《Let There be Darkness》中的设定的收集（1）
【阿撒托斯】
And out beyond all else, beyond the outmost bournes of stars and worlds, galaxies and quasars, there churned a boundless Force: the mindless, sentient Chaos that seethes at the focus of all existence and gives birth to all things. . . .
超越一切，超越恒星和世界、星系和类星体的最外层，那里搅动着一股无边无际的力量：无意识、有知觉的混沌在所有存在的中心沸腾并孕育万物。. . .
【旧日支配者】
【旧日支配者的相关内容】
1.She sensed the awful presence of beings even mightier than the Galactics or the Zarr -- monstrous, mental pulsings here and there amid the cosmos suggesting the existence of living-things too terrific and alien to be humanly comprehended.
她感觉到比Galactics或Zarr还要强大的生物的可怕存在——宇宙中到处都是可怕的精神脉冲，表明存在着人类无法理解的可怕和陌生的生物。
（一些旧日支配者个体比Zarrian文明和Galactic文明还要强大（当然，旧日支配者之间实力差距非常大，并不能说所有的旧日支配者个体都比Zarrian文明和Galactic文明强大。）。）
2. "What of that?" For an instant Taggart sensed behind Pitts' tense features a weariness even greater than his own. "If the laws of the universe cannot be changed, then better to have never lived in it. Better that there be no universe at all! Yes, you are right -- I have told you little about the Zarr, for they themselves are only the pawns of tremendously more powerful beings whose ultimate goals they can but dimly understand. As the Zarr grow in power, their masters give them more and more knowledge. Next it will be time-travel, so that they can better fight the Galactics, who have already been given this knowledge by their masters. Already I have learned things about the ultimate source of all power, and that it is possible to move closer and closer to that source. . . ."
“那是什么？” 有那么一瞬间，塔格特感觉到皮茨紧张的表情背后有一种比他自己还要疲惫的表情。“如果宇宙的法则无法改变，那还不如从未在其中生活过。最好根本就没有宇宙！是的，你是对的——我没有告诉你关于Zarr的事，因为它们本身只是他们是非常强大的存在的棋子，他们的最终目标他们只能模模糊糊地理解。随着Zarr力量的增长，他们的主人给他们越来越多的知识。接下来将是时间旅行，这样他们就可以更好地与Galactic作战，他们他们的主人已经传授了这方面的知识。我已经了解了所有力量的最终来源，并且有可能越来越接近那个来源......”
（Zarrian是某种强大的存在的棋子，这些强大的存在是Zarrian的主人，Zarrian的部分技术和知识是由这些强大的存在给予的，这些强大的存在给予了Zarrian时间旅行的技术。即使Zarrian的个体拥有极高的智慧和强大的心智且Zarrian种族掌握有庞大的知识，Zarrian也只能模模糊糊地理解这些强大的存在的最终目标①。这些强大的存在可能是（1）某种强大的种族（2）一群旧日支配者，由于1和①，所以个人认为这些强大的存在可能是（2）。）
【种族】
【Galactic】
【Galactic的实力】
1.Unwilling to risk the possibility of losing the coveted planet altogether to the destructive forces of a second and greater war, the Zarr had organized a diplomatic mission to the Galactics, the race of metallic beings who supervised the entire island-universe to which the earth belonged.
由于不愿意冒着失去这颗令人垂涎的星球的风险，在第二次和更大的战争中，毁灭性力量将其彻底摧毁，Zarr组织了一次外交使团，前往Galactics那里，这是一个由金属生物组成的种族，负责监督地球所属的整个岛屿宇宙。
【星系（宇宙岛）的定义】
由数量巨大的恒星系和星际尘埃组成的运行系统为星系（宇宙岛），例如银河系。
（Galactic是一个机械种族或一个由金属生物组成的种族，Galactic负责监督整个银河系，从某种意义上来说Galactic是银河系的统治者。）
2. It seemed miraculous to Taggart that he had been one of the two humans chosen by the Zarr to represent his own kind. The fact that all the representatives of every race had been male (where sexuality was a factor) was less miraculous. Taggart knew that the Zarr, during their two million years of recorded history, had reduced the females of their originally bisexual species to mere gastroid organisms kept alive in their laboratories by artificial means, to be used as necessary to keep the race in existence. Since each Zarrian had a life-span of nearly two thousand years, and could command a great number of artificial metal subordinates, biological reproduction was at a minimum, and the population of living entities governing an entire galactic empire was only slightly larger than the human population of Earth. Moreover, variation of personal characteristics was at a minimum among members of the Zarrian race, so that it was hard for Taggart to distinguish individuals; this undoubtedly made for great efficiency in the attainment of the unquestioned Zarrian goals -- conquest, and the never-ending expansion of the empire of the Zarr throughout limitless space. Evidently all softer impulses -- if any such had ever existed in the Zarrian race -- had long ago been subordinated to the desire for universal dominion and the expansion of their power. . . .
And now Taggart wondered, for the first time: were the Galactics the products of a similar race? For all their vast power and intelligence, they seemed to be fundamentally robots, policing the galaxy and keeping it in order. Was this the inevitable course of evolution -- that each galaxy should eventually produce a dominant race that would expand, conquer, lose its sense of feeling, and finally replace itself with a mechanical race of superb efficiency and godlike intellect that would regulate things flawlessly according to built-in, unquestioned values? Was this why Earth had never till now been overtly contacted by any of the many intelligent races in the same galaxy? . . .
塔格特觉得自己是Zarr选来代表自己同类的两个人之一，这似乎是奇迹。事实上，每个种族的代表都是男性（其中性是一个因素），这就不那么神奇了。塔加特知道，在有记录的200万年历史中，Zarr已经将原本双性恋物种的雌性变成了在实验室里通过人工手段保持生存的腹足类生物，以便在必要时用来维持种族的存在。由于每个扎里亚人的寿命接近两千年，并且可以指挥大量的人造金属下属，因此生物繁殖是最低限度的，而统治整个银河帝国的生物实体的数量仅略大于地球上的人类数量。此外，扎里亚种族成员的个人特征差异最小，因此塔加特很难区分个人；这无疑有助于实现毋庸置疑的Zarrian目标——征服，以及Zarr帝国在无限空间内的无限扩张。显然，所有温和的冲动——如果扎里亚种族曾经有过这种冲动的话——早就屈从于对普遍统治和权力扩张的渴望。
现在塔格特第一次想知道：Galactic是类似种族的产物吗？尽管他们拥有巨大的力量和智慧，但从根本上来说，他们似乎是机器人，负责维持银河系的秩序。这是进化的必然过程吗？每个星系最终都会产生一个支配性种族，它会扩张、征服、失去感觉，最终会被一个具有高超效率和神智的机械种族所取代，它会根据内在的、不容置疑的价值观完美地管理事物？这就是为什么到现在为止，地球从未被同一星系中众多智慧种族中的任何一个公开接触过吗。
（Galactic负责维持银河系的秩序。）
3. There is no time. A Galactic has just arrived. It wishes to speak with Taggart.
Pitts started. "That's impossible! How could it already know that we -- ?"
It knows. Now it wants to know why we destroyed part of the city you call London.
没有时间了。一名Galactic刚刚到达。它希望与塔格特交谈。
皮茨开始了。“这不可能！它怎么可能已经知道我们——？”
它知道。现在它想知道为什么我们摧毁了你称之为伦敦的城市的一部分。
4. I SEE IN YOUR MIND THAT YOU AND THE ZARR HAVE KILLED MANY. The Galactic's voice, though low, seemed to fill all of space. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT -- YOU HAVE DOUBTLESS ALTERED YOUR RACE'S HISTORY. YOU MUST FIND THE ONE CALLED TAGGART WITHOUT FURTHER DESTRUCTION OR KILLING.
