Soon Brittany had tidied up the room, making it usable. Seeming quite cheerful, she turned back toward Lübeck and said,
"Dinner will be served shortly. Would you like to eat something?"
很快布列塔尼收拾好了这个房间,可以使用了,似乎兴致很好,转回身走向吕贝克说,
"晚餐供应时间快到了,你要去吃点吗?"
Lübeck thought for a moment. He didn't feel particularly hungry. He just looked at Brittany without answering.
吕贝克想了想,自己好像不太想进食,他只是看着布列塔尼,没有回答,
"If I go dining with you, I can piggyback on the officers' mess," Brittany said, already stepping before Lübeck, standing at ease with one hand on her hip.
"如果和你一起去进餐我可以蹭军官餐厅," 说着,布列塔尼已经走到吕贝克面前,稍息站立,单手叉腰,
"Great, I'll go with you. Help me up," Lübeck said with a smile, extending his arm. While he enjoyed helping others, he also valued reciprocity—even emotional exchange.
"那好呀,我和你一起去,扶我,"吕贝克笑着伸出胳膊,虽然他喜欢成人之美,但也喜欢价值交换,即便是情绪价值,
"Alright, let's go a little earlier. Finish your meal sooner so your digestive system has more time to process the food before bedtime," she said, taking Lü Beck's arms to help him stand up and guiding him out of the room.
"好啊,我们早一点去,你早点吃完饭,睡觉之前有更多的时间给你的肠道消化食物,"说着,双手拉着吕贝克的胳膊站起来,搀着他的胳膊离开房间.
The base didn't seem very large; we soon reached the officers' mess hall and didn't encounter any other soldiers, suggesting they used separate access routes.
似乎这个基地并不大,一会儿就走到了军官餐厅,并且没见到其他士兵,似乎他们走的是单独通道.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, where no one else was present yet, Brittany first seated Lübeck, then went to fetch him a special meal designed for age-reversal patients, instructing him to eat only that portion. She then returned with a tray of food for herself and sat down across from Lübeck.
当到达餐厅,还没有别人,布列塔尼首先安排吕贝克落座,然后去给他取了一份逆转年龄病人专门套餐,并且嘱咐只能吃这一份.然后她又返回为自己端回了一餐盘的食物坐在了吕贝克的对面,
Lübeck glanced over and saw fried chicken drumsticks, ham, pork chops, vegetable salad, sandwiches, and a large glass of juice. He found it both amusing and impressive that she could eat so much without gaining weight—youth really was wonderful. Lost in his thoughts, he couldn't help but praise her:
"What an appetite!"
吕贝克一看,有炸鸡腿,火腿,肉排,蔬菜沙拉,三明治,还有一大杯果汁.他一边觉得好笑,一边感慨,她这么能吃还不发胖,年轻真好啊,感慨之余,称赞了一句,
"好食欲,"
"No, I don't usually eat like this either. I arrived at this base about two weeks ago. Before that, I was always at the soldiers' mess hall—got a bit tired of that food. It's not as plentiful as what they serve here."
"不是啊,平时我也不这么吃,我差不多半个月之前到达这个基地的,之前一直在士兵餐厅,有些吃够了,没有这里的食物丰盛."
"Great, glad you like it. Then enjoy it properly—no need to rush," Lübeck said, observing Brittany's expression and demeanor while unconsciously comparing her to Ruth.
"好啊,喜欢就好,那就好好享用吧,不用着急,"吕贝克一边说,一边观察布列塔尼的表情和神态,不自觉地把她与露丝作着对比,
Unlike Ruth, who was calm and gentle yet resilient and steady, Brittany was more lively and uninhibited. She spoke faster, seemingly without thinking, with a simple candor. Yet Lübeck still cherished the qualities embodied by Ruth. He pondered whether times had truly changed. After all, compared to Ruth, Brittany was born half a century later. Not only had time passed, but the environment had transformed too. Children of this era no longer endured the hardships of Ruth's generation. He wondered what he truly missed: the classical feminine virtues embodied by Ruth, or simply Ruth herself.
