His crazy warnings still ringing in my ears, I started off down the narrow, tubular passagewhich was filled with the moaning of the wind, my shoulders bowed under the weight of thespacesuit. On tip-toe, half-consciously fleeing from some invisible watcher, I found two doorson my left and two more on my right. I read the occupants' names: Dr. Gibarian, Dr. Snow, Dr.
Sartorius. On the fourth, there was no nameplate. I hesitated, then pressed the handle downgently and slowly opened the door. As I did so, I had a premonition, amounting almost to acertainty, that there was someone inside. I went in.
There was no one. Another wide panoramic4 window, almost as large as the one in the cabinwhere I had found Snow, overhung the ocean, which, sunlit on this side, shone with anoleaginous gleam, as though the waves secreted5 a reddish oil. A crimson6 glow pervaded7 thewhole room, whose lay-out suggested a ship's cabin. On one side, flanked by book-filledshelves, a retractable8 bed stood against the wall. On the other, between the numerous lockers,hung nickel frames enclosing a series of aerial photographs stuck end to end with adhesivetape, and racks full of test-tubes and retorts plugged with cotton-wool. Two tiers of whiteenamel boxes took up the space beneath the window. I lifted some of the lids; the boxes werecrammed with all kinds of instruments, intertwined with plastic tubing. The corners of theroom were occupied by a refrigerator, a tap and a demisting device. For lack of space on thebig table by the window, a microscope stood on the floor. Turning round, I saw a tall lockerbeside the entrance door. It was half-open, filled with atmosphere suits, laboratory smocks,insulated aprons10, underclothing, boots for planetary exploration, and aluminum11 cylinders12:
portable oxygen gear. Two sets of this equipment, complete with masks, hung down from oneof the knobs of the vertical13 bed. Everywhere there was the same chaos14, a general disorderwhich someone had made a hasty attempt to disguise. I sniffed15 the air. I could detect a faintsmell of chemical reagents and traces of something more acrid—chlorine? Instinctively16 Isearched the ceiling for the grills17 over the air-vents: strips of paper attached to the bars werefluttering gently; the air was circulating normally. In order to make a relatively18 free spacearound the bed, between the bookshelves and the locker9, I cleared two chairs of their litter ofbooks, instruments, and tools, which I piled haphazardly19 on the other side of the room.
I pulled out a bracket to hang up my spacesuit, took hold of the zip-fastener, then let go again.
Deterred20 by the confused idea that I was depriving myself of a shield, I could not bring myselfto remove it. Once more I looked round the room. I checked that the door was shut tight andthat it had no lock, and after a brief hesitation21 I dragged some of the heaviest boxes to thedoorway. Having built this temporary barricade22, I freed myself from my clanking armor inthree quick movements. A narrow looking-glass, built into the locker door, reflected part of theroom, and out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something moving. I jumped, but it wasonly my own reflection. Underneath23 the spacesuit, my overalls24 were drenched25 with sweat. Itook them off and pulled back a sliding door, revealing the bright-tiled walls of a smallbathroom. A long, flat box lay in the hollow at the base of the shower; I carried it into theroom. As I put it down, the springlid flew up and disclosed a number of compartments26 filledwith strange objects: misshapen forms in a dark metal, grotesque27 replicas28 of the instruments inthe racks. Not one of the tools was usable; they were blunted, distorted, melted, as though theyhad been in a furnace. Strangest of all, even the porcelain29 handles, virtually incombustible,were twisted out of shape. Even at maximum temperature, no laboratory furnace could havemelted them; only, perhaps, an atomic pile. I took a Geiger counter from the pocket on myspacesuit, but when I held it over the debris30, it remained dumb.
By now I was wearing nothing but my underwear. I tore it off, flung it across the room anddashed under the shower. The shock of the water did me good. Turning beneath the scalding,needle-sharp jets, I scrubbed myself vigorously, splashing the walls, expelling, eradicatingfrom my skin the thick scum of morbid31 apprehensions32 which had pervaded me since myarrival.
I rummaged33 in the locker and found a work-suit which could also be worn under anatmosphere suit. As I pocketed my few belongings34, I felt something hard tucked between thepages of my notebook: it was a key, the key to my apartment, down there on Earth. Absently, Iturned it over in my fingers. Finally I put it down on the table. It occurred to me suddenly that Imight need a weapon. An all-purpose pocket-knife was hardly sufficient for my needs, but Ihad nothing else, and I was not going to start searching for a gamma pistol or something else ofthe kind.