我在你的脑海里看到你和ZARR已经杀了很多人。Galactic的声音虽然低沉，却似乎充满了整个空间。你不应该那样做——你无疑已经改变了你种族的历史。你必须在没有进一步破坏或杀戮的情况下找到那个叫做 TAGGART 的人。
（由3、4可知，Zarrian因营救行动而摧毁了伦敦的一小部分，银河系的管理者Galactic立刻知道了这件事，可见Galactic的观察与监视能力的强大。）
5. Without answering, the metallic giant turned toward Judy. Its eyes seemed to glow more intensely from the dark slit in its domed head, and Judy felt that they were burning into the fibers of her brain. Fantastically complex images flashed before her mind's eye. It was like when the Zarrian had looked into her eyes -- only this time she felt the presence of an even greater power, godlike and invincible. . . .
金属巨人没有回答，转向朱蒂。它的眼睛似乎从圆顶脑袋上的黑色缝隙中发出更强烈的光芒，朱蒂觉得它们正在燃烧她的大脑纤维。极其复杂的画面在她的脑海中闪过。就像当扎里安人注视着她的眼睛时——只是这一次她感受到了一种更强大的力量的存在，神一般的，无敌的。. . .
（Galactic被作者形容为神一般的，无敌的。）
6. The world dissolved away -- vivid vistas of a boundless universe whirled into being. All time and space seemed one compact yet infinite mass governed by laws of startling simplicity. Stars like motes of dust, countless in their profusion, whirled and coalesced into vast spiraling clouds. The pageant of Earth's past, and the pasts of a billion other worlds, seemed laid out in detail across a dimensionless background. In that instant, Judy comprehended the empire of the Galactics, comprising the hundred-billion suns of the galaxy in which Earth was but a tiny mote, and also the empire of the Zarr, equally vast and extending its first tendrils of conquest across the black intergalactic gulfs. In one flash she was able to sense the salient points in the histories of both these tremendous stellar empires, both spanning nearly twenty million earthly years from their origins, each on one small planet in their respective galaxies, to their present lordships over the worlds of countless suns.
世界消失了——一个无边无际的宇宙生动的景象旋转着出现。所有的时间和空间似乎是一个紧凑而无限的整体，受制于惊人的简单法则。星星像尘埃一样，数量众多，旋转并合并成巨大的螺旋云。地球过去的盛会，以及十亿个其他世界的过去，似乎在一个无维度的背景中被详细地展示出来。在那一瞬间，朱蒂理解了银河帝国，它包括银河系的千亿个太阳，而地球只是其中的一个小微粒，还有同样广阔的Zarr帝国，它的第一批征服触须横跨黑色星际海湾。一瞬间，她就感觉到了这两个巨大的星际帝国历史上的亮点。
7. And back of it all she sensed a surging, cosmic panorama vast beyond anything she had ever been taught to conceive. Her mind's eye glimpsed metallic armies marching from horizon to horizon across expanses too great to be the plains of any earth-sized world -- ships miles long that blasted their way across curved space on arcs of glaring flame -- forests of gleaming towers that bore down on cowering cities, hurling lightning-like shafts of violet energy before them, while the alien-architectured buildings shook to their ponderous advance -- stars that pulsed grandly in vast explosion, destroying whole systems of worlds in their leisurely, irresistible expansion -- legions of winged, lobster-bodied beings that swept across inconceivable immensities of space-time, bearing glittering metal canisters in their jointed claws. She sensed the awful presence of beings even mightier than the Galactics or the Zarr -- monstrous, mental pulsings here and there amid the cosmos suggesting the existence of living-things too terrific and alien to be humanly comprehended. One was near the center of the Andromeda nebula -- a black, slime-covered planet that hurled its thought-messages from the gravitational focus of a hundred billion swirling stars; others were much nearer, within the very galaxy to which Earth belonged. And out beyond all else, beyond the outmost bournes of stars and worlds, galaxies and quasars, there churned a boundless Force: the mindless, sentient Chaos that seethes at the focus of all existence and gives birth to all things. . . .
在这一切的背后，她感觉到了一个汹涌澎湃的宇宙全景，其广阔程度超出了她曾被教导去想象的任何事物。她脑海中的眼睛瞥见了金属军队从地平线行进到地平线，跨越广阔得不像任何地球大小的世界的平原——数英里长的船只在耀眼的火焰弧形上冲过弯曲的空间——闪闪发光的塔楼森林压在畏缩的城市上，在他们面前投掷闪电般的紫罗兰色能量，而外星建筑在他们沉重的前进中摇晃——星星在巨大的爆炸中发出巨大的脉动，在它们从容不迫、不可抗拒的扩张中摧毁整个世界系统——成群结队的长着翅膀的龙虾般的生物横扫不可思议的浩瀚时空，它们的关节爪上带着闪闪发光的金属罐。她感觉到比Galactic或Zarr还要强大的生物的可怕存在——宇宙中到处都是可怕的精神脉冲，表明存在着人类无法理解的可怕和陌生的生物。一个在仙女座星云的中心附近——一个黑色的、粘液覆盖的行星，它从千亿个旋转恒星的引力焦点中抛出它的思想信息；其他的更近，在地球所属的银河系内。超越一切，超越恒星和世界、星系和类星体的最外层，那里搅动着一股无边无际的力量：无意识、有知觉的混沌在所有存在的中心沸腾并孕育万物。. . .
（这是Galactic和朱迪进行精神交流时，朱迪看到的场面。“闪闪发光的塔楼森林”可能是Galactic的某种军事单位，尚不清楚该军事单位以何种方式移动。）
【Galactic的个体的特征】
1. Then there came a distant, measured clang of metal against metal and Taggart saw, afar off in the golden-lit chamber, a great figure of vaguely humanoid configuration approaching with smooth and powerful strides. As it drew closer he could see that its body was of a dull gray metal, and was aware of being in the presence of a vast, inhuman power. Ten feet tall the entity towered, smooth and featureless save for a black, horizontal slit across the front of its domed head; from within that slit gleamed two unflickering points of light, like eyes that could freeze or burn at will -- cold eyes, intent yet dispassionate. . . .
然后，远处传来一阵金属对金属的铿锵声，塔格特远远地看到，在金色灯光的房间里，一个巨大的人形人物正迈着平稳有力的步伐向他走来。当它越来越近时，他可以看到它的身体是一个暗灰色的金属，并且意识到它正处于一种巨大的、不人道的力量面前。该实体高10英尺，光滑无特征，只有一条黑色的水平狭缝穿过其圆顶头部的前部；从那条缝里，闪烁着两个毫不起眼的光点，就像可以随意冻结或燃烧的眼睛——冰冷的眼睛，专注而冷静。
2. Then there came a distant, measured clang of metal against metal and Taggart saw, afar off in the golden-lit chamber, a great figure of vaguely humanoid configuration approaching with smooth and powerful strides. As it drew closer he could see that its body was of a dull gray metal, and was aware of being in the presence of a vast, inhuman power. Ten feet tall the entity towered, smooth and featureless save for a black, horizontal slit across the front of its domed head; from within that slit gleamed two unflickering points of light, like eyes that could freeze or burn at will -- cold eyes, intent yet dispassionate. . . .
The watchers all stood silent as the thing halted mere yards away and confronted them, motionless as a statue. None of them had ever before seen a Galactic face to face.
I KNOW WHY YOU HAVE COME, it said. I SENSE THE REQUESTS YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE. THEY WILL NOT BE GRANTED.
Taggart's mind spun dizzily. The thoughts of a Galactic were hard for a human mind to bear. Yet relief flooded his being at the creature's unspoken words. He saw Pitts standing rigid, scowling tensely, his long fingers clenched at his sides.