与平静温婉,却又坚韧稳重的露丝不同,布列塔尼更加活泼,无所顾忌,讲话语速也更快,并且似乎不经过脑子,简单地坦诚.可是吕贝克却依然怀念着露丝身上所体现的那些品质,他也在思索,是不是时代变了,毕竟与露丝相比,她出生的年代已经过了过去了半个世纪,改变的不仅是时间,还有环境,这个年代的孩子再也不用吃露丝那个年代的苦了.而自己怀念的究竟是露丝身上所体现的那些古典女性的品格,还是,仅仅是怀念露丝.
Lübeck took note—by the time they were halfway through dinner, only a handful of people had come and gone. This confirmed the base wasn't large, or perhaps it was merely a medical facility. Still, sitting undisturbed in the corner was quite pleasant. Only after watching Brittany across from him finish her meal with satisfaction, then fill her canteen from the leftover juice, did he rise to leave with her.
吕贝克留意了一下,晚餐吃了一半也才有三三两两的人进出,也印证了这个基地不大,或者仅仅是一个医疗基地,不过在角落里不被打扰也倒是惬意.直到看着对面的布列塔尼满意地把食物全都吃干净,然后用挂在腰间的水壶灌满喝剩的果汁,才跟着她起身离开.
"Is there a window here that looks outside?" Lübeck asked as he walked alongside Brittany.
"这里有能看到外面的窗户吗?"吕贝克跟着布列塔尼边走边问,
"Yes, there is," said Brittany as she led Lübeck down a narrow corridor lined with small, rounded rectangular airtight windows. Lübeck leaned out one of the windows to look outside. It turned out to be a wheeled vehicle and supplies transfer area—not a scenic spot at all.
"有啊,"说着布列塔尼把吕贝克带到了一个狭长走廊,沿途有一个个圆角矩形小气密窗.吕贝克趴在窗口往外看了看,原来外面是轮式车辆物资转运场地,根本不是观景的场所.
He turned to look at Brittany and smiled, saying nothing as they strolled down the corridor, gazing out at the scenery beyond. Outside, however, a sandstorm raged, reducing visibility to just twenty or thirty meters. Only the wheeled transport vehicles parked in the yard were visible, silhouetted against the dark red backdrop of dust.
他扭头看着布列塔尼笑了笑,也没有说什么,一边和她沿着走廊散步一边看着外面的景物.不过外面是沙尘暴时期,能见度只有二三十米,只能看见在场地里停放的轮式运输车辆,停在暗红色的沙尘背景中.
In the blink of an eye, darkness had enveloped the outside world. Even the dusky red dust-streaked horizon was no longer visible, leaving only the cold white glow of the arena lights illuminating this small patch of ground.
转眼间外面已经全黑了,即便是暗红色的沙尘天际也没得欣赏了,只剩冷白色调的场地灯光照亮着这一小块场地.
Back in his room, Lübeck turned on his computer to check the push notifications. He had barely started reading the first one when Brittany abruptly interrupted him from behind. She decisively shut down Lübeck's computer and said,
回到房间,吕贝克打开电脑开始查看推送的信息简报,刚刚读到第一条,就忽然被布列塔尼从背后过来给阻止了,她很武断地关掉了吕贝克电脑说,
"For the next 15 days, you are not allowed to look at any electronic screens," Brittany said, pulling out her ophthalmoscope and solemnly examining Lübeck's eyes.
"15天之内,你不可以观看电子屏幕,"说着,布列塔尼掏出眼底镜,煞有介事地检查了吕贝克的两只眼睛.
Lübeck found it both laughable and exasperating, thinking she was being overly dramatic and dogmatic. He finally said,
"Fine, what should I do next?" His tone carried a hint of reproach.
吕贝克也是觉得哭笑不得,觉得她太夸张,太教条了,索性说,
"好吧,下面我该做什么?"似乎有点质问的语气,
Meanwhile, Brittany seemed oblivious to Lübeck's shifting mood, continuing to list the tasks she was responsible for without a second thought.
