THE GANTHU EGGS 冈速蛋
By Alex Shvartsman
Translated By Nieh
2014-09-21
彗星科幻
(译文见后)
Please, warden, take it easy on Pierre.
If you really must assign Pierre kitchen duty, have him peel vegetables, wash dishes, perform any kind of grueling task, and he will do so without complaint. But, please, do not make him beat eggs.
He isn't to blame. Call it PTSD or whatever fancy name the shrinks have for things going horribly wrong, but he can't help himself. It was all that damned Loxian's fault.
#
"You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," the Loxian told us over the secure com link. "I fancy myself somewhat of a connoisseur of alien tongues, and this human idiom pleases me."
"What's an idiom?" I asked. To the best of my knowledge, our crew were the only humans this far out from the Milky Way. I found the alien's flowery speech pattern and firm command of our language unsettling.
"It's when a phrase is commonly used to describe something not deducible from the individual words," said Baozhai.
"Aha. Like, Matias is dumb as a doorknob," said Pierre.
"That's a simile, not an idiom. Guess that makes you a doorknob, too." Baozhai flashed a lover's smile at Pierre.
"If the three of you are quite done arguing semantics, I'd like to discuss your assignment," the Loxian's voice came from the speakers.
The three of us listened. The Loxian was eccentric and paranoid, communicating by audio only, never even letting us know his name. But the two previous jobs we did for him were relatively easy, and he paid well.
"The Seronians hid a valuable data chip in a shipment of Ganthu eggs. I'd like you to retrieve it for me. I'm sending over their vessel coordinates and other pertinent data now. You will need a stealth shuttle in order to approach their ship surreptitiously. One has been procured and is waiting for you at the spaceport."
Whoever the Loxian was, he seemed to have plenty of money and resources. He hired our crew, and probably many others, to do his dirty work.
"Ganthu egg shells are impervious to scans," he told us. "That makes them a popular choice among smugglers who possess the biotechnology to artificially reseal the shell. There are ten thousand eggs aboard the Seronian vessel. You will have to manually crack them until you discover the chip."
"I get it now," I said. "The idiom. Want us to make you an omelet while we're at it?"
Pierre guffawed. The Loxian ignored my quip.
#
The Seronian ship was parked in an uninhabited star system, obscured by the ice and rocks of an asteroid belt. With its engines powered down, we could have spent years searching for it and still failed, were it not for the Loxian's precise coordinates. Our stealth shuttle was similarly difficult to detect. It docked without incident at one of the bays, like a fly landing on a horse's hide.
It took Baozhai only a few minutes to hack into the access port controls. She hadn't met a security system she couldn't thwart. Pierre and I donned light spacesuits and entered the alien ship. Baozhai stayed behind and worked on penetrating the ship's computers.
According to the Loxian, there were no more than twelve crewmen aboard, and we met no one in its cavernous halls. It was only when we approached the compartment that housed the eggs that we saw a pair of armed guards at the entrance. They stood about a meter tall and looked like hairy lobsters.
I shot both of them before they had a chance to react. The stun charges worked on most beings' physiology. They would wake up in a few hours, feeling awful but they'd live.
The door they guarded didn't take Baozhai long to break past, either. The Seronians over-relied on hiding the ship for their security, which made our job much easier.
The compartment that housed the eggs was spotless. Each egg was the size of a melon and heather-gray, and each was cradled individually in a foamy protective padding. Rows of eggs lined both walls and extended farther than I would have liked. Ten thousand eggs was a lot.
Pierre and I exchanged glances.
"It's like looking for a needle in an egg stack," he said.
I tapped my wrist, and Pierre nodded. We had to find the chip and get out of there before someone came to check on the guards.
"This doesn't feel right," said Baozhai. She could see what we saw; our suits fed video through a comm link to her station. "Why would a smuggler ship carrying foodstuffs just sit there? And why would a skeleton crew post guards?"
"Not our problem," I said. "Let's get this done and get paid."
I picked up an egg and tentatively tapped it against the edge of a shelving unit. It didn't crack. I couldn’t feel it through my gloves, but its surface seemed rougher than that of the chicken eggs I was used to. I raised the egg to eye level and let it drop.
This time it cracked open, yellow-green goo oozing out.
"We have to dig for the chip through that?" asked Pierre.
"No, the egg we're looking for will be hollow, the weight of the chip casing substituting for the organic matter." I'd read the files while Pierre and Baozhai were spending much of the trip locked in their bedroom.
The shelves were too heavy and the padding units built in. We had to remove each egg individually and crack it against the floor. For several minutes we worked our way down the corridor, leaving a mess of broken eggshells and ooze on the ground.
"Stop! Stop right now." Baozhai's voice came over the comm. "Those aren't Ganthu eggs, if there even is such a thing. Those are Seronian eggs."
"What?" Pierre held an egg he was gripping with both hands away from his body, as though it were a venomous snake.
"It's their children," said Baozhai, her voice trembling. "We're murdering sentient beings."
Pierre and I said nothing. We stared in horror at the biomass left in our wake.
"Are you sure?" I finally asked.
"I was able to access some unsecured data from the ship's computer. There was nothing about Ganthu eggs, but I found some information on their reproductive process…" Baozhai's voice trailed off.
"We're coming back to the shuttle," said Pierre. His voice was even, but I could see how angry he was through the faceplate of his helmet. "Prepare for launch."
"You will complete your task." The Loxian's voice on our private and highly encrypted channel made me freeze. "I'm monitoring your communications, and I have override control of the shuttle. It's not going anywhere until you've destroyed the eggs."
"You lied to us," said Pierre. "These deaths are on you. We can't make up for the damage we've already caused, but now that we know, there will be no more killing."
"You know nothing!" The Loxian's refined voice cracked. "Why do you think the Seronian breeders are hiding their vessel? They're breeding soldiers, against the terms of the peace treaty; soldiers who will grow up to slaughter my people."
