The tiny ships had appeared out of the vacant depths and darted1 into the midst of the Armada. Without a shot or a burst of energy, they weaved through the ship-swollen area, then blasted on and out, while the Imperial wagons2 turned after them like lumbering3 beasts. There were two noiseless flares4 that pinpointed5 space as two of the tiny gnats7 shriveled in atomic disintegration8, and the rest were gone.
The great ships searched, then returned to their original task, and world by world, the great web of the Enclosure continued.
Brodrig's uniform was stately; carefully tailored and as carefully worn. His walk through the gardens of the obscure planet Wanda, now temporary Imperial headquarters, was leisurely9; his expression was somber10.
Bel Riose walked with him, his field uniform open at the collar, and doleful in its monotonous11 gray-black.
Riose indicated the smooth black bench under the fragrant12 tree-fern whose large spatulate leaves lifted flatly against the white sun. "See that, sir. It is a relic13 of the Imperium. The ornamented14 benches, built for lovers, linger on, fresh and useful, while the factories and the palaces collapse15 into unremembered ruin."
He seated himself, while Cleon II's Privy16 Secretary stood erect17 before him and clipped the leaves above neatly18 with precise swings of his ivory staff.
Riose crossed his legs and offered a cigarette to the other. He fingered one himself as he spoke19, "It is what one would expect from the enlightened wisdom of His Imperial Majesty20 to send so competent an observer as yourself. It relieves any anxiety I might have felt that the press of more important and more immediate21 business might perhaps force into the shadows a small campaign on the Periphery22."
"The eyes of the Emperor are everywhere," said Brodrig, mechanically. "We do not underestimate the importance of the campaign; yet still it would seem that too great an emphasis is being placed upon its difficulty. Surely their little ships are no such barrier that we must move through the intricate preliminary maneuver23 of an Enclosure."
Riose flushed, but he maintained his equilibrium24. "I can not risk the lives of my men, who are few enough, or the destruction of my ships which are irreplaceable, by a too-rash attack. The establishment of an Enclosure will quarter my casualties in the ultimate attack, howsoever difficult it be. The military reasons for that I took the liberty to explain yesterday."
"Well, well, I am not a military man. In this case, you assure me that what seems patently and obviously right is, in reality, wrong. We will allow that. Yet your caution shoots far beyond that. In your second communication, you requested reinforcements. And these, against an enemy poor, small, and barbarous, with whom you have had not one' skirmish at the time. To desire more forces under the circumstances would savor25 almost of incapacity or worse, had not your earlier career given sufficient proof of your boldness and imagination."
"I thank you," said the general, coldly, "but I would remind you that there is a difference between boldness and blindness. There is a place for a decisive gamble when you know your enemy and can calculate the risks at least roughly; but to move at all against an unknown enemy is boldness in itself. You might as well ask why the same man sprints26 safely across an obstacle course in the day, and falls over the furniture in his room at night."
Brodrig swept away the other's words with a neat flirt27 of the fingers. "Dramatic, but not satisfactory. You have been to this barbarian28 world yourself. You have in addition this enemy prisoner you coddle, this trader. Between yourself and the prisoner you are not in a night fog."
"No? I pray you to remember that a world which has developed in isolation29 for two centuries can not be interpreted to the point of intelligent attack by a month's visit. I am a soldier, not a cleft-chinned, barrel-chested hero of a subetheric trimensional thriller30. Nor can a single prisoner, and one who is an obscure member of an economic group which has no close connection with the enemy world introduce me to all the inner secrets of enemy strategy."
"You have questioned him?"
"I have."
"Well?"
"It has been useful, but not vitally so. His ship is tiny, of no account. He sells little toys which are amusing if nothing else. I have a few of the cleverest which I intend sending to the Emperor as curiosities. Naturally, there is a good deal about the ship and its workings which I do not understand, but then I am not a tech-man."
"But you have among you those who are," pointed6 out Brodrig.
"I, too, am aware of that," replied the general in faintly caustic31 tones. "But the fools have far to go before they could meet my needs. I have already sent for clever men who can understand the workings of the odd nuclear field-circuits the ship contains. I have received no answer."
"Men of that type can not be spared, general. Surely, there must be one man of your vast province who understands nucleics."
"Were there such a one, I would have him heal the limping, invalid32 motors that power two of my small fleet of ships. Two ships of my meager33 ten that can not fight a major battle for lack of sufficient power supply. One fifth of my force condemned34 to the carrion35 activity of consolidating36 positions behind the lines."
The secretary's fingers fluttered impatiently. "Your position is not unique in that respect, general. The Emperor has similar troubles."
The general threw away his shredded37, never-lit cigarette, lit another, and shrugged38. "Well, it is beside the immediate point, this lack of first-class tech-men. Except that I might have made more progress with my prisoner were my Psychic39 Probe in proper order."
The secretary's eyebrows40 lifted. "You have a Probe?"
"An old one. A superannuated41 one which fails me the one time I needed it. I set it up during the prisoner's sleep, and received nothing. So much for the Probe. I have tried it on my own men and the reaction is quite proper, but again there is not one among my staff of tech-men who can tell me why it fails upon the prisoner. Ducem Barr, who is a theoretician of parts, though no mechanic, says the psychic structure of the prisoner may be unaffected by the Probe since from childhood he has been subjected to alien environments and neural42 stimuli43. I don't know. But he may yet be useful. I save him in that hope."
Brodrig leaned on his staff. A shall see if a specialist is available in the capital. In the meanwhile, what of this other man you just mentioned, this Siwennian? You keep too many enemies in your good graces."
"He knows the enemy. He, too, I keep for future reference and the help he may afford me."
"But he is a Siwennian and the son of a proscribed44 rebel."
"He is old and powerless, and his family acts as hostage."
"I see. Yet I think that I should speak to this trader, myself."
"Certainly."
"Alone," the secretary added coldly, making his point.
"Certainly," repeated Riose, blandly45. "As a loyal subject of the Emperor, I accept his personal representative as my superior. However, since the trader is at the permanent base, you will have to leave the front areas at an interesting moment."
"Yes? Interesting in what way?"
"Interesting in that the Enclosure is complete today. Interesting in that within the week, the Twentieth Fleet of the Border advances inward towards the core of resistance." Riose smiled and turned away.
In a vague way, Brodrig felt punctured46.
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收听单词发音
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1
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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2
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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3
lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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4
flares
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| n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开 | |
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5
pinpointed
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| 准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 )； 为…准确定位 | |
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6
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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7
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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8
disintegration
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| n.分散，解体 | |
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9
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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10
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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12
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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13
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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16
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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18
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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19
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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20
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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21
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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22
periphery
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| n.(圆体的)外面；周围 | |
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23
maneuver
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| n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略 | |
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24
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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25
savor
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| vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味 | |
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26
sprints
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| n.短距离的全速奔跑( sprint的名词复数 )v.短距离疾跑( sprint的第三人称单数 ) | |
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27
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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28
barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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29
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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30
thriller
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| n.惊险片，恐怖片 | |
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31
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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32
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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33
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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34
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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35
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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36
consolidating
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| v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并 | |
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37
shredded
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| shred的过去式和过去分词 | |
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38
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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39
psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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40
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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41
superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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42
neural
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| adj.神经的，神经系统的 | |
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43
stimuli
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| n.刺激（物） | |
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44
proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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46
punctured
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| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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