Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Toto snapped into action. Just because they were on a ship teeming with baddies, heading to goodness knows where, didn't necessarily mean she'd failed her first mission. She just had to figure out how to fix things. 'We need to quietly take command of this ship,' she told her friends. 'Catface, you know the most about ships- where do

托托立刻行动起来。 仅仅因为他们在一艘充满坏人的船上，驶向天知道的地方，并不一定意味着她的第一次任务失败了。 她只是得想办法解决问题。 “我们需要悄悄地掌控这艘船，”她对朋友们说。 “猫脸，你对船最了解——在哪儿呢？

you steer from?' Catface thought carefully for a moment. 'I expect the wheelhouse will be on the upper deck. There should be a ladder up to a hatch somewhere around here, they use it to lower goods straight down into the hold! They quickly found it and started the long climb upwards. Finally, they reached the big hatch and cautiously pushed it open to peer out.

你从哪儿来的？”猫脸仔细想了一会儿。 “我想驾驶室应该在上层甲板上。 这附近应该有一架梯子通往舱口，他们用它把货物直接放到货舱里！他们很快就找到了，开始往上爬。 最后，他们来到了大舱口，小心翼翼地推开舱口向外张望。

'Right... not exactly the best news,' Catface whispered to Toto. 'Yeah, I can see figures- lots of figures,' said the ninja. 'Are they what I think they are?' 'I'm afraid so,' answered her ratty friend. The whole of the ship's company was gathered on the deck. There were hundreds of cats, rats and dogs of all shapes and sizes. They were wearing similar outfits: stripy tops or old navy coats with caps or bandanas. They looked tough, mean, and like they knew how to fight. Luckily, nobody noticed as the trio pulled themselves up onto the deck. All eyes were trained on the bridge of the boat, where their fearsome leader stood at the railings

“对…“不完全是最好的消息，”猫脸低声对托托说。 “是的，我能看到人影——很多人影。”忍者说。 “他们和我想的一样吗？”“恐怕是这样，”她那只老鼠的朋友回答说。 全船的人都聚集在甲板上。 那里有成百上千的猫、老鼠和狗，形状各异，大小不一。 他们穿着相似的服装：条纹上衣或旧海军大衣，戴着帽子或头巾。 他们看起来很强硬，很刻薄，好像他们知道如何战斗。 幸运的是，当三人爬上甲板时，没有人注意到。 所有的目光都集中在船桥上，他们可怕的首领站在栏杆旁

preparing to address his crew. He was flanked by several other big cats including Elias and a pair of shifty-looking Siamese cats, but it was clear who was in charge. He wore an enormous velvet top hat and a spectacular black cape that flapped in the sea breeze. At his waist, a black scabbard hung from a sword belt and the steel hilt of his rapier was just visible glistening in the moonlight. His face was black with a white nose and whiskers. It had to be... ARCHDUKE FERDICAT! 'Wow, he looks incredible,' Silver whispered, as he explained the scene to Toto. 'I would not want to fight this guy, he looks like he means business!

准备对他的船员讲话。 他身边还有其他几只大型猫科动物，包括伊莱亚斯和一对躲躲闪闪的暹罗猫，但很明显谁是主人。 他戴着一顶巨大的天鹅绒大礼帽，披着一件在海风中飘动的壮观的黑色斗篷。 他腰间的剑带上挂着一把黑色的鞘，剑柄的钢柄在月光下闪闪发光。 他的脸是黑色的，鼻子和胡须是白色的。 一定是……大公FERDICAT !“哇，他看起来不可思议，”西尔弗向托托解释这一幕时，低声说。 “我不想和这个家伙打架，他看起来是认真的！”

'Hmm I love that outfit,' added Catface. 'I must find out where he got that cape.' 'NOT HELPING,' hissed Toto at the other two. 'Look, here's the plan: when he

“嗯，我喜欢这身打扮，”猫脸补充道。 “我必须找出他从哪儿弄到那件斗篷的。“没有帮助，”托托对另外两个嘶嘶地说。 “听着，计划是这样的：当他

starts talking we use that as a distraction. Stick to the side of the ship and make for the wheelhouse. Then we turn this thing back to the docks. Where hopefully Larry should be waiting with back-up... Let's go. The ship was now at the mouth of the Thames and heading out to sea. The wind was beginning to pick up and a storm was building on the dark horizon. Spray was starting to cover the deck as the ship steamed into the waves. The kittens and Catface slowly shuffled round the edge of the crowd as the commanding cat started to address his crew. 'My dear cut-throats, smugglers, pirates and robbers, thank you for your hard work

开始说话，我们用它来分散注意力。 站在船舷上，向驾驶室走去。 然后我们把这东西转回码头。 拉里应该在那里等着后援… 我们走吧。这艘船现在已经到了泰晤士河口，正驶向大海。 风开始变大了，在黑暗的地平线上，一场暴风雨正在形成。 当轮船驶入波涛时，浪花开始覆盖甲板。 小猫们和猫脸慢慢地绕着人群的边缘挪动着，这只发号施令的猫开始对它的船员们讲话。 “我亲爱的杀人犯、走私者、海盗和强盗，感谢你们的辛勤工作