73 THE CHASE

CHAPTER 73 THE CHASE RECO 1 was standing in the Great Meadow. He stared up at the smoking hill of ash and then down at the stampede of footprints around it. There had been a large bonfire with hundreds of animals and one robot. But why? The RECO couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. After thoroughly exploring the site, he continued through the meadow and into the forest. It was around that time that he lost communication with RECO 3, then RECO 2, and he knew that his partners had both been destroyed. RECO 1 would have to hunt down the target by himself. The hunter marched on. His blocky head swiveled from side to side, scanning for any sign of Roz. He was soon gazing across the glassy surface of a beaver pond. On the far side, a thread of smoke drifted up from another of those wooden domes. With his powerful legs, the robot launched himself up through

第七十三章追捕我正站在大草地上。 他抬头看了看冒着烟的灰烬山，然后又低头看了看周围一片踩踏的脚印。 那里有一个巨大的篝火，有数百只动物和一个机器人。 但是为什么呢?侦察官无法理解他所看到的。 在彻底勘察了这个地方之后，他继续穿过草地，进入森林。 就在那个时候，他失去了与RECO 3和RECO 2的联系，他知道他的搭档都被摧毁了。 侦察组1必须独自追捕目标。 猎人继续前进。他那粗大的脑袋左右转动着，寻找着罗兹的踪迹。 他很快就看到了海狸池塘玻璃般的水面。 在远处，一缕烟雾从另一个木制圆顶上飘起。 机器人用他有力的腿，爬了上去

the air, soaring in a high, graceful arc over the pond and down to the other side. His heavy feet slammed into the ground, leaving deep craters in the garden by the dome. He hunched over and looked inside. Fur and feathers and the dying coals of a fire. But the target wasn't in there. The RECO stood perfectly still and watched as a soft rain started dripping down through the tiers of the forest. And then he sensed it. Up in the canopy was something that didn't belong. Roz had been spotted. The hunter watched his target drop from branch to branch, down to the forest floor. Then she bounded away through the thickly tangled underbrush without stirring a leaf, without snapping a twig, and vanished into the green. However, RECO 1 had other means of tracking her. He could sense her electronic signal. The signal was gliding around the edge of the pond. But it was fading fast. A few more seconds and he would lose it entirely. RECO 1 burst into a sprint. The forest seemed to sway and quake from his stomping strides. And a minute later, the forest really did begin to move. Trees were toppling down onto the RECO. He fired

空气在池塘上空盘旋，形成一个优美的弧线，一直飘到池塘的另一边。 他沉重的脚重重地踩在地上，在圆顶旁边的花园里留下了深深的坑。 他弯下腰往里看。 皮毛和羽毛，还有即将熄灭的火炭。 但目标不在里面。 侦察兵一动不动地站着，看着一场细雨开始从层层叠叠的森林中滴落下来。 然后他感觉到了。在树冠上有一些不属于这里的东西。 罗兹被发现了。猎人看着他的目标从一根树枝落到另一根树枝上，最后落到森林的地面上。 然后，她跳着穿过茂密纠结的灌木丛，没有搅动一片树叶，也没有折断一根小树枝，消失在绿色中。 然而，侦察组1有其他追踪她的方法。 他能感觉到她的电子信号。 信号在池塘边飘过。 但它正在迅速消退。再过几秒钟，他就会完全失去理智。 RECO 1突然开始冲刺。 森林似乎在他的脚步中摇摆和震动。 一分钟后，森林真的开始移动了。 树木纷纷倒在空地上。 他解雇了

his rifle, and two toppling trees turned to ash. But then a third swung down through the smoke and hammered his body into the ground. RECO 1 shoved the tree aside, pulled himself up, and continued the hunt. He didn't notice the beavers diving back into the pond. RECO 1 tore through brambles and leaped over boulders, and suddenly the ground was caving beneath him. Down he fell into a deep pit, crashing against the bottom and twisting his leg. The robot violently pounded his leg back into shape. Then he launched himself up and out of the pit. He didn't notice the groundhogs watching from their tunnels. The hunter faced one trap after another. He was pelted with flaming pinecones, and tripped by taut vines, and crunched by tumbling rocks. The hunter now limped and rattled and was covered in scars. But he kept going. Roz galloped back and forth across the island, again and again, as she tried to lose RECO 1. But no matter how fast she ran, or how well she hid, or how many animals helped, she couldn't escape the sound of the hunter's stomping footsteps. She had never run so hard for so long. And while her mechanical body

