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Question 1

電話的刺耳鈴聲讓會長的目光離開亞得里亞海上的平靜霧色，他迅速走回他的艙房辦公室。也該是時候了，他心想，急著聽消息。

Answer 1

The shrill ring of his phone drew the provost’s gaze from the calming mist of the Adriatic, and he quickly stepped back into his stateroom office. It’s about time, he thought, eager for news.

Question 2

他辦公桌上的電腦螢幕閃爍著啟動，通知他來電出自瑞典製的Sectra Tiger XS個人語音加密電話，經過四條無法追蹤的線路轉接才連到他的船上。

Answer 2

The computer screen on his desk had flickered to life, informing him that the incoming call was from a Swedish Sectra Tiger XS personal voice-encrypting phone, which had been redirected through four untraceable routers before being connected to his ship.

Question 3

他戴上耳機。「我是會長，」他回答，聲音緩慢又謹慎，「請講。」「我是瓦顏莎。」對方回答。

Answer 3

He donned his headset. “This is the provost,” he answered, his words slow and meticulous. “Go ahead.” “It’s Vayentha,” the voice replied.

Question 4

會長察覺她話中不尋常的緊張。外勤幹員很少直接跟會長通話，更少人經過昨晚那種失敗之後還能留在組織裡。然而，會長需要有人在現場幫忙挽救危機，瓦顏莎是最適合的人選。

Answer 4

The provost sensed an unusual nervousness in her tone. Field agents rarely spoke to the provost directly, and even more rarely did they remain in his employ after a debacle like the one last night. Nonetheless, the provost had required an agent on-site to help remedy the crisis, and Vayentha had been the best person for the job.

Question 5

「我有進展。」瓦顏莎說。

Answer 5

“I have an update,” Vayentha said.

Question 6

會長沉默，示意她繼續說。

Answer 6

The provost was silent, his cue for her to continue.

Question 7

她說話時，口氣不帶情緒，顯然努力維持專業態度。「蘭登逃掉了，」她說：「東西在他手上。」

Answer 7

When she spoke, her tone was emotionless, clearly an attempt at professionalism. “Langdon has escaped,” she said. “He has the object.”

Question 8

會長坐到辦公桌上，沉默良久。「了解。」他終於說：「我猜他會盡快設法跟當局聯絡。」

Answer 8

The provost sat down at his desk and remained silent for a very long time. “Understood,” he finally said. “I imagine he will reach out to the authorities as soon as he possibly can.”

Question 9

會長下方兩層甲板，船的安全管制中心裡，資深主管勞倫斯．諾頓坐在他的個人隔間裡，注意到會長的加密通話結束了。他原本希望是好消息。這兩天會長的緊張看得出來，船上每個員工都感覺到了有某種重大任務正在進行。

Answer 9

Two decks beneath the provost, in the ship’s secure control center, senior facilitator Laurence Knowlton sat in his private cubicle and noticed that the provost’s encrypted call had ended. He hoped the news was good. The provost’s tension had been palpable for the past two days, and every operative on board sensed there was some kind of high-stakes operation going on.

Question 10

風險高到難以想像，這次瓦顏莎最好能辦成。

Answer 10

The stakes are inconceivably high, and Vayentha had better get it right this time.

Question 11

諾頓習慣了指揮精心策劃的任務，但這次的狀況已經惡化為混亂，會長親自接管了。

Answer 11

Knowlton was accustomed to quarterbacking carefully constructed game plans, but this particular scenario had disintegrated into chaos, and the provost had taken over personally.

Question 12

我們面臨了前所未有的狀況。

Answer 12

We’ve moved into uncharted territory.

Question 13

雖然還有六項其他任務正在全世界進行中，但全交由聯合會的各個外勤機構負責，讓謊言號上的會長與員工有空專注在這一項。

Answer 13

Although a half-dozen other missions were currently in process around the world, all of them were being serviced by the Consortium’s various field offices, freeing the provost and his staff aboard The Mendacium to focus exclusively on this one.

Question 14

他們的客戶幾天前在佛羅倫斯碎死，但聯合會仍有在他名下的幾項待辦服務——該男士委託這個組織無論發生任何狀況都要做的特定任務——而且聯合會，照例，打算毫不質疑地執行。

Answer 14

Their client had jumped to his death several days ago in Florence, but the Consortium still had numerous outstanding services on his docket—specific tasks the man had entrusted to this organization regardless of the circumstances—and the Consortium, as always, intended to follow through without question.

Question 15

我有我的命令，諾頓心想，打算完全服從。他走出隔音的玻璃隔間，走過六個其他房間————有的透明，有的隱密——擔當主管們正在裡面處理同一任務的各個層面。

Answer 15

I have my orders, Knowlton thought, fully intending to comply. He exited his soundproofed glass cubicle, walking past a half-dozen other chambers—some transparent, some opaque—in which duty officers were handling other aspects of this same mission.