I sat down on a tubular stool in the middle of the clear space, glad to be alone, and seeing withsatisfaction that I had over half an hour to myself. (By nature, I have always been scrupulousabout keeping engagements, whether important or trivial.) The hands of the clock, its facedivided into twenty-four hours, pointed35 to seven o'clock. The sun was setting. 07.00 hours herewas 20.00 hours on board the Prometheus. On Moddard's screens, Solaris would be nothingbut an indistinct dust-cloud, mingled36 with the stars. But what did the Prometheus matter to menow? I closed my eyes. I could hear no sound except the moaning of the ventilation pipes and afaint trickling37 of water from the bathroom.
If I had understood correctly, it was only a short time since Gibarian had died. What had theydone with his body? Had they buried it? No, that was impossible on this planet. I puzzled overthe question for a long time, concentrating on the fate of the corpse38; then, realizing theabsurdity of my thoughts, I began to pace up and down. My toe knocked against a canvas baghalf-buried under a pile of books; I bent39 down and picked it up. It contained a small bottlemade of colored glass, so light that it might have been blown out of paper. I held it up to thewindow in the purplish glow of the somber40 twilight41, now overhung by a sooty fog. What was Idoing, allowing myself to be distracted by irrelevancies, by the first trifle which came to hand?
I gave a start: the lights had gone on, activated42 by a photo-electric relay; the sun had set. Whatwould happen next? I was so tense that the sensation of an empty space behind me becameunbearable. In an attempt to pull myself together, I took a chair over to the bookshelves andchose a book familiar to me: the second volume of the early monograph44 by Hughes and Eugel,Historia Solaris. I rested the thick, solidly bound volume on my knees and began leafingthrough the pages.
The discovery of Solaris dated from about 100 years before I was born.
The planet orbits two suns: a red sun and a blue sun. For 45 years after its discovery, nospacecraft had visited Solaris. At that time, the Gamow-Shapley theory—that Life wasimpossible on planets which are satellites of two solar bodies—was firmly believed. The orbitis constantly being modified by variations in the gravitational pull in the course of itsrevolutions around the two suns.
Due to these fluctuations45 in gravity, the orbit is either flattened46 or distended47 and the elementsof life, if they appear, are inevitably48 destroyed, either by intense heat or an extreme drop intemperature. These changes take place at intervals49 estimated in millions of years—very shortintervals, that is, according to the laws of astronomy and biology (evolution takes hundreds ofmillions of years if not a billion).
According to the earliest calculations, in 500,000 years' time Solaris would be drawn50 one halfof an astronomic51 unit nearer to its red sun, and a million years after that would be engulfed52 bythe incandescent53 star.
A few decades later, however, observations seemed to suggest that the planet's orbit was in noway subject to the expected variations: it was stable, as stable as the orbit of the planets in ourown solar system.
The observations and calculations were reworked with great precision; they simply confirmedthe original conclusions: Solaris's orbit was unstable54.
A modest item among the hundreds of planets discovered annually—to which official statisticsdevoted only a few lines defining the characteristics of their orbits—Solaris eventually beganto attract special attention and attain56 a high rank.
Four years after this promotion57, overflying the planet with the Laakon and two auxiliary58 craft,the Ottenskj.ld expedition undertook a study of Solaris. This expedition being in the nature ofa preliminary, not to say improvised59, reconnaissance, the scientists were not equipped for alanding. Ottenskj.ld placed a quantity of automatic observation satellites into equatorial andpolar orbit, their principal function being to measure the gravitational pull. In addition, a studywas made of the planet's surface, which is covered by an ocean dotted with innumerable flat,low-lying islands whose combined area is less than that of Europe, although the diameter ofSolaris is a fifth greater than Earth's. These expanses of barren, rocky territory, irregularlydistributed, are largely concentrated in the southern hemisphere. At the same time thecomposition of the atmosphere—devoid of oxygen—was analyzed60, and precise measurementsmade of the planet's density61, from which its albedo and other astronomical62 characteristics weredetermined. As was foreseeable, no trace of life was discovered, either on the islands or in theocean.