"They might become soldiers, but they're innocent now. To kill them is terrorism," said Baozhai. "We won't take part in it."
"Do you think the Seronians will thank you for that, once you're discovered? They will torture and kill you, as slowly as their grasp of your anatomy will permit. Your only logical choice is to complete the mission. Then I will permit you to leave, and double your fee."
I was very afraid, then. I was torn between the desire to live, to save my own skin, and the revulsion I felt at the thought of killing sentient beings. I wanted so badly Pierre or Baozhai to make the choice for me. I would follow their lead, do whatever they ordered, because neither path seemed as terrible as having to choose.
Pierre reached a decision first. He folded his arms. "We won't do it. If they capture us, we will tell them all about you. Or you could let us leave, and get back your shuttle. Stealth ships are expensive. Surely you would rather have it back?"
"I don't understand," said the Loxian. "You're omnivores with a well-developed survival instinct. Many of your species don't believe a being is even alive until it is born or hatches. You eat eggs. That's why I picked you for this."
"You picked us because we aren't from this part of space, and we didn't know any better," said Baozhai. "We may be thieves, but we aren't murderers. You knew that, or you wouldn't have lied to us in the first place."
There was a long silence. I wondered how soon the Seronians would realize we were there; how long we had left to live.
"You leave me no choice," said the Loxian. "I'm now cycling the oxygen from the shuttle's cabin. If you don't deliver, you will listen to your mate suffocate. It is a most unpleasant death."
We heard Baozhai gasp over the comm.
"B?" whispered Pierre.
"I'm locked out. I'm trying, but I'm locked out." I could already hear her having difficulty breathing as she said those words.
Pierre leaned on one of the shelves for support. Helpless, we listened to her gasping.
"Fine," Pierre said suddenly. "We'll do it. We'll destroy the rest of the eggs. But only if you let her go, right now. Release the shuttle controls to Baozhai, and let her leave."
"If she leaves, you will have no way off the brood ship," said the Loxian.
"We'll take our chances against the skeleton crew," said Pierre. "Besides, I don't believe you are going to let us live. At least this way, Baozhai will survive."
"I accept your terms," said the Loxian. "The oxygen is back on, and she has control of the ship. But remember, I can see what you see, and I have the capability to regain control of the shuttle."
"Don't," said Baozhai. "Don't do this, not for me. I can't have so many deaths on my conscience."
"I can't have your death on mine," said Pierre. "Please, go. I want you safely off the shuttle and out of this monster's control before we're finished. I love you."
I didn't want to sacrifice my life for Baozhai. I wasn't in love with her. But, what choice did I have? Perhaps the two of us really could fight off the Seronians. Unless the enormous ship held far more than a dozen crewmen. That could have been another one of the Loxian's lies.
Baozhai said nothing as she prepared the shuttle. There was nothing left to say. But, as the shuttle was leaving, the tiny troubleshooting display built into the helmet at the edge of my vision spelled out the word "SLOW."
I looked at Pierre and, from his expression, could tell that he received this message as well. Baozhai was communicating with us in a way the Loxian couldn't detect. She had some sort of a plan, and she wanted us to work as slowly as we could get away with, to save as many eggs as we could, while she executed it. I had no idea what she might try. There was nothing for us to do, but to trust her.
"I upheld my end of the bargain" said the Loxian. "You must resume your mission. Now."
And we did. The next several hours were the worst experience of my life. One by one, we murdered the Seronian young. We lifted the eggs one at a time, as slowly as we could get away with, and we sent them crashing onto the ground. Tens of them. Hundreds. Thousands.
Pierre did it for love. He did it because he had to save the person who mattered to him most, and he would commit unspeakable evil to do that.
I had no such excuse.
To this day, I lie awake at night and wonder why I went along with him. Was it the hope of rescue, the cryptic message from Baozhai? Or was it because the sheer evil of my actions was so enormous, I couldn’t fully grasp it; it broke me and all I could do was follow Pierre's lead?
We continued our murder spree until they kicked down the door.
It wasn't the Seronians. It was the Galactic Union patrol. Baozhai had called the authorities, and they came to arrest the Seronian brood masters for breaking the treaty and breeding soldiers. And to arrest us for mass murder.
#
Thank the stars the Galactic Union doesn't have a death penalty. We're to serve life sentences without parole, back on Earth.
The punishment is just, and I'm adjusting to this new life. But it's much harder on Pierre, because he keeps asking after Baozhai, and no one will tell him anything. She called in the report, and disappeared.
Deep in his heart he must know the truth: the Loxian, who was never caught, must've killed her the moment he learned what she had done. There was almost no chance she could have reached a habitable planet and gotten off the shuttle before the Galactic Union troops showed up. She knew this would happen and, unlike us, she did whatever she had to in order to preserve however many lives she could at the cost of her own.
And she saved our lives in the process.
Pierre must know this, but he doesn't accept it. He thinks Baozhai is out there, somewhere. There's no computer system she couldn't hack, given enough time. He thinks she wrestled control of the shuttle from the Loxian by defeating his override. He thinks she never came to visit because he's a monster. He saved her by sacrificing many alien lives, while she saved him by risking only her own.
#
So I beg you, warden, please be kind. Don't do this to Pierre.
I hate the idea as much as he does, but if one of us has to make scrambled eggs, let it be me. I will fight the nausea down and do it as penance, as atonement for my crime.
I deserve that, or worse.
