Chapter 1

ONCE UPON A TIME when the world was young there was a Martiannamed Smith.

　　Valentine Michael Smith was as real as taxes but he was a race of one.

　　The first human expedition from Terra to Mars was selected on the theorythat the greatest danger to man in space was man himself. At that time, onlyeight Terran years after the founding of the first human colony on Luna, anyinterplanetary trip made by humans necessarily had to be made in wearyfree-fail orbits, doubly tangent semi-ellipses—from Terra to Mars, twohundred fifty-eight days, the same for the return journey, plus four hundredfifty-five days waiting at Mars while the two planets crawled slowly back intorelative positions which would permit shaping the doubly-tangent orbit-a totalof almost three Earth years.

　　Besides its wearing length, the trip was very chancy. Only by refueling at aspace station, then tacking¹ back almost into Earth’s atmosphere, could thisprimitive flying coffin², the Envoy³, make the trip at all. Once at Mars she mightbe able to return-if she did not crash in landing, if water could be found onMan to fill her reaction-mass tanks, if some sort of food could be found onMars, if a thousand other things did not go wrong.

　　But the physical danger was judged to be less important than thepsychological stresses. Eight humans, crowded together like monkeys foralmost three Terran years, had better get along much better than humansusually did. An all-male crew had been vetoed as unhealthy and sociailyunstable from lessons learned earlier. A ship’s company of four marriedcouples had been decided⁴ on as optimum, if the necessary specialties⁵ couldbe found in such a combination.

　　The University of Edinburgh, prime contractor⁶, sub-contracted crew selectionto the Institute for Social Studies. After discarding the chaff⁷ of volunteersuseless through age, health, mentality⁸, training, or temperament⁹, the Institutestill had over nine thousand candidates to work from, each sound in mind andbody and having at least one of the necessary special skills. It was expectedthat the Institute would report several acceptable four-couple crews.

　　No such crew was found. The major skills needed were astrogator, medicaldoctor, cook, machinist, ship’s commander, semantician, chemical engineer,electronics engineer, physicist¹⁰, geologist¹¹, biochemist, biologist, atomicsengineer, photographer, hydroponicist, rocket engineer. Each crew memberwould have to possess more than one skill, or be able to acquire extra skillsin time. There were hundreds of possible combinations of eight peoplepossessing these skills; there turned up three combinations of four marriedcouples possessing them, plus health and intelligence.-but in all three casesthe group-dynamicists who evaluated the temperament factors forcompatibility threw up their hands in horror.

　　The prime contractor suggested lowering the compatibility figure-ofmerit; theInstitute stiffly offered to return its one dollar fee. In the meantime a computerprogrammer whose name was not recorded had the machines hunt for threecouplerump crews. She found several dozen compatible combinations, eachof which defined by its own characteristics the couple needed to complete it.

　　In the meantime the machines continued to review the data changing throughdeaths, withdrawals¹², new volunteers, etc.

　　Captain Michael Brunt, M.S., Cmdr. D. F. Reserve, pilot (unlimited license),and veteran at thirty of the Moon run, seems to have had an inside track atthe Institute, someone who was willing to look up for him the names of singlefemale volunteers who might (with him) complete a crew, and then pair hisname with these to run trial problems through the machines to determinewhether or not a possible combination would be acceptable. This wouldaccount for his action in jetting to Australia and proposing marriage to DoctorWinifred Coburn, a horse-faced spinster semantician nine years his senior.

　　The Carlsbad Archives pictured her with an expression of quiet good humorbut otherwise lacking in attractiveness.

　　Or Brant may have acted without inside information, solely¹³ through that traitof intuitive audacity¹⁴ necessary to command an exploration. In any case lightsblinked, punched cards popped out, and a crew for the Envoy had beenfound:

　　Captain Michael Brant, commanding-pilot, astrogator, relief cook, reliefphotographer, rocketry engineer;Dr. Winifred Coburn Brant, forty-one, semantician, practical nurse, storesofficer, historian;Mr. Francis X. Seeney, twenty-eight, executive officer, second pilot,astrogator, astrophysicist, photographer;Dr. Olga Kovalic Seeney, twenty-nine, cook, biochemist, hydroponicist;Dr. Ward¹⁵ Smith, forty-five, physician and surgeon, biologist;Dr. Mary Jane Lyle Smith, twenty-six, atomics engineer, electronics andpower technician;Mr. Sergei Rimsky, thirty-five, electronics engineer, chemical engineer,practical machinist & instrumentation man, cryologist;Mrs. Eleanora Alvarez Rimsky, thirty-two, geologist and selenologist,hydroponicist.

　　The crew had a well-rounded group of skills, although in some cases theirsecondary skills had been acquired by intensive coaching during the lastweeks before blast-off. More important, they were mutually compatible intheir temperaments¹⁶.

　　Too compatible, perhaps.

　　The Envoy departed on schedule with no mishaps¹⁷. During the early part ofthe voyage her daily reports were picked up with ease by private listeners. Asshe drew away and signals became fainter, they were picked up andrebroadcast by Earth’s radio satellites. The crew seemed to be both healthyand happy. An epidemic¹⁸ of ringworm was the worst that Dr. Smith had tocope with-the crew adapted to free fall quickly and no antinausea drugs wereused after the first week. If Captain Brant had any disciplinary problems, hedid not choose to report them to Earth.

　　The Envoy achieved a parking orbit just inside the orbit of Phobos and spenttwo weeks in photographic survey. Then Captain Brant radioed: .We willattempt a landing at 1200 tomorrow GST just south of Lacus Soli.“ No furthermessage was ever received.

1 tacking   

（帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉

参考例句：

• He was tacking about on this daily though perilous voyage. 他在进行这种日常的、惊险的航行。
• He spent the afternoon tacking the pictures. 他花了一个下午的时间用图钉固定那些图片。

2 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

3 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

6 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

7 chaff   

v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳

参考例句：

• I didn't mind their chaff.我不在乎他们的玩笑。
• Old birds are not caught with chaff.谷糠难诱老雀。

8 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

9 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

10 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

11 geologist   

n.地质学家

参考例句：

• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley.在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。
• He was a geologist,rated by his cronies as the best in the business.他是一位地质学家，被他的老朋友们看做是这门行当中最好的一位。

12 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

13 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

14 audacity   

n.大胆，卤莽，无礼

参考例句：

• He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。
• He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。

15 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

16 temperaments   

性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁

参考例句：

• The two brothers have exactly opposite temperaments: one likes to be active while the other tends to be quiet and keep to himself. 他们弟兄两个脾气正好相反， 一个爱动，一个好静。
• For some temperaments work is a remedy for all afflictions. 对于某些人来说，工作是医治悲伤的良药。

17 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。