5 Unexpected Guests

Chapter 5 UNEXPECTED GUESTS It wasn't until the next morning, when the twins woke up in their motel room, that they were able to fully comprehend the seriousness of their situation. Getting rid of Dr. Warsaw at The House on the Rock had not solved their problem, as they had thought. No, their problem had just begun. People were still after them. Coke and Pep would have to live with that fact, maybe until they themselves were dead, or the people who were trying to kill them were dead. Maybe it was just Archie Clone who was after them now. Or maybe Mrs. Higgins and the bowler dudes were still out there somewhere too. Maybe there were others as well. It makes it kind of hard to get through your everyday life, knowing that at any moment somebody might try to throw you off a cliff, dip you

直到第二天早上，当这对双胞胎在汽车旅馆的房间里醒来时，他们才完全明白自己处境的严重性。 赶走岩石上的房子里的华沙医生，并没有像他们想的那样解决他们的问题。 不，他们的问题才刚刚开始。 人们还在追赶他们。 可口可乐和佩普将不得不接受这个事实，也许直到他们自己死了，或者那些试图杀死他们的人死了。 也许现在只有克隆阿奇在追他们。 或者希金斯太太和那些打保龄球的家伙也还在某处。 也许还有其他人。 这让你很难度过日常生活，因为你知道随时都有人想把你从悬崖上扔下去，把你浸在水里

into boiling oil, drown you in a vat of SPAM, or bury you alive in a sand dune. That's no way to live. "We gotta tell Mom and Dad," Coke said to his sister as they brushed their teeth that morning. "This isn't some game. The game is over. Mom and Dad will know what to do." "Agreed." After showering and getting dressed, Coke and Pep knocked on the door of their parents' room. Dr. and Mrs. McDonald were already dressed and ready to go downstairs to the little breakfast room next to the motel lobby. They were in the middle of a discussion about Dr. McDonald's next book. His last one, The Impact of Coal on the Industrial Revolution, had not sold very well. "Honey, maybe you should write about something a little more… commercial next time," Mrs. McDonald suggested delicately. "What, like Britney Spears?" Dr. McDonald replied with sarcasm in his voice. "Maybe I should write a book about Lindsay Lohan's love life. Lots of people would buy that."

把你扔进滚烫的油里，把你淹死在一大桶SPAM里，或者把你活埋在沙丘里。 这不是生活的方式。“我们得告诉爸爸妈妈，”那天早上他们刷牙的时候，科克对妹妹说。 “这不是什么游戏。游戏结束了。 妈妈和爸爸会知道该怎么做。” “同意。”洗完澡，穿好衣服后，可乐和佩普敲了敲父母房间的门。 麦克唐纳医生和夫人已经穿好衣服，准备下楼到汽车旅馆大厅旁边的小早餐室去。 他们正在讨论约翰博士的问题。 麦当劳的下一本书。他的上一本著作《煤炭对工业革命的影响》卖得不太好。 “亲爱的，也许下次你应该写一些更商业化的东西，”麦克唐纳夫人微妙地建议道。 “什么，像布兰妮·斯皮尔斯那样？”博士。 麦克唐纳用讽刺的语气回答。 “也许我应该写一本关于林赛·罗韩爱情生活的书。 很多人都会买的。”

"No, Ben, I mean—" "We need to talk to you about something," Coke told his parents. "What is it, sweetie?" Mrs. McDonald said with concern as they made their way to the breakfast room. Coke took a deep breath. "You may find this a little hard to believe," he began, "but Pep and I are part of a secret government program. It's called The Genius Files." Silence. They continued up to the buffet line to get their food. "Go on," urged Dr. McDonald. "Ever since we left California," Pep told them, "there have been these crazy people who have been trying to kill us. They forced us to jump off a cliff back home…" "…and they blew up a building we were in right next to our favorite Chinese restaurant…," Coke said. "…and they left us to die at the singing sand dune…," Pep added.

“不，本，我是说——”“我们需要和你们谈谈，”科克对他的父母说。 “什么事，亲爱的？”他们朝早餐室走去时，麦克唐纳太太关切地说。 可口可乐深吸了一口气。“你可能觉得有点难以置信，”他开始说，“但佩普和我是政府秘密项目的一部分。 它叫《天才档案》。” 沉默。他们继续走到自助餐的队伍去取食物。 “说下去，”麦克唐纳医生催促道。 “自从我们离开加州，”佩普告诉他们，“就有一些疯子一直想杀我们。 他们强迫我们从悬崖上跳下去……”“……他们还炸毁了我们住的一栋楼，就在我们最喜欢的中餐馆旁边……” “……他们把我们丢在歌唱的沙丘上等死……”佩普补充道。

"…and they tried to drown us at the SPAM Museum…" "…and they tried to boil us in oil yesterday—" Dr. McDonald held up his hand to stop them. "So, you're telling us that these people are still out there," he said, "and that your lives are in danger." "Right," Pep said. "We would have told you about all this earlier, but we had been sworn to secrecy." They sat down at a table. "We have GPS devices implanted in our heads," Coke added, "so the bad guys who are trying to kill us know where we are at all times." Dr. and Mrs. McDonald stared at the twins for a long time. Then they burst out in hysterical laughter. "Hooo! Hooo!" Dr. McDonald said through the tears that were streaming down his face. "That's a good one! GPS devices in your heads!" "It's not even April Fools' Day!" said Mrs. McDonald as she wiped her face with a napkin.

