Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Irina Spasky sat on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The roofline of the famous building surged forward, mimicking the dancing waves of the harbor. The sun was a golden disc in a sky as blue as a Fabergé egg. Tourists and locals walked by, contented people enjoying a lovely day in a beautiful city. You are all doomed, she thought. If she were to stop these people and ask Where are you from? —although of course she would never be so friendly—the answers would be easy. Sydney, Tokyo, Manila, Los Angeles. Tourists from so many cities and small towns in so many countries. Sometimes their countries got along, and sometimes their countries did not, and that was why there were governments and diplomats and, occasionally, wars. That's the way the world worked. They thought. But where did the real power lie? In the

第五章伊琳娜·斯帕斯基坐在悉尼歌剧院的台阶上。 那座著名建筑的屋顶轮廓向前凸出，仿佛海港里舞动的波浪。 太阳是一个金色的圆盘，天空蓝得像一个蚕豆蛋。 游客和当地人走过，心满意足的人们在这座美丽的城市里享受着美好的一天。 你们都完蛋了，她想。 如果她拦住这些人，问他们你们从哪里来？ ——虽然她当然不会这么友好——答案很简单。 悉尼，东京，马尼拉，洛杉矶。 来自许多国家的许多城市和小镇的游客。 他们的国家有时和睦相处，有时则不然，这就是为什么会有政府和外交官，偶尔还会有战争。 世界就是这样运转的。 他们的想法。但真正的权力在哪里？ 在

shadows. In the shadows, there were no borders. Everything dissolved into gray. For a Cahill, countries and boundaries were meaningless. Only branches mattered. One branch could rule the world. Blin! Irina had come to grudgingly admit that Grace had done it after all. She had contrived a way to find the 39 Clues. A hunt that had been going on for hundreds of years, but at last it would be over. Irina had little doubt of it now. She felt it in her Russian bones. Then what? Irina had always believed with every cell in her body that the Lucians were best equipped to win. She had believed in Vikram Kabra once. But the years had corrupted that bright young man she'd known at Oxford. He had met the beautiful Isabel and married her. Once upon a time, if those two walked into a room, it seemed to shine and spin with their particular dazzle. Irina remembered days and nights of falling under their spell— Vikram's warm voice, his keen intelligence, Isabel's shrewdness and humor.

阴影。在阴影中，没有边界。 一切都消失在灰色之中。 对于卡希尔家族的人来说，国家和边界毫无意义。 只有树枝重要。一个分支可以统治世界。 俄式薄煎饼!伊琳娜不得不勉强承认，这终究是格雷斯干的。 她想出了一个找到39条线索的方法。 一场持续了数百年的狩猎，但终于要结束了。 伊琳娜现在已经毫不怀疑了。 她从自己的俄罗斯骨子里感受到了这一点。 然后呢?伊琳娜一直坚信，卢西亚人是最有能力取胜的。 她曾经相信过维克拉姆·卡布拉。 但是岁月腐蚀了她在牛津认识的那个聪明的年轻人。 他遇到了美丽的伊莎贝尔，并娶了她。 曾几何时，如果这两个人走进一个房间，它似乎闪耀着他们独特的光芒。 伊琳娜记得自己日日夜夜都被他们迷住了——维克拉姆温暖的声音，敏锐的智慧，伊莎贝尔的精明和幽默。

Once upon a time… yes, every fairy tale began that way. When she'd met them, she'd already been a KGB agent for two years. She'd joined the KGB at sixteen— their youngest operative— and had been trained and educated to become an exchange student at Oxford. She had met Vikram, and they'd become friends almost immediately. Irina hadn't known it, but she was a Cahill. She had been recruited by the KGB because she was a Cahill. Her superior had also been a Lucian, and she had been sent to Oxford, where Vikram had been waiting. It had been Vikram who had shown her the Cahill world, told her about the Lucians. She had continued in the KGB, but as the years went on, she did more and more jobs for Isabel and Vikram as they ascended the ranks of the Lucian elite. She had believed in them. She had believed in their ruthlessness. She'd believed in her own. It was necessary. The Lucians must win at any cost. And then just a few days ago, she'd almost killed two people who got in her way.

