55 THE ATTACK

CHAPTER 55 THE ATTACK Wide mountain meadows made the robot nervous. While hiking through them, she felt exposed and easy to spot. Camouflage helped, but it was hard not to notice a walking clump of wildflowers. Especially one accompanied by a goose. And it was in one of those wide meadows that trouble caught up with our friends. From the corner of her eye, Roz sensed movement. She turned but saw only tall grass blowing in the breeze. Then a twig snapped, but the sound was swallowed by a distant roll of thunder. It wasn't until the wind changed and a musky scent wafted by that the robot understood the danger. "I smell wolves," whispered Roz. Brightbill's eyes grew big and round, and he whispered back, "What should we do?" Before Roz could reply, two wolves leaped out from the brush. They charged toward the robot,

第五十五章攻击宽阔的山间草地使机器人紧张不安。 当她徒步穿过它们时，她觉得自己暴露在外，很容易被发现。 伪装有帮助，但很难不注意到一丛野花。 尤指有鹅陪伴的人。 就在其中一片宽阔的草地上，我们的朋友们遇到了麻烦。 从她的眼角，罗兹感觉到有动静。 她转过身，却只看到高高的草在微风中摇曳。 接着，一根小树枝折断了，但这声音被远处隆隆的雷声淹没了。 直到风向变了，一股麝香的气味飘过，机器人才意识到危险。 “我闻到了狼的味道。”罗兹低声说。 亮比尔的眼睛变得又大又圆，他小声回答：“我们该怎么办？”罗兹还没来得及回答，两只狼从灌木丛中跳出来。 他们冲向机器人，

snarling and snapping their jaws. Roz heaved her son toward the sky so that he could fly to safety, and then she burst into a sprint. The robot zigged and zagged across the meadow, trying to shake off the wolves. But when she dashed through a patch of soft ground, she slipped and toppled into the grass. The wolves quickly surrounded their prey, heads low, ears drawn back, deep growls rumbling through their teeth. "Remember us, Roz?" said the huge male with the scar. "Hello again, Shadow," said the robot, slowly getting to her feet. "And I believe your name is Barb." "You have a good memory," said the female wolf. "Actually, I have a perfect memory," said the robot. "And yet you've forgotten your rifle." A toothy smile appeared on Shadow's face. "You aren't so tough without your rifle, are you?" Barb sniffed the breeze. "Where's your pet goose?" And then she saw Brightbill perched in a lone tree in the middle of the meadow. "He is not my pet," said Roz. "He is my son." Shadow chuckled. "We've heard the stories about

咆哮着撕咬着它们的下巴。 罗兹把儿子举向天空，好让他飞到安全的地方，然后她开始冲刺。 机器人在草地上弯弯曲曲地走着，试图摆脱狼群。 但当她冲过一块松软的土地时，她滑倒在草地上。 狼群迅速围住了猎物，低着头，缩着耳朵，嘴里发出低沉的咆哮。 “还记得我们吗，罗兹？”那个带着伤疤的大块头男人说。 “你好，影子。”机器人说着，慢慢站了起来。 “我相信你的名字是芭布。” “你的记忆力真好，”母狼说。 “事实上，我的记忆力很好，”机器人说。 “可是你忘了带步枪。” 影子的脸上露出了露齿的微笑。 “你没有来复枪就不那么厉害了吧？”巴布嗅着微风。 “你的宠物鹅呢？”然后她看见布莱特比尔栖息在草地中央的一棵孤零零的树上。 “他不是我的宠物，”罗兹说。 “他是我儿子。”影子咯咯地笑了。 “我们听说过关于

the robot mother and her son, the goose. They're very touching." He turned and barked, "Join us, Brightbill! We'd love to meet you up close!" "Stay where you are, son!" hollered Roz. "I will take care of them!" "You'll take care of us?" growled Shadow. "No, Barb and I will take care of you." The robot's computer brain hummed as it tried to make a plan. The wolves were stalking toward her—any second now they would attack! Roz had to do something, anything, so she stalled. "Shadow, Barb, is it just the two of you?" Roz scanned the meadow and saw no other wolves. "Where is the rest of your pack?" Well, that was the wrong question to ask, because the fur on Shadow's back stood up and he snarled, "This is my pack now!" Then the wolves pounced. But Roz wasn't there. With all the strength in her legs, the robot launched herself up and away, and now she was soaring through the air in a long, graceful arc. Once her feet stomped back to the ground, she launched herself up and away again. With giant, arcing strides, the robot bounded across the meadow in the direction of her son.

机器人妈妈和她的儿子，鹅。 它们非常感人。”他转身叫道：“加入我们，布莱特比尔！我们很想近距离见到你！”“待在那儿别动，孩子！”罗兹喊道。 “我会照顾他们的！”“你会照顾我们吗？” “不，我和芭布会照顾你的。” 机器人的计算机大脑嗡嗡作响，试图制定计划。 狼群正在向她逼近——现在它们随时都可能攻击她！罗兹必须做点什么，任何事，所以她拖延了。 “影子，巴布，只有你们两个吗？”罗兹扫视了一下草地，没有看到别的狼。 “你族群里的其他人呢？”嗯，这是个错误的问题，因为影子背上的毛站了起来，咆哮道：“现在这是我的族群了！”接着，狼群猛扑过来。 但是罗兹不在那里。机器人用双腿的全部力量把自己推了起来，然后飞走了，现在她在空中飞出了一个长长的、优雅的弧线。 她的脚一踏回地面，她就跳起来又走了。 机器人迈着巨大的弧线大步，越过草地朝她儿子的方向跑去。

At first, the wolves were baffled by the robot's strange escape. But they were expert hunters. They raced after her, studying her closely, watching where she landed. And when Roz made her final leap toward Brightbill's tree, a heavy paw knocked her off balance. She tumbled through the air and slammed against the trunk. Leaves shook loose, dead branches crashed down, but the robot held tight to the tree. "Are you okay, Ma?" said the goose as he fluttered to his mother's side. "Just some light scrapes," said the robot, and she pulled herself onto a sturdy branch. Below the tree, the wolves were howling with laughter. "Nice try, Roz!" said Shadow. "But you can't outrun us. Wolves are built for chasing!"

起初，狼对机器人的奇怪逃脱感到困惑。 但他们是专业的猎人。 他们跟在她后面，仔细研究她，看着她落在哪里。 当罗兹最后一次跳到布莱特比尔的树上时，一只沉重的爪子把她撞得失去了平衡。 她在空中翻滚，重重地撞在箱子上。 树叶抖散了，枯枝倒了下来，但机器人紧紧地抓着树。 “你还好吗，妈妈？”母鹅说着飞到妈妈身边。 “只是一些轻微的擦伤，”机器人说，她爬上了一根结实的树枝。 树下，狼群在狂笑。 “好样的，罗兹！”影子说。 “但你跑不过我们。狼是为追逐而生的！”

"You are wasting your time," said the robot. "You cannot eat me, and you will never catch my son." "You still don't get it, Roz," growled the wolf. "I'm not hunting you for food. I'm hunting you for revenge."

“你在浪费时间，”机器人说。 “你不能吃我，你永远也抓不到我的儿子。” “你还是不明白，罗兹。”狼咆哮道。 “我不是为了食物而猎杀你。 我是来找你报仇的。”