第27部分(第4/7 頁)

orthole　when　the　inter　clicked　and　he　heard　Barnes　say；　〃Now　hear　this；　all　hands　to　munications。　All　hands　to　munications。　Dr。　Adams　has　broken　the　code。〃

Harry　wouldn't　tell　them　the　message　right　away。　Relishing　his　triumph；　he　insisted　on　going　through　the　decoding　process；　step　by　step。　First；　he　explained；　he　had　thought　that　the　messages　might　express　some　universal　constant；　or　some　physical　law；　stated　as　a　way　to　open　conversation。　〃But；〃　Harry　said；　〃it　might　also　be　a　graphic　representation　of　some　kind…code　for　a　picture…which　presented　immense　problems。　After　all；　what's　a　picture？　We　make　pictures　on　a　flat　plane；　like　a　piece　of　paper。　We　determine　positions　within　a　picture　by　what　we　call　X　and　Y　axes。　Vertical　and　horizontal。　But　another　intelligence　might　see　images　and　organize　them　very　differently。　It　might　assume　more　than　three　dimensions。　Or　it　might　work　from　the　center　of　the　picture　outward；　for　example。　So　the　code　＇＇181＇＇　might　be　very　tough。　I　didn't　make　much　progress　at　first。〃　Later；　when　he　got　the　same　message　with　gaps　between　number　sequences；　Harry　began　to　suspect　that　the　code　represented　discrete　chunks　of　information…suggesting　words；　not　pictures。　〃Now；　word　codes　fall　into　several　types；　from　simple　to　plex。　There　was　no　way　to　know　immediately　which　method　of　encoding　had　been　used。　But　then　I　had　a　sudden　insight。〃

They　waited；　impatiently；　for　his　insight。

〃Why　use　a　code　at　all？〃　Harry　asked。

〃Why　use　a　code？〃　Norman　said。

〃Sure。　If　you　are　trying　to　municate　with　someone；　you　don't　use　a　code。　Codes　are　ways　of　hiding　munication。　So　perhaps　this　intelligence　thinks　he　is　municating　directly；　but　is　actually　making　some　kind　of　logical　mistake　in　talking　to　us。　He　is　making　a　code　witho