2-12

 

12.

The Rover had an alternative name, because everything in the Army needed an alternative name.

Kill TV.

As in:

Whatcha doing?

Just watching a bit of Kill TV.

The name was meant to be ironic¹, I figured. Or else it was just blatantly² fake advertising³.

Because the only thing getting killed was time.

You watched an abandoned compound thought to have been used by the Taliban.

Nothing happened.

You watched a tunnel system suspected to have been used by the Taliban.

Nothing happened.

You watched a sand dune⁴. And another sand dune.

If there’s anything duller than watching paint dry, it’s watching desert…desert. I wonderedhow Baxter hadn’t gone mad.

So I asked him.

He said that after hours of nothing, there’d be something. The trick was staying alert for that.

If Kill TV was dull, Kill Radio was mad. All the handsets along the desk gave off a constantbabble, in a dozen accents, British, American, Dutch, French, to say nothing of the variouspersonalities.

I began trying to match the accents with the call signs. American pilots were Dude. Dutchpilots were Rammit. French were Mirage⁵, or Rage. Brits were Vapor⁶.

Apache helicopters were called Ugly.

My personal call sign was Widow Six Seven.

Baxter told me to grab a handset, say hello. Introduce yourself. When I did, the voices allperked up, turned their attention to me. They were like baby birds demanding to be fed. Their foodwas information.

Who are you? What’s happening down there? Where am I going?

Besides information, the thing they wanted most often was permission. To enter my air spaceor to leave it. Rules forbade pilots to pass overhead without assurance that it was safe, that a battlewasn’t raging, that Dwyer wasn’t blasting away its heavy guns. In other words, was it a hot ROZ(restricted operating zone)? Or cold? Everything about the war revolved⁷ around this binaryquestion. Hostilities⁸, weather, water, food—hot or cold?

I liked this role, keeper of the ROZ. I liked the idea of working closely with top guns, beingthe eyes and ears for such highly skilled men and women, their last link to terra firma, their alphaand omega. I was…Earth.

Their need for me, their dependency, created instant bonds. Strange emotions flowed, weirdintimacies took shape.

Hey there, Widow Six Seven.

Hey, Dude.

How’s your day?

Quiet so far, Dude.

We were mates instantly. Comrades. You could feel it.

After they checked in with me, I’d hand them over to the FAC in Garmsir, a little river townnearby.

Thanks, Widow Six Seven. Goodnight.

Roger, Dude. Stay safe.

 

1 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

2 blatantly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• Safety guidelines had been blatantly ignored. 安全规章被公然置之不顾。
• They walked grandly through the lobby, blatantly arm in arm, pretending they were not defeated. 他们大大方方地穿过门厅，故意炫耀地挎着胳膊，假装他们没有被打败。

3 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

4 dune   

n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘

参考例句：

• The sand massed to form a dune.沙积集起来成了沙丘。
• Cute Jim sat on the dune eating a prune in June.可爱的吉姆在六月天坐在沙丘上吃着话梅。

5 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

6 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

7 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。