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Chapter 3
第三章
As if taunting them with the weather’s capriciousness, the next morning on Bhekar Ro dawned bright and clear.
as if: 好像，仿佛 taunt:戏弄 weather: 天气 capriciousness: 反复无常 dawn: 黎明 bright: 明亮的
变化无常的天气很多时候看起来像是有意在戏弄殖民者，第二天，Bhekar Ro的黎明格外明朗。
It reminded Octavia of the photo-images the original survey crew had shown her grandparents to lure them and the first group of desperate settlers here.
remind: 提醒 remind of: 使人…想起 photo-images: 照片 original survey crew: 联邦测绘队 grandparent: 祖父母 lure: 引诱 desperate: 绝望的 settler: 移民者
联邦测绘队当时利用照片把类似Octavia的祖父母这些的第一批绝望的移民者引诱到这个星球上，而现在眼前的景象让Octavia不禁想起来了那些照片。
Maybe it wasn't all lies after all. . . .
maybe: 或许 lie: 谎言，撒谎 after all: 终究
也许这一切并不全都是谎言……
As she and Lars cracked open the door seal of their dwelling, a trickle of rainwater ran down from the entryway, pattering onto the soft ground.
crack open: 用力打开 seal: 密封 dwelling: 住处 trickle: 滴 rainwater: 雨水 entryway:通道 patter: 滴答声 soft: 柔软的
她和Lars打开了紧闭的房门，一股雨水从通道上滴下来，落在了柔软的地面上。
High overhead, the angular shape of a glider hawk cruised along, searching for the flooded-out bodies of drowned lizards.
overhead: 在头上的 angular: 棱角 shape: 形状 glider: 滑翔 hawk: 鹰 cruise along:盘旋 search for: 寻找 flooded-out: 洪水淹没的 body: 尸体 drowned: 淹死的 lizard:蜥蜴
头顶上，一只老鹰独自在滑翔，寻找着漂在水面上那些淹死的蜥蜴的尸体。
Octavia trudged across the drying muck to the robo-harvester. With a shake of her short brown curls, she set to work.
trudge : 跋涉 drying: 干燥的 muck: 垃圾 robo-harvester: 机械收割机 shake: 摇动 brown curls: 褐色卷发 set to: 着手
Octavia越过满地的垃圾，来到机械收割机边上，甩了甩她褐色的短发，开始工作。
She ran an experienced eye over the hull and noticed dozens of new hail craters pounded into the metal, making it look like the rind of a sourange.
experienced: 熟练的 hull: 外壳 notice: 注意 dozen: 十多个 hail: 冰雹 crater: 弹坑 pound: 猛击 metal: 金属 rind: 外壳 sourange: 酸橘子水果糖
她地往机械收割机的顶上扫了一眼，发现冰雹把收割机顶砸出了一大堆坑洞，搞得收割机的外壳变成了水果糖模样。
Of course, nobody on Bhekar Ro cared much about shiny paint jobs, as long as the equipment worked.
nobody: 无人 care about: 关心 shiny: 发光的 paint: 涂漆 as long as: 只要 equipment:设备
当然了，只要这些玩意儿还能工作，Bhekar Ro上没人会去重新给它们刷油漆。
She was relieved to find that the storm had done no serious damage to the machinery.
relieve: 宽慰 storm: 风暴 serious: 严重的 damage: 损害 machinery: 机械
还好，风暴并没有给收割机带来什么严重的损坏，Octavia松了口气。
Up and down the town streets, ragged colonists woke up and emerged from their houses to assess the damage, as they had done so many times before.
up and down: 到处 town: 小镇 ragged: 衣衫褴褛的 colonist: 殖民者 wake up: 醒来 emerge: 出来 assess: 评论
镇上的街道挤满了喧闹的殖民者。他们刚刚起床便从屋里跑出来，像之前每一次风暴发生过后一样，去做一些修复的工作。
From a nearby dwelling, Abdel and Shayna Bradshaw were already squabbling, dismayed at the amount of repair work they would have to do.
nearby: 附近的 dwelling: 住处 squabble: 争论 dismay: 沮丧 amount: 数量 repair: 修理 have to: 必须
在旁边的一间房子外面，Abdel和Shayna Bradshaw正看着他们的机械，沉重的修复工作搞的他们很沮丧。
From across the street Kiernan and Kirsten Warner waved to Cyn McCarthy, who trotted toward the mayor's house at the center of town,
from across: 从…那边 waved to: 向…挥手 trot: 小步跑 mayor: 市长
街那边，Kiernan和Kirsten Warner向Cyn McCarthy招着手。Cyn则跑向镇中间的市长的房子。
an optimistic smile on her freckled face in spite of the disaster.
optimistic: 乐观的 freckled: 有雀斑的 in spite of: 不顾 disaster: 灾难
她长满雀斑的脸上挂着微笑，仿佛什么坏事都没发生过。
Good-natured Cyn had a habit of offering her help wherever it might be needed, though the copper-haired young woman often forgot to do what she had promised.
