2024-04-15

【Aiden in English】

        “If you aren't gonna eat that Steven, I’ll take it.”

        “I’m good. Here, pick it up yourself.”

        Kris reached over the iron clasps into Steven’s craft, taking the only useful bits off his bench. Eying the arm, he tore off the fingers and removed the radius and ulna. He held the appendage over the side of his vessel and let the blood drain into the water.

        “You're disgusting.”

        “Shut up, I’m hungry.”

        “Okay hungry, I’m your 1980’s dad.”

        Kris opened his suit compartment and placed a piece of flesh inside the temperature moderator. A sigh of gas later, he retracted his arms from his suit sleeves and fiddled around the compression-heated meal. He took a bite, grimacing at the texture. Flavorwise, not bad. A bit icy.

        “So how's Christian taste?”

        “Better than starvation.”

        “Shut up.”

        Kris quickly finished his meal in silence.

        A tinny voice popped over the intercom. “You know, this is pretty funny right?”

        “In what goddamn way, Steven?”

        “You just committed cannibalism, and you ate Christian.”

        “Yeah, and?”

        “I don’t know. I just thought it was funny that you’d eat someone named after your religion.”

        “I’m Jewish.”

        “Same thing.”

        Steven chuckles. 

        “Steven, that’s not funny.”

        Steven giggles even more.

        “Steven! It’s your goddamn fault we’re in this position, so shut the hell up! Anyone with goddamn eyeballs would’ve seen the pressure gauge reach the critical level, and apparently, I’m working with a legally blind copilot!”

        Inhale. Exhale. “I swear to God, if somehow you make it out of here and not me, I’ll strangle you in hell.”

        Kris fastened his bulky suit on a chair and let his body slide down out of the upright movement position down to the torso compartment. He looked out his chest window into the bobbing horizon. Up… down… up… down… The blissful breathing of a sleeping giant.

        Static buzzed through the intercom. “Kris.”

        “Leave me alone.”

        “Two things. One: I think you left your mic on.”

        “Awesome. Now get out of my ear.”

        “Two: your radar is pinging.”

        Kris fumbled for the sensor screen. “Oh, so now your senses can detect things…”

        He brought up the mini radar display, watching the electromagnetic pulse flash out in a dramatic flair of green and red.

        Red?

        “Steven, Steven!”

        “What? Stop shouting into the mic-”

        “We’ve got a hit.”

        “What?!”

        “Yeah, it’s real. REAL!”

        “Holy hell, no way. How far?”

        “Lemme pull up the coordinates.”

        Kris deflated. 

        “Shit.”

        “What？”

        “It’s far. At least two hundred klicks.”

        “Holy hell. It must be on the edge of that radar.”

        “Yeah, it just showed up on the map. How long will that take us?”

        “Kris, if we had fully supplied transportation and fuel, it would still take us three days at a minimum.”

        “Damnit. That’s too long. Where do we stand on fuel right now?”

        “We’ll be out of liquid hydrogen in approximately… nope, never mind that, we just ran out. We can burn through the stored methane but the tank will need to recharge after a few hours.”

        “Let’s do that.”

        “Okay, and the winds actually are at our backs. The stress sails might be useful since we’re moving away from the poles.”

        “Let’s do that too.”

        “And we can use our suit packs. We’ve still got quite a bit of fuel in those. Here, gimme your anchor-”

        “Woah Woah Woah… slow down there. We can’t risk those.”

        “Well, we have to complete this distance sooner than later. We can switch out every few hours to manage the load.”

        “Okay, fine, but you sure as hell better tell me when I’m dipping below the recommended level. Assuming I don’t die before, what’s the verdict? Can we make it before the next storm?”

        A long pause. 

        “... It’ll be close by my estimates… ”

        “But?”

        “... But we can make it.”

        Kris clenched his fists. “That’s what I’m talking about. Set the sails and hold on to your testicles.”

        Nighttime falls. Kris stared into the darkened sky, wishfully hoping to see the familiar stars twinkling back. Instead, rolling white tufts blanketed the universe. Kris sighed. So this is loneliness. He turned on the intercom. 

        “Steven, you there?”

        “Always, my sweet honey.”

        “Can’t sleep?”

        “Nope.”

        “Wanna switch out with your battery pack?” 

         “Your levels are still barely diminished.”

        “Oh.”

        Kris shifted onto his side, rather facing the comforting darkness of his suit than the turbulent clouds. 

        “Hey Steven, why is my anchor plugged onto your boat?”

        “Cuz my motor is more efficient than yours.”

        “Oh.”

        More efficient huh? Yeah, Steven would take the more efficient emergency boat… 

        “Steven, are you sure my battery pack is still above the self-sustainment level?”

        “Huh? Oh, yeah it’s fine.”

        Kris pulled out his vitals' screen. Vitals; Battery; Level - Functioning.

