DAY 6 10:58 P.M.
Gunning the bike, I took off with Mae, running along the edge of the ridge1 until it sloped down toward the streambed floor. Bobby stayed where he was, watching Rosie’s body. In a few minutes I had crossed the streambed to the other bank, and was moving back toward his light on the hill.
Mae said, “Let’s slow down, Jack2.”
So I slowed down, leaning forward over my handlebars, trying to see the ground far ahead. Suddenly the radiation counter began to chatter3 again.
“Good sign,” I said.
We moved ahead. Now we were directly across from Bobby on the ridge above. His headlamp cast a faint light on the ground all around us, sort of like moonlight. I waved for him to come down. He turned his vehicle and headed west. Without his light, the ground was suddenly darker, more mysterious.
And then we saw Rosie Castro.
Rosie lay on her back, her head tilted4 so she appeared to be looking backward, directly at me, her eyes wide, her arm outstretched toward me, her pale hand open. There was an expression of pleading—or terror—on her face. Rigor5 mortis had set in, and her body jerked stiffly as it moved over low shrubs6 and desert cactus7.
She was being dragged away—but no animal was dragging her.
“I think you should turn your light off,” Mae said.
“But I don’t see what’s doing it ... there’s like a shadow underneath8 her ...”
“That’s not a shadow,” Mae said. “It’s them.”
“They’re dragging her?”
She nodded. “Turn your light off.”
I flicked9 off the headlamp. We stood in darkness. I said, “I thought swarms11 couldn’t maintain power more than three hours.”
“That’s what Ricky said.”
“He’s lying again?”
“Or they’ve overcome that limitation in the wild.”
The implications were unsettling. If the swarms could now sustain power through the night, then they might be active when we reached their hiding place. I was counting on finding them collapsed12, the particles spread on the ground. I intended to kill them in their sleep, so to speak. Now it seemed they weren’t sleeping.
We stood there in the cool dark air, thinking things over. Finally Mae said, “Aren’t these swarms modeled on insect behavior?”
“Not really,” I said. “The programming model was predator-prey. But because the swarm10 is a population of interacting particles, to some degree it will behave like any population of interacting particles, such as insects. Why?”
“Insects can execute plans that take longer than the lifespan of a single generation. They can build nests that require many generations. Isn’t that true?”
“I think so ...”
“So maybe one swarm carried the body for a while, and then another took over. Maybe there have been three or four swarms so far. That way none of them has to go three hours at night.” I didn’t like the implications of that idea any better. “That would mean the swarms are working together,” I said. “It would mean they’re coordinated13.”
“They clearly are, by now.”
“Except that’s not possible,” I said to her. “Because they don’t have the signaling capability14.”
“It wasn’t possible a few generations ago,” Mae said. “Now it is. Remember the V formation that came toward you? They were coordinated.”
That was true. I just hadn’t realized it at the time. Standing15 there in the desert night, I wondered what else I hadn’t realized. I squinted16 into the darkness, trying to see ahead. “Where are they taking her?” I said.
Mae unzipped my backpack, and pulled out a set of night goggles17. “Try these.” I was about to help her get hers, but she’d deftly18 taken her pack off, opened it, and pulled out her own goggles. Her movements were quick, sure.
I slipped on the headset, adjusted the strap19, and flipped20 the lenses down over my eyes. These were the new Gen 4 goggles that showed images in muted color. Almost immediately, I saw Rosie in the desert. Her body was disappearing behind the scrub as she moved farther and farther away.
“Okay, so where are they taking her?” I said again. Even as I spoke21, I raised the goggles higher, and at once I saw where they were taking her.
From a distance it looked like a natural formation—a mound22 of dark earth about fifteen feet wide and six feet high. Erosion had carved deep, vertical23 clefts24 so that the mound looked a little like a huge gear turned on edge. It would be easy to overlook this formation as natural. But it wasn’t natural. And erosion hadn’t produced its sculpted25 look. On the contrary, I was seeing an artificial construction, similar to the nests made by African termites26 and other social insects.
Wearing the second pair of goggles, Mae looked for a while in silence, then said, “Are you going to tell me that is the product of self-organized behavior? That the behavior to make it just emerged all by itself?”