good-natured: 和善的 habit: 习惯 offer: 提供 wherever: 无论何时 though:尽管 copper-haired: 铜色头发的 forget: 忘记 promise: 允诺
Cyn天性善良，长着铜色的头发。她总是会忘掉许诺要做的事情，却从来不吝啬自己对别人的帮助，哪怕并不需要。
Because the rough weather came at unpredictable times, with no identifiable storm season, the settlers had a continuous battle to repair what was broken.
rough: 恶劣的 weather: 天气 unpredictable: 不可预测的 identifiable: 可辨认的 storm:暴风雨 season: 季节 settler: 殖民者 continuous: 持续的 battle: 斗争 break: 坏掉的
殖民者总是需要不断地修补自己的东西，因为Bhekar Ro上糟糕的天气向来毫无预兆地出现，况且这儿也没有“暴风雨季”这样的说法。
They constantly planted the cleared fields, rotating crops from whip-barley to triticale-wheat to salad-moss,
constantly: 不断地 plant: 种植 clear fields: 清理农田 rotate: 更迭 crop: 农作物 whip-barley: 大麦 triticale-wheat: 黑小麦 salad-moss: 绿叶苔
也正是由于天气是这样的恶劣，殖民者只好一茬接一茬往农田里种谷子，先是大麦，然后是黑小麦，再是绿叶苔，
hoping to harvest more than they lost, striving to get two steps ahead before they had to take one step back again.
harvest: 收获 more than: 超出 lose: 失去的 strive: 努力 get ahead: 获得成功 step:步 take back: 后退
希望这样耕作可以得到更好的收成，以弥补损失。他们努力奋斗着，期待着能在倒退一步之前走出两步。
Among the casualties of the devastating spore plague had been four of the colony's best scientists.
among: 在…之中 casualty: 受害者 devastating: 毁灭性的 spore: 孢子 plague: 瘟疫 colony: 殖民地 scientist: 科学家
在真菌瘟疫中遇难的人里有4名是殖民者最好的科学家。
Cyn McCarthy's husband, Wyl, a second-generation chemical engineer, had been one of them.
husband: 丈夫 generation: 一代人 chemical: 化学的 engineer: 工程师
Cyn McCarthy的丈夫，第二代化学工程师Wyl，就是其中的一个。
For the first decades, the scientists had worked with the planet's resources and environment,
decade: 十年 planet: 星球 resource: 资源 environment: 环境
第一代的科学家的工作方向多数都是星球的资源和环境，
concocting biological modifications of the crops and animals to increase their chances of survival.
concoct: 调制 biological: 生物学的 modification: 改良 crop: 农作物 animal: 动物 increase: 增强 chance: 机会 survival: 生存
致力于对动物和作物做出生物学上的改良，好让它们能在这个环境里更好的存活。
Free Haven had been stable for a while, the arable land slowly increasing.
stable: 稳定的 for a while: 暂时 arable: 可耕种的 land: 土地 slowly: 慢慢地 increasing: 增加
于是Free Haven的环境稳定了一段时间，可以耕作的土地面积缓慢地增加着。
But the deaths of these educated people left the rest of the untrained settlers too busy with simple survival to learn any new specialties.
death: 死亡 educated: 有知识的 rest: 其余的人，休息 untrained: 未受过训练的 settler:殖民者 busy: 忙碌 simple: 基本的 survival: 生存 learn: 学习 specialty: 专业
幸存的殖民者不得不为了维生而终日奔波，失去了这些科学家以后，他们甚至没有时间去学习任何新的技术。
The colonists went about their tasks as farmers, mechanics, and miners, their daylight hours filled with urgent matters that left no time for exploration or expansion.
colonist: 殖民者 go about: 着手 task: 任务 farmer: 农民 mechanic: 机修工 miner: 矿工 daylight: 白天 fill: 填满 urgent: 紧要的 matter: 事情 exploration: 勘探 expansion:扩张
这些殖民者一般是农民，机械工程师和矿工。他们白天通常要忙于各种紧迫的任务，根本没有精力探险或者扩张。
The general consensus, voiced by Mayor Nikolai, was that investigation and scientific pursuits were a luxury they could return to at some later date.
general: 所有的 consensus: 一致同意 investigation: 调查 scientific: 科学的 pursuit: 追求 luxury: 奢侈 return to: 恢复到 at some later date: 在日后
由Mayor Nikolai代表的这一代人一致同意，去追求科技和发明实在是太过于奢侈，他们短期不打算考虑这样做。
“Any real damage?” Lars asked his sister as she finished her inspection of the big robo-harvester.
real: 真正的 damage: 损伤 inspection: 检查 robo-harvester: 机械收割机
“有什么大问题吗？”Octavia刚刚检查完机械收割机，Lars就问了起来。
Octavia rapped her knuckles on the pitted and scarred door. “A few more scrapes. Just cosmetic.”
rap: 轻敲 knuckle: 指节 pit: 坑痕 scarred: 有疤痕的 scrape: 刮痕 cosmetic: 装饰性的
Octavia弯起手指头敲了敲满目疮痍的舱门。“多了几条划痕而已，就当是装饰吧。”
“Beauty marks. Adds character.” Lars opened the door, and melted hailwater ran out of the cab and down through the flat metal treads.
