羊毛战记 Part 5 The Stranded 66
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  66
  • Silo 17 •
  Juliette grabbed the limp air hose with both hands and squeezed. Her reward was a few weak bubblesrolling up her visor—the pressure inside the tube was gone.
  She whispered a curse, tilted1 her chin against the radio, and called Solo’s name. Something hadhappened to the compressor. He must have been working on it, maybe topping up the fuel. She hadtold him not to turn it off for that. He wouldn’t know what to do, wouldn’t be able to restart it. Shehadn’t thought this through clearly at all; she was an impossible distance from breathable air, fromany hope of survival.
  She took a tentative breath. She had what was trapped in the suit and the air that remained in thehose. How much of the air in the hose could she suck with just the power of her lungs? She didn’tthink it would be much.
  She took one last look at the large sump pump, her hasty wiring job, the loose trail of wiresstreaming through the water that she’d hoped to have time to secure against vibration2 and accidentaltugs. None of it likely mattered anymore, not for her. She kicked away from the pump and waved herarms through the water, wading3 through the viscous4 fluid that seemed to impede5 her while giving hernothing to push or pull against.
  The weights were holding her back. Juliette bent6 to release them and found she couldn’t. Thebuoyancy of her arms, the stiffness of the suit … she groped for the Velcro straps7 but watched herfingers through the magnified view of helmet and water as they waved inches from the blasted things.
  She took a deep breath, sweat dripping from her nose and splattering the inside of her dome9. Shetried again and came close, her fingertips nearly brushing the black straps, both hands outstretched,grunting and throwing her shoulders into the simple act of reaching her damned shins …But she couldn’t. She gave up and shuffled10 a few more steps down the hallway, following the wireand hose, both visible in the faint cone11 of white light emanating12 from above her head. She tried not tobump against the wire, thinking of what one accidental pull might do, how tenuous13 the connectionwas that she’d made to the pump’s ground. Even as she struggled for a deep breath, her mind wasever playing the mechanic. She cursed herself for not taking longer to prepare.
  Her knife! She remembered her knife and stopped dragging her feet. It slid out of its homemadesheath sewn across her belly14 and gleamed in the glow from her flashlight.
  Juliette bent down and used the extra reach of the blade; she slid the point of the knife betweenher suit and one of the straps. The water was dark and thick all around her. With the limited amountof light from her helmet, and being at the bottom of Mechanical under all that heap of flood, she feltmore remote and alone, more afraid, than she had in all her life.
  She gripped the knife, terrified of what dropping it could mean, and bobbed up and down, usingher stomach muscles. It was like doing sit-ups while standing15. She attacked the strap8 with a laboredsawing motion, cursed in her helmet from the effort, the strain, the pain in her abdomen16 from lurchingforward, from throwing her head down … when finally the exercise weight popped free. Her calf17 feltsuddenly naked and light as the round hunk of iron clanged mutely to the plate-steel flooring.
  Juliette tilted to the side, held down by one leg, the other trying to rise up. She worked the knifecarefully beneath the second strap, fearful of cutting her suit and seeing a stream of precious bubblesleak out. With desperate force, she shoved and pulled the blade against the black webbing just likebefore. Nylon threads popped in her magnified vision; sweat spattered her helmet; the knife burstthrough the fabric18; the weight was free.
  Juliette screamed as her boots flew up behind her, rising above her head. She twisted her torso andwaved her arms as much as she could, but her helmet slammed into the runs of pipes at the top of thehallway.
  There was a bang—and the water all around her went black. She fumbled19 for her flashlight, to turnit back on, but it wasn’t there. Something bumped her arm in the darkness. She fumbled for the objectwith one hand, knife in the other, felt it spill through her gloved fingers, and then it was gone. Whileshe struggled to put the knife away, her only source of light tumbled invisible to the ground below.
