【耽美/科幻/中译英】残次品The Defective Chapter 1（后续会推出脆皮鸭文学英语翻译课堂

原作：Priest（晋江）
翻译：楚水凉同人工作室-千字250富豪翻译小组（翻译硕士*4）
Chapter 1
Celestial Calendar 6th March, 270
An urgent summon for interrogation from the Space Union arrived at Silver Fortress, commanding General LIN Jingheng to return immediately to Walter, the Capital Star.
Flagrantly, LIN disobeyed the order.
The next day, the Walter’s Daily addressed furiously to him:

General LIN: Premeditate a Revolt?
By the end of March, the Silver Fortress was completely sealed off, surrounded by a troop made up of five hundred hyper-dimension starships docking outside the artificial atmosphere. Soldiers in the fortress retargeted the missile at their comrades. Both sides seemed to be mired in a stalemate.

Until the night, 26 March, the tension had lasted for about 48 hours.
The captain of guard puts rum and ice on the desk, without making any noise. He then clicks his heels to stand at attention, ready to leave politely. The general, standing next to the window, snaps his fingers to motion for the captain to stay.
He is a tall man, terribly sensible. Just as the rumour says, from head to toe, he seems rigorous like a machine. The “machine” picks up the wineglass, adding a few pieces of ice at random. Around his left ear winds a shadow — a communication connected, the general is talking to someone.

In this era, the communication technology has been very developed so that a phone call could be connected directly to personal terminals. If you want to say something, the brain can send a signal to the receiver of the other side. No words, no eavesdropping. Only through the expression could we judge whether the phone call is a greeting or a curse.

However, the captain, Lode, stood quietly on the side. He could predict nothing, on observing the general.
Contemporary society encourages frankness, openness, and truthfulness but General LIN closes himself in a way of conservatism, which seems quite outdated. The media and political enemies seize this point, and write articles every day to scold him for his calculation and hubris.

A sip of wine turning around his tongue, the wily general ends the call. Casually, he says to Lode: “The Marshal calls. He wants me to make a strategic compromise and return to Walter.”
Lode is shocked.
“A strategic compromise,” LIN quips. Then he smiles, and opens the current news with a wave of hand.
All the major media of Walter fix their eyes upon Silver Fortress.

In the screen, the newly appointed General Secretary Gordon standing in front of the Congress, is making a brief speech, surrounded by a group of journalists: “I am classmates, friends, and relatives with General LIN. Everything I swear, General LIN’s loyalty to Walter is unquestionable! He will never betray Walter! Never betray the alliance! All doubts about his loyalty are malicious slanders!”

On listening to this impassioned speech, LIN crunches an ice cube.
“Jingheng, please spare me one minute if you can see this.” The Secretary General turns to camera lovingly and says with sincerity, “Please stay calm, and be aware that the accusations are vain. Do not let a misunderstanding hurt your loved ones and satisfy the enemies. Come back home. Jingshu and I are waiting for you in Walter. Jingheng, your families are in Walter!”

Then the camera turns to a pale woman in black beside him. She wears no make-up, and her face loses all colour except her eyes and eyebrow, which, however, is frighteningly beautiful.
LIN Jingshu, the twin sister of General LIN, has been married to the most promising man in the Seven Official Galaxies, Secretary General Gordon, for a year.

Surrounded by guards, Mrs. Gordon is like a delicate doll, who says nothing and looks at nothing.
Untouched at all, General LIN turns his head to ask the captain, “How do you like Secretary General?”
Lode replies slowly and cautiously, “He is someone.”
“Hmm, someone indeed. He is fine, but his words always give me goosebumps. He talks as if I have an affair with my brother-in-law.” LIN Jingheng chuckles a bit and says， “Too cheesy.” while switching off the screen and drinking up.

Lode takes over the empty glass and whispers “General, you can ignore such noise. The Silver 10 are fully prepared. We can fight anytime upon your order.”
“Fight, against whom? Do you want a insurrection?” LIN Jingheng glances at him lightly. He asks out of nowhere, “Lode, are you a graduate of the Military Academy No. 1?”

“Yes, sir. I am an honour graduate of the 260th class of Ulan Academy!”
“What do your parents do? Do you have siblings?”
Lode is confused, wondering why the General talks about his family at this killing moment, but he answers rigidly, “My father runs a medical institute and my mother teaches at the Ulan Academy. I have an older brother and a younger sister.”

LIN smiles drily.
Such an immature boy talks about fight at ease. Fight with whom?
Your parents and siblings proud of you?
The Military Academy No. 1, also called Ulan Academy, is so-called the cradle of senior officers. Actually, only a scant number of its graduates are able to enter the Silver Fortress.
The future job arrangement of the Ulan graduates depends on not only their scores but their registered residences. The politicians claim that it is a humane method to ensure that the soldiers won’t be forced to be far from home. It results in that the Silver Fortress, which is located in the Galaxy Ⅰ, can only enroll graduates from the Galaxy Ⅰ, who enjoy high social status and whose parents are always wealthy merchants, intellectuals, even officials or politicians.

For this reason, the political circle in Silver Fortress is quite complicated. The troops can be generally divided into two parties, one of which is the Silver 10, a troop under General LIN’s direct control with its total number accounting for one tenth of all the soldiers in the Fortress.
 As the trusted follower of General LIN, Silver 10 has hunted down and killed the Star Pirates with LIN. But the team is also as notorious as its commander. They are labelled as an infamous hooligan gang because they frequently cause scandals that would shock the universe. It is thought that fights between Silver 10 and the Star Pirates are actually the so-called “fight fire with fire”.

The rest officers and soldiers are dignitaries from Ulan Academy. The complex connections behind each of them form an intricate net that binds their loyalty and ensures the absolute safety of Silver Fortress.
“Prepare a suit for me and send letters to the outposts along the way to inform them of the itinerary. I will leave for Walter tomorrow.” LIN motions and orders the captain of guard.

It jolts Lode, “Sir…”
“Marshal ordered me to make a strategic compromise. Do I have another choice? All the soldiers and officers in Silver Fortress,” LIN pauses, looking through the window — thousands of spaceships target at the hyper-dimension troop outside the artificial atmosphere. They gleam coldly like a school of silverfish. The silver light reflects in LIN’s grey eyes.

“Disarm.”
He takes off gloves and puts them aside casually.
To be continued