《家园卡拉克沙漠》远征指南翻译 剧情与历史介绍

三、加勒西物体

　　位置：赤道废土

　　分析：冶金学角度来看，与太空轨道残骸相匹配

　　年代：未知

　　来源：未知

　　卡拉克的太空计划是一个关于惊喜和撞大运的故事。

　　如果我们最初的推进器更高效一点，最开始的几次发射就会高度过大，然后顷刻间毁于残骸带，而不是安全地发现了这些残骸。

　　如果我们第一个太空行走的宇航员没有随身携带她的基斯纪念章，当她看到那片外星金属将宇航服撕开一个洞的时候，就将无能为力，而不是用这块大小正好的柔软金属封住漏洞。（原文注释：基斯家族纪念章，上面带有基斯家族标志，最早时候，这些纪念章在异端战争中，曾作为一种证明身份的方式）

　　而如果不是导航程序出现一点小故障，我们根本不会发现这个世界上最伟大秘密的蛛丝马迹。

　　历经80年太空飞行和打捞工作之后，事实已经很清楚了，那就是至少应该有一艘，也许有若干艘非卡拉克的太空飞船在轨道上解体过。由于对至今打捞回来的小块残骸进行逆向工程学研究，我们的技术取得了长足的进步，但我们最想要的神圣赠礼仍然蒙着神秘的面纱：一个功能正常，完好无损的飞船，哪怕任何类型的都行，对我们来说都像是痴人说梦。几十年过去了，我们从未发现过比一把椅子更大的东西。

　　因此，在1100年，斯叶特基斯主导了一个全新的感应器系统，叫做文·卡尔项目（Project Viin Cal），以狩猎之神的名字命名。文·卡尔项目是一系列的强力深度扫描雷达卫星，能够扫描卡拉克轨道周围上亿公里的空间。虽然该项目看似前景广阔，但返回的一两次所谓轰动性成果，经过调查发现，无非是系统错误，或者是奇怪的局部磁力反转（原文注释：磁力反转，定义还不够严谨，指的是一种被错误显示为人造能量源的星际现象，该领域有待进一步研究）。到了1106年，文·卡尔项目在规模和人员上已经大规模缩减了。

　　就在这种情况下，一位名叫雷卡勃·加勒西（Leykab Jaraci）的年轻技师负责处理一颗推进器故障的文·卡尔卫星。雷卡勃深知团队预算紧张，于是他尽量争取到一小时的时间来重新控制这颗翻滚的卫星，不然的话就只能很遗憾地下达自毁指令了。这本来应该是日渐衰败的文·卡尔项目又一悲伤的时刻，但雷卡勃忠实履行了职责，在关闭文件之前最后回放了一遍数据磁带（原文注释：数据存储方式，虽然跟最新的存储方式相比显得很古老，但数据磁带特别可靠，因此是编目工作的第一选择）。

　　记录的数据奇迹般地显示，存在着一个大型金属物体——但不是在轨道上。卫星的旋转使它无意间扫描了卡拉克的赤道地区。雷达扫描的力量穿透了流动的沙地之下将近一百米的距离。

　　之后，雷卡勃用颤抖的双手发出了关于这一异常现象的报告，而这一发现将以他命名，并千古流芳。某个人造物体深埋于赤道沙漠的心脏地带。某个巨大的，金属材质的物体，并且周围围绕着大量的石头建筑，呈现出规则的几何图形。

　　从此之后，其他卫星装备了改良型的地面穿透雷达，都被用于扫描加勒西物体，但是由于风暴，静电流沙，以及纯运气因素，相比于第一次的命运眷顾，后来的扫描都没有提供更多的信息。

一系列的新卫星正在发射中，用于部署在轨道上

除主要异常之外（Primary Anomaly)，还观测到了很多信号不太强的回应，已在地图上标出

III. The Jaracy Object

　　Location EquatorialWastes

　　Analysis Metallurgymatches orbital debris

　　Age Unknown

　　Origin Unknown

　　The story of the Kharakid space program isa tale of surprises and blind luck.

　　Had our initial boosters been just a littlemore efficient, our first launches would have been high enough to be destroyedinstantly by the debris belt, instead of safely discovering it.

　　Had our first spacewalker not brought herkiith medallion(Kiith Family Medallion, Bearing the individual kiith's familyinsignia, these medallions were originally a means of identification during theHeresy Wars.) with her, she would have been helpless to do anything but stareat the piece of alien metal that had torn a hole in her capsule, instead ofhaving the perfect-sized piece of soft metal to seal the breach.

　　And without a glitch in a nav program, wewould never have found a trace of the greatest secret of this world.

　　After 80 years of spaceflight andretrievals, it was very clear that at least one and perhaps several spaceshipsof non-Kharakid origin had broken up in orbit. Our technology has grown byleaps and bounds due to back-engineering of the small pieces of wreckage wehave retrieved thus far, but still the sacred bounty we most desired eluded us:a functioning, intact vessel of any kind seemed an impossible dream. Decadespassed with nothing larger than an office chair being spotted.

　　As a result, in 1100, Kiith S'jetinstituted a new sensor system called Project Viin Cal, after the ancient Godof the hunters. Viin Cal was a series of potent deep-scan radar sats capable ofsweeping the space around Kharak orbit for hundreds of millions of kilometers.While the program started with promise, returning a hit or two which seemed tobe larger objects in high orbit, these turned out to be malfunctions andstrange, localized magnetic inversions(Magnetic Inversion Loosely-definedstellar phenomenon that falsely registers as a synthetic power source. Furtherstudy is recommended in this area) upon investigation. By 1106, the Project hadbeen reduced significantly in terms of scale and staff.

　　It was under these conditions that a youngtechnician named Leykab Jaraci presided over a Viin Cal sat with a malfunctionin its maneuvering thrusters. Aware of how tight budgeting for his team hadbecome, Leykab fought for the better part of an hour to bring the tumbling satunder control before he had to regretfully give the self destruct command. Itseemed at first to be another sad moment in a fading program, except thatLeykab dutifully ran the last data tape (Data Storage, Though considered"old" by recent storage methods, data tapes are exceptionallyreliable, making them the prime choice for cataloging.)before closing the file.

　　The recorded data had miraculously revealeda large metal object — but it was not in orbit. The sat’s spinning path had causedit to repeatedly scan large swathes of Kharak’s equatorial region. The power ofthe radar scan had penetrated to a distance of almost a hundred meters throughthe shifting sands.

　　And so, with shaking hands, Leykab sent hisreport on the Anomaly that would bear his name through history. Somethingartificial was buried in the heart of the equatorial desert. Something huge,made of metal, and surrounded by masses of stone built in regular geometricpatterns.

　　Since that day, other sats with improvedground-penetrating radar have been tasked to scan the Jaraci Object, but due tostorms, the shifting static-charged sands, and pure luck, no other scan hasrevealed as much information as the first fateful accident.

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