END
拜托了,狱长,请温和对待皮埃尔。
如果你一定要他在厨房干活,那么就让他切菜、洗碗,什么脏活累活他都会毫无怨言去做。但只是,别让他打鸡蛋。
这不是他的错。精神病学中,这种严重心理创伤带来的后遗症叫做“创伤后应激障碍”,或别的什么奇怪名字。他无法控制自己。这都怪那该死的珞暹。
#
“不打鸡蛋就做不了煎蛋卷,”珞暹通过安全通讯设备对我们讲话。“我发现自己对外星语言越来越内行了。你们人类的这句习语十分有趣。”
“什么是习语?”我问。据我所知,在这个远离银河的地方,我们三人是仅有的人类。这个外星人的华丽的文采和对人类语言的娴熟运用令我十分不安。
“一种特定形式的词组,通常作为一个整体来使用,你无法从里面的个别词语推测它的含义。”宝仔说。
“啊哈。就像:马蒂亚斯笨得像头猪。”皮埃尔说。
“那是个比喻,不是习语。你也笨得像头猪啦。” 宝仔娇嗔地看了一眼她的爱人。
“如果你们对语言学讨论得差不多了,我想聊聊你们这次的任务。”珞暹的声音从扩音器中传来。
我们三人静静聆听。这个珞暹十分古怪偏执。他从不露面,甚至不透露真实姓名,唯一的交流方式就是语音。不过,我们帮他做的前两个任务相当简单,而且报酬丰厚。
“瑟洛尼人将一枚重要的数据芯片塞进冈速蛋藏了起来。我希望你们帮我夺回。我等下将其母舰的星际坐标和其他相关数据发给你们。你们要乘坐隐形穿梭机才能暗中接近他们的飞船。我已准备了一架,正在航天港待命。”
无论珞暹是何种身份,他似乎拥有相当庞大的金钱和资源。他雇佣了我们,也许还雇佣了许多和我们一样的人,帮他做这些卑鄙的勾当。
“扫描射线无法穿透冈速蛋壳。”他告诉我们。“这使它们在走私者中间大受欢迎,他们采用生物工程技术对冈速蛋进行人工重新封装。瑟洛尼母舰上有上万个冈速蛋。你们得一个个打碎,直到找到芯片为止。”
“我明白了。”我说。“那句习语。是想让我们到那儿做煎蛋卷给你吃吗?”
皮埃尔狂笑不止。珞暹无视了我的插科打诨。
#
瑟洛尼母舰停泊在一个无人居住的星系,被小行星带的冰块和岩石掩护得非常好。如果没有珞暹提供的精确坐标,它只要把引擎一关,我们不管花上多少年都无处寻觅它的影踪。当然,我们的隐形飞机同样很难被探测到。它顺利降落,像苍蝇落在马背一样不易察觉。
宝仔只花了几分钟,就破解了入口的访问限制。我们还从未见过她破解不了的安全系统。皮埃尔和我穿好太空服,悄悄潜入母舰。宝仔留守后方,飞快入侵母舰上的计算机系统。
珞暹提供的资料显示,母舰上的船员不会多于12个。我们在巨型洞穴般的大厅没遇到任何人。直到我们接近冈速蛋贮藏室,才见到两个武装警卫把守入口。他们身高大约一米,外表好像生满毛发的龙虾。
我迅速开枪,他们来不及反抗就倒下了。电击枪对大部分生物的生理结构都管用。他们几小时后才会醒来,浑身虚弱,但不会死。
宝仔很快破解了他们看守的入口。瑟洛尼人的安全措施几乎完全依赖母舰的完美隐蔽,其他防卫都很薄弱。这使我们的工作进展顺利。
贮藏室干净整洁,一尘不染。冈速蛋的大小相当于甜瓜,呈驳杂的灰色。每个蛋都被一团泡沫状的底座独立保护。一排又一排的蛋,沿着两边的墙壁延伸摆放,比我想象的还远。一万个蛋,那可是相当大的数目!
皮埃尔和我对望一眼。
“这简直是大海捞针。”他说。
我在手腕上手表的位置轻叩两下,皮埃尔点点头。我们必须赶在有人巡查这儿之前找到芯片并离开。
“这儿有点不对劲,”宝仔说。她能看到我们看到的一切。我们的太空服会自动拍摄视频,通过通讯设备传送给她。“为什么一艘走私船会装满了食品停靠在这儿一动不动?为什么在基本船员不足12名的情况下还要设警卫岗?”
“不关我们的事,”我说。“赶紧办事拿钱。”
我拿起一颗蛋,试着在搁架边缘轻轻叩击。没破。隔着手套隐约感到它的表面比寻常鸡蛋更粗糙。我将蛋举到齐眉高度,松手让它下坠。
蛋碎裂开来,渗出了青黄相间的粘稠液体。
“我们要在那玩意儿里头找芯片?”皮埃尔问。
“不,我们要找的蛋肯定是空的。黏糊糊的有机物会被清空,用芯片替代。”我们的航程中,皮埃尔和宝仔一直锁在卧室享受两人世界,而那种时候,我只能阅读相关资料。
搁架十分沉重,而且蛋的底座是固定在搁架上的。我们只好挨个把蛋掏出来砸在地上。不一会儿,我们就穿过了走廊,身后一地破碎的蛋壳和粘稠的蛋液。
“住手!立刻住手!”通讯器内传来宝仔的声音。“那不是冈速蛋,那玩意儿压根就不存在。这些全部是瑟洛尼卵!”
