Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Crash! Dex hit the pavement. It took him a few long seconds to realize what had happened. It wasn't the car that had knocked him down. It was Zeke! The dog had smacked into the bike, sending Dex tumbling to the street seconds before the car would have hit him. Dex sat there in shock until Zeke revived him with an attack of slobbering licks. "You saved me," Dex said, burying his face in Zeke's smooth gray fur.

第三章坠毁!德克斯走到人行道上。 过了好长一段时间，他才意识到发生了什么事。 把他撞倒的不是那辆车。 是齐克!那只狗撞上了自行车，在汽车撞到德克斯之前几秒钟，德克斯就摔倒在街上了。 德克斯震惊地坐在那里，直到齐克用一阵口水般的舔舐使他苏醒过来。 “你救了我，”德克斯说，把脸埋在齐克光滑的灰色皮毛里。

Dex was still catching his breath when a man came rushing toward him. Dex realized that it was the owner of the car that had almost hit him. Dex hauled himself to his feet. "Are you okay?!" the man asked breathlessly. "I think that dog of yours might have superpowers! Did he actually push you off that bike?" "I think he did," Dex said, staring at the man. There was something familiar about his shiny bald head and friendly brown eyes. Wait… no… could it be? Dex's heart started to pound. "You're Doctor Norman Gage," Dex blurted out. "The storm chaser!" "That's right," the man said with a surprised laugh. Dr. Gage had his own TV show, called Tornado Mysteries. Dad and Dex watched it every week. Jeremy had loved it, too. What was extra cool was that Dad had actually known Dr. Gage in college. Dad always regretted that they'd lost touch.

德克斯还在喘气的时候，一个人向他冲了过来。 德克斯意识到是那辆差点撞到他的车的主人。 德克斯挣扎着站了起来。 “你还好吗?”那人上气不接下气地问。 “我觉得你的那条狗可能有超能力!”他真的把你从自行车上推下来了吗?”“我想是他干的。”德克斯盯着那人说。 他那光秃秃的脑袋和友好的棕色眼睛给人一种熟悉的感觉。 等等，不，会是吗? 德克斯的心开始怦怦直跳。 “你是诺曼·盖奇医生。”德克斯脱口而出。 “风暴追逐者!”“没错，”那人惊讶地笑着说。 盖奇博士有自己的电视节目，叫做《龙卷风之谜》。 爸爸和德克斯每周都看。 杰里米也很喜欢。更酷的是，爸爸竟然认识了。 盖奇在大学。爸爸总是后悔他们失去了联系。

"I'm Dex James," Dex said, trying not to squeak with excitement like one of the Tucker twins. "I think you maybe know my father, David." Dr. Gage studied Dex with a confused look, but then he burst into a big grin. "You're kidding me! You're Dave James's son!" he said. "I miss that guy! Your dad is one of the smartest people I've ever met!" "I love your show," Dex gushed. "Ha!" Dr. Gage said. "And to think I almost ran over my only fan." "No! My dad and brother love your show, too." "That makes my day," Dr. Gage said, and Dex could see he really meant it. Dex looked over at Dr. Gage's vehicle, which he recognized now from the show. It was a bright red SUV with thick tires and a forest of antennas sprouting from the roof. It looked more like a tank than a regular car.

“我是德克斯·詹姆斯。”德克斯说，努力不让自己像塔克家的双胞胎那样兴奋得尖叫起来。 “我想你可能认识我父亲，大卫。” 盖奇医生困惑地看着德克斯，但随后他突然咧嘴一笑。 “你在开玩笑吧!”你是戴夫·詹姆斯的儿子!”他说。 “我想念那个家伙!”你爸爸是我见过的最聪明的人之一!”“我喜欢你的节目，”德克斯滔滔不绝地说。 “哈!”盖奇博士说。“想想看，我差点碾过我唯一的风扇。” “不!我爸爸和哥哥也喜欢你的节目。” “这让我很高兴，”盖奇医生说，德克斯看得出他是认真的。 德克斯看了看盖奇博士的车，他现在认出了那辆车。 那是一辆鲜红色的SUV，轮胎很厚，车顶上长出了许多天线。 它看起来更像一辆坦克，而不是一辆普通的汽车。

"What are you doing here in Joplin?" Dex asked. Dex knew that Dr. Gage lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was a good two hours away. "There's a workshop I'm going to this evening," Dr. Gage said. "But I'm going to stay over and do some storm chasing tomorrow. There's an interesting storm brewing to the west of here."

