He said nothing for a moment, whilst his gaze darted from one of her eyes to the other. We… he said, we have to be alone… I think. He screwed up his face and then dropped his head forward, shaking it like someone trying to shake a coin out of a money box. He looked up again. We have this bomb now, you see, he said, it’s just a little one. I know, she said. He goggled at her as if she’d said something very strange about beetroots. Honestly, he said, it’s very, very little. I know, she said again. But they say, his voice trailed on, they say it can destroy everything that exists. And we have to do that, you see, I think. Will that make us alone? I don’t know. It seems to be our function, though, he said, and dropped his head again. Whatever that means, said a hollow voice from the crowd. Trillian slowly put her arms around the poor bewildered young Krikkiter and patted his trembling head on her shoulder. It’s all right, she said quietly but clearly enough for all the shadowy crowd to hear, you don’t have to do it. She rocked him. You don’t have to do it, she said again. She let him go and stood back. I want you to do something for me, she said, and unexpectedly laughed. I want, she said, and laughed again. She put her hand over her mouth and then said with a straight face, I want you to take me to your leader, and she pointed into the War Zones in the sky. She seemed somehow to know that their leader would be there. Her laughter seemed to discharge something in the atmosphere. From somewhere at the back of the crowd a single voice started to sing a tune which would have enabled Paul McCartney, had he written it, to buy the world. “他沉默片刻，眼神彷徨不定。 “我们……”他说，“我们只能孤独……我想，”他很痛苦地低下头，狠狠摇着脑袋，像是在摇存钱罐一样。他又抬起头，“我们有颗炸弹，你瞧……”他说，“很小的炸弹。” “我知道。”她说。 他睁大了眼睛，好象她突然开始提到甜菜之类的东西似的。 “真的，”他说，“很小很小。” “我知道。”她又说。 “可他们说，”他的声音又小了，“他们说，那能摧毁一切。我们必须这样做……我想。我们会变得孤独吗？我不知道。虽然这正是我们的目标……”他说着说着，又低下了头。 “不论用什么代价。”人群中一个声音传了出来。 崔莉安轻轻拥抱了那可怜人，拍着他微微战栗的头。 “没关系，”她的声音很轻，但所有人都听得见，“你们不需要这样做。” 她摇摇他的肩头。 “你们不需要这样做。”她重复道。 她放开手，退回去了。 “我想请你帮我个忙。”她说着，突然笑了。 “我想请你……”她又笑了。她用手掩住嘴，然后恢复了严肃的表情，“我想请你带我去见你们的长官。”她指指天上，似乎已经知道长官就在那儿。 她的笑使气氛有所缓和。人群中，有人开始唱歌了。那调子——要是保罗·麦卡特尼写出来的话，那赚的钱够买下全世界了。