“Actually, yes,” I said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
“Hard to believe.”
“I know.”
Mae was a good biologist, but she was a primate28 biologist. She was accustomed to studying small populations of highly intelligent animals that had dominance hierarchies30 and group leaders. She understood complex behavior to be the result of complex intelligence. And she had trouble grasping the sheer power of self-organized behavior within a very large population of dumb animals.
In any case, this was a deep human prejudice. Human beings expected to find a central command in any organization. States had governments. Corporations had CEOs. Schools had principals. Armies had generals. Human beings tended to believe that without central command, chaos31 would overwhelm the organization and nothing significant could be accomplished32. From this standpoint, it was difficult to believe that extremely stupid creatures with brains smaller than pinheads were capable of construction projects more complicated than any human project. But in fact, they were.
African termites were a classic example. These insects made earthen castlelike mounds33 a hundred feet in diameter and thrusting spires34 twenty feet into the air. To appreciate their accomplishment35, you had to imagine that if termites were the size of people, these mounds would be skyscrapers36 one mile high and five miles in diameter. And like a skyscraper37, the termite27 mound had an intricate internal architecture to provide fresh air, remove excess CO2 and heat, and so on. Inside the structure were gardens to grow food, residences for royalty38, and living space for as many as two million termites. No two mounds were exactly the same; each was individually constructed to suit the requirements and advantages of a particular site. All this was accomplished with no architect, no foreman, no central authority. Nor was a blueprint39 for construction encoded in the termite genes40. Instead these huge creations were the result of relatively41 simple rules that the individual termites followed in relation to one another. (Rules like, “If you smell that another termite has been here, put a dirt pellet on this spot.”) Yet the outcome was arguably more complex than any human creation. Now we were seeing a new construction made by a new creature, and it was again difficult to conceive how it might have been made. How could a swarm make a mound, anyway? But I was beginning to realize that out here in the desert, asking how something happened was a fool’s errand. The swarms were changing fast, almost minute to minute. The natural human impulse to figure it out was a waste of time. By the time you figured it out, things would have changed.
Bobby rumbled42 up in his ATV, and cut his light. We all stood there under the stars. Bobby said, “What do we do now?”
“Follow Rosie,” I said.
“Looks like Rosie is going into that mound,” he said. “You mean we follow her there?”
“Yes,” I said.
At Mae’s suggestion, we walked the rest of the way. Lugging43 our backpacks, it took us the better part of ten minutes to reach the vicinity of the mound. We paused about fifty feet away. There was a nauseating44 smell in the air, a putrid45 odor of rotting and decay. It was so strong it made my stomach turn. Then too, a faint green glow seemed to be emanating46 from inside the mound.
Bobby whispered, “You really want to go in there?”
“Not yet,” Mae whispered. She pointed47 off to one side. Rosie’s body was moving up the slope of the mound. As she came to the rim29, her rigid48 legs pointed into the air for a moment. Then her body toppled over, and she fell into the interior. But she stopped before she disappeared entirely49; for several seconds, her head remained above the rim, her arm outstretched, as if she were reaching for air. Then, slowly, she slid the rest of the way down, and vanished. Bobby shivered.
Mae whispered, “Okay. Let’s go.”
She started forward in her usual noiseless way. Following her, I tried to be as quiet as I could. Bobby crunched50 and crackled his way along the ground. Mae paused, and gave him a hard look.
Bobby held up his hands as if to say, what can I do?
She whispered, “Watch where you put your feet.”
He whispered, “I am.”
“You’re not.”
“It’s dark, I can’t see.”
“You can if you try.”
I couldn’t recall ever seeing Mae show irritation51 before, but we were all under pressure now. And the stench was terrible. Mae turned and once again moved forward silently. Bobby followed, making just as much noise as before. We had only gone a few steps before Mae turned, held up her hand, and signaled for him to stay where he was. He shook his head, no. He clearly didn’t want to be left alone.
She gripped his shoulder, pointed firmly to the ground, and whispered, “You stay here.”
“No ...”
She whispered, “You’ll get us all killed.”
He whispered, “I promise.”
She shook her head, pointed to the ground. Sit.
Finally, Bobby sat down.