During the following ten years, Solaris became the center of attraction for all observatoriesconcerned with the study of this region of space, for the planet had in the meantime shown theastonishing faculty63 of maintaining an orbit which ought, without any shadow of doubt, to havebeen unstable. The problem almost developed into a scandal: since the results of theobservations could only be inaccurate64, attempts were made (in the interests of science) todenounce and discredit65 various scientists or else the computers they used.
Lack of funds delayed the departure of a proper Solaris expedition for three years. FinallyShannahan assembled his team and obtained three C-tonnage vessels66 from the Institute, thelargest starships of the period. A year and a half before the arrival of the expedition, which leftfrom the region of Alpha in Aquarius, a second exploration fleet, acting67 in the name of theInstitute, placed an automatic satellite—Luna 247—into orbit around Solaris. This satellite,after three successive reconstructions68 at roughly ten-year intervals, is still functioning today.
The data it supplied confirmed beyond doubt the findings of the Ottenskj.ld expeditionconcerning the active character of the ocean's movements.
One of Shannahan's ships remained in orbit, while the two others, after some preliminaryattempts, landed in the southern hemisphere, in a rocky area about 600 miles square. The workof the expedition lasted eighteen months and was carried out under favorable conditions, apartfrom an unfortunate accident brought about by the malfunction69 of some apparatus70. In themeantime, the scientists had split into two opposing camps; the bone of contention71 was theocean. On the basis of the analyses, it had been accepted that the ocean was an organicformation (at that time, no one had yet dared to call it living). But, while the biologistsconsidered it as a primitive72 formation—a sort of gigantic entity73, a fluid cell, unique andmonstrous (which they called 'prebiological'), surrounding the globe with a colloidal75 envelopeseveral miles thick in places—the astronomers76 and physicists77 asserted that it must be anorganic structure, extraordinarily78 evolved. According to them, the ocean possibly exceededterrestrial organic structures in complexity79, since it was capable of exerting an active influenceon the planet's orbital path. Certainly, no other factor could be found that might explain thebehavior of Solaris; moreover, the planeto-physicists had established a relationship betweencertain processes of the plasmic80 ocean and the local measurements of gravitational pull, whichaltered according to the 'matter transformations82' of the ocean.
Consequently it was the physicists, rather than the biologists, who put forward the paradoxicalformulation of a 'plasmic mechanism83', implying by this a structure, possibly without life as weconceive it, but capable of performing functional84 activities—on an astronomic scale, it shouldbe emphasized.
It was during this quarrel, whose reverberations soon reached the ears of the most eminentauthorities, that the Gamow-Shapely doctrine85, unchallenged for eighty years, was shaken forthe first time.
There were some who continued to support the Gamow-Shapley contentions86, to the effect thatthe ocean had nothing to do with life, that it was neither 'parabiological' nor 'prebiological' buta geological formation—of extreme rarity, it is true—with the unique ability to stabilize87 theorbit of Solaris, despite the variations in the forces of attraction. Le Chatelier's law was enlistedin support of this argument.
To challenge this conservative attitude, new hypotheses were advanced—of which CivitoVitta'swas one of the most elaborate—proclaiming that the ocean was the product of adialectical development: on the basis of its earliest pre-oceanic form, a solution of slow-reacting chemical elements, and by the force of circumstances (the threat to its existence fromthe changes of orbit), it had reached in a single bound the stage of 'homeostatic ocean,' withoutpassing through all the stages of terrestrial evolution, by-passing the unicellular andmulticellular phases, the vegetable and the animal, the development of a nervous and cerebralsystem. In other words, unlike terrestrial organisms, it had not taken hundreds of millions ofyears to adapt itself to its environment—culminating in the first representatives of a speciesendowed with reason—but dominated its environment immediately.
This was an original point of view. Nevertheless, the means whereby this collodial envelopewas able to stabilize the planet's orbit remained unknown. For almost a century, devices hadexisted capable of creating artificial magnetic and gravitational fields; they were calledgravitors. But no one could even guess how this formless glue could produce an effect whichthe gravitors achieved by the use of complicated nuclear reactions and enormously hightemperatures. The newspapers of the day, exciting the curiosity of the layman88 and the anger ofthe scientist, were full of the most improbable embroideries89 on the theme of the 'SolarisMystery,' one reporter going so far as to suggest that the ocean was, no less, a distant relationto our electric eels90!
