Sphere (深海圓疑) 原版小說

第15部分 (第6/7頁)

n't　have　anything　like　it。〃　He　touched　the　silver　stripes　on　the　outside。　〃Not　paint；　it's　some　plastic　material。　Probably　machine…readable。〃

〃By　what？　Certainly　not　us。〃

〃No。　Probably　a　robot　recovery　device　of　some　kind。〃

〃And　the　pressure　gauges？〃

〃The　cube　is　filled　with　some　kind　of　gas；　under　pressure。

＇＇98＇＇　Maybe　it　contains　biological　ponents；　to　attain　that　pactness。　In　any　case；　I'll　bet　this　large　glass　is　a　memory　device。〃

〃A　flight　recorder？〃

〃Their　equivalent；　yes。〃

〃How　do　we　access　it？〃

〃Watch　this；〃　Beth　said；　going　back　to　the　flight　deck。　She　began　pushing　sections　of　the　console；　activating　it。　〃Don't　tell　Barnes；〃　she　said　over　her　shoulder。

〃How　do　you　know　where　to　press？〃

〃I　don't　think　it　matters；〃　she　said。　〃I　think　the　console　can　sense　where　you　are。〃

〃The　control　panel　keeps　track　of　the　pilot？〃

〃Something　like　that。〃

In　front　of　them；　a　section　of　the　console　glowed；　making　a　screen；　yellow　on　black。

RV…LHOOQ　DI U。S。S。　STAR　VOYAGER

Then　nothing。

Harry　said；　〃Now　we'll　get　the　bad　news。〃

〃What　bad　news？〃　Norman　said。　And　he　wondered：　Why　had　Harry　stayed　behind　to　look　for　the　flight　recorder；　instead　of　going　with　Ted　and　Barnes　to　explore　the　rest　of　the　ship？　Why　was　he　so　interested　in　the　past　history　of　this　vessel？

〃Maybe　it　won't　be　bad；〃　Harry　said。

〃Why　do　you　think　it　might　be？〃

〃Because；〃　Harry　said；　〃if　you　consider　it　logically；　something　vitally　important　is　missing　from　this　ship…〃

＇＇99＇＇　At　that　moment；　the　screen　filled　with　columns：

SHIP　SYSTEMS PROPULSION　SYSTEMS

LIFE　SYSTEMS WASTE　MANAG　（V9）

DATA　SYSTEMS STATUS　OM2　（OUTER）

QUARTERMASTE