mark: 痕迹 add: 增加 character: 特色 melt: 融化 hailwater: 冰雹水 run out of: 从…出来 cab: 舱顶 flat: 平的 metal tread: 机械脚
“真好看，挺有个性的。”Lars推开门，融化了的冰雹水从舱顶流出来，流过机械脚，一直淌到地上。
“We need to get out to the Back Forty and check on those seismographs and the mining stations. That quake hit them pretty hard.”
get out: 出去 check on: 检查 seismograph: 地震仪 mining: 采矿 quake: 地震 hit: 打击
“我们得去Back Forty看看地震仪和矿井。它们估计被地震弄的够呛。”
Octavia smiled, knowing her brother well. “And, since we're out there, you'll want to see if the tremors uncovered anything.”
since: 自从 out there: 在那里 tremor: 震动 uncover: 使露出
Octavia轻轻笑了一下。她自然很了解自己的哥哥。“当然，到了那儿以后，你肯定还想去看看地震有没有震出啥玩意儿来。”
He gave her that grin again. “Just part of the job. We registered some pretty hefty seismic jolts. Could be significant.
grin: 咧嘴笑 register: 登记 hefty: 巨大的 seismic: 地震的 jolt: 震动 significant: 有意义的
他又一次冲着她咧嘴笑了起来：“那只是一部分罢了。我们不是已经登记了一些重型地震仪吗？肯定会很有用的。
And you know none of the other settlers is going to bother taking a look.”
settler: 殖民者 bother: 操心 take a look: 看一看
你也知道，没其他人愿意去看看。”
The decades-old weather stations and seismographs the scientists had set up at the valley perimeter continued to take readings, and occasionally Lars would retrieve the data.
decade: 十年 weather station: 气象台 seismograph: 地震仪 scientist: 科学家 set up:建立 valley: 山谷 perimeter: 周围 take readings: 采取读数 occasionally: 偶尔地 retrieve: 重获 data: 数据
十年前由科学家们建造在山谷周围的气象台和地震仪至今依然在工作，Lars偶尔也能下载一些数据。
For the most part, the settlers stayed within their safe cultivated valley,
for the most part: 一般地 settler: 殖民者 cultivated: 耕种的
基本上，殖民者都会安分地呆在他们开垦过的安全的山谷里，
growing enough food to stay alive, mining enough minerals to repair their facilities, but never expanding beyond their capabilities.
grow: 种植 alive: 生存 mine: 采矿 mineral: 矿石 repair: 修补 facility: 设备 expand:扩张 beyond: 超出 capability: 能力
收获足够维生的食物，采集足够修补工具的矿物，从来不做能力之外的扩张。
In the past, other colonists had tried to establish settlements beyond the main valley.
in the past: 在过去 colonist: 殖民者 try: 尝试 establish: 建立 settlement: 居留地 main: 主要的 valley: 山谷
在过去，有些殖民者尝试过在主山谷边上建立新的殖民地。
Some had moved away from Free Haven, searching for better farmland.
move away: 搬走 search for: 寻找 farmland: 农田
有些人也离开了Free Haven去寻找更好的农田。
But one by one each of those distant farms had fallen to blight, plague, or natural disaster, and the few survivors had made their way back to the colony town in defeat.
one by one: 一个接一个 distant: 在远处的 farm: 农场 fall to: 被…击败 blight: 枯痿病 plague: 瘟疫 natural disaster: 自然灾害 survivor: 幸存者 colony: 殖民地 in defeat: 败退
不过那些遥远的农场一个接一个遭遇了枯死病，瘟疫，或者自然灾害，只有少数的幸存者最后回到了Free Haven。
Octavia climbed aboard the robo-harvester with Lars as he powered up the engines. She swung the door shut just as the thick treads began to move.
climb: 攀登 robo-harvester: 机械收割机 power up: 发动 engine: 引擎 swing: 转动 shut: 关闭 thick: 沉重的 tread: 机械脚
Lars发动了机械收割机的引擎，Octavia随后爬了上去。沉重的机械脚开始移动了，她关上了门。
Other settlers set out in their own vehicles to inspect their fields, clearly anticipating the worst.
settler: 殖民者 set out: 开始 vehicle: 交通工具 inspect: 检查 field: 田地 anticipate: 期望 worst: 最坏的
其他的殖民者也钻进了他们的收割机，做着最坏的打算，准备去检查各自的耕地。
Octavia and Lars took the robo-harvester far out toward the foothills.
take out: 出发 foothill: 丘陵
Octavia和Lars驾驶着机械收割机开向远处的丘陵。
Lars had the true pioneer spirit, always wanting to find new mineral deposits, productive Vespene geysers, fertile land.
pioneer: 拓荒者 spirit: 精神 mineral: 矿石 deposit: 矿藏 productive: 丰饶的 geyser:喷井 fertile: 肥沃的 land: 土地
Lars的确是一个先锋，总是向往着发现新的晶矿、Vespene气矿或者肥沃的土壤。
He would be happy just to make discoveries, while Octavia hoped to fulfill her parents' dream and actually transform Bhekar Ro into a place where they could be proud to live. Someday.