Just when a measure of success had been achieved in unravelling91 this problem, it turned out, asoften happened subsequently in the field of Solarist studies, that the explanation replaced oneenigma by another, perhaps even more baffling.
Observations showed, at least, that the ocean did not react according to the same principles asour gravitors (which, in any case, would have been impossible), but succeeded in controllingthe orbital periodicity directly. One result, among others, was the discovery of discrepancies93 inthe measurement of time along one and the same meridian94 on Solaris. Thus the ocean was notonly in a sense "aware" of the Einstein-Bo.via theory; it was also capable of exploiting theimplications of the latter (which was more than we could say of ourselves).
With the publication of this hypothesis, the scientific world was torn by one of the most violentcontroversies of the century. Revered95 and universally accepted theories foundered96; thespecialist literature was swamped by outrageous97 and heretical treatises98; 'sentient99 ocean' or'gravity-controlling colloid'—the debate became a burning issue.
All this happened several years before I was born. When I was a student—new data havingaccumulated in the meantime—it was already generally agreed that there was life on Solaris,even if it was limited to a single inhabitant.
The second volume of Hughes and Eugel, which I was still leafing through mechanically,began with a systematization that was as ingenious as it was amusing. The table ofclassification comprised three definitions: Type: Polythera; Class: Syncytialia; Category:
Metamorph.
It might have been thought that we knew of an infinite number of examples of the species,whereas in reality there was only the one—weighing, it is true, some seven hundred billiontons.
Multicolored illustrations, picturesque100 graphs, analytical101 summaries and spectral102 diagramsflickered through my fingers, explaining the type and rhythm of the fundamentaltransformations as well as chemical reactions. Rapidly, infallibly, the thick tome led the readeron to the solid ground of mathematical certitude. One might have assumed that we kneweverything there was to be known about this representative of the category Metamorph, whichlay some hundreds of metres below the metal hull103 of the Station, obscured at the moment bythe shadows of the four-hour night.
In fact, by no means everybody was yet convinced that the ocean was actually a living'creature,' and still less, it goes without saying, a rational one. I put the heavy volume back onthe shelf and took up the one next to it, which was in two parts. The first part was devoted55 to aresumé of the countless104 attempts to establish contact with the ocean. I could well rememberhow, when I was a student, these attempts were the subject of endless anecdotes105, jokes andwitticisms. Compared with the proliferation of speculative106 ideas which were triggered off bythis problem, medieval scholasticism seemed a model of scientific enlightenment. The secondpart, nearly 1500 pages long, was devoted exclusively to the bibliography107 of the subject. Therewould not have been enough room for the books themselves in the cabin in which I was sitting.
The first attempts at contact were by means of specially108 designed electronic apparatus. Theocean itself took an active part in these operations by remodelling109 the instruments. All this,however, remained somewhat obscure. What exactly did the ocean's 'participation110' consist of?
It modified certain elements in the submerged instruments, as a result of which the normaldischarge frequency was completely disrupted and the recording111 instruments registered aprofusion of signals—fragmentary indications of some outlandish activity, which in factdefeated all attempts at analysis. Did these data point to a momentary112 condition of stimulation,or to regular impulses correlated with the gigantic structures which the ocean was in theprocess of creating elsewhere, at the antipodes of the region under investigation113? Had theelectronic apparatus recorded the cryptic114 manifestation115 of the ocean's ancient secrets? Had itrevealed its innermost workings to us? Who could tell? No two reactions to the stimuli116 werethe same. Sometimes the instruments almost exploded under the violence of the impulses,sometimes there was total silence; it was impossible to obtain a repetition of any previouslyobserved phenomenon. Constantly, it seemed, the experts were on the brink117 of deciphering theever-growing mass of information. Was it not, after all, with this object in mind that computershad been built of virtually limitless capacity, such as no previous problem had ever demanded?
And, indeed, some results were obtained. The ocean as a source of electric and magneticimpulses and of gravitation expressed itself in a more or less mathematical language. Also, bycalling on the most abstruse118 branches of statistical119 analysis, it was possible to classify certainfrequencies in the discharges of current. Structural120 homologues were discovered, not unlikethose already observed by physicists in that sector121 of science which deals with the reciprocalinteraction of energy and matter, elements and compounds, the finite and the infinite. Thiscorrespondence convinced the scientists that they were confronted with a monstrous74 entityendowed with reason, a protoplasmic ocean-brain enveloping122 the entire planet and idling itstime away in extravagant123 theoretical cognitation about the nature of the universe. Ourinstruments had intercepted124 minute random125 fragments of a prodigious126 and everlastingmonologue unfolding in the depths of this colossal127 brain, which was inevitably beyond ourunderstanding.
