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第39部分(第4页)

Norman decided to take another shower。 As he stepped under the spray; he made a startling discovery。

The bruises which had covered his body were gone。 Anyway; almost gone; he thought; staring down at the remaining patches of yellow and purple。 They had healed within hours。 He moved his limbs experimentally and realized that the pain had gone; too。 Why? What had happened? For a moment he thought this was all a dream; or a nightmare; and then he thought: No; its just the atmosphere。 Cuts and bruises healing faster in the high…pressure environment。 It wasnt anything mysterious。 Just an atmospheric effect。

He toweled himself as dry as he could with the damp towel; and then went back to his bunk。 Harry was still snoring; as loud as ever。

Norman lay on his back; stared at the red humming coils of the ceiling heater。 He had an idea; and got out of bed; and shifted Harrys talker from the base of his throat to one side。 Immediately the snores changed to a soft; high…pitched hiss。

Much better; he thought。 He lay on the damp pillow; and was almost immediately asleep。 He awoke with no sense of passing time…it might have been only a few seconds…but he felt refreshed。 He stretched and yawned; and got out of bed。

Harry still slept。 Norman moved the talker back; and the ''264'' snores resumed。 He went into D Cyl; to the console。 Still on the screen were the words:

HEY MAN GET OFF MY BACK。

〃Jerry?〃 Norman said。 〃Are you there; Jerry?〃

The screen did not respond。 Jerry wasnt there。 Norman looked at the stack of printouts to one side。 I really should go over this stuff; he thought。 Because something troubled him about Jerry。 Norman couldnt put his finger on it; but even if one imagined the alien as a spoiled child…king; Jerrys behavior didnt make sense。 It just didnt add up。 Including the last message。

HEY MAN GET OFF MY BACK。

Street talk? Or just imitating Harry? In any case it wasnt Jerrys usual mode of munication。 Usually Jerry was ungrammatical and sort of spacy; talking about entities and awareness。 But from time to time he would bee sharply colloquial。 Norman looked at the sheets。

WELL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER A SHORT BREAK FOR THESE MESSAGES FROM OUR SPONSOR。

That was one example。 Where had that e from? It sounded like Johnny Carson。 Then why didnt Jerry sound like Johnny Carson all the time? What caused the shift?

Then; too; there was the problem of the squid。 If Jerry liked to scare them; if he enjoyed rattling their cage and seeing them jump; why use a squid? Where had that idea e from? And why only a squid? Jerry seemed to enjoy manifesting different things。 So why hadnt he produced giant squid one time; great white sharks another time; and so on? Wouldnt that provide a greater challenge to his abilities?

Then there was the problem of Ted。 Ted had been playing with Jerry at the time he was killed。 If Jerry liked to play so much; why would he kill off a player? It just didnt make sense。

Or did it?

Norman sighed。 His trouble lay in his assumptions。 Norman was assuming that the alien had logical processes similar to his own。 But that might not be true。 For one thing; Jerry might operate at a much faster metabolic rate; and thus have a different sense of time。 Kids played with a toy only until ''265'' they got tired of it; then they changed to another。 The hours that seemed so painfully long to Norman might be only a few seconds in the consciousness of Jerry。 He might just be playing with the squid for a few seconds; until he dropped it for another toy。

Kids also had a poor idea about breaking things。 If Jerry didnt know about death; then he wouldnt mind killing Ted; because he would think the death was just a temporary event; a 〃humorous〃 manifestation by Ted。 He might not realize he was actually breaking his toys。

And it was also true; when he thought about it; that Jerry had manifested different things。 Assuming that the jellyfish and the shrimps and the sea fans and now the sea snakes were his manifestations。 Were they? Or were they just normal parts of the environment? Was there any way to tell?

And the Navy seaman; he thought suddenly。 Lets not forget the seaman。 Where had he e from? Was that seaman another of Jerrys manifestations? Could Jerry manifest his playmates at will? In that case; he really wouldnt care if he killed them all。

But I think thats clear; Norman thought。 Jerry doesnt care if he kills us。 He just wants to play; and he doesnt know his own strength。

Yet there was something else。 He scanned the sheets of printout; feeling instinctively some underlying organization to everything。 Something he wasnt getting; some connection he wasnt making。

As he thought about it; he kept ing back to one question: Why a squid? Why a squid?

Of course; he thought。 They had been talking about a squid; during the conversation at dinner。 Jerry must have overheard that。 He must have decided that a squid would be a provocative item to manifest。 And he was certainly right about that。

Norman shifted the papers; and came upon the very first message that Harry had decoded。

HELLO。 HOW ARE YOU? I AM FINE。 WHAT IS YOUR NAME? MY NAME IS JERRY。

''266'' That was as good a place to begin as any。 It had been quite a feat for Harry to decode it; Norman thought。 If Harry hadnt succeeded with that; they would never have ever started talking to Jerry at all。

Norman sat at the console; stared at the keyboard。 What had Harry said? The keyboard was a spiral: the letter G was one; and B was two; and so on。 Very clever to figure it out。 Norman would never hav

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