然后，远处传来一阵金属对金属的铿锵声，塔格特远远地看到，在金色灯光的房间里，一个巨大的人形人物正迈着平稳有力的步伐向他走来。当它越来越近时，他可以看到它的身体是一个暗灰色的金属，并且意识到它正处于一种巨大的、不人道的力量面前。该实体高10英尺，光滑无特征，只有一条黑色的水平狭缝穿过其圆顶头部的前部；从那条缝里，闪烁着两个毫不起眼的光点，就像可以随意冻结或燃烧的眼睛——冰冷的眼睛，专注而冷静。
当那东西停在离他们只有几码远的地方，一动不动地面对他们时，观察者们都沉默了。他们中没有一个人以前见过Galactic的人。
“我知道你们为什么来，”它说。我感觉到你即将提出的要求。他们将不会被批准。
塔格特的脑子转得晕头转向。Galactic的思想是人类难以承受的。然而，听到这个生物未说出口的话，他感到如释重负。他看到皮茨僵硬地站着，紧张地皱着眉头，长长的手指紧握在他的两侧。
（人类的大脑难以承受Galactic的精神交流。）
3. The metal titan strode forward and stared down at Pitts with its expressionless, glowing eyes; despite its massiveness it moved with an easy, fluid stride that denoted great power. When it ceased moving, it became motionless as a metal statue.
金属巨人大步走上前，用它那双毫无表情的发光眼睛俯视着皮茨；尽管它很庞大，但它以一种轻松流畅的步伐移动，这表明它具有强大的力量。当它停止移动时，它就像一尊金属雕像一样一动不动。
4. I do not know -- a Galactic's mind is unreadable, said the creature dispassionately. We will know soon. Come.
我不知道——Galactic的思想是不可读的，这个生物冷静地说。我们很快就会知道。来。
（Galactic的思想无法被Zarrian读取。）
【伊斯】
【伊斯的相关内容】
AS DOES YOURS, said the Galactic, EVEN THOUGH YOU THRIVE IN WATER, ALSO. WE KNOW YOUR HISTORY -- A GALACTIC REVOLUTION AGO WE AND THE GREAT RACE HAD TO DRIVE YOU FROM THAT WORLD BECAUSE YOU WOULD NOT LIMIT YOUR CONQUESTS. WE KNOW, TOO, THAT YOU STILL MAINTAIN POPULOUS OUTPOSTS ON THE OCEAN-BOTTOMS OF THE GLOBE IN QUESTION, AS WELL AS ON THE FORTH PLANET OF THE SAME SOLAR SYSTEM. YOU MUST ABANDON THOSE OUTPOSTS.
Galactic说，你也是，即使你也在水里游泳。我们知道你们的历史——在银河系革命之前，我们和伟大的种族不得不将你们赶出那个世界，因为你们不会限制你们的征服。我们也知道，你们仍然在全球海洋地带以及同一太阳系的第四行星上保持着人口密集的前哨基地。你必须放弃那些前哨。
（伊斯曾与Galactic并肩作战过。）
【Zarrian】
【Zarrian的实力】
1.No race in the galaxy to which Earth belonged knew the origins of these creatures -- not even the mighty Zarr, who had conquered every world of the hundred billion suns comprising the galaxy which the astronomers of Taggart's world called the Andromeda Nebula. . . .
在地球所属的银河系中，没有一个种族知道这些生物的起源，甚至连强大的Zarr都不知道，他征服了银河系中1000亿个太阳的每一个世界，塔加特世界的天文学家称之为仙女座星云。
（Zarrian征服了仙女座星系中的将近1000亿个行星系的每一个世界，彻彻底底的统治了仙女座星系。）
2.Why the earth was so important to the Zarr, who had already conquered the worlds of the hundred billion suns of their own galaxy and now seemed intent on extending their conquests limitlessly, Taggart could not guess -- but important it certainly seemed to be.
为什么地球对Zarr人如此重要，他已经征服了自己银河系中1000亿个太阳的世界，现在似乎打算无限地扩展他们的征服范围，塔格特无法猜测，但这似乎很重要。
（即便Zarrian已经征服了仙女座星系，但是他们似乎打算无限制地扩大他们的征服范围。）
3. He needed more information. The girl sat silent, apathetic-seeming -- the emotional wound he had opened had closed once more. As never before Taggart wished he had the instinct for personal psychology. Yet he wondered, too, (as he had often wondered before) whether his habitual detached and theoretical stance toward humanity had been one of the factors that had caused the Zarr to pick him as one of their few human representatives. The Zarrians -- were they not the very epitome of detached alienation, with their grim unemotionality that made them all seem alike, their tremendous physical and technological power, and most of all their unquestioned goal of conquering the entire universe?
他需要更多信息。女孩静静地坐着，看上去很冷漠——他打开的情感伤口又一次闭合了。塔格特从未像现在这样希望自己拥有个人心理学的本能。然而，他也想知道（正如他以前经常想的那样）他对人类的习惯性超然和理论立场是否是导致Zarr选择他作为他们为数不多的人类代表之一的因素之一。Zarrians——难道他们不是超然疏离的缩影吗？冷酷的冷漠使他们看起来都很相似，他们巨大的体力和技术力量，以及最重要的是他们征服整个宇宙的无可置疑的目标？
（Zarrian想要征服整个宇宙。）
4. "What of that?" For an instant Taggart sensed behind Pitts' tense features a weariness even greater than his own. "If the laws of the universe cannot be changed, then better to have never lived in it. Better that there be no universe at all! Yes, you are right -- I have told you little about the Zarr, for they themselves are only the pawns of tremendously more powerful beings whose ultimate goals they can but dimly understand. As the Zarr grow in power, their masters give them more and more knowledge. Next it will be time-travel, so that they can better fight the Galactics, who have already been given this knowledge by their masters. Already I have learned things about the ultimate source of all power, and that it is possible to move closer and closer to that source. . . ."
“那是什么？” 有那么一瞬间，塔格特感觉到皮茨紧张的表情背后有一种比他自己还要疲惫的表情。“如果宇宙的法则无法改变，那还不如从未在其中生活过。最好根本就没有宇宙！是的，你是对的——我没有告诉你关于Zarr的事，因为它们本身只是他们是非常强大的存在的棋子，他们的最终目标他们只能模模糊糊地理解。随着Zarr力量的增长，他们的主人给他们越来越多的知识。接下来将是时间旅行，这样他们就可以更好地与Galactic作战，他们他们的主人已经传授了这方面的知识。我已经了解了所有力量的最终来源，并且有可能越来越接近那个来源......”
（Zarrian是某种强大的存在的棋子，Zarrian的部分技术和知识是由这些强大的存在给予的，这些强大的存在给予了Zarrian时间旅行的技术。）
5. "I told you this was only the beginning." Pitts's face was hard and grim. "The Zarr are learning the secrets of time as well as of space, and will soon be extending their conquests along that dimension, also. Yes, the human race has just about reached its end -- but there are still many thousands of years of human history to attend to!"
“我告诉过你这只是开始。” 皮茨的脸色严峻而严峻。“Zarr 正在学习时间和空间的秘密，并且很快也会沿着那个维度扩展他们的征服。是的，人类种族即将走到尽头——但仍有数千年的历史人类历史值得关注！”
（Zarrian在掌握了时间旅行的技术后，将会沿着这个宇宙的时间线进行他们的征服。）
6. It seemed miraculous to Taggart that he had been one of the two humans chosen by the Zarr to represent his own kind. The fact that all the representatives of every race had been male (where sexuality was a factor) was less miraculous. Taggart knew that the Zarr, during their two million years of recorded history, had reduced the females of their originally bisexual species to mere gastroid organisms kept alive in their laboratories by artificial means, to be used as necessary to keep the race in existence. Since each Zarrian had a life-span of nearly two thousand years, and could command a great number of artificial metal subordinates, biological reproduction was at a minimum, and the population of living entities governing an entire galactic empire was only slightly larger than the human population of Earth. Moreover, variation of personal characteristics was at a minimum among members of the Zarrian race, so that it was hard for Taggart to distinguish individuals; this undoubtedly made for great efficiency in the attainment of the unquestioned Zarrian goals -- conquest, and the never-ending expansion of the empire of the Zarr throughout limitless space. Evidently all softer impulses -- if any such had ever existed in the Zarrian race -- had long ago been subordinated to the desire for universal dominion and the expansion of their power. . . .