discovery: 探索 while: 然而 fulfill: 实现 dream: 梦想 actually: 实际上 transform: 使改变 proud: 自豪的 someday: 某天
他总是乐于探险，而Octavia却只是希望实现她父母的愿望，在未来的某一天将Bhekar Ro改造成一个令人骄傲的理想居所。
As the big vehicle trundled across the valley floor, she could see that many of the fragile crops had been hammered by the storm.
vehicle: 交通工具 trundle: 移动 valley: 山谷 floor: 地面 fragile: 易碎的 crop: 农作物 hammer: 锤击 storm: 风暴
巨大的收割机在山谷的地上推进，她看到满地都是被风暴吹成碎片的谷物。
The hail and sonic thunder had battered tall stalks to the mucky ground or bruised unripened fruit; the laser-lightning had set stunted orchards on fire.
hail: 冰雹 sonic thunder: 雷鸣 batter: 连续猛击 stalk: 茎梗 mucky: 泥泞的 bruise: 碰伤 unripe: 未熟的 fruit: 水果 laser-lighting: 激光波 set: 设置 stunted: 矮小的 orchard: 果树林 set on fire: 点燃
冰雹和雷鸣把高大的茎杆砸倒在乱糟糟的地上，把光滑的水果砸到坑坑洼洼；激光波则把矮小的果树都点着了。
A few hardy farmers were already out trying to salvage what they could.
hardy: 能吃苦耐劳的 farmer: 农民 try: 尝试 salvage: 抢救
一些农民正在尽力抢救他们的东西。
Gandhi and Liberty Ryan, sweating in their overalls, worked hard to erect protective bubbles over the seedlings, assisted by their adopted hand, Brutus Jensen, and three children of their own.
sweat: 出汗 overall: 全身 erect: 竖立 protective: 保护的 bubble: 透明圆罩 seedling:幼苗 assist: 协助 adopt: 采用
Gandhi和Liberty Ryan，在他们的雇员Brutus Jensen，和三个孩子的帮助下，全力在往秧苗上竖保护泡。
The family members were too tired even to talk to one another as they went about their labors.
family: 家庭 member: 成员 tired: 疲劳的 go about: 着手做 labor: 工作
那家人卖力地工作着，累得连话都没劲说一句。
Brutus Jensen managed to give them a half-hearted wave, while the Ryans could barely nod.
half-hearted: 缺乏热情的 wave: 挥手示意 while: 然而 barely: 仅仅 nod: 点头
Brutus Jensen无力地挥手致意，Ryan仅仅点头示意。
Kilometers farther along, the road dwindled to little-more than a path marked on a navigation screen.
kilometer: 公里 dwindle: 缩小 path: 小路 mark: 标记 navigation screen: 屏幕导航
又前进了几公里，道路已经变的很窄了，只比显示屏上标记的小径宽一点点。
They paused briefly at the far edge of the officially settled area.
pause: 暂停 briefly: 短暂的 edge: 边缘 officially: 正式地 settled area: 殖民区
他们暂时在殖民地边缘停了下来。
Lars kept the robo-harvester's engine running as he called out in the direction of a shack and some storehouses.
robo-harvester: 机械收割机 engine: 引擎 run: 运转 call out: 大声叫喊 in the direction of: 朝着…的方向 shack: 小屋 storehouse: 仓库
Lars让机械收割机的引擎保持运转，同时朝着外面一些仓库和小房间的方向喊到：
“Hey, Rastin! Get out of that puttering refinery and hook us up so we can fill our tanks. Or have you been sniffing too much Vespene gas?”
get out of: 从…出来 puttering: 闲荡的 refinery: 精炼厂 hook up: 钩起 fill: 添满 sniff:吸进 gas: 天然气
“嘿，Rastin！赶快从你那破精练厂里跑出来，把我们吊上去，我们要给坦克(收割机)加点油。你是不是吸Vespene 气体吸得太多啦？”
The lanky old prospector strode around the hissing and throbbing stations he had built around the cluster of chemical geysers where he had staked his claim.
lanky: 瘦长的 prospector: 矿工 stride: 大步走 hissing: 发出嘶嘶声的 throbbing: 抽动的 station: 站 cluster: 群 chemical: 化学的 geyser: 喷井 stake: 对…的所有权 claim:所有权
那位高而瘦的老矿工大步绕过建在一簇化能锅炉边上的气站。
Old Blue, his mastiff-sized dog, came out from his sleeping hole under the corrugated metal porch.
mastiff-sized: 大型猛犬型的 hole: 洞 corrugate: 波浪型的 metal: 金属 porch: 门廊
他养的大狗Old Blue也从褶皱的金属门廊下的窝里跑了出来。
The dog's lips were curled back and his sky-blue fur bristled as he growled,
lip: 嘴唇 curl back: 卷回 sky-blue: 天蓝色的 fur: 毛皮 bristle: 毛发竖立 growl: 狂吠
Old Blue的嘴唇是卷向后面的，它天蓝色的毛随着狂吠而慢慢竖了起来，
but Octavia climbed out of the robo-harvester and clapped her hands. “You don't fool me, you grouch of a dog.”
