云神的歌声 The Nephelai’s Song
By Rebecca Schwarz
Translate By Ninesnow
2015-05
彗星科幻
编注:本篇题目是The Nephelai’s Song,Nephelai(Nephelae)是古希腊神话中,被宙斯变成真人的一朵酷似赫拉的云,其中颇有一些剧情的深意,无法兼顾翻译发音和含义,最终为阅读顺畅,选择了此种译法,请读者一定自行搜索相关背景之后,再次重读此文。
以及,这篇和大刘的《鲸之歌》有某种相似,我认为这篇更好一些,除了题目的有趣之外,尤其是其细节和结局的合理性。
Dewei had been sailing alone through space for weeks on a wild Nephelai ship when the long-range comms picked up Liling’s transmission.
His heart raced as fragments of her words emerged from the static like a distant echo. Dewei couldn’t make out what she was saying, but he knew Liling’s voice. Just the sound of it warmed him, and it was as if she was with him again, whispering in his ear in the dark as they lay together tangled in the sheets.
He put his hands on the communications console, warming the ship’s leathery flesh, which reacted by increasing the volume. The lilt of her voice filled the nascent bridge, still cluttered with equipment he had yet to install. He couldn’t make out her words, but he thought he recognized the rhythms of one of her standard repeating communications.
Now that the ship’s attention was focused on the signal, he moved over to the main control panel. He’d surgically implanted it only days ago. Normally he wouldn’t attempt to steer a ship so recently modified, but Liling wouldn’t risk broadcasting a repeater for anything less than a new catch. She had captured and boarded a new ship and was using her portable comm box to send a repeating message as a locator to lead him back to her. As soon as he touched the steering stick the ship complied, turning and accelerating toward the faint signal. Dewei smiled at this untamed ship’s first true act of cooperation.
Dewei and Liling had been partners for years, but they spent nearly all of their time working alone. She darted through the vast asteroid fields in the Golden Swallow, her tiny inorganic harpoon ship, hunting the last Nephelai, an ancient race of space-faring organisms.
Liling captured the wild Nephelai ships; Dewei was a “ship breaker,” preparing them for auction. He lived on each ship for months, modifying it by surgically installing the interface equipment and inserting software into the ship’s neural network. And because it was a wild creature, he broke it, gentling the ship until it was ready to be governed by a human crew.
He listened to her voice, still swaddled in static, amazed that she found another ship so soon. If anyone could, it would be Liling. She was the best Nephelai hunter he’d ever known. It was her instinct about where to look, her ruthlessness in the pursuit, and her optimism that there would always be one more ship to take. Despite the fact that they were fast disappearing.
Even a year ago Dewei wouldn’t have thought that the population could collapse so quickly. Unfortunately, the ships were just as valuable dead as alive, and as their numbers dwindled, the prices for even a small piece of hull or section of antenna was enough to draw poachers to the asteroid fields where the Nephelai had once roamed in magnificent herds.
A band of poachers could strip a ship down to its component parts within 24 hours. The properties in the chitinous hull material that enabled the Nephelai to communicate with each other over great distances functioned in even the smallest hull fragments, and were a prized addition to any ship. The tough internal air bladders could be repurposed to provide a breathable atmosphere in a variety of settings. Breaking and training a Nephelai took time, patience and years of experience. It was easier to tear a ship apart and sell it piecemeal to shipbuilders looking to enhance their manmade ships with Nephelai bioware. The asteroid fields were rife with savage poachers, and mature, wild Nephelai had all but disappeared. He and Liling should have given up this way of life years ago.
But, if they could bring two ships to auction they would make a small fortune – enough for them to retire. At least that was what he planned to suggest. They would fight about it of course. She would see their windfall as a sign that the wild population of Nephelai was rebounding and argue for the hunt. She felt they owed it to the Nephelai, because unlike those bastard poachers, she and Dewei kept the ships alive and in one piece. They were gruff with each other whenever they were on the same ship, always bickering and bumping elbows. But they were in love, he was sure of it. It was just hard to tell when they together.
It would be hours before they reached her, maybe days. Not wanting to leave the bridge, Dewei spent his time slouching against the warm, curved wall alternately playing solitaire with a worn deck of cards and dozing. Occasional words emerged from the static that shrouded Liling’s repeating message, “honey … golden … found …”
He had no idea how long he had been asleep when silence woke him up. He lurched to his feet, stomach dropping as he crossed to the comm console to see why Liling’s signal had disappeared. He looked out through the array of clear, eye-like organs that served as portholes, but the craggy face of an asteroid blocked his view. The ship was drifting along with it. Hiding. Then other voices boomed through the comm, rough and loud, in a patois he recognized but could not decipher. Poachers.
Luckily, he’d already muted this Nephelai, as he did with all the ships he trained. Most ships were intractable if their natural voices were left to them, and their calls could attract poachers. Still, he had found himself reluctant to sever this ship’s vocal conduits. Now that there were so few Nephelai left, he missed the strange songs they sang to each other, a haunting music that would echo behind the chatter of human voices using their modified comm systems.
Dewei ran along the ship’s spine to the aft portholes just in time to see a cluster of ragged ships glide by. They were conglomerations of old inorganic ships modified with stolen and black market components. The little flotilla towed jumbled sections of a Nephelai carapace and deflated air bladders behind it. And something else – he let out a strangled cry as he recognized the gunmetal gray hull of the Golden Swallow bobbing along among their plunder.
Since Liling’s ship was dark and being towed, he guessed that the poachers had been unable to get inside. Liling would have buttoned up the Golden Swallow before boarding her quarry. Had she been taken aboard one of the poachers’ ships, or had she found a way to hide inside the Nephelai ship they’d ransacked?
He ran back to the bridge, digging his fingers into the comm console, directing the antenna away from the scavengers and toward the source of Liling’s original signal. Broadcasting was risky. The poachers might pick up his transmission and turn back for him and his intact ship, but he had to know. If she didn’t respond then there was a good chance the poachers had taken her. If so, he could follow at a distance. But if she was still on the carcass of the ship they’d stripped, he would need to pick her up before the air in her suit ran out.
“Ship Breaker runs to Golden Swallow. Acknowledge.” He waited listening to blank static. “Ship Breaker to Golden Swallow, state your position. Over?”
