8 Heading home

Chapter Eight HEADING HOME. The farther south they went, the colder the waters became. Connor knew they must be well on their way to Antarctica. After the Beagle had guided the pod of whales south for a while, all at once they suddenly began to swim much faster. A new, excited mood seemed to have come over them. They swam

第八章回家。 他们越往南走，海水就越冷。 康纳知道他们一定已经在去南极洲的路上了。 小猎犬号引导这群鲸向南游了一会儿之后，它们突然游得快多了。 一种新的、激动的情绪似乎笼罩了他们。 他们游

right past the Beagle and kept going. "What's happening? Are the whales okay?" asked Roshni. "They're fine, I think," Connor replied. "They must recognize where they are. They're back on their migration route!" One by one, the whales overtook them. Last of all came the mother whale and the calf they'd rescued, who was swimming right beside her. The mother whale broke away from the others and began swimming up to the surface. Roshni and Connor traded glances. Without saying a word, Connor guided the Beagle after her. He kept the sub a safe distance away. They reached the surface first and looked out over the glittering dark waters. "What's she doing?" Roshni asked.

正好经过小猎犬号，然后继续前进。 “发生了什么?鲸鱼还好吗？”Roshni问道。 “他们很好，我想，”康纳回答。 “他们必须认识到自己在哪里。 它们又回到了迁徙路线上！”鲸鱼一个接一个地赶上了他们。 最后来的是鲸鱼妈妈和他们救出的小鲸，小鲸就在她旁边游来游去。 母鲸脱离了其他鲸群，开始向水面游去。 罗什尼和康纳交换了一下目光。 康纳二话没说，领着小猎犬跟在她后面。 他让潜艇保持安全距离。 他们先浮出水面，望着闪闪发光的黑暗水面。 “她在干什么？”Roshni问道。

"Just watch," Connor whispered. The whale launched herself out of the water. Time seemed to slow down as her enormous body rose, turned and fell. She came crashing down onto her back, sending foam and water up

“看着吧，”康纳低声说。 鲸鱼跃出水面。 时间似乎慢了下来，她巨大的身体起起落落。 她仰面摔了下来，喷出泡沫和水

in a massive burst. The Beagle rocked around crazily. Moments later, the little calf flung itself out of the water, copying what its mother had done. It made a much smaller splash, but Connor and Roshni still clapped and cheered!

在一个巨大的爆炸中。小猎犬疯狂地摇来摇去。 过了一会儿，小象模仿妈妈的动作跃出水面。 溅起的水花要小得多，但康纳和罗什尼仍然鼓掌欢呼！

One by one, the other whales rose, too. They blew jets of spray from their blowholes, then dived back down again. "I think they're saying goodbye," Roshni said. Connor nodded. "Goodbye," he called out to them. "I'll never forget this." The last of the whales vanished below the surf. The flukes that flared out at the end of its huge tail flicked for a moment, like a vast waving hand. Then it was gone. "They'll be okay from here, right?" Roshni asked. "More than okay," Connor replied. "They'll find their way to the Antarctic just fine. They don't need our help anymore." With a soft PING, the "START" button on the Beagle's dashboard lit up. Now it read "HOME." Connor and Roshni breathed a

其他鲸鱼也一个接一个地站了起来。 它们从喷水孔喷出水柱，然后又潜入水中。 “我想他们在说再见，”罗什尼说。 康纳点点头。“再见。”他向他们喊道。 “我永远不会忘记这件事。”最后一头鲸鱼消失在海浪下。 它那巨大的尾巴末端长出的尾巴，像一只巨大的挥动的手，忽而摆动了一会儿。 然后它就消失了。“他们在这里会没事的，对吧？”Roshni问道。 “还好，”康纳回答。 “它们会找到去南极的路的。 他们不再需要我们的帮助了。” 随着一声柔和的PING，小猎犬号仪表盘上的“开始”按钮亮了起来。 现在它变成了“家”。康纳和罗什尼深吸了一口气

sigh of relief. "Mission accomplished," Roshni said. "Let's go!" Connor pushed the button. The Beagle shuddered and trembled, as if it were going through a car wash. The engines behind them gave a deafening roar. Suddenly, like they were being shot from a massive rubber band, the Beagle rushed forward at mindboggling speed. They were whizzing through a tunnel of dazzling white light. Around them, the Beagle's cockpit began to change. The dashboard sank back into the floor, the glass bubble slid backward and vanished, the padded seats deflated like an air bed, all the compartments and equipment folded away like a magic trick, and four

松了一口气。“任务完成了，”罗什尼说。 “我们走吧!”康纳按下了按钮。 小猎犬颤抖着，好像在洗车。 他们身后的发动机发出震耳欲聋的轰鸣声。 突然间，就像被一根巨大的橡皮筋击中一样，小猎犬号以令人难以置信的速度向前冲去。 他们嗖嗖地穿过一条闪着耀眼白光的隧道。 在他们周围，小猎犬号的座舱开始发生变化。 仪表盘又陷进了地板里，玻璃气泡向后滑动消失了，软垫座椅像充气床一样瘪了，所有的隔间和设备都像魔术一样折叠起来，还有四个