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cc.themediterraneancaper2-第9部分

小说: cc.themediterraneancaper2 字数: 每页4000字

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 that emitted from an overhead ventilator。 He stood in front of the opening for a moment and soaked in the cool breeze。 Then he straddled a chair and leaned his arms across the top of the backrest; waiting for Gunn to give the briefing。
 Gunn closed the porthole and remained standing。 〃Before I begin; let me ask you  what you know about our Aegean expedition?〃
 〃I only heard that the First Attempt was researching the Mediterranean for  zoological purposes。〃
 Gunn stared at him; shocked。 〃Didn't the admiral supply you with any detailed  data concerning this project before you left Washington?〃
 Pitt lit another cigarette。 〃What makes you think that I came straight from the  Capital?〃
 〃I don't know;〃 Gunn said hesitantly。 〃I only assumed that you 。 。 。〃
 Pitt stopped him with a grin。 〃I haven't been anywhere near the States in over  four months。〃 He exhaled a puff of smoke toward the ventilator and watched the  blue haze swirl into nothingness。 〃Sandecker's message to you simply stated that  he was sending me directly to Thasos。 He obviously neglected to mention where I  was ing from and when I would arrive。 Therefore; you expected me to e  soaring out of the blue sky four days ago。〃
 〃Again; I'm sorry;〃 Gunn said shrugging。 〃You're right; of course。 I figured two  days at the most for that old tin duck of yours to fly from the Capital。 When  you finally flew into that fiasco at Brady Field yesterday you were already four  days late by my schedule。〃
 〃It couldn't be helped。 Giordino and I were ordered to airlift supplies into an  ice probe station; camped on an ice floe north of Spitzbergen。 Right after we  landed; a blizzard hit and grounded us for over seventy…two hours。〃
 Gunn laughed。 〃You certainly flew from one extreme in temperature to another。〃 Pitt didn't answer; but merely smiled。
 Gunn pulled open the top drawer of a small pact desk and handed Pitt a large  manila envelope that contained several drawings of a strange looking fish。 〃You  ever see anything like this before?〃
 Pitt looked down at the drawings。 Most of them were different artist's  conceptions of the same fish; and yet each varied in details。 The first was an  ancient Greek illustration on the side of a vase。 Another had obviously been  part of a Roman fresco。 He noted that two of them were more modern。 stylized  drawings; depicting the fish in a series of movements。 The last was a photograph  of a fossil imbedded in sandstone。 Pitt looked up at Gunn questioningly。
 Gunn handed him a magnifying glass。 〃Here; take a closer look through this。〃 Pitt adjusted the height of the thick glass and scrutinized each picture。 At  first glance the fish looked similar in size and shape to the Bluefin Tuna; but  on closer inspection; the bottom pelvic fins took on the appearance of small  jointed webbed feet。 There were two more identical limbs located just in front  of the dorsal fin。
 He whistled softly。 〃This is a weird specimen; Rudi。 What do you call it?〃 〃I can't pronounce the Latin name; but the scientists aboard the First Attempt  have affectionately nicknamed it the Teaser。〃
 〃Why is that?〃
 〃Because; by every law of nature that fish should have bee extinct over two  hundred million years ago。 But as you can see by the drawings。 men still claim  they have seen it。 Every fifty or sixty years there's a rash of sightings; but  unfortunately for science; a Teaser has yet to be caught。〃 Gunn glanced at Pitt  and looked away again。 〃If there is such a fish; it must bear a charmed life。  There are literally hundreds of accounts of fishermen and scientists who look  you in the eye with a straight face and say they had a Teaser on a hook or in a  net; but before the fish could be hauled on board it escaped。 Every zoologist in  the world would give his left testicle to obtain a live; or even dead Teaser。〃
 Pitt mashed out his cigarette in an ashtray。 〃What makes this particular fish so important?〃