climb out of: 从…爬出 robo-harvester: 机械收割机 clap: 拍手 fool: 愚弄 grouch: 脾气坏的
不过Octavia还是从机械收割机里爬了出来，拍拍手说：“你可骗不了我，你这臭狗。”
With a happy bark, Old Blue bounded toward her, his thick tail wagging.
bark: 吠 bound: 跳着跑动 thick: 粗的 tail: 尾巴 wag: 摇摆
Old Blue开心地叫了一声，摇着粗尾巴朝她奔了过去。
She patted his head and high shoulders, trying unsuccessfully to keep his muddy paws off her jumpsuit.
pat: 轻拍 shoulder: 肩膀 unsuccessfully: 徒劳的 keep off: 避开 muddy: 泥泞的 paw:爪子 jumpsuit: 连身工作服
她轻拍它的脑袋和肩膀，想让它把泥乎乎的爪子从她连身衣上拿下去，可惜大狗并不理会。
Rastin and Lars exchanged complaints and insults—because that was the way the old prospector conducted business—but Rastin wasted no time filling up their vehicle.
exchange: 交换 complaint: 抱怨 insult: 侮辱 prospector: 矿工 conduct: 举止 business: 工作 waste: 浪费 fill up: 填满 vehicle: 交通工具
Rastin和Lars互相抱怨、嘲弄对方——别奇怪，这是老矿工干活时候的习惯——但是Rastin还是利索地灌满了他们的车子。
Octavia had never been able to decide whether the codger was an efficient worker or just anxious to get rid of any visitors so he could go back to his solitude.
decide: 决定 codger: 怪人 efficient: 效率高的 worker: 工人 anxious: 急切的 rid of:摆脱 visitor: 来访者 solitude: 独居
Octavia一直没法搞清楚，这个古怪的老头到底是个能干的工人还是只想着快点打发走前来光顾的人好继续一个人独处。
One of the few surviving original settlers, Rastin had been independent and alone on Bhekar Ro for forty years.
survive: 幸存 original: 最初的 settler: 殖民者 independent: 独立的 alone: 单独的
Rastin是最初的殖民者中少数几个幸存者之一，他在Bhekar Ro已经独自一人生活了四十年。
He had always wanted to get away from the Terran Confederacy, and might actually have preferred an empty habitable world all his own;
get away from: 摆脱 confederacy: 联邦 actually: 真正地 prefer: 更喜欢 habitable: 可居住的
他一直以来都想摆脱Terran联邦，希望找到一个只属于他自己的世界。
the small group on this planet had been the best he could do.
group: 群体 planet: 星球
这个星球上的这群人是他目前最好的选择了。
Rastin lived in an often-repaired shack made out of spare components.
live: 居住 often-repaired: 常常修理的 shack: 小屋 make out of: 由…做成 spare: 多余的 component: 零件
Rastin居住的小屋是用剩余的材料搭建而成的，三天两头就得修理一番。
He had erected his refinery over a cluster of four Vespene geysers, one of which was already played out.
erect: 架设 refinery: 精练厂 cluster: 群 geyser: 喷井 play out: 耗尽
他把自己的精练厂建在了四座Vespene Gas矿旁边，其中有一座在之前就已经枯竭了。
The remaining trio of geysers produced enough of the fuel to meet the colony's modest needs.
remain: 剩余 trio: 三个一组 produce: 出产 enough: 足够的 fuel: 燃料 meet: 满足 colony: 殖民地 modest: 不太多的 need: 需求
余下的三座气站一直为殖民者提供着充足的油气。
Having fueled the robo-harvester, the old prospector sent them off with a gruff wave that looked very much like a gesture of disgust.
fuel: 加燃料 robo-harvester: 机械收割机 prospector: 矿工 send off: 送行 gruff: 粗鲁的 wave: 挥手 gesture: 姿态 disgust: 厌恶
灌满了机械收割机以后，老矿工急忙挥手想把他们送走，看起来就像这些人令他作呕似的。
Octavia patted Old Blue's big head again before she stepped back up onto the vehicle's muddy treads.
pat: 轻拍 step back: 退后 vehicle: 交通工具 muddy: 泥泞的 tread: 机械脚
Octavia又拍了拍Old Blue的脑袋，回身爬上收割机沾满泥巴的机械脚。
The dog bounded off with the grace of a jumping mule as it spotted a hairy rodent dashing between broken rocks.
bound: 跳着跑动 grace: 优美 jump: 跳跃 mule: 骡子 spotted: 弄污的 hairy: 多毛的 rodent: 啮齿动物 dash: 飞奔 broken: 破碎的 rock: 石头
大狗跑了回去，像是破石头堆中一团奔跑着的毛球。
Rastin went back to tinkering with his equipment, grumbling because after the earthquake another of the geysers had stopped producing.
tinker: 拙劣地修补 equipment: 工具 grumble: 抱怨 earthquake: 地震 geyser: 喷井 produce: 生产
Rastin拿着工具骂骂咧咧地回到锅炉旁边。地震之后，又有一座气站停止了工作。
He delivered a swift kick to the pumping station, but even this tried-and-true repair procedure did not wake the geyser.
