Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 "AMY, NELLIE, RUN!" Dan shouted. Mr. Malusi was racing toward him. Dan ran to the assegai, picked it up, and threw it toward one of the glass walls. The spear pierced the network of vines, shattering the wall in a deafening explosion. Dan ran to the wall at full speed, leaping around the plants. He jumped through the hole and out of the pod. The vast central room, with its winding pathways between pods, was in chaos. "STOP HIM!" Mr. Malusi's voice bellowed. From the left. Dan's eyes scanned the area, and he sprinted right, clutching his backpack. Amy and Nellie

第二十三章“艾米，内莉，快跑！”丹喊道。 马鲁西向他跑过来。 丹跑向阿塞盖，把它捡起来，朝一面玻璃墙扔去。 长矛刺穿了藤蔓网，震耳欲聋的爆炸声把墙震碎了。 丹全速跑到墙边，围着植物跳来跳去。 他从洞里跳了出来。 宽敞的中央房间，豆荚之间蜿蜒的小路，一片混乱。 “阻止他!”马鲁西怒吼道。 从左边开始。丹的眼睛扫视了一下这片区域，他抓着背包向右疾跑。 艾米和内莉

were running toward him now. "Follow me!" he shouted. A loud thrum permeated the complex. Bright emergency floodlights flickered on overhead, circling columns of blinding white light around the rooms. On all sides, Dan heard the thumps of closing doors. "The escalator!" Nellie said. Dan glanced upward. The door above the escalator had opened, and men in white suits were streaming in from the other building. "I don't think so," he said. "Come on. Let's move to the outer wall and follow it." The dense network of overlapping pods made the wall the best place to hide. They crept slowly along it. In the chaos, Dan heard a high-pitched shriek above them. "Duck!" They went down, but Dan realized it was a bird. It must have flown in through the gardener's door. The door. Where was it? He glanced around frantically. There. It was shut tight, way above their heads.

现在我们向他跑去。 “跟我来！”一声巨响弥漫在整个建筑群中。 明亮的应急照明灯在头顶上闪烁，在房间周围形成炫目的白光柱。 四面八方，丹都听到了关门的砰砰声。 “电梯!”内莉说。 丹向上瞥了一眼。自动扶梯上方的门开了，穿着白色西装的人从另一栋楼涌了进来。 “我不这么认为，”他说。 “来吧。我们到外墙去，跟着它走吧。” 密集重叠的豆荚网络使这堵墙成为最好的藏身之处。 他们沿着它慢慢地爬行。 在一片混乱中，丹听到他们头顶上传来一声尖厉的尖叫声。 “鸭!”他们下去了，但丹意识到那是一只鸟。 它一定是从园丁的门飞进来的。 了门。它在哪里？他疯狂地环顾四周。 在那里。门关得很紧，就在他们头顶上。

Next to it was a metal-mesh cage. An elevator cage. "Follow me!" he shouted, sprinting to the bottom of the cage. The elevator was resting on the floor, its door open. Inside were two broken clay flowerpots and sections of garden hose. "Get in!" When Nellie and Amy were inside, he shut the door and swung a metal dial to the ON position. The elevator rose slowly above the chaos. They shrank down against the soil-encrusted elevator floor, out of sight, unnoticed by the swarms of screaming Tomas below. "STOP THEM!" a voice bellowed. Almost unnoticed. The elevator suddenly stopped. "Dan!" Amy screamed. The top ten or so inches of the elevator door had risen into the frame of the old warehouse exit. It was big enough for a human body. Dan yanked open the elevator door, then cupped his hands. "We can do this. Amy, you're first." "I can't leave you!" Amy protested. "Hurry, before they lower this thing!" Dan said.

旁边是一个金属网笼子。 电梯笼。“跟我来！”他喊道，冲向笼子的底部。 电梯停在地板上，门开着。 里面有两个破碎的粘土花盆和几段花园软管。 “进去!”内莉和艾米进屋后，他关上门，把一个金属刻度盘调到开的位置。 电梯在一片混乱中缓缓升起。 他们缩了下来，靠着被泥土覆盖的电梯地板，看不见了，下面一群尖叫的托马斯也没有注意到他们。 “阻止他们！”一个声音吼道。 几乎没有人注意到。电梯突然停住了。 “丹!”艾米尖叫。电梯门最上面的十英寸左右的地方已经上升到旧仓库出口的框架里了。 它大得足以容纳一个人。 丹猛地打开电梯门，然后双手合十。 “我们可以做到。艾米，你先来。” “我不能离开你！”艾米抗议。 “快点，在他们把这东西放下来之前！”丹说。

