Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 They flew along the coastline, aquamarine water below and stretches of golden sand. Amy's head began to nod, and she fell asleep. No wonder, Dan thought. His sister had tangled with sharks and poison needles, all in one day. That could wear a dude out. After an hour, even a postcard view couldn't keep his attention. Dan got tired of looking for kangaroos out the window. He hadn't been this bored since Amy forced him to babysit her Barbies when he was five. He started to wonder about the Land Down Under. What was it under, exactly? He almost woke Amy up to ask her but decided it wasn't such a great idea. Shep's voice came over a speaker. "There are snacks in the cabinet under the sink." "Dude! You're speaking my language!" But Shep couldn't hear him. Dan got up and foraged.

他们沿着海岸线飞行，下面是碧蓝的海水和一片片金色的沙滩。 艾米的头开始打盹，她睡着了。 难怪，丹想。他的妹妹在一天之内与鲨鱼和毒针纠缠在一起。 那会把人累坏的。 一个小时后，即使是明信片上的景色也无法吸引他的注意力。 丹厌倦了在窗外找袋鼠。 自从他五岁时艾米强迫他照看她的芭比娃娃以来，他还没有这么无聊过。 他开始对澳洲感到好奇。 它到底在什么下面？ 他差点把艾米叫醒问她，但觉得这不是个好主意。 一个扬声器传来了谢普的声音。 “水槽下面的橱柜里有零食。” “伙计!你在说我的语言！”但是谢普听不见。 丹起身去找食物。

By the time Amy woke up, they were flying over red ground, vast and empty, and Dan had struck up a beautiful friendship with Australian snack food. "How long has it been like this?" Amy asked, yawning. Dan was chewing on a potato chip. "Forever. But check this out." He held up a bag of chips. "These are chicken flavored! Is that genius or what? Are you hungry? I've got Tim Tams, Cheezels, Toobs, and Burger Rings. Can you imagine making a snack that tastes like a burger? Australians are our friends. And look, Violet Crumbles— the best chocolate bar in the world!" "Don't spoil your appetite, mate," Nellie called in her Aussie accent. She was now wearing the bush hat Dan had bought in the airport. "We might be stopping for a tick at a chew and spew." "Chew and spew!" Dan laughed and sprayed potato chips. "Love it!" "Try the chew part," Amy said. "Lose the spew." Shep stretched and yawned. "Want to take a break?" Nellie asked. "I can take

当艾米醒来的时候，他们已经飞过一片广袤而空旷的红色大地，丹已经和澳大利亚的零食结下了美好的友谊。 “像这样有多久了？”艾米打着哈欠问道。 丹在嚼薯片。 “永远。但看看这个。” 他举起一袋薯片。 “这些是鸡肉味的！”这是天才还是什么？ 你饿了吗？我有Tim Tams， Cheezels， Toobs和Burger Rings。 你能想象做一种吃起来像汉堡的零食吗？ 澳大利亚人是我们的朋友。 看，紫罗兰碎巧克力——世界上最好的巧克力棒！”“不要破坏你的胃口，伙计，”内莉用她的澳大利亚口音喊道。 她现在戴着丹在机场买的那顶灌木帽。 “我们可能会在咀嚼和呕吐处停下来休息一下。” “咀嚼和吐！”丹笑着喷了些薯片。 “爱!”“试试咀嚼部分，”艾米说。 “别吐了。”谢普伸了伸懒腰，打了个哈欠。 “想休息一下吗？”内莉问道。 “我可以

over for awhile." At Shep's inquisitive look, she said, "I've been flying since I was a teenager." "That wasn't so long ago. I'm not reassured." Nellie grinned. "Trust me. I've got a pilot's license. Five hundred hours. Instrument flying. Night flying." She and Shep started talking about wind shifts, thrusts, and passenger loads. Dan leaned over to Amy. "Did you know Nellie could fly a plane?" Amy shook her head. "I guess it never came up." "Lots of things don't come up with Nellie. Until they do." A flicker of doubt passed between them for a moment, but they shoved it aside. Nellie took over the controls. Shep watched her for awhile, then stepped back into the cabin to talk to them. He leaned against the bulkhead and crossed his arms. "Okay, something doesn't smell right," he said. "Did you know the person in that Hummer? Because it doesn't seem like a coincidence that it

暂时停止。”看到谢普好奇的眼神，她说：“我十几岁的时候就开始飞行了。” “那不是很久以前的事。我不放心。” 内莉咧嘴一笑。“相信我。 我有飞行员执照。 500个小时。仪表飞行。 夜间飞行。”她和谢普开始谈论风向变化、推力和载客量。 丹靠向艾米。“你知道内莉会开飞机吗？”艾米摇了摇头。 “我想它永远不会出现。” “很多事情内莉都想不出来。 直到他们这么做。”他们之间闪过一丝怀疑，但他们把它放在一边。 内莉接管了控制。 谢普看了她一会儿，然后走回小屋和他们说话。 他靠在舱壁上，双臂交叉。 “好吧，有点不对劲，”他说。 “你认识那辆悍马里的人吗？” 因为这看起来不像是巧合

showed up like that." Dan put on a look of innocence. "No?" "Is there something you want to tell me? About what you're really doing in Australia?" "Okay," Dan said. "I guess it's time we told you the truth." Amy gave him a no way look. "Back in Massachusetts, Amy and I broke into our school one night. No biggie, right? Except that our assistant principal, Mortimer C. Murchinson, is an alien. At night he takes off his face and turns into this eleven-foot-tall thing with eight arms…" "…who plays for the Boston Celtics," Shep said with a sigh. "I get it." His gaze was searching as it rested on them. Then he turned and started back to the cockpit. "If you see any stealth bombers coming our way, just give a yell, okay?" "You got it, Captain," Dan answered. Nellie flew the plane for the next hour, then Shep took over for the approach to Coober Pedy. "Where is it?" Dan asked, craning his neck. All he could see for miles and miles was red dirt. The

