第十二章
Several commentators have felt compelled to point out that Jonathan's Wolff's "slip"[sic: see Mizner's Rakes and Rogues; The True Story of the SDF-3 Expeditionary Mission] was perhaps the pivotal event of the Third Robotech War. The reasoning goes something like this: If Wolff had fired on the Invid ship, Rem would never had reached Haydon IV; and without Rem, the Regis would not have been as likely to instruct her Sensor Nebulae to search the Galaxy's outermost arms for evidence of the matrix, and would not, therefore, have found Earth until years after the Expeditionary mission returned. The reader must decide for him or herself whether anything is to be gained by such speculation; but I would point out that [Mizner's] reasoning can be made to apply in both directions. It is as easy to blame Lynn-Minmei as it is Jonathan Wolff.
Footnote in Zens Bellow's The Road to Reflex Point
几位评论员曾不得已指出，乔纳森·沃尔夫的“疏漏”（出处：参见米茨纳的《浪子与无赖》；《SDF-3远征任务的真实故事》）或许是第三次宇宙大战中的关键性事件。推理的过程大概是这样的：如果沃尔夫曾向那艘因维船只开火，雷将绝不会到达海顿4号星球；而没有雷，瑞吉斯就不太可能指示她的感应星云去银河系最外部的旋臂（译注：漩涡星系的旋臂，参见相关图片）搜寻（史前文化）母体的踪迹，因此也就不会在远征任务返回之后的年月里才找到地球。读者必须自己判断是否事情将会按照这样的推测来进展；但我要指出的是，（米茨纳的）推理可被用于两个方向。要（把这些）归咎于林明美就像归咎于乔纳森·沃尔夫一样容易。
——甄斯·贝洛，《通往反射点之路》脚注
An Invid ship, a small shuttle, had docked at Haydon IV's spaceport facility. The Regis had been told that it was from Garuda-and bearing gifts.
一艘因维船只——是一架小型穿梭机，已经停泊在海顿4号（星球）的航天港设施中。瑞吉斯已被告之，船是从嘎鲁达来的，并且还带着礼物。
She was in her temporary headquarters high atop one of the city's ultratech architectural wonders when news of the ship's arrival was delivered to her. Out of reach, she liked to think; distanced from the cold, unsettling presence of the planet's armless, hovering creatures, the displaced and still discontent Praxian Sisterhood, her own discomforting discoveries...And out of the Regent's reach, his dark schemes and mad plans.
当船只到达的消息传来时，女王正在她的临时指挥部里，指挥部高高地坐落在城市中一个超科技建筑奇迹的顶上。与世隔绝，她是这么想的：远离那些无臂的、四处游走的行星生物，它们的举止冷淡且令人不安；远离已经转移但仍然不安分的普拉西斯姐妹会；远离她自己那些让人苦恼的新发现……而且远离了瑞金特，以及他那些个黑暗阴谋和疯狂计划。
But if anything, Haydon IV had only compounded the misery she had carried here from Optera and Praxis. She felt at the mercy of a confused longing she could not define; a need to break free of this horizonless condition.
但如果有什么的话，海顿4号不过是把她从奥普特拉和普拉西斯带到这来的悲苦混合在了一起。她感觉受到一种说不清楚的混沌渴望的驱使，一种挣脱这无望状况的需求。
She supposed that she should have been grateful that Haydon IV's inhabitants hadn't in any way trifled with her or denied her anything; but neither had they accepted her as the evolved being she fancied herself to be. It was more accurate to say they had tolerated her presence-as if they were all privy to some grand arcane mystery she couldn't even discern, much less unravel. And furthermore she sensed that this had something to do with the world's equally mysterious founder/creator-Haydon. The databanks she had searched for answers to her own evolutionary puzzles gave some glimpse into his life, but hardly enough to form a complete portrait of the being. And she confessed to a certain trepidation at expanding her efforts along these lines. Already the very foundation of her own life's work had been shaken by what she had uncovered in Haydon's transphysical musings, and all at once she felt too unsure of herself and her ambitions to permit much more in the way of contradiction. There were hints, though, that she was not, as she had imagined, in control of things; that the theft of the Flowers, the Invid's quest, even Zor's misdeeds, were but part of a much grander design-one in which she, too, did little more than play out a role. And that role...that role demanded she accept that what she sought was not the Flowers of Life, but the stuff that had been conjured from them by Zor himself-the Protoculture.
她觉得应该感激海顿4号的居民没有以任何形式轻视她或者拒绝她的任何事情；但是他们也没有以她自己所标榜的进化生物的姿态接受她。更准确地说，他们容忍了她的存在——好像他们全都私下参与了某种极其神秘的教义，她甚至都无法理解，更不用说阐释了。此外她了解到这个（教义）与同样神秘的这个世界的缔造者/创造者——海顿有些关系。女王用于为她的进化问题搜寻答案的数据库里给出了海顿一生的一些粗略信息，但远不足以形成对这个生物的全面认识。并且瑞吉斯承认在沿着这些线索展开（搜索）的时候她有一些惶恐。她自己生命形态（进化）工作的真正根基已经被她对海顿的超物质冥想的不了解所动摇了，而突然之间她感到对她自己和她的抱负不太自信，以致不能允许更多的反对。尽管有一些征兆，但她没有能像她曾设想的那样掌控事态；生命之花的失窃，因维人的追踪，连佐尔的罪行，都不过是一个宏大得多的谋划的一部分——一个她自己也和出演其中一个角色没什么差别的谋划。而且那个角色……那个角色要求她接受她所寻找的并非生命之花，而是由佐尔他自己从生命之花中意外创造出的素材——史前文化。
As she saw it-as she wanted to see it-Protoculture was a malicious energy, a malignancy that did nothing but fuel the war machine of the Masters and her deluded ex-husband. To see it as more would be to admit she had been wrong after all, that the Regent's course was the truer one, the predestined one.
就像她所领悟到的——她希望能领悟到——史前文化是一种恶毒的能量，一种不过是给机器人统治者和她被蒙蔽的前任丈夫的战争机器添加燃料的瘤毒。毕竟要更多地承认她之前是错的，才能明白瑞金特走的路线更正确，是命中注定的。
And suddenly he had sent her some sort of gift.
而突然之间他给她送来了某种礼物。
She was pacing the floor like a caged beast now, waiting for the unsolicited thing to be brought up to her. Finally, two of her husband's "scientists" were admitted to her quarters; she recognized one of them as a master she had herself evolved for the express purpose of overseeing Flower gathering on Garuda-another of the cursed worlds Zor had for some reason seen fit to cultivate.
现在瑞吉斯像一个牢笼中的野兽一样在房间里踱步，等待这自动送上门来的东西被带到她面前。终于，两名她丈夫的“科学家”经允许来到她的跟前；她认出其中一个是她曾经的（进化）导师，那时她为了特别检查在嘎鲁达——佐尔由于某些原因认为合适于（生命之花）培养的另一个被诅咒的世界——收集的生命之花，而进行了自我进化。
"Your Grace," the scientist directed up to her, bowing."The Regent regrets that he could not be here in person to bestow his gift."
“女王殿下，”这个科学家径直走向她，鞠躬说道，“摄政王很遗憾他不能亲自来这送上他的礼物。”
The Regis made a scoffing sound."If he had come in person, I wouldn't be here to receive him. Now, have the thing brought in and take your leave, underling."
瑞吉斯发出一阵嘲笑，说：“如果他自己来，我就不会在这接待他。现在，把东西带过来，你们可以走了，走卒。”
"Of course, Your Worship," the scientist said, bowing once more."Only it is not so much a 'thing'..."
“当然，女王阁下，”科学家说，又鞠了一躬。“只是它并不是一件‘东西’……”
"What then·" she asked him, arms akimbo.
“那是什么？”瑞吉斯问他，两手叉在腰上。
"More in the way of a live presentation-but one that will surely prove most enlightening." The scientist shouted a few quick commands over his shoulder, and two Invid soldiers marched into the room. Sandwiched between them was a small Tiresioid male, narcotized, so it appeared.
“起码是个活物，但肯定会具有极大的启发性。”科学家回头发出一句简短的命令，两名因维士兵踏进房间，中间架着一个体型瘦小的泰雷西亚男性，他看起来已经昏迷了。
Puzzled, the Regis reduced her stature some to get a better look at him. One of the soldiers tilted the Tiresioid's face up for her inspection.
瑞吉斯迷惑不解地俯下身想看得更清楚一点，于是一个因维士兵翘起这个泰雷西亚人的脸让她查看。
It was Zor.
是佐尔。
A tight scream worked its way up from the very depths of her being, and she came close to losing consciousness, falling back from the soldiers and their terrible trophy and crashing against a communicator sphere.
一阵紧绷地惊呼瞬间从她心灵深处升腾而起，她差一点就失去意识，从这两个士兵和他们骇人的战利品跟前向后退却，撞到一个通讯球上。
"A clone, Your Grace, a clone!" the scientist was shouting, aware of the Regis's distress."We meant you no ill."
“一个克隆人，殿下，只是一个克隆人！”科学家意识到了瑞吉斯的紧张，大声呼喊道。“我们对您没有恶意。”
"How dare you!" she bellowed, frightfully enough to send both soldiers and scientists to their knees, and Rem face-first to the floor.
“你们好大的胆！”瑞吉斯咆哮着，吓得士兵和科学家们赶紧下跪，而雷则被脸朝下扔在地板上。
"We subjected the clone to the Garudan atmosphere and discovered that his dreams spoke of things we were certain you would find-"
“我们让这个克隆人沾染了嘎鲁达的大气，发现他梦境中说出的一些事情，我们确定您会认为——”
"Silence!" the Regis said, cutting off the scientist's rush of words."I know what you thought," she added, more composed now."And I know what the Regent meant by sending me this...clone. On your feet!"
“安静！”瑞吉斯说，打断了科学家仓促的话语。“我知道你们在想什么，”她又说道，现在显得更镇静一些，“而且我知道瑞金特送我这个……克隆人是什么意思。站起来！”
Hesitantly, the four Invid did as instructed, leaving Rem where he lay."Your Highness," the master scientist began on a sheepish note,"Haydon IV's devices will permit us to gaze even deeper into the clone's cellular memory. Perhaps some clue regarding the Masters or the missing Protoculture matrix..."