deliver a kick: 踢了一脚 swift: 快速的 pumping station: 水泵站 even: 甚至 tried and true: 屡试不爽的 repair: 修补 procedure: 步骤，方法 wake: 醒来，唤醒
他朝着水泵站踢了一脚，不过即使是这个屡试不爽的方法也没法让那个气站恢复过来。
Leaving Rastin's homestead, Lars and Octavia ascended into the steep foothills toward the boundary ridge. The terrain became much rougher.
homestead: 住处 ascend: 攀登 steep: 陡峭的 foothills: 丘陵 boundary: 边界 ridge:山脊 terrain: 地形 rough: 崎岖的
离开Rastin的家，Lars和Octavia爬上陡峭的小山开赴边缘山脉。地形变得更加崎岖。
Their Back Forty extended far past where the potential cropland had been demarcated by the cooperative families.
extend: 延伸 potential: 潜在的 cropland: 耕地 demarcate: 划分 cooperative: 合作的 family: 一群
他们的Back Forty远在之前大家划定的潜在耕地范围之外。
Out here, the mineral and resource rights had been up for grabs to anyone with the spare time or ambition to increase their acreage.
out here: 到这里 mineral: 矿物 resource: 资源 right: 权力 grab: 抓取 spare: 多余的 ambition: 雄心 increase: 增加 acreage: 土地面积
越过了边界，任何有时间或者有雄心去扩大自己土地的人都有权力开采任何矿物和资源。
So Lars and Octavia had staked out a claim, in addition to the fields their parents and grandparents had tilled.
stake out: 立桩标出 claim: 所有权 in addition to: 除…之外 field: 田地 grandparent: 祖父母 till: 耕作
所以Lars和Octavia圈下了那儿，在他们父母和祖父母所拥有的土地上又增加了一块。
As the morning grew warmer and the orange sun climbed into the sky, bleaching away shadows,
grow: 逐渐变得 warm: 温暖 orange: 桔红色的 sun: 太阳 climb: 爬上 sky: 天空 bleach: 消除 shadow: 阴影
清晨越来越温暖，桔红色的太阳爬上了天空，驱走了阴影。
the robo-harvester clawed up a steep ridge, following paths that only Lars had ever driven.
robo-harvester: 机械收割机 claw: 爬 steep: 陡峭的 ridge: 山脊 follow: 沿着 path: 小路 drive: 行驶
机械收割机爬上了一座小山的山脊，沿着只有Lars和Octavia行驶过的小路继续前进。
“Our mining stations are still off-line,” he said, his voice flat. “And that's the most I can say.”
mining station: 矿井 off-line: 脱机 voice: 声音 flat: 单调的
“我们的矿井还是没在工作，”他淡淡道，“我只知道这些了。
As he brought the robo-harvester to a halt, Octavia could see to her dismay that the automated installations were tilted on their anchor pads, obviously damaged and unable to function.
halt: 停止 dismay: 沮丧 automate: 自动化的 installation: 装置 tilt: 倾斜 anchor: 铁锚 pad: 垫 obviously: 明显地 damage: 损坏 function: 运行
当他把机械收割机停下来的时候，Octavia终于沮丧地看到他们的自动装置斜翘在锚链上，明显被弄坏了，没法工作。
“Go to it, Octavia—you're the expert.”
go to it: 努力干 expert: 专家
“去修修吧，Octavia——你是专家。”
With a sigh, she descended from the vehicle and hunkered down to see how much repair the mining stations would require.
sigh: 叹气 descend: 下降 vehicle: 交通工具 hunker: 蹲下 repair: 维修 mining: 采矿 station: 站 require: 需求
她叹了一口气，从收割机上走出去，坐到地上去看到底矿井需要多大程度的维修。
She studied the control panel of the processing turret, surprised at how many red warning lights were illuminated at the same time.
study: 留心查看 control: 控制 panel: 面板 processing: 数据处理 turret: 塔楼 surprise:吃惊 warning: 警告 light: 灯 illuminated: 发光的 at the same time: 同时
处理塔上的控制面板里，许许多多红色的报警灯同时闪烁着，着实让人吃惊。
Under normal operation, the clunky machines would wander over the rocky slopes, taking mineral samples and marking desirable deposits.
normal: 正常的 operation: 运转 clunky: 发轰鸣声的 machine: 机器 wander over: 漫步 rocky: 岩石的 slope: 斜坡 mineral: 矿物的 samples: 样本 mark: 标记 desirable: 可取的 deposit: 矿藏
正常的时候，这些轰鸣的机器会自己在石坡上走来走去，采集矿物标本并标记能用的矿井。
Then processing turrets would be erected so that the mining and extraction activities could continue until a valuable vein had been processed,
processing: 数据处理 turret: 塔楼 erect: 架设 mining: 采矿 extraction: 开采 activity:正常运行 valuable: 贵重的 vein: 矿脉 process: 加工
接下来会竖起一座处理塔，这样就能一直开矿，直到所有能开的都开完。
while the mechanized scout continued to search for more sites.