塔格特觉得自己是Zarr选来代表自己同类的两个人之一，这似乎是奇迹。事实上，每个种族的代表都是男性（其中性是一个因素），这就不那么神奇了。塔加特知道，在有记录的200万年历史中，Zarr已经将原本双性恋物种的雌性变成了在实验室里通过人工手段保持生存的腹足类生物，以便在必要时用来维持种族的存在。由于每个扎里亚人的寿命接近两千年，并且可以指挥大量的人造金属下属，因此生物繁殖是最低限度的，而统治整个银河帝国的生物实体的数量仅略大于地球上的人类数量。此外，扎里亚种族成员的个人特征差异最小，因此塔加特很难区分个人；这无疑有助于实现毋庸置疑的Zarrian目标——征服，以及Zarr帝国在无限空间内的无限扩张。显然，所有温和的冲动——如果扎里亚种族曾经有过这种冲动的话——早就屈从于对普遍统治和权力扩张的渴望。
（Zarrian的有记录的历史为200万年左右，个人认为作者想表达的应该是Zarrian的文明史为200万年左右，与Zarrian相比，人类的文明史为6000-7000年。虽然Zarrian统治了仙女座星系，但Zarrian的人口数量只略大于地球上的人类的人口数量。每个Zarrian个体都指挥着大量的机械下属，他们以此来统治巨大的仙女座星系。Zarrian的雌性个体已经被改造成了一种腹足类生物，Zarrian的雌性个体被放置于实验室中，通过人工手段维持生存，其存在的目的是为了繁殖后代，平时参与各种活动的Zarrian个体均为雄性。每个Zarrian的寿命接近两千年。Zarrian的个体的差异很小。）
7. The world dissolved away -- vivid vistas of a boundless universe whirled into being. All time and space seemed one compact yet infinite mass governed by laws of startling simplicity. Stars like motes of dust, countless in their profusion, whirled and coalesced into vast spiraling clouds. The pageant of Earth's past, and the pasts of a billion other worlds, seemed laid out in detail across a dimensionless background. In that instant, Judy comprehended the empire of the Galactics, comprising the hundred-billion suns of the galaxy in which Earth was but a tiny mote, and also the empire of the Zarr, equally vast and extending its first tendrils of conquest across the black intergalactic gulfs. In one flash she was able to sense the salient points in the histories of both these tremendous stellar empires, both spanning nearly twenty million earthly years from their origins, each on one small planet in their respective galaxies, to their present lordships over the worlds of countless suns.
世界消失了——一个无边无际的宇宙生动的景象旋转着出现。所有的时间和空间似乎是一个紧凑而无限的整体，受制于惊人的简单法则。星星像尘埃一样，数量众多，旋转并合并成巨大的螺旋云。地球过去的盛会，以及十亿个其他世界的过去，似乎在一个无维度的背景中被详细地展示出来。在那一瞬间，朱蒂理解了银河帝国，它包括银河系的千亿个太阳，而地球只是其中的一个小微粒，还有同样广阔的Zarr帝国，它的第一批征服触须横跨黑色星际海湾。一瞬间，她就感觉到了这两个巨大的星际帝国历史上的亮点。
【Zarrian的科技】
【Zarrian爆能手枪】
1. A glaring lance of blue-white flame -- a blast of blinding, violet light -- a concussion like lightning ripping the air with thunder. . . .
Then a cloud of white dust was slowly settling. The man in the black uniform lay writhing on the concrete several yards from where he had stood; both his legs were gone, and a red stain was spreading from their stumps; intestines spilled from his torn abdomen, black and split like fried sausages. . . .
一道耀眼的蓝白火焰——一阵耀眼的紫光——一道闪电般的震荡，伴随着雷声划破了空气。
然后，一团白色的尘埃慢慢地沉淀下来。穿着黑色制服的男子躺在离他站的地方几码远的水泥地上扭动着；他的两条腿都不见了，一块红色的污渍从他们的树桩上蔓延开来；肠子从他撕裂的腹部溢出，黑色的，像炸香肠一样裂开。
2. "A missile!" he muttered. He walked over to the television and began to adjust the dials beneath it. Judy watched as the picture gradually changed. Its outlines sharpened and she realized she was looking down the main hall of the Department of Persuasion toward the outer gates. The great steel portals lay smashed on the concrete, warped and rent and seemingly half-molten, while the white dust of pulverized concrete hung thick in the air. Beyond the gates sprawled the junky remnants of an armored truck and the tangled remains of wire fences. Charcoal-black objects vaguely suggesting the human form lay here and there. . . .
“导弹！” 他喃喃自语。他走到电视机前，开始调整下方的旋钮。朱蒂看着画面逐渐变化。它的轮廓变得清晰起来，她意识到自己正在俯视说服部的主厅，看向外门。巨大的钢制入口在混凝土上破碎，扭曲、破裂，似乎半熔化，而白色的混凝土粉尘厚厚地悬在空中。大门外散落着一辆装甲卡车的破旧残骸和乱七八糟的铁丝网残骸。炭黑色的东西，隐隐约约地暗示着人形，到处都是。. . .
3. They traversed many corridors and descended many stairs, occasionally passing charred, mangled forms that lay oozing amid the tattered remnants of black uniforms. Sometimes they saw heaps of blackened bones or dark, sticky blotches where the plaster had flaked from the walls as if from intense heat. Once Judy glimpsed the upper half of a man leaning upright in a corner, his white laboratory smock spotlessly clean above the charred mass of his lower limbs mingled with what seemed to be the half-molten remnants of a sub-machine gun. Another time she glimpsed a human head glaring up from the floor, and was vaguely surprised to recognize the fear-contorted features of Constantine. She felt no horror, however, only a dreamlike numbness. . . .
他们穿过许多走廊，走下许多楼梯，偶尔会经过烧焦、破烂不堪的身影，这些身影躺在破烂的黑色制服中。有时，他们会看到成堆的焦黑骨头或黑色、粘稠的斑点，灰泥从墙上剥落，好像是因为高温。有一次，朱迪瞥见一个男人的上半身直立在角落里，他白色的实验室工作服一尘不染，下肢烧焦的部分与似乎是半熔化的冲锋枪残余物混合在一起。还有一次，她瞥见地板上有一个人的脑袋在怒目而视，并隐约惊讶地认出了康斯坦丁那张因恐惧而扭曲的容貌。然而，她并没有感到恐惧，只有一种梦幻般的麻木感。. . .
4. As they traversed several corridors, and descended three or four flights of stairs, Taggart saw places where whole sections of the walls and ceilings had fallen away. Once they passed down a corridor where every room was labeled "Reeducation," with a letter beneath each sign. They saw no living thing but occasionally passed charred corpses sprawled in pools of sooty gore on the concrete.
当他们穿过几条走廊，走下三四层楼梯时，塔格特看到了整块墙壁和天花板都已经坍塌的地方。他们穿过一条走廊，每个房间都标有“再教育”字样，每个标牌下面都有一个字母。他们没有看到任何活物，但偶尔会经过烧焦的尸体，这些尸体四肢摊开在混凝土上的煤黑血泊中。
5. But the rest came on. There were over a score of them, guards and attendants together, the foremost of them firing pistols. Bullets whined and chipped plaster from the walls. Taggart shoved the regulator on the Zarrian blaster up to full power, gripped the handle with both hands, and fired.
A wave of violet flame swept the hall with a roar like that of a blast-furnace. Bodies burst into charred, bloody tatters that plastered walls, floor, and ceiling with a sooty, reddish gore. Thunder rolled and roared along the corridor. . . .
Taggart released the trigger. An oily smoke billowed and roiled, filling the corridor with a ghastly stench. As it slowly cleared, Taggart saw that not one of his pursuers was alive or intact. The walls and ceiling dripped a sluggish ooze like the red-tinted, charcoal-crusted walls of a barbecue-pit, while the floor to the far end of the hall was littered ankle-deep with a viscous tangle of charred limbs, viscera, bone-fragments and shattered, brain-oozing skulls.