“什么?”皮埃尔正双手举起一颗蛋,离身体远远地,好像握着一条毒蛇。
“那是他们的孩子,”宝仔的声音颤抖。“我们在杀害有知觉的生命。”
一时间没人说话。我和皮埃尔陷入惊恐,环视周围剩下的小生命,仿佛大梦初醒。
“你确定?”我终于开口。
“我读取了母舰电脑中的数据。没有任何与冈速蛋有关的信息。但有一份资料里记述了他们的繁殖方式……”宝仔说到这里声音渐弱。
“我们回舱内。”皮埃尔的语气很平稳。但透过他头盔的侧面,我能看出他的愤怒。“准备起飞。”
“你们必须完成任务。”我们高度加密的私人通讯器中响起了珞暹的声音,我感到一阵浑身冰冷。“我一直监控你们的通讯,我已经掌握飞船的控制权。它将留在原地,直到你们毁掉所有的蛋。”
“你骗了我们,”皮埃尔说。“你要为这些杀戮负责。我们无法弥补已经犯下的罪行,但既已知晓真相,我们绝不会让杀戮再度发生。”
“你懂个屁!”珞暹优雅的语调骤然变得声嘶力竭。“你以为瑟洛尼人为什么将母舰藏得如此隐蔽?他们无视和平条约的条款,躲起来繁殖战士。他们将会前来屠杀我的子民。”
“也许他们未来会成为战士,但他们现在是无辜的。杀害无辜是恐怖主义行为。”宝仔说。“我们绝不会参与。”
“等被你们击倒的两个瑟洛尼人醒来,你指望他们会为此而感激你们吗?他们会活活解剖你们,折磨你们,直到死亡。你们唯一理智的做法就是完成眼前的任务。然后我就允许你们离开,并支付双倍报酬。”
我的心被恐惧牢牢揪住。我在两个选择之间苦苦挣扎,一个是对保全自身的求生渴望,另一个则是对杀戮无辜生命的极端憎恶。我多希望宝仔或皮埃尔能替我做出决定。我会服从指挥,无条件执行任何命令,因为选择是如此艰难可怕。
皮埃尔先做了决定,双臂交叉在胸前说:“我们绝不做这种事。一旦被俘虏,我会将你的所作所为全部告诉他们。或者你也可以让我们乘飞船返回。隐形穿梭机很昂贵吧。你确定要把它丢在这儿吗?”
“我不明白。”珞暹说,“你们人类明明是杂食者,具有发达的生存本能。你们当中许多种族甚至认为未出生和未孵化的就不是生命。你们食用鸡蛋。这是我选中你们的原因。”
长时间的沉默。我不知道瑟洛尼人何时会发觉我们的存在。我们还能活多久。
“是你们逼我这样做的。”珞暹说,“我现在开始抽取船舱中的氧气。如果你们不听话,就只能听着你们的同伴窒息而死。这可是最为漫长而痛苦的死法。”
通讯器中传来宝仔的喘息声。
“宝儿?”皮埃尔颤声呼唤。
“我被锁在外面了。我在努力,但是没有用。”我发觉她说话时呼吸艰难。
皮埃尔已然支持不住,撑住搁架。她的喘息声就在耳边,可我们无能为力。
“好吧,”皮埃尔突然说。“我们做。我们会打碎所有的蛋。但你必须放她走,立刻就走。把飞船的控制权交给宝仔,让她离开。”
“如果她离开这里,你们将无法离开母舰。”珞暹说。
“我们会想办法对付那几个船员。”皮埃尔说。“况且,我不相信你会留活口。这样做,至少宝仔可以活下去。”
“我接受你的条件。”珞暹说。“好的,氧气已经重新注入,她现在可以操控飞船。但是记住,你们看到的我都能看到,而且我随时可以重新掌控飞船。”
“不要。”宝仔说。“不要为我这么做。我无法承受这么多生命为我而死。”
我并不愿为了宝仔牺牲自己的生命。她又不是我的爱人。但我有别的选择吗?我们俩说不定能够摆脱瑟洛尼人。除非珞暹再次欺骗了我们,母舰上并不止12个船员。
宝仔一言不发地启动飞船。已经没什么好说的。起飞的中途,我忽然意识到视线边缘有什么东西在闪烁。原来是安装在头盔内部的故障检修屏幕,上面显示两个字:减速。
我看看皮埃尔,从他的表情中我知道,他也收到了这条信息。宝仔正在用珞暹无法察觉的方式与我们交流。显然她有某种计划,而且她希望在计划实施期间,我们行事越慢越好,打碎的蛋越少越好。我并不清楚她的计划。除了相信她,我们别无选择。
“我遵守了约定。”珞暹说,“现在轮到你们了。快点。”
接下来的几小时,是我一生中最痛苦的时光。我们一个接一个地屠杀瑟洛尼的幼小生命。我用尽可能慢的速度缓缓举起一颗蛋,松手让它们落下,碎裂在地面。十个。一百个。一千个。
皮埃尔这样做,完全是出于爱情。为了保护对他最重要的人,他将不惜犯下一切罪孽。
而我没有任何借口。
直到如今,我在一个个不眠的夜晚独自思索,当初为何和他一起犯下罪行。宝仔留下的模糊信息使我产生了援救的希望?还是我被自己亲手犯下的罪行震惊,以至于无法思考、只能机械跟随皮埃尔?
他们破门而入时,杀戮的盛宴仍在进行。
进来的不是瑟洛尼人,而是银河系联盟巡警。宝仔联络了警方。他们前来逮捕试图繁育战士破坏和平条约的瑟洛尼统治者,同时,也以“大规模屠杀”的罪名逮捕了我们。
#
感谢群星。银河系没有死刑。我们被判无期徒刑,终生不得假释,返回地球执行。
判决很公正。我正在逐渐适应新的生活。但事情对于皮埃尔来说就没那么容易接受了。他苦苦追问宝仔的下落,但没有任何人能给他答案。她向警方举报之后就这样消失无踪。
他内心深处一定猜到了真相:当珞暹意识到她做了什么之后,肯定会将她置于死地。警方一直未能抓获珞暹。她几乎不可能在短时间内找到一颗适合生存的行星,安全着陆并逃下飞船,等待巡警到来。她非常清楚会发生什么。只是她与我们不同,为了保护那些生命,她宁愿牺牲自己。
#
所以我请求你,狱长,请发发慈悲。不要这样对待皮埃尔。
我和他一样反感打鸡蛋这件事,但是,如果必须有一个人来做,那就让我来吧。我会强忍憎恶,将它作为一种苦修,以赎回我犯下的滔天罪行。
无论是这种结局,还是更糟,都是我活该的。
「完」
——————————————————————————————--
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By Alex Shvartsman
Translated By Nieh
2014-09-21
彗星科幻
(译文见后)
Please, warden, take it easy on Pierre.
