯前邊，“用你的技術幫我們。”

Obviously what happened next was that Tricia quickly set the video camera up on its tripod to capture the whole scene. She then walked into shot herself and sat down calmly in front of the giant computer display, spent a few moments familiarizing herself with the interface and then started smoothly and competently to pretend that she had the faintest idea what she was doing.

接下來，崔茜卡自然是趕緊把攝像機放在三腳架上，好把這整個情況錄下來。然後她自己也走進鏡頭裏，鎮定自若地在巨大的計算機屏幕前坐下，花了幾分鐘熟悉界面，然後就順順溜溜地，非常專業地開始裝模作樣，假裝她真曉得哪怕一丁點自己這是在幹什麼。

It hadn’t been that difficult, in fact.

事實上根本沒那麼難。

She was, after all, a mathematician and astrophysicist by training and a television presenter by experience, and what science she had forgotten over the years she was more than capable of making up by bluffing.

畢竟，她是受過正規訓練的數學家和天體物理學家，又是個經驗老道的電視主播，不管這些年來她忘了多少科學，憑虛張聲勢都能補的綽綽有餘。

The computer she was working on was clear evidence that the Grebulons came from a far more advanced and sophisticated culture than their current vacuous state suggested, and with its aid she was able, within about half an hour, to cobble together a rough working model of the solar system.

她用的那臺計算機非常先進，無疑說明格里布隆人的文明比如今這種真空狀態所顯示的要高級，精緻很多。靠了它幫忙，崔茜卡修修補補了不到半個小時就搞出了個大致能用的太陽系模型。