Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 The man in black hated airports. So much waiting, so much security. He looked up. His surveillance had indicated enemy arrival at any minute. But flights were crowded today. Schedules would be disrupted, landings postponed. They could be circling for a long time. Or, heaven forbid, sent to another airport. But Lucians had a way of sneaking up on you, and the man in black was nothing if not patient. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone approaching the circular landing pad. An airline employee. He lowered the magnification lens over his sunglasses and waited for a clear frontal view of the face. There. Using the high-res telephoto cam in his

第二十二章黑衣人讨厌机场。 那么多的等待，那么多的安保。 他抬起头来。他的监视显示敌人随时会来。 但是今天的航班很拥挤。 计划将被打乱，着陆将被推迟。 他们可能会盘旋很长时间。 或者，但愿不会，被送到另一个机场。 但卢西亚人总有办法偷偷接近你，而那个黑衣人非常有耐心。 他用眼角的余光看到有人在向圆形的着陆平台靠近。 航空公司雇员。他把太阳眼镜上的放大镜放低，等着看清脸的正面。 在那里。用他的高分辨率长焦摄像头

glasses frame, he captured the image, uploading it to his portable surveillance device. He waited .7 seconds for a facial recognition check against the master database. He was a Lucian operative. A Fixer, no doubt. Very well paid these days, as it had become so difficult to infiltrate airlines. The man in black smiled. The two men were waiting for the same arrival. But for very different reasons. A distant familiar noise cut through the airspace above. The Lucian lackey looked up, his face a rigid mask of efficiency. As the man in black began to move forward, a large silk handkerchief came down from behind, in front of his face. His hand darted upward, catching the scarf before it could make contact with his neck. Hermès. Silk. Whirling around like a skater, the man in black lifted the scarf, and with it, the arms of his attacker. He brought the scarf down around the neck of

戴着眼镜，他拍下了图像，上传到他的便携式监控设备上。 他等待了0.7秒的面部识别与主数据库的比对。 他是卢西恩的特工。 一个调停者，毫无疑问。现在薪水很高，因为很难渗透进航空公司。 黑衣人笑了。这两个人在等待同一个人的到来。 但原因却截然不同。 一个遥远而熟悉的声音划破了上方的空域。 卢西恩的仆人抬起头来，他的脸上带着一副严肃而高效的表情。 当那个黑衣人开始往前走的时候，一块大丝巾从他的身后落下来，挡住了他的脸。 他的手向上一跳，在围巾碰到脖子之前抓住了它。 爱马仕。丝绸。那个黑衣人像滑冰者一样旋转着，掀起了围巾，也掀起了攻击者的手臂。 他把围巾绕在脖子上

Alistair Oh. "Arrrgglllchh…" Alistair sputtered. "Alistair," said the man in black, "I would have thought that at your age, with your experience, you would know better than to make such a serious mistake." Dan stood stock-still against the Shaka monument, holding his breath. "Yo, Amy, Dan— Mr. Malusi is looking for you!" came Nellie's panicked voice from the direction of the courtyard-pod door. "Where are you guys?" "I'll take care of this," Amy said to Dan. "I'll go back to the theater and make up some excuse to Mr. Malusi about where you are. Hurry!" She ran to the door. With a soft thump, it shut. Dan made a quick circle around the monument. Where to start? The cactuslike plants were thick and stubbornly hard to move. He yanked the stalks aside as best he could, examining the smooth stone at the base of the monument,

Alistair哦。“阿利斯泰尔气急败坏地说。” “阿利斯泰尔，”黑衣人说，“我本以为以你的年龄，以你的经验，你应该知道不会犯这样严重的错误。” 丹一动不动地站在沙卡纪念碑前，屏住呼吸。 “哟，艾米，丹——马鲁西先生在找你们！”从院子的门那边传来奈莉惊慌失措的声音。 “你们在哪儿？”“我来处理这件事，”艾米对丹说。 “我回剧院去，给马鲁西先生编个借口，告诉他你在哪儿。 快点!”她跑到门口。 砰的一声，门关上了。 丹绕着纪念碑快速地转了一圈。 从哪里开始呢？仙人掌状的植物又厚又硬，很难移动。 他使劲把茎秆扯到一边，仔细观察纪念碑底部光滑的石头，

hoping for some hint. Just under the statue of Shaka, the stone was gouged in about three or four places, as if someone had banged it with blunt instruments. A thick shovel could have done that. It was as good a place as any to start. Dan dug in with the blade. The soil was packed thick, but he hacked away, sending up little explosions of dirt. An assegai may have been a great spear, but it was a terrible shovel. Outside he could hear a commotion, a rumble of voices. He plunged harder, a rhythmic chuck… chuck… chuck… echoing ever louder against the surrounding walls. A voice filtered in from outside, growing closer. "I know he is only a boy—but he is a Tomas boy, and I expect a Tomas sense of responsibility!" Mr. Malusi. CHUCK… CHUCK… CHUCK… Sweat dripped into Dan's eyes. It stung. "Can you show me the women's m-m-martial arts?" Amy was saying.

