7 Rivers of Fire

Chapter 7 RIVERS OF FIRE The two soldiers climbed into the front of the truck. Jack and Annie sat in back. Cruz started the engine. The truck turned onto a back road. Then it sped away from the Giant Tortoise Center. Annie looked at Jack. "We've got this," she said in a low voice. Jack wasn't so sure. He leaned forward. "Sirs, can you explain our part in this mission?" he said. "A small group of giant tortoises live on the southwest side of the Blue Hill volcano. We thought they were safe," said Pinto. "Until yesterday." "What happened yesterday?" asked Jack. "The lava river split into two streams," said Pinto. "One of them is now flowing toward the home ground of the Blue Hill tortoises." Annie nodded. "That's bad," she said.

第七章火海两个士兵爬进卡车的前部。 杰克和安妮坐在后面。 克鲁兹发动了引擎。卡车转到一条小路上。 然后它迅速离开了巨龟中心。 安妮看着杰克。“我们能搞定，”她低声说。 杰克不太确定。他身体前倾。 “先生们，你能解释一下我们在这次任务中的角色吗？”他说。 “一小群巨龟生活在蓝山火山的西南侧。 我们认为他们是安全的，”平托说。 “直到昨天。”“昨天发生了什么事？”杰克问。 “熔岩河分成两条小溪，”平托说。 “其中一条现在正流向蓝山象龟的家园。” 安妮点点头。“那太糟糕了，”她说。

"Yes, but there were earlier airlifts today," said Cruz. "Hopefully, our team has rescued them all." "But there could be stragglers," said Pinto. "And this is the last chance to help them escape," said Cruz. Jack's expert self was very alarmed. "Gentlemen, it's absolutely vital we save every last one," he said. "The tortoises of Blue Hill are extremely rare. Reports say ninety-eight percent of their population has disappeared in the last one hundred eighty years. We can't afford to lose any of them." "Understood," said Pinto. Jack sat back in his seat and took a deep breath. Right now, his fear for the tortoises was greater than any fear of an active volcano. He nodded to Annie. "We've got this," he said. "Read Morgan's rhyme," she whispered. "Why?" asked Jack. As an expert, he'd given little thought to Morgan's rhyme. He hadn't felt they'd needed it. "To make sure we're doing the right thing," said Annie. "We are," said Jack confidently. But just to please Annie, he pulled out the rhyme. As they read it

克鲁兹说：“是的，但是今天早些时候有空运。 “希望我们的团队把他们都救出来了。” “但是可能会有掉队的，”平托说。 克鲁兹说：“这是帮助他们逃跑的最后机会。 杰克的专家身份非常震惊。 “先生们，我们拯救每一个人，这绝对是至关重要的，”他说。 “蓝山的陆龟非常稀有。 有报道称，在过去的180年里，它们98%的人口消失了。 我们不能失去任何一个。” “明白了，”平托说。杰克靠在座位上，深吸了一口气。 现在，他对乌龟的恐惧超过了对活火山的恐惧。 他向安妮点了点头。“我们能做到，”他说。 “读摩根的押韵诗，”她低声说。 “为什么？”杰克问。作为专家，他很少考虑摩根的押韵。 他觉得他们不需要它。 “为了确保我们做的是对的，”安妮说。 “是的，”杰克自信地说。 但为了取悦安妮，他拿出了押韵诗。 当他们读的时候

together, Annie pointed to the third section: But the expert to find, The one to admire, Is the one you must save From a river of fire. "No problem," Jack said in her ear. "Morgan's talking about the giant tortoises. They're obviously the true experts. They're the experts at being giant tortoises. It's all falling into place." "Right. But read this part," said Annie. She pointed to the last section. Jack read to himself: Be honest and gentle. No need to be smart. Just look eye to eye And talk heart to heart. "That's super-important," Annie whispered to Jack. Jack nodded. Those lines were nice. But as an expert, he certainly didn't find them "super-important." He tucked the rhyme back into his pocket.

