时间
作者：迈克尔·亚当·罗布森 翻译：瓦力
和我们预期的不同，第一次接触没有任何的征兆。
它们就像天使之光亲切得展现在我们的意识中。
“这将是我们最后一次会面，这对于你们的未来至关重要。”他们说到。
“最后一次会面？难道你们之前来过？”
他们并非来自别的星球。他们在一个完全不同的宇宙建立了一条联结我们的通道。
“很久很久以前我们就是老朋友了，只是你们不知道罢了。”
“有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎，但你们想要什么呢？”
“我们想传授你们知识，就像当年你们传授我们一样。我们要找到联结彼此的方法，能让我们友谊长存。”
“这是我们第一次见到你们，为什么你们却说这是我们之间最后的一次会面？”我们问到。
“这是我们的最后一次，不是你们的，我们还会在中途再次相遇。”
他们说的，我们始终没能理解，而他们也从没解释过。也许这是他们的一种幽默吧。
第二次接触是100年后。我们已经拥有了足够的知识建立了一条向下通往低层空间的通道。而此时，他们也建立了一条通往同一层空间的向上通道，并已在那里等候我们多时。
“我们又见面了。” 我们打招呼到。
“是啊，老朋友!"
此时此刻，我们已经能够参悟，他们宇宙的自然法则和我们的完全不同。
“你们宇宙时间的流向和我们是相反的，你们的过去是我们的未来，而你们的未来是我们的过去。所以，我们的第一次接触对于你们却是最后一次。” 我们说到。
“没错，而此时是一个特别的时刻，仅有此刻，我们在彼此的中途相遇。“他们补充到。
第三次接触已是几百年之后，那是我们之间最后一次相遇。我们已经掌握了直接通往他们宇宙，空间和时间的方法。
为了不惊吓到他们，我们决定出现在他们的意识中。
“很高兴再次遇到你们。”我们打招呼到，带着一丝忧伤。我们的文明在向前推进，而他们的却在后退，直到消失。这将是我们最后一次会面。
“你们想要什么呢？” 他们问道。
“我们想传授你们知识，就像当年你们传授我们一样。我们要找到联结彼此的方法，能让我们友谊长存。”
“你们是谁？来自何方？”
显然他们并不知道我们是谁，而我们也不想就此点破。
“就像我们之前说的，未来我们早就是老朋友了，我们会在中途再次相遇”
完
Halfway
by Michael Adam Robson author bio
First contact came without any warning, and wasn't what we expected.
Obligingly, they appeared in our image, magnified into angelic beings of light.
This will be our last meeting, they said. It's important that your history unfolds as it's supposed to.
Last meeting? we asked. Have you been here before? Where do you come from?
That was the strange part. They hadn't come from another world, they'd built a bridge from an entirely different universe.
We're old friends, from far away, they said. You just don't know it yet.
Always good to make a friend, we said, confused, but relieved. What is it you want?
As it turned out, they didn't want anything. They'd come to give us something.
We want to pass on knowledge that's been passed on to us. A way to meet, so we can keep our friendship alive.
We're happy to stay in contact, we said. But you said this was our last meeting?
We didn't understand then, and they didn't explain. Like us, they had a sense of humour.
The last for us, they said. But not for you. You just need to meet us halfway.
Second contact came a hundred years later, when we'd learned enough to build a bridge of our own, to a lower layer of space.
As it turned out, they had built a bridge upward to the same layer, and were waiting for us, in their true, strange forms.
We meet again, we said.
Old friends, they agreed.
By then, of course, the implications of the alien science were clear. The laws of their universe were very different from ours.
That's why our first contact was your last, we said. Time runs backward in your world. Our future is your past, your future is our past.
This is a special time, they said. Right now is the only time we'll be able to meet like this. As equals.
Third contact took another hundred years, and it was the last contact.
By then, we knew how to make the bridge all the way to their universe, their native space and time. So as not to startle them, we decided to appear in their image.
It's good to see you again, we said, sadly. As our civilization went forward, theirs would go backward, until it disappeared. This was the last time we would be able to meet.
What do you want? they asked.
Of course, we didn't want anything. We'd come to give them a gift.
We only want to share some knowledge, we said. A way to keep in touch.
Who are you? they asked. Where did you come from?
They didn't know us yet--and we didn't want to spoil the surprise.
We're old friends, was all we said. Or we will be. You just need to meet us halfway.
The End
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