        Kris nodded. Seems normal enough. He shivered. Man, I hate this place. Why’s it gotta be so cold all the time?

        He opened his systems to check on the temperature. 

        4°C. 

        4 degrees!

        “Steven! What are you doing?!”

        “Jesus Kris, stop yell-”

        “No, you shut the hell up. Why is my suit temperature system malfunctioning?”

        “I don’t know, check on your vitals’ page. Mayb-”

        “I did! It says systems are functioning, but they’re clearly not! What the - Achoo! - did you do?!”

        A pause. This followed by a clink of clasps unlocking.

        Kris’s boat wobbled. 

        “Steven, what’s going on?”

        No answer. 

        “STEVEN!” 

         Slotting his arms into the sleeve compartments, Kris leaped onto the open deck only to see Steven’s craft speeding away full-throttle over the waves.

        “Oh no, you don’t.”

        Kris retrieved the disconnected end of his anchor which Steven left dangling in the water and plugged it into his own motor core. He opened the valve and placed the boat into overdrive, only to be startled by a flashing alert. 

        Low power. 19%. 

        “That son of a gun.”

        Follow Steven or die Kris. Make up your mind. Kris overrode the warning and proceeded to give chase to his friend— former, of course. 

        “Steven! I know you’re still in comms range. Get your ass back here!”

        “No!”

        Steven’s craft was already a few hundred meters in front of Kris’s, skidding over the waves at a breakneck pace. 

        A shudder rippled through the steel underneath his feet. Kris snapped his head around, greeted by another low-power warning, this time from the ship’s monitor. He sighed. 

        “Welp… Can’t help it now.”

        Steven heard the sound of Kris’s engine fade into the crashing waves. His mouth’s corners twitched into a sly grin, then a smile, then a laugh. 

        The saltiness from his tears stung his chapped lips.

        A slight break in the waves froze the expression on Steven’s face. He checked the rearview monitor, his vision greeted by a speck of white and red bursting through the white ocean crests.

        He chuckled. “You’re kidding me.”

        Kris hammered down on the accelerator, bypassing every code of regulation and safety measure. Big red cautions of imminent death flashed across his helmet and keypad. Shut up, he screams at the computer. I know this is a bad idea.

        Wiping away droplets of condensation on his helmet, he realized that Steven’s boat has vanished beneath a growing wave surge.

        Okay, here I come you snake. He opened his anchor to full release and let his battery level drain to near empty. His screen dimmed and the audible buzz of heaters died to a whisper. Frost slowly built along the edges of his vision. His lips cracked and his skin blistered open.

        The boat’s bow slowly rose, sucking up towards the crest of the massive wave. Kris gripped the handles, the feeling in his fingers fading, overtaken by a numbing cold.

        The boat’s head pierced the wave, its center of gravity gliding over the crest. Kris’s stomach hung for a second, his body momentarily floating. In the distance, he saw the dim glow of salvation— a life support station. Below, a hundred meters deep in the wave’s trough, he distinguished another bright speck, from the eternal blackness, struggling to climb the rising walls of water.

        Gravity retook control. The bow plunged downwards in near-freefall. Diving at a vertical angle, Kris grabbed ahold of the steering knobs, nudging the direction of descent towards the growing shape of Steven’s boat. The distance began to close. Eighty meters. Fifty. Twenty.

        Like a tooth piercing through a chocolate bar, Kris’s boat rammed into Steven's stern, puncturing through the thin stainless steel frame. Steven’s craft spun out, and an audible crash of his suit signaled the presence of the spineless thief. 

        “Steven! Give me back my energy!”

        Static rung through the intercom. 

       “Steven!” Kris leaped over the crushed steel platings onto Steven’s craft. Losing sensation in his limbs, his legs clip the protruding steel edges, causing him to clatter to the ground.

        Frostbite claimed his fingers and toes, but gritting his teeth, Kris pushed himself onto his knees and crawled into the cockpit. “Steven!”

        Steven sprawled face down in a puddle of water, his visor smashed into dozens of shards. Using his shoulders and elbows, Kris flipped this crewmate’s body over. 

        Even with the chilling temperatures, a new source of cold seized Kris’s heart. He froze, staring into the iced-over eyes of his last fellow survivor— his face, paused mid-expression in surprise, fear, and sorrow, flash-frozen in time.

        Tears trickled from Kris’s eyes. He tried to reach for his friend’s battery—his arm creaked and stiffened, locking in place. He reached with his other arm. That too ceased to move. 

        Kris’s anguish crystalized on his cheeks. He gazed up at the night sky. The cloudy blankets parted, revealing the flaming sparks floating around in heaven above: so much warmth for a cold universe.

        And just as quickly as they appeared, the lights flickered out as the curtains of water closed in. Kris cried out, not ready for the cold.

