Chapter 7

Chapter 7. A mile away in Copley Square, Irina Spasky — code name Team Five — was worrying about her poison. She had loaded her fingernail injectors with the usual mixture, but she feared it would not be enough for this meeting. Back in the Cold War, she and her KGB colleagues used poison-injecting umbrellas, or spray painted toxins on toilet seats. Those were the good old days! Now Irina worked by herself, so she had to keep things simple. The needles extended when she bent back her fingers at the first joint. They were almost impossible to see and caused only a tiny pinprick sensation. The poison would leave her victims very sick, perhaps paralyzed, for many days — enough to give Irina a good head start in the search. Best of all, the

第七章。在一英里外的科普利广场，代号为五队的伊琳娜·斯帕斯基正在担心她的毒药。 她在指甲注射器里装上了常用的混合物，但她担心这对这次会议来说还不够。 在冷战时期，她和她的克格勃同事们使用注射毒伞，或者在马桶座圈上喷洒毒素。 那是美好的旧时光！现在伊琳娜独自工作，所以她必须保持简单。 当她在第一个关节处弯曲手指时，针就伸了出来。 它们几乎看不见，只会引起轻微的针刺感。 这种毒药会让她的受害者病得很重，也许会瘫痪好几天——这足以让伊琳娜在搜寻中有一个良好的开端。 最棒的是

poison was completely untraceable and had no antidote. Unfortunately, it was slow-acting. Her victims might not show symptoms for eight hours or more. If she needed to incapacitate her enemies quickly, she would have to rely on other means. Ian and Natalie Kabra were not to be underestimated. Back when they were ten and seven, perhaps Irina could've overpowered them. Now they were fourteen and eleven … a very different story indeed. She wandered Copley Square, waiting to spot them. They had agreed on standard antisurveillance tactics, only setting a general area and time for their rendezvous. The storm clouds had cleared. It was a beautiful summer afternoon, which Irina hated. All this sunshine and flowers and children playing — bah. She preferred a steel-gray winter in St. Petersburg, a much better climate for espionage. She bought a coffee from a street kiosk, then spotted Ian and Natalie across the plaza, walking in front of Trinity Church. Their eyes met hers briefly and they kept walking.

毒药完全无法追踪，也没有解药。 不幸的是，行动缓慢。 她的受害者可能在八小时或更长时间内都不会出现症状。 如果她需要迅速使她的敌人丧失行动能力，她将不得不依靠其他手段。 伊恩和娜塔莉·卡布拉也不容小觑。 在他们10岁和7岁的时候，也许伊琳娜能制服他们。 现在他们一个14岁，一个11岁……真是一个完全不同的故事。 她在科普利广场徘徊，等着发现他们。 他们就标准的反监视策略达成了一致，只是设定了一个大致的地点和会面时间。 乌云散去了。 这是一个美丽的夏日午后，伊琳娜讨厌这个午后。 阳光明媚，鲜花盛开，孩子们嬉闹。 她更喜欢圣路易斯市灰蒙蒙的冬天。 在彼得堡，间谍活动的环境要好得多。 她在街边的小卖部买了一杯咖啡，然后在广场对面的三一教堂前看到了伊恩和娜塔莉。 他们的目光与她短暂地接触了一下，然后继续往前走。

Irina's move. She followed them at a distance, checking to see if they had grown a "tail" — any surveillance, any followers, any possible angles for photographers. After fifteen minutes, she saw nothing. She waited for them to turn and see her. As soon as they did, Irina turned and walked off. The game reversed. She led them across the plaza, toward the library, knowing they would be watching for tails on her. If they saw anything, Ian and Natalie would disappear. The meeting would be aborted. After fifteen minutes, Irina changed course and noticed the Kabras across Boylston Street, still shadowing her. This meant she was clean. No surveillance. The children turned toward the Copley Plaza Hotel, and Irina followed. They met in the busy lobby, where neither party could ambush the other. Natalie and Ian looked much too relaxed, sitting across from each other on overstuffed sofas. The little brats had changed out of their funeral suits — Ian wore a sky-blue polo shirt, beige trousers, and tasseled loafers; Natalie wore a white linen dress that showed off her coffee skin. Their

伊丽娜的举动。她在远处跟着他们，检查他们是否长出了“尾巴”——是否有监视，是否有追随者，是否有可能成为摄影师的角度。 十五分钟后，她什么也没看见。 她等着他们转过身来看她。 他们一走，伊琳娜就转身走开了。 游戏反过来了。她领着他们穿过广场，向图书馆走去，知道他们会注意她的行踪。 如果他们看到什么，伊恩和娜塔莉就会消失。 会议将被取消。 十五分钟后，伊琳娜改变了路线，注意到布伊尔斯顿街对面的卡布拉一家仍然尾随着她。 这意味着她是干净的。没有监控。 孩子们转身向科普利广场酒店走去，伊琳娜紧随其后。 他们在熙熙攘攘的大厅里会面，在那里双方都无法伏击对方。 娜塔莉和伊恩看起来太放松了，他们面对面地坐在厚厚的沙发上。 孩子们已经换掉了丧服——伊恩穿了一件天蓝色的polo衫，米色的裤子和一双流苏乐福鞋；娜塔莉穿了一件白色亚麻裙，露出了她的咖啡皮肤。 他们的

eyes glittered like amber. They were so lovely they made heads turn, which was not a good thing for a secret meeting. "You attract too much attention," Irina scolded. "You should be uglier." Natalie laughed. "Is that what keeps you alive, dear cousin?" Irina wanted to scratch the young whelp's face with her poison fingernails, but she kept her cool. "Insult me as you will. It gets us nowhere." "True," Ian said. "We have a mutual problem. Please, sit." Irina considered. She would have to sit next to either Ian or Natalie, and neither was safe. She chose the young girl. Perhaps she would be easier to overwhelm if it came to that. Natalie smiled and made room for her on the sofa. "Have you considered our proposal?" Ian asked. Irina had thought of nothing else since the text message came two hours ago on her cell phone, encrypted in an algorithmic code used only by the Lucians. She nodded. "You have come to the same

