Chapter 7

chapter seven I figured a day of leaping onto speeding trains and evil monster interrogations would earn me a little extra snooze time, but Drooler disagrees. My eyes flutter open and I see Drooler, perched on my chest, chirping, "MEEP! MEEP! MEEP!" Dirk stands over us, grinning. "You ready for a dudes-on-a-mission type mission, Jack? 'Cause we're doing a dudes-on-a-mission type mission! Quint and June and Skaelka have already been planning for hours." "What day is it?" I yawn. "The day after yesterday. That's how days work." I grumble. "Y'know," Dirk says, "when Quint and I were out on our just-the-two-of-us hero quest, we didn't have any trouble wakin' up when a big fight was awaitin'." "FINE, FINE, I'M UP!" I start—but it's a moment too late. Dirk has decided he will get me up. All the way up.

我想，跳上高速行驶的火车，审问邪恶的怪物，这一天会让我多睡一会儿，但德鲁勒不这么认为。 我睁开眼睛，看到了流口水，它趴在我的胸口，叽叽喳喳地叫着：“喵！MEEP !MEEP !”德克站在我们面前，咧着嘴笑。 “杰克，你准备好接受一个任务式的任务了吗？” 因为我们要做的是一个任务式的任务！昆特、琼和斯卡卡已经计划好几个小时了。” “今天是星期几？”我打哈欠。“后天。 日子就是这样过的。”我抱怨。 “你知道，”德克说，“当昆特和我在执行我们只有两个人的英雄任务时，当一场大战等着我们时，我们毫不费力地醒来。” “好，好，我起来了！”我开始了，但为时已晚。 德克决定要把我弄起来。 一直往上。

I said I'm up. Dirk and I follow a breadcrumb trail of Lego bricks through the mall—a green-and orange-and yellow- brick road to our friends. I've been living in this mall for more than a month now, and I have the layout memorized like a Mario Kart track—with all the shortcuts. Two turns, just past the giant Howler gash in the wall, we reach our destination: the Hobby Horse.

我说我起来了。德克和我沿着乐高积木铺成的面包屑小径穿过商场——一条绿砖、橙砖和黄砖的路，向我们的朋友走去。 我已经在这个商场住了一个多月了，我对商场的布局了如指掌，就像熟记马里奥赛车的赛道一样——还有所有的捷径。 转了两个弯，刚过了墙上巨大的咆哮者缺口，我们就到了目的地：爱好马。

Morning friends. Guess what? We have the rough semblance of a plan. Emphasis on rough. When I see Quint, I wake up, fully. Because my friend is back. The past few weeks—not knowing where he and Dirk were or if they were OK—have been the longest weeks of my life. To think that my stupid Cosmic Hand could've led to my friends maybe being dead? To swallow my pride and admit to the mall citizens that I had messed up—that I was not a leader? It was a lot to handle for one kid. And it only got worse after I saw that smoldering hole in the ground—where Quint and Dirk had

早上朋友。你猜怎么着? 我们有一个粗略的计划。 强调粗糙。当我看到昆特，我就醒了，完全。 因为我的朋友回来了。 过去的几周——不知道他和德克在哪里，也不知道他们是否平安——是我一生中最漫长的几周。 想想我那愚蠢的宇宙之手可能会害死我的朋友？ 放下我的骄傲，向商场的市民们承认我搞砸了——承认我不是一个领导者？ 这对一个孩子来说太难应付了。 更糟糕的是，当我看到地上那个冒烟的洞——昆特和德克的洞

vanished. After that, I felt even less capable of leading. And still do. How can I lead if so many of the choices I've made have been the wrong choices? If it weren't for my careless use of the Cosmic Hand, Thrull wouldn't have Ghazt—Thrull wouldn't be one step away from bringing rezzoch here. "Where we at?" Dirk says. He enters the Hobby Horse, glaring at the goofy mascot at the door like he's daring it to start something. Quint eagerly dives in. "We combined what little Skaelka remembers of the fortress, along with—" "All the rad recon Jack and I did, plus his photos," June says, jumping in. "To create—" "Drumroll, please!" Quint says. "How about a cinnamon roll, then a drumroll?" I ask. "Any food around here? Morning meetings require pastries or something, don't you think—" "THE FORTRESS!" they say together, as they step aside, revealing—