while: 同时 mechanize: 机械化 scout: 探测器 search: 搜索 site: 地点
同时，机械探测器也会去继续寻找更多的矿脉。
Lars left his sister to her work. “I'm going up to the top of the ridge to see about those seismographs. Maybe I can fix them myself.”
leave: 离开 go up to: 前往 top: 顶部 ridge: 山脊 seismograph: 地震仪 fix: 修理
Lars想要离开。“我准备去山顶上看看地震仪，没准我能自己把它们都修好。
Octavia suppressed a disbelieving snort. “Be my guest.” ‘
suppress: 抑制 disbelieving: 怀疑的 snort: 喷鼻息 be my guest: 请便
Octavia怀疑地嗤了他一声：“你别插手。”
Her brother climbed up the slope from boulder to boulder, until he topped the saddle and stared across the next valley.
climb up: 爬上 slope: 斜坡 boulder: 巨石 saddle: 山口 stare: 凝视 across: 穿过 valley: 山谷
他哥哥从一块石头爬到另一块石头，向山顶爬去。最后他总算上到山顶，凝视着另一个山谷。
She didn't notice how long he stood in silent awe before he started yelling for her. “Octavia! Come up here!”
notice: 注意 stand: 站立 silent: 安静的 awe: 惊奇 yell: 叫喊 come up: 上来
她没有发觉他在安静的凝视中站了多久，直到他向她大叫：“Octavia！上来！”
She looked up, slammed the service door shut on the mining turret, then stood. “What is it?”
look up: 仰视 slam: 猛然关上 service: 维修 mining: 采矿 turret: 塔楼 then: 然后
她站了起来，关上矿塔的维修门，回到：“有什么东西？”
But Lars bounded up onto a higher rocky outcropping, from which he could get a better view. He gave a low whistle. “Now this is interesting.”
bound: 跳跃 higher: 更高的 rocky: (多)岩石的 outcropping: 露出 low: 低的 whistle:口哨 interesting: 有趣的
但是Lars已经爬上了一片更高的岩层，那儿也许能看的清楚点。他轻轻说：“现在事情很有意思。”
Octavia scrambled after him while the back of her mind ran through the different tricks she'd probably have to use to get the mining stations functional again.
scramble: 攀登 back of mind: 在心里里 run through: 迅速穿过 different: 不同的 trick:诀窍 probably: 可能地 mining: 采矿 station: 站 functional: 起作用的
Octavia脑子里想着另一个很可能能让矿井重新工作的方法，不过她还是跟着他往上爬。
She knew Lars got distracted easily.
distract: 分心
她知道Lars很快就会觉得无聊的。
From the top, she got a good look into the next valley, quickly seeing the changes the previous night's earthquake had wrought.
valley: 山谷 change: 改变 previous night: 前夜 earthquake: 地震 wrought: 形成的
从山顶上，她可以清楚地看到下一个山谷，以及昨夜的地震带来的破坏。
Numerous new Vespene geysers steamed into the air, curls of silvery-white mist that could provide the colony with more than enough fuel for the next several decades.
numerous: 大量的 geyser: 喷井 steam: 蒸汽 curl: 卷曲 silvery-white: 银白色的 mist:薄雾 provide: 提供 colony: 殖民地 fuel: 燃料 several: 若干 decade: 十年
无数的新Vespene矿井向空气中喷着气，形成的银白色薄雾估计能给殖民者提供几十年充足的油气——甚至还供过于求。
But that wasn't what had caught her brother's eye.
catch one’s eye: 引人注目
不过那还不是吸引了她哥哥注意力的东西。
“What do you think it is?” He gestured wildly toward the next rugged ridge across the bowl-shaped valley, twelve kilometers from Free Haven.
gesture: 做手势 wildly: 急切地 rugged: 崎岖的 ridge: 山脊 bowl-shaped: 碗状的 valley: 山谷 kilometer: 公里
“你觉得那是什么？”他远远地穿过碗形的山谷，指着离Free Haven十二公里远的高低不平的山谷。
Before the quake, a prominent conelike peak had jutted into the sky, a distinctive landmark on the continent. But that was yesterday.
quake: 地震 prominent: 凸出的 conelike: 锥形的 peak: 山峰 jut: 突出 distinctive: 有特征的 landmark: 界标 continent: 大陆 yesterday: 昨天
在地震之前，一座高耸的锥形山峰还伸向天空，是那里明显的地标。不过那都是昨天了。
The terrible storm and severe tremors had sparked a huge avalanche, breaking off an entire side of the mountain.
terrible: 可怕的 storm: 风暴 severe: 剧烈的 tremor: 震动 spark: 触发 huge: 巨大的 avalanche: 雪崩 break off: 使脱落 entire: 整个的 side: 侧面 mountain: 山
可怕的风暴和剧烈的震动引发了一场巨大的雪崩，彻底摧毁了那座山的一个侧面。
The stones had fallen away, split off like a scab ripped from a ragged wound, to expose something very strange—and completely unnatural—inside the mountain.
