traslation of the bog of sedgehead for skype call.

Chapter 2

 

28        “I doubt it,” Tim thought again.  “A fully loaded passenger plane hits the World Trade Center.  How can that be an accident?  That’s like a plane hitting the White House.  That’s no accident.” 

29        Nevertheless, newscasters kept repeating “we don’t know whether this is just a terrible accident or a terrorist act.  We don’t want to jump to any conclusions.  We just don’t know.”

30        The 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center should have made it even more obvious this was a deliberate act.  The buildings stood as a symbol and someone used them as a target.  “There’s just no way this was an accident” Tim thought.  But Tim withheld final judgment.  The newscasters kept discussing the smoke billowing from the building. 

31        “It’s coming down.”  The thought burned itself into Tim’s brain.  “With that much fire, there’s no way it is going to stand.  It’s coming down.”  Tim had worked in construction and knew the basic structure of such buildings.  He had not worked steel or highrises but had helped build a five story office building and worked on a pan crew.  The pan crew poured concrete onto sheets of metal set up around the steel supporting structure.  After the concrete hardened Tim helped pull the metal pans from the underside of the newly poured floor.  This dangerous work had taught Tim many things about the construction of large buildings.  Exposed steel would be sprayed with fireproofing material.  Even at that time Tim had questioned the wisdom of this technique.  The fireproofing could easily be scrapped off the steel girders.  Without it, if exposed to heat, the steel would begin to flex, bend, and fail in a hot fire.  In the case of the World Trade Center, the incoming airplane shook the insulation off the steel and the flaming jet fuel heated the steel until it collapsed.  Airplanes and jet fuel had probably not been part of the engineering calculations during the construction of the World Trade Center.

32        Tim turned off the radio.  He thought about the work he had planned.  He wanted to work on the vegetation inventory for a pitcher plant bog he had going.  Every two weeks he visited the bog and collected specimens of plants he found blooming there.  Later he would identify each species and add it to the inventory of species known at the site as well as his growing list of plants known on the Kisatchie National Forest. 

34        Tim’s thoughts returned to New York.  Maybe the radio had some news.  “The second plane.”  Those words convinced the announcers of what Tim felt he already knew.  One plane could not be an accident.  A second plane into a second tower made it even more certain.  The country was under attack.  Then came news of a third plane hitting the Pentagon and rumors of a fourth plane being hijacked.  Where would it end? 

35        Tim comforted himself, thinking “well, if we are being attacked even if someone explodes a nuclear bomb, being out in the center of a national forest would be the safest place around here.”  The Kisatchie, in rural central Louisiana, would provide a safe haven even in the event of a major attack.  Tim decided to keep driving.  He came through the small town of Winnfield where life appeared to continue normally. 

36        As he drove on north then west, the newscasters continued telling the story.  They gasped, “The top just fell of the North Tower.”  Tim thought of the people who certainly were trapped inside.  Fifty thousand people worked in those two buildings.  Even if four out of five escaped, that’s still 10,000 people who might have been killed.  The thoughts jolted through him.  He knew no one who worked there, no one in New York. 

37        He pulled his truck into the wood’s road where he parked to visit the bog.  After a few more minutes of radio news he thought “well, I can’t do anything from here.”  He climbed out of his truck and gathered his field gear.  He would continue his plant surveys and check the radio at lunch, or so he thought.  He walked out to the bog and began looking at plants.  The idea of a major building falling in New York would not leave him.  Suddenly, a load roar came from overhead.  He looked up just in time to see two fighter jets flying a few hundred feet over the treetops almost directly overhead.  “We’re at war.”  He thought.  He knew the U. S. Air Force had a base not far away.  Sometimes they practiced flying low over Forest Service lands, but not usually in this area.  They had a bombing ground on the Kisatchie, where they dropped non-explosive bombs for practice but that area was 75 miles south.  He had heard the thud of their guns when working in that area.  He’d seen old fortification built during World War II where soldiers had trained for battle with live ammunition.  The U. S. Army still held war games using part of the Vernon District of the Kisatchie.  But these planes flew in unusually low formation as if they were avoiding an unseen enemy and flew faster than normal speeds.  He walked back to his truck.