Nothing.
He moved to the control panel and gripped the steering stick. The ship rose away from the asteroid willingly, but when he tried to direct it to roll starboard toward the retreating poachers the ship juddered, recalcitrant. He held the steering stick with one hand and took the electric prod off his belt with the other. At the press of his thumb the metal end lengthened, inserting itself into the floor. The ship bucked as the prod extended until its tip was seated in the pain center of the ship’s neural network. Turning this half-wild ship toward obvious danger was going to take some convincing. His finger hovered over the prod’s trigger as he waited for it to charge.
Then Liling’s voice filled the bridge. “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” He recognized the rhythms of the repeating message, but now the each word rang like a bell in clear morning air. “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” She was close! He looked at the comm; the broadcast came its original source. She must have hid herself and her portable comm box somewhere on the ship after the poachers had boarded. Now that they were gone she’d turned the repeater back on.
Dewei took his hand off the prod as the ship turned away from the poachers and toward the source of the signal. He urged the ship to full speed, driving it hard toward the source of Liling’s broadcast. The Nephelai complied as if the two of them were of one mind. It was a good ship, he would be sorry to see it go at auction.
Over and over Liling’s voice repeated, “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” The ship they sailed for was a speck among specks in the asteroid field, but it still had enough reactive hull to boost the repeater, and his ship drove directly for it without any further orders from Dewei.
They arrived at the stripped carcass of a ship that was barely more than a calf. He wondered if this was his Nephelai’s kin. The Nephelai used to travel in clan groups of six to twelve. It was rare now to find a pod of two or three. More and more the ships traveled alone, mother ships leaving their calves hidden among the asteroids as a last, desperate survival tactic.
Through the portholes, he could see the Golden Swallow’s harpoon still lodged in one of the calf’s ribs. The end of the harpoon’s severed line floated out to brush the hull of his ship as it pulled alongside. Hands shaking, Dewei suited up. Liling’s message still broadcast on its continuous loop. “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot.” It had to mean she was alive. He proceeded through his checklist, preparing to leave the ship. “Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker.” The hours of repetition rendered the words meaningless; Dewei listened only to the melodious sound of her voice.
His ship’s airlock expelled him with a puff of air into the brief alley between the ships. He grabbed the line attached to the harpoon and tied the two ships together before pulling himself hand-over-hand along the line to the smaller ship. He turned on his headlamp and glided through the space between two curving ribs. The entire hull had been stripped away, the leathery flesh excised, and all the air bladders removed. Only a few chunks of chitin clung to the outside of the ship’s spine. He began to pull himself through the ruined ship.
There was still hope. Her message still played, piped from his ship’s comm console into the tinny speaker in his helmet. Liling was here somewhere. Perhaps still hiding. Crouching in one of the ship’s storage vesicles, holding her portable comm box, she waited for him.
The ship rocked gently, his own ship restlessly tugging against the tether. He pulled himself through the remains of the ship from aft to fore, searching methodically.
He found her on the bridge, arms outstretched, one foot wedged in a remaining fold of ship’s flesh. Her dingy white suit glowed in the starlight that shone through the gaps in the hull – except for the black scorch marks that rimmed the gaping tear across her torso where the poachers had shot her. The place where he suit was torn open seemed to absorb all light. Her body rocked with the gentle movement of the ship. Dewei couldn’t move at all, he couldn’t control his breathing, which came in hot gasps. He just floated there with Liling a few feet beyond his grasp.
Her voice called to him still, “Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker.” He swallowed and swallowed again. Blinked the tears from his eyes until they floated free inside his helmet, then he pushed off and gathered her in an awkward, bulky embrace. He heard a moan and realized it was his own voice.
He couldn’t see her face through the cracks that webbed her faceplate, so he unlatched her helmet and removed it. A rime of frost covered her skin making it look as if she had been dusted precious with gems. Clumsily, with his gloved hand, he brushed her glossy black hair away from her face. Her expression was neutral, uncaring. Her frozen eyes stared out past him and the wrecked hull, past the stars beyond, past everything. He clutched her stiff, unbending body and wept.
The ship rocked more violently knocking them both against the floor. He looked back through the ribs at his ship as his Nephelai strained against the tether. Liling’s voice disappeared, leaving Dewei with only the roar of his ragged breath inside his helmet. He looked around for her comm box. He hadn’t found it in his search of the ship, yet it had been transmitting until only a moment ago.
The ship rocked again, violently, then jerked back as the tether snapped. He gripped Liling by the shoulder of her suit and kicked off toward his ship, but it was already too late. He’d made a rookie mistake. He knew better than to leave a ship before it was properly broken. He watched as his ship pitched and drifted away, its rump already glowing as the engines prepared to fire.
He understood now. Liling had boarded this ship, but had never sent a message. Sometimes she would wait, dark and silent, if she suspected poachers were around. Her portable comm box was probably still on the Golden Swallow.
Whenever she did send a message from a new captured ship, the wording was always the same, “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” The message he’d been listening to all these days never originated from Liling’s comm box, but from his own ship.
When Dewei had muted the ship’s natural voice he had silenced the songs by which it called to its kind, so this Nephelai had found a way to sing with the only voice available to it, its own recorded memory of the message Liling had sent to Dewei after she’d captured it all those months ago. The Nephelai’s songs were a form of echolocation, a way for them to find each other. It was bad luck that the poachers had also heard the echo of Liling’s call.
The Nephelai fired its engines. Dewei watched it recede until it disappeared among the drifting asteroids. He had about fifteen hours of air in his suit. Fifteen hours left with his silent Liling. But for as long as his unbroken Nephelai roamed the asteroid fields, Liling’s voice would live on in its song.
