mc.theandromedastrein-第32节

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


　
　　　〃Yes。〃
　　　〃They've　been　told；〃　somebody　else　said。　〃It　went　out　on　the　scrambler　an　hour　ago。〃　
　
　　　Then；　thought　Manchek；　there　would　certainly　be　a　reaction　from　Wildfire。　They　could　not　afford　to　ignore　this。
　
　　　Unless　they　weren't　reading　their　cables。　It　had　never　occurred　to　him　before；　but　perhaps　it　was　possible　they　weren't　reading　the　cables。　They　were　so　absorbed　in　their　work；　they　just　weren't　bothering。
　
　　　〃There's　the　wreck；〃　somebody　said。　〃Up　ahead。〃
　
　　　***
　
　　　Each　time　Manchek　saw　a　wreck；　he　was　astonished。　Somehow；　one　never　got　used　to　the　idea　of　the　sprawl；　the　mess；　the　destructive　force　of　a　large　metal　object　striking　the　earth　at　thousands　of　miles　an　hour。　He　always　expected　a　neat；　tight　little　clump　of　metal；　but　it　was　never　that　way。
　
　　　The　wreckage　of　the　Phantom　was　scattered　over　two　square　miles　of　desert。　Standing　next　to　the　charred　remnants　of　the　left　wing；　he　could　barely　see　the　others；　on　the　horizon；　near　the　right　wing。　Everywhere　he　looked；　there　were　bits　of　twisted　metal；　blackened；　paint　peeling。　He　saw　one　with　a　small　portion　of　a　sign　still　intact；　the　stenciled　letters　clear：　DO　NOT。　The　rest　was　gone。
　
　　　It　was　impossible　to　make　anything　of　the　remnants。　The　fuselage；　the　cockpit；　the　canopy　were　all　shattered　into　a　million　fragments；　and　the　fires　had　disfigured　everything。
　
　　　As　the　sun　faded；　he　found　himself　standing　near　the　remains　of　the　tail　section；　where　the　metal　still　radiated　heat　from　the　smoldering　fire。　Half…buried　in　the　sand　he　saw　a　bit　of　bone；　he　picked　it　up　and　realized　with　horror　that　it　was　human。　Long；　and　broken；　and　charred　at　one　end；　it　had　obviously　e　from　an　arm　or　a　leg。　But　it　was　oddly　clean　there　was　no　flesh　remaining；　only　smooth　bone。
　
　　　Darkness　descended；　and　the　post　team　took　out　their　flashlights；　the　half…dozen　men　moving　among；　smoking　metal；　flashing　their　yellow　beams　of　light　about。
　
　　　It　was　late　in　the　evening　when　a　biochemist　whose　name　he　did　not　know　came　up　to　talk　with　him。
　
　　　〃You　know；〃　the　biochemist　said；　〃it's　funny。　That　transcript　about　the　rubber　in　the　cockpit　dissolving。〃
　　　〃How　do　you　mean？〃
　　　〃Well；　no　rubber　was　used　in　this　airplane。　It　was　all　a　synthetic　plastic　pound。　Newly　developed　by　Ancro；　they're　quite　proud　of　it。　It's　a　polymer　that　has　some　of　the　same　characteristics　as　human　tissue。　Very　flexible；　lots　of　applications。　〃　
　
　　　Manchek　said；　〃Do　you　think　vibrations　could　have　caused　the　disintegration。〃
　
　　　〃No；〃　the　man　said。　〃There　are　thousands　of　Phantoms　flying　around　the　world。　They　all　have　this　plastic。　None　of　them　has　ever　had　this　trouble。〃
　　　〃Meaning？〃
　　　〃Meaning　that　I　don't　know　what　the　hell　is　going　on；〃　the　biochemist　said。
　
　
　　　20。　Routine
　
　　　
　　　SLOWLY；　THE　WILDFIRE　INSTALLATION　SETTLED　into　a　routine；　a　rhythm　of　work　in　the　underground　chambers　of　a　laboratory　where　there　was　no　night　or　day；　morning　or　afternoon。　The　men　slept　when　they　were　tired；　awoke　when　they　were　refreshed；　and　carried　on　their　work　in　a　number　of　different　areas。