而布列塔尼似乎也并没有意识到吕贝克的情绪变化,只是自顾自地陈述她所需要负责的工作内容,
"Alright," Brittany said earnestly, sitting across from Lübeck,
"Next, I need to check your heart rate, blood pressure, muscle strength, and balance function. I'll collect all your urine, and draw venous blood on an empty stomach first thing tomorrow morning."
"好的,"布列塔尼坐在吕贝克对面,很认真地说,
"接下来我需要为你检查心率,血压,肌肉力量,平衡功能,收集你的全部尿液,明早空腹采静脉血."
"Alright, I'm leaving it all up to you," Lübeck spread his hands, his tone calm yet undeniably tinged with a hint of provocation.
"好吧,我都交给你了,"吕贝克两手一摊,语气平静,但是确实有些挑逗的意味,
This time, Brittany clearly caught the implication in his words. She seemed a bit shy, her manner less brash. After quietly completing Lübeck's examination, she went to the workstation to upload the data.
显然这次布列塔尼留意到了他话中含义,似乎有些害羞,言行也不那么张扬了.安静地给吕贝克做完检查,自己到工作台前去上传数据了.
After completing these tasks, Lübeck felt exhausted and lay down on the bed to rest. Only then did he realize he had no privacy. The room contained a workbench accessible to both him and Brittany, a bathroom, a bed, simple furniture, and a door to another room—perhaps Brittany's private quarters. Yet whenever she stepped out, everything he did remained under her watchful eye.
完成了这些环节,吕贝克觉得累了,自己躺在床上休息,他这才发现自己没有隐私.室内有工作台,他和布列塔尼都能使用,有浴室,床,简单桌椅,还有一个房间门,或许是布列塔尼的私人房间,但是当她走出房间,自己的一切都在布列塔尼的监视之下,
At this point, Brittany completed her work, and Lübeck raised his objection.
这时布列塔尼完成工作,吕贝克提出了他的质疑,
"That's right, you have no privacy because you're my patient now," Brittany explained with a twinkle in her eye, as if her earlier energy had returned. She then sat down beside Lübeck's bed to chat.
"没错,你没有隐私,因为你现在是我的病人,"布列塔尼眉飞色舞地解释,仿佛又恢复了之前的活力,说完坐到吕贝克的床边闲聊,
Captain Lübeck, may I ask how long you've been serving on this classified space project?
"吕贝克舰长,我可不可以问一下,之前你为这个太空秘密项目服务多久了?"
With nothing to do at night and bedtime still hours away, Lübeck was happy to chat with her for a while to pass the time.
"Decades—roughly from the 1950s to the year 2000."
晚上无所事事,睡觉还早,吕贝克也愿意和她聊一会儿消遣时间,
"几十年,差不多从50年代到2000年,"
Oh, so when did this secret space project begin?
"哦,那么这个太空秘密项目是从什么时候开始的呢?"
"I'm not quite sure, nor is it necessary to know. If you can transcend time, the starting point ceases to matter."
"不太清楚,也没有必要清楚,如果你能跨越时间,那个开始的时间点已经不重要了."
"Oh, I see," Brittany replied, lowering her voice.
"哦,是这样,"回答着,布列塔尼放低了声音,
So, have you started a family? Does your role as captain affect your family life?
"那么,你成家了吗?作为舰长的职务会不会影响你的家庭生活?"
Lübeck smiled, thinking the girl might be trying to understand her own future path through his experiences. He explained,
"I used to work in crew training, so I rarely left Earth. My farthest journey in space was to Mars orbit, which meant I could visit home often. But now my wife has been gone for years. Maybe I'll..."
吕贝克笑了,他觉得这个丫头可能是想从自己的经历了解她的未来人生道路,便解释说,
"我之前一直从事舰员训练工作,没怎么离开地球,在太空中也只是最远到达火星轨道,所以能够经常回家探亲.但是现在我的妻子已经过世多年,也许我会..."
Oh, I'm sorry I brought up that painful memory.
"哦,抱歉,我提到了你的伤心往事."