DAY 7 12:12 A.M.
“Jack1.”
Julia rushed toward me as I came down the corridor. In the overhead light her face looked beautiful in a lean, elegant way. She was in truth more beautiful than I remembered. Her ankle was bandaged and she had a cast on her wrist. She threw her arms around me and buried her head in my shoulder. Her hair smelled of lavender. “Oh, Jack, Jack. Thank God you’re all right.”
“Yeah,” I said hoarsely3. “I’m okay.”
“I’m so glad ... so glad.”
I just stood there, feeling her hug me. Then I hugged her back. I didn’t know how to react. She was so energized4, but I was exhausted5, flat.
“Are you all right, Jack?” she said, still hugging me.
“Yeah, Julia.” I said, just above a whisper. “I am.”
“What’s wrong with your voice?” she said, pulling back to look at me. She scanned my face. “What’s wrong?”
“He probably burned his vocal6 cords,” Mae said. She was hoarse2, too. Her face was blackened with soot7. She had a cut on her cheek, and another on her forehead. Julia embraced me again, her fingers touched my shirt. “Darling, you’re hurt ...”
“Just my shirt.”
“Jack, are you sure you’re not hurt? I think you’re hurt ...”
“No, I’m okay.” I stepped away from her awkwardly.
“I can’t tell you,” she said, “how grateful I am for what you did tonight, Jack. What all of you did,” she added, turning to the others. “You, Mae, and Bobby too. I’m only sorry I wasn’t here to help. I know this is all my fault. But we’re very grateful. The company is grateful.” I thought, The company? But all I said was, “Yeah, well, it had to be done.”
“It did, yes, it certainly did. Quickly and decisively. And you did it, Jack. Thank God.” Ricky was standing8 in the background, head bobbing up and down. He was like one of those mechanical birds that drinks from a water glass. Bobbing up and down. I felt unreal, as if I was in a play.
“I think we should all have a drink to celebrate,” Julia was saying, as we went down the corridor. “There must be some champagne9 around here. Ricky? Is there? Yes? I want to celebrate what you guys have done.”
“I just want to sleep,” I said.
“Oh, come on, just one glass.”
It was typical Julia, I thought. Involved in her own world, not noticing how anyone around her was feeling. The last thing any of us wanted to do right now was drink champagne. “Thanks anyway,” Mae said, shaking her head.
“Are you sure? Really? It’d be fun. How about you, Bobby?”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Bobby said.
“Oh well, okay, after all, you’re the conquering heroes! We’ll do it tomorrow, then.” I noticed how fast she was talking, how quick her body movements were. I remembered Ellen’s comment about her taking drugs. It certainly seemed like she was on something. But I was so tired I just didn’t give a damn.
“I’ve told the news to Larry Handler, the head of the company,” she said, “and he’s very grateful to you all.”
“That’s nice,” I said. “Is he going to notify the Army?”
“Notify the Army? About what?”
“About the runaway10 experiment.”
“Well, Jack, that’s all taken care of now. You’ve taken care of it.”
“I’m not sure we have,” I said. “Some of the swarms11 might have escaped. Or there might be another nest out there. To be safe, I think we should call in the Army.” I didn’t really think we had missed anything, but I wanted to get outsiders in here. I was tired. I wanted somebody else to take over.
“The Army?” Julia’s eyes flicked13 to Ricky, then back to me. “Jack, you’re absolutely right,” she said firmly. “This is an extremely serious situation. If there is the slightest chance something was missed, we must notify them at once.”
“I mean tonight.”
“Yes, I agree, Jack. Tonight. In fact, I’ll do it right now.” I glanced back at Ricky. He was walking along, still nodding in that mechanical way. I didn’t get it. What about Ricky’s earlier panic? His fear that the experiment would be made public? Now it seemed he didn’t care.
Julia said, “You three can get some sleep, and I’ll call my contacts at the Pentagon.”
“I’ll go with you,” I said.
“It’s really not necessary.”
“I want to,” I said.
She glanced at me and smiled. “You don’t trust me?”
“It’s not that,” I said. “But they might have questions I could answer for them.”
“Okay, fine. Good idea. Excellent idea.”
I felt sure that something was wrong. I felt as if I were in a play, and everyone was acting14 a part. Except I didn’t know what the play was. I glanced over at Mae. She was frowning slightly. She must have sensed it, too.