  Juliette heard nothing but her rapid breathing. She was going to die like this, pinned to the ceiling,another bloated body in these corridors. It was as if she were destined20 to perish in one of those suits,one way or another. She kicked against the pipes and tried to wiggle free. Which way had she beengoing? Where was she facing? The pitch black was absolute. She couldn’t even see her own arms infront of her. It was worse than being blind, to know her eyes were working but somehow takingnothing in. It heightened her panic, even as the air in her suit seemed to grow more and more stale.
  The air.
  She reached for her collar and found the hose, could just barely feel it through her gloves. Juliettebegan to gather it in, hand over hand, like pulling a mining bucket up a deep shaft21.
  It felt like miles of it went through her hands. The slack gathered around her like knotted noodles,bumping and sliding against her. Juliette’s breathing began to sound more and more desperate. Shewas panicking. How much of her shallow breaths were coming from the adrenaline, the fear? Howmuch because she was using up all her precious air? She had a sudden terror that the hose she waspulling had been cut, that it had been sawn through on the stairwell, that the free end would at anymoment slip through her fingers, that her next frantic22 reach for more of the lifeline would result in afistful of inky water and nothing else …But then she grabbed a length of hose with tension, with life. A stiff line that held no air but ledthe way out.
  Juliette cried out in her helmet and reached forward to grab another handhold. She pulled herself,her helmet bumping against a pipe and bouncing her away from the ceiling. She kept reaching,lunging one hand forward in the black to where the line should be, finding it, grasping, yanking,hauling herself through the midnight soup of the drowned and the dead, wondering how far she’d getbefore she joined them and breathed her very last.
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
2 vibration nLDza     
n.颤动,振动;摆动
参考例句:
  • There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
  • The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。
3 wading 0fd83283f7380e84316a66c449c69658     
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子,准备涉水。
  • The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。
4 viscous KH3yL     
adj.粘滞的,粘性的
参考例句:
  • Gases are much less viscous than liquids.气体的粘滞性大大小于液体。
  • The mud is too viscous.You must have all the agitators run.泥浆太稠,你们得让所有的搅拌机都开着。
5 impede FcozA     
v.妨碍,阻碍,阻止
参考例句:
  • One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
  • The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。
6 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
7 straps 1412cf4c15adaea5261be8ae3e7edf8e     
n.带子( strap的名词复数 );挎带;肩带;背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 );用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带
参考例句:
  • the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
  • The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。
8 strap 5GhzK     
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎
参考例句:
  • She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
  • The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。
9 dome 7s2xC     
n.圆屋顶,拱顶
参考例句:
  • The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
  • They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。
10 shuffled cee46c30b0d1f2d0c136c830230fe75a     
v.洗(纸牌)( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 );拖着脚步走;粗心地做;摆脱尘世的烦恼
参考例句:
  • He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
  • Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 cone lYJyi     
n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果
参考例句:
  • Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
  • The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。
12 emanating be70e0c91e48568de32973cab34020e6     
v.从…处传出,传出( emanate的现在分词 );产生,表现,显示
参考例句:
  • Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此,也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
  • Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水,特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句
13 tenuous PIDz8     
adj.细薄的,稀薄的,空洞的
参考例句:
  • He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
  • The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。
14 belly QyKzLi     
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛
参考例句:
  • The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
  • His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。
15 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
16 abdomen MfXym     
n.腹,下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)
参考例句:
  • How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫?
  • He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。
17 calf ecLye     
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮
参考例句:
  • The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
  • The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。
18 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织
参考例句:
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
19 fumbled 78441379bedbe3ea49c53fb90c34475f     
(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下
参考例句:
  • She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
  • He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他(瞎)摸着衣兜找票。
20 destined Dunznz     
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
参考例句:
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。
21 shaft YEtzp     
n.(工具的)柄,杆状物
参考例句:
  • He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
  • This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。
22 frantic Jfyzr     
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的
参考例句:
  • I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
  • He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。
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