38        The confusion on the news continued, “we can’t tell if the North Tower actually fell or if the top just fell off of it,” one announcer stated.

39        “It looked like the top six stories broke off and fell into the street,” the co-anchor replied.

40        “I can’t believe it.”

41        “We have a new report stating that all air traffic in the United States has been grounded.  All planes flying in the air have been directed to land immediately at the nearest airport.”

42        “What about the other planes?  How many have been hijacked?”

43        “We just don’t have firm information.”  Obviously chaos ruled the day.

44        “I’ll go back to the office, see if anyone has any news, and go home and watch it on TV,” Tim told himself.  Obviously, this would be no ordinary day.  Tim turned the radio off again.  He would think about this himself and try to digest it.  Someone, somewhere, obvious had coordinated an attack on the United States. 

45        His thoughts returned to the 50,000 people who worked in the World Trade Center.  He had studied anthropology college and knew that any one person knows about 150 to 300 other people.  So, he did the math.  Five to 15 million Americans either worked in the World Trade Center or knew someone who did.  Nearly every American would know someone who in turn knew someone who worked there.  “Well, I don’t know anyone in New York,” Tim thought to himself.

46        As he past the forest of the Catahoula District he looked at the trees standing silent witness to today’s events.  “They and the rabbits and the deer have no idea what’s going on,” he thought.  “The Russians could be attacking and they would not care.  Their lives are untouched by this.  Why am I going home?”  He knew way.  He wasn’t going to check on relatives or to hear about friends.  His country was under attack and he wanted to knew who attacked and why.

47        As he pulled into the main office in Pineville, the parking lot stood oddly half empty.  He slipped through the motion sensored gate and park, gathered his gear, and walked back inside the almost haunted building.  As he turned down the hall to his office, it seemed no one was in the building.  The receptionist talked on the phone at the front desk. 

48        He sat down at his desk to make a quick check of his email.  The Forest Supervisor had a short email saying that if anyone wanted to use vacation time to take the remained of the day off “a liberal leave policy is in effect.” 

49        “That’s good,” Tim thought.  “I was planning on going home anyway.  If we are at war, you can send me a letter of reprimand if you want for leaving early, but I’m going home.”

50        Sharon popped her head in the door as Tim looked up.  “You still here?” he asked her.

51        “You’ve heard?”

52        “I had the radio on.  I tried to go to the field, but I’m going home.  It will be on TV.”

53        Sharon paused, “My sister works in the South Tower.”

54        “Oh my god,” Tim thought.  This attack was suddenly personal.  “Have you heard from her?”

55        “No.  The phone lines are jammed.”

56        Tim’s mind flooded with information.  The word of the South Tower’s collapse had come as he drove back to Pineville.  “She should be alright.  They had plenty of time to evacuate.  Anyone with a brain would have left the South Tower as soon as the South Tower got hit.

57        “They told them to stay in the building and to keep working.  She works on the 74th floor.  She said her supervisor said they should not panic and not evacuate.”

58        “I never trust ‘them’,” Tim insisted.  “How did you hear from her?”

59        “She called mom.  She didn’t know what to do.  She was scared.”

60        “Well, surely after the North Tower was hit, she knew she should leave.  She should be ok.”

61        “I hope so.  But I’m scared.  I don’t know what to do.” 

62        Tim drew a deep breath.  He had no experience to draw on.  This was different.  The pause drew out like a snake ready to strike, like a fallen bridge ahead in the road on an interstate highway, like an imaginary monster in the closet.  Finally, Tim broke the silence.  “Well, I’m going to the house and watch what’s happening on TV.  If it goes nuclear . . .”  Tim didn’t care to repeat what he thought. 

63        “Can I go with you?”

64        The thought captured Tim unprepared.  He liked Sharon, but as a coworker.  His mind flashed back to his previous experiences.  He looked into Sharon’s pleading eyes and saw the fright behind her eyelids.  He needed to give her an answer, but this question scared him more than the attacks.  He made an instant decision, “sure.”  He didn’t have time to hesitate and hesitation would have left Sharon hanging at his door.  He would deal with any consequences later.  “For now, we are at war” he thought “until it can be proved otherwise.