We passed through the airlocks into the residential15 unit. Here the air felt uncomfortably cold to me; I shivered. We went into the kitchen and Julia reached for the phone. “Let’s make that call, Jack,” she said.
I went to the refrigerator and got a ginger17 ale. Mae had an iced tea. Bobby had a beer. We were all thirsty. I noticed a bottle of champagne sitting in the fridge, waiting. I touched it; it was cold. There were six glasses in there, too, being chilled. She’d already planned the party. Julia pushed the speakerphone button. We heard a dial tone. She punched in a number. But the call didn’t go through. The line just went dead.
“Huh,” she said. “Let’s try that again ...”
She dialed a second time. Again, the call failed to go through.
“That’s funny. Ricky, I’m not getting an outside line.”
“Try one more time,” Ricky said.
I sipped18 my ginger ale and watched them. There was no question that this was all an act, a performance for our benefit. Julia dutifully dialed a third time. I wondered what number she was calling. Or did she know the number for the Pentagon by heart? “Huh,” she said. “Nothing.”
Ricky picked up the phone, looked at the base, put it down again. “Should be okay,” he said, acting puzzled.
“Oh for Christ’s sake,” I said. “Let me guess. Something has happened and we can’t dial out.”
“No, no, we can,” Ricky said.
“I was just calling a few minutes ago,” Julia said. “Just before you got back.”
Ricky pushed away from the table. “I’ll check the comm lines.”
“You do that,” I said, glowering19.
Julia was staring at me. “Jack,” she said, “I’m worried about you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’re angry.”
“I’m being fucked with.”
“I promise you,” she said quietly, meeting my eyes. “You’re not.” Mae got up from the table, saying she was going to take a shower. Bobby wandered into the lounge to play a video game, his usual way to unwind. Soon I heard the sound of machine-gun fire, and the cries of dead bad guys. Julia and I were alone in the kitchen. She leaned over the table toward me. She spoke20 in a low, earnest voice. “Jack,” she said, “I think I owe you an explanation.”
“No,” I said. “You don’t.”
“I mean, for my behavior. My decisions these past days.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.”
“Maybe later, Julia.”
“I need to tell you now. You see, the thing is, I just wanted to save the company, Jack. That’s all. The camera failed and we couldn’t fix it, we lost our contract, and the company was falling apart. I’ve never lost a company before. I never had one shot out from underneath21 me, and I didn’t want Xymos to be the first. I was invested, I had a stake, and I guess I had my pride. I wanted to save it. I know I didn’t use good judgment22. I was desperate. It’s nobody else’s fault. They all wanted to stop it. I pushed them to go on. It was ... it was my crusade.” She shrugged23. “And it was all for nothing. The company’s going to fold in a matter of days. I’ve lost it.” She leaned closer. “But I don’t want to lose you, too. I don’t want to lose my family. I don’t want to lose us.”
She dropped her voice lower, and stretched her hand across the table to cover mine. “I want to make amends24, Jack. I want to make things right, and get us back on track again.” She paused. “I hope you do, too.”
I said, “I’m not sure how I feel.”
“You’re tired.”
“Yes. But I’m not sure, anymore.”
“You mean, about us?”
I said, “I hate this fucking conversation.” And I did. I hated that she would start this when I was exhausted, when I had just gone through an ordeal25 that nearly got me killed and that was, ultimately, all her doing. I hated that she dismissed her involvement as “bad judgment” when it was considerably26 worse than that.
“Oh Jack, let’s go back to the way we were,” she said, and suddenly she leaned the rest of the way across the table and tried to kiss me on the lips. I pulled back, turned my head away. She stared at me, eyes pleading. “Jack, please.”
“This is not the time or the place, Julia,” I said.
A pause. She didn’t know what to say. Finally: “The kids miss you.”
“I’m sure they do. I miss them, too.”
She burst into tears. “And they don’t miss me ...” she sobbed27. “They don’t even care about me ... about their mother ...” She reached for my hand again. I let her hold it. I tried to take stock of my feelings. I just felt tired, and very uncomfortable. I wanted her to stop crying. “Julia ...”
The intercom clicked. I heard Ricky’s voice, amplified28. “Hey, guys? We have a problem with the comm lines. You better come here right away.”
