Hilde had spent the whole afternoon filming the coastline. She wanted a short video of the white cliffs at sunset. Her small gray drone had been flying beautifully for an hour. The light was golden, and the sea was calm. She was watching the screen so closely that she forgot to check anything else.
希尔德花了整整一个下午拍摄海岸线。她想拍一段日落时白色悬崖的短视频。她那架灰色的小无人机已经飞得很漂亮，一个小时了。光线金灿灿的，大海平静。她盯着屏幕盯得太专注，忘了检查别的东西。
At twenty to seven, a warning flashed: "Low battery. Land now." It was far too late. The wind had pushed the drone out over the water, and the battery was already almost empty. Hilde tried to bring it back, but it dropped like a stone. On the screen, she saw rock and grass, and then the picture went black.
六点四十分，屏幕上闪出一条警告：“电量低。请立即降落。”这已经太晚了。风把无人机吹到了海面上空，电池几乎已经耗尽。希尔德想把它召回来，可它像块石头一样掉了下去。屏幕上，她看到岩石和草地，然后画面一片漆黑。
She walked to the edge of the cliff and lay down on her stomach to look over. Twelve meters below, on a narrow ledge, the drone sat between two stones. Its red light was still blinking. It was not damaged, as far as she could tell. It was just completely out of reach.
她走到悬崖边，趴在地上探身往下看。十二米下面，一块狭窄的岩架上，无人机卡在两块石头之间。它的红灯还在闪。就她所能看出的，它没有损坏，只是完全够不着。
Hilde sat back on the grass and thought about her options. She could try to climb down. A steep path of loose stones led toward the ledge, and she had climbed worse paths before. But she was alone, it was getting dark, and the sea was a long way below. Or she could leave the drone where it was and forget about it. That meant losing three hours of footage and an expensive machine.
希尔德坐回草地上，想着自己有哪些办法。她可以试着爬下去。有一条布满碎石的陡路通向岩架，更难走的路她也走过。可是她独自一人，天快黑了，大海就在很深的下方。或者，她可以把无人机留在原地，不再去想它。那就意味着损失三个小时的素材和一台昂贵的机器。
She looked at the path again. Her mind kept saying, "Just ten minutes." Then she remembered a sign at the car park, with a phone number and the words "Cliff problems? Call the rangers." A drone could be replaced. Her own ankle could not.
她又看了看那条小路。她的心里一直在说：“就十分钟。”然后她想起停车场有一块牌子，上面有一个电话号码，还写着：“遇到悬崖险情？请致电护林员。”无人机可以再买，她自己的脚踝却不能。
The decision was easier than she expected. She stood up, stepped well away from the edge, and called the number. A ranger answered after three rings. She described the ledge, the wind and the time. "Please don't climb," he said at once. "We have ropes for this. The light is bad tonight, so we will come first thing in the morning."
这个决定比她想象的容易。她站起身，远远离开悬崖边，拨通了那个号码。响了三声，一位护林员接了电话。她讲了岩架、风和时间。“请千万别爬，”他立刻说，“我们有绳索，专门应付这种情况。今晚光线不好，我们明天一早就来。”
At eight the next day, two rangers in orange jackets arrived with ropes and helmets. One of them walked backward over the edge, calm and slow. Ten minutes later, he was back on top with the drone in a bag.
第二天早上八点，两名穿橙色外套的护林员带着绳索和头盔来了。其中一个人背朝外，沉稳而缓慢地翻过了崖边。十分钟后，他回到了上面，无人机装在一个袋子里。
"Good as new," he said, handing it to her.
“跟新的一样。”他把它递给她，说道。
"Thank you," Hilde said. "Next time, I will check the battery first."
“谢谢你，”希尔德说，“下次我会先检查电池。”
"And next time," the ranger said with a smile, "you can put our number in your phone."
“还有下次，”护林员笑着说，“你可以把我们的号码存进手机里。”
