羊毛战记 Part 5 The Stranded 64

　　64,　　• Silo 17 •,　　The descent to Mechanical was oddly tranquil ¹, almost mesmerizing ². Juliette slid through the greenflood, pushing herself away from the curved railing each time the staircase spiraled around beneathher feet. The only sounds anywhere were the hiss ³ of air entering her helmet and the excess gurglingout the other side. A never-ending stream of bubbles rolled up her visor like beads ⁴ of solder ⁵, driftingup in defiance ⁶ of gravity.,　　Juliette watched these silver spheres chase one another and play like children through the metalstairs. They broke up where they touched the railing, leaving just minuscule ⁷ dots of gas stuck to thesurface, rolling and colliding. Others marched in wavy ⁸ lines inside the stairway. They gathered incrowds beneath the hollow steps, bubbles becoming pockets of air that wobbled and caught the lightradiating from the top of her helmet.,　　It was easy to forget where she was, what she was doing. The familiar had become distorted andstrange. Everything seemed magnified by the plastic dome ⁹ of her visor, and it was easy to imaginethat she wasn’t sinking at all, but that the great stairway was rising, pushing up through the deep earthand heading toward the clouds. Even the sensation of the rope sliding through her gloved hands andacross her padded belly ¹⁰ felt more like something tugged ¹¹ inexorably from above rather than a line shewas descending ¹².,　　It wasn’t until she arched her back and looked straight up that Juliette remembered how muchwater was stacking up above her. The green glow of the emergency lights faded to an eerie ¹³ black inthe space of a landing or two. The light from her flashlight barely dented ¹⁴ it. Juliette inhaled ¹⁵ sharplyand reminded herself that she had all the air in the silo. She tried to ignore the sensation of so muchliquid piled up on her shoulders, of being buried alive. If she had to, if she panicked, she could justcut the weights free. One flick ¹⁶ with the chef’s knife and she would bob right back to the surface. Shetold herself this as she continued to sink. Letting go of the rope with one hand, she patted for theknife, making sure it was still there.,　　Juliette grabbed the rope with both hands and squeezed until she came to a stop. She remindedherself that Solo was up there, watching the air hose and electrical wires as they spooled ¹⁷ off their neatcoils. She imagined him tangled ¹⁸ up in the lines, hopping ¹⁹ around on one foot. Bubbles raced out of heroverflow valve and jiggled through the lime-green water back toward the surface. She leaned herhead back and watched them swirl ²¹ around the taut ²² rope, wondering what was taking him so long. Inthe undersides of the helical steps, the air pockets danced mercury silver, wavering in the turbulenceof her passing—,　　“OKAY.” The radio speaker behind her neck crackled. “GOOD HERE. ”,　　Juliette cringed from the volume of Solo’s voice and wished she’d checked that before closing upher helmet. There was no fixing it now.,　　With ears ringing and the silence and majesty ²³ of the tranquil descent broken, she slid downanother level, keeping her pace steady and slow as she studied the slack in the wire and the air hosefor any sign of their pulling taut. As she passed close to the landing of one-thirty-nine, she saw thatone of the doors was missing; the other door had been wrenched ²⁴ violently from its hinges. The entirelevel must have been flooded, which meant more water for the pumps to move. Just before thelanding rose out of sight, she saw dark forms down the corridor, shadows floating in the water. Theflashlight on her helmet barely illuminated ²⁵ a pale and bloated face before she drifted past, leaving thelong-dead to rise out of sight.,　　It hadn’t occurred to Juliette that she might come across more bodies. Not the drowned of course—the flood would’ve risen too slowly to take anyone by surprise—but any violence that occurred inthe down deep would now be preserved in its icy depths. The chill of the water around her seemed tofinally penetrate ²⁶ the layers of her suit. Or perhaps it was just her imagination.,The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的 。,I think you must be mesmerizing me, Charles. 查尔斯 ，我想你一定在对我施催眠术啦
。 来自辞典例句