If you really must assign Pierre kitchen duty, have him peel vegetables, wash dishes, perform any kind of grueling task, and he will do so without complaint. But, please, do not make him beat eggs.
He isn't to blame. Call it PTSD or whatever fancy name the shrinks have for things going horribly wrong, but he can't help himself. It was all that damned Loxian's fault.
#
"You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," the Loxian told us over the secure com link. "I fancy myself somewhat of a connoisseur of alien tongues, and this human idiom pleases me."
"What's an idiom?" I asked. To the best of my knowledge, our crew were the only humans this far out from the Milky Way. I found the alien's flowery speech pattern and firm command of our language unsettling.
"It's when a phrase is commonly used to describe something not deducible from the individual words," said Baozhai.
"Aha. Like, Matias is dumb as a doorknob," said Pierre.
"That's a simile, not an idiom. Guess that makes you a doorknob, too." Baozhai flashed a lover's smile at Pierre.
"If the three of you are quite done arguing semantics, I'd like to discuss your assignment," the Loxian's voice came from the speakers.
The three of us listened. The Loxian was eccentric and paranoid, communicating by audio only, never even letting us know his name. But the two previous jobs we did for him were relatively easy, and he paid well.
"The Seronians hid a valuable data chip in a shipment of Ganthu eggs. I'd like you to retrieve it for me. I'm sending over their vessel coordinates and other pertinent data now. You will need a stealth shuttle in order to approach their ship surreptitiously. One has been procured and is waiting for you at the spaceport."
Whoever the Loxian was, he seemed to have plenty of money and resources. He hired our crew, and probably many others, to do his dirty work.
"Ganthu egg shells are impervious to scans," he told us. "That makes them a popular choice among smugglers who possess the biotechnology to artificially reseal the shell. There are ten thousand eggs aboard the Seronian vessel. You will have to manually crack them until you discover the chip."
"I get it now," I said. "The idiom. Want us to make you an omelet while we're at it?"
Pierre guffawed. The Loxian ignored my quip.
#
The Seronian ship was parked in an uninhabited star system, obscured by the ice and rocks of an asteroid belt. With its engines powered down, we could have spent years searching for it and still failed, were it not for the Loxian's precise coordinates. Our stealth shuttle was similarly difficult to detect. It docked without incident at one of the bays, like a fly landing on a horse's hide.
It took Baozhai only a few minutes to hack into the access port controls. She hadn't met a security system she couldn't thwart. Pierre and I donned light spacesuits and entered the alien ship. Baozhai stayed behind and worked on penetrating the ship's computers.
According to the Loxian, there were no more than twelve crewmen aboard, and we met no one in its cavernous halls. It was only when we approached the compartment that housed the eggs that we saw a pair of armed guards at the entrance. They stood about a meter tall and looked like hairy lobsters.
I shot both of them before they had a chance to react. The stun charges worked on most beings' physiology. They would wake up in a few hours, feeling awful but they'd live.
The door they guarded didn't take Baozhai long to break past, either. The Seronians over-relied on hiding the ship for their security, which made our job much easier.
The compartment that housed the eggs was spotless. Each egg was the size of a melon and heather-gray, and each was cradled individually in a foamy protective padding. Rows of eggs lined both walls and extended farther than I would have liked. Ten thousand eggs was a lot.
Pierre and I exchanged glances.
"It's like looking for a needle in an egg stack," he said.
I tapped my wrist, and Pierre nodded. We had to find the chip and get out of there before someone came to check on the guards.
"This doesn't feel right," said Baozhai. She could see what we saw; our suits fed video through a comm link to her station. "Why would a smuggler ship carrying foodstuffs just sit there? And why would a skeleton crew post guards?"
"Not our problem," I said. "Let's get this done and get paid."
I picked up an egg and tentatively tapped it against the edge of a shelving unit. It didn't crack. I couldn’t feel it through my gloves, but its surface seemed rougher than that of the chicken eggs I was used to. I raised the egg to eye level and let it drop.
This time it cracked open, yellow-green goo oozing out.
"We have to dig for the chip through that?" asked Pierre.
"No, the egg we're looking for will be hollow, the weight of the chip casing substituting for the organic matter." I'd read the files while Pierre and Baozhai were spending much of the trip locked in their bedroom.
The shelves were too heavy and the padding units built in. We had to remove each egg individually and crack it against the floor. For several minutes we worked our way down the corridor, leaving a mess of broken eggshells and ooze on the ground.
"Stop! Stop right now." Baozhai's voice came over the comm. "Those aren't Ganthu eggs, if there even is such a thing. Those are Seronian eggs."
"What?" Pierre held an egg he was gripping with both hands away from his body, as though it were a venomous snake.
"It's their children," said Baozhai, her voice trembling. "We're murdering sentient beings."
Pierre and I said nothing. We stared in horror at the biomass left in our wake.
"Are you sure?" I finally asked.
"I was able to access some unsecured data from the ship's computer. There was nothing about Ganthu eggs, but I found some information on their reproductive process…" Baozhai's voice trailed off.
"We're coming back to the shuttle," said Pierre. His voice was even, but I could see how angry he was through the faceplate of his helmet. "Prepare for launch."
"You will complete your task." The Loxian's voice on our private and highly encrypted channel made me freeze. "I'm monitoring your communications, and I have override control of the shuttle. It's not going anywhere until you've destroyed the eggs."
"You lied to us," said Pierre. "These deaths are on you. We can't make up for the damage we've already caused, but now that we know, there will be no more killing."
"You know nothing!" The Loxian's refined voice cracked. "Why do you think the Seronian breeders are hiding their vessel? They're breeding soldiers, against the terms of the peace treaty; soldiers who will grow up to slaughter my people."