四个因维人犹豫不决地按照指示站了起来，留下雷仍趴在地上。“女王殿下，”那个导师科学家用怯懦的语调说，“海顿4号的设备可以让我们更深层次地窥探这个克隆人的记忆片断。也许会有一些关于机器人统治者或者是丢失的史前文化母体的线索……”
"Yes," she answered him, looking down at Rem as he groaned and rolled over. It took all her strength to keep from reaching out to touch him. Would he remember her· she wondered. Would the clone's cellular memory reveal what Zor had been thinking when he seduced her, when he returned to Optera for the seedlings, backed by an army of warrior giants· Would that same memory reveal the path the matrix had taken, the course she would follow·..."Conduct your experiments," she told the relieved group."Show me the future of our race!"
“是的，”女王回答他，一边俯视雷呻吟着并翻过身来。她用尽全身的力气强忍住没有伸手去触摸她。他还能记得她吗？她想知道。这个克隆人的记忆片断会揭示出佐尔曾经的想法吗，当他引诱她的时候，还有他为了那些（生命之花的）秧苗带着一支巨人战士组成的军队回到奥普特拉的时候？同样是这段记忆会揭示出（史前文化）母体被带离的路线，也是她将追寻的路线吗？……“进行你们的实验，”她告诉前来交接的随从，“让我来看看我们种族的未来！”
Jonathan Wolff was beyond believing in miracles, but he was hard-pressed for a better word to describe the sight of several hundred Garudans charging onto the scene to rescue their enslaved brethren. They were cresting the hilltop now-armed with everything from war clubs and bolos and grapnel-shaped things to Karbarran air weapons and antimecha rockets-and dropping down on the Invid soldiers who were keeping the slaves hemmed in. A dozen or so Bioroids on Hoverplatforms were providing them with air support, employing their stem-mounted cannons to rain destruction on Hellcats and Cranns alike.
乔纳森·沃尔夫不相信奇迹，但是他找不到更合适的词语来描述此刻所看到的情景：几百个嘎鲁达人冲进杀戮现场来营救他们被奴役的同胞们。现在他们正爬上山顶——装备着各式武器，从战斗棍棒、大刀、钩锚状的器具到卡巴拉气动武器和反机甲火箭弹——向包围着奴隶们的因维士兵们滑降下去。约十几个生化人搭乘气垫炮台为嘎鲁达人提供空中支援，他们用装在（气垫炮台）艇首的火炮倾泻暴雨般的火力击毁地狱猫和克兰兽们。
Countless defenseless Garudans had been killed in the Inorganics' genocidal attack, but that didn't stop the survivors from rallying once they realized that their world had committed itself to an all-or-nothing stand. They rushed the Invid lines, which were already strained to the breaking point, and fell upon the offworlders with a violence only blind fury could release. It took five, ten, often fifteen Garudans to bring down a single armored soldier, but one by one the enemy fell. Some were pummeled to death, others disintegrated by their own weapons, and still others were stripped of their masks and respirator tanks and left to run amok, crazed long before the spores could work their effect-crazed by the naked fear of that end.
无数手无寸铁的嘎鲁达人死于无机兽们屠杀性的攻击中，但是一旦认识到他们的世界正处于生死存亡的关口，所有这些都阻止不了幸存者们背水一搏。他们冲击因维人的阵线，带着只有不理智的狂怒者才能迸发出的暴力扑向这些因维灭世者们，令包围圈已经吃紧到崩溃的边缘。5个，10个，通常要15个嘎鲁达人才能打倒一个披着护甲的因维士兵，但敌人还是一个接一个地倒下了。有些被拳头连续揍打致死；有些被他们自己的武器所肢解；还有一些被扯掉了面具和呼吸气罐，虽然嘎鲁达大气中的孢子尚未产生它们的影响，但是在对最终后果赤裸裸的恐惧面前，这些因维士兵被吓得狂乱和疯癫。
Spurred on by this reversal, the Wolff Pack and Skull Squadron pulled out all the stops. Until this moment, concern for the well-being of Rick and their other captured comrades had to some extent weakened their resolve; and it took the Garudans' desperate charge to make them remember what the fight for liberation was all about. Re-inspired, VT pilots and Hovertankers let loose their own shadow selves, and swept like avenging angels through ruptured sky and forests infernal. Shock Troopers, soldiers, Optera trees, the farms themselves-nothing was to be spared their wrath.
受到这种逆转情形的鼓舞，沃尔夫战队和骷髅中队拔除了所有的因维阻塞点。直到这一刻，（原句法有误？）对瑞克和其他被俘同志安全的关注才能在一定程度上削弱他们的决心。嘎鲁达人奋不顾身的冲锋让他们记住了为了解放而战所包含的内容。受了刺激的变形战斗机驾驶员和气垫坦克手们释放了他们阴暗的自我，像复仇天使一般穿过破裂的天空和地狱般的森林，横扫一切。突击骑兵机、因维士兵、奥普特拉树木以及农场自身——在他们的愤怒面前无一幸免。
With total abandon, Wolff urged his mecha deeper and deeper into the madness, destroying, crippling, killing. For one instant he rejoiced at hearing Miriya Sterling's voice over the tac net-she was presently riding tandem in Max's Alpha/Beta fighter-but that was no more than a fleeting reminder of a past life. He considered himself one of the dead now, in no world's hell but his own. And from that hollow center came a murderous intent that knew no bounds. He could only hope that some of the Sentinels would live to see victory that day.
沃尔夫驱使着他的机甲越来越深得陷入到疯狂、摧毁、破坏和杀戮之中，完全地放任自流。过了一会，他在战术通信网络里欣喜地听到了米莉娅·斯特林的声音——她现在正和麦克斯一前一后地乘坐在麦克斯的阿尔法/贝塔战斗机里——但（对沃尔夫来说）那不过是一段对过往存在的短暂提示。他觉得自己现在就是其中的一个死者，不是在外部世界的地狱而是他心中的地狱。而且从那个空虚的中心出现了一股无限的杀戮的意愿。他仅能希望某些哨兵成员可以活着看到那天的胜利。
"Behind you!" Janice shouted.
“你后面！”贾妮斯喊道。
But Jack had already seen them and was halfway through his turn, the rocket launcher atop his shoulder. Three Invid soldiers were advancing up the corridor, their forearm cannons booming. Jack triggered his shot and caught one of the XTs dead center. The explosion was enough to drop the other two, but only momentarily; they were back on their feet in an instant, resuming their advance while Jack reached for the grenades clipped to his web belt.
杰克已经看到了他们，并且刚转过一半的身位，肩上扛着火箭筒。又有三个因维士兵正朝着走廊前进，手中的枪械不停地开火。杰克击射出一发，打中了这帮外星家伙其中一个的死点。爆炸震倒了另外两个，但只是暂时的；他们马上爬起来又继续前进，于是杰克伸手去拿别在腰带上的手雷。
"We've got them!" he heard Lron, or possibly Crysta, growl. The Karbarrans were positioned on either side of the corridor terminus, grenades in their outstretched mitts."Now!" Lron said, and the two pivoted and released.
“我们已经对准他们了！”他听到勒荣或者也可能是克里斯塔粗声喊道。卡巴拉人分别在走廊尽头的两侧就位，伸长的手中握着手雷。“现在，扔！”勒荣说，他们两人甩臂并松手（扔出手雷）。
Jack flattened himself against the floor and covered his head; the roar and concussive heat washed over him and he rolled to one side, running through a quick check of everyone's position. Janice was behind him, kneeling over the quivering mass that was Tesla; Gnea and Bela were off to the right, along a section of curved, featureless wall just short of a second corridor terminus. Learna was opposite them, near the tube stand and sphere arrangement Tesla had called a communicator. The four Invid soldiers who had greeted them after the "elevator" ride were sprawled on the floor, dead; two with arrows sunk inches deep into their thick necks. Close by two more were dead or dying, dropped by high-speed projectiles from the Karbarrans' air rifles.
杰克平趴在地板上，抱着头；（爆炸的）咆哮的冲击热流溅泼过来，他滚向一侧，匆忙检查大家的位置。贾妮斯在他身后，跪在地上的一大团在发抖的那是泰斯拉；妮雅和贝拉滚到了右边，挨着一块弯曲的毫无特点的墙面，正好离第二个走廊的尽头不远。莱亚娜在他们对面，靠近管架和被泰斯拉叫做通讯器的球形装置。最初在下“升降机”之后“迎接”他们的4个因维士兵都四肢摊开倒在地板上，一动不动；其中两个在他们粗厚的脖颈处有多支箭矢扎入了数英寸深。旁边的另外两个被卡巴拉人气动枪的高速射弹所击倒，死掉了或者是已经垂死了。
"Get him up!" Jack yelled, scrambling to his feet and motioning to Tesla."Gnea, Bela, check that corridor!"
“把他弄起来！”杰克叫喊着，趔趄地站起来，指着泰斯拉说。“妮雅、贝拉，检查一下那个走廊！”
The Praxian women had crossbows and swords held low as they moved in; Crysta came up behind them with her rifles ready to mete out additional force. Tesla was up now and dusting off his robes.
两个普拉西斯女人在移动的时候放低了十字弓和宝剑；克里斯塔跟在她们后面并时刻准备着用来福枪迎击额外的敌人。泰斯拉现在站了起来，正拍去他长袍上的灰尘。
"Barbarians," he said, looking around at the dead soldiers.
“野蛮人，”他看着死亡的因维士兵说。
"Save it," Jack spat, giving him a nudge in the gut with the launcher.
“省省吧，”杰克争辩道，同时用火箭筒戳了一下他的肚子。
Tesla looked down his snout at the Human. For small and primitive beings, he decided, they were possessed of an incredible ferocity at times. And while this in itself was not uncommon, it was completely at variance with the sympathetic, caring traits they were so fond of displaying.
泰斯拉越过自己的猪嘴巴低头看着这个人类。对于低下和原始的生物，他确信，他们时不时地会有一种难以置信的野蛮。而且这本质上就是很经常的事，与他们喜欢表现出来的同情、人道的品质完全不相符。
Tesla, Jack, Janice, and Learna were nearing the communicator sphere when something suddenly charged the air-a resonant, bone-rattling hum that carried a peculiar odor with it.