Question 16

諾頓在主控室經過空調的稀薄空氣中走過，向技師們點頭，進入一處放了十幾個保險箱的小凹室。

Answer 16

Knowlton crossed through the thin, processed air of the main control room, nodding to the tech crew, and entered a small walk-in vault containing a dozen strongboxes.

Question 17

他打開其中一個箱子取出內容物——一個鮮紅色記憶卡。根據附在上面的任務標籤顯示，記憶卡內含一個龐大影片檔，客戶指示要在明早指定時間上傳給各大媒體。

Answer 17

He opened one of the boxes and retrieved its contents—in this case, a bright red memory stick. According to the task card attached, the memory stick contained a large video file, which the client had directed them to upload to key media outlets at a specific time tomorrow morning.

Question 18

明天的匿名上傳很簡單，但是為了維持所有數位檔案的通訊協定，流程表今天―—傳送之前廿四小時——標定這個檔案作檢查，以確保聯合會有足夠時間進行必要的解碼、編輯或其他準時上傳前可能需要的準備。

Answer 18

Tomorrow’s anonymous upload would be simple enough, but in keeping protocol for all digital files, the flowchart had flagged this file for review today —twenty-four hours prior to delivery—to ensure the Consortium had adequate time to perform any necessary decryption, compiling, or other preparation that might be required before uploading it at the precise hour.

Question 19

不容許任何差錯。

Answer 19

Nothing left to chance.

Question 20

諾頓回到他的透明隔間關上沉重的玻璃門，阻絕外界的噪音。

Answer 20

Knowlton returned to his transparent cubicle and closed the heavy glass door, blocking out the outside world.

Question 21

他打開牆上的開關，隔間立刻變成不透明。為了隱私，謊言號上所有玻璃牆房間都採用了「懸浮粒子裝置」玻璃。SPD玻璃的透明度可以藉由通電輕易控制，對齊或打亂懸浮在玻璃板中數以百萬計的棒狀微粒。

Answer 21

He flipped a switch on the wall, and his cubicle instantly turned opaque. For privacy, all of the glass-walled offices aboard The Mendacium were built with “suspended particle device” glass. The transparency of SPD glass was easily controlled by the application or removal of an electric current, which either aligned or randomized millions of tiny rodlike particles suspended within the panel.

Question 22

專業分工是聯合會成功的基礎。只能知道你自己的任務。什麼也不透露。

Answer 22

Compartmentalization was a cornerstone of the Consortium’s success. Know only your own mission. Share nothing.

Question 23

這時，諾頓安坐在私人空間裡，把記憶卡插入電腦，點擊檔案開始處理工作。

Answer 23

Now, ensconced in his private space, Knowlton inserted the memory stick into his computer and clicked the file to begin his assessment.

Question 24

他的螢幕立刻變成黑暗……喇叭開始播放出波浪拍岸的柔和聲音。影像緩緩出現在螢幕上……模糊又陰暗。從黑暗中浮現，場景開始成形……是洞穴…．或某個巨大房間的內部。洞穴的地面是水，像個地下湖。怪的是，水似乎被照亮……而且是從水裡面。

Answer 24

Immediately his screen faded to black … and his speakers began playing the soft sound of lapping water. An image slowly appeared on­screen … amorphous and shadowy. Emerging from the darkness, a scene began to take shape … the interior of a cave … or a giant chamber of some sort. The floor of the cavern was water, like an underground lake. Strangely, the water appeared to be illuminated … as if from within.

Question 25

諾頓從未見過這種情景。整個洞穴充滿詭異的紅光，蒼白的牆上布滿捲髮狀的水波反光。這是……什麼地方？

Answer 25

Knowlton had never seen anything like it. The entire cavern shone with an eerie reddish hue, its pale walls awash with tendril-like reflections of rippling water. What … is this place?

Question 26

水波持續著，鏡頭開始下降，垂直落下，直接拍著水中直到鏡頭沉入光亮的水面。波浪聲消失，變成水底下詭異的寂靜。沉沒的攝影機一直下降，經過幾呎之後停住，聚焦在洞穴被淤泥覆蓋的地面。

Answer 26

As the lapping continued, the camera began to tilt downward and descend vertically, directly toward the water until the camera pierced the illuminated surface. The sounds of rippling disappeared, replaced by an eerie hush beneath the water. Submerged now, the camera kept descending, moving down through several feet of water until it stopped, focusing on the cavern’s silt-covered floor.

Question 27

地上用螺絲釘拴了一個閃亮鈦合金的長方形牌子。

Answer 27

Bolted to the floor was a rectangular plaque of shimmering titanium.

Question 28

牌子上面有刻字。就在此地，就在此時，世界將永遠被改變。

Answer 28

The plaque bore an inscription. IN THIS PLACE, ON THIS DATE, THE WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER.

Question 29

牌子下方還有署名和日期。署名就是他們的客戶。而日期是……明天。

Answer 29

Engraved at the bottom of the plaque was a name and a date. The name was that of their client. The date … tomorrow.