"They might become soldiers, but they're innocent now. To kill them is terrorism," said Baozhai. "We won't take part in it."
"Do you think the Seronians will thank you for that, once you're discovered? They will torture and kill you, as slowly as their grasp of your anatomy will permit. Your only logical choice is to complete the mission. Then I will permit you to leave, and double your fee."
I was very afraid, then. I was torn between the desire to live, to save my own skin, and the revulsion I felt at the thought of killing sentient beings. I wanted so badly Pierre or Baozhai to make the choice for me. I would follow their lead, do whatever they ordered, because neither path seemed as terrible as having to choose.
Pierre reached a decision first. He folded his arms. "We won't do it. If they capture us, we will tell them all about you. Or you could let us leave, and get back your shuttle. Stealth ships are expensive. Surely you would rather have it back?"
"I don't understand," said the Loxian. "You're omnivores with a well-developed survival instinct. Many of your species don't believe a being is even alive until it is born or hatches. You eat eggs. That's why I picked you for this."
"You picked us because we aren't from this part of space, and we didn't know any better," said Baozhai. "We may be thieves, but we aren't murderers. You knew that, or you wouldn't have lied to us in the first place."
There was a long silence. I wondered how soon the Seronians would realize we were there; how long we had left to live.
"You leave me no choice," said the Loxian. "I'm now cycling the oxygen from the shuttle's cabin. If you don't deliver, you will listen to your mate suffocate. It is a most unpleasant death."
We heard Baozhai gasp over the comm.
"B?" whispered Pierre.
"I'm locked out. I'm trying, but I'm locked out." I could already hear her having difficulty breathing as she said those words.
Pierre leaned on one of the shelves for support. Helpless, we listened to her gasping.
"Fine," Pierre said suddenly. "We'll do it. We'll destroy the rest of the eggs. But only if you let her go, right now. Release the shuttle controls to Baozhai, and let her leave."
"If she leaves, you will have no way off the brood ship," said the Loxian.
"We'll take our chances against the skeleton crew," said Pierre. "Besides, I don't believe you are going to let us live. At least this way, Baozhai will survive."
"I accept your terms," said the Loxian. "The oxygen is back on, and she has control of the ship. But remember, I can see what you see, and I have the capability to regain control of the shuttle."
"Don't," said Baozhai. "Don't do this, not for me. I can't have so many deaths on my conscience."
"I can't have your death on mine," said Pierre. "Please, go. I want you safely off the shuttle and out of this monster's control before we're finished. I love you."
I didn't want to sacrifice my life for Baozhai. I wasn't in love with her. But, what choice did I have? Perhaps the two of us really could fight off the Seronians. Unless the enormous ship held far more than a dozen crewmen. That could have been another one of the Loxian's lies.
Baozhai said nothing as she prepared the shuttle. There was nothing left to say. But, as the shuttle was leaving, the tiny troubleshooting display built into the helmet at the edge of my vision spelled out the word "SLOW."
I looked at Pierre and, from his expression, could tell that he received this message as well. Baozhai was communicating with us in a way the Loxian couldn't detect. She had some sort of a plan, and she wanted us to work as slowly as we could get away with, to save as many eggs as we could, while she executed it. I had no idea what she might try. There was nothing for us to do, but to trust her.
"I upheld my end of the bargain" said the Loxian. "You must resume your mission. Now."
And we did. The next several hours were the worst experience of my life. One by one, we murdered the Seronian young. We lifted the eggs one at a time, as slowly as we could get away with, and we sent them crashing onto the ground. Tens of them. Hundreds. Thousands.
Pierre did it for love. He did it because he had to save the person who mattered to him most, and he would commit unspeakable evil to do that.
I had no such excuse.
To this day, I lie awake at night and wonder why I went along with him. Was it the hope of rescue, the cryptic message from Baozhai? Or was it because the sheer evil of my actions was so enormous, I couldn’t fully grasp it; it broke me and all I could do was follow Pierre's lead?
We continued our murder spree until they kicked down the door.
It wasn't the Seronians. It was the Galactic Union patrol. Baozhai had called the authorities, and they came to arrest the Seronian brood masters for breaking the treaty and breeding soldiers. And to arrest us for mass murder.
#
Thank the stars the Galactic Union doesn't have a death penalty. We're to serve life sentences without parole, back on Earth.
The punishment is just, and I'm adjusting to this new life. But it's much harder on Pierre, because he keeps asking after Baozhai, and no one will tell him anything. She called in the report, and disappeared.
Deep in his heart he must know the truth: the Loxian, who was never caught, must've killed her the moment he learned what she had done. There was almost no chance she could have reached a habitable planet and gotten off the shuttle before the Galactic Union troops showed up. She knew this would happen and, unlike us, she did whatever she had to in order to preserve however many lives she could at the cost of her own.
And she saved our lives in the process.
Pierre must know this, but he doesn't accept it. He thinks Baozhai is out there, somewhere. There's no computer system she couldn't hack, given enough time. He thinks she wrestled control of the shuttle from the Loxian by defeating his override. He thinks she never came to visit because he's a monster. He saved her by sacrificing many alien lives, while she saved him by risking only her own.
#
So I beg you, warden, please be kind. Don't do this to Pierre.
I hate the idea as much as he does, but if one of us has to make scrambled eggs, let it be me. I will fight the nausea down and do it as penance, as atonement for my crime.
I deserve that, or worse.