但其余的来了。他们有二十多人，包括警卫和服务员，其中最前面的人在开枪。子弹呼啸而过，墙壁上的石膏碎裂。Taggart 将 Zarrian 爆能枪上的调节器推到最大功率，用双手握住手柄，然后开火。
一阵紫罗兰色的火焰带着高炉般的轰鸣声席卷了整个大厅。尸体爆裂成烧焦、血腥的破烂，墙壁、地板和天花板上涂满了煤烟、微红的血块。雷声在走廊上滚滚咆哮。. . .
塔格特扣下了扳机。一股油烟滚滚翻滚，整个走廊都充满了阴森森的恶臭。当它慢慢消失时，塔格特看到他的追击者没有一个活着或完好无损。墙壁和天花板滴下了一种缓慢的软泥，就像烤肉坑的红色、结痂的木炭墙壁一样，而大厅尽头的地板上散落着一团深及脚踝的烧焦的肢体、内脏、骨头-碎片和破碎的、渗出脑汁的头骨。
（Zarrian爆能手枪的最大功率可以一击就将一条走廊上的所有人都轰成碎片。）
6. "Where did you get that pistol?" snapped the man, eyeing Taggart's Zarrian blaster. "That could be a death sentence, you know. Don't reach for it -- put your hands behind your heads, both of you -- that's right. Stand still -- don't move a muscle."
“你从哪里弄来那把手枪的？” 那人厉声说，盯着塔格特的扎里安爆能枪。“那可能是死刑判决，你知道的。不要伸手去拿它——把你的手放在脑后，你们两个——是的。站着不动——不要动一动肌肉。”
7. Now the newcomer was standing beside her, scowling down at her in apparent surprise. Like FitzRoy, he wore dark-rimmed spectacles and black clothes, but here the resemblance stopped. His apparel bore no similarity to the black uniform of the Nazirites or the Sons of Light. He was lean and his brown hair was close-cropped; his face, clean-shaven, was somehow hard in its severe lineaments, and his blue eyes glared with a strange intensity. The bulky pistol in his right hand seemed startlingly familiar -- so did the glowing belt about his waist -- but Judy couldn't remember when or where she had ever seen such objects. In the man's upturned left palm was a small, intricate device that hummed strangely and glowed with a dim blue radiance.
现在新来的人站在她身边，满脸惊讶地低头看着她。和菲茨罗伊一样，他戴着黑框眼镜，穿着黑色衣服，但在这里就不再像了。他的服装与拿细耳人或光明之子的黑色制服毫无相似之处。他很瘦，棕色的头发剪得很短。他的脸刮得干干净净，棱角分明的线条显得有些冷酷，蓝色的眼睛闪烁着奇异的光芒。他右手上那把笨重的手枪似乎出奇地熟悉——他腰间发光的腰带也是如此——但朱蒂不记得她曾在何时何地见过这样的东西。男人向上翻起的左手掌心，是一个精巧的小装置，发出奇怪的嗡嗡声，并散发着暗蓝色的光芒。
（由6、7可知，文中出现这种爆能武器确实是Zarrian的手枪级别的武器，这种武器对于体型比Zarrian小很多的人类来说略显笨重，无法想象Zarrian的步枪级别的武器和重武器的破坏力究竟能大到什么程度。联系下文中出现的“外面有力量可以把整个星球烧成黑色的煤渣”，非常的细思极恐。）
【力场屏】
1."No -- just paralyzed. The needle-ray got him. His force-screen couldn't block out radiant energy, just kinetic."
“不——只是瘫痪了。针状射线击中了他。他的力屏无法阻挡辐射能，只能阻挡动能。”
（力场屏只能阻挡动能武器的攻击，无法阻挡辐射能武器的攻击。）
2.The black-clad man lowered his aim, sighted on Taggart's knee and fired; the bullet glanced from the glowing force-screen and went whining down the alley. Taggart drew his Zarrian blaster from its holster as the black-uniformed man fired again and yet again without effect.
黑衣人降低了瞄准，瞄准了塔格特的膝盖并开了一枪。子弹从发光的力屏上瞥了一眼，然后沿着小巷呼啸而过。Taggart 从枪套里拔出他的 Zarrian 爆能枪，这名身穿黑色制服的人一次又一次地开枪，但没有效果。
3. At that instant there came the roaring of an engine, and the front of an armored truck darkened the end of the alley. Taggart leaped back to the girl's side, drew her close and pressed the glowing inset on his belt-clasp. A bluish glow immediately blinked into being, surrounding the two of them.
"Stay close," muttered Taggart. "They can't hurt you."
Four black-uniformed men climbed out of the truck; the tramp of heavy boots sounded in the narrow alley. Each man carried a sub-machine gun; their faces seemed hard, expressionless masks, devoid of human emotion but full of grim purpose. Taggart recognized them as the same men who had fled from him earlier; they had not given up, after all.
Without warning all four of the men leveled their submachine-guns and fired; the alley was filled for several seconds with a reverberating thunder, while ricocheting bullets whined back from the blue force-screen and chipped brick-dust from the grimy walls. . . .
Then the hammering thunder ceased, and four dark shapes lay twitching spasmodically on the concrete in widening pools of blood.
"They cut their own throats that time," said Taggart grimly.
"You killed them!" The girl's voice was scarcely more than a whisper. "You killed them all --"
"No, they saved me the trouble. But we've got to get out of here." He glanced at the four dead men in black. "A uniform -- I'll need one of their uniforms. If I can drive away from here in their truck, with you apparently my prisoner, we may stand a chance yet!"
Taggart switched off his force-screen, strode over to the four dead men and began to strip the uniform from one of them. A ricocheting slug had demolished the man's face, but there was less blood on his garments than on those of the others. The girl stood by quietly as Taggart changed clothes with the dead policeman; her apathy seemed to have returned. There was a dull, sad hopelessness in her eyes.
就在这时，引擎的轰鸣声传来，一辆装甲车的车头将巷子的尽头照得一片漆黑。塔格特跳回女孩的身边，把她拉近，然后将发光的镶嵌物按在他的皮带扣上。一道蓝光顿时闪烁而起，笼罩在两人的周围。
“靠近点，”塔格特咕哝道。“他们伤不了你。”
四个穿黑制服的人从卡车里爬下来；沉重的靴子脚步声在狭窄的巷子里响起。每个人都携带一把冲锋枪；他们的脸似乎是冷酷的，没有表情的面具，没有人类的情感，但充满了冷酷的目的。塔格特认出他们就是早先从他身边逃走的同一个人；毕竟，他们没有放弃。
没有警告，所有四个人都举起冲锋枪开火；小巷里有几秒钟充满了回荡的雷声，同时弹射的子弹从蓝色的力幕上呼啸而过，从肮脏的墙壁上刮下砖屑。. . .
然后，锤击般的雷声停止了，四个黑色的身影在不断扩大的血泊中痉挛性抽搐地躺在混凝土上。
“那次他们割断了自己的喉咙，”塔格特冷酷地说。
“你杀了他们！” 女孩的声音简直就是耳语。“你把他们都杀了——”
“不，他们帮我省了麻烦。但我们必须离开这里。” 他看了一眼死去的四名黑衣人。“制服——我需要他们的制服。如果我能开着他们的卡车离开这里，你显然是我的俘虏，我们还有机会！”
塔格特关掉他的力屏，大步走向四个死者，开始剥掉其中一个人的制服。弹跳的弹头摧毁了那个人的脸，但他衣服上的血迹比其他人的要少。当塔格特和死去的警察换衣服时，女孩静静地站在一旁。她的冷漠似乎又回来了。她的眼里有一种沉闷、悲伤的绝望。
（力场屏会反弹动能武器的子弹，如果在狭小的地方用动能武器对力场屏射击，可能会导致动能武器的子弹在力场屏和周围的墙壁上反弹，从而杀死持有动能武器的攻击者。）
4. "One thing bolsters your story," he said finally: "your weapons. I've seen what they do. With that blaster and force-screen, one man might defeat a small army single-handed. And even your pocket radio is an electronic marvel -- our best technicians could never hope to duplicate it.