Mae looked at me. I nodded. We set out again. By now we were twenty feet from the mound itself. The smell was almost overpowering. My stomach churned; I was afraid I might be sick. And this close, we began to hear the deep thrumming sound. More than anything it was that sound that made me want to run away. But Mae kept going.
We crouched52 down as we climbed the mound, and then lay flat along the rim. I could see Mae’s face in the green glow coming from inside. For some reason the stench didn’t bother me anymore. Probably because I was too frightened.
Mae reached into the side pouch54 of her pack, and withdrew a small thumb-sized camera on a thin telescoping stick. She brought out a tiny LCD screen and set it on the ground between us. Then she slid the stick over the rim.
On the screen, we saw a green interior of smooth undulating walls. Nothing seemed to be moving. She turned the camera this way and that. All we saw were green walls. There was no sign of Rosie.
Mae looked at me, pointed to her eyes. Want to take a look now?
I nodded.
We inched forward slowly, until we could look over the rim.
It wasn’t what I expected at all.
The mound simply narrowed an existing opening that was huge—twenty feet wide or more, revealing a rock slide that sloped downward from the rim and ended at a gaping55 hole in the rock to our right. The green light was coming from somewhere inside this gaping hole. What I was seeing was the entrance to a very large cave. From our position on the rim, we couldn’t see into the cave itself, but the thrumming sound suggested activity within. Mae opened the telescoping stick to its full length, and gently lowered the camera into the hole. Soon we could see farther into the cave. It was undoubtedly56 natural, and large: perhaps eight feet high, ten feet wide. The rock walls were pale white, and appeared to be covered with the milky57 substance we’d seen on Rosie.
And Rosie’s body was only a short distance inside. We could see her hand sticking out around a bend in the rock wall. But we could see nothing beyond the bend. Mae signaled me: want to go down?
I nodded slowly. I didn’t like how this felt, I didn’t like that I had no idea what was beyond the bend. But we really had no choice.
She pointed back toward Bobby. Get him?
I shook my head, no. He wouldn’t help us here.
She nodded, and started very slowly to slide out of her backpack, making no sound at all, when she suddenly froze. Literally58 froze: she didn’t move a muscle. I looked at the screen. And I froze, too.
A figure had walked from behind the bend, and now stood alertly at the entrance of the cave, looking around.
It was Ricky.
* * *
He was behaving as if he had heard a sound, or had been alerted for some other reason. The video camera still dangled59 down the rim of the mound. It was pretty small; I didn’t know if he would see it.
I watched the screen tensely.
The camera didn’t have good resolution and the screen was the size of my palm, but it was still clear that the figure was Ricky. I didn’t understand what he was doing here—or even how he had gotten here. Then another man came around the bend.
He was also Ricky.
I glanced at Mae, but she remained utterly60 still, a statue. Only her eyes moved. I squinted at the screen. Within the limits of video resolution, the two figures appeared to be identical in every respect. Same clothes, same movements, same gestures and shrugs61. I couldn’t see the faces well, but I had the impression they were more detailed62 than before. They didn’t seem to notice the camera.
They looked up at the sky, and then at the rock slide for a while, and then they turned their backs on us, and returned to the interior of the cave.
Still Mae did not move. She had been motionless for almost a minute already and in that time she hadn’t even blinked. Now the men were gone, and—
Another figure came around the corner. It was David Brooks63. He moved awkwardly, stiffly at first, but he quickly became more fluid. I had the feeling I was watching a puppeteer64 perfect his moves, animating65 the figure in a more lifelike way. Then David became Ricky. And then David again. And the David figure turned and went away.
Still Mae waited. She waited fully66 two more minutes, and then finally withdrew the camera. She jerked her thumb, indicating we should go back. Together, we crept away from the rim, back down the mound, and moved away silently into the desert night. We gathered a hundred yards to the west, near our vehicles. Mae was rummaging67 in her backpack; she pulled out a clipboard with a felt marker. She flicked on her penlight and began to draw.
“This is what you’re up against,” she said. “The cave has an opening like this, which you saw. Past the bend, there’s a big hole in the floor, and the cave spirals downward for maybe a hundred yards. That brings you into one large chamber68 that is maybe a hundred feet high, and a couple of hundred feet wide. Single big room, that’s all. There are no passages leading off, at least none that I saw.”