The comm room consisted of a large closet in one corner of the maintenance room. It was sealed with a heavy security door, with a small tempered glass window set in the upper half. Through this window, I could see all the wiring panels and switch racks for the telecommunications in the lab. I also saw that great chunks29 of wiring had been yanked out. And slumped30 in a corner of the closet I saw Charley Davenport. He appeared to be dead. His mouth hung open, his eyes stared into space. His skin was purple-gray. A black buzzing swarm12 swirled31 around his head.
“I can’t imagine how this happened,” Ricky was saying. “He was fast asleep when I checked on him ...”
“When was that?” I said.
“Maybe half an hour ago.”
“And the swarm? How’d it get there?”
“I can’t imagine,” Ricky said. “He must have carried it with him, from outside.”
“How?” I said. “He went through all the airlocks.”
“I know, but ...”
“But what, Ricky? How’s it possible?”
“Maybe ... I don’t know, maybe it was in his throat or something.”
“In his throat?” I said. “You mean, just hanging out between his tonsils? These things kill you, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Of course I know.” He shrugged. “Beats me.”
I stared at Ricky, trying to understand his demeanor32. He had just discovered that his lab was invaded by a lethal33 nanoswarm, and he didn’t appear to be upset at all. He was taking it all very casually34.
Mae came hurrying into the room. She took in the situation with a glance. “Did anyone check the video playback?”
“We can’t,” Ricky said. He pointed35 to the closet. “The controls are disabled—in there.”
“So you don’t know how he got in there?”
“No. But he evidently didn’t want us calling out. At least ... that’s how it looks.”
Mae said, “Why would Charley go in there?”
I shook my head. I had no idea.
Julia said, “It’s airtight. Maybe he knew he was infected and wanted to seal himself off. I mean, he locked the door from the inside.”
I said, “He did? How do you know that?”
Julia said, “Um ... I just assumed ... uh ...” She peered through the glass. “And, uh, you can see the lock reflected in that chrome fitting ... see that one there?” I didn’t bother to look. But Mae did, and I heard her say, “Oh yes, Julia, you’re right. Good observation. I missed that myself.” It sounded very phony, but Julia didn’t seem to react. So everybody was playacting, now. Everything was staged. And I didn’t understand why. But as I watched Mae with Julia, I noticed that she was being extremely careful with my wife. Almost as if she was afraid of her, or at least afraid of offending her.
That was odd.
And a little alarming.
I said to Ricky, “Is there a way to unlock the door?”
“I think so. Vince probably has a skeleton key. But nobody’s unlocking that door now, Jack. Not as long as that swarm is in there.”
“So we can’t call anywhere?” I said. “We’re stuck here? Incommunicado?”
“Until tomorrow, yes. Helicopter will be back tomorrow morning, on its regular run.” Ricky peered in through the glass at the destruction. “Jeez. Charley really did a job on those switching panels.”
I said, “Why do you think he would do that?”
Ricky shook his head. “Charley was a little crazy, you know. I mean he was colorful. But all that farting and humming ... he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal, Jack.”
“I never thought so.”
“Just my opinion,” he said.
I stood beside Ricky and looked through the glass. The swarm was buzzing around Charley’s head, and I was starting to see the milky36 coating form on his body. The usual pattern. I said, “What about pumping liquid nitrogen in there? Freezing the swarm?”
“We could probably do that,” Ricky said, “but I’m afraid we’d damage the equipment.”
“Can you turn the air handlers up enough to suck the particles out?”
“Handlers are going full-bore now.”
“And you wouldn’t want to use a fire extinguisher ...”
He shook his head. “Extinguishers are Halon. Won’t affect the particles.”
“So we’re effectively kept out of that room.”
“Far as I can tell, yes.”
“Cell phones?”
He shook his head. “Antennas route through that room. Every form of communication we have—cells, Internet, high-speed data trunks—everything goes through that room.” Julia said, “Charley knew that room was airtight. I bet he went there to protect the rest of us. It was a selfless act. A courageous37 act.”
She was developing her theory about Charley, fleshing it out, adding details. It was a little distracting, considering the main problem was still unanswered—how to unlock the door, and disable the swarm. I said, “Is there another window in that closet?”
“No.”
“This window in the door is the only one?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then,” I said, “let’s black out the window, and turn the lights out in there. And wait a few hours, until the swarm loses power.”
“Jeez, I don’t know,” Ricky said doubtfully.
