Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 The yak cart creaked down the dirt lane on the outskirts of the village of Tingri in Xigaze Prefecture. It contained twigs for kindling, dried yak manure for heating fuel, and Dan Cahill. He got out of the cart and handed over his last few coins to the driver. He was puffing on the thin air; his legs were so stiff they would barely support him; and he was flat broke in the middle of nowhere. But he had made it! After a thirty-hour train ride, four hours on a smelly bus, and twenty minutes in the company of sticks and yak poop, he was actually at the helipad his grandmother had told him about. The hangar was just an old barn. Only the French flag that doubled as a windsock hinted that this remote field was the home of the Ecureuil/A-Star 350, the helicopter that had landed on top of

牦牛车嘎吱嘎吱地驶在日喀则县亭日村郊区的土路上。 里面有用来引火的小树枝，用来取暖的干牦牛粪，还有丹·卡希尔。 他下了车，把身上仅有的几枚硬币交给了司机。 他对着稀薄的空气吹着气；他的腿僵硬得几乎支撑不住他；他在荒无人烟的地方身无分文。 但是他做到了！坐了30个小时的火车，坐了4个小时臭气熏天的公共汽车，在树枝和牦牛粪的陪伴下呆了20分钟，他终于来到了祖母告诉他的直升机停机坪。 机库只是个旧谷仓。 只有一面兼作风帆的法国国旗暗示，这片偏远的田野就是降落在上面的“厄克鲁伊”(Ecureuil) / a - star 350直升机的所在地

the world. Everest. The peak towered over Dan as he approached the barn. Here it was only one feature in a titanic skyline, but it was the mightiest, the lord and master. The sight of it took his breath away— and breath was hard to come by at this altitude. He peered in the window of the barn, knowing a brief moment of panic. What if it wasn't there? He'd come an awfully long way to find out that the helicopter was— God forbid— in the shop or something. But no— there it was, looking just like the pictures Grace had shown him, futuristic and spare. The bubble was up, and someone was peering in at the instrument panel. Why is it so dark in there? Why doesn't he just turn on a light? Dan was about to knock on the door when he spotted the smashed padlock dangling from the hasp. That guy's stealing my ultralight! Without a moment's hesitation, Dan burst into

这个世界。珠穆朗玛峰。当丹走近谷仓时，山顶高耸在他的头顶上。 在这里，它只是巨大的天际线中的一个特征，但它是最强大的，是领主和主人。 看到它，他简直喘不过气来——在这个高度，呼吸是很难的。 他从谷仓的窗户往里看，知道会有短暂的恐慌。 如果它不在那里呢？他走了很长一段路才发现那架直升机——但愿不会——停在店里之类的地方。 但事实并非如此——它就在那里，看起来就像格蕾丝给他看的照片一样，充满未来感，而且很简洁。 汽泡升起来了，有人正盯着仪表板看。 为什么里面这么黑？ 他为什么不开个灯呢？ 丹正要敲门，这时他看见那把被砸碎的挂锁悬挂在门搭扣上。 那家伙在偷我的超轻灯！丹毫不犹豫地说

the barn and brought down the intruder with a flying tackle. The two fell to the concrete floor in a struggling heap. A flailing elbow hit Dan in the mouth, and he tasted blood. Enraged, he reached around and pressed the heel of his hand into his opponent's face. He was encouraged to note that the intruder was not much bigger than he was, and about equal in strength. Suddenly, pain shot through his hand, and he howled in shock. He bit me! They wrestled, rolling one over the other, until Dan found his face pressed against a metal grill, eyes staring in at— "Saladin?" His opponent's grip disintegrated. "Dan?" "Amy?" "Oh, God!" Nellie dropped the crowbar she was just about to bring down on Dan's head. The two Cahills scrambled up, each one goggling as if the sight of the other was a mirage. Then they were together in an ecstatic bear hug.

把牲口棚腾空铲倒，把闯入者打倒在地。 两人挣扎着倒在水泥地上。 一个手肘打在丹的嘴里，他尝到了血的味道。 他愤怒地转过身来，用手掌的脚后跟按在对手的脸上。 他很受鼓舞地注意到，这个闯入者并不比他大多少，力气也差不多。 突然，他的手一阵剧痛，他震惊地嚎叫起来。 他咬了我！他们扭打在一起，一个滚到另一个，直到丹发现他的脸贴在金属烤架上，眼睛盯着——“萨拉丁？”他对手的握力瓦解了。 “丹?”“艾米?”“哦,上帝!”内莉刚要拿铁撬砸丹的头，却把铁撬掉了。 两个卡希尔爬了上去，每个人都瞪着眼睛，好像对方的景象是海市蜃楼。 然后他们欣喜若狂地拥抱在一起。

"Cut it out!" Dan complained. "You're strangling me!" But he didn't loosen his grip on his sister. Amy had been so worried for so long that the sudden evaporation of tension left her boneless. If she let go, she probably would have collapsed in a heap. "I thought I'd lost you! Just like we lost Mom and Dad!" "Why didn't you look for me?" Dan babbled. "We did! We never stopped!" "Oh, yeah? Then what are you doing here?" "Well, it must have been exactly the right place!" Amy snapped. "You showed up, didn't you?" "I caught the Holts on TV!" Dan pulled away. "Stop yelling at me! I missed you so much! I thought I'd never see you again!" He scanned the hangar. "And if you lost my computer—" Amy struggled to regain her composure. "You look taller," she said finally, devouring him with her eyes. "Don't be an idiot. It was only five days."