安妮一起指了指第三部分：但要找到的专家，要崇拜的人，是你必须从火河中救出来的人。 “没问题，”杰克在她耳边说。 “摩根说的是巨龟。 他们显然是真正的专家。 它们是巨龟的专家。 一切都井然有序了。” “正确。但是读这一部分，”安妮说。 她指了指最后一部分。 杰克对自己念道：诚实、温柔。 不需要聪明。只要眼睛对眼睛，心对心说话。 “这非常重要。”安妮小声对杰克说。 杰克点了点头。那些台词很好。 但作为一名专家，他当然不认为它们“超级重要”。 他把押韵诗塞回口袋里。

The truck headed along the road beside the ocean and passed the few shops. Then it bounced over a long sandy road. The road ended at a small airstrip. A military helicopter was waiting. "There's our chopper," said Cruz. "A chopper ride! Wow!" said Annie. "That's our first—" Jack held up his hand to stop her. "That's our favorite way to travel," Annie said, correcting herself. Cruz parked near the runway. "It will get us there quickly. We'll be on the volcano in ten or fifteen minutes." "Good. The sooner the better," said Jack. His expert self was unafraid of taking his first chopper ride. The four of them climbed out of the truck and hurried to the runway. The helicopter's cockpit had four seats. Jack and Annie climbed into the seats behind the two pilots. Cruz handed them helmets, and they strapped them on.

卡车沿着海边的道路行驶，经过了几家商店。 然后它在一条长长的沙路上颠簸着。 这条路的尽头是一条小飞机跑道。 一架军用直升机正在等候。 克鲁兹说：“那是我们的直升机。” “坐直升机！”哇！”安妮说。 “那是我们第一次——”杰克举起手阻止她。 “那是我们最喜欢的旅行方式，”安妮纠正自己说。 克鲁兹把车停在跑道附近。 “它会让我们很快到达那里。 再过十到十五分钟我们就到火山了。” “很好。越快越好。”杰克说。 作为专家的他并不害怕第一次乘坐直升机。 他们四个人从卡车里爬出来，急忙跑到跑道上。 直升机的座舱有四个座位。 杰克和安妮爬到两个飞行员后面的座位上。 克鲁兹递给他们头盔，他们把头盔系上。

"How does this chopper transport tortoises?" Jack asked. "We have crates in the cargo section," said Cruz. A moment later, the blades started to swirl. With a roar, the helicopter lifted off the ground. It rocked from side to side, then headed into the sky. Annie grinned at Jack. "Yikes!" she mouthed. Jack gave her a thumbs-up. The helicopter flew over flat, rocky land dotted with bushes and other plants. Pinto pointed to a distant dome-shaped volcano with sloping sides. "That's it!" he shouted above the roar of the chopper blades. A cloud of steam rose from the top of Blue Hill. Red-hot lava bubbled down the sides. "WHOA!" said Annie. Jack tapped his finger against his mouth, reminding her to act cool. But his heart pounded as the chopper drew closer. The volcanic eruption looked terrifying. Jack could see the two fiery streams that had split from the lava river. Lava was also oozing from cracks in the slope. Patches of grass were catching fire. Smoke filled the air.

“这架直升机是怎么运乌龟的？”杰克问。 克鲁兹说：“我们在货物区有板条箱。 过了一会儿，叶片开始旋转。 随着一声轰鸣，直升机离开了地面。 它左右摇晃，然后飞向天空。 安妮对杰克咧嘴一笑。“哎呀！”她用嘴说。 杰克对她竖起大拇指。 直升机飞过布满灌木和其他植物的平坦多岩石的土地。 平托指着远处一座倾斜的圆顶状火山。 “就是这样！”他喊道，盖过了直升机叶片的轰鸣声。 一团蒸汽从蓝山顶上升起。 炽热的熔岩从两边汩汩而下。 “哇！”安妮说。杰克用手指轻敲嘴巴，提醒她要冷静。 但当直升机靠近时，他的心怦怦直跳。 火山爆发看起来很可怕。 杰克可以看到两条火红的小溪从熔岩河中分裂出来。 熔岩也从斜坡的裂缝中渗出。 一块块草地着火了。 空气中弥漫着烟雾。

The helicopter started to land on a lower part of the volcano. The surface was rough and craggy from ancient lava flows. Through the smoke, Jack saw black rocks of all sizes, tall grass, and thick clumps of bright-yellow and apple-green cactus plants. "Good tortoise food—prickly pear cactus," Jack shouted to Pinto and Cruz. "They like the yellow lava cactus, too," shouted Annie. "It only grows on the volcanoes of the Galápagos." "That's where we should begin our search!" shouted Jack. "Understood," shouted Pinto.

直升飞机开始降落在火山的低处。 由于古老的熔岩流，地表粗糙不平。 透过烟雾，杰克看到了大小不一的黑色岩石、高大的草和一簇簇明黄色和苹果绿的仙人掌。 “不错的乌龟食物——刺梨仙人掌，”杰克对平托和克鲁兹喊道。 “他们也喜欢黄色的熔岩仙人掌，”安妮喊道。 “它只生长在Galápagos的火山上。” “我们应该从那里开始搜索！”杰克喊道。 “明白了。”平托喊道。