He hoisted her up and she squeezed through the opening. "You next, little guy," Nellie said. "And don't even think of arguing." She boosted him through. Dan tossed aside his backpack, leaned in, and reached down for Nellie. Together he and Amy grabbed Nellie's arms and pulled. The elevator creaked and juddered. It was sinking now. "PULL!" Nellie screamed. She was halfway through, but the space was closing. From behind them, a man's arm reached into the elevator opening. The palm pressed upward against the elevator's ceiling, while the elbow jammed against the ground. The elevator groaned, then stopped moving. With his other arm, the man grabbed Nellie. Dan stiffened. No time to wonder. No time to look. "Heave-ho!" the man shouted. "YEOOWWWW!" Nellie squeaked through,

他把她举起来，她从洞口挤了进去。 “下一个是你，小家伙，”内莉说。 “别想吵架。” 她帮助他渡过难关。丹把背包扔到一边，探过身去，伸手去抓内莉。 他和艾米一起抓住内莉的胳膊使劲拉。 电梯吱吱作响，抖动着。 现在船在下沉。“拉!”内莉尖叫。 她已经走了一半，但空间正在缩小。 从他们身后，一个男人的手臂伸进了电梯口。 手掌向上压在电梯的天花板上，而肘部则紧贴着地面。 电梯呻吟了一声，然后停了下来。 那人用另一只胳膊抓住了内莉。 丹加筋。没有时间去怀疑。 没时间看了。“咳——嗬！”那人喊道。 “YEOOWWWW !”内莉勉强通过，

tumbling onto the grass. Dan and Amy tumbled with her, as the elevator sank quickly out of sight. "You dropped this?" a deep voice said. Dan turned to face the man who had saved Nellie. Mr. Bhekisisa held up the Shaka box. He was not smiling. "Where did you find this?" Mr. Bhekisisa demanded. "I didn't mean to steal anything. I'll give it back!" Dan said. "We— we can work this out together!" "Come with me, all of you," he said. "Now!" He began running down the hill, away from the front door of Ubuhlalu. Amy had no intention of following this guy into… what? "Where's he going?" she asked. "Do you need an invitation?" Mr. Bhekisisa said. "Come on," Dan said. "He has the box!"

滚到草地上。丹和艾米也跟着摔了一跤，电梯迅速下沉，看不见了。 “你把这个掉了？”一个低沉的声音说。 丹转身面对着救了内莉的人。 Bhekisisa先生举起了Shaka盒子。 他没有笑。“你在哪儿找到的？”贝基萨先生问道。 “我不是故意偷东西的。 我会还给你的！”丹说。 “我们——我们可以一起解决这个问题！”“你们都跟我来，”他说。 “现在!”他开始跑下山，远离乌布哈拉鲁的前门。 艾米根本没打算跟着这家伙……什么？ “他要去哪儿？”她问。 “你需要邀请吗？”贝基萨说。 “来吧，”丹说。“他拿着盒子！”

As Dan, Amy, and Nellie raced after him, Mr. Bhekisisa called out, "They have not had a security breach like this. You are lucky. I told them you had found the secret tunnel network. That will occupy them for awhile." "Wait… you're—" Dan said. We do have a spy within, but to achieve anything against these people, you practically need an army…. That's what Mr. Mondli had said. "You're a spy!" Dan blurted. Mr. Bhekisisa was moving fast. "I was… a Tomas," he said breathlessly. "Now… I am as I was born. A South African. Hurry. There are more of us waiting." "More?" Nellie said. "How did they know?" "Hurry!" Mr. Bhekisisa headed down the slope, toward the woods. There, a group of men and women were trudging upward toward them. Dan ran after him, with Amy and Nellie close behind. His eyes were focused on the man in front. He was instantly familiar, his face etched with wrinkles and a long scar, his eyes gray-green. His khakis and button-down shirt were a much

当丹、艾米和内莉追上他时，贝基萨大声喊道：“他们从来没有遇到过这样的安全漏洞。 你很幸运。我告诉他们你发现了秘密隧道网络。 这将占用他们一段时间。” “等等……你是——”丹说。 我们内部确实有间谍，但要想对付这些人，你实际上需要一支军队.... 这就是蒙德里所说的。 “你是个间谍！”丹脱口而出。 贝基萨行动迅速。 “我是……托马斯。”他上气不接下气地说。 “现在……我和我出生时一样。 一个南非人。快点。还有更多的人在等着。” “多吗?”内莉说。“他们怎么知道的？”“快点!”贝基萨沿着山坡朝树林走去。 在那里，一群男男女女正艰难地向他们走来。 丹跟在他后面跑，艾米和内莉紧跟在后面。 他的眼睛盯着前面的那个人。 他立刻就熟悉了，他的脸上布满了皱纹和一条长长的伤疤，他的眼睛是灰绿色的。 他的卡其裤和钮扣衬衫很时髦