“别闹了！”丹抱怨。 “你掐死我了！”但他并没有放松对妹妹的控制。 艾美担心了太久，紧张情绪的突然消失使她骨瘦如柴。 如果她放手，她可能会瘫倒在地。 “我还以为我失去你了呢！”就像我们失去了爸爸妈妈一样！”“你为什么不找我呢？”丹唠唠叨叨。 “我们做的!我们从未停止过！”“哦,是吗? 那你在这里做什么？”“嗯，那一定是找对地方了！”艾米了。 “你来了，是不是？”“我在电视上看到了霍尔特一家！”丹把车开走了。 “别对我大喊大叫！”我好想你！我还以为再也见不到你了呢！”他扫视了一下机库。 “如果你把我的电脑弄丢了——”艾米努力恢复镇静。 “你看起来更高了，”她最后说，用她的眼睛吞噬着他。 “别犯傻了。才过了五天。”

"I know…" There was a tremor in her voice. "But it was a very long five days. Dan, I'm so sorry—" And then his words percolated down to her. "Wait a minute! The Holts were on TV?" "They're climbing Mount Everest!" Dan exclaimed. "Like, right now! There has to be a clue up there!" Amy turned back to the A-Star. "We can beat them to the top. Right, Nellie?" "Wrong," the au pair said sadly. "I'm sorry, you guys, but there's no way I can fly this thing. It looks more like a cat's cradle than an aircraft. I'd get us all killed for sure." Amy and Dan regarded each other with anguish. Had fate brought them to the same spot in this tiny village in Everest's shadow only to stymie them now? At that moment, the lights flashed on and a sharp voice rang out: "Que faites-vous ici? What are you doing here?" Startled, the three turned to face the newcomer, a short, gaunt, middle-aged man in pilot's coveralls.

“我知道……”她的声音有些颤抖。 “但这是非常漫长的五天。 丹，我很抱歉——”然后他的话传到了她的耳朵里。 “等一下！”霍尔特夫妇上电视了？”“他们正在攀登珠穆朗玛峰！”丹喊道。 “就现在！”上面一定有什么线索！”艾米转身对着A-Star。 “我们可以打败他们。 内莉?”“错了，”互惠生伤心地说。 “对不起，伙计们，我不可能驾驶这东西。 与其说它是一架飞机，不如说它更像一个摇篮。 我肯定会把大家都害死的。” 艾米和丹痛苦地面面相觑。 难道命运把他们带到珠峰阴影下这个小村庄的同一个地方，只是为了现在阻碍他们吗？ 正在这时，灯光亮了起来，一个尖锐的声音响起：“Que faites-vous ici?” 你在这里做什么？”三个人吓了一跳，转过身来面对新来的人，一个身穿飞行员工作服、身材矮小、面容憔悴的中年人。

Shy Amy was tongue-tied. Not so Dan. "We need to go up Mount Everest," he blurted. The man laughed out loud. "I do not run a tourist service. If it is pretty pictures you want, they sell postcards in the village." Amy found her voice. "No, he means we have to go to the summit. Right away." The man's eyes narrowed. "Ah, so you know what the A-Star is capable of. Alors, this is impossible. Leave the property at once." "We'll pay," said Nellie. The man scowled. "The A-Star is a piece of technology unique in all the world. You do not rent it like a Jet Ski for one hour at the beach." The Cahills' despair was palpable. Up until now, they'd succeeded by thinking on their feet, improvising, and overcoming obstacles. This was different. There was only one quick way up Mount Everest— one that avoided the months of training, provisioning, acclimatizing, and climbing. It was this helicopter, period. The laws of science and nature provided no plan B. If the pilot refused to take them, what then?

害羞的艾米说不出话来。不是这样的，丹。 “我们需要登上珠穆朗玛峰，”他脱口而出。 那人大声笑了起来。“我不经营旅游服务。 如果你想要漂亮的照片，村里有卖明信片的。” 艾米终于开口说话了。“不，他的意思是我们必须去山顶。 马上。”那人眯起眼睛。 “啊，所以你知道一线明星的能力。 阿罗，这是不可能的。 马上离开这里。” “我们会付钱的，”耐莉说。那人皱起了眉头。 “a - star是世界上独一无二的一项技术。 你不会像在沙滩上租一小时的水上摩托那样租它。” 卡希尔一家的绝望是显而易见的。 到目前为止，他们的成功靠的是临场思考、即兴发挥和克服障碍。 这次不一样。登上珠穆朗玛峰只有一条捷径——一条可以避免几个月的训练、补给、适应环境和攀登的路。 就是这架直升机。 科学和自然法则没有提供备选方案。 如果飞行员拒绝带他们，那怎么办？