很久很久以前，是的，每个童话故事都是这样开始的。 当她见到他们时，她已经是克格勃特工两年了。 她在16岁时加入了克格勃——他们最年轻的特工——并接受了培训和教育，成为牛津大学的交换生。 她遇到了维克拉姆，他们几乎立刻就成了朋友。 艾瑞娜不知道，她是卡荷尔家的人。 她被克格勃招募是因为她是卡荷尔家族的人。 她的上司也是卢西恩人，她被送到牛津，维克拉姆一直在那里等着。 是维克拉姆带她看了卡希尔的世界，给她讲了卢西亚人的故事。 她继续在克格勃工作，但随着时间的推移，她为伊莎贝尔和维克拉姆做了越来越多的工作，因为他们在卢西恩的精英阶层中步步高升。 她相信他们。她相信他们是冷酷无情的。 她相信她自己。 这是必要的。卢西亚人必须不惜一切代价取胜。 就在几天前，她差点杀了两个挡道的人。

Amy and Dan Cahill. Children. What had become of her? Irina put a finger on her twitching eye, but it would not stop jumping. Irina stared at the bright, pretty world. She was not used to having doubts. They made a person feel so… unmoored. Right now she had a job. Amy and Dan were in Sydney. Isabel herself had gone with the Lucian team to tail them from the airport. It had been years since Isabel had acted as an agent, and it was typical of her to jump in and risk the careful planning. Her ego came into play, as it always did. She wanted to prove that she was still an expert at disguise. So she'd pretended to be an elderly woman, and then, just for fun, she'd stolen Amy's jade necklace. Which meant she had to leave the bus, which meant that now Irina had a problem. She had no idea where Dan and Amy were staying, and Isabel snapping Find them! in her face wasn't helping. What was Isabel up to? The fact that she'd actually left her mansion in London to fly all the

艾米和丹·卡希尔。的孩子。 她后来怎么样了？伊琳娜用一根手指放在她抽搐的眼睛上，但它还是跳个不停。 伊琳娜凝视着这个明亮美丽的世界。 她不习惯怀疑。 它们让人感觉如此……飘泊。 现在她有一份工作。艾米和丹在悉尼。 伊莎贝尔本人和卢西恩的团队一起去机场跟踪他们。 伊莎贝尔已经好几年没有做过特工了，她总是贸然行动，冒险进行周密的计划。 她的自负开始发挥作用，一如既往。 她想证明自己仍然是伪装的专家。 所以她假扮成一个老妇人，然后，为了好玩，她偷了艾米的玉项链。 这就意味着她必须下车，也就意味着伊琳娜现在有麻烦了。 她不知道丹和艾米住在哪里，伊莎贝尔说找到他们！她脸上的表情没有帮助。 伊莎贝尔想干什么？事实上她离开了伦敦的豪宅飞了那么久

way here was troubling. Isabel and Vikram liked to control things from afar. Isabel claimed that jet lag gave her wrinkles. Not that you have to worry about such things, she'd told Irina with a laugh. Obviously, you don't care about your appearance. This was true, but it was still insulting. Once, Irina had been attractive. Some had called her beautiful. One person in particular. Irina's eye twitched. That was long ago. So much had gone wrong in Russia. Amy and Dan, she was sure, had found the Clue. She'd been certain that they were being helped, but still…. What they were able to accomplish on their own… Dan on that motorcycle! Amy driving a car! Irina quirked her lips, but she didn't allow the smile to escape. She rose to her feet. Enough. She had a duty to do. If only the memories would stop! A little boy walked by between his parents, clutching a stuffed animal, something gray… a monkey? No, a puppy. It was only a puppy. Irina felt the nerve in her eye shiver, and she

这里的路很麻烦。伊莎贝尔和维克拉姆喜欢从远处控制事情。 伊莎贝尔说时差让她长了皱纹。 “你不必担心这些事情，”她笑着对伊琳娜说。 很明显，你不在乎自己的外表。 这是真的，但这仍然是一种侮辱。 曾经，伊琳娜很迷人。 有人说她很漂亮。 尤其是一个人。伊琳娜的眼睛抽动了一下。 那是很久以前的事了。俄国出了这么多问题。 她确信艾米和丹已经找到了线索。 她确信他们得到了帮助，但仍然.... 他们凭一己之力完成的…丹骑那辆摩托车！艾米在开车！伊琳娜扭了扭嘴唇，但她没有让笑容消失。 她站了起来。足够了。 她有责任去做。要是这些记忆停止就好了！一个小男孩从他父母中间走过，手里抓着一个毛绒玩具，一个灰色的东西……一只猴子？ 不，是一只小狗。那只是一只小狗。 伊琳娜觉得她眼睛里的神经在颤抖，她

reached up a hand to still it. A group of young people thought she was waving to them, and they waved back. Scowling, she jammed her black sunglasses on. How she hated Australia! It was such a cheerful country.

伸出一只手让它停下来。 一群年轻人以为她在向他们招手，他们也向她招手。 她皱着眉头，戴上了黑色太阳镜。 她多么讨厌澳大利亚啊！这是一个令人愉快的国家。