“有一件事支持你的故事，”他最后说：“你的武器。我见过它们的作用。有了那个爆能枪和力屏，一个人可能单枪匹马打败一支小军队。甚至你的袖珍收音机也是一个电子奇迹——我们最好的技术人员永远无法复制它。
【气象武器】
1. At last they emerged from the building through a shattered steel gate, and Taggart gazed out at a panorama of destruction -- the wreckage of what had been a city. As far as he could see sprawled a broken jumble of concrete and brick and steel. Everywhere lay the fragments of civilization: splintered telephone poles, broken glass, tangles of wire, pipes, and cables. In the distance a huge metal bridge sagged in twisted ruin against the sky; nearer at hand a crumpled water-tower sprawled on its side. All around rose jagged stubs of walls that had once been buildings. The sky was of a strange, saffron-gray hue such as Taggart had never seen before, and the air seemed charged with an electric tension as if a great storm had just passed. Distant thunder rolled upon the air and far away, along the horizon, a band of black, boiling, lightning-shot clouds was slowly receding. At each flash of lightning Taggart thought he could glimpse ranks of great, pointed metal towers arranged along the base of that beetling cloud-band.
"The Zarr did this?" said Taggart.
"Yes -- by generating tornadoes over the city."
"Just that simple?" Taggart asked wearily. "Didn't the State even fight back?"
"Oh, they sent a few nuclear missiles up at us, but we deflected them all into outer space by remote control."
最后，他们穿过一扇破碎的钢门走出了大楼，塔格特凝视着外面一片毁灭的全景——这座城市的废墟。就他所见，杂乱无章的混凝土、砖块和钢筋杂乱地散落着。到处都是文明的碎片：破碎的电线杆、碎玻璃、缠结在一起的电线、管道和电缆。远处，一座巨大的金属桥在天空中扭曲成废墟。近在咫尺，一座皱巴巴的水塔斜倒在地。四周都是玫瑰色的锯齿状残墙，这些墙曾经是建筑物。天空呈现出塔格特从未见过的奇异的藏红花灰色调，空气中似乎充满了电流张力，仿佛一场大风暴刚刚过去。远处的雷声在空中翻滚，远处，沿着地平线，一条黑色的带子沸腾了，闪电般的乌云正在慢慢退去。每次闪电闪过，塔格特都认为他可以瞥见沿着那条甲壳状云带底部排列的一排排巨大的尖头金属塔。
“是Zarr干的？” 塔格特说。
“是的——在城市上空制造龙卷风。”
“就这么简单？” 塔格特疲倦地问。“国家连反击都没有吗？”
“哦，他们向我们发射了几枚核导弹，但我们通过遥控将它们全部偏转到外层空间。”
（Zarrian的飞船所搭载的气象武器形似一排排巨大的尖头金属塔。人类向Zarrian的飞船发射了几枚核导弹，但被Zarrian通过遥控将核导弹全部偏转到了外层空间（推测作者想表达的应该是Zarrian骇入了人类的导弹系统，所以才能将核导弹以遥控的方式偏转到外太空。）。）
2. Taggart sighed and sat down on a fallen telephone pole. His leg was throbbing painfully. "What about the rest of the world?" he asked.
"Finished!" Pitts grinned tightly and rubbed his thin fingers together. "For the last few hours tornadoes have been raging over the entire surface of the planet. Every city is like this. Civilization has been destroyed."
A sudden chill swept through Taggart's entire body. When it had passed, he cried out:
"But that's impossible! You couldn't have killed everyone -- you didn't. There must be a city left somewhere --"
"Not a chance."
"Was London destroyed?"
"Yes," said Pitts. "That was one of the first cities we hit."
"What about Paris?"
"Churned to rubble -- like this place."
"Chicago? New York?"
"They're gone, too."
"Washington D.C.?"
"Gone."
"San Francisco? Los Angeles? Phoenix?"
"Gone -- all gone. On all the earth I doubt there's a city left with a population over ten thousand. And this is only the beginning. We'll destroy the survivors, too. And then --"
塔格特叹了口气，坐在倒塌的电线杆上。他的腿在抽痛。“那世界其他地方呢？” 他问。
“完成的！” 皮茨咧嘴一笑，细细的手指揉在一起。“最近几个小时，龙卷风席卷了整个星球表面，每座城市都是如此，文明已被毁灭。”
一股突如其来的寒意席卷了塔格特的全身。当它过去时，他喊道：
“但那是不可能的！你不可能杀死所有人——你没有。一定有一座城市留在某处——”
“没有机会。”
“伦敦被摧毁了吗？”
“是的，”皮茨说。“那是我们袭击的第一批城市之一。”
“巴黎呢？”
“被搅成瓦砾——就像这个地方。”
“芝加哥？纽约？”
“他们也走了。”
“华盛顿特区？”
“走了。”
“旧金山？洛杉矶？凤凰城？”
“没了——全没了。我怀疑整个地球上还有一座人口超过一万的城市。而这只是开始。我们也会消灭幸存者。然后——”
（Zarrian的气象武器只用了几个小时就摧毁了人类文明，由上文可知，Zarrian为了防止地球的生态环境受到严重破坏，最大程度地保持地球的价值，所以才使用气象武器来摧毁人类文明。）
【时间旅行】
1. "What of that?" For an instant Taggart sensed behind Pitts' tense features a weariness even greater than his own. "If the laws of the universe cannot be changed, then better to have never lived in it. Better that there be no universe at all! Yes, you are right -- I have told you little about the Zarr, for they themselves are only the pawns of tremendously more powerful beings whose ultimate goals they can but dimly understand. As the Zarr grow in power, their masters give them more and more knowledge. Next it will be time-travel, so that they can better fight the Galactics, who have already been given this knowledge by their masters. Already I have learned things about the ultimate source of all power, and that it is possible to move closer and closer to that source. . . ."
“那是什么？” 有那么一瞬间，塔格特感觉到皮茨紧张的表情背后有一种比他自己还要疲惫的表情。“如果宇宙的法则无法改变，那还不如从未在其中生活过。最好根本就没有宇宙！是的，你是对的——我没有告诉你关于Zarr的事，因为它们本身只是他们是非常强大的存在的棋子，他们的最终目标他们只能模模糊糊地理解。随着Zarr力量的增长，他们的主人给他们越来越多的知识。接下来将是时间旅行，这样他们就可以更好地与Galactic作战，他们他们的主人已经传授了这方面的知识。我已经了解了所有力量的最终来源，并且有可能越来越接近那个来源......”
（Zarrian是某种强大的存在的棋子，Zarrian的部分技术和知识是由这些强大的存在给予的，这些强大的存在给予了Zarrian时间旅行的技术。）
2. "I told you this was only the beginning." Pitts's face was hard and grim. "The Zarr are learning the secrets of time as well as of space, and will soon be extending their conquests along that dimension, also. Yes, the human race has just about reached its end -- but there are still many thousands of years of human history to attend to!"
“我告诉过你这只是开始。” 皮茨的脸色严峻而严峻。“Zarr 正在学习时间和空间的秘密，并且很快也会沿着那个维度扩展他们的征服。是的，人类种族即将走到尽头——但仍有数千年的历史人类历史值得关注！”
（Zarrian在掌握了时间旅行的技术后，将会沿着这个宇宙的时间线进行他们的征服。）
3. Again, Pitts shook his head. "You still don't understand. The laws of the universe would never permit it, as long as even the possibility of certain things remains inherent within those laws. As long as the universe is the way it is, despotism will be the rule, not the exception. Because of that no time stream leading to an 'enlightened' world would be viable; because of that we would need to destroy every time stream that leads to the human race, not just this one. Perhaps, ultimately, even the universe and the laws that govern it shall have to be destroyed!"