“That you saw?”
“I’ve been in there,” she said, nodding.
“When?”
“A couple of weeks ago. Back when we first started looking for the swarm’s hiding place. I found that cave and went in there in day-light. I didn’t find any indication of a swarm then.” She explained that the cave was filled with bats, the whole ceiling covered with them, packed together in a pink squirming mass, all the way out to the entrance. “Ugh,” Bobby said. “I hate bats.”
“I didn’t see any bats there tonight.”
“You think they’ve been driven away?”
“Eaten, probably.”
“Jesus, guys,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “I’m just a programmer. I don’t think I can do this. I don’t think I can go in there.”
Mae ignored him. She said to me, “If we go in,” she said, “we’ll have to set off thermite, and keep doing it all the way down to the chamber. I’m not sure we have enough thermite to do that.”
“Maybe not,” I said. I had a different concern. “We’re wasting our time unless we destroy all the swarms, and all the assemblers that are making them. Right?” They both nodded.
“I’m not sure that’ll be possible,” I said. “I thought the swarms would be powered down at night. I thought we could destroy them on the ground. But they’re not powered down—at least not all of them. And if just one of them gets past us, if it escapes from the cave ...” I shrugged70. “Then this has all been a waste of time.”
“Right,” Bobby said, nodding. “That’s right. It’d be a waste of time.”
Mae said, “We need some way to trap them in the cave.”
“There isn’t any way,” Bobby said. “I mean, they can just fly out, whenever they want.” Mae said, “There might be a way.” She started rummaging in her backpack again, looking for something. “Meanwhile, the three of us better spread out.”
“Why?” Bobby said, alarmed.
“Just do it,” Mae said. “Now get moving.”
I tightened71 my backpack, and adjusted the straps72 so it wouldn’t rattle73. I locked the night-vision goggles up on my forehead, and I started forward. I had gotten about halfway74 to the mound when I saw a dark figure climb out into the night.
I dropped down as quietly as I could. I was in a thick patch of sagebrush three feet high, so I was reasonably well concealed75. I looked over my shoulder, but I didn’t see either Mae or Bobby; they’d dropped to the ground, too. I didn’t know if they’d separated yet. Cautiously, I pushed aside a plant in front of me, and looked toward the mound. The legs of the figure were silhouetted76 against the faint green glow. The upper body was black against the night stars. I flipped down the goggles, and waited a moment while they flared78 blue, and then saw the image resolve.
This time it was Rosie. Walking around in the night, looking in all directions, her body vigilant79 and alert. Except that she didn’t move like Rosie, she moved more like a man. Then after a moment, the silhouette77 changed into Ricky. And it moved like Ricky. The figure crouched down, and appeared to be looking over the tops of the sage69. I wondered what had brought it out of the mound. I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Behind the figure, a white light appeared on the western horizon. It grew rapidly in brilliance80, and soon I heard the thumping81 of helicopter blades. That would be Julia coming from the Valley, I thought. I wondered what was so urgent that she had had to leave the hospital against orders, and fly out here in the middle of the night.
As the helicopter approached, it switched on its searchlight. I watched the circle of blue-white light as it rippled82 over the ground toward us. The Ricky figure watched, too, then slid down out of sight.
And then the helicopter roared over me, blinding me for a moment in the halogen light. Almost immediately it banked sharply, and circled back.
What the hell was going on?
The helicopter made a slow arc, passing over the mound but not stopping, then coming to a stop right above where I was hiding. I was caught in the blue glow. I rolled onto my back and waved to the helicopter, pointing repeatedly toward the lab. I mouthed “Go!” and pointed away.
The helicopter descended83, and for a moment I thought it was going to land right beside me. Then it abruptly84 banked again, and moved away low to the ground, heading south toward the concrete pad. The sound faded.