        His voice is swallowed up by the waves of Uranus.

【紅霞譯文】

        “史蒂文，如果你不想吃它，那我就收拾了。”

        “好的，拿走吧。”

        克里斯跨過鐵栓鏈來到史蒂文飛船上，僅從長凳上面揀點有用的東西。他看準胳膊，去掉指頭，掰開橈骨和尺骨，將附肢托在器皿旁，讓血流入水中。

        “你可夠噁心的。”

        “打住，我餓得慌。”

        “喊餓，我倒成了你八十年代的老爸。”

        克里斯打開船艙，將鮮肉放入裡面烘箱內，待冒汽後，他雙臂縮進衣袖裡裹住熱飯周圍，嘗了一口，味道不錯，有點硬。

        “能吃嗎？”

        “強其餓着。”

        “少來。”

        克里斯默默把飯吃光。

        對講機輕聲響起：“你看，挺好玩吧？”

        “瞎說什麼，史蒂文？”

        “你就是食肉的傢伙，還吃禁物，”

        “是，怎麼啦？”

        “我搞不懂，覺得你吃基督禁食挺滑稽的。”

        “我是猶太人。”

        “一碼事。”

        史蒂文低聲輕笑。

        “史蒂文，別開玩笑。”

        史蒂文笑得更起勁。

        “史蒂文！怪你讓我們落到這個地步，閉嘴！誰都知道壓力閥已達極限，我簡直跟一個睜眼瞎共事！”

        呼氣，吐氣。“我對天發誓，是你在作而不是我，有你好瞧的。” 

        克里斯把厚衣服系在椅子上，腰板從強立姿勢鬆弛開來，透過齊胸窗口向波瀾起伏的地平線遠望，上……下……上……下……沉睡巨人幸福呼吸着。

        對講機發出靜電聲：“克里斯。”

        “別打擾我。” 

        “兩件事，其一：你開着麥克風。” 

        “沒錯，我剛從耳朵摘下來。”

        “其二：電源沒關。”

        克里斯亂摸觸感屏。“哦，現在你憑感覺就可判斷……”

        他拿起袖珍雷達顯示器，看到電磁脈衝發射出戲劇性綠紅色光。

        紅？

        “史蒂文，史蒂文！”

        “幹嗎？別沖麥克喊——”

        “我們找到目標了。”

        “什麼？！”

        “對，是的，千真萬確！”

        “見鬼，不可能，多遠呢？” 

        “讓我打開坐標。”

        克里斯垂頭喪氣。

        “糟糕。” 

        “怎麼了？” 

        “很遠，至少兩百點擊以遠。”

        “天喲，它肯定在雷達區盡端。” 

        “對嘛，地圖上恰好有它，我們要花多長時間？” 

        “克里斯，假如交通齊備燃料充足，我們至少還需三天時間。”

        “該死的，要那麼久，我們現有多少燃料？”

        “恐怕快用完液化氫……不，沒那回事，剛用光。我們可以燒壓縮甲烷，但幾個小時後需要充氣。”

        “動手吧。”

        “沒問題，實際上我們背風，應力帆可能有用，畢竟我們遠離兩極。”

        “那就按上它。”

        “而且能用小包裝，我們有不少這種燃料。來吧，把船錨遞給我——”

        “喔喔喔……悠着點，千萬別弄壞。”

        “好的，我們必須儘早抵達目的地，要每隔個把小時更新備料。”

        “行，就這麼着，若達不到最佳狀況，你務必告訴我。要是我安然無恙，你覺得如何？我們能趕在下場風暴之前到達嗎？”

        沉默良久。

        “……依我看非常接近……”

        “但？”

        “...但我們能做到。”

        克里斯握緊拳頭。“這正是我要說的，揚帆起航，保持鎮定。”

        夜幕降臨，克里斯凝視漆黑天空，希望能再度看見熟知的繁星發亮，然而，大片白色光帶覆蓋了整個宇宙。克里斯嘆了口氣，多麼寂靜的星空。他打開對講機。

        “史蒂文，你在嗎？”

        “一直在，哥們。”

        “睡不着覺？”

        “沒錯。”

       “想關掉蓄電池片嗎？”

        “你的電池水平幾乎沒有降低。”

        克里斯掉轉身子，朝向黑暗船艙這側，而不是面對湍流雲那邊。

        “哦。”

        “嘿史蒂文，為什麼我的船錨在你船上？”

        “因為我的馬達比你的功率大。”

        功率高嗎？是的，史蒂文乘坐功率更佳的救生船……

        “哦。”

        “史蒂文，你確定我的蓄電池片仍處在自動運作水平之上？”

        “咦？對，挺不錯。”