So much for the mathematicians128. These hypotheses, according to some people, underestimatedthe resources of the human mind; they bowed to the unknown, proclaiming the ancientdoctrine, arrogantly129 resurrected, of ignoramus et ignorabimus. Others regarded themathematicians' hypotheses as sterile130 and dangerous nonsense, contributing towards thecreation of a modern mythology131 based on the notion of this giant brain—whether plasmic orelectronic was immaterial—as the ultimate objective of existence, the very synthesis of life.
Yet others…but the would-be experts were legion and each had his own theory. A comparisonof the 'contact' school of thought with other branches of Solarist studies, in whichspecialization had rapidly developed, especially during the last quarter of a century, made itclear that a Solarist-cybernetician had difficulty in making himself understood to a Solaristsymmetriadologist.
Veubeke, director of the Institute when I was studying there, had askedjokingly one day: "How do you expect to communicate with the ocean, when you can't evenunderstand one another?" The jest contained more than a grain of truth.
The decision to categorize the ocean as a metamorph was not an arbitrary one. Its undulatingsurface was capable of generating extremely diverse formations which resembled nothing everseen on Earth, and the function of these sudden eruptions132 of plasmic 'creativity,' whetheradaptive, explorative or what, remained an enigma92.
Lifting the heavy volume with both hands, I replaced it on the shelf, and thought to myself thatour scholarship, all the information accumulated in the libraries, amounted to a useless jumbleof words, a sludge of statements and suppositions, and that we had not progressed an inch inthe 78 years since researches had begun. The situation seemed much worse now than in thetime of the pioneers, since the assiduous efforts of so many years had not resulted in a singleindisputable conclusion.
The sum total of known facts was strictly134 negative. The ocean did not use machines, eventhough in certain circumstances it seemed capable of creating them. During the first two yearsof exploratory work, it had reproduced elements of some of the submerged instruments.
Thereafter, it simply ignored the experiments we went on pursuing, as though it had lost allinterest in our instruments and our activities—as though, indeed, it was no longer interested inus. It did not possess a nervous system (to go on with the inventory135 of 'negative knowledge') orcells, and its structure was not proteiform. It did not always react even to the most powerfulstimuli (it ignored completely, for example, the catastrophic accident which occurred duringthe second Giese expedition: an auxiliary rocket, falling from a height of 300,000 metres,crashed on the planet's surface and the radioactive explosion of its nuclear reserves destroyedthe plasma136 within a radius137 of 2500 metres).
Gradually, in scientific circles, the 'Solaris Affair' came to be regarded as a lost cause, notablyamong the administrators138 of the Institute, where voices had recently been raised suggesting thatfinancial support should be withdrawn139 and research suspended. No one, until then, had dared tosuggest the final liquidation140 of the Station; such a decision would have smacked141 too obviouslyof defeat. But in the course of semi-official discussions a number of scientists recommended an'honorable' withdrawal142 from Solaris.
Many people in the world of science, however, especially among the young, had unconsciouslycome to regard the 'affair' as a touchstone of individual values. All things considered, theyclaimed, it was not simply a question of penetrating143 Solarist civilization; it was essentially144 atest of ourselves, of the limitations of human knowledge. For some time, there was a widelyheld notion (zealously fostered by the daily press) to the effect that the 'thinking ocean' ofSolaris was a gigantic brain, prodigiously145 well-developed and several million years in advanceof our own civilization, a sort of 'cosmic yogi,' a sage3, a symbol of omniscience146, which hadlong ago understood the vanity of all action and for this reason had retreated into anunbreakable silence. The notion was incorrect, for the living ocean was active. Not, it is true,according to human ideas—it did not build cities or bridges, nor did it manufacture flyingmachines. It did not try to reduce distances, nor was it concerned with the conquest of Space(the ultimate criterion, some people thought, of man's superiority). But it was engaged in anever-ending process of transformation81, an 'ontological autometamorphosis.' (There were anyamount of scientific neologisms in accounts of Solarist activities.) Moreover, any scientist whodevotes himself to the study of Solariana has the indelible impression that he can discernfragments of an intelligent structure, perhaps endowed with genius, haphazardly mingled withoutlandish phenomena147, apparently148 the product of an unhinged mind. Thus was born theconception of the 'autistic ocean' as opposed to the 'ocean-yogi.'