28    “我怀疑这件事情，”tim又想了下。“一架满载乘客的客机袭击了世贸中心。那怎么可能会是事故呢？这就像诗飞机袭击白宫。那不是事故。”
29    虽然，新闻报道一直重复着“我们不知道这是一场严重的事故还是恐怖袭击。我们不想妄下结论。我们还未知真相。”
30    在1993年的世贸爆炸事件已经很明显的证明着是一个蓄意的行为。这做建筑作为一个象征树立所以一些人把它当做目标。“这绝对不可能是一场事故”tim考虑认为。但是tim停止了最后的判断。新闻报道正在讨论着烟从世贸大厦滚滚而出。
31    “它将要坍塌”这个念头一下子闪现在tim的脑海中。“如此大的火，它无法再坚持挺立，它将要倒塌了。”tim曾做过建筑工，他知道像这样建筑的基本构架。他之前没有在钢铸与高层建筑方面工作过但是他曾经帮助建筑过五层的办公楼并在建房构架中工作。构架工将混凝土浇注在以金属板建成的钢筋支架上。待混凝土硬化后tim帮忙把金属板从新浇注的楼板下侧给拔出来。这些危险的工作让tim了解很多关于大型建筑的构架的知识。裸露的钢筋会被喷上防火材料。甚至在那时tim已经开始质疑这项技术的明智性。 The fireproofing could easily be scrapped off the steel girders。没有防火的，如果钢筋容易受热，它就开始弯曲变形，在热火中报废。以世贸中心为例，即将撞击的飞机将绝缘层从钢上震脱，喷气燃料燃烧加热钢筋一直到它坍塌。飞机与喷气燃料大概是在世贸中心的建设中未列入工程计算范围内。
32  Tim 关掉了收音机。他想了想打算做的工作。他想去整理植被清单，这些清单是关于他之前去过的沼泽地的猪笼草的。每隔两周他都会到沼泽地采样一些正开花的植物标本。接着他会鉴定每一个物种，并把它加入在他所知道的物种清单中，这样他对kisatchie国家公园知道的植物会日益增加。
34  Tim的思绪又回到了纽约。也许广播有一些新闻。“第二架飞机。”这些话使播音员相信了tim之前已经知道的事实。一架飞机不可能是一次事故。撞向第二个楼的另一架飞机使事实更确信了。这个国家被袭击了。接着传来了第三架飞机要袭击五角大楼的新闻，而且谣言说第四架飞机正被劫持。它将撞向哪里呢？
35  Tim安慰自己，想了想，“好吧，如果我们被袭击甚至有人引爆核弹，在国家公园中心周围地带是最安全的地方。”倘若有巨大的袭击，在路易斯安那州农村的Kisatchie会提供安全。Tim决定继续开车。他穿过winnfield的小镇上，这里的生命很明显都正常的延续着。
36  他先向北方开接着又驶向西方，新闻继续播报这个故事。他们喘息着，“北楼的顶端已经倒了。”Tim想到了被困在里面的人群。有五万人在这两所建筑里上班。即使有五分之四以上的人逃脱，那仍然有一万人罹难。这个想法是他战栗。他不认识在那工作的人，不认识在纽约工作的人。
37  他开着车进入林荫深处在那里他将停下来去沼泽地。在几分钟的广播新闻后他想“好吧，我在这里不能为其做任何事情。”于是他从卡车下来取他的野外工具。他将继续他的植物调查并且中午核实下广播，或者就是他想的那样。他走出沼泽地开始观察植物。纽约最大的楼倒塌这个信息一直未从他脑中离开。突然，一阵轰鸣声在头上传来，他立刻向上看两架喷气式歼击机就在树梢的几百英尺高出的上面。“我们处于战争中了”他认为。
美国的一个空军基地就在不远处。有时他们在森林局平原上联系低空飞行，但不经常在这个地区。他们在kisatchie练习投弹。在这里他们投下不能爆炸的炸弹做为练习，不过那要在向南75英里的地方。当他们在那里作业的时候Tim听到机枪的声响。他曾经看到过二战时的老防御工事，在这里士兵们曾经做过实弹训练。美国军队仍然在kisatchie的弗农地区进行战术演练。不过这些飞机飞的异常的低就好像他们正在躲避未见的敌人而且飞的比平常要快。他向卡车走去。