　
　　　Most　of　this　work　was　to　lead　nowhere。　They　knew　that；　and　accepted　it　in　advance。　As　Stone　was　fond　of　saying；　scientific　research　was　much　like　prospecting：　you　went　out　and　you　hunted；　armed　with　your　maps　and　your　instruments；　but　in　the　end　your　preparations　did　not　matter；　or　even　your　intuition。　You　needed　your　luck；　and　whatever　benefits　accrued　to　the　diligent；　through　sheer；　grinding　hard　work。
　
　　　Burton　stood　in　the　room　that　housed　the　spectrometer　along　with　several　other　pieces　of　equipment　for　radioactivity　assays；　ratio…density　photometry；　thermocoupling　analysis；　and　preparation　for　X…ray　crystallography。
　
　　　The　spectrometer　employed　in　Level　V　was　the　standard　Whittington　model　K…5。　Essentially　it　consisted　of　a　vaporizer；　a　prism；　and　a　recording　screen。　The　material　to　be　tested　was　set　in　the　vaporizer　and　burned。　The　light　from　its　burning　then　passed　through　the　prism；　where　it　was　broken　down　to　a　spectrum　that　was　projected　onto　a　recording　screen。　Since　different　elements　gave　off　different　wavelengths　of　light　as　they　burned；　it　was　possible　to　analyze　the　chemical　makeup　of　a　substance　by　analyzing　the　spectrum　of　light　produced。
　
　　　In　theory　it　was　simple；　but　in　practice　the　reading　of　spectrometrograms　was　plex　and　difficult。　No　one　in　this　Wildfire　laboratory　was　trained　to　do　it　well。　Thus　results　were　fed　directly　into　a　puter；　which　performed　the　analysis。　Because　of　the　sensitivity　of　the　puter；　rough　percentage　positions　could　also　be　determined。
　
　　　Burton　placed　the　first　chip；　from　the　black　rock；　onto　the　vaporizer　and　pressed　the　button。　There　was　a　single　bright　burst　of　intensely　hot　light；　he　turned　away；　avoiding　the　brightness；　and　then　put　the　second　chip　onto　the　lamp。　Already；　he　knew；　the　puter　was　analyzing　the　light　from　the　first　chip。
　
　　　He　repeated　the　process　with　the　green　fleck；　and　then　checked　the　time。　The　puter　was　now　scanning　the　self…developing　photographic　plates；　which　were　ready　for　viewing　in　seconds。　But　the　scan　itself　would　take　two　hours　die　electric　eye　was　very　slow。
　
　　　Once　the　scan　was　pleted；　the　puter　would　analyze　results　and　print　the　data　within　five　seconds。
　
　　　The　wall　clock　told　him　it　was　now　1500　hours　three　in　the　afternoon。　He　suddenly　realized　he　was　tired。　He　punched　in　instructions　to　the　puter　to　wake　him　when　analysis　was　finished。　Then　he　went　off　to　bed。
　
　　　***
　
　　　In　another　room；　Leavitt　was　carefully　feeding　similar　chips　into　a　different　machine；　an　amino…acid　analyzer。　As　he　did　so；　he　smiled　slightly　to　himself；　for　he　could　remember　how　it　had　been　in　the　old　days；　before　AA　analysis　was　automatic。
　
　　　In　the　early　fifties；　the　analysis　of　amino　acids　in　a　protein　might　take　weeks；　or　even　months。　Sometimes　it　took　years。　Now　it　took　hours　or　at　the　very　most；　a　day　and　it　was　fully　automatic。
　