        克里斯調出關鍵性數據屏面：性能、電池、狀態——正常運行。

        克里斯點了點頭，似乎很正常。他渾身發抖。夥計，我討厭這個地方，為什麼老這麼冷？

        他打開系統檢查溫度。

        攝氏四度。

        四度！

        “史蒂文！你在做什麼？”

        “上帝克里斯啊，別喊了——”

        “不，你給我把閉嘴。為什麼我的船艙溫度系統出現故障？”

        “我不知道，查一下你的重要信息頁面，可——”

        “我查了！說是系統正常運行，但肯定不是！怎沒——阿嚏！-——你動了什麼手腳？”

        停頓片刻，接着一連串解扣聲。

        克里斯的船搖晃起來。

        “史蒂文，怎麼回事？”

        沒有回音。

       “史蒂文！”

        克里斯將手臂縮進袖內，跳上敞篷甲板，只見史蒂文飛船在波浪中全速前進。

        “哦不，別這樣。”

        克里斯找到史蒂文扔在水中漂浮的斷錨那端，，將其插入自己馬達芯中。他打開閥門超速行駛，結果被預警燈嚇呆。

        電量不足，19%。

        “見鬼。”

        是步史蒂文後塵還是像克里斯等死，必須當機立斷。克里斯關掉警報，掉頭去追趕朋友——當然是過去的朋友。

        “史蒂文！我知道你還在通訊範圍之內，快滾回來！”

        “沒門！”

        史蒂文飛船距離克里斯好幾百米遠，正以驚人的速度破浪行駛。

        腳下甲板劇烈顫抖，克里斯抱頭敲打腦袋，這時船上監視器再次警告電量不足。他嘆了口氣。

        “哎……現在毫無辦法。”

        史蒂文聽到克里斯的馬達聲漸漸消逝，嘴角布滿狡黠，隨即露出微笑，接着開心大笑。

        過鹹的眼淚刺痛了他乾裂的嘴唇。

        海浪中史蒂文表情出現片刻沉靜。他查看後視屏，眼前白色波峰泛起點點紅白水花。

        他咯咯大笑：“你在鬧着玩。”

        克里斯踩下油門踏板，避開所有法規條款和安全措施，頭盔和鍵盤上閃着通往死亡大紅色警示。安靜，他對電腦尖聲嚎叫，我知道這是餿主意。

        他擦去頭盔上凝結的水珠，意識到史蒂文的飛船已經消失在甚囂塵上的激浪之中。

        好吧，等着瞧。他完全拉開船錨，把電池容量消耗殆盡，這時屏幕變暗，加熱器轟鳴聲逐漸減弱，寒霜慢慢擋住視線，嘴唇乾裂，皮膚磨出水泡。

        船弓緩緩升起，猛然扎進巨浪波濤之中，克里斯握住手柄，手指逐漸麻木得失去了知覺。

        船頭扎進海浪，船身滑過波峰，克里斯一度要吐，頓時渾身上下輕飄飄的，只見遠方光影綽綽——那是生命的港灣。在海浪深處百米下方，他從永恆的黑暗中又辨認出一線光芒，努力攀越不斷提升的水牆。

        重力重新得到控制，船弓近乎自由墜下，克里斯抓住方向盤垂直落入水中，順勢朝史蒂文的飛船方向奔去，距離逐漸拉近，八十米、五十米、二十米。

        好比牙齒咬穿巧克力糖，克里斯小船撞擊史蒂文船尾，戳破不鏽鋼外表薄皮，一下子把史蒂文飛船撞翻，船艙應聲破碎得稀巴爛。

        “史蒂文！扶我起來！”

        對講機靜電聲不斷。

        “史蒂文！”克里斯跨過鋼板碎片來到史蒂文飛船。史蒂文四肢失去知覺，雙腿被外凸鋼板之間卡住動彈不得。

        儘管寒氣逼人，但另一股涼意更令克里斯傷心。他僵楞在那裡，注視最後一個雙眼結冰的倖存者——臉上凝聚着被時間定格的驚訝、恐懼和悲傷。

        雖然手指和腳趾凍僵，但克里斯還是咬緊牙關，匍匐爬進駕駛艙。“史蒂文！”

        史蒂文臉朝地趴在水坑裡，頭上的面罩被砸成幾十個碎片，克里斯好不容易用肩肘才把他翻過身來。

        眼淚從克里斯的眼睛流了下來，他試圖去夠朋友的蓄電池——手臂吱嘎作響，僵直動彈不得。他又試圖伸出另一隻胳膊，也是不聽使喚。

        斯臉上痛苦不堪。他仰望夜空，烏雲像是給大地鋪上了片片絨毯，熾熱的火花在天上閃爍：對於寒冷的宇宙來說該有多溫暖。

        火花轉瞬即逝，大雨遮住了亮光。克里斯失聲痛哭，真不想受凍。

        上帝並沒有聽到他的聲音。