泰斯拉、杰克、贾妮斯和莱亚娜正位于通讯球的附近，突然有东西充斥到空气中——带着响亮的像骨节发出的咔嚓声，并且伴有一股奇特的气味。
"An alert," Tesla announced, fingers on the sphere's activation controls."Seems you've succeeded in calling attention to yourselves."
“是警报，”泰斯拉宣称道，手指触碰着通讯球的启动控制界面，“看来你们已经成功地为自己吸引到注意力了。”
"Anything·" Jack called out to Gnea. She shook her head, then offered him a perplexed shrug.
“怎么回事？”杰克大声地呼叫妮雅。她摇了摇头，费解地冲他耸耸肩。
"Ahh, there's the reason they're leaving us alone..."
“啊，这就是他们把我们单独留在这的原因了……”
Jack turned around in time to see an image come to life in the heart of the sphere. It took a moment to make sense of the scene, and Learna was the first to gasp.
杰克及时地回身看见通讯球的中心出现了一幅逼真的图像。大家费了一点神才搞清楚这个影像的意思，莱亚娜首先发出了吃惊的气嘘声。
"Looks as though we've a rebellion on our hands," Tesla ventured.
“看来我们好像是碰上了一场叛乱。”泰斯拉大胆揣测。
The sphere showed a virtual army of Garudans pouring into the basin. Invid soldiers were butchering them from dug-in positions close to the base of the hive. The Optera tree forest was ablaze, giving the crater the look of a devil's cauldron.
通讯球的影像显示了一大队嘎鲁达人正涌入这个盆地。因维士兵正从母巢底部附近的战壕中屠杀他们。奥普特拉树木森林在燃烧，整个环形山看起来就像个地狱熔炉。
"It's suicide!"
“这是在自杀！”
Janice put her arm around Learna's soft shoulders.
贾妮斯伏抱在莱亚娜柔软的肩膀上。
"Then let's make it count for something," Jack said in a determined voice. He nudged Tesla into motion again, and the Invid began to lead them along one of the corridors. Shortly they were standing before a shimmering portal similar to the one at the hive entrance. Once again, Tesla's hand or voice "unlocked" the portal, and the team found themselves in a kind of control center, filled with "furniture"-strangely contoured chairs and fairly conventional tables and countertops-wardrobe closets, instrumentality columns, communicator spheres of various size and design, and what looked to be Tiresian Robotech devices.
“那么让我们做点什么，别枉费牺牲。”杰克坚定地说。他用肘推促泰斯拉继续行动，这个因维人开始带领他们沿着其中一条走廊前进。不久他们就站在一个闪着微光的入口跟前，与之前母巢的入口很类似。又一次，泰斯拉用他的手或者是声音“开启”了入口，小分队发现他们在某种程度上正处于一个控制中心内，这里布满了各种“家具”——外形奇特的椅子、十分陈旧的桌子和工作台，衣橱壁柜，辅助支撑柱，各种不同大小和设计的通讯球，以及看起来像是泰雷西亚机器人技术装置之类的东西。
The team fanned out to search the space and Lron made an important discovery behind one of the long counters: two cowering white-robed Invid scientists.
小分队散开来调查整个室内空间，而勒荣在一个长柜台后面找到一个重要的发现：两个穿着白袍缩成一团的因维科学家。
The Karbarran pulled them up by their necks and shoved them toward the center of the room.
卡巴拉人拎着他们的脖子把两人揪出来，扔到屋子中间。
"Tesla!" one of them seethed, following up with what Jack imagined to be a few choice Invid epithets. Janice translated:"He called Tesla a traitor. Said it was true what they'd heard about him."
“泰斯拉！”其中一个激动地叫道，接着说了一些杰克觉得是几个经过斟酌的因维词句。贾妮斯翻译道：“他称呼泰斯拉为叛徒。说他们曾经听到过关于他的事情原来都是真的。”
"Meaning what·" Jack asked.
“这说明什么？”杰克问。
"Why, my leading you here," Tesla said too quickly.
“就是为什么，我会带你们到这来。”泰斯拉很快地接上话。
"Where is Kami·" Learna demanded.
“卡米在哪？”莱亚娜（向因维人）询问道。
Tesla put the question to them, then grunted when the scientists had replied."They refuse to say."
泰斯拉用这个问题问两个因维科学家，在他们回应之后他嘟嘟囔囔地说：“他们拒绝回答。”
Jack grabbed Crysta's rifle and held it to the head of one of the scientists."Ask him again."
杰克抢过克里斯塔的来福枪，用它顶着一个因维科学家的脑袋说：“再问他一遍。”
Tesla listened to the reply and shook his head.
泰斯拉听了答复，摇摇头。
"All right then-"
“那么好吧——”
"Hold it a moment, Jack," Bela interrupted."Perhaps they crave a lungful of Garuda's fresh air..."
“等一下，杰克，”贝拉阻止了他，“也许他们渴望畅享一下嘎鲁达的新鲜空气……”
Tesla told the two what the Sentinels had in store for them; even Jack could see their snout sensors blanch at the prospect. No one really needed the translation.
泰斯拉告诉两个俘虏哨兵们准备拿他们怎么办；甚至是杰克也能看出他们猪嘴一样的面部器官都被这个安排吓得发白。没有人还需要翻译（才明白怎么回事）。
"They've changed their minds," Tesla announced with a snort of disapproval.
“他们改变主意了。”泰斯拉不以为然地喷着鼻息宣布。
And with that the scientists began to lead the Sentinels on a circuitous tour through the dome, descending always, via tractor tubes and spiral drops where there should have been stairs, past conveyor systems and vat after vat of Fruits or pulverized stem and Flower, in and out of corridors and rooms, commo stations and rotundas, all recently vacated by soldiers and worker drones who had ceased their tasks to protect the farm. Within minutes of leaving the control center Jack felt completely lost; he had no idea where they were in relation to the hive entrance, and began to wonder whether the scientists were leading them into a trap. But his concern faded by the time they reached what he guessed to be the lowest, perhaps underground level; they had passed numerous places where ambushes could have been sprung, but not a single soldier had been seen. Then at last they reached the end of the line-or so it seemed until one of the scientists actually walked the group right through a wall. The chamber beyond was a kind of membranous sac, veined and pulsating like something one might find in an unhealthy lung, and there, heaped together in the center of the floor, were Rick, Lisa, Karen, and Kami.
随即被俘虏的因维科学家开始带领哨兵们以一段迂回的行程穿越母巢的穹顶：经由牵引通道和螺旋坡道一直往下——这些地方本应该有楼梯的；穿过输送系统以及一桶接着一桶的奥普特拉树木果实或是被研磨成粉的茎干和生命之花；出入各种走廊、房间、通信站台和圆形厅室，所有这些地方都空无一人，因为不久前因维士兵和机器工人们都放下手中的工作去保卫农场了。在离开控制中心后的这段时间里杰克感觉完全迷失了方向；他不知道他们处于相对母巢入口的什么位置上，而且开始怀疑这些科学家是不是正把他们带入一个陷阱。这种担忧在他们到达一个地点时消褪了，杰克猜测是到了最底层，也许是在地下；之前他们已经经过了众多可能遭遇埋伏的地方，但是连一个因维士兵的影子也没看到。接着他们终于到达了该趟行程的终点——看起来大概如此，直到其中一个因维科学家居然带领队伍直接穿过了一堵墙。后面的房间是一种膜状胞囊，脉络凸显并有节律地搏动着，就像在一个生病的肺中可能看到的情形一样。而就在那里，在地面的中央，堆靠在一起的正是瑞克、丽莎、凯伦和卡米。
Fearing the worst, Jack hung back while everyone else ran to them-everyone but Janice, who positioned herself near the sac's osmotic gate where she could keep an eye on Tesla. Learna immediately slipped a transpirator over Kami's muzzle and hugged him to herself for all it was worth. Kami stirred some after a moment, but the three Humans were another matter; sickly pale and disheveled, they languished in a deathlike stupor, whimpering every so often.
杰克担心出现最糟糕的情况，停留在了原地。其他人则跑向瑞克他们，除了贾妮斯，她自己站在胞囊渗透门的附近以便能密切注视着泰斯拉。莱亚娜马上在卡米的口鼻上塞入了一个呼吸面罩，剩下唯一要做的就是把他紧紧搂在自己的怀里。过了一会卡米挪动了一下，但是三个人类却是另一种情况：蓬散的衣装和病态苍白的面色，在死一样的昏迷中显得衰弱不堪，不时发出一些呜咽声。
"...subjected them to the atmosphere, then performed some sort of mind-probe experiments," Janice could hear Tesla translating.
“……把他们曝置于（嘎鲁达）大气中，接着执行某种精神探测实验。”贾妮斯可以听见泰斯拉正在翻译。
Janice saw the two scientists take a step back as Jack and the others swung around to them. She pretended to preoccupy herself studying the chamber's portal, furnishing Tesla with a bit of illusory breathing space. At the same time, she sharpened her eyes and ears in his direction.
贾妮斯看到当杰克和其他人转身围向他们时，两个因维科学家向后退了一步。她假装正全神贯注于研究这间厅室的入口，以便给泰斯拉一点虚幻的喘息时间，而同时却对他所在的方位擦亮眼睛和竖起耳朵。
"Don't worry about a thing," Tesla was telling his comrades in a low but reassuring tone."Now that the Regent has been...killed, Tesla will rule in his place. I will make peace with these beings and-"
“不用担心任何事情，”泰斯拉用一种小声的安慰语调对他的因维伙伴说，“现在摄政王已经……被害了，泰斯拉将会接替他的位置来统治。我会和这些生物和平相处的，并且——”
"Tesla, what are you saying·" one of the Invid cut him off."The Regent killed· We just spoke with him. In fact, it was he who told us to expect you."
“泰斯拉，你在说什么？”其中一个因维人打断了他，“摄政王被杀了？我们才刚和他通过话。事实上，是他告诉我们小心你的。”
"What·" You spoke...But, but what you said, what you said about it being true-"
“什么？你说……但，但是你说的，你说的是真的——”
"Yes," the other scientist sneered."That you had taken up the Sentinels' fight, and that we should beware your treachery!"