 Gunn held up the drawings。 〃Notice that the artists couldn't agree on the outer  layer of skin。 They illustrate tiny scales; smooth porpoise…like skin; and one  even brushed in a kind of furry hide like a sea lion。 Now; if you take the  possibility of hairy skin; together with the limb extensions; it may be we have  the dim beginnings of the first mammal。〃
 〃True; but if the skin were smooth you'd have nothing more than an early  reptile。 The earth was covered with them back in those days。〃
 Gunn's eyes mirrored a confident look。 〃The next point to consider is that the  Teasers lived in warm shallow water; and every recorded sighting took place no  more than three miles from shore; and they all occurred right here in the  eastern Mediterranean where the average surface temperature seldom drops below  sixty…two degrees Fahrenheit。〃
 〃So what does that prove?〃 asked Pitt。
 〃Nothing solid; but since primitive mammal life survives better in milder  climates; it lends a little support to the possibility that they might have  survived to the present。〃
 Pitt stared at Gunn thoughtfully。 〃I'm sorry; Rudi。 You still haven't sold me。〃
 〃I knew you were a hard head;〃 said Gunn。
 〃That's why I left the most interesting part till last。〃 He paused and removed  his glasses and rubbed the lenses With a piece of Kleenex。 Then he replaced the  black rims over his hawkish nose。 He continued speaking as if lost in a dream。 〃During the Triassic Period in geological time; and before the Himalayas and the  Alps rose; a great sea swept over what is now Tibet and India。 It also extended  over Central Europe and ended in the North Sea。 Geologists call this once great  body of water; the Sea of Tethys。 All that remains of it today is the Black; the  Caspian and the Mediterranean Seas。〃
 〃You'll have to pardon my ignorance of geological time eras;〃 Pitt interrupted;  〃but when did the Triassic Period take place?〃
 〃Between one hundred eighty and two hundred thirty million years ago;〃 replied  Gunn。 〃During this time an important evolutionary advance occurred in the  vertebrate animals as the reptiles demonstrated a great leap over their more  primitive ancestors。 Some of the marine reptiles attained a length of  twenty…three feet and were very tough customers。 The most noteworthy event was  the introduction of the first true dinosaurs; who even learned to walk on their  hind legs and use their tails for a kind of cane。〃
 Pitt leaned back and stretched his legs。 〃I thought that the era of the  dinosaurs occurred much later。〃
 Gunn laughed。 〃You've seen too many old movies。 You're undoubtedly thinking of  the behemoths that were always portrayed in the early science fiction films;  menacing a tribe of hairy cavemen。 They never failed to have a forty ton  Brontosaurus or a ferocious Tyrannosaurus or a flying Pteranodon chasing a  half…nude; big…fitted heroine through a primeval jungle。 Actually these more  monly known dinosaurs roamed the earth and became extinct sixty million years  before man appeared。〃
 〃Where does your freak fish fit into the picture?〃
 〃Imagine; if you will; a three foot Teaser fish who lived; cavorted; made love  and finally died somewhere in the Sea of Tethys。 Nothing and no one took notice  as this obscure creature's body slowly sank to the red mud of the seabed。 The  unmarked grave was covered over with sediments which hardened into sandstone and  left a thin film of carbon。 It was this trace of carbon that etched and outlined  the Teaser's tissue and bone structure into the surrounding strata。〃 The years  passed and turned into millenniums。 And the millenniums became eons; until one  warm spring day; two hundred million years later; a farmer in the Austrian town  of Neunkirchen struck his plow against a hard surface。 And presto; our Teaser  fish; though now a near perfect fossilized version; once again returned to the  light。〃 Gunn hesitated and ran his hand through a head of thinning hair。 His  face looked drawn and tired; but his eyes burned with excitement as he spoke of  the Teaser。 〃One vital element you must remember; when the Teaser died there  were no birds and bees; no hair bearing mammals; no delicate butterflies; even  flowers had not yet appeared on the earth。〃
 Pitt studied the photograph of the fossil again。 〃It 

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