Chapter 16

chapter sixteen I'm covered head to toe in dirt and grime—and there's pain head to toe, too. I press my hand against the ground. Pebbles push into my bare palm as I sit up slowly, shaking out the cobwebs. What just happened? Oh right. Ghazt, gangplank, fighting, falling. In the distance, the Mallusk is speeding away, leaving a destruction-filled crevice in its wake. All the dirt and dust makes me feel like I've fallen into some kind of old-timey Wild West town. Dirk would go nuts for it. Except Dirk's not here. None of my friends are. My friends are back on board. There's only one other person here...

我从头到脚都是尘土和污垢——从头到脚也很痛。 我把手按在地上。 当我慢慢坐起来，抖掉蜘蛛网时，鹅卵石挤进了我光秃秃的手掌。 刚刚发生了什么？哦,对。 Ghazt，跳板，打斗，坠落。 在远处，马洛斯克号正在疾驰而去，在它的身后留下了一个充满破坏的裂缝。 所有的泥土和灰尘让我觉得我掉进了某个古老的狂野西部小镇。 德克会为之疯狂的。 不过德克不在这里。我的朋友都不是。 我的朋友们都回来了。 这里只有一个人……

Ng,um, If I have to be stranded out in the wasteland wilds, Evie is the last person I'd choose to be with. But, I suppose, the last person is better than no person. I get to my feet, slowly at first—but then very quickly as Evie rises, swinging her weapon... "Oh, c'mon!" I shout, drawing the Slicer as I jump back, deflecting the blow. "You stole Ghazt's powers!" Evie barks. "You got us both stranded out here in the middle of nowhere! Everything was going fine on the Mallusk until you and your friends showed up!"

恩，如果我被困在荒地上，伊薇是我最不愿意和她在一起的人。 但是，我想，最后一个人总比没有人好。 我站了起来，起初很慢，但随着伊维站起来，挥舞着她的武器，我很快就站了起来…… “哦,来吧!”我大叫，一边抽出切片机，一边往后跳，挡住了那一击。 “你偷走了加斯特的力量！”艾维吠叫。 “你把我们俩都困在这荒无人烟的地方了！”在你和你的朋友出现之前，马洛斯克号上一切都很顺利！”

"Hey, for real," I say, "can we just dial it down a notch?" Evie's breathing hard, ready to keep going. I lower the Slicer—only slightly. Look, let's not fight. Ok, I'm pretty sure we both want the same thing here. Oh, really? You also want to knock an annoying kid named Jack Sullivan senseless? "I walked right into that one," I say with a frustrated sigh. "No. I mean get back to the Mallusk. My friends are on board." Evie's nose wrinkles at the word "friends," and I can tell I've hit a sore spot.

“嘿，说真的，”我说，“我们能不能低调一点？”伊薇呼吸困难，准备继续前进。 我把切片机放低一点——只是稍微放低一点。 听着，我们别吵了。好吧，我很确定我们的目的是一致的。 哦,真的吗?你还想把一个叫杰克·沙利文的烦人孩子打昏吗？ 我沮丧地叹了口气，说：“我径直走进了那个房间。” “没有。我是说回马卢斯克号去。 我的朋友们都在船上。”听到“朋友”这个词，伊薇的鼻子皱了起来，我能感觉到我戳到了她的痛处。

"Uh, yeah, duh, me too," she spits. "I have a Cosmic General to get back to? Also Smud, who's a close pal. And in case you've forgotten, I have an entire mall full of monsters to rule over. I mean... protect. Yeah, protect. Help protect. With Ghazt." I roll my eyes. Even after surviving a near-fatal fall off a gigantic beast, all she can think about is ruling. Power. And it's that thirst for power that got us into this mess. I turn my back to Evie and start walking along the Mallusk's carved-out path. I don't need her. I've got my Slicer, the air in my lungs, and the blood in my veins. I'll be fine. It takes an hour just to trek up and out of the crevice the Mallusk made. The sun is starting to set by the time I reach the narrow peak. It's like a jagged mountain ridgeline built from suburban rubble.

“嗯，是的，我也是，”她吐了口气。 “我还要回去找宇宙将军？” 还有斯穆德，他是我的好朋友。 如果你忘了，我还有一整个商场的怪物要管理。 我的意思是……保护。是的,保护。 帮助保护。Ghazt。” 我翻了个白眼。即使从一头巨兽上摔下来差点丧命，她满脑子想的还是统治。 权力。正是对权力的渴望让我们陷入了困境。 我转身背对着伊薇，开始沿着马鲁斯克雕刻的小路走去。 我不需要她。我有切片机，肺里有空气，血管里有血液。 我会没事的。光是爬上Mallusk造成的裂缝就需要一个小时。 当我到达狭窄的山峰时，太阳开始下山了。 就像郊区碎石堆成的锯齿状山脊线。

That's when I hear Evie's footsteps at my back... My ears guess she's a few paces behind. Although—I actually have no idea how big a pace is. Is it bigger than a click? Definitely smaller than a league. I don't want to look back—don't want to give her the satisfaction. But it's a treacherous, precarious walk. And with the sound of every shaky step, every strange footfall, I can't help but spin, expecting to find Evie mid-attack. About to push me, whack me, something. And each time I spin, Evie stops, stiffens, and steadies herself for battle. It goes on like this for nearly an hour, until—

就在这时，我听到伊薇在我背后的脚步声…… 我猜她就在后面几步。 不过，我其实不知道一个人的步伐有多大。 它比点击更大吗？ 肯定比联赛还小。 我不想回头看，不想给她满足。 但这条路很危险 每一个颤抖的脚步声，每一个奇怪的脚步声，我都忍不住旋转，希望能在进攻中找到伊维。 想推我，打我什么的。 每次我旋转，艾薇都会停下来，变硬，稳住身子准备战斗。 就这样持续了将近一个小时，直到——

Enough. My nerves are fried to a crisp. Ok, you can't keep acting like you're ready to strike at any moment. Me, What about you? "What about me?!" I shoot back. "You keep spinning around like you're gonna knock me off the road!" 'Cause you keep being about to strike!" 'Cause you keep spinning!" I sigh. "It's a chicken-or-the-egg thing." "Who you calling chicken?" "Uh-uh, nope," I say. "Don't try to Marty McFly me." That gets her. After a long moment, a smile cracks her face. "Look," I say with a tired sigh. "We'll never get back to the Mallusk like this. What about a temporary truce?"

足够了。我的神经快炸裂了。 好吧，你不能一直装出随时准备出手的样子。 我，你呢？“那我呢？！”我回击。 “你不停地转，好像要把我从路上撞下来似的！”因为你总是要罢工！”因为你一直在旋转！”我叹了口气。 “这是一个先有鸡还是先有蛋的问题。” “你叫谁胆小鬼？”“不，不，”我说。 “别想耍我。” 这让她明白了。过了好一会儿，她脸上绽开了笑容。 “看，”我疲惫地叹了口气。 “我们再也回不了马卢斯克号了。 暂时休战怎么样？”