皮茨再次摇头。“你还是不懂，宇宙法则永远不允许，只要某些事情的可能性还在法则之内。只要宇宙是这个样子，专制就是规则，不是例外。正因为如此，没有任何通往“开明”世界的时间流是可行的；因此，我们需要摧毁通往人类的每一条时间流，而不仅仅是这个。也许，最终，甚至宇宙和支配它的法则必须被摧毁！”
（旧日支配者给予Zarrian的时间旅行技术能让Zarrian摧毁时间流。）
【Zarrian的一种大气层内飞行器】
1. Too late, Taggart realized what it was -- a missile interceptor. He punched the controls frantically and the airship screamed sideways at a steep angle. There was a deep, swishing vibration as the missile swept by toward the zenith -- then the world burst into a chaos of light and thunder. He was thrown from his chair and the floor slammed hard against his chest, and for a moment he lay there, stunned. There was a whirling, falling sensation which he knew was not due to dizziness. . . . Fear forced him back to full consciousness. He staggered up and saw the horizon tilting at a crazy angle; a thin crack, like a lightning-streak, had appeared across the wide, bottle-blue quartz view-panel. The controls would not respond to his touch.
He swore. His craft, even though the force-screen had kept it essentially intact, had been knocked out of commission by the missile's blast. Small comfort it was then to know that any aircraft of human manufacture would doubtless have been completely annihilated by the blast. . . .
为时已晚，塔格特意识到这是什么东西——导弹拦截器。他疯狂地猛击控制装置，飞艇以一个陡峭的角度向侧面呼啸而过。当导弹飞向天顶时，传来一阵低沉的嗖嗖震动——然后世界爆发出一片光与雷的混沌。他被从椅子上摔了下来，地板重重地撞在他的胸口，有那么一会儿他躺在那里，目瞪口呆。有一种旋转的、坠落的感觉，他知道这不是头晕。. . . 恐惧迫使他恢复了完全的意识。他摇摇晃晃地站起来，看到地平线以一个疯狂的角度倾斜；一条细细的裂缝，像一道闪电，出现在宽阔的深蓝色石英观察板上。控件不会响应他的触摸。
他发誓。他的飞行器，尽管力屏使其基本完好无损，但还是被导弹的爆炸击毁了。令人欣慰的是，任何人类制造的飞机无疑都会被爆炸彻底摧毁。. . .
2. The panel was a shambles, but the outside hull did not seem even dented and the silica dome showed only that single crack across its width. Through the wide expanse of that curved window Taggart could see the rubble of a demolished building and the rising dust of pulverized brick and plaster.
面板是一团糟，但外壳看起来甚至没有凹陷，硅质圆顶仅在其宽度上显示出一条裂缝。透过那扇宽阔的弧形窗户，塔格特可以看到一座被拆毁的建筑的瓦砾，以及扬起的砖块和灰泥粉尘。
3. Taggart scrambled to the edge of the rubble and stood uneasily on the littered sidewalk, wondering what he should do next. His crash-landing seemed to have demolished a building; perhaps many people had been killed. The buildings across from him were of old brick, grimy with soot-black. He seemed to be in a slum.
塔格特爬到废墟边缘，不安地站在乱七八糟的人行道上，想知道他下一步该做什么。他的迫降似乎摧毁了一座建筑物；也许很多人都被杀了。他对面的建筑物是旧砖砌成的，上面沾满了煤烟。他似乎在贫民窟。
【Zarrian的生理特征】
1. Taggart glanced at his nine companions, noticing how utterly tiny they seemed in the midst of this canyon-vast architecture. Even the two Zarrians, massive twin titans eight feet and more in height, seemed like ants on the floor of this vast hall; their dark blue skins seemed a shade lighter than usual in the glow that suffused the place, while their round eyes glared from their domed heads. Those eyes, emotionless though they were, yet seemed to harbor an intense, alien quality that was somehow disturbing. The merciless, distant chill of fathomless space -- the flickering blue fires of latent menace -- such were the closest things to human emotions that Taggart could sense in the eyes of the Zarr.
塔加特瞥了一眼他的九个同伴，注意到他们在这座峡谷中的巨大建筑中显得多么渺小。就连两个扎里亚人，身高八英尺甚至更高的巨大双胞胎巨人，也像是这座巨大大厅地板上的蚂蚁；他们深蓝色的皮肤在弥漫着整个地方的光芒中似乎比平时浅了一点，而他们圆滚滚的眼睛从他们圆顶的头上发出耀眼的光芒。那双眼睛虽然没有感情，但却似乎隐藏着一种强烈的、令人不安的异域气质。无垠空间的无情、遥远的寒意——潜在威胁的闪烁的蓝色火焰——这些都是塔格特在Zarr眼中所能感受到的最接近人类情感的东西。
2.It loomed eight feet in height and was roughly humanoid in shape, but its skin-tone was a deep, unearthly blue. Its chest was massive and its powerful arms terminated in thick, four-fingered hands; its stocky, unjointed legs, short in proportion to its massive torso, ended in broad pads rather than feet. A dozen slit-like mouths were arranged ladder-like up the central ridge of its high, domed head, while its two round eyes glowed down as with an inner luminosity.
它高八英尺，大致是人形，但它的肤色是深沉的、超凡脱俗的蓝色。它的胸部很大，有力的手臂末端是粗壮的四指手；它粗壮、没有关节的腿，与其庞大的躯干成比例，腿短，末端是宽垫而不是脚。十几个狭缝状的嘴巴像梯子一样排列在它高高的圆顶脑袋的中央脊上，而它的两只圆眼睛则像内在的光一样闪闪发光。
3.The Zarrians, he knew, often communicated telepathically, but more usually in ringing verbal tones like the soundings of great iron bells; at any rate, they considered themselves too vastly superior to the human race to be able to take offence at the random thoughts of one of its members -- a specimen they themselves had picked,
据他所知，扎里亚人经常通过心灵感应进行交流，但更多的时候是用响亮的言语语调，比如巨大的铁铃声；无论如何，他们认为自己比人类优越得多，无法对其中一个成员的随意想法感到愤怒——这是他们自己挑选的一个样本，
4. It seemed miraculous to Taggart that he had been one of the two humans chosen by the Zarr to represent his own kind. The fact that all the representatives of every race had been male (where sexuality was a factor) was less miraculous. Taggart knew that the Zarr, during their two million years of recorded history, had reduced the females of their originally bisexual species to mere gastroid organisms kept alive in their laboratories by artificial means, to be used as necessary to keep the race in existence. Since each Zarrian had a life-span of nearly two thousand years, and could command a great number of artificial metal subordinates, biological reproduction was at a minimum, and the population of living entities governing an entire galactic empire was only slightly larger than the human population of Earth. Moreover, variation of personal characteristics was at a minimum among members of the Zarrian race, so that it was hard for Taggart to distinguish individuals; this undoubtedly made for great efficiency in the attainment of the unquestioned Zarrian goals -- conquest, and the never-ending expansion of the empire of the Zarr throughout limitless space. Evidently all softer impulses -- if any such had ever existed in the Zarrian race -- had long ago been subordinated to the desire for universal dominion and the expansion of their power. . . .