END
拜托了,狱长,请温和对待皮埃尔。
如果你一定要他在厨房干活,那么就让他切菜、洗碗,什么脏活累活他都会毫无怨言去做。但只是,别让他打鸡蛋。
这不是他的错。精神病学中,这种严重心理创伤带来的后遗症叫做“创伤后应激障碍”,或别的什么奇怪名字。他无法控制自己。这都怪那该死的珞暹。
#
“不打鸡蛋就做不了煎蛋卷,”珞暹通过安全通讯设备对我们讲话。“我发现自己对外星语言越来越内行了。你们人类的这句习语十分有趣。”
“什么是习语?”我问。据我所知,在这个远离银河的地方,我们三人是仅有的人类。这个外星人的华丽的文采和对人类语言的娴熟运用令我十分不安。
“一种特定形式的词组,通常作为一个整体来使用,你无法从里面的个别词语推测它的含义。”宝仔说。
“啊哈。就像:马蒂亚斯笨得像头猪。”皮埃尔说。
“那是个比喻,不是习语。你也笨得像头猪啦。” 宝仔娇嗔地看了一眼她的爱人。
“如果你们对语言学讨论得差不多了,我想聊聊你们这次的任务。”珞暹的声音从扩音器中传来。
我们三人静静聆听。这个珞暹十分古怪偏执。他从不露面,甚至不透露真实姓名,唯一的交流方式就是语音。不过,我们帮他做的前两个任务相当简单,而且报酬丰厚。
“瑟洛尼人将一枚重要的数据芯片塞进冈速蛋藏了起来。我希望你们帮我夺回。我等下将其母舰的星际坐标和其他相关数据发给你们。你们要乘坐隐形穿梭机才能暗中接近他们的飞船。我已准备了一架,正在航天港待命。”
无论珞暹是何种身份,他似乎拥有相当庞大的金钱和资源。他雇佣了我们,也许还雇佣了许多和我们一样的人,帮他做这些卑鄙的勾当。
“扫描射线无法穿透冈速蛋壳。”他告诉我们。“这使它们在走私者中间大受欢迎,他们采用生物工程技术对冈速蛋进行人工重新封装。瑟洛尼母舰上有上万个冈速蛋。你们得一个个打碎,直到找到芯片为止。”
“我明白了。”我说。“那句习语。是想让我们到那儿做煎蛋卷给你吃吗?”
皮埃尔狂笑不止。珞暹无视了我的插科打诨。
#
瑟洛尼母舰停泊在一个无人居住的星系,被小行星带的冰块和岩石掩护得非常好。如果没有珞暹提供的精确坐标,它只要把引擎一关,我们不管花上多少年都无处寻觅它的影踪。当然,我们的隐形飞机同样很难被探测到。它顺利降落,像苍蝇落在马背一样不易察觉。
宝仔只花了几分钟,就破解了入口的访问限制。我们还从未见过她破解不了的安全系统。皮埃尔和我穿好太空服,悄悄潜入母舰。宝仔留守后方,飞快入侵母舰上的计算机系统。
珞暹提供的资料显示,母舰上的船员不会多于12个。我们在巨型洞穴般的大厅没遇到任何人。直到我们接近冈速蛋贮藏室,才见到两个武装警卫把守入口。他们身高大约一米,外表好像生满毛发的龙虾。
我迅速开枪,他们来不及反抗就倒下了。电击枪对大部分生物的生理结构都管用。他们几小时后才会醒来,浑身虚弱,但不会死。
宝仔很快破解了他们看守的入口。瑟洛尼人的安全措施几乎完全依赖母舰的完美隐蔽,其他防卫都很薄弱。这使我们的工作进展顺利。
贮藏室干净整洁,一尘不染。冈速蛋的大小相当于甜瓜,呈驳杂的灰色。每个蛋都被一团泡沫状的底座独立保护。一排又一排的蛋,沿着两边的墙壁延伸摆放,比我想象的还远。一万个蛋,那可是相当大的数目!
皮埃尔和我对望一眼。
“这简直是大海捞针。”他说。
我在手腕上手表的位置轻叩两下,皮埃尔点点头。我们必须赶在有人巡查这儿之前找到芯片并离开。
“这儿有点不对劲,”宝仔说。她能看到我们看到的一切。我们的太空服会自动拍摄视频,通过通讯设备传送给她。“为什么一艘走私船会装满了食品停靠在这儿一动不动?为什么在基本船员不足12名的情况下还要设警卫岗?”
“不关我们的事,”我说。“赶紧办事拿钱。”
我拿起一颗蛋,试着在搁架边缘轻轻叩击。没破。隔着手套隐约感到它的表面比寻常鸡蛋更粗糙。我将蛋举到齐眉高度,松手让它下坠。
蛋碎裂开来,渗出了青黄相间的粘稠液体。
“我们要在那玩意儿里头找芯片?”皮埃尔问。
“不,我们要找的蛋肯定是空的。黏糊糊的有机物会被清空,用芯片替代。”我们的航程中,皮埃尔和宝仔一直锁在卧室享受两人世界,而那种时候,我只能阅读相关资料。
搁架十分沉重,而且蛋的底座是固定在搁架上的。我们只好挨个把蛋掏出来砸在地上。不一会儿,我们就穿过了走廊,身后一地破碎的蛋壳和粘稠的蛋液。
“住手!立刻住手!”通讯器内传来宝仔的声音。“那不是冈速蛋,那玩意儿压根就不存在。这些全部是瑟洛尼卵!”