These hypotheses resurrected one of the most ancient of philosophical149 problems: the relationbetween matter and mind, and between mind and consciousness. Du Haart was the first to havethe audacity150 to maintain that the ocean possessed151 a consciousness. The problem, which themethodologists hastened to dub152 metaphysical, provoked all kinds of arguments anddiscussions. Was it possible for thought to exist without consciousness? Could one, in anycase, apply the word thought to the processes observed in the ocean? Is a mountain only a hugestone? Is a planet an enormous mountain? Whatever the terminology153, the new scale of sizeintroduced new norms and new phenomena.
The question appeared as a contemporary version of the problem of squaring the circle. Everyindependent thinker endeavored to register his personal contribution to the hoard154 of Solariststudies. New theories proliferated155: the ocean was evidence of a state of degeneration, ofregression, following a phase of 'intellectual repletion'; it was a deviant neoplasm, the productof the bodies of former inhabitants of the planet, whom it had devoured156, swallowed up,dissolving and blending the residue157 into this unchanging, self-propagating form, supracellularin structure.
By the white light of the fluorescent158 tubes—a pale imitation of terrestrial daylight—I clearedthe table of its clutter159 of apparatus and books. Arms outstretched and my hands gripping thechromium edging, I unrolled a map of Solaris on the plastic surface and studied it at length.
The living ocean had its peaks and its canyons160. Its islands, which were covered with adecomposing mineral deposit, were certainly related to the nature of the ocean bed. But did itcontrol the eruption133 and subsidence of the rocky formations buried in its depths? No one knew.
Gazing at the big flat projection161 of the two hemispheres, colored in various tones of blue andpurple, I experienced once again that thrill of wonder which had so often gripped me, andwhich I had felt as a schoolboy on learning of the existence of Solaris for the first time.
Lost in contemplation of this bewildering map, my mind in a daze162, I temporarily forgot themystery surrounding Gibarian's death and the uncertainty163 of my own future.
The different sections of the ocean were named after the scientists who had explored them. Iwas examining Thexall's swell164, which surrounded the equatorial archipelagos, when I had asudden sensation of being watched.
I was still leaning over the map, but I no longer saw it; my limbs were in the grip of a sort ofparalysis. The crates165 and a small locker still barricaded166 the door, which was in front of me. It'sonly a robot, I told myself—yet I had not discovered any in the room and none could haveentered without my knowledge. My back and my neck seemed to be on fire; the sensation ofthis relentless167, fixed168 stare was becoming unbearable43. With my head shrinking between myhunched shoulders, I leant harder and harder against the table, until it began slowly to slideaway. The movement released me; I spun169 round.
The room was empty. There was nothing in front of me except the wide convex window and,beyond it, the night. But the same sensation persisted. The night stared me in the face,amorphous, blind, infinite, without frontiers. Not a single star relieved the darkness behind theglass. I pulled the thick curtains. I had been in the Station less than an hour, yet already I wasshowing signs of morbidity170. Was it the effect of Gibarian's death? In so far as I knew him, Ihad imagined that nothing could shake his nerve: now, I was no longer so sure.
I stood in the middle of the room, beside the table. My breathing became more regular, I feltthe sweat chill on my forehead. What was it I had been thinking about a moment ago? Ah, yes,robots! It was surprising that I had not come across one anywhere on the Station. What couldhave become of them all? The only one with which I had been in contact—at a distance—belonged to the vehicle reception services. But what about the others?
I looked at my watch. It was time to rejoin Snow.
I left the room. The dome171 was feebly lit by luminous172 filaments173 running the length of theceiling. I went up to Gibarian's door and stood there, motionless. There was total silence. Igripped the handle. I had in fact no intention of going in, but the handle went down and thedoor opened, disclosing a chink of darkness. The lights went on. In one quick movement, Ientered and silently closed the door behind me. Then I turned round.