“……他们还想在午餐肉博物馆把我们淹死……”“……昨天他们还想把我们放在油里煮……” 麦克唐纳举起手阻止他们。 “所以，你是在告诉我们，这些人还在外面，”他说，“你们的生命处于危险之中。” “好的，”佩普说。“我们本来可以早点告诉你的，但是我们发过誓要保密。” 他们在一张桌子旁坐下。“我们的大脑里植入了GPS设备，”科克补充说，“这样那些想要杀死我们的坏人就能随时知道我们在哪里。” 麦克唐纳医生和夫人盯着双胞胎看了很长时间。 然后他们爆发出歇斯底里的笑声。 “哈哈!哈哈!”麦克唐纳医生泪流满面地说。 “这是个好主意！”你们脑袋里装着GPS装置！”“今天甚至都不是愚人节！”麦克唐纳太太一边用餐巾擦脸一边说。

"How do you kids come up with this stuff? You two are so imaginative!" "No, we mean it!" Coke protested. "We're totally serious!" "You guys crack me up," Dr. McDonald said, unable to stop laughing. "Bridge, I'm so glad we changed our minds and decided to have children after all. Our kids never cease to amaze me." "They do say the darndest things," said Mrs. McDonald. So much for that idea. It didn't look like their parents were going to be any help at all. Coke and Pep would have to live …or die …on their own. As their parents chuckled and lingered over their coffee, the twins went outside to talk things over privately. "What are we gonna do now?" Pep asked. "How should I know?" "Maybe we should call the police." "Are you out of your mind? They'll never believe us," Coke told her. "Mom and Dad didn't

“你们这些孩子是怎么想到这些东西的？” 你们两个太有想象力了！”“不，我们是认真的！”可口可乐提出抗议。 “我们是认真的！”“你们把我逗乐了。” 麦克唐纳说着，笑个不停。 “布里奇，我很高兴我们最终改变了主意，决定要孩子。 我们的孩子总是给我惊喜。” “他们说的确实是最妙的话，”麦克唐纳太太说。 这个想法到此为止。看起来他们的父母根本帮不上什么忙。 可口可乐和佩普必须靠自己生存或死亡。 当他们的父母咯咯地笑着喝着咖啡时，这对双胞胎出去私下讨论了一些事情。 “我们现在该怎么办？”Pep问道。 “我怎么知道？”“也许我们应该报警。” “你疯了吗？” 他们永远不会相信我们，”科克告诉她。 “爸爸妈妈没有

even believe us. You think the cops will?" Ever since they were little, Coke had been the "big brother," even though he was only a few minutes older. Pep had come to rely on him to get them out of jams using his mouth, his fists, a deck of cards, a Cheesehead, or whatever happened to be lying around. Now, though, Coke worried about what was going to happen next. That Archie Clone who'd tried to french fry them could be anywhere. He could be watching them right now, or listening in on their conversations. They would have to track him down. They might have to kill him, before he killed them. And what about Mrs. Higgins? What about those crazy bowler dudes? What about the other Genius Files kids who might be gunning for them so they could claim the million dollars? And what about Dr. Warsaw? Maybe he had survived the fall and was out there somewhere, concocting more intricate secret messages and plans to kill them.

甚至相信我们。你觉得警察会吗？”从他们小的时候起，可口可乐就一直是他们的“大哥”，尽管他只比他们大几分钟。 佩普已经开始依赖他，用他的嘴、拳头、一副牌、一个奶酪头，或者随便什么东西把他们从困境中解救出来。 不过，现在可口可乐开始担心接下来会发生什么。 那个试图炸他们的克隆阿奇可能在任何地方。 他可能现在就在监视他们，或者偷听他们的谈话。 他们必须找到他。 他们可能得在他杀他们之前杀了他。 那希金斯太太呢？ 那些打保龄球的疯子呢？ 那其他天才档案的孩子们呢他们可能会为了拿到那一百万美元而对他们下手？ 那华沙医生呢？ 也许他从坠楼中幸存了下来，就在某个地方，编造更复杂的秘密信息和杀死他们的计划。