文书楼

手机浏览器扫描二维码访问

第15部分（第3页）

〃No；〃　Harry　said；　still　lifting　up　floor　panels；　following　the　wires。　〃But　sometimes　you　gotta　ask　what　the　girl　is　doing　in　a　dark　alley　at　three　in　the　morning　in　a　bad　part　of　town。〃

〃I　was　in　love　with　him。〃

〃Its　still　a　bad　part　of　town。〃

〃I　was　twenty…two　years　old。〃

〃How　old　do　you　have　to　be？〃

〃Up　yours；　Harry。〃

Harry　shook　his　head。　〃You　find　the　wires；　Butch？〃

〃Yes；　I　found　the　wires。　They　go　into　some　kind　of　a　glass　grid。〃

〃Lets　have　a　look；〃　Norman　said；　going　next　door。　Hed　seen　flight　recorders　before；　they　were　long　rectangular　metal　boxes；　reminiscent　of　safe…deposit　boxes；　painted　red　or　bright　orange。　If　this　was…

He　stopped。

He　was　looking　at　a　transparent　glass　cube　one　foot　on　each　side。　Inside　the　cube　was　an　intricate　grid　arrangement　of　fine　glowing　blue　lines。　Between　the　glowing　lines；　blue　lights　flickered　intermittently。　There　were　two　pressure　gauges　mounted　on　top　of　the　cube；　and　three　pistons；　and　there　were　a　series　of　silver　stripes　and　rectangles　on　the　outer　surface　on　the　left　side。　It　didnt　look　like　anything　he　had　seen　before。

〃Interesting。〃　Harry　peered　into　the　cube。　〃Some　kind　of　optronic　memory；　is　my　guess。　We　dont　have　anything　like　it。〃　He　touched　the　silver　stripes　on　the　outside。　〃Not　paint；　its　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；　Ill　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。　〃Dont　tell　Barnes；〃　she　said　over　her　shoulder。

〃How　do　you　know　where　to　press？〃

〃I　dont　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　DIU。S。S。　STAR　VOYAGER

Then　nothing。

Harry　said；　〃Now　well　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　wont　be　bad；〃　Harry　said。

〃Why　do　you　think　it　might　be？〃