My shoulders brushed against the door panels. The room was larger than mine. A curtaindecorated with little pink and blue flowers (not regulation Station equipment, but no doubtbrought from Earth with his personal belongings) covered three-quarters of the panoramicwindow. Around the walls were bookshelves and cupboards, painted pale green with silveryhighlights. Both shelves and cupboards had been emptied of their contents, which were piledinto heaps, amongst the furniture. At my feet, blocking the way, were two overturned trolleysburied beneath a heap of periodicals spilling out of bulging174 brief cases which had burst open.
Books with their pages splayed out fanwise were stained with colored liquids which had spiltfrom broken retorts and bottles with corroded175 stoppers, receptacles made of such thick glassthat a single fall, even from a considerable height, could not have shattered them in such a way.
Beneath the window lay an overturned desk, an anglepoise lamp crumpled176 underneath it; twolegs of an upturned stool were stuck in the half-open drawers. A flood of papers of everyconceivable size swamped the floor. My interest quickened as I recognized Gibarian's handwriting.
As I stooped to gather together the loose sheets, I noticed that my hand was casting adouble shadow.
I straightened up. The pink curtain glowed brightly, traversed by a streak177 of incandescent,steely-blue light which was gradually widening. I pulled the curtain aside. An unbearable glareextended along the horizon, chasing before it an army of spectral shadows, which rose up fromamong the waves and dispersed178 in the direction of the Station. It was the dawn. After an hourof darkness the planet's second sun—the blue sun—was rising in the sky.
The automatic switch cut off the lights as I returned to the heap of papers. The first thing Icame across was a detailed179 description of an experiment, evidently decided180 upon three weeksbefore. Gibarian had planned to expose the plasma to an intensive bombardment of X-rays. Igathered from the context that the paper was addressed to Sartorius, whose job it was toorganize operations. What I was holding in my hand was a copy of the plan.
The whiteness of the paper hurt my eyes. This new day was different from the previous one. Inthe warm glow of the red sun, mists overhung a black ocean with blood-red reflections, andwaves, clouds and sky were almost constantly veiled in a crimson haze181. Now, the blue sunpierced the flower-printed curtain with a crystalline light. My suntanned hands looked grey.
The room had changed; all the red-reflecting objects had lost their luster182 and had turned agreyish-brown, whereas those which were white, green and yellow had acquired a vividbrilliance and seemed to give off their own light. Screwing up my eyes, I risked another glancethrough a chink in the curtain: an expanse of molten metal trembled and shimmered183 under awhite-hot sky, I shut my eyes and drew back. On the shelf above the wash-basin (which hadrecently been badly chipped) I found a pair of dark glasses, so big that when I put them on theycovered half my face. The curtain appeared to glow with a sodium184 light. I went on reading,picking up the sheets of paper and arranging them on the only usable table. There were gaps inthe text, and I searched in vain for the missing pages.
I came across a report of experiments already carried out, and learned that, for four daysrunning, Gibarian and Sartorius had submitted the ocean to radiation at a point 1400 milesfrom the present position of the Station. The use of X-rays was banned by a UN convention,because of their harmful effects, and I was certain that no one had sent a request to Earth forauthorization to proceed with such experiments.
Looking up, I caught sight of my face in the mirror of a half-open locker door: masked by thedark glasses, it was deathly pale. The room, too, glinting with blue and white reflections,looked equally bizarre; but soon there came a prolonged screech185 of metal as the air-tight outershutters slid across the window. There was an instant of darkness, and then the lights came on;they seemed to me to be curiously186 dim. It grew hotter and hotter. The regular drone of the air-conditioning was now a high-pitched whine187: the Station's refrigeration plant was running at fullcapacity. Nevertheless, the overpowering heat grew more and more intense.
I heard footsteps. Someone was walking through the dome. In two silent strides, I reached thedoor. The footsteps slowed down; whoever it was was behind it. The handle moved.
Automatically, without thinking, I gripped it. The pressure did not increase, but nor did it relax.
Neither of us, on either side of the door, said a word. We remained there, motionless, each ofus holding the handle. Suddenly it straightened up again, freeing itself from my grasp. Themuffled footsteps receded188. With my ear glued to the panel, I went on listening. I heard nothingmore.