END
当远程通讯器中传出莉玲发来的消息时,德威已经一个人驾驶野生的云神飞船在太空中航行了几个星期。
她断断续续的话语在静电干扰下像是远处传来的回声,听得他心跳加速。德威听不出她在说什么,但他听得出这是莉玲的声音。仅仅听到她的声音就让他感到温暖,仿佛她就在身边,两个人的身体在被单下交缠,她在黑暗中对他轻声耳语。
他把手放在通讯器的控制台上,向皮革质感的船身传递热量,飞船随之调大了音量。抑扬顿挫的话语声充满了新建成的舰桥,在他还没来的及安装的设备中回荡。他听不清她的话,根据消息的节奏他觉得这是她经常用的一个标准联络语。
趁着飞船把注意力集中在这个联络信号上,他又返回到主控台。这个主控台几天前才刚刚移植到船身上。一般情况下,他不会操纵一艘刚刚经过改装的飞船,但莉玲也不会为了一点鸡毛蒜皮的事就冒风险重复广播联络语,她一定有了新收获。她应该捕获并登上了一艘新的飞船,然后用便携式通讯匣子循环发送这段消息作为定位信号,指引他回到她身边。他一触摸到操纵杆,飞船就遵从他的指令转身朝着微弱的信号加速前进。看到这艘不驯服的飞船第一次真正的和自己合作,德威笑了。
德威和莉玲已经合作了好几年,但在绝大多数时间里他们都是独自工作。她驾驶着小小的无机鱼叉飞船金燕号在广袤的小行星带内穿梭,追捕最后的云神——这是一个古老的种族,一种能够进行太空航行的有机体。
莉玲负责捕捉野生的云神飞船;德威则是一名“破船工”,将猎物进行改装然后送去拍卖。他在每艘飞船上都要生活几个月,像外科医生一样为飞船植入各种接口设备,并在飞船的神经网络里插入软件。由于飞船是野生生物,要让它屈服,训练好,让它能够服从人类船员的指挥。
他听着她混杂着静电干扰的声音,惊叹她能在这么短的时间内又发现一艘飞船。要说有哪个人能做到这一点,一定非莉玲莫属。她是他认识的最好的云神猎人。她有很好的直觉,知道该在那里寻找,能冷酷无情的追踪,还总是那么乐观,认为总会再捕获到一艘飞船。尽管事实上整个云神种族在迅速的消失。
一年前的德威根本想不到云神的数量会下降的这么快。不幸的是,飞船不论死活都价值不菲。随着飞船的数量不断减少,价格也越来越高。哪怕是一小块外壳或是一段触须的价格都足以吸引盗猎者来到这个曾经漫游着大量云神的小行星带。
一伙盗猎者只需24小时就可以把一艘飞船拆卸成一堆零件。云神的几丁质外壳中含有的物质使它们能隔着遥远的距离进行联络交流。即便是一小片这样的外壳也具有同样的功能,对于任何飞船来说这样的一小片外壳都是宝贝。它们体内坚韧的气囊可以装备到各种设备中,用来提供可供呼吸的气体。制服并训练一头云神需要时间、耐心和多年积累下来的经验。拆解一头就简单得多。拆解开的部件可以分别卖给飞船制造商,后者则用这些云神生物零件增强他们人造飞船的功能。小行星带内遍布野蛮的强盗,而成熟的野生云神几近灭绝。他和莉玲早该在几年前就放弃这种谋生手段。
他们只要能再弄到两艘飞船拿去拍卖,就能发一笔小财——足够他们不用为生计发愁,从此退休。至少他打算这么和莉玲说。他们肯定会为此争吵。她会把这笔横财看作是野生云神数量反弹的标志,要求继续狩猎。她觉得这是他们欠云神的。不像那些混蛋盗猎者,她和德威让飞船完好无缺的活着。他们在同一艘船上的时候总是很粗鲁的对待对方,吵嘴,用胳膊肘相互推搡。但他们都爱着对方,他很肯定这一点。他们只是很难当面承认。
他们要花几个小时才能到她那里,也许要花几天时间。德威不想离开舰桥,他懒懒的靠着弯曲温暖的墙壁用一副旧纸牌打发时间,偶尔打个盹。莉玲的消息反复地播放着,在静电干扰种偶尔会蹦出几个字:“蜜……金……发现……”
当他被寂静惊醒,也不知道自己睡了多长时间。他摇摇晃晃地走到通讯控制台,查看莉玲的信号为什么中断。结果却让他心里一沉。墙上有一排长得像眼睛一样的透明器官充当舷窗。他透过舷窗向外看,一个表面坑坑挖挖的小行星阻挡了他的视线。飞船在它旁边漂浮,躲藏。接着通讯器里传来其他的声音,粗野的大嗓门。他听出是某种方言但是不知道具体的意思。盗猎者。
幸运的是,就像对待每一艘他训练过的飞船一样,他早就让这头云神处于静音状态。大多数飞船在保留原有发声系统的情况下都很难管束,它们的呼唤声还会引来盗猎者。但他还是很不愿意割断这艘飞船的声音通道。幸存的云神越来越少,他很怀念它们相互唱和的奇怪歌声,那是一种在人耳畔萦绕不去的音乐。通过它们经过改装后的通讯系统,这种乐声会伴随人类的声音产生回音。
德威沿着飞船的脊柱跑到船尾的舷窗,及时看到一队破破烂烂的飞船悄悄驶过。是一伙用赃物和黑市货改装过的老旧的无机飞船。这一小队飞船的后面拖着一堆云神的外壳和瘪了的气囊。除此之外还有别的东西——他像被人掐住脖子一样从嗓子里挤出一声叫喊——金燕号飞船正和和战利品一起上下起伏
莉玲的船漆黑一片而且还被拖着前进,他推测这伙盗猎者没能侵入她的飞船。莉玲在登上猎物之前应该关闭了金燕号。她是被带到了盗猎者的船上,还是藏在他们猎杀的这头云神的遗骸里?
他跑回舰桥,把手指插进通讯控制台,指示天线从这群强盗转到莉玲原始信号的发射方向。广播要冒风险。盗猎者有可能会收到他的信号,转头对付他和他完好无损的飞船。但他一定要弄清真相。如果她没有回应就很可能已经被盗猎者抓住了。要是这样他就会远远地跟着他们。要是她还在他们盗猎的那艘船的遗骸里,他就必须在她用光氧气之前找到她。
“分解号呼叫金燕号。请回应。”他听着一片寂静的静电干扰。“分解号呼叫金燕号,汇报你的位置。请回复?”