“是的，”另一个因维科学家冷笑道，“你已经站到哨兵那一边了，所以我们要提防你的背叛！”
"No!" Tesla said too loudly. He caught himself and risked a glance at Janice, but she kept her eyes averted from him.
“不！”泰斯拉叫得太大声了，他控制住自己，并冒险瞥了贾妮斯一眼，但她的眼睛并没有盯着他。
Jack, Gnea, and Lron were storming up to him when he swung back around. Lron took hold of each of the scientists by the fronts of their robes.
当泰斯拉向后转过身来时，杰克、妮雅和勒荣正向他猛冲过来。勒荣一把从前面抓住两个因维科学家的长袍。
"Ask them what they did with Rem." Jack barked.
“问他们对雷做了什么。”杰克咆哮道。
Tesla peered over at the rescued group, noticing for the first time the Tiresian was not among them. Absently, he put the question to the two he had hoped were to be his first subjects, still stunned by what they had told him. The Regent alive· How could it be·
泰斯拉凝视着这支被救援的小队，第一次注意到那个泰雷西亚人不在他们当中。他心不在焉地把这个问题扔给那两个他原本希望会成为他第一批臣民的因维人，仍旧处于被他们刚告之内容所造成的震惊当中。摄政王还活着？这怎么可能呢？
"Well·" Jack shouted."What's he saying·"
“好了吗？”杰克叫喊道，“他在说什么？”
Tesla waited for the scientist to repeat it, nodding as he listened."Rem is Tiresian. His dreams were less, shall we say, commonplace. So he was sent elsewhere for further tests."
泰斯拉等着这个科学家又重复了一遍，一边听一边点着头。“雷是泰雷西亚人，他的梦比较少，应当说，是太过普通。因此他被送到其他地方作进一步的测试。”
"Where·" Janice asked, walking over to him.
“在哪？”贾妮斯问，向他走过来。
Tesla listened for a moment."To Haydon IV. In fact, the Regent himself is on his way-" Tesla eyes went wide and the words caught in his throat.
泰斯拉听了一会说：“去了海顿4号。事实上，摄政王自己正在去往——”泰斯拉的眼睛张大了，话语在他的喉咙中卡住。
"Go on..."
“继续说……”
He swallowed and found his voice-raspy as it was, all at once."The Regent is on his way to Haydon IV as we speak."
他咽了下口水，突然之间用一种焦躁的声音说：“当我们说话的时候，摄政王正在赶往海顿4号。”
"Then that's where we're bound," Bela said evenly, her eyes narrowed to slits.
“那么那正是我们将要去的地方。”贝拉平静地说，眼睛眯成了一条缝。
Tesla gulped, loud enough for everyone to hear.
泰斯拉呛了一下，声音大得足够让每个人都听见。
"We've got to get them to Jean's med team," Learna announced, still holding on to her mate.
“我们得赶快带他们到吉英的医疗组去。”莱亚娜大声说，仍旧抱着她的爱人。
Bela lifted Lisa from the floor."We have no time to lose."
贝拉从地板上扛起丽莎说，“我们没有时间再浪费了。”
Lron and Crysta moved in to take hold of Rick and Karen.
勒荣和克里斯塔走过来分别握住了瑞克和凯伦。
Max and Miriya received Cabell's good news/bad news update over the com net: Rick and the others had been rescued, but they were still under the effects of the planet's microbe-laden atmosphere and delirious with fever. Moreover, the mission had gone smoothly with no casualties among the team, but Rem was no longer on Garuda. Jack's team was out of the crater hive now and awaiting extraction; Jean claimed that Rick, Lisa, and Karen were too weak to endure the trip back to the med group's temporary hq by Hovercycle or Garudan flitter.
麦克斯和米莉娅从通信网络里收到了卡贝尔新的好消息和坏消息：瑞克和其他人已经获救了，但是他们仍处在行星上充满微生物的大气的影响之下，并且高烧得不省人事。此外，营救任务进行地很平顺，队伍没有人员伤亡，但是雷已经不在嘎鲁达星球了。杰克的小组现在正从环形山母巢出来，等待撤离；吉英声称瑞克、丽莎和凯伦太虚弱了以致于无法经受住搭乘气垫摩托或是嘎鲁达搬运机来回到医疗组临时总部的旅程。
Max signed off and immediately raised two of his wingmen on the tac, ordering them to rendezvous with Skull One at the crater hive. Reconfiguring the media to Guardian mode, he imaged the Alpha into a vertical takeoff and set his course northeast for the basin. As the VT rose, Max had a full view of the forests and steppes the Skull and Wolff Pack had turned to wasteland. Not since the battle on Karbarra had he seen so much death, such extensive destruction. The dome-shaped hive was in ruins, collapsed and in flames; the Optera tree forests, along with patches of grassland and evergreen, were burning out of control. The terrain was ravaged beyond belief-pockmarked, holed, cratered, littered with legless or pincerless Invid mecha, bits of Hovertank and Veritech, Bioroid and Inorganic. An entire hillside was covered base to summit with Hellcat husks and Invid and Garudan corpses. Hundreds, perhaps thousands had died. And from what Max was hearing over the net, the same scene had played at each and every Invid farm and installation throughout the planet's equatorial belt. But Garuda had freed itself from the offworlders' yoke.
麦克斯结束了（与卡贝尔）的通话，马上在战术通信中呼叫他的两名僚机，命令他们在环形山母巢与骷髅一号会合。他把机甲（译注：media误mecha？）变形为守护神模式，阿尔法战机垂直起飞，向东北方（母巢所在）的盆地飞去。在战机升高的过程中，麦克斯看到了森林和大草原的全景，骷髅中队和沃尔夫战队已经转向荒漠进发。他从未在卡巴拉见过如此惨烈的战斗，如此大范围的毁灭。穹顶形的母巢已经成为废墟，崩塌了并燃烧着；奥普特拉树木森林，连同点缀其间的草地和常绿植物，正在焚烧，不可收拾。地面被蹂躏得千疮百孔，弹坑遍布，四处散落着缺胳膊少腿的因维机甲以及气垫坦克、变形战机、生化机器人和无机兽的碎片。整个山坡从下到上布满了地狱猫的机壳、因维人和嘎鲁达人的尸体。数以百计，也许是数以千计的生命消逝了。从麦克斯在通信网络里听到的情况来看，类似的情景在每一个因维农场都上演了，并且遍及整个行星的环赤道带。但是嘎鲁达却从因维灭世者们的支配下赢得了解放。
Good news...bad news.
好消息……坏消息。
Max said as much to Miriya as the VT covered the fifty or so miles to the crater. She was still in the Beta module and apparently all right, in spite of her ordeal. Max was cautiously optimistic; he had yet to quiz her about how her fighter had been brought down in the first place.
在变形战机飞往环线山约50英里的路程中，麦克斯尽量在和米莉娅说话。她仍旧在贝塔模块中，表面上看起来还好，如果不考虑她正忍受的痛苦的话。麦克斯保持着谨慎的乐观；他已经问过她关于她的战机究竟是如何坠落的。
The crater hive was for the most part intact, but Max didn't expect it to last much longer. Fires encroaching on it from all sides. Skull One dropped out of the smoke and clouds onto a battleground much like the one they had just left, dead and wounded strewn across the field, a palpable commingling of triumph and loss. Those Invid who had survived were seeing the Garudan's barbaric side; but Max didn't suppose he could fault Kami's people for the day's bloody aftermath, this requisite catharsis.
环形山母巢在很大程度上还保持着完好，但是麦克斯可不希望这种局面再继续持续下去。炮火从各个方向向他袭来。骷髅一号在一块战场上投下烟雾弹和雷达干扰云，这里很像他们才刚刚离开的地方，死伤者布满了整个区域，是触手可及的胜利与失败的混合体。那些幸存的因维人正目睹嘎鲁达人野蛮的一面；但是麦克斯并不认为他能够就这一天的流血灾难对卡米的人民说道些什么，这是必不可少的宣泄。
Masked again, Jack, Gnea, and Bela directed Max and his wingmen in, and got Rick and the others into the VTs as fast as they could. Lron, Crysta, and Janice were keeping Tesla and a few Invid scientists under guard inside the hive-protected from the Garudans' bloodlust for the time being. Kami, still weak but ambulatory now, was off somewhere sharing the bittersweet taste of victory with Learna and their fellow warriors. Mopping up, Max ventured, much as the Wolff Pack was doing in other quarters.
重新戴上面具后杰克、妮雅和贝拉直接奔向麦克斯和他的僚机，尽他们所能地快速把瑞克和其他人带上变形战机。勒荣、克里斯塔和贾妮斯在母巢内部看守着泰斯拉和几个因维科学家——以免受到眼下嘎鲁达人杀戮欲望的伤害。卡米仍然虚弱但现在已经可以走动，他和莱亚娜以及他们的战士同伴一起，在某个地方分享着这苦乐参半的胜利的滋味。麦克斯放手一搏开始打扫战场，和沃尔夫战队正在其他战斗岗位上所做的几乎一样。
Max caught a brief glimpse of Rick as he was being lifted into the cargo space of Blue Danube's Beta module. The transpirator prevented Max from being able to see his friend's face, but Rick looked as though the Invid had robbed him of his bones.
麦克斯粗略地瞥了瑞克一眼，他正被抬进蓝色多瑙河（僚机）贝塔模块的货舱内。呼吸面具让麦克斯看不到他朋友的脸颊，但是瑞克看起来好像被因维人伤到了骨骼。
The three VTs raced for Kami's village, where Jean's team took over and carried Rick and the others to the safety of the geodesic med dome. Max couldn't help but see it as a miniature version of the Invid hives they had just destroyed.
三架变形战机向卡米的村庄疾驰而去，在那里吉英的小组接管并将瑞克和其他人送至网格医务圆顶舱的安全装置中。麦克斯帮不上忙，但看着医务舱就像一个他们刚刚摧毁的因维母巢的微缩版本。
He and Miriya entered on Jack's heels, doffed their masks, and took in a lungful of the dome's artificial atmosphere.
他和米莉娅跟在杰克的后面进来，摘掉他们的面具，深深地吸了一口圆顶舱内的人工大气。
"Sweet, isn't it·" Max said, trying to sound cheerful. Miriya gave him a weak smile, but said nothing. He was reaching for her hand when she suddenly stumbled and collapsed into his arms.
