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发信人: by (春天的小懒虫), 信区: SFworld
标  题: 2010 (54)
发信站: 哈工大紫丁香 (Wed Oct  6 15:39:24 1999), 转信

                            54
                   Between Suns

The  Russians,  thought  Floyd,  are  going to miss Walter's
songs  and  wisecracks  on  the  way home. After the excite-
ment  of  the  last  few  days,  the  long fall Sunward - and
Earthward  -  will  seem  a  monotonous  anticlimax.  But  a
monotonous,   uneventful  trip  was  what  everyone  devoutly
hoped for.
  He  was already feeling sleepy, but was still aware of his
surroundings  and capable of reacting to chem. Will I look as
...  dead  when I'm in hibernation? he asked himself. It was
always  disconcerting  to  look at another person - especially
someone  very  familiar - when he had entered the long sleep.
Perhaps  it  was  too  poignant  a reminder of one's own mor-
tality.
  Curnow   was   completely   out,   but  Chandra  was  still
awake,  though  already  groggy  from the final injection. He
was  obviously  no  longer  himself,  for he seemed quite un-
perturbed   by  his  own  nakedness  or  Katerina's  watchful
presence.  The  gold  lingam  that  was  his  only article of
clothing  kept trying to float away from him, until its chain
recaptured it.
  `Everything going okay, Katerina?' asked Floyd.
  `Perfectly.  But  how  I envy you. In twenty minutes, you'll
be home.'
  `If that's  any  consolation  - how can you be sure we won't
have some horrible dreams?'
  `No one's ever reported any.'
  `Ah - they may forget them when they wake up.'
  Katerina,  as usual, took him quite seriously. `Impossible.
If  there  were  dreams in hibernation, the EEG records would
have  revealed  them.  Okay,  Chandra - close your eyes. Ah -
there  he  goes.  Now  it's your turn, Heywood. The ship will
seem very strange without you.'
  `Thanks, Katerina... hope you have a nice trip.'
  Drowsy    though   he   was,   Floyd   became   aware   that
Surgeon-Commander      Rudenko   seemed  a  little  uncertain,
even - could it be? - shy. It looked as if she wanted to tell
him something, but couldn't make up her mind.
  `What is it, Katerina?' he said sleepily.
  `I  haven't  told anyone else yet-but you certainly won't be
talking. Here's a little surprise.'
  `You d... better... hurry.
  `Max and Zenia are going to get married.'
  `That... is... supposed... to... be... a...
surprise? '
  `No.  It's just  to  prepare you. When we get back to Earth.
so are Walter and I. What do you think of that?'
  Now I understand why you were spending so much time
together. Yes, it is indeed a surprise... who would have
thought it!
  `I'm ... very... happy ... to... hear...'
  Floyd's voice faded out before he could complete the sen-
tence. But he was not yet unconscious, and was still able to
focus some of his dissolving intellect on this new situation.
  I really don't believe it, he said to himself. Walter will
probably change his mind before he wakes up.
  And then he had one final thought, just before he went to
sleep himself. If Walter does change his mind, he'd better not
wake up.
  Dr Heywood Floyd thought that was very funny. The
rest of the crew often wondered why he was smiling all the
way back to Earth.

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