塔格特觉得自己是Zarr选来代表自己同类的两个人之一，这似乎是奇迹。事实上，每个种族的代表都是男性（其中性是一个因素），这就不那么神奇了。塔加特知道，在有记录的200万年历史中，Zarr已经将原本双性恋物种的雌性变成了在实验室里通过人工手段保持生存的腹足类生物，以便在必要时用来维持种族的存在。由于每个扎里亚人的寿命接近两千年，并且可以指挥大量的人造金属下属，因此生物繁殖是最低限度的，而统治整个银河帝国的生物实体的数量仅略大于地球上的人类数量。此外，扎里亚种族成员的个人特征差异最小，因此塔加特很难区分个人；这无疑有助于实现毋庸置疑的Zarrian目标——征服，以及Zarr帝国在无限空间内的无限扩张。显然，所有温和的冲动——如果扎里亚种族曾经有过这种冲动的话——早就屈从于对普遍统治和权力扩张的渴望。
（Zarrian的雌性个体已经被改造成了一种腹足类生物，Zarrian的雌性个体被放置于实验室中，通过人工手段维持生存，其存在的目的是为了繁殖后代，平时参与各种活动的Zarrian个体均为雄性。每个Zarrian的寿命接近两千年。Zarrian的个体的差异很小。）
5. Then, through the haze of dust and smoke, vague shapes came striding -- shapes like giant, hooded executioners with lurid eyes and high, bullet-like heads -- shapes too towering and massive to be the shapes of men. Judy saw them advance, their hands gripping strange weapons that spat shafts of glaring brilliance, their belt-clasps glowing with an inner radiance. They swarmed into the hall, the smoke swirling about them -- and then, suddenly, the screen went blank.
然后，在尘土和烟雾的迷雾中，模糊的身影大步走来——像巨大的、蒙着兜帽的刽子手，有着可怕的眼睛和高高的、子弹般的脑袋——这些身影太高大、太庞大，不像人类。朱蒂看到他们前进，他们的手握着奇怪的武器，武器射出耀眼的光芒，他们的皮带扣闪耀着内在的光芒。他们涌入大厅，浓烟在他们周围盘旋——然后，突然，屏幕变黑了。
【Zarrian提出的关于地球的要求】
We request nothing -- we state our intentions. The glowing blue disc held on Taggart's brow by a band of woven metal strands—a device of Zarrian manufacture—enabled the man to catch the alien being's every projected thought. Our desires are moderate and rational: when you know them, you will not oppose us. We desire only the land surface of a tiny planet near the fringe of your galaxy.
我们不要求任何东西——我们陈述我们的意图。塔格特额头上的蓝色圆盘由扎里安制造的一条编织金属绳绑在一起，使他能够捕捉到外星人的每一个想法。我们的欲望是温和和理性的：当你知道它们时，你不会反对我们。
【Galactic对Zarrian的关于地球的要求的回复】
THE PLANET IS INHABITED BY A RACE ON THE VERGE OF INTELLIGENCE, said the Galactic. THAT RACE MUST DIE OUT NATURALLY OR ANNIHILATE ITSELF IN WARS OF ITS OWN MAKING BEFORE ANOTHER POWER MAY LAY CLAIM TO ITS WORLD.
Galactic表示，这颗行星被一个智力极限的种族所占据。在另一个大国对其世界提出要求之前，该种族必须自然消亡或在自己制造的战争中消灭自己。
【Zarrian的相关内容】
The great being strode forward, gripped the girl's trembling shoulders and peered down into her eyes. Alien tendrils of thought seemed to probe her mind. She opened her mouth and tried to scream but, as in a nightmare, no sound came forth. . . .
Then, unaccountably, her fear vanished and gave place to sheer awe. For a moment her mind held the vision of a universe vast beyond anything she had ever tried to imagine. She seemed in that instant to comprehend thoughts of super-human power and complexity. The envisioning of light-years of space and whirling galaxies comprised of billions of suns and planets seemed childishly simple; the chemistry of life itself was a clear, visible fact that was casually observed and taken for granted. . . .
伟人大步走上前，抓住女孩颤抖的肩膀，凝视着她的眼睛。外星人的思想卷须似乎在探索她的思想。她张开嘴想尖叫，但像在噩梦中一样，发不出任何声音。. . .
然后，莫名其妙地，她的恐惧消失了，取而代之的是纯粹的敬畏。有那么一刻，她的脑海里浮现出一个超乎她曾经想像过的广阔宇宙的景象。她似乎在那一瞬间领悟了超人的力量和复杂的想法。设想光年的空间和由数十亿个太阳和行星组成的旋转星系似乎幼稚地简单；生命本身的化学反应是一个清晰可见的事实，可以随意观察并认为是理所当然的。. . .
【不知名的球形种族】
【不知名的球形种族的实力】
AS DOES YOURS, said the Galactic, EVEN THOUGH YOU THRIVE IN WATER, ALSO. WE KNOW YOUR HISTORY -- A GALACTIC REVOLUTION AGO WE AND THE GREAT RACE HAD TO DRIVE YOU FROM THAT WORLD BECAUSE YOU WOULD NOT LIMIT YOUR CONQUESTS. WE KNOW, TOO, THAT YOU STILL MAINTAIN POPULOUS OUTPOSTS ON THE OCEAN-BOTTOMS OF THE GLOBE IN QUESTION, AS WELL AS ON THE FORTH PLANET OF THE SAME SOLAR SYSTEM. YOU MUST ABANDON THOSE OUTPOSTS.
Galactic说，你也是，即使你也在水里游泳。我们知道你们的历史——在银河系革命之前，我们和伟大的种族不得不将你们赶出那个世界，因为你们不会限制你们的征服。我们也知道，你们仍然在全球海洋地带以及同一太阳系的第四行星上保持着人口密集的前哨基地。你必须放弃那些前哨。
【不知名的球形种族的生理特征】
A second creature scuttled forward to join the Zarrian, and Taggart could not repress a shudder at the sight of it in motion, often as he had seen it before. It was a dark, brown sphere roughly four feet in diameter with two black, bulging, expressionless eyes; it writhed across the floor on a mass of slender, whiplike tentacles, making Taggart think simultaneously of an octopus and a rubber spider.
第二个生物冲向Zarrian，塔格特看到它在运动时忍不住打了一个寒颤，就像他以前看到的那样。这是一个深棕色的球体，直径约四英尺，有两只黑色的、凸起的、面无表情的眼睛；它在一大堆细长的鞭状触须上在地板上扭动，让塔格特同时想到了章鱼和橡胶蜘蛛。
【不知名的球形种族提出的关于地球的要求】
A second creature scuttled forward to join the Zarrian, and Taggart could not repress a shudder at the sight of it in motion, often as he had seen it before. It was a dark, brown sphere roughly four feet in diameter with two black, bulging, expressionless eyes; it writhed across the floor on a mass of slender, whiplike tentacles, making Taggart think simultaneously of an octopus and a rubber spider.
What of the watery portions of the planet, then? it demanded in powerful thought-tones. The race you speak of breathes air.
第二个生物冲向Zarrian，塔格特看到它在运动时忍不住打了一个寒颤，就像他以前看到的那样。这是一个深棕色的球体，直径约四英尺，有两只黑色的、凸起的、面无表情的眼睛；它在一大堆细长的鞭状触须上在地板上扭动，让塔格特同时想到了章鱼和橡胶蜘蛛。
那么，地球上有水的部分呢？它以强烈的思想语调要求。你所说的种族呼吸空气。
【Galactic对不知名的球形种族的关于地球的要求的回复】
AS DOES YOURS, said the Galactic, EVEN THOUGH YOU THRIVE IN WATER, ALSO. WE KNOW YOUR HISTORY -- A GALACTIC REVOLUTION AGO WE AND THE GREAT RACE HAD TO DRIVE YOU FROM THAT WORLD BECAUSE YOU WOULD NOT LIMIT YOUR CONQUESTS. WE KNOW, TOO, THAT YOU STILL MAINTAIN POPULOUS OUTPOSTS ON THE OCEAN-BOTTOMS OF THE GLOBE IN QUESTION, AS WELL AS ON THE FORTH PLANET OF THE SAME SOLAR SYSTEM. YOU MUST ABANDON THOSE OUTPOSTS.
Galactic说，你也是，即使你也在水里游泳。我们知道你们的历史——在银河系革命之前，我们和伟大的种族不得不将你们赶出那个世界，因为你们不会限制你们的征服。我们也知道，你们仍然在全球海洋地带以及同一太阳系的第四行星上保持着人口密集的前哨基地。你必须放弃那些前哨。