就这样出现了。”丹装出一副天真无邪的样子。 “没有吗?”“你有什么要告诉我的吗？” 关于你在澳大利亚到底在做什么？”“好吧，”丹说。 “我想是时候告诉你真相了。” 艾米用无可奈何的眼神看了他一眼。 “回到马萨诸塞州，一天晚上，艾米和我闯入学校。 没什么大不了的，对吧？除了我们的副校长莫蒂默·C。 默钦森是个外星人。一到晚上，他就脱下脸，变成了这个11英尺高、有8条胳膊的家伙……”“……他在波士顿凯尔特人队打球，”谢普叹了口气说。 “我明白了。”他的目光落在他们身上，搜寻着。 然后他转身开始返回驾驶舱。 “如果你看到有隐形轰炸机朝我们飞来，就喊一声，好吗？”“你明白了，船长。”丹回答。 内莉在接下来的一个小时里驾驶飞机，然后谢普接管了飞往库伯佩迪的飞机。 “它在哪儿？”丹伸长脖子问。 数英里之外，他所能看到的只有红色的泥土。 的

horizon was curved, as though he could see the edge of the earth. "See those pyramids?" Shep's voice came over the loudspeaker. "They look like little hills of salt," Dan said to Amy. "Those are the slag heaps from opal mining," Shep explained. "We're going to fly right over the opal fields. I reached my mate Jeff this morning. He'll pick us up." The plane eased down on the runway and rolled to a stop. The airfield was even smaller than the one outside Sydney. There were a few outbuildings and a couple of bush planes. They tumbled out and were hit by a wall of heat. Dan's throat felt as dry as the dusty hills. Shep jumped down, looking as fresh as when he'd begun. "Is it always this hot?" Dan asked Shep. "Oh, it's cool today. Only a hundred or so. Let me deal with a bit of paperwork and then I'm guessing Jeff will show up." Shep ambled into the office, emerging just as a dirt-caked four-wheel-drive truck roared down the

地平线是弯曲的，他仿佛可以看到地球的边缘。 “看到那些金字塔了吗？”扩音器里传来了谢普的声音。 “它们看起来像小山一样的盐，”丹对艾米说。 “那些是蛋白石开采的矿渣堆，”谢普解释说。 “我们要飞过蛋白石地。 今天早上我联系上了我的朋友杰夫。 他会来接我们的。”飞机在跑道上缓缓降落，翻滚着停了下来。 这个机场甚至比悉尼郊外的机场还要小。 有一些附属建筑和几架灌木飞机。 他们摔了出来，被一股热墙击中。 丹的喉咙干得像尘土飞扬的山丘。 谢普跳了下来，看起来和刚开始时一样精神抖擞。 “总是这么热吗？”丹问谢普。 “哦，今天真凉爽。只有一百个左右。 让我处理一些文书工作，然后我想杰夫会来的。” 谢普慢悠悠地走进办公室，一辆脏兮兮的四轮驱动卡车呼啸而过

road to the airfield. A tall, slim man wearing the usual khaki shorts jumped out. "They let you land in that shonky orange crate?" he shouted in an Australian accent. "Next time, I'll land it on your head," Shep answered. "It's big enough." They clapped each other on the shoulders. Shep turned to them. "Let me introduce you to my long-lost cousins," he said. "Amy, Dan, and their au pair, Nellie Gomez. This is Jeff Chandler, best tour guide in the Red Centre." "Mates of Shep's are mates of mine," Jeff said. "What brings you to Coober Pedy? A little noodling?" "We just had lunch," Amy said politely. She fanned away an enormous black fly. "But thank you." He laughed. "No, noodling's what we call searching for opals in the slag heaps. Lots of tourists love it. Odds aren't good you'll come up with a valuable stone, but there's always a chance, isn't there?"

通往机场的路。一个身材修长、穿着卡其色短裤的男人跳了出来。 “他们让你降落在那个破旧的橙色板条箱里？”他用澳大利亚口音喊道。 “下次，我会把它落在你的头上，”谢普回答。 “它足够大了。”他们互相拍了拍肩膀。 谢普转向他们。“让我把你介绍给我失散多年的表亲们，”他说。 "艾米，丹，还有他们的保姆，内莉·戈麦斯。 这是杰夫·钱德勒，红色中心最好的导游。” “谢普的朋友就是我的朋友，”杰夫说。 “什么风把你吹到库伯佩迪来了？” 要不要摸一下？”“我们刚吃过午饭，”艾米礼貌地说。 她扇开了一只巨大的黑苍蝇。 “不过还是谢谢你。”他笑了。 “不，我们把在矿渣堆里找蛋白石叫做摸。 很多游客都喜欢它。你找到一颗有价值的宝石的几率不大，但总有机会，不是吗？”