第一小说网

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第6部分（第3页）

〃You　know　the　location　of　the　door？〃

〃We　do。　Yes。〃

There　was　a　moment　of　silence；　and　then　Ted　said；　〃But　this　is　fantastic！　Absolutely　fantastic！　When　will　we　go　down　there　to　enter　the　spacecraft？〃

〃Tomorrow；〃　Barnes　said；　never　taking　his　eyes　off　Harry。　And　Harry；　for　his　own　part；　stared　fixedly　at　Barnes。　〃The　minisubs　will　take　you　down　in　pairs；　starting　at　oh　eight　hundred　hours　tomorrow　morning。〃

〃This　is　exciting！〃　Ted　said。　〃Fantastic！　Unbelievable。〃

〃So；〃　Barnes　said；　still　watching　Harry；　〃you　should　all　get　a　good　nights　sleep…if　you　can。〃

〃　Innocent　sleep；　sleep　that　knits　up　the　ravelld　sleave　of　care；　〃　Ted　said。　He　was　literally　bobbing　up　and　down　in　his　chair　with　excitement。

〃During　the　rest　of　the　day；　supply　and　technical　officers　will　be　ing　to　measure　and　outfit　you。　Any　other　questions；〃　Barnes　said；　〃you　can　find　me　in　my　office。〃

He　left　the　room；　and　the　meeting　broke　up。　When　the　others　filed　out；　Norman　remained　behind；　with　Harry　Adams。　Harry　never　moved　from　his　chair。　He　watched　the　technician　packing　up　the　portable　screen。

〃That　was　quite　a　performance　just　now；〃　Norman　said。

〃Was　it？　I　dont　see　why。〃

〃You　deduced　that　Barnes　wasnt　telling　us　about　the　door。〃

〃Oh；　theres　much　more　hes　not　telling　us　about；〃　Adams　＇＇37＇＇　said；　in　a　cold　voice。　〃Hes　not　telling　us　about　any　of　the　important　things。〃

〃Like　what？〃

〃Like　the　fact；〃　Harry　said；　getting　to　his　feet　at　last；　〃that　Captain　Barnes　knows　perfectly　well　why　the　President　decided　to　keep　this　a　secret。〃

〃He　does？〃

〃The　President　had　no　choice；　under　the　circumstances。〃

〃What　circumstances？〃

〃He　knows　that　the　object　down　there　is　not　an　alien　spacecraft。〃

〃Then　what　is　it？〃

〃I　think　its　quite　clear　what　it　is。〃

〃Not　to　me；〃　Norman　said。

Adams　smiled　for　the　first　time。　It　was　a　thin　smile；　entirely　without　humor。　〃You　wouldnt　believe　it　if　I　told　you；〃　he　said。　And　he　left　the　room。

TESTS

Arthur　levine；　the　marine　biologist；　was　the　only　member　of　the　expedition　Norman　Johnson　had　not　met。　It　was　one　of　the　things　we　hadnt　planned　for；　he　thought。　Norman　had　assumed　that　any　contact　with　unknown　life　would　occur　on　land；　he　hadnt　considered　the　most　obvious　possibility…that　if　a　spacecraft　landed　at　random　somewhere　on　the　Earth；　it　would　most　likely　e　down　on　water；　since　70　percent　of　the　planet　was　covered　with　water。　It　was　obvious　in　retrospect　that　they　would　need　a　marine　biologist。

What　else；　he　wondered；　would　prove　obvious　in　retrospect？

He　found　Levine　hanging　off　the　port　railing。　Levine　came　＇＇