《Grimes 007 The Wandering Buoy 》作者：- A. Bertram Chandler【EPU

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THE WANDERING BUOYActions—even enormously sophisticated actions—do not reveal themotivation that led to them. And even actions can be hair-raisinglymysterious. A. BERTRAM CHANDLERIllustrated be Leo SummersIt really shouldnt have been there. Nothing at all should have been theresave for the sparse drift of hydrogen atoms that did nothing at all tomitigate the hard vacuum of interstellar space and save for the CourierAdder proceeding on he lawful occasions.It shouldnt have been there but it was and Grimes and his officers werepleased rather than otherwise that something had happened to break themonotony of the long voyage.quotA definite contact Captainquot said von Tannenbaum peering into thespherical screen of the mass proximity indicator.quotHm-m-m . . .quot grunted Captain Grimes. Then to the electroniccommunications officer quotYoure quite sure that theres no traffic aroundSparksquotquotQuite sure Captainquot replied Slovotny. quotNothing within a thousandlight-years.quotquotThen get Spooky on the intercom and ask him if hes been in touch withanybody . . . or anything.quotquotVery good Captainquot said Slovotny rather sulkily. There was always rivalrysometimes far from friendly between electronic and psioniccommunications officers.Grimes looked over the navigators shoulder into the velvety blackness ofthe screen at the tiny blue-green spark that lay a little to one side of theglowing filament that was the ships extrapolated trajectory. VonTannenbaum had set up the range and bearing markers and was quietlyreading aloud the figures. He said quotAt our present velocity we shall be upto