“很甜美，不是吗？”麦克斯说，试着让声音欢快一点。米莉娅给了他一个虚弱的微笑，什么也没有说。麦克斯伸手去牵她的手，她突然迟疑了一下，瘫倒在他的臂弯里。
《沙丘》六部曲合集
《波西杰克逊》系列合集
《猎魔人》合集
Footnote in Zens Bellow's The Road to Reflex Point
几位评论员曾不得已指出，乔纳森·沃尔夫的“疏漏”（出处：参见米茨纳的《浪子与无赖》；《SDF-3远征任务的真实故事》）或许是第三次宇宙大战中的关键性事件。推理的过程大概是这样的：如果沃尔夫曾向那艘因维船只开火，雷将绝不会到达海顿4号星球；而没有雷，瑞吉斯就不太可能指示她的感应星云去银河系最外部的旋臂（译注：漩涡星系的旋臂，参见相关图片）搜寻（史前文化）母体的踪迹，因此也就不会在远征任务返回之后的年月里才找到地球。读者必须自己判断是否事情将会按照这样的推测来进展；但我要指出的是，（米茨纳的）推理可被用于两个方向。要（把这些）归咎于林明美就像归咎于乔纳森·沃尔夫一样容易。
——甄斯·贝洛，《通往反射点之路》脚注
An Invid ship, a small shuttle, had docked at Haydon IV's spaceport facility. The Regis had been told that it was from Garuda-and bearing gifts.
一艘因维船只——是一架小型穿梭机，已经停泊在海顿4号（星球）的航天港设施中。瑞吉斯已被告之，船是从嘎鲁达来的，并且还带着礼物。
She was in her temporary headquarters high atop one of the city's ultratech architectural wonders when news of the ship's arrival was delivered to her. Out of reach, she liked to think; distanced from the cold, unsettling presence of the planet's armless, hovering creatures, the displaced and still discontent Praxian Sisterhood, her own discomforting discoveries...And out of the Regent's reach, his dark schemes and mad plans.
当船只到达的消息传来时，女王正在她的临时指挥部里，指挥部高高地坐落在城市中一个超科技建筑奇迹的顶上。与世隔绝，她是这么想的：远离那些无臂的、四处游走的行星生物，它们的举止冷淡且令人不安；远离已经转移但仍然不安分的普拉西斯姐妹会；远离她自己那些让人苦恼的新发现……而且远离了瑞金特，以及他那些个黑暗阴谋和疯狂计划。
But if anything, Haydon IV had only compounded the misery she had carried here from Optera and Praxis. She felt at the mercy of a confused longing she could not define; a need to break free of this horizonless condition.
但如果有什么的话，海顿4号不过是把她从奥普特拉和普拉西斯带到这来的悲苦混合在了一起。她感觉受到一种说不清楚的混沌渴望的驱使，一种挣脱这无望状况的需求。
She supposed that she should have been grateful that Haydon IV's inhabitants hadn't in any way trifled with her or denied her anything; but neither had they accepted her as the evolved being she fancied herself to be. It was more accurate to say they had tolerated her presence-as if they were all privy to some grand arcane mystery she couldn't even discern, much less unravel. And furthermore she sensed that this had something to do with the world's equally mysterious founder/creator-Haydon. The databanks she had searched for answers to her own evolutionary puzzles gave some glimpse into his life, but hardly enough to form a complete portrait of the being. And she confessed to a certain trepidation at expanding her efforts along these lines. Already the very foundation of her own life's work had been shaken by what she had uncovered in Haydon's transphysical musings, and all at once she felt too unsure of herself and her ambitions to permit much more in the way of contradiction. There were hints, though, that she was not, as she had imagined, in control of things; that the theft of the Flowers, the Invid's quest, even Zor's misdeeds, were but part of a much grander design-one in which she, too, did little more than play out a role. And that role...that role demanded she accept that what she sought was not the Flowers of Life, but the stuff that had been conjured from them by Zor himself-the Protoculture.
她觉得应该感激海顿4号的居民没有以任何形式轻视她或者拒绝她的任何事情；但是他们也没有以她自己所标榜的进化生物的姿态接受她。更准确地说，他们容忍了她的存在——好像他们全都私下参与了某种极其神秘的教义，她甚至都无法理解，更不用说阐释了。此外她了解到这个（教义）与同样神秘的这个世界的缔造者/创造者——海顿有些关系。女王用于为她的进化问题搜寻答案的数据库里给出了海顿一生的一些粗略信息，但远不足以形成对这个生物的全面认识。并且瑞吉斯承认在沿着这些线索展开（搜索）的时候她有一些惶恐。她自己生命形态（进化）工作的真正根基已经被她对海顿的超物质冥想的不了解所动摇了，而突然之间她感到对她自己和她的抱负不太自信，以致不能允许更多的反对。尽管有一些征兆，但她没有能像她曾设想的那样掌控事态；生命之花的失窃，因维人的追踪，连佐尔的罪行，都不过是一个宏大得多的谋划的一部分——一个她自己也和出演其中一个角色没什么差别的谋划。而且那个角色……那个角色要求她接受她所寻找的并非生命之花，而是由佐尔他自己从生命之花中意外创造出的素材——史前文化。
As she saw it-as she wanted to see it-Protoculture was a malicious energy, a malignancy that did nothing but fuel the war machine of the Masters and her deluded ex-husband. To see it as more would be to admit she had been wrong after all, that the Regent's course was the truer one, the predestined one.
就像她所领悟到的——她希望能领悟到——史前文化是一种恶毒的能量，一种不过是给机器人统治者和她被蒙蔽的前任丈夫的战争机器添加燃料的瘤毒。毕竟要更多地承认她之前是错的，才能明白瑞金特走的路线更正确，是命中注定的。
And suddenly he had sent her some sort of gift.
而突然之间他给她送来了某种礼物。
She was pacing the floor like a caged beast now, waiting for the unsolicited thing to be brought up to her. Finally, two of her husband's "scientists" were admitted to her quarters; she recognized one of them as a master she had herself evolved for the express purpose of overseeing Flower gathering on Garuda-another of the cursed worlds Zor had for some reason seen fit to cultivate.
现在瑞吉斯像一个牢笼中的野兽一样在房间里踱步，等待这自动送上门来的东西被带到她面前。终于，两名她丈夫的“科学家”经允许来到她的跟前；她认出其中一个是她曾经的（进化）导师，那时她为了特别检查在嘎鲁达——佐尔由于某些原因认为合适于（生命之花）培养的另一个被诅咒的世界——收集的生命之花，而进行了自我进化。
"Your Grace," the scientist directed up to her, bowing."The Regent regrets that he could not be here in person to bestow his gift."
“女王殿下，”这个科学家径直走向她，鞠躬说道，“摄政王很遗憾他不能亲自来这送上他的礼物。”
The Regis made a scoffing sound."If he had come in person, I wouldn't be here to receive him. Now, have the thing brought in and take your leave, underling."
瑞吉斯发出一阵嘲笑，说：“如果他自己来，我就不会在这接待他。现在，把东西带过来，你们可以走了，走卒。”
"Of course, Your Worship," the scientist said, bowing once more."Only it is not so much a 'thing'..."
“当然，女王阁下，”科学家说，又鞠了一躬。“只是它并不是一件‘东西’……”
"What then·" she asked him, arms akimbo.
“那是什么？”瑞吉斯问他，两手叉在腰上。
"More in the way of a live presentation-but one that will surely prove most enlightening." The scientist shouted a few quick commands over his shoulder, and two Invid soldiers marched into the room. Sandwiched between them was a small Tiresioid male, narcotized, so it appeared.
“起码是个活物，但肯定会具有极大的启发性。”科学家回头发出一句简短的命令，两名因维士兵踏进房间，中间架着一个体型瘦小的泰雷西亚男性，他看起来已经昏迷了。
Puzzled, the Regis reduced her stature some to get a better look at him. One of the soldiers tilted the Tiresioid's face up for her inspection.
瑞吉斯迷惑不解地俯下身想看得更清楚一点，于是一个因维士兵翘起这个泰雷西亚人的脸让她查看。
It was Zor.
是佐尔。
A tight scream worked its way up from the very depths of her being, and she came close to losing consciousness, falling back from the soldiers and their terrible trophy and crashing against a communicator sphere.
一阵紧绷地惊呼瞬间从她心灵深处升腾而起，她差一点就失去意识，从这两个士兵和他们骇人的战利品跟前向后退却，撞到一个通讯球上。
"A clone, Your Grace, a clone!" the scientist was shouting, aware of the Regis's distress."We meant you no ill."
“一个克隆人，殿下，只是一个克隆人！”科学家意识到了瑞吉斯的紧张，大声呼喊道。“我们对您没有恶意。”
"How dare you!" she bellowed, frightfully enough to send both soldiers and scientists to their knees, and Rem face-first to the floor.
“你们好大的胆！”瑞吉斯咆哮着，吓得士兵和科学家们赶紧下跪，而雷则被脸朝下扔在地板上。
"We subjected the clone to the Garudan atmosphere and discovered that his dreams spoke of things we were certain you would find-"
“我们让这个克隆人沾染了嘎鲁达的大气，发现他梦境中说出的一些事情，我们确定您会认为——”
"Silence!" the Regis said, cutting off the scientist's rush of words."I know what you thought," she added, more composed now."And I know what the Regent meant by sending me this...clone. On your feet!"
“安静！”瑞吉斯说，打断了科学家仓促的话语。“我知道你们在想什么，”她又说道，现在显得更镇静一些，“而且我知道瑞金特送我这个……克隆人是什么意思。站起来！”
Hesitantly, the four Invid did as instructed, leaving Rem where he lay."Your Highness," the master scientist began on a sheepish note,"Haydon IV's devices will permit us to gaze even deeper into the clone's cellular memory. Perhaps some clue regarding the Masters or the missing Protoculture matrix..."