　　　Amino　acids　were　the　building　blocks　of　proteins。　There　were　twenty…four　known　amino　acids；　each　posed　of　a　half…dozen　molecules　of　carbon；　hydrogen；　oxygen；　and　nitrogen。　Proteins　were　made　by　stringing　these　amino　acids　together　in　a　line；　like　a　freight　train。　The　order　of　stringing　determined　the　nature　of　the　protein　whether　it　was　insulin；　hemoglobin；　or　growth　hormone。　All　proteins　were　posed　of　the　same　freight　cars；　the　same　units。　Some　proteins　had　more　of　one　kind　of　car　than　another；　or　in　a　different　order。　But　that　was　the　only　difference。　The　same　amino　acids；　the　same　freight　cars；　existed　in　human　proteins　and　flea　proteins。
　
　　　That　fact　had　taken　approximately　twenty　years　to　discover。
　
　　　But　what　controlled　the　order　of　amino　acids　in　the　protein？　The　answer　turned　out　to　be　DNA；　the　genetic…coding　substance；　which　acted　like　a　switching　manager　in　a　freightyard。
　
　　　That　particular　fact　had　taken　another　twenty　years　to　discover。
　
　　　But　then　once　the　amino　acids　were　strung　together；　they　began　to　twist　and　coil　upon　themselves；　the　analogy　became　closer　to　a　snake　than　a　train。　The　manner　of　coiling　was　determined　by　the　order　of　acids；　and　was　quite　specific：　a　protein　had　to　be　coiled　in　a　certain　way；　and　no　other；　or　it　failed　to　function。
　
　　　Another　ten　years。
　
　　　Rather　odd；　Leavitt　thought。　Hundreds　of　laboratories；　thousands　of　workers　throughout　the　world；　all　bent　on　discovering　such　essentially　simple　facts。　It　had　all　taken　years　and　years；　decades　of　patient　effort。
　
　　　And　now　there　was　this　machine。　The　machine　would　not；　of　course；　give　the　precise　order　of　amino　acids。　But　it　would　give　a　rough　percentage　position：　so　much　valine；　so　much　arginine；　so　much　cystine　and　proline　and　leucine。　And　that；　in　turn；　would　give　a　great　deal　of　information。
　
　　　Yet　it　was　a　shot　in　the　dark；　this　machine。　Because　they　had　no　reason　to　believe　that　either　the　rock　or　the　green　organism　was　posed　even　partially　of　proteins。　True；　every　living　thing　on　earth　had　at　least　some　proteins　but　that　didn't　mean　life　elsewhere　had　to　have　it。
　
　　　For　a　moment；　he　tried　to　imagine　life　without　proteins。　It　was　almost　impossible：　on　earth；　proteins　were　part　of　the　cell　wall；　and　prised　all　the　enzymes　known　to　man。　And　life　without　enzymes？　Was　that　possible？
　
　　　He　recalled　the　remark　of　George　Thompson；　the　British　biochemist；　who　had　called　enzymes　〃the　matchmakers　of　life。〃　It　was　true；　enzymes　acted　as　catalysts　for　all　chemical　reactions；　by　providing　a　surface　for　two　molecules　to　e　together　and　react　upon。　There　were　hundreds　of　thousands；　perhaps　millions；　of　enzymes；　each　existing　solely　to　aid　a　single　chemical　reaction。　Without　enzymes；　there　could　be　no　chemical　reactions。
　
　　　Without　chemical　reactions；　there　could　be　no　life。
　
　　　Or　could　there？
　
　　　It　was　a　long…standing　problem。　Early　in　planning　Wildfire；　the　question　had　been　posed：　How　do　you　study　a　form　of　life　totally　unlike　any　you　know？　How　would　you　even　know　it　was　alive？
　
　　　This　was　not　an　academic　matter。　Biology；　as　George　Wald　had　said；　was　a　unique　science　because　it　could　not　define　its　subject　matte