62 THE SHOWDOWN

CHAPTER 62 THE SHOWDOWN Daybreak in the foothills, and thick gray fog was everywhere. With such poor visibility, the travelers relied on their other senses. They smelled salty air. They felt sandy soil. They heard seagulls screeching and waves breaking. And then they heard the long, low note of a ship's horn. Hmmmmmmm. Somewhere in the distance, hidden by the fog, was the ocean. As if to answer the ship, there came another long, low note. But it wasn't a horn, it was a howl. A wolf was following our friends. Brightbill beat his wings and squawked, "Mama, run!" Roz ran downhill, deeper into the gloom. Her feet stomped the sandy soil, leaving behind a trail of footprints. There was no time to hide her tracks, so she just kept running. Blurry shapes faded in and out of the fog, and her eyes darted around to see if they were rocks or bushes or wolves. But the robot should

第六十二章决战山脚上天亮了，到处都是厚厚的灰雾。 在如此低的能见度下，旅行者依靠他们的其他感官。 他们闻到了咸空气。他们摸到了沙土。 他们听到海鸥的尖叫声和海浪的破碎声。 接着，他们听到了一声长长的、低沉的船号声。 Hmmmmmmm。在远处的某个地方，被雾遮住的是海洋。 仿佛是在回答那艘船，又传来了一个长长的、低沉的声音。 但那不是号角，而是嚎叫。 一只狼在跟踪我们的朋友。 Brightbill拍打着翅膀叫道：“妈妈，快跑！”罗兹向山下跑去，走进了更深的黑暗。 她的脚踩在沙土上，留下一串脚印。 没有时间隐藏她的踪迹，所以她一直在跑。 模糊的身影在雾中忽隐忽现，她的眼睛四处扫视，看是石头、灌木丛还是狼。 但是机器人应该

have watched where she was going. She slipped and thumped into the sand, and before she could get up, Shadow was on top of her. The wolf was heavy and strong. He pinned Roz to the ground and locked his teeth onto her tool belt. At last, he had caught his prey! Violently, wildly, he thrashed the robot from side to side. Roz tried to squirm free, but Shadow's grip was tight. There was only one thing to do. She reached down beside the wolf's snarling jaws and fumbled with the buckle, and suddenly she was loose. Shadow staggered backward, the belt dangling from his mouth, as Roz stomped away. Brightbill had been circling overhead this whole time and now he squawked desperate warnings to his mother. "Look out for those rocks!" "Shadow is gaining on you!" "There are buildings ahead!" Roz burst through a row of hedges and onto the main street of a seaside village. It was still early, and it was still foggy, and Roz was halfway through the

我注意到了她要去的地方。 她滑倒在沙滩上，还没来得及站起来，影子就压在了她身上。 狼又重又壮。 他把罗兹按倒在地，用牙齿咬住她的工具带。 他终于抓住了他的猎物！他猛烈地、疯狂地把机器人从一边打到另一边。 罗兹想挣脱，但影子抓得太紧了。 只有一件事可做。 她把手伸到狼咆哮的大嘴旁，摸索着皮带扣，突然她被解开了。 影子踉踉跄跄地向后退去，腰带在嘴里晃来晃去，罗兹跺着脚走开了。 布莱特比尔一直在头顶盘旋，现在他绝望地尖叫着向妈妈发出警告。 “小心那些岩石！”“你被阴影笼罩了！”“前面有建筑物！”罗兹冲出一排树篱，来到一个海边村庄的主要街道上。 时间还早，雾还没散，罗兹已经走了一半

village before anyone saw her. A man had just left for his morning walk when the robot and the wolf came galloping down the street. The man decided his walk could wait, and he hurried back inside. Shadow swiped at Roz's heels, but the robot leaped away. She soared over a house and landed on the other side. The wolf dashed around the yard, only to see her leaping away once more. This time Roz landed in shallow water. Waves gently sloshed against her ankles. The robot backed into the ocean, up to her waist, and then automatically stopped. Her Survival Instincts wouldn't let her go any farther. "There's nowhere left to run," Shadow growled as he prowled onto the beach. "Either fight or swim." Roz was trapped. Her body lurched forward and backward as her computer brain struggled to find an escape. And then Brightbill came to her rescue. "This way, Mama!" Roz didn't hesitate. She launched herself up from the shallows, toward her son's voice. Salt water streamed off her body as she soared through the air. Then her feet pounded into the sand beside Brightbill, who was perched atop an old rowboat.

没人看见她就离开了村庄。 当机器人和狼沿着街道疾驰而来的时候，一个男人刚刚离开去散步。 那人决定先缓一缓，赶紧跑回屋里。 影子追上了罗兹的脚跟，但机器人跳开了。 她飞过一座房子，落在另一边。 狼绕着院子跑了一圈，却看到她又一次跳开了。 这次罗兹落在了浅水区。 海浪轻轻地拍打着她的脚踝。 机器人退到海中，深及她的腰部，然后自动停止。 她的生存本能不会让她走得更远。 “没有地方可逃了。”黑影咆哮着向海滩走去。 “要么打，要么游。”罗兹被困住了。 她的身体前后摇晃，她的电脑大脑挣扎着寻找出路。 然后布莱特比尔来救她了。 “这边走，妈妈！”罗兹没有犹豫。 她从浅滩上跳了起来，朝着她儿子的声音走去。 当她在空中翱翔时，咸水从她身上流出。 然后她的脚踩在布莱特比尔旁边的沙滩上，布莱特比尔坐在一艘旧划艇上。

By the time Shadow arrived, our friends were rowing away from shore. The wolf's face twisted with rage, and he howled from the water's edge. "You made a fool of me, Roz! My pack and my mate have left me! Now I'm just a worthless lone wolf! All because of you!" Roz felt sorry for Shadow. She never meant for any of this to happen. But she had her own troubles. The robot's greatest fear was deep water, and now she was paddling through the waves and out to sea.

“影子”来的时候，我们的朋友们已经划船离开了海岸。 狼气得脸都扭曲了，在水边嚎叫。 “你愚弄了我，罗兹！”我的族群和同伴都离开我了！现在我只是一只毫无价值的独狼！都是因为你！”罗兹为影子感到难过。 她从没想过这一切会发生。 但她也有自己的烦恼。 机器人最害怕的是深水，现在她正划着桨穿过海浪，驶向大海。