“什么?”皮埃尔正双手举起一颗蛋,离身体远远地,好像握着一条毒蛇。
“那是他们的孩子,”宝仔的声音颤抖。“我们在杀害有知觉的生命。”
一时间没人说话。我和皮埃尔陷入惊恐,环视周围剩下的小生命,仿佛大梦初醒。
“你确定?”我终于开口。
“我读取了母舰电脑中的数据。没有任何与冈速蛋有关的信息。但有一份资料里记述了他们的繁殖方式……”宝仔说到这里声音渐弱。
“我们回舱内。”皮埃尔的语气很平稳。但透过他头盔的侧面,我能看出他的愤怒。“准备起飞。”
“你们必须完成任务。”我们高度加密的私人通讯器中响起了珞暹的声音,我感到一阵浑身冰冷。“我一直监控你们的通讯,我已经掌握飞船的控制权。它将留在原地,直到你们毁掉所有的蛋。”
“你骗了我们,”皮埃尔说。“你要为这些杀戮负责。我们无法弥补已经犯下的罪行,但既已知晓真相,我们绝不会让杀戮再度发生。”
“你懂个屁!”珞暹优雅的语调骤然变得声嘶力竭。“你以为瑟洛尼人为什么将母舰藏得如此隐蔽?他们无视和平条约的条款,躲起来繁殖战士。他们将会前来屠杀我的子民。”
“也许他们未来会成为战士,但他们现在是无辜的。杀害无辜是恐怖主义行为。”宝仔说。“我们绝不会参与。”
“等被你们击倒的两个瑟洛尼人醒来,你指望他们会为此而感激你们吗?他们会活活解剖你们,折磨你们,直到死亡。你们唯一理智的做法就是完成眼前的任务。然后我就允许你们离开,并支付双倍报酬。”
我的心被恐惧牢牢揪住。我在两个选择之间苦苦挣扎,一个是对保全自身的求生渴望,另一个则是对杀戮无辜生命的极端憎恶。我多希望宝仔或皮埃尔能替我做出决定。我会服从指挥,无条件执行任何命令,因为选择是如此艰难可怕。
皮埃尔先做了决定,双臂交叉在胸前说:“我们绝不做这种事。一旦被俘虏,我会将你的所作所为全部告诉他们。或者你也可以让我们乘飞船返回。隐形穿梭机很昂贵吧。你确定要把它丢在这儿吗?”
“我不明白。”珞暹说,“你们人类明明是杂食者,具有发达的生存本能。你们当中许多种族甚至认为未出生和未孵化的就不是生命。你们食用鸡蛋。这是我选中你们的原因。”
长时间的沉默。我不知道瑟洛尼人何时会发觉我们的存在。我们还能活多久。
“是你们逼我这样做的。”珞暹说,“我现在开始抽取船舱中的氧气。如果你们不听话,就只能听着你们的同伴窒息而死。这可是最为漫长而痛苦的死法。”
通讯器中传来宝仔的喘息声。
“宝儿?”皮埃尔颤声呼唤。
“我被锁在外面了。我在努力,但是没有用。”我发觉她说话时呼吸艰难。
皮埃尔已然支持不住,撑住搁架。她的喘息声就在耳边,可我们无能为力。
“好吧,”皮埃尔突然说。“我们做。我们会打碎所有的蛋。但你必须放她走,立刻就走。把飞船的控制权交给宝仔,让她离开。”
“如果她离开这里,你们将无法离开母舰。”珞暹说。
“我们会想办法对付那几个船员。”皮埃尔说。“况且,我不相信你会留活口。这样做,至少宝仔可以活下去。”
“我接受你的条件。”珞暹说。“好的,氧气已经重新注入,她现在可以操控飞船。但是记住,你们看到的我都能看到,而且我随时可以重新掌控飞船。”
“不要。”宝仔说。“不要为我这么做。我无法承受这么多生命为我而死。”
我并不愿为了宝仔牺牲自己的生命。她又不是我的爱人。但我有别的选择吗?我们俩说不定能够摆脱瑟洛尼人。除非珞暹再次欺骗了我们,母舰上并不止12个船员。
宝仔一言不发地启动飞船。已经没什么好说的。起飞的中途,我忽然意识到视线边缘有什么东西在闪烁。原来是安装在头盔内部的故障检修屏幕,上面显示两个字:减速。
我看看皮埃尔,从他的表情中我知道,他也收到了这条信息。宝仔正在用珞暹无法察觉的方式与我们交流。显然她有某种计划,而且她希望在计划实施期间,我们行事越慢越好,打碎的蛋越少越好。我并不清楚她的计划。除了相信她,我们别无选择。
“我遵守了约定。”珞暹说,“现在轮到你们了。快点。”
接下来的几小时,是我一生中最痛苦的时光。我们一个接一个地屠杀瑟洛尼的幼小生命。我用尽可能慢的速度缓缓举起一颗蛋,松手让它们落下,碎裂在地面。十个。一百个。一千个。
皮埃尔这样做,完全是出于爱情。为了保护对他最重要的人,他将不惜犯下一切罪孽。
而我没有任何借口。
直到如今,我在一个个不眠的夜晚独自思索,当初为何和他一起犯下罪行。宝仔留下的模糊信息使我产生了援救的希望?还是我被自己亲手犯下的罪行震惊,以至于无法思考、只能机械跟随皮埃尔?
他们破门而入时,杀戮的盛宴仍在进行。
进来的不是瑟洛尼人,而是银河系联盟巡警。宝仔联络了警方。他们前来逮捕试图繁育战士破坏和平条约的瑟洛尼统治者,同时,也以“大规模屠杀”的罪名逮捕了我们。
#
感谢群星。银河系没有死刑。我们被判无期徒刑,终生不得假释,返回地球执行。
判决很公正。我正在逐渐适应新的生活。但事情对于皮埃尔来说就没那么容易接受了。他苦苦追问宝仔的下落,但没有任何人能给他答案。她向警方举报之后就这样消失无踪。
他内心深处一定猜到了真相:当珞暹意识到她做了什么之后,肯定会将她置于死地。警方一直未能抓获珞暹。她几乎不可能在短时间内找到一颗适合生存的行星,安全着陆并逃下飞船,等待巡警到来。她非常清楚会发生什么。只是她与我们不同,为了保护那些生命,她宁愿牺牲自己。
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所以我请求你,狱长,请发发慈悲。不要这样对待皮埃尔。
我和他一样反感打鸡蛋这件事,但是,如果必须有一个人来做,那就让我来吧。我会强忍憎恶,将它作为一种苦修,以赎回我犯下的滔天罪行。
无论是这种结局,还是更糟,都是我活该的。
「完」
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