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scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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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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panoramic
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| adj. 全景的 | |
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5
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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retractable
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| adj.可收回的；可撤消的；可缩回的；可缩进的 | |
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locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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aluminum
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| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
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cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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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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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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grills
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| n.烤架( grill的名词复数 )；（一盘）烤肉；格板；烧烤餐馆v.烧烤( grill的第三人称单数 )；拷问，盘问 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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19
haphazardly
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| adv.偶然地，随意地，杂乱地 | |
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20
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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22
barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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23
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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24
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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25
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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26
compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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27
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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28
replicas
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| n.复制品( replica的名词复数 ) | |
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29
porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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30
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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31
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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32
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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33
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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34
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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35
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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36
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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37
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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38
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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39
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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40
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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41
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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42
activated
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| adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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43
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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44
monograph
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| n.专题文章，专题著作 | |
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45
fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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46
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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47
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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49
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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50
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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51
astronomic
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| 天文学的，星学的 | |
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52
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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54
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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55
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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56
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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57
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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58
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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59
improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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60
analyzed
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| v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析 | |
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61
density
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| n.密集，密度，浓度 | |
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62
astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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63
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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64
inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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65
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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66
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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67
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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68
reconstructions
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| 重建( reconstruction的名词复数 )； 再现； 重建物； 复原物 | |
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69
malfunction
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| vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常 | |
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70
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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71
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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72
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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73
entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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74
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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75
colloidal
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| adj. 胶状的, 胶质的 | |
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76
astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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77
physicists
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| 物理学家( physicist的名词复数 ) | |
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78
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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79
complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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80
plasmic
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| adj.原生质的 | |
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81
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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82
transformations
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| n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换 | |
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83
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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84
functional
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| adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的 | |
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85
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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86
contentions
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| n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点 | |
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87
stabilize
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| vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定 | |
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88
layman
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| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
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89
embroideries
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| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
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90
eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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91
unravelling
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| 解开，拆散，散开( unravel的现在分词 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚 | |
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92
enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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93
discrepancies
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| n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 ) | |
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94
meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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95
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
foundered
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| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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98
treatises
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| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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99
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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100
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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101
analytical
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| adj.分析的；用分析法的 | |
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102
spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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103
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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104
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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105
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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106
speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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107
bibliography
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| n.参考书目；(有关某一专题的)书目 | |
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108
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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109
remodelling
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| v.改变…的结构[形状]( remodel的现在分词 ) | |
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110
participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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111
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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112
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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113
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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114
cryptic
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| adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的 | |
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115
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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116
stimuli
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| n.刺激（物） | |
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117
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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118
abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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119
statistical
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| adj.统计的，统计学的 | |
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120
structural
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| adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的 | |
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121
sector
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| n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形 | |
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122
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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123
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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124
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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125
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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126
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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127
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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128
mathematicians
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| 数学家( mathematician的名词复数 ) | |
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129
arrogantly
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| adv.傲慢地 | |
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130
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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131
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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132
eruptions
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| n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 ) | |
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133
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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134
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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135
inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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136
plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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137
radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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138
administrators
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| n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师 | |
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139
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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140
liquidation
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| n.清算，停止营业 | |
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141
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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142
withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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143
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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144
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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145
prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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146
omniscience
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| n.全知，全知者，上帝 | |
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147
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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148
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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149
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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150
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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151
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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152
dub
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| vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制 | |
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153
terminology
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| n.术语；专有名词 | |
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154
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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155
proliferated
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| 激增( proliferate的过去式和过去分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散 | |
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156
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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157
residue
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| n.残余，剩余，残渣 | |
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158
fluorescent
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| adj.荧光的，发出荧光的 | |
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159
clutter
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| n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱 | |
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160
canyons
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| n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 ) | |
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161
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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162
daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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163
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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164
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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165
crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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166
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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167
relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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168
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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169
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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170
morbidity
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| n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率 | |
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171
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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172
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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173
filaments
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| n.（电灯泡的）灯丝( filament的名词复数 )；丝极；细丝；丝状物 | |
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174
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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175
corroded
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| 已被腐蚀的 | |
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176
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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177
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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178
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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179
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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180
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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181
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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182
luster
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| n.光辉；光泽，光亮；荣誉 | |
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183
shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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184
sodium
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| n.（化）钠 | |
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185
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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186
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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187
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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188
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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