四个因维人犹豫不决地按照指示站了起来，留下雷仍趴在地上。“女王殿下，”那个导师科学家用怯懦的语调说，“海顿4号的设备可以让我们更深层次地窥探这个克隆人的记忆片断。也许会有一些关于机器人统治者或者是丢失的史前文化母体的线索……”
"Yes," she answered him, looking down at Rem as he groaned and rolled over. It took all her strength to keep from reaching out to touch him. Would he remember her· she wondered. Would the clone's cellular memory reveal what Zor had been thinking when he seduced her, when he returned to Optera for the seedlings, backed by an army of warrior giants· Would that same memory reveal the path the matrix had taken, the course she would follow·..."Conduct your experiments," she told the relieved group."Show me the future of our race!"
“是的，”女王回答他，一边俯视雷呻吟着并翻过身来。她用尽全身的力气强忍住没有伸手去触摸她。他还能记得她吗？她想知道。这个克隆人的记忆片断会揭示出佐尔曾经的想法吗，当他引诱她的时候，还有他为了那些（生命之花的）秧苗带着一支巨人战士组成的军队回到奥普特拉的时候？同样是这段记忆会揭示出（史前文化）母体被带离的路线，也是她将追寻的路线吗？……“进行你们的实验，”她告诉前来交接的随从，“让我来看看我们种族的未来！”
Jonathan Wolff was beyond believing in miracles, but he was hard-pressed for a better word to describe the sight of several hundred Garudans charging onto the scene to rescue their enslaved brethren. They were cresting the hilltop now-armed with everything from war clubs and bolos and grapnel-shaped things to Karbarran air weapons and antimecha rockets-and dropping down on the Invid soldiers who were keeping the slaves hemmed in. A dozen or so Bioroids on Hoverplatforms were providing them with air support, employing their stem-mounted cannons to rain destruction on Hellcats and Cranns alike.
乔纳森·沃尔夫不相信奇迹，但是他找不到更合适的词语来描述此刻所看到的情景：几百个嘎鲁达人冲进杀戮现场来营救他们被奴役的同胞们。现在他们正爬上山顶——装备着各式武器，从战斗棍棒、大刀、钩锚状的器具到卡巴拉气动武器和反机甲火箭弹——向包围着奴隶们的因维士兵们滑降下去。约十几个生化人搭乘气垫炮台为嘎鲁达人提供空中支援，他们用装在（气垫炮台）艇首的火炮倾泻暴雨般的火力击毁地狱猫和克兰兽们。
Countless defenseless Garudans had been killed in the Inorganics' genocidal attack, but that didn't stop the survivors from rallying once they realized that their world had committed itself to an all-or-nothing stand. They rushed the Invid lines, which were already strained to the breaking point, and fell upon the offworlders with a violence only blind fury could release. It took five, ten, often fifteen Garudans to bring down a single armored soldier, but one by one the enemy fell. Some were pummeled to death, others disintegrated by their own weapons, and still others were stripped of their masks and respirator tanks and left to run amok, crazed long before the spores could work their effect-crazed by the naked fear of that end.
无数手无寸铁的嘎鲁达人死于无机兽们屠杀性的攻击中，但是一旦认识到他们的世界正处于生死存亡的关口，所有这些都阻止不了幸存者们背水一搏。他们冲击因维人的阵线，带着只有不理智的狂怒者才能迸发出的暴力扑向这些因维灭世者们，令包围圈已经吃紧到崩溃的边缘。5个，10个，通常要15个嘎鲁达人才能打倒一个披着护甲的因维士兵，但敌人还是一个接一个地倒下了。有些被拳头连续揍打致死；有些被他们自己的武器所肢解；还有一些被扯掉了面具和呼吸气罐，虽然嘎鲁达大气中的孢子尚未产生它们的影响，但是在对最终后果赤裸裸的恐惧面前，这些因维士兵被吓得狂乱和疯癫。
Spurred on by this reversal, the Wolff Pack and Skull Squadron pulled out all the stops. Until this moment, concern for the well-being of Rick and their other captured comrades had to some extent weakened their resolve; and it took the Garudans' desperate charge to make them remember what the fight for liberation was all about. Re-inspired, VT pilots and Hovertankers let loose their own shadow selves, and swept like avenging angels through ruptured sky and forests infernal. Shock Troopers, soldiers, Optera trees, the farms themselves-nothing was to be spared their wrath.
受到这种逆转情形的鼓舞，沃尔夫战队和骷髅中队拔除了所有的因维阻塞点。直到这一刻，（原句法有误？）对瑞克和其他被俘同志安全的关注才能在一定程度上削弱他们的决心。嘎鲁达人奋不顾身的冲锋让他们记住了为了解放而战所包含的内容。受了刺激的变形战斗机驾驶员和气垫坦克手们释放了他们阴暗的自我，像复仇天使一般穿过破裂的天空和地狱般的森林，横扫一切。突击骑兵机、因维士兵、奥普特拉树木以及农场自身——在他们的愤怒面前无一幸免。
With total abandon, Wolff urged his mecha deeper and deeper into the madness, destroying, crippling, killing. For one instant he rejoiced at hearing Miriya Sterling's voice over the tac net-she was presently riding tandem in Max's Alpha/Beta fighter-but that was no more than a fleeting reminder of a past life. He considered himself one of the dead now, in no world's hell but his own. And from that hollow center came a murderous intent that knew no bounds. He could only hope that some of the Sentinels would live to see victory that day.
沃尔夫驱使着他的机甲越来越深得陷入到疯狂、摧毁、破坏和杀戮之中，完全地放任自流。过了一会，他在战术通信网络里欣喜地听到了米莉娅·斯特林的声音——她现在正和麦克斯一前一后地乘坐在麦克斯的阿尔法/贝塔战斗机里——但（对沃尔夫来说）那不过是一段对过往存在的短暂提示。他觉得自己现在就是其中的一个死者，不是在外部世界的地狱而是他心中的地狱。而且从那个空虚的中心出现了一股无限的杀戮的意愿。他仅能希望某些哨兵成员可以活着看到那天的胜利。
"Behind you!" Janice shouted.
“你后面！”贾妮斯喊道。
But Jack had already seen them and was halfway through his turn, the rocket launcher atop his shoulder. Three Invid soldiers were advancing up the corridor, their forearm cannons booming. Jack triggered his shot and caught one of the XTs dead center. The explosion was enough to drop the other two, but only momentarily; they were back on their feet in an instant, resuming their advance while Jack reached for the grenades clipped to his web belt.
杰克已经看到了他们，并且刚转过一半的身位，肩上扛着火箭筒。又有三个因维士兵正朝着走廊前进，手中的枪械不停地开火。杰克击射出一发，打中了这帮外星家伙其中一个的死点。爆炸震倒了另外两个，但只是暂时的；他们马上爬起来又继续前进，于是杰克伸手去拿别在腰带上的手雷。
"We've got them!" he heard Lron, or possibly Crysta, growl. The Karbarrans were positioned on either side of the corridor terminus, grenades in their outstretched mitts."Now!" Lron said, and the two pivoted and released.
“我们已经对准他们了！”他听到勒荣或者也可能是克里斯塔粗声喊道。卡巴拉人分别在走廊尽头的两侧就位，伸长的手中握着手雷。“现在，扔！”勒荣说，他们两人甩臂并松手（扔出手雷）。
Jack flattened himself against the floor and covered his head; the roar and concussive heat washed over him and he rolled to one side, running through a quick check of everyone's position. Janice was behind him, kneeling over the quivering mass that was Tesla; Gnea and Bela were off to the right, along a section of curved, featureless wall just short of a second corridor terminus. Learna was opposite them, near the tube stand and sphere arrangement Tesla had called a communicator. The four Invid soldiers who had greeted them after the "elevator" ride were sprawled on the floor, dead; two with arrows sunk inches deep into their thick necks. Close by two more were dead or dying, dropped by high-speed projectiles from the Karbarrans' air rifles.
杰克平趴在地板上，抱着头；（爆炸的）咆哮的冲击热流溅泼过来，他滚向一侧，匆忙检查大家的位置。贾妮斯在他身后，跪在地上的一大团在发抖的那是泰斯拉；妮雅和贝拉滚到了右边，挨着一块弯曲的毫无特点的墙面，正好离第二个走廊的尽头不远。莱亚娜在他们对面，靠近管架和被泰斯拉叫做通讯器的球形装置。最初在下“升降机”之后“迎接”他们的4个因维士兵都四肢摊开倒在地板上，一动不动；其中两个在他们粗厚的脖颈处有多支箭矢扎入了数英寸深。旁边的另外两个被卡巴拉人气动枪的高速射弹所击倒，死掉了或者是已经垂死了。
"Get him up!" Jack yelled, scrambling to his feet and motioning to Tesla."Gnea, Bela, check that corridor!"
“把他弄起来！”杰克叫喊着，趔趄地站起来，指着泰斯拉说。“妮雅、贝拉，检查一下那个走廊！”
The Praxian women had crossbows and swords held low as they moved in; Crysta came up behind them with her rifles ready to mete out additional force. Tesla was up now and dusting off his robes.
两个普拉西斯女人在移动的时候放低了十字弓和宝剑；克里斯塔跟在她们后面并时刻准备着用来福枪迎击额外的敌人。泰斯拉现在站了起来，正拍去他长袍上的灰尘。
"Barbarians," he said, looking around at the dead soldiers.
“野蛮人，”他看着死亡的因维士兵说。
"Save it," Jack spat, giving him a nudge in the gut with the launcher.
“省省吧，”杰克争辩道，同时用火箭筒戳了一下他的肚子。
Tesla looked down his snout at the Human. For small and primitive beings, he decided, they were possessed of an incredible ferocity at times. And while this in itself was not uncommon, it was completely at variance with the sympathetic, caring traits they were so fond of displaying.
泰斯拉越过自己的猪嘴巴低头看着这个人类。对于低下和原始的生物，他确信，他们时不时地会有一种难以置信的野蛮。而且这本质上就是很经常的事，与他们喜欢表现出来的同情、人道的品质完全不相符。
Tesla, Jack, Janice, and Learna were nearing the communicator sphere when something suddenly charged the air-a resonant, bone-rattling hum that carried a peculiar odor with it.
泰斯拉、杰克、贾妮斯和莱亚娜正位于通讯球的附近，突然有东西充斥到空气中——带着响亮的像骨节发出的咔嚓声，并且伴有一股奇特的气味。
"An alert," Tesla announced, fingers on the sphere's activation controls."Seems you've succeeded in calling attention to yourselves."