38  新闻的混乱继续着，“我们不能说北楼是否会倒或者仅仅是它的顶端会倒，”一个发言人说。
39  “看起来最上的6层楼毁坏了并落在了街道处，”主持人回答。
40  “我不相信”。
41  “还有一则消息是美国的空中交通暂时停止。所有的飞机都就近停在机场。”
42   “其他的飞机呢？有多少被劫持了？”
43   “我们没有确切的消息。”很明显一整天都是混乱。
44   “我将回办公室，去看看谁有些消息，然后回家看电视。”tim告诉自己。很明显，今天是非同寻常的一天。Tim再次关掉了收音机。他自己仔细的想了想，试着找出结论。一些人，在某个地方，很明显在联合袭击美国。
45  他的思绪又回到了那5万在世贸中心工作的人群上。在大学中他曾经学过人类学知道每一个人都认识其他的150至300个人。所以，他运算了下。有五百万到一千五百万的美国人不是在世贸中心工作就是认识在里面工作的人。几乎每个美国人都知道在那工作的人与或在那工作。“好吧，在纽约不认识一个人，”Tim想。
46  当他走过Catahoula地区的森林时，看到树木静静地见证着今天的事件。“他们还有兔子，鹿不知道将要发生什么，”他想，“俄国人可能会袭击并且他们也不在乎，他们的生活并不会被此影响。为什么我要回家呢？”他知道路。他不打算去向自己的亲戚核实或者是他的朋友。他的国家遭受了袭击，他想知道是谁袭击的，为什么要袭击。
47 当他驶入派恩威尔的办公室时，停车位奇怪的有一半都是空的。他在门前划了下感应器然后把车停下来，取了他的工具，走进了这诡异的楼里。他正要走向大厅去他的办公室，好像这楼里没有人。接待员在前台上讲话。
48  他坐在他的办公桌上，快速的查收他的邮件。林业署长有一个短的邮件询问是否有人要在当时去度假“实际上是一个自由的告假政策”
49  “非常好。”Tim想，“我正打算去回家。如果我们处于战争中，你可以发一封责难信，如果你想早点离开，但是我将要回家。”
50  当Tim抬头看的时候发现莎伦正把头探出门外。“你还在这里？”他问莎伦。
51  “你听说了？”
52   “我打开了收音机。我打算去野外，但现在要回家，它将在电视里播放。”
53  莎伦停了下，“我的妹妹在南楼工作。”
54  “哦，我的天啊，”Tim想。这则消息给了他很大的振动。“你有她的消息吗？”
55  “没有，电话忙音。”
56  “Tim满脑子都是这则消息。”南楼倒塌的消息传来时，他正驶回派恩威尔。“她应该会没事。他们有大量的时间疏散。”任何有意识的人都会在南楼被撞击的时候逃离南楼。
57  “他们告诉要呆在楼里继续工作。她在74层工作。她说她的监管人告诉他们不要惊慌也不要疏散。”
58  “我从来不相信他们，”Tim继续说。“你是如何听到她的消息的？”
59   “她打电话给我的妈妈。她不知道该怎么做。她很害怕。”
60  “好吧，在北楼被袭击的时候，她知道她应该离开。她会没有事的。”
61  “希望如此。但是我很害怕。我不知道做些什么。”
62   Tim深深的吸一口气。他没有处理这方面的经验。这很不同。沉默使气氛像正准备进攻的蛇，像一个州际公路前的落桥，像一个虚幻的魔鬼之手。最后，Tim打破了沉寂。“好吧，我要回家并看电视上播放什么了，如果有核弹……”Tim并不在意重复他的想法。
63  “我能和你一块吗？”
64  这个想法出乎他的意料。他喜欢莎伦，但是作为同事。他的回忆追溯到从前的经历。他看了莎伦恳求的眼神，看出眼神背后的惊恐。他需要给她一个答复，但这个问题比袭击他还要害怕。他立刻做出了决定，“可以。”他没有时间犹豫，犹豫会使莎伦搁在在门前。他要处理后来的任何结果。“现在，我们处于战争中”他想“除非它被证实另有他因。”