没有回答。
他来到控制台前,抓住操纵杆。飞船顺从的从小行星后升起,但当他指示飞船向返航的盗猎者方向右转舵时,飞船很不情愿的颤动起来。他一只手握住操纵杆,另一只手从腰带上解下电棍。按下拇指,棍子伸出的金属末端直插进地面。随着金属杆不断地深入,飞船剧烈的震动着,直到杆头触到了飞船神经网络的痛感中心。需要用点手段才能让这艘半野生的飞船向显而易见的危险飞去。他的手指悬在电棍开关的上方等着它就位。
这时舰桥上又响起了莉玲的声音。“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”他很熟悉这句不断重复的消息的节奏,而现在听起来每个字都像是回荡在清新空气中的晨钟声。“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”她就在附近!他看着通讯器;这段广播来自初始播放源。她一定是在盗猎者登船后带着便携式通讯匣子藏了起来。现在盗猎者撤走了,她又开始重复播放。
德威松开电棍,飞船随即掉头离开盗猎者朝着信号源飞去。他催促飞船全速前进,全力驾驶飞船朝莉玲广播的源头飞去。云神顺从的就像他们两个异体同心一样。这是艘好船,拍卖的时候他会为它感到难过的。
莉玲的声音一遍又一遍的重复着:“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”他们驶向的那艘飞船只是小行星带内的一粒微尘,但它仍然拥有足以用来发送这条消息的船壳,而他的飞船不需要德威的进一步指令就径直朝它飞去。
他们抵达一搜被劫掠过的飞船残骸,看体型不比云神的幼兽大多少。他很想知道这艘船是不是他的云神的亲戚。云神习惯以家族为群体活动,数量在六到十二头之间。而现在看到两三头一同游动的云神都很难。飞船们越来越多的独自飞行,母飞船撇下它们的幼兽隐匿在小行星之间。这是最后的绝望的生存手段。
他透过舷窗看到金燕号的鱼叉还插在幼兽的肋骨上。系在鱼叉末端被割断的绳索在真空中漂浮,拂过来到它身边的云神飞船的外壳。德威颤抖着双手穿上太空服。莉玲的消息还在反复的播放。“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。”这一定意味着她还活着。他一步一步的按照规程行动,准备离开飞船。“金燕号等待分解号。”经过几个小时的重复,语言对他已经失去了原本的意义;德威听见的只是她声音的旋律。
减压舱门产生的气流把他推进连接着两艘船的短廊。他拽住鱼叉上的绳索,把两艘船系在一起,然后攀着绳子来到对面的小船上。他打开头灯,沿着弯曲肋骨间的缝隙滑进小船。整个船壳都被剥下,皮革质感的肉都被割走,所有的气囊都被摘除,只剩下脊柱外侧还粘着几小块几丁质外壳。他攀住墙壁在被拆毁的船体中移动。
还有希望。她的消息还在播放,通过飞船上的通讯控制台转发到他头盔内部小小的扬声器上。莉玲就在这里的某个地方。也许还在躲藏,拿着便携式通讯匣子蜷缩在飞船的某个存储液囊里,等他到来。
船体轻轻的晃动,他的那艘飞船不断地想要挣脱束缚它的缰绳。他从船尾到船头有条不紊的搜索每个角落。
他在舰桥上找到了她——双臂伸展,一只脚別在飞船残存的肉中。肮脏的白色太空服反射着穿过船体裂缝的星光——反衬出胸口上一圈黑色的烧灼痕迹。灼痕环绕着盗猎者枪击造成的伤洞。太空服上被击穿的地方仿佛吸走了所有的光线。她的身体随着船身轻轻的晃动。德威一动不动,不由自主地呼出一口热气。他听任自己的身体从几英尺外漂浮到莉玲身边。
她的声音仍在呼唤他:“金燕号等待分解号。”他一遍又一遍的干咽着,不断眨眼清除泪水,泪珠在他的头盔里飞舞。随后他冲向她,笨拙地抱住她。他听到一声呻吟,然后意识到这是他自己的声音。
她头盔上的面罩碎成了一片蛛网让他看不清她的脸。他解开她的头盔,把它摘下来。她的脸上覆盖着一层白霜,看上去像被撒了一层名贵的宝石。他用带着手套的手笨拙的拨开她脸上油腻腻的黑发。她的表情平和冷淡。她凝滞的目光越过他,越过残破的船体,越过外面的群星,越过一切,望向虚无。他抱住她僵硬直挺的身体,哭泣。
飞船摇晃的更加剧烈,他们两个摔倒在地上。他回头透过肋骨间的缝隙看着他的飞船,那头云神用力挣脱着缰绳。莉玲的声音消失了,头盔里只剩下德威自己刺耳的喘息声。他开始寻找她的通讯匣子。之前搜索飞船的时候没找到,不过就在刚才它还一直在发射信号。
飞船再一次剧烈的晃动起来,紧接着猛地一震,连接两艘船的绳索被挣断了。他抓住莉玲太空服的肩部,用力一蹬朝自己的飞船飘过去。已经太迟了。他犯了一个菜鸟级的错误。在被彻底驯服之前不应该离开飞船。他看着自己的飞船向前一冲扬长而去,飞船尾部发光显示已经准备好发动引擎……
他现在明白了。莉玲登上了这艘船,但从没发送过任何消息。在她怀疑周围有盗猎者的时候,她会在黑暗和寂静中等待。她的便携式通讯匣子可能还在金燕号上。
她每次从新捕获的飞船上发来的都是同一条消息:“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”他这几天一直听到的消息并不是来自莉玲的通讯匣子,而是来自他自己的飞船。
德威关掉了飞船的自然发声系统,让飞船唱不出呼唤同类的歌曲。于是这条云神找到了一种方法唱出它唯一拥有的声音——几个月前,莉玲捕获它后发给德威的这条消息就存在它的记忆里。云神的歌声具有回声定位的能力,它们靠着这种能力找到彼此。不幸的是盗猎者也听到了莉玲这条消息的回声。
云神发动引擎。德威看着它飞得越来越远直到消失在漂浮的小行星之间。他还剩下大概十五个小时的氧气。还有十五个小时的时间陪伴着安静的莉玲。然而只要那头未被驯服的云神还在小行星带中遨游,莉玲的声音就会一直活在它的歌声中。
「完」
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By Rebecca Schwarz
Translate By Ninesnow
2015-05
彗星科幻
编注:本篇题目是The Nephelai’s Song,Nephelai(Nephelae)是古希腊神话中,被宙斯变成真人的一朵酷似赫拉的云,其中颇有一些剧情的深意,无法兼顾翻译发音和含义,最终为阅读顺畅,选择了此种译法,请读者一定自行搜索相关背景之后,再次重读此文。
以及,这篇和大刘的《鲸之歌》有某种相似,我认为这篇更好一些,除了题目的有趣之外,尤其是其细节和结局的合理性。
Dewei had been sailing alone through space for weeks on a wild Nephelai ship when the long-range comms picked up Liling’s transmission.