“是警报，”泰斯拉宣称道，手指触碰着通讯球的启动控制界面，“看来你们已经成功地为自己吸引到注意力了。”
"Anything·" Jack called out to Gnea. She shook her head, then offered him a perplexed shrug.
“怎么回事？”杰克大声地呼叫妮雅。她摇了摇头，费解地冲他耸耸肩。
"Ahh, there's the reason they're leaving us alone..."
“啊，这就是他们把我们单独留在这的原因了……”
Jack turned around in time to see an image come to life in the heart of the sphere. It took a moment to make sense of the scene, and Learna was the first to gasp.
杰克及时地回身看见通讯球的中心出现了一幅逼真的图像。大家费了一点神才搞清楚这个影像的意思，莱亚娜首先发出了吃惊的气嘘声。
"Looks as though we've a rebellion on our hands," Tesla ventured.
“看来我们好像是碰上了一场叛乱。”泰斯拉大胆揣测。
The sphere showed a virtual army of Garudans pouring into the basin. Invid soldiers were butchering them from dug-in positions close to the base of the hive. The Optera tree forest was ablaze, giving the crater the look of a devil's cauldron.
通讯球的影像显示了一大队嘎鲁达人正涌入这个盆地。因维士兵正从母巢底部附近的战壕中屠杀他们。奥普特拉树木森林在燃烧，整个环形山看起来就像个地狱熔炉。
"It's suicide!"
“这是在自杀！”
Janice put her arm around Learna's soft shoulders.
贾妮斯伏抱在莱亚娜柔软的肩膀上。
"Then let's make it count for something," Jack said in a determined voice. He nudged Tesla into motion again, and the Invid began to lead them along one of the corridors. Shortly they were standing before a shimmering portal similar to the one at the hive entrance. Once again, Tesla's hand or voice "unlocked" the portal, and the team found themselves in a kind of control center, filled with "furniture"-strangely contoured chairs and fairly conventional tables and countertops-wardrobe closets, instrumentality columns, communicator spheres of various size and design, and what looked to be Tiresian Robotech devices.
“那么让我们做点什么，别枉费牺牲。”杰克坚定地说。他用肘推促泰斯拉继续行动，这个因维人开始带领他们沿着其中一条走廊前进。不久他们就站在一个闪着微光的入口跟前，与之前母巢的入口很类似。又一次，泰斯拉用他的手或者是声音“开启”了入口，小分队发现他们在某种程度上正处于一个控制中心内，这里布满了各种“家具”——外形奇特的椅子、十分陈旧的桌子和工作台，衣橱壁柜，辅助支撑柱，各种不同大小和设计的通讯球，以及看起来像是泰雷西亚机器人技术装置之类的东西。
The team fanned out to search the space and Lron made an important discovery behind one of the long counters: two cowering white-robed Invid scientists.
小分队散开来调查整个室内空间，而勒荣在一个长柜台后面找到一个重要的发现：两个穿着白袍缩成一团的因维科学家。
The Karbarran pulled them up by their necks and shoved them toward the center of the room.
卡巴拉人拎着他们的脖子把两人揪出来，扔到屋子中间。
"Tesla!" one of them seethed, following up with what Jack imagined to be a few choice Invid epithets. Janice translated:"He called Tesla a traitor. Said it was true what they'd heard about him."
“泰斯拉！”其中一个激动地叫道，接着说了一些杰克觉得是几个经过斟酌的因维词句。贾妮斯翻译道：“他称呼泰斯拉为叛徒。说他们曾经听到过关于他的事情原来都是真的。”
"Meaning what·" Jack asked.
“这说明什么？”杰克问。
"Why, my leading you here," Tesla said too quickly.
“就是为什么，我会带你们到这来。”泰斯拉很快地接上话。
"Where is Kami·" Learna demanded.
“卡米在哪？”莱亚娜（向因维人）询问道。
Tesla put the question to them, then grunted when the scientists had replied."They refuse to say."
泰斯拉用这个问题问两个因维科学家，在他们回应之后他嘟嘟囔囔地说：“他们拒绝回答。”
Jack grabbed Crysta's rifle and held it to the head of one of the scientists."Ask him again."
杰克抢过克里斯塔的来福枪，用它顶着一个因维科学家的脑袋说：“再问他一遍。”
Tesla listened to the reply and shook his head.
泰斯拉听了答复，摇摇头。
"All right then-"
“那么好吧——”
"Hold it a moment, Jack," Bela interrupted."Perhaps they crave a lungful of Garuda's fresh air..."
“等一下，杰克，”贝拉阻止了他，“也许他们渴望畅享一下嘎鲁达的新鲜空气……”
Tesla told the two what the Sentinels had in store for them; even Jack could see their snout sensors blanch at the prospect. No one really needed the translation.
泰斯拉告诉两个俘虏哨兵们准备拿他们怎么办；甚至是杰克也能看出他们猪嘴一样的面部器官都被这个安排吓得发白。没有人还需要翻译（才明白怎么回事）。
"They've changed their minds," Tesla announced with a snort of disapproval.
“他们改变主意了。”泰斯拉不以为然地喷着鼻息宣布。
And with that the scientists began to lead the Sentinels on a circuitous tour through the dome, descending always, via tractor tubes and spiral drops where there should have been stairs, past conveyor systems and vat after vat of Fruits or pulverized stem and Flower, in and out of corridors and rooms, commo stations and rotundas, all recently vacated by soldiers and worker drones who had ceased their tasks to protect the farm. Within minutes of leaving the control center Jack felt completely lost; he had no idea where they were in relation to the hive entrance, and began to wonder whether the scientists were leading them into a trap. But his concern faded by the time they reached what he guessed to be the lowest, perhaps underground level; they had passed numerous places where ambushes could have been sprung, but not a single soldier had been seen. Then at last they reached the end of the line-or so it seemed until one of the scientists actually walked the group right through a wall. The chamber beyond was a kind of membranous sac, veined and pulsating like something one might find in an unhealthy lung, and there, heaped together in the center of the floor, were Rick, Lisa, Karen, and Kami.
随即被俘虏的因维科学家开始带领哨兵们以一段迂回的行程穿越母巢的穹顶：经由牵引通道和螺旋坡道一直往下——这些地方本应该有楼梯的；穿过输送系统以及一桶接着一桶的奥普特拉树木果实或是被研磨成粉的茎干和生命之花；出入各种走廊、房间、通信站台和圆形厅室，所有这些地方都空无一人，因为不久前因维士兵和机器工人们都放下手中的工作去保卫农场了。在离开控制中心后的这段时间里杰克感觉完全迷失了方向；他不知道他们处于相对母巢入口的什么位置上，而且开始怀疑这些科学家是不是正把他们带入一个陷阱。这种担忧在他们到达一个地点时消褪了，杰克猜测是到了最底层，也许是在地下；之前他们已经经过了众多可能遭遇埋伏的地方，但是连一个因维士兵的影子也没看到。接着他们终于到达了该趟行程的终点——看起来大概如此，直到其中一个因维科学家居然带领队伍直接穿过了一堵墙。后面的房间是一种膜状胞囊，脉络凸显并有节律地搏动着，就像在一个生病的肺中可能看到的情形一样。而就在那里，在地面的中央，堆靠在一起的正是瑞克、丽莎、凯伦和卡米。
Fearing the worst, Jack hung back while everyone else ran to them-everyone but Janice, who positioned herself near the sac's osmotic gate where she could keep an eye on Tesla. Learna immediately slipped a transpirator over Kami's muzzle and hugged him to herself for all it was worth. Kami stirred some after a moment, but the three Humans were another matter; sickly pale and disheveled, they languished in a deathlike stupor, whimpering every so often.
杰克担心出现最糟糕的情况，停留在了原地。其他人则跑向瑞克他们，除了贾妮斯，她自己站在胞囊渗透门的附近以便能密切注视着泰斯拉。莱亚娜马上在卡米的口鼻上塞入了一个呼吸面罩，剩下唯一要做的就是把他紧紧搂在自己的怀里。过了一会卡米挪动了一下，但是三个人类却是另一种情况：蓬散的衣装和病态苍白的面色，在死一样的昏迷中显得衰弱不堪，不时发出一些呜咽声。
"...subjected them to the atmosphere, then performed some sort of mind-probe experiments," Janice could hear Tesla translating.
“……把他们曝置于（嘎鲁达）大气中，接着执行某种精神探测实验。”贾妮斯可以听见泰斯拉正在翻译。
Janice saw the two scientists take a step back as Jack and the others swung around to them. She pretended to preoccupy herself studying the chamber's portal, furnishing Tesla with a bit of illusory breathing space. At the same time, she sharpened her eyes and ears in his direction.
贾妮斯看到当杰克和其他人转身围向他们时，两个因维科学家向后退了一步。她假装正全神贯注于研究这间厅室的入口，以便给泰斯拉一点虚幻的喘息时间，而同时却对他所在的方位擦亮眼睛和竖起耳朵。
"Don't worry about a thing," Tesla was telling his comrades in a low but reassuring tone."Now that the Regent has been...killed, Tesla will rule in his place. I will make peace with these beings and-"
“不用担心任何事情，”泰斯拉用一种小声的安慰语调对他的因维伙伴说，“现在摄政王已经……被害了，泰斯拉将会接替他的位置来统治。我会和这些生物和平相处的，并且——”
"Tesla, what are you saying·" one of the Invid cut him off."The Regent killed· We just spoke with him. In fact, it was he who told us to expect you."
“泰斯拉，你在说什么？”其中一个因维人打断了他，“摄政王被杀了？我们才刚和他通过话。事实上，是他告诉我们小心你的。”
"What·" You spoke...But, but what you said, what you said about it being true-"
“什么？你说……但，但是你说的，你说的是真的——”
"Yes," the other scientist sneered."That you had taken up the Sentinels' fight, and that we should beware your treachery!"
“是的，”另一个因维科学家冷笑道，“你已经站到哨兵那一边了，所以我们要提防你的背叛！”
"No!" Tesla said too loudly. He caught himself and risked a glance at Janice, but she kept her eyes averted from him.