眼睛像琥珀一样闪闪发光。 他们是如此可爱，以至于让人回头，这对秘密会议来说不是一件好事。 “你太引人注目了，”伊琳娜责备道。 “你应该更丑一点。”娜塔莉笑了。 “这就是你活下来的原因吗，亲爱的表妹？”伊琳娜想用她有毒的指甲挠一下小狗崽的脸，但她保持冷静。 “随你怎么侮辱我。这对我们没有任何帮助。” “没错，”伊恩说。“我们有一个共同的问题。 请坐下。”Irina考虑。 她必须坐在伊恩或娜塔莉旁边，而这两个人都不安全。 她选择了那个年轻的女孩。也许到了那个地步，她会更容易被征服。 娜塔莉笑了笑，在沙发上给她腾出了地方。 “你考虑过我们的建议了吗？”伊恩问道。 两小时前，伊琳娜的手机收到了这条短信，用一种只有卢西亚人使用的算法密码加密。 她点了点头。“你走到了同样的路

conclusion as I. The second clue is not in Boston." "Exactly," Ian said. "We've told our parents to charter us a private jet. We'll be off within the hour." Chartering a private jet, Irina thought resentfully. She knew the Kabras' parents from the old days. They were internationally known art collectors. Once they had been dangerous people, important people within the Lucian branch. Now they were retired in London and did nothing but dote upon their children. They let Ian and Natalie do all the traveling, writing them blank checks as needed. What did these brats care about the thirty-nine clues? This was just another adventure to them. Irina had her own reasons for hunting the treasure — much more personal reasons. The Kabras were too rich, too smart, too proud. Someday, Irina would change that. "So," Irina said, "where will you go?" Ian sat forward and laced his hands. He didn't look fourteen years old. When he smiled, he looked evil enough to be an adult. "You know it's about Benjamin Franklin."

第二条线索不在波士顿。” “没错，”伊恩说。“我们已经让父母给我们包租了一架私人飞机。 我们一小时之内就出发。” 包租了一架私人飞机，伊琳娜愤愤地想。 她很久以前就认识卡布拉的父母了。 他们是国际知名的艺术收藏家。 他们曾经是卢西恩分部的危险人物，重要人物。 现在他们在伦敦退休了，除了溺爱孩子之外，什么也不做。 他们让伊恩和娜塔莉做所有的旅行，必要时给他们开空白支票。 这些小兔崽子怎么会在乎那三十九条线索？ 这对他们来说只是另一次冒险。 伊琳娜寻找宝藏有她自己的原因——更私人的原因。 卡布拉家族太有钱，太聪明，太骄傲。 总有一天，伊琳娜会改变这一切。 “那么，”伊琳娜说，“你要去哪里？”伊恩向前坐着，双手合十。 他看上去不像十四岁。 当他笑的时候，他看起来很邪恶，像个成年人。 “你知道这是关于本杰明·富兰克林的。”

"Yes." "Then you know where we're going, and you know what we're after." "You also know," Natalie purred, "that we can't allow the secret to fall into anyone else's hands. As Lucians, we should work together. You should set the trap." Irina's eye twitched, the way it did when she was nervous. She hated that it did this, but she could not stop it. "You could set the trap yourselves," she said. Natalie shook her head. "They would suspect us. You, on the other hand, can lure them to their doom." Irina hesitated, trying to see a flaw in the plan. "What is in this for me?" "They're our biggest threat," Ian pointed out. "They may not realize it yet, but they will in time. We have to eliminate them quickly. It'll benefit all of us. Besides, you'll have the Lucian stronghold at your disposal. Afterwards, there will be time to fight each other. Now, we must destroy our competition." "And the Madrigals?" Irina asked.

“是的。”“那你就知道我们要去哪里，知道我们要找什么了。” “你也知道，”娜塔莉咕噜着，“我们不能让这个秘密落入任何人的手中。 作为卢西亚人，我们应该齐心协力。 你应该设下陷阱。”伊琳娜的眼睛抽动了一下，就像她紧张的时候那样。 她讨厌它这样做，但她无法阻止它。 “你们可以自己设陷阱，”她说。 娜塔莉摇了摇头。“他们会怀疑我们。 另一方面，你可以引诱他们走向灭亡。” 伊琳娜犹豫了一下，试图找出计划中的漏洞。 “这对我有什么好处？”“他们是我们最大的威胁，”伊恩指出。 “他们可能还没有意识到这一点，但迟早会意识到的。 我们必须迅速消灭他们。 这对我们大家都有好处。再说了，卢西恩的据点任你支配。 之后，就会有时间互相争斗。 现在，我们必须摧毁我们的竞争对手。” “那牧歌呢？”伊丽娜问道。