His heart raced as fragments of her words emerged from the static like a distant echo. Dewei couldn’t make out what she was saying, but he knew Liling’s voice. Just the sound of it warmed him, and it was as if she was with him again, whispering in his ear in the dark as they lay together tangled in the sheets.
He put his hands on the communications console, warming the ship’s leathery flesh, which reacted by increasing the volume. The lilt of her voice filled the nascent bridge, still cluttered with equipment he had yet to install. He couldn’t make out her words, but he thought he recognized the rhythms of one of her standard repeating communications.
Now that the ship’s attention was focused on the signal, he moved over to the main control panel. He’d surgically implanted it only days ago. Normally he wouldn’t attempt to steer a ship so recently modified, but Liling wouldn’t risk broadcasting a repeater for anything less than a new catch. She had captured and boarded a new ship and was using her portable comm box to send a repeating message as a locator to lead him back to her. As soon as he touched the steering stick the ship complied, turning and accelerating toward the faint signal. Dewei smiled at this untamed ship’s first true act of cooperation.
Dewei and Liling had been partners for years, but they spent nearly all of their time working alone. She darted through the vast asteroid fields in the Golden Swallow, her tiny inorganic harpoon ship, hunting the last Nephelai, an ancient race of space-faring organisms.
Liling captured the wild Nephelai ships; Dewei was a “ship breaker,” preparing them for auction. He lived on each ship for months, modifying it by surgically installing the interface equipment and inserting software into the ship’s neural network. And because it was a wild creature, he broke it, gentling the ship until it was ready to be governed by a human crew.
He listened to her voice, still swaddled in static, amazed that she found another ship so soon. If anyone could, it would be Liling. She was the best Nephelai hunter he’d ever known. It was her instinct about where to look, her ruthlessness in the pursuit, and her optimism that there would always be one more ship to take. Despite the fact that they were fast disappearing.
Even a year ago Dewei wouldn’t have thought that the population could collapse so quickly. Unfortunately, the ships were just as valuable dead as alive, and as their numbers dwindled, the prices for even a small piece of hull or section of antenna was enough to draw poachers to the asteroid fields where the Nephelai had once roamed in magnificent herds.
A band of poachers could strip a ship down to its component parts within 24 hours. The properties in the chitinous hull material that enabled the Nephelai to communicate with each other over great distances functioned in even the smallest hull fragments, and were a prized addition to any ship. The tough internal air bladders could be repurposed to provide a breathable atmosphere in a variety of settings. Breaking and training a Nephelai took time, patience and years of experience. It was easier to tear a ship apart and sell it piecemeal to shipbuilders looking to enhance their manmade ships with Nephelai bioware. The asteroid fields were rife with savage poachers, and mature, wild Nephelai had all but disappeared. He and Liling should have given up this way of life years ago.
But, if they could bring two ships to auction they would make a small fortune – enough for them to retire. At least that was what he planned to suggest. They would fight about it of course. She would see their windfall as a sign that the wild population of Nephelai was rebounding and argue for the hunt. She felt they owed it to the Nephelai, because unlike those bastard poachers, she and Dewei kept the ships alive and in one piece. They were gruff with each other whenever they were on the same ship, always bickering and bumping elbows. But they were in love, he was sure of it. It was just hard to tell when they together.
It would be hours before they reached her, maybe days. Not wanting to leave the bridge, Dewei spent his time slouching against the warm, curved wall alternately playing solitaire with a worn deck of cards and dozing. Occasional words emerged from the static that shrouded Liling’s repeating message, “honey … golden … found …”
He had no idea how long he had been asleep when silence woke him up. He lurched to his feet, stomach dropping as he crossed to the comm console to see why Liling’s signal had disappeared. He looked out through the array of clear, eye-like organs that served as portholes, but the craggy face of an asteroid blocked his view. The ship was drifting along with it. Hiding. Then other voices boomed through the comm, rough and loud, in a patois he recognized but could not decipher. Poachers.
Luckily, he’d already muted this Nephelai, as he did with all the ships he trained. Most ships were intractable if their natural voices were left to them, and their calls could attract poachers. Still, he had found himself reluctant to sever this ship’s vocal conduits. Now that there were so few Nephelai left, he missed the strange songs they sang to each other, a haunting music that would echo behind the chatter of human voices using their modified comm systems.
Dewei ran along the ship’s spine to the aft portholes just in time to see a cluster of ragged ships glide by. They were conglomerations of old inorganic ships modified with stolen and black market components. The little flotilla towed jumbled sections of a Nephelai carapace and deflated air bladders behind it. And something else – he let out a strangled cry as he recognized the gunmetal gray hull of the Golden Swallow bobbing along among their plunder.
Since Liling’s ship was dark and being towed, he guessed that the poachers had been unable to get inside. Liling would have buttoned up the Golden Swallow before boarding her quarry. Had she been taken aboard one of the poachers’ ships, or had she found a way to hide inside the Nephelai ship they’d ransacked?
He ran back to the bridge, digging his fingers into the comm console, directing the antenna away from the scavengers and toward the source of Liling’s original signal. Broadcasting was risky. The poachers might pick up his transmission and turn back for him and his intact ship, but he had to know. If she didn’t respond then there was a good chance the poachers had taken her. If so, he could follow at a distance. But if she was still on the carcass of the ship they’d stripped, he would need to pick her up before the air in her suit ran out.
“Ship Breaker runs to Golden Swallow. Acknowledge.” He waited listening to blank static. “Ship Breaker to Golden Swallow, state your position. Over?”
Nothing.