I decided85 I had better change my position fast. I got to my knees and in a crouch53, moved crabwise thirty yards to the left. Then I dropped down again. When I looked back at the mound, I saw three—no, four figures coming out of the interior. They moved apart, each heading to a different area of the mound. They all looked like Ricky. I watched as they went down the slope of the mound, and moved out into the bush. My heart began to pound in my chest. One of the figures was coming in my direction. As it approached, I saw it veer86 off to the right. It was going to the place where I had been before. When it reached my last hiding place, it stopped, and turned in all directions. It was not far from me at all. I could see through the goggles that this new Ricky figure now had a complete face, and the clothing was much more detailed. In addition, this figure moved with the sensation of real body weight. It might be an illusion, of course, but I guessed that the swarm had increased mass, and now weighed fifty pounds, maybe more. Maybe twice that. If so, then the swarm now had enough mass to jolt87 you with a physical impact. Even knock you off your feet.
Through the goggles I saw the figure’s eyes move, and blink. The surface of the face now had the texture88 of skin. The hair appeared to be composed of individual strands89. The lips moved, the tongue licked nervously90. All in all this face looked very much like Ricky—disturbingly like Ricky. When the head turned in my direction, I felt that Ricky was staring right at me. And I suppose it was, because the figure began to move directly toward me. I was trapped. My heart was thumping in my chest. I hadn’t planned for this; I had no protection, no sort of defense91. I could get up and run, of course, but there was nowhere to go. I was surrounded by miles of desert, and the swarms would hunt me down. In a few moments I would be—
With a roar, the helicopter came back. The Ricky figure looked toward it as it came, and then turned and fled, literally flying over the ground, not bothering any longer to animate92 the legs and feet. It was creepy to see this human replica93, suddenly floating over the desert. But the other three Ricky figures were running, too. Running hard, conveying a distinct sense of panic. Did the swarms fear the helicopter? It seemed they did. And as I watched, I understood why. Even though the swarms were now heavier and more substantial, they were still vulnerable to strong winds. The helicopter was a hundred feet in the air but the downdraft was powerful enough to deform94 the running figures, flattening95 them partially96 as they fled. It was as if they were being hammered down.
The figures vanished into the mound.
I looked back at Mae. She was standing up in the streambed now, talking on her radio to the helicopter. She’d needed that radio, all right. She yelled to me, “Let’s go!” and began running toward me. I was dimly aware of Bobby, running away from the mound, back to his ATV. But there was no time to worry about him. The helicopter hung poised97 right above the mound itself. Dust whipped up, stinging my eyes.
Then Mae was beside me. Removing our goggles, we pulled on our oxygen masks. She turned me, twisted the tank valve behind me. I did the same for her. Then we put the night goggles back on. It seemed like a lot of contraptions jiggling and rattling98 around my face. She clipped a halogen flashlight to my belt, and another to her own. She leaned close, shouted: “Ready?”
“I’m ready!”
“Okay, let’s go!”
There was no time to think. It was better that way. The helicopter downdraft roared in my ears. Together we clawed our way up the slope of the mound, our clothes whipping around us. We arrived at the edge, barely visible in the thick swirling99 dust. We couldn’t see anything beyond the rim. We couldn’t see what was below.
Mae took my hand, and we jumped.
收听单词发音 |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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rigor
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| n.严酷，严格，严厉 | |
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shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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coordinated
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| adj.协调的 | |
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capability
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| n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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goggles
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| n.护目镜 | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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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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mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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clefts
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| n.裂缝( cleft的名词复数 )；裂口；cleave的过去式和过去分词；进退维谷 | |
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sculpted
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| adj.经雕塑的 | |
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termites
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| n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 ) | |
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termite
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| n.白蚁 | |
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primate
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| n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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hierarchies
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| 等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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skyscrapers
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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skyscraper
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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blueprint
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| n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划 | |
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40
genes
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| n.基因( gene的名词复数 ) | |
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41
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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42
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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43
lugging
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| 超载运转能力 | |
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nauseating
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| adj.令人恶心的，使人厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的现在分词 ) | |
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putrid
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| adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的 | |
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emanating
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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48
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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49
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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50
crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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52
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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puppeteer
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| n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡 | |
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animating
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| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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silhouetted
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| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
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silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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83
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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86
veer
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| vt.转向，顺时针转，改变；n.转向 | |
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jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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88
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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93
replica
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| n.复制品 | |
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deform
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| vt.损坏…的形状；使变形，使变丑；vi.变形 | |
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flattening
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| n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词 | |
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96
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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97
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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98
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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99
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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