消失了。从那以后，我觉得自己的领导能力更弱了。 现在依然如此。如果我做了那么多错误的选择我还怎么领导？ 如果不是因为我对宇宙之手的粗心使用，萨鲁就不会有ghazt -萨鲁离把雷佐克带到这里一步也不远了。 “我们在哪儿？”德克说。他走进“爱好马”，瞪着门口那只呆头呆脑的吉祥物，好像他敢让它做点什么似的。 昆特急切地扑了进去。“我们结合了小斯卡对堡垒的记忆，以及——”“杰克和我所做的所有rad侦察，加上他的照片，”琼插嘴说。 “为了创造——”“请鼓声！”五度音说。 “先来个肉桂卷，再来个鼓声怎么样？”我问。 “这附近有吃的吗？”早上的会议需要点心之类的东西，你不觉得——”“要塞！”他们一起说，一边向旁边走，露出了——

Quinn asks that you excuse the crudity of this model. He didn't have time to build it to scale. "OK, this is better than pastries," I say, circling the model. I whistle under my breath. It's too bad there aren't awards for Best Toy Replica of a Monster Torture Fortress, because this would definitely take the prize. "We will each have a specific role to fill," Quint announces. "I can guide us through once we're in," Skaelka says with certainty. "My memories of the fortress are

奎因要求你原谅这个模型的粗鲁。 他没有时间按比例建造它。 “好吧，这比糕点好，”我绕着模特说。 我低声吹口哨。 很遗憾没有设立“怪兽折磨堡垒”最佳玩具复制品奖，因为这款游戏肯定会获得该奖项。 昆特宣布：“我们每个人都有一个特定的角色。” Skaelka肯定地说：“一旦我们进去，我可以引导我们。” “我对堡垒的记忆是

still hazy—but they will return once I see it again in the flesh." "One big problem remains, though," Quint says. Using a bubble wand, he points to the model's small- scale representation of the cliff. "Like Skaelka said, getting inside is nearly impossible." June asks, "How'd you get down, then?" "I jumped," Skaelka replies. "Only Quint's armor —and the ooze-swamp surrounding the base—saved me. But for you to attempt it, with your brittle human bones... would be ugly, wet, leaky death." "We're hoping to avoid death—ugly, wet, leaky, or otherwise," Quint says. With that, June, Dirk, and Quint begin hurling out ideas for how to get up that giant cliff and into the fortress... "Mega-Catapults!" Quint says. "Giant birds!" Dirk suggests. "Giant birds launched from Mega-Catapults!" June says. Now, usually, tossing around ideas—especially super lousy ones—is my jam. But not right now. I barely hear my friends. They're just background noise as my eyes focus on the model, practically zooming in on the cliff face. And then I feel it.

还很模糊——但一旦我亲眼看到它，它们就会回来的。” 昆特说：“然而，还有一个大问题。 他用一根泡泡棒指着模型中的小比例悬崖。 “就像斯卡卡说的，进去几乎是不可能的。” 琼问：“那你是怎么下来的？”“我跳了下去，”Skaelka回答。 “只有昆特的盔甲和基地周围的淤泥沼泽救了我。 但你要尝试，用你脆弱的人骨… 那将是丑陋、潮湿、漏水的死亡。” 昆特说：“我们希望避免死亡——丑陋、潮湿、漏水或其他。” 说完，琼、德克和昆特开始绞尽脑汁，想办法爬上那座巨大的悬崖，进入堡垒…… “Mega-Catapults !”五度音说。 “巨鸟!”德克建议。 “巨型鸟从巨型弹射器上发射出来！”6月说。 现在，通常，抛出想法——尤其是超级糟糕的想法——是我的拿手好戏。 但不是现在。我几乎听不到我朋友的声音。 当我的眼睛聚焦在模型上时，它们只是背景噪音，实际上是在放大悬崖的表面。 然后我感觉到了。