Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Dr. Gage helped Dex up and practically dragged him to the car. By the time Dex was in his seat, the hail had stopped. Dr. Gage opened the glove compartment and took out a first aid kit. He fished out an ice pack, gave it a good smack, and laid it gently on the painful lump on Dex's scalp. "You sure you're all right?" Dr. Gage said, his brow crinkled up with worry. "I'm fine," Dex said, and luckily he was. He just hoped that Mom wouldn't find out.

盖奇医生扶起德克斯，几乎是把他拖到了车里。 等德克斯坐到座位上时，冰雹已经停了。 盖奇医生打开仪表盘，拿出一个急救箱。 他拿出一个冰袋，狠狠地拍了一下，轻轻地放在德克斯头皮上疼痛的肿块上。 “你真的没事吗?”博士。 盖奇说，他的眉头因担心而皱了起来。 “我很好。”德克斯说，幸运的是他很好。 他只是希望妈妈不会发现。

"I am so sorry, Dex. I never should have put us in the middle of that field. From the radar, I actually thought the storm was going to lose power. I should have known better." "I think your car is in worse shape than me," Dex said. A hailstone had turned the windshield into a spiderweb of cracks. Dr. Gage laughed. "I've had it replaced twice this year already." They sat for a few minutes until the rain stopped. "It always surprises me," Dr. Gage said. "Nature can be so violent one minute, and so peaceful the next. And we humans have no control at all." Dr. Gage opened his door and stepped outside. A few seconds later he came back holding a huge hailstone, perfectly round and glistening. He presented it to Dex as though it was a priceless diamond. "A souvenir."

“我很抱歉，德克斯。我就不该把我们放在那块地中间。 从雷达上看，我真的以为风暴会失去动力。 我早该知道的。” “我觉得你的车比我的还糟，”德克斯说。 冰雹把挡风玻璃变成了蜘蛛网似的裂缝。 盖奇医生笑了。“今年我已经换了两次了。” 他们坐了几分钟，直到雨停。 “这总是让我感到惊讶。” 计说。“大自然可能上一分钟还很狂暴，下一分钟就很平静。 而我们人类根本无法控制。” 盖奇医生打开门走了出去。 几秒钟后，他拿着一块巨大的冰雹回来了，圆圆的，闪闪发光。 他把它送给德克斯，仿佛那是一颗无价的钻石。 “纪念品”。

It was very light and smooth. Dex brought it up to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled musty, and he caught a whiff of something strangely familiar. Dr. Gage seemed to read his mind. "Mint, right?" "That's it!" Dex said. "I wish I could tell you why. We can put it in my little freezer until we get home." Dex had already decided he'd bring it to school tomorrow. He'd pack it in a small cooler and show it to the guys at lunch. Dylan would freak! Dr. Gage turned his attention to the weather radar map. He pointed at two red blotches pulsing across the screen. "Look at these," he said with surprise. "There are two new storms heading this way. Both are supercells." His face darkened. "It's going to get dangerous around here when all of these storms come together. Jimmy and Sara love this kind of weather. But I think it's too risky

它很轻，很光滑。 德克斯把它拿到鼻子边闻了闻。 屋里有股霉味，他闻到一股熟悉得出奇的味道。 盖奇医生似乎看透了他的心思。 “薄荷,对吧?”“就是这样!”敏捷说。 “我希望我能告诉你为什么。 我们可以把它放在我的小冰箱里，直到我们回家。” 德克斯已经决定明天把它带到学校来。 他会把它装在一个小冷藏箱里，在午餐时给大家看。 迪伦会抓狂的!盖奇博士把注意力转向了气象雷达图。 他指着屏幕上跳动的两个红色斑点。 “看看这些，”他惊讶地说。 “有两场新的风暴正在向这边袭来。 两者都是超级细胞。”他的脸沉了下来。 “当所有这些风暴聚集在一起时，这里会变得很危险。 吉米和萨拉喜欢这种天气。 但我觉得太冒险了

to be out chasing. I can't tell where these storms are heading, and how strong they're going to get." He looked at Dex apologetically. "I think we should head back to Joplin, call it a day." "That's fine," Dex said, trying not to sound too relieved. That lightning had spooked him, and that hailstone had almost cracked open his skull. He'd seen enough bad weather for one day. Dex relaxed on the ride back to Joplin as Dr. Gage told him funny stories about himself and Dad in college. But as they got closer to Dex's neighborhood, Dr. Gage got quiet. He kept one eye on the radar map, and kept glancing warily into the rearview mirror. Was someone following them? Was Dr. Gage going to get a speeding ticket?

出去追逐。我不知道这些风暴的方向，也不知道它们会有多强。” 他带着歉意看着德克斯。 “我想我们应该回乔普林，收工。” “那很好。”德克斯说，尽量不让自己听起来太松了一口气。 闪电把他吓坏了，冰雹几乎把他的头盖骨敲开了。 他一天已经受够了恶劣的天气。 德克斯在返回乔普林的路上放松了下来。 盖奇给他讲了他和爸爸在大学时的趣事。 但是，当他们走近德克斯的邻居时，德克斯医生发现。 盖奇沉默了。他一只眼睛盯着雷达地图，不断警惕地看后视镜。 有人跟踪他们吗? 盖奇医生会收到超速罚单吗?

Dex turned around, expecting to see flashing police lights. There were no cars behind them. But there was something strange in the sky, an enormous gray cloud moving very quickly toward them. A shiver of fear jangled Dex's spine. "Is that a supercell?" "Could be," Dr. Gage said. "There's so much happening on the radar right now. It's hard to know. It's pretty far back. Let's see if we can take a better look." He made a quick U-turn so that now they were driving slowly in the opposite direction, toward the cloud. It was very dark, but with a hazy blur in the center. It stretched out across the horizon as far as Dex could see. Dr. Gage stared through the cracked windshield, scanning the sky like a SEAL searching for enemy shooters.

德克斯转过身来，以为会看到警灯闪烁。 他们后面没有车。 但是天空中有一些奇怪的东西，一片巨大的灰色云迅速地向他们移动。 一阵恐惧的颤抖使德克斯的脊背发颤。 “那是超级单体吗?”“有可能。” 计说。“现在雷达上发生了很多事情。 这很难知道。它在很远的地方。 让我们看看能不能看得更清楚些。” 他迅速地转了个180度弯，现在他们正慢慢地朝相反的方向驶去，驶向那片乌云。 天很黑，但中心有一片模糊。 它一直延伸到德克斯所能看到的地平线上。 盖奇博士凝视着破碎的挡风玻璃，像海豹突击队员搜寻敌方射手一样扫视着天空。

And then a flash of lightning flared inside the cloud, lighting it up from the inside like an X-ray. "Oh, my Lord," Dr. Gage whispered. In that split second of brightness, they had both seen what was hidden inside the storm cloud. It was a tornado. An enormous, churning tornado, the biggest Dex had ever imagined. It was on a path to destroy Joplin.

然后，一道闪电在云层中闪耀，像x射线一样从云层内部照亮了云层。 “哦，我的上帝，”盖奇医生低声说。 在那一刹那的光亮中，他们俩都看到了隐藏在风暴云里的东西。 那是一场龙卷风。一场巨大的，翻滚的龙卷风，是德克斯所能想象到的最大的龙卷风。 它差点毁了乔普林。