stone: 石头 fall away: 落下 split off: 分裂 scab: 伤疤 rip: 撕裂 ragged: 粗糙的 wound: 伤口 expose: 显露 strange: 奇怪的 completely: 完全地 unnatural: 非自然的
石头都滚下去了，裂口像粗糙伤口上的疤一样。就在那儿，露出了山里面一些奇怪的东西——而且百分之百是非自然形成的。
And it was glowing.
glow: 发光
而且它还在发光。
The two of them rushed back to the robo-harvester.
rush back: 跑回 robo-harvester: 机械收割机
他们两个一路跑回了机械收割机。
The big vehicle crunched across the rough terrain and over the mountainous saddle, then toiled headfirst down the easiest switchbacked path into the adjacent valley.
vehicle: 交通工具 crunch: 嗄吱压过 rough: 崎岖的 terrain: 地面 mountainous: 巨大的 saddle: 山口 toil: 跋涉 headfirst: 仓促地 easiest: 最容易的 switchback: 之字形路线 path: 小路 adjacent: 邻近的 valley: 山谷
这个大家伙碾过崎岖的地表，穿越巨大的山脊，艰难地沿着最容易行走的之字形小路驶向毗邻的山谷。
Lars drove faster than she had ever seen him try, but Octavia didn't complain. For once, she felt as eager to investigate as her brother did.
drive: 行驶 fast: 快 complain: 抱怨 for once: 这一次 eager: 渴望的 investigate: 调查
Lars开得比她见过的任何一次都快，不过Octavia一点都没抱怨。第一次，她和她哥哥一样渴望去看看究竟发生了什么。
He raced past the hissing geysers and clouds of eye-stinging gases, leaving deep tracks in the soft valley floor.
race past: 疾驰而过 hissing: 发嘶嘶声的 geyser: 喷井 cloud: 云 eye-stinging: 刺眼的 gases: 气体 leave: 留下 deep: 深的 track: 踪迹 soft: 柔软的 valley: 山谷 floor: 地面
他疾驰过咝咝响的气矿和刺眼的气云，在柔软的山谷地面上留下了深深的辙痕。
Small animals of species Octavia had never seen—they probably weren't edible anyway— scampered out of the way.
animal: 动物 species: 物种 probably: 或许 edible: 可食用的 scamper: 飞奔 out of the way: 不挡道
各种Octavia从来没见过的小型动物——估计不能吃——纷纷避开他们的路线。
Finally, the vehicle crunched to an abrupt stop at the base of the avalanche field where the mountainside had collapsed.
finally: 最终 vehicle: 交通工具 crunch: 嘎吱压过 abrupt: 突然的 base: 底部 avalanche: 雪崩 field: 区域 mountainside: 山腰 collapse: 崩塌
终于，收割机陡然停在了雪崩发生地的底下，上面就是崩塌的那侧山峰。
Octavia peered up through the dusty windshield at an enormous structure.
peer: 凝视 dusty: 多灰尘的 windshield: 挡风玻璃 enormous: 巨大的 structure: 建筑物
Octavia通过泥泞的挡风玻璃，凝视着上方一个巨大的建筑。
She and Lars both stared at it in fascination and confusion, before jumping simultaneously out of the roboharvester for a better look.
stare: 凝视 fascination: 入迷 confusion: 困惑 jump out: 跳出 simultaneously: 同时地
她和Lars都好奇又迷惑地盯了那个东西好久，然后同时跳下车去，想看的更清楚些。
Neither of them had any idea what the object could be.
neither: 皆不 idea: 想法 object: 物体
谁都不知道那个物体到底是什么。
Once buried deep within the mountain, the amazing artifact now pulsed like a huge resinous beehive.
buried: 埋藏的 deep: 深深的 mountain: 山 amazing: 惊人的 artifact: 人造物 pulse:搏动 huge: 巨大的 resinous: 树脂的 beehive: 蜂巢
这个曾经深深埋入山中的人造物体现在像树脂做的蜂巢一样，轻轻搏动着。
Its swirled walls and curved faces were lumpy and pocked with open air vents or passages.
swirl: 漩涡状 wall: 墙壁 curve: 弯曲 face: 表面 lumpy: 块状的 pock: 凹坑 open: 开的 air: 空气 vent: 通风口 passage: 过道
它漩涡状的墙壁和弯曲的表面布满了通风孔或者过道，看起来一块一块的像口袋一样。
There seemed to be no functional design, no sensible blueprint, no purpose that Octavia could fathom.
functional: 实用的 design: 设计 sensible: 明显的 blueprint: 蓝图 purpose: 目的 fathom: 彻底了解
Octavia看来，这些东西好像并不是功能性的设计，没有明显的蓝图，也不知道到底是为了什么而建成。
But the thing was obviously of alien origin. Possibly organic.
obviously: 明显地 alien: 外星的 origin: 来源 possibly: 可能地 organic: 有机的
但是它明显是外星生物建造的。而且很可能是有机物。
“I guess we're not alone here on this planet,” she said.
guess: 猜想 alone: 孤独 planet: 星球
“我猜，在这个星球上，我们并不孤独。”她说。
作者：Gabriel Mesta 翻译：fineday
解析：天使の冀 编辑：Wayne
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