“你在乔普林做什么?”敏捷问道。 德克斯知道盖奇医生住在俄克拉何马州的塔尔萨，离那里有两个小时的路程。 “今晚我要去参加一个研讨会。” 计说。“但是我打算留下来，明天去追逐风暴。 这里西边有一场有趣的风暴正在酝酿。”

"You think we'll get a tornado?" Dex asked. They got plenty of storms every spring, violent thunderstorms that turned the sky black and sent down sheets of rain. There were tornado warnings practically every week. But there hadn't been a big tornado in Joplin in forty years. "You never know for sure when a tornado is going to strike," Dr. Gage said. "But I've been tracking this storm all week. From the way things are looking, I think we could get a tornado somewhere north of Galena." Galena was about seven miles from Joplin, just over the Kansas border. Dex felt a mix of fear and excitement. "I've always wanted to see a tornado," he blurted out. Not a big one, of course, and not up close. He understood that tornadoes are one of the most destructive forces in nature. Powerful tornadoes are like mile-wide chain saws, with winds that can get up to 300 miles per hour, strong enough to

“你觉得我们会遇到龙卷风吗?”敏捷问道。 他们每年春天都有很多暴风雨，猛烈的雷暴把天空染成黑色，下着大雨。 几乎每周都有龙卷风警报。 但是在乔普林已经有四十年没有发生过大的龙卷风了。 “你永远不知道龙卷风什么时候会来袭。” 计说。“但我整个星期都在追踪这场风暴。 从目前的情况来看，我认为加利纳北部可能会有龙卷风。” 加利纳距离乔普林大约7英里，就在堪萨斯州的边界上。 德克斯感到既害怕又兴奋。 “我一直想看龙卷风，”他脱口而出。 当然不是大的，也不是近距离的。 他明白龙卷风是自然界中最具破坏性的力量之一。 强大的龙卷风就像一英里宽的链锯，风速可达每小时300英里，足以

pulverize buildings, turn a neighborhood into a pile of wood chips, or pick up a tractor trailer and hurl it a hundred yards. Tornadoes were terrifying. But they were fascinating, too, like Komodo dragons and black mamba snakes. And Dex had always wanted to see one with his own eyes, not just in YouTube videos and on Dr. Gage's show. "Tell you what," Dr. Gage said. "Why don't you and your dad come along with me tomorrow? I can't guarantee we'll see anything — most times I don't. But there's always something new to learn." Dex's heart leaped up, but then he remembered that both Mom and Dad had to go to the Joplin High School graduation tomorrow. All of the teachers had to be there. "My dad won't be able to come," Dex said. Dr. Gage reached into his pocket and took out a business card, which he handed to Dex.

粉碎建筑物，把一个社区变成一堆木屑，或者拿起一辆拖拉机拖车，把它扔到一百码外。 龙卷风很可怕。 但它们也很迷人，比如科莫多巨蜥和黑曼巴蛇。 德克斯一直想亲眼看看，而不仅仅是在YouTube视频和Dr。 计的显示。“告诉你吧。” 计说。“你和你爸爸明天为什么不和我一起去呢?” 我不能保证我们会看到任何东西——大多数时候我都看不到。 但总有新的东西要学。” 德克斯的心怦怦直跳，但他想起爸爸妈妈明天都要去参加乔普林高中的毕业典礼。 所有的老师都必须到场。 “我爸爸不能来了，”德克斯说。 盖奇医生把手伸进口袋，拿出一张名片，递给德克斯。