'We are on a mission,' said one of the aliens.

“我们在做任务。”一个外星人说。

'A mission? A mission to do what?'

“做任务？什么样的任务？”

'We do not know.'

“我们不知道。”

Still she kept the camera steady.

摄影机仍然没有丝毫抖动。

'So what are you doing here on Earth, then?'

“那么，你们来地球做什么？”

'We have come to fetch you.'

“我们来带你走。”

Rock steady, rock steady. Could have been on a tripod. She wondered if she should be using a tripod, in fact. She wondered that because it gave her a moment or two to digest what they had just said. No, she thought, hand-held gave her more flexibility. She also thought, help, what am I going to do?

纹丝不动，纹丝不动，就像放在三脚架上一样。她琢磨着自己是不是真该找个三脚架。而她之所以这么想，是因为这能为她争取一点点时间，消化消化他们刚才的那番话。不，她想，拿在手里更灵活机动。她的另一个想法是，救命，我该怎么办？

'Why,' she asked, calmly, 'have you come to fetch me?'

“为什么，”她镇定自若地问，“你们要带我走？”

'Because we have lost our minds.'

“因为我们得了失心疯。”

'Excuse me,' said Tricia, 'I'm going to have to get a tripod.'

“抱歉。”崔茜卡说，“我需要一个三脚架。”

They seemed happy enough to stand there doing nothing while Tricia quickly found a tripod and mounted the camera on it. Her face was completely immobile, but she did not have the faintest idea what was going on or what to think about it.

他们似乎很乐意无所事事地傻站着，于是崔茜卡赶紧找了个三脚架，把摄影机放上去。她的脸上完全没有波动，心里却是一团乱麻，压根儿不知道眼下是怎么回事，或者自己究竟该如何看待这个问题。

'OK,' she said, when she was ready. 'Why…'

“好了。”一切准备就绪，“为什么……”

'We liked your interview with the astrologer.'

“我们喜欢你对占星术士做的采访。”

'You saw it?'

“你们看见了？”

'We see everything. We are very interested in astrology. We like it. It is very interesting. Not everything is interesting. Astrology is interesting. What the stars tell us. What the stars foretell. We could do with some information like that.'

“我们什么都看。我们对占星术很感兴趣。我们喜欢占星术。它很有趣。并不是每样东西都很有趣。占星术就很有趣。星星能告诉我们什么，星星能预言什么。这类信息我们用得上。”

'But…'

“可……”