He moved to the control panel and gripped the steering stick. The ship rose away from the asteroid willingly, but when he tried to direct it to roll starboard toward the retreating poachers the ship juddered, recalcitrant. He held the steering stick with one hand and took the electric prod off his belt with the other. At the press of his thumb the metal end lengthened, inserting itself into the floor. The ship bucked as the prod extended until its tip was seated in the pain center of the ship’s neural network. Turning this half-wild ship toward obvious danger was going to take some convincing. His finger hovered over the prod’s trigger as he waited for it to charge.
Then Liling’s voice filled the bridge. “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” He recognized the rhythms of the repeating message, but now the each word rang like a bell in clear morning air. “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” She was close! He looked at the comm; the broadcast came its original source. She must have hid herself and her portable comm box somewhere on the ship after the poachers had boarded. Now that they were gone she’d turned the repeater back on.
Dewei took his hand off the prod as the ship turned away from the poachers and toward the source of the signal. He urged the ship to full speed, driving it hard toward the source of Liling’s broadcast. The Nephelai complied as if the two of them were of one mind. It was a good ship, he would be sorry to see it go at auction.
Over and over Liling’s voice repeated, “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” The ship they sailed for was a speck among specks in the asteroid field, but it still had enough reactive hull to boost the repeater, and his ship drove directly for it without any further orders from Dewei.
They arrived at the stripped carcass of a ship that was barely more than a calf. He wondered if this was his Nephelai’s kin. The Nephelai used to travel in clan groups of six to twelve. It was rare now to find a pod of two or three. More and more the ships traveled alone, mother ships leaving their calves hidden among the asteroids as a last, desperate survival tactic.
Through the portholes, he could see the Golden Swallow’s harpoon still lodged in one of the calf’s ribs. The end of the harpoon’s severed line floated out to brush the hull of his ship as it pulled alongside. Hands shaking, Dewei suited up. Liling’s message still broadcast on its continuous loop. “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot.” It had to mean she was alive. He proceeded through his checklist, preparing to leave the ship. “Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker.” The hours of repetition rendered the words meaningless; Dewei listened only to the melodious sound of her voice.
His ship’s airlock expelled him with a puff of air into the brief alley between the ships. He grabbed the line attached to the harpoon and tied the two ships together before pulling himself hand-over-hand along the line to the smaller ship. He turned on his headlamp and glided through the space between two curving ribs. The entire hull had been stripped away, the leathery flesh excised, and all the air bladders removed. Only a few chunks of chitin clung to the outside of the ship’s spine. He began to pull himself through the ruined ship.
There was still hope. Her message still played, piped from his ship’s comm console into the tinny speaker in his helmet. Liling was here somewhere. Perhaps still hiding. Crouching in one of the ship’s storage vesicles, holding her portable comm box, she waited for him.
The ship rocked gently, his own ship restlessly tugging against the tether. He pulled himself through the remains of the ship from aft to fore, searching methodically.
He found her on the bridge, arms outstretched, one foot wedged in a remaining fold of ship’s flesh. Her dingy white suit glowed in the starlight that shone through the gaps in the hull – except for the black scorch marks that rimmed the gaping tear across her torso where the poachers had shot her. The place where he suit was torn open seemed to absorb all light. Her body rocked with the gentle movement of the ship. Dewei couldn’t move at all, he couldn’t control his breathing, which came in hot gasps. He just floated there with Liling a few feet beyond his grasp.
Her voice called to him still, “Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker.” He swallowed and swallowed again. Blinked the tears from his eyes until they floated free inside his helmet, then he pushed off and gathered her in an awkward, bulky embrace. He heard a moan and realized it was his own voice.
He couldn’t see her face through the cracks that webbed her faceplate, so he unlatched her helmet and removed it. A rime of frost covered her skin making it look as if she had been dusted precious with gems. Clumsily, with his gloved hand, he brushed her glossy black hair away from her face. Her expression was neutral, uncaring. Her frozen eyes stared out past him and the wrecked hull, past the stars beyond, past everything. He clutched her stiff, unbending body and wept.
The ship rocked more violently knocking them both against the floor. He looked back through the ribs at his ship as his Nephelai strained against the tether. Liling’s voice disappeared, leaving Dewei with only the roar of his ragged breath inside his helmet. He looked around for her comm box. He hadn’t found it in his search of the ship, yet it had been transmitting until only a moment ago.
The ship rocked again, violently, then jerked back as the tether snapped. He gripped Liling by the shoulder of her suit and kicked off toward his ship, but it was already too late. He’d made a rookie mistake. He knew better than to leave a ship before it was properly broken. He watched as his ship pitched and drifted away, its rump already glowing as the engines prepared to fire.
He understood now. Liling had boarded this ship, but had never sent a message. Sometimes she would wait, dark and silent, if she suspected poachers were around. Her portable comm box was probably still on the Golden Swallow.
Whenever she did send a message from a new captured ship, the wording was always the same, “Golden Swallow has found a new honey pot. Golden Swallow awaits Ship Breaker, Out.” The message he’d been listening to all these days never originated from Liling’s comm box, but from his own ship.
When Dewei had muted the ship’s natural voice he had silenced the songs by which it called to its kind, so this Nephelai had found a way to sing with the only voice available to it, its own recorded memory of the message Liling had sent to Dewei after she’d captured it all those months ago. The Nephelai’s songs were a form of echolocation, a way for them to find each other. It was bad luck that the poachers had also heard the echo of Liling’s call.
The Nephelai fired its engines. Dewei watched it recede until it disappeared among the drifting asteroids. He had about fifteen hours of air in his suit. Fifteen hours left with his silent Liling. But for as long as his unbroken Nephelai roamed the asteroid fields, Liling’s voice would live on in its song.