他的步枪和两棵倒下的树都化成了灰烬。 但接着，第三个人从烟雾中冲了下来，把他的身体撞到了地上。 侦察兵1号把树推到一边，爬了起来，继续搜寻。 他没有注意到海狸们又回到了池塘里。 侦察兵1穿过荆棘，跳过巨石，突然脚下的地面塌陷了。 他掉到一个深坑里，撞在坑底，扭了一条腿。 机器人猛烈地捶打他的腿，使其恢复原状。 然后他跳了起来，跳出了坑。 他没有注意到土拨鼠在隧道里监视他。 猎人面对一个又一个陷阱。 他被燃烧的松果击中，被绷紧的藤蔓绊倒，被滚落的岩石砸得嘎吱作响。 猎人现在一瘸一拐，浑身嘎嘎作响，伤痕累累。 但他坚持了下来。罗兹在岛上来回疾驰，一次又一次，她试图甩掉RECO 1。 但无论她跑得多快，藏得多好，或者有多少动物帮助她，她都无法逃脱猎人的脚步声。 她从来没有这样拼命地跑过这么长时间。 而她的机械身体

was holding up, her wooden foot was not. After hours of relentless pounding, it finally gave out. She was galloping through the rocky forest by the sea cliffs when her foot splintered apart. As soon as RECO 1 found the fresh wooden splinters, he knew his target was in trouble. He stomped out from the trees, onto the clifftop, and scanned the coastline below. Geese were flying down through the drizzle. Otters were wriggling over the rocks. Seaweed and driftwood and broken robot parts were scattered about the shore. But the hunter also sensed a faint electronic signal. Roz was down there somewhere.

她的木脚撑得住，却撑不住。 经过几个小时无情的敲打，它终于垮了。 她在海边悬崖边的岩石森林中疾驰而过，这时她的脚断了。 侦察组一发现新木片，他就知道目标有麻烦了。 他踏着脚步走出树林，来到悬崖顶上，扫视着下面的海岸线。 鹅在细雨中飞了下来。 水獭在岩石上蠕动着。 海草、浮木和破碎的机器人部件散落在岸边。 但猎人也感觉到一个微弱的电子信号。 罗兹在下面的某个地方。

The hunter's blocky hand clamped onto the clifftop and then—thwip—it detached. The hand was connected to a strong cable that spooled out from the end of his arm. He gave the cable two quick tugs, and then he stepped off the ledge. RECO 1 zipped down the cliffside, one arm releasing cable, the other clutching his rifle, and he slowed to a gentle stop just as he reached the ground. Then, high above, the robot's hand unclamped and followed the cable all the way down, until—thwip—it snapped right back onto the end of his arm. Geese squawked and otters squeaked as RECO 1 marched through the robot gravesite. The place was littered with torsos and limbs and heads. They were all valuable parts, but he would collect them later. For now, his only concern was finding Roz. He followed the electronic signal over to a clump of seaweed. But where was his target? Was RECO 1's sensor malfunctioning? The robot tapped his head a few times, but the mysterious signal remained. He looked around for any other signs of her. And as he did, the clump of seaweed reached up and grasped his rifle.

猎人那只粗壮的手紧紧抓住悬崖，然后猛地松开了。 那只手被一根结实的缆绳连接着，这根缆绳从他的手臂末端绕了出来。 他迅速拉了两下缆绳，然后走下了壁架。 RECO 1从悬崖边滑下，一只手松开缆绳，另一只手抓着他的步枪，就在他到达地面时，他放慢了速度，轻轻地停了下来。 然后，在高处，机器人的手松开了，沿着电缆一路向下，直到它啪的一声回到了他的手臂末端。 当RECO 1穿过机器人墓地时，鹅叫着，水獭叫着。 这个地方到处都是躯干、四肢和头颅。 这些都是有价值的零件，但他以后会把它们收集起来。 现在，他唯一关心的是找到罗兹。 他跟着电子信号走到一丛海藻前。 但他的目标在哪里？RECO 1的传感器故障了吗？ 机器人敲了几下他的头，但神秘的信号仍然存在。 他环顾四周，寻找她的其他踪迹。 就在他这么做的时候，那丛海藻伸出手来抓住了他的步枪。