希望能给点提示。就在沙卡雕像的下面，石头上有三四个地方被凿开了，好像有人用钝器重击过它。 一把厚铲子就能搞定。 这是一个很好的开始。 丹用刀猛砍。 土很厚，但他继续砍，土炸了起来。 阿斯盖也许是一种伟大的长矛，但它是一种可怕的铲子。 他能听到外面一阵骚动，一阵说话声。 他更用力地扑了下去，有节奏的一声，一声，一声，在四周的墙壁上回响得越来越响。 外面传来一个声音，越来越近。 “我知道他只是个孩子——但他是托马斯家的孩子，我希望他有托马斯家的责任感！”Malusi先生。 恰克，恰克，恰克，丹的眼睛里淌着汗。 它刺痛。“你能给我展示一下女子的——————武术吗？”艾米说。

THOCK. Dan stopped and knelt. The arrowhead had hit something solid. He brushed aside loose dirt. This wasn't a root or a rock. It was metal. Dan placed a hand near the assegai blade and steadied the shaft with his other hand, scraping away the dirt until he made out the edges of a square. He dug down the four sides. It seemed like he was cutting through more plant life than soil. The network of roots was so dense it looked like an army of dead snakes. Finally, he shook the thing loose and pulled it out. It was a small metal cube, hinged halfway down and held shut by an ancient, dirt-choked lock. Wiping away the soil, Dan saw the word Shaka carved into the face of the box. He tugged at the lock, but it wouldn't budge. Dan's heart pounded. Churchill's message had said in the ground with Shaka. This had to be it. He stood, scraping the dirt back over the hole. He shoved broken plant shards over the mound,

THOCK。丹停下来跪了下来。 箭头击中了什么固体。 他拂去松散的泥土。 这不是根，也不是石头。 它是金属的。丹把一只手放在阿塞格刀刃附近，用另一只手稳住刀柄，刮去泥土，直到他弄出一个正方形的边缘。 他挖了四个边。 看起来他砍的更多是植物而不是土壤。 树根的网络是如此密集，看起来像一群死蛇。 最后，他把那东西抖松，拉了出来。 那是一个小小的金属立方体，中间有铰链，用一把古老的、沾满污垢的锁锁着。 擦去泥土后，丹看到盒子表面刻着Shaka这个词。 他使劲拉锁，但锁不动。 丹的心怦怦直跳。丘吉尔的口信是跟沙卡在地里说的。 一定是这个。他站起来，把土刮回洞上。 他把破碎的植物碎片推到土堆上，

tamping it all down with his feet. Tossing the assegai into a thicket, he swung his backpack around and opened it. Then he noticed the sharp ridge of the monument's stone base jutting about a half inch from the statue of the hut. If he could bring the lock down on that, hard… Letting his open backpack fall to the ground, he held the box high over his head. He brought it down, but it smacked against the stone, resounding dully in the courtyard. He gritted his teeth and lifted the box again. With a loud grunt, he smashed it downward. The lock smacked against the edge and broke cleanly in two. BWWWOPP! BWWWOPP! BWWWOPP! An alarm sounded. Dan picked up the box and his pack and ran for the door. With a loud clank, it swung open. Mr. Malusi barged in, with Amy and Nellie close behind. "Young man, what on earth are you doing?"

用脚把它踩实。 他把书包扔到灌木丛里，把背包转了个圈，打开了。 然后，他注意到纪念碑的石头底座的尖锐的山脊从小屋的雕像上伸出来大约半英寸。 他把打开的背包掉在地上，把箱子举过头顶。 他把它拿下来，但它撞在石头上，在院子里发出沉闷的声音。 他咬紧牙关，又把箱子提起来。 他哼了一声，把它摔了下去。 锁撞在门边上，啪的一声摔成两截。 BWWWOPP !BWWWOPP !BWWWOPP !警报响了。 丹拿起箱子和背包向门口跑去。 随着一声巨响，门打开了。 马鲁西先生闯了进来，艾米和内莉紧随其后。 “年轻人，你到底在干什么？”