END
当远程通讯器中传出莉玲发来的消息时,德威已经一个人驾驶野生的云神飞船在太空中航行了几个星期。
她断断续续的话语在静电干扰下像是远处传来的回声,听得他心跳加速。德威听不出她在说什么,但他听得出这是莉玲的声音。仅仅听到她的声音就让他感到温暖,仿佛她就在身边,两个人的身体在被单下交缠,她在黑暗中对他轻声耳语。
他把手放在通讯器的控制台上,向皮革质感的船身传递热量,飞船随之调大了音量。抑扬顿挫的话语声充满了新建成的舰桥,在他还没来的及安装的设备中回荡。他听不清她的话,根据消息的节奏他觉得这是她经常用的一个标准联络语。
趁着飞船把注意力集中在这个联络信号上,他又返回到主控台。这个主控台几天前才刚刚移植到船身上。一般情况下,他不会操纵一艘刚刚经过改装的飞船,但莉玲也不会为了一点鸡毛蒜皮的事就冒风险重复广播联络语,她一定有了新收获。她应该捕获并登上了一艘新的飞船,然后用便携式通讯匣子循环发送这段消息作为定位信号,指引他回到她身边。他一触摸到操纵杆,飞船就遵从他的指令转身朝着微弱的信号加速前进。看到这艘不驯服的飞船第一次真正的和自己合作,德威笑了。
德威和莉玲已经合作了好几年,但在绝大多数时间里他们都是独自工作。她驾驶着小小的无机鱼叉飞船金燕号在广袤的小行星带内穿梭,追捕最后的云神——这是一个古老的种族,一种能够进行太空航行的有机体。
莉玲负责捕捉野生的云神飞船;德威则是一名“破船工”,将猎物进行改装然后送去拍卖。他在每艘飞船上都要生活几个月,像外科医生一样为飞船植入各种接口设备,并在飞船的神经网络里插入软件。由于飞船是野生生物,要让它屈服,训练好,让它能够服从人类船员的指挥。
他听着她混杂着静电干扰的声音,惊叹她能在这么短的时间内又发现一艘飞船。要说有哪个人能做到这一点,一定非莉玲莫属。她是他认识的最好的云神猎人。她有很好的直觉,知道该在那里寻找,能冷酷无情的追踪,还总是那么乐观,认为总会再捕获到一艘飞船。尽管事实上整个云神种族在迅速的消失。
一年前的德威根本想不到云神的数量会下降的这么快。不幸的是,飞船不论死活都价值不菲。随着飞船的数量不断减少,价格也越来越高。哪怕是一小块外壳或是一段触须的价格都足以吸引盗猎者来到这个曾经漫游着大量云神的小行星带。
一伙盗猎者只需24小时就可以把一艘飞船拆卸成一堆零件。云神的几丁质外壳中含有的物质使它们能隔着遥远的距离进行联络交流。即便是一小片这样的外壳也具有同样的功能,对于任何飞船来说这样的一小片外壳都是宝贝。它们体内坚韧的气囊可以装备到各种设备中,用来提供可供呼吸的气体。制服并训练一头云神需要时间、耐心和多年积累下来的经验。拆解一头就简单得多。拆解开的部件可以分别卖给飞船制造商,后者则用这些云神生物零件增强他们人造飞船的功能。小行星带内遍布野蛮的强盗,而成熟的野生云神几近灭绝。他和莉玲早该在几年前就放弃这种谋生手段。
他们只要能再弄到两艘飞船拿去拍卖,就能发一笔小财——足够他们不用为生计发愁,从此退休。至少他打算这么和莉玲说。他们肯定会为此争吵。她会把这笔横财看作是野生云神数量反弹的标志,要求继续狩猎。她觉得这是他们欠云神的。不像那些混蛋盗猎者,她和德威让飞船完好无缺的活着。他们在同一艘船上的时候总是很粗鲁的对待对方,吵嘴,用胳膊肘相互推搡。但他们都爱着对方,他很肯定这一点。他们只是很难当面承认。
他们要花几个小时才能到她那里,也许要花几天时间。德威不想离开舰桥,他懒懒的靠着弯曲温暖的墙壁用一副旧纸牌打发时间,偶尔打个盹。莉玲的消息反复地播放着,在静电干扰种偶尔会蹦出几个字:“蜜……金……发现……”
当他被寂静惊醒,也不知道自己睡了多长时间。他摇摇晃晃地走到通讯控制台,查看莉玲的信号为什么中断。结果却让他心里一沉。墙上有一排长得像眼睛一样的透明器官充当舷窗。他透过舷窗向外看,一个表面坑坑挖挖的小行星阻挡了他的视线。飞船在它旁边漂浮,躲藏。接着通讯器里传来其他的声音,粗野的大嗓门。他听出是某种方言但是不知道具体的意思。盗猎者。
幸运的是,就像对待每一艘他训练过的飞船一样,他早就让这头云神处于静音状态。大多数飞船在保留原有发声系统的情况下都很难管束,它们的呼唤声还会引来盗猎者。但他还是很不愿意割断这艘飞船的声音通道。幸存的云神越来越少,他很怀念它们相互唱和的奇怪歌声,那是一种在人耳畔萦绕不去的音乐。通过它们经过改装后的通讯系统,这种乐声会伴随人类的声音产生回音。
德威沿着飞船的脊柱跑到船尾的舷窗,及时看到一队破破烂烂的飞船悄悄驶过。是一伙用赃物和黑市货改装过的老旧的无机飞船。这一小队飞船的后面拖着一堆云神的外壳和瘪了的气囊。除此之外还有别的东西——他像被人掐住脖子一样从嗓子里挤出一声叫喊——金燕号飞船正和和战利品一起上下起伏
莉玲的船漆黑一片而且还被拖着前进,他推测这伙盗猎者没能侵入她的飞船。莉玲在登上猎物之前应该关闭了金燕号。她是被带到了盗猎者的船上,还是藏在他们猎杀的这头云神的遗骸里?
他跑回舰桥,把手指插进通讯控制台,指示天线从这群强盗转到莉玲原始信号的发射方向。广播要冒风险。盗猎者有可能会收到他的信号,转头对付他和他完好无损的飞船。但他一定要弄清真相。如果她没有回应就很可能已经被盗猎者抓住了。要是这样他就会远远地跟着他们。要是她还在他们盗猎的那艘船的遗骸里,他就必须在她用光氧气之前找到她。
“分解号呼叫金燕号。请回应。”他听着一片寂静的静电干扰。“分解号呼叫金燕号,汇报你的位置。请回复?”