“不！”泰斯拉叫得太大声了，他控制住自己，并冒险瞥了贾妮斯一眼，但她的眼睛并没有盯着他。
Jack, Gnea, and Lron were storming up to him when he swung back around. Lron took hold of each of the scientists by the fronts of their robes.
当泰斯拉向后转过身来时，杰克、妮雅和勒荣正向他猛冲过来。勒荣一把从前面抓住两个因维科学家的长袍。
"Ask them what they did with Rem." Jack barked.
“问他们对雷做了什么。”杰克咆哮道。
Tesla peered over at the rescued group, noticing for the first time the Tiresian was not among them. Absently, he put the question to the two he had hoped were to be his first subjects, still stunned by what they had told him. The Regent alive· How could it be·
泰斯拉凝视着这支被救援的小队，第一次注意到那个泰雷西亚人不在他们当中。他心不在焉地把这个问题扔给那两个他原本希望会成为他第一批臣民的因维人，仍旧处于被他们刚告之内容所造成的震惊当中。摄政王还活着？这怎么可能呢？
"Well·" Jack shouted."What's he saying·"
“好了吗？”杰克叫喊道，“他在说什么？”
Tesla waited for the scientist to repeat it, nodding as he listened."Rem is Tiresian. His dreams were less, shall we say, commonplace. So he was sent elsewhere for further tests."
泰斯拉等着这个科学家又重复了一遍，一边听一边点着头。“雷是泰雷西亚人，他的梦比较少，应当说，是太过普通。因此他被送到其他地方作进一步的测试。”
"Where·" Janice asked, walking over to him.
“在哪？”贾妮斯问，向他走过来。
Tesla listened for a moment."To Haydon IV. In fact, the Regent himself is on his way-" Tesla eyes went wide and the words caught in his throat.
泰斯拉听了一会说：“去了海顿4号。事实上，摄政王自己正在去往——”泰斯拉的眼睛张大了，话语在他的喉咙中卡住。
"Go on..."
“继续说……”
He swallowed and found his voice-raspy as it was, all at once."The Regent is on his way to Haydon IV as we speak."
他咽了下口水，突然之间用一种焦躁的声音说：“当我们说话的时候，摄政王正在赶往海顿4号。”
"Then that's where we're bound," Bela said evenly, her eyes narrowed to slits.
“那么那正是我们将要去的地方。”贝拉平静地说，眼睛眯成了一条缝。
Tesla gulped, loud enough for everyone to hear.
泰斯拉呛了一下，声音大得足够让每个人都听见。
"We've got to get them to Jean's med team," Learna announced, still holding on to her mate.
“我们得赶快带他们到吉英的医疗组去。”莱亚娜大声说，仍旧抱着她的爱人。
Bela lifted Lisa from the floor."We have no time to lose."
贝拉从地板上扛起丽莎说，“我们没有时间再浪费了。”
Lron and Crysta moved in to take hold of Rick and Karen.
勒荣和克里斯塔走过来分别握住了瑞克和凯伦。
Max and Miriya received Cabell's good news/bad news update over the com net: Rick and the others had been rescued, but they were still under the effects of the planet's microbe-laden atmosphere and delirious with fever. Moreover, the mission had gone smoothly with no casualties among the team, but Rem was no longer on Garuda. Jack's team was out of the crater hive now and awaiting extraction; Jean claimed that Rick, Lisa, and Karen were too weak to endure the trip back to the med group's temporary hq by Hovercycle or Garudan flitter.
麦克斯和米莉娅从通信网络里收到了卡贝尔新的好消息和坏消息：瑞克和其他人已经获救了，但是他们仍处在行星上充满微生物的大气的影响之下，并且高烧得不省人事。此外，营救任务进行地很平顺，队伍没有人员伤亡，但是雷已经不在嘎鲁达星球了。杰克的小组现在正从环形山母巢出来，等待撤离；吉英声称瑞克、丽莎和凯伦太虚弱了以致于无法经受住搭乘气垫摩托或是嘎鲁达搬运机来回到医疗组临时总部的旅程。
Max signed off and immediately raised two of his wingmen on the tac, ordering them to rendezvous with Skull One at the crater hive. Reconfiguring the media to Guardian mode, he imaged the Alpha into a vertical takeoff and set his course northeast for the basin. As the VT rose, Max had a full view of the forests and steppes the Skull and Wolff Pack had turned to wasteland. Not since the battle on Karbarra had he seen so much death, such extensive destruction. The dome-shaped hive was in ruins, collapsed and in flames; the Optera tree forests, along with patches of grassland and evergreen, were burning out of control. The terrain was ravaged beyond belief-pockmarked, holed, cratered, littered with legless or pincerless Invid mecha, bits of Hovertank and Veritech, Bioroid and Inorganic. An entire hillside was covered base to summit with Hellcat husks and Invid and Garudan corpses. Hundreds, perhaps thousands had died. And from what Max was hearing over the net, the same scene had played at each and every Invid farm and installation throughout the planet's equatorial belt. But Garuda had freed itself from the offworlders' yoke.
麦克斯结束了（与卡贝尔）的通话，马上在战术通信中呼叫他的两名僚机，命令他们在环形山母巢与骷髅一号会合。他把机甲（译注：media误mecha？）变形为守护神模式，阿尔法战机垂直起飞，向东北方（母巢所在）的盆地飞去。在战机升高的过程中，麦克斯看到了森林和大草原的全景，骷髅中队和沃尔夫战队已经转向荒漠进发。他从未在卡巴拉见过如此惨烈的战斗，如此大范围的毁灭。穹顶形的母巢已经成为废墟，崩塌了并燃烧着；奥普特拉树木森林，连同点缀其间的草地和常绿植物，正在焚烧，不可收拾。地面被蹂躏得千疮百孔，弹坑遍布，四处散落着缺胳膊少腿的因维机甲以及气垫坦克、变形战机、生化机器人和无机兽的碎片。整个山坡从下到上布满了地狱猫的机壳、因维人和嘎鲁达人的尸体。数以百计，也许是数以千计的生命消逝了。从麦克斯在通信网络里听到的情况来看，类似的情景在每一个因维农场都上演了，并且遍及整个行星的环赤道带。但是嘎鲁达却从因维灭世者们的支配下赢得了解放。
Good news...bad news.
好消息……坏消息。
Max said as much to Miriya as the VT covered the fifty or so miles to the crater. She was still in the Beta module and apparently all right, in spite of her ordeal. Max was cautiously optimistic; he had yet to quiz her about how her fighter had been brought down in the first place.
在变形战机飞往环线山约50英里的路程中，麦克斯尽量在和米莉娅说话。她仍旧在贝塔模块中，表面上看起来还好，如果不考虑她正忍受的痛苦的话。麦克斯保持着谨慎的乐观；他已经问过她关于她的战机究竟是如何坠落的。
The crater hive was for the most part intact, but Max didn't expect it to last much longer. Fires encroaching on it from all sides. Skull One dropped out of the smoke and clouds onto a battleground much like the one they had just left, dead and wounded strewn across the field, a palpable commingling of triumph and loss. Those Invid who had survived were seeing the Garudan's barbaric side; but Max didn't suppose he could fault Kami's people for the day's bloody aftermath, this requisite catharsis.
环形山母巢在很大程度上还保持着完好，但是麦克斯可不希望这种局面再继续持续下去。炮火从各个方向向他袭来。骷髅一号在一块战场上投下烟雾弹和雷达干扰云，这里很像他们才刚刚离开的地方，死伤者布满了整个区域，是触手可及的胜利与失败的混合体。那些幸存的因维人正目睹嘎鲁达人野蛮的一面；但是麦克斯并不认为他能够就这一天的流血灾难对卡米的人民说道些什么，这是必不可少的宣泄。
Masked again, Jack, Gnea, and Bela directed Max and his wingmen in, and got Rick and the others into the VTs as fast as they could. Lron, Crysta, and Janice were keeping Tesla and a few Invid scientists under guard inside the hive-protected from the Garudans' bloodlust for the time being. Kami, still weak but ambulatory now, was off somewhere sharing the bittersweet taste of victory with Learna and their fellow warriors. Mopping up, Max ventured, much as the Wolff Pack was doing in other quarters.
重新戴上面具后杰克、妮雅和贝拉直接奔向麦克斯和他的僚机，尽他们所能地快速把瑞克和其他人带上变形战机。勒荣、克里斯塔和贾妮斯在母巢内部看守着泰斯拉和几个因维科学家——以免受到眼下嘎鲁达人杀戮欲望的伤害。卡米仍然虚弱但现在已经可以走动，他和莱亚娜以及他们的战士同伴一起，在某个地方分享着这苦乐参半的胜利的滋味。麦克斯放手一搏开始打扫战场，和沃尔夫战队正在其他战斗岗位上所做的几乎一样。
Max caught a brief glimpse of Rick as he was being lifted into the cargo space of Blue Danube's Beta module. The transpirator prevented Max from being able to see his friend's face, but Rick looked as though the Invid had robbed him of his bones.
麦克斯粗略地瞥了瑞克一眼，他正被抬进蓝色多瑙河（僚机）贝塔模块的货舱内。呼吸面具让麦克斯看不到他朋友的脸颊，但是瑞克看起来好像被因维人伤到了骨骼。
The three VTs raced for Kami's village, where Jean's team took over and carried Rick and the others to the safety of the geodesic med dome. Max couldn't help but see it as a miniature version of the Invid hives they had just destroyed.
三架变形战机向卡米的村庄疾驰而去，在那里吉英的小组接管并将瑞克和其他人送至网格医务圆顶舱的安全装置中。麦克斯帮不上忙，但看着医务舱就像一个他们刚刚摧毁的因维母巢的微缩版本。
He and Miriya entered on Jack's heels, doffed their masks, and took in a lungful of the dome's artificial atmosphere.
他和米莉娅跟在杰克的后面进来，摘掉他们的面具，深深地吸了一口圆顶舱内的人工大气。
"Sweet, isn't it·" Max said, trying to sound cheerful. Miriya gave him a weak smile, but said nothing. He was reaching for her hand when she suddenly stumbled and collapsed into his arms.
“很甜美，不是吗？”麦克斯说，试着让声音欢快一点。米莉娅给了他一个虚弱的微笑，什么也没有说。麦克斯伸手去牵她的手，她突然迟疑了一下，瘫倒在他的臂弯里。