“What do you mean, Ricky?” Julia said. “I think it’s a great idea. It’s certainly worth a try. Let’s do it right now.”
“Okay, fine,” Ricky said, immediately deferring38 to her. “But you’re going to have to wait six hours.”
I said, “I thought it was three hours.”
“It is, but I want extra hours before I open that door. If that swarm gets loose in here, we’ve all had it.”
In the end, that was what we decided39 to do. We got black cloth and taped it over the window, and put black cardboard over that. We turned out the lights and taped the light switch in the off position. At the end of that time, exhaustion40 hit me again. I looked at my watch. It was one o’clock in the morning. I said, “I have to go to bed.”
“We should all get some sleep,” Julia said. “We can revisit this in the morning.” We all headed off toward the residence module41. Mae sidled up alongside me. “How are you feeling?” she said.
“Okay. My back’s starting to hurt a little.”
She nodded. “You better let me take a look at it.”
“Why?”
“Just let me take a look, before you go to bed.”
“Oh, Jack, darling,” Julia cried. “You poor baby.”
“What is it?”
I was sitting on the kitchen table with my shirt off. Julia and Mae were behind me, clucking.
“What is it?” I said again.
“There’s some blistering,” Mae said.
“Blistering?” Julia said. “His whole back is covered—”
“I think we have dressings42,” Mae said, interrupting her, reaching for the first-aid kit16 beneath the sink.
“Yes, I hope so.” Julia smiled at me. “Jack, I can’t tell you how sorry I am, that you had to go through this.”
“This may sting a little,” Mae said.
I knew that Mae wanted to talk to me alone, but there was no opportunity. Julia was not going to leave us alone for a minute. She had always been jealous of Mae, even years ago when I first hired Mae in my company, and now she was competing with her for my attention. I wasn’t flattered.
The dressings were cool at first, as Mae applied43 them, but within moments they stung bitterly. I winced44.
“I don’t know what painkillers45 we have,” Mae said. “You’ve got a good area of second-degree burns.”
Julia rummaged46 frantically48 through the first-aid kit, tossing contents out right and left. Tubes and canisters clattered49 to the floor. “There’s morphine,” she said at last, holding up a bottle. She smiled at me brightly. “That should do it!”
“I don’t want morphine,” I said. What I really wanted to say was that I wanted her to go to bed. Julia was annoying me. Her frantic47 edge was getting on my nerves. And I wanted to talk to Mae alone.
“There’s nothing else,” Julia said, “except aspirin50.”
“Aspirin is fine.”
“I’m worried it won’t be—”
“Aspirin is fine.”
“You don’t have to bite my head off.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t feel well.”
“Well, I’m only trying to help.” Julia stepped back. “I mean, if you two want to be alone, you should just say so.”
“No,” I said, “we do not want to be alone.”
“Well, I’m only trying to help.” She turned back to the medicine kit. “Maybe there is something else ...” Containers of tape and plastic bottles of antibiotics51 fell to the floor. “Julia,” I said. “Please stop.”
“What am I doing? What am I doing that is so awful?”
“Just stop.”
“I’m only trying to help.”
“I know that.”
Behind me, Mae said, “Okay. All finished now. That should hold you until tomorrow.” She yawned. “And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.”
I thanked her, and watched her leave the room. When I turned back, Julia was holding a glass of water and two aspirins for me.
“Thank you,” I said.
“I never liked that woman,” she said.
“Let’s get some sleep,” I said.
“There’s only single beds here.”
“I know.”
She moved closer. “I’d like to be with you, Jack.”
“I’m really tired. I’ll see you in the morning, Julia.”
I went back to my room and looked at the bed. I didn’t bother taking off my clothes.
I don’t remember my head touching52 the pillow.
收听单词发音 |
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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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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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energized
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| v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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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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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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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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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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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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residential
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| adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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glowering
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| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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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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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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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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amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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amplified
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| 放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述 | |
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chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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slumped
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| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
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swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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lethal
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| adj.致死的；毁灭性的 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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deferring
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| v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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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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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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module
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| n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱 | |
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dressings
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| n.敷料剂；穿衣( dressing的名词复数 )；穿戴；（拌制色拉的）调料；（保护伤口的）敷料 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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painkillers
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| n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 ) | |
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rummaged
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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48
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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49
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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50
aspirin
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| n.阿司匹林 | |
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51
antibiotics
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| n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 ) | |
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52
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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