没有回答。
他来到控制台前,抓住操纵杆。飞船顺从的从小行星后升起,但当他指示飞船向返航的盗猎者方向右转舵时,飞船很不情愿的颤动起来。他一只手握住操纵杆,另一只手从腰带上解下电棍。按下拇指,棍子伸出的金属末端直插进地面。随着金属杆不断地深入,飞船剧烈的震动着,直到杆头触到了飞船神经网络的痛感中心。需要用点手段才能让这艘半野生的飞船向显而易见的危险飞去。他的手指悬在电棍开关的上方等着它就位。
这时舰桥上又响起了莉玲的声音。“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”他很熟悉这句不断重复的消息的节奏,而现在听起来每个字都像是回荡在清新空气中的晨钟声。“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”她就在附近!他看着通讯器;这段广播来自初始播放源。她一定是在盗猎者登船后带着便携式通讯匣子藏了起来。现在盗猎者撤走了,她又开始重复播放。
德威松开电棍,飞船随即掉头离开盗猎者朝着信号源飞去。他催促飞船全速前进,全力驾驶飞船朝莉玲广播的源头飞去。云神顺从的就像他们两个异体同心一样。这是艘好船,拍卖的时候他会为它感到难过的。
莉玲的声音一遍又一遍的重复着:“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”他们驶向的那艘飞船只是小行星带内的一粒微尘,但它仍然拥有足以用来发送这条消息的船壳,而他的飞船不需要德威的进一步指令就径直朝它飞去。
他们抵达一搜被劫掠过的飞船残骸,看体型不比云神的幼兽大多少。他很想知道这艘船是不是他的云神的亲戚。云神习惯以家族为群体活动,数量在六到十二头之间。而现在看到两三头一同游动的云神都很难。飞船们越来越多的独自飞行,母飞船撇下它们的幼兽隐匿在小行星之间。这是最后的绝望的生存手段。
他透过舷窗看到金燕号的鱼叉还插在幼兽的肋骨上。系在鱼叉末端被割断的绳索在真空中漂浮,拂过来到它身边的云神飞船的外壳。德威颤抖着双手穿上太空服。莉玲的消息还在反复的播放。“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。”这一定意味着她还活着。他一步一步的按照规程行动,准备离开飞船。“金燕号等待分解号。”经过几个小时的重复,语言对他已经失去了原本的意义;德威听见的只是她声音的旋律。
减压舱门产生的气流把他推进连接着两艘船的短廊。他拽住鱼叉上的绳索,把两艘船系在一起,然后攀着绳子来到对面的小船上。他打开头灯,沿着弯曲肋骨间的缝隙滑进小船。整个船壳都被剥下,皮革质感的肉都被割走,所有的气囊都被摘除,只剩下脊柱外侧还粘着几小块几丁质外壳。他攀住墙壁在被拆毁的船体中移动。
还有希望。她的消息还在播放,通过飞船上的通讯控制台转发到他头盔内部小小的扬声器上。莉玲就在这里的某个地方。也许还在躲藏,拿着便携式通讯匣子蜷缩在飞船的某个存储液囊里,等他到来。
船体轻轻的晃动,他的那艘飞船不断地想要挣脱束缚它的缰绳。他从船尾到船头有条不紊的搜索每个角落。
他在舰桥上找到了她——双臂伸展,一只脚別在飞船残存的肉中。肮脏的白色太空服反射着穿过船体裂缝的星光——反衬出胸口上一圈黑色的烧灼痕迹。灼痕环绕着盗猎者枪击造成的伤洞。太空服上被击穿的地方仿佛吸走了所有的光线。她的身体随着船身轻轻的晃动。德威一动不动,不由自主地呼出一口热气。他听任自己的身体从几英尺外漂浮到莉玲身边。
她的声音仍在呼唤他:“金燕号等待分解号。”他一遍又一遍的干咽着,不断眨眼清除泪水,泪珠在他的头盔里飞舞。随后他冲向她,笨拙地抱住她。他听到一声呻吟,然后意识到这是他自己的声音。
她头盔上的面罩碎成了一片蛛网让他看不清她的脸。他解开她的头盔,把它摘下来。她的脸上覆盖着一层白霜,看上去像被撒了一层名贵的宝石。他用带着手套的手笨拙的拨开她脸上油腻腻的黑发。她的表情平和冷淡。她凝滞的目光越过他,越过残破的船体,越过外面的群星,越过一切,望向虚无。他抱住她僵硬直挺的身体,哭泣。
飞船摇晃的更加剧烈,他们两个摔倒在地上。他回头透过肋骨间的缝隙看着他的飞船,那头云神用力挣脱着缰绳。莉玲的声音消失了,头盔里只剩下德威自己刺耳的喘息声。他开始寻找她的通讯匣子。之前搜索飞船的时候没找到,不过就在刚才它还一直在发射信号。
飞船再一次剧烈的晃动起来,紧接着猛地一震,连接两艘船的绳索被挣断了。他抓住莉玲太空服的肩部,用力一蹬朝自己的飞船飘过去。已经太迟了。他犯了一个菜鸟级的错误。在被彻底驯服之前不应该离开飞船。他看着自己的飞船向前一冲扬长而去,飞船尾部发光显示已经准备好发动引擎……
他现在明白了。莉玲登上了这艘船,但从没发送过任何消息。在她怀疑周围有盗猎者的时候,她会在黑暗和寂静中等待。她的便携式通讯匣子可能还在金燕号上。
她每次从新捕获的飞船上发来的都是同一条消息:“金燕号发现了新蜜罐。金燕号等待分解号。完毕。”他这几天一直听到的消息并不是来自莉玲的通讯匣子,而是来自他自己的飞船。
德威关掉了飞船的自然发声系统,让飞船唱不出呼唤同类的歌曲。于是这条云神找到了一种方法唱出它唯一拥有的声音——几个月前,莉玲捕获它后发给德威的这条消息就存在它的记忆里。云神的歌声具有回声定位的能力,它们靠着这种能力找到彼此。不幸的是盗猎者也听到了莉玲这条消息的回声。
云神发动引擎。德威看着它飞得越来越远直到消失在漂浮的小行星之间。他还剩下大概十五个小时的氧气。还有十五个小时的时间陪伴着安静的莉玲。然而只要那头未被驯服的云神还在小行星带中遨游,莉玲的声音就会一直活在它的歌声中。
「完」
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