62 The Conduit

62 The Conduit "Oh, yes! Stanley!" squawked Rockwell. "The bloke we saw at the gallery earlier? The one with the little white beard that Mrs M told us all ab—" "Go on, Leo," interrupted Peanut. "He's an amazing man," continued her brother. As brave as a lion, and so supportive. He really helped me when I had no one else to turn to." "So, when you first went to the gallery and found him, what happened?" asked Peanut. "Well, first, he asked me a few questions, just to check that I was who I said I was. As soon as I mentioned Dad's name and the word "Chroma", he trusted me." "So did he know where Dad was?"

62 情报管道 “哦，没错！ “斯坦利！”罗克韦尔嘎嘎叫道。 “就是我们刚才在画廊看到的那个家伙？ “就是M夫人跟我们说了一大堆的那个长小白胡子的——” “继续说啊，利奥，”皮纳特打断了他。 “他是个特别了不起的人，”利奥继续说道。 勇敢得像头狮子，还总愿意帮忙。 我走投无路的时候，真的全靠他帮忙。” “那你第一次去画廊找他的时候，发生了什么呀？”皮纳特问道。 “唔，一开始他问了我几个问题，就是确认我是不是我说的那个身份。 我一提到爸爸的名字，还有“克罗玛”这个词，他就相信我了。” “那他知道爸爸在哪里吗？”

"Kind of," said Leo. "He knew he'd been captured. He had a contact who had seen some intel that said Dad had been taken prisoner by, weirdly, the Mayor of Chroma!" "Mr White," said Peanut. "He's the man who has taken Mum hostage." "Hang on, hasn't she gone to Italy with Mr Stone?" said Leo, confused. "Yes," said Peanut. "Oh, it's very complicated, but basically we think Mr Stone and Mr White are the same person." "The same person?" said Leo. "So you're telling me that Mum's boss, that short fella with the oily hair, is also the mayor of a city which only exists in a different dimension? And that he's been keeping Dad prisoner?" "Yes." "Right. Fair enough." Listen, I'll explain everything later, I promise. Finish telling us what happened with Stanley first. "I am having the weirdest day," said Leo. "OK. Where was I? Ah yes, so when Stanley told me that Dad was in prison, that's when we put the emergency plan into operation." "The emergency plan?" "Yes, Apparently, Dad and Stanley were members of some sort of freedom-fighting group in Chroma. "The Resistance," said Rockwell. "That's the one. And Dad and Stanley had this thing

“算是知道吧，”利奥说。 “他知道爸爸被抓走了。 他有个线人拿到情报，说抓爸爸的居然是克罗玛的市长！” “就是怀特先生，”皮纳特说。 “就是他抓走了我妈妈当人质。” “等等，她不是跟斯通先生去意大利了吗？”利奥困惑地说。 “没错，”皮纳特说。 “哎呀，这事说来话长，简单说我们觉得斯通先生和怀特先生是同一个人。” “同一个人？”利奥说。 “所以你是说，我妈妈那个矮个子、头发油乎乎的老板，居然还是另一个维度里的城市的市长？ 还是他抓了我爸爸关起来？” “没错。” “行吧。 说得通。” 听着，我保证之后会把所有事都讲清楚。 先把斯坦利那边的事说完。 “我今天可真是遇到一堆怪事，”利奥说。 “好吧。 我说到哪儿了？ 哦对了，斯坦利告诉我爸爸被关起来之后，我们就启动了紧急计划。” “紧急计划？” “对，原来爸爸和斯坦利都是克罗玛某个自由抗争组织的成员， “是抵抗组织，”罗克韦尔说。 “就是这个。 爸爸和斯坦利定了个规矩

where if one of them was captured, they'd set up a secret line of communication so that news of their whereabouts or their well-being could be passed on to their loved ones. You just need to establish a conduit. "What do you mean a conduit?" said Rockwell. "Something, or someone, that passes information from one place or person to another. Secretly, in this case." "So Stanley became the conduit?" said Peanut. "Exactly," said Leo. "He was the link between what was happening in Chroma and what was happening here." "What did he tell you?" "Nothing. Not for a long time, anyway. I had to go to the gallery once a week, check in with him and see if there was any news. This went on for a whole year, and he didn't once have anything to tell me. As far as we knew, Dad was just sitting in a cell somewhere. And then, about three months ago, it changed. "Three months ago. That was just after our first trip to Chroma," said Rockwell to Peanut. This threw Leo slightly. "Wait, you've been to Chroma?" he said, shocked. "Hang on. Is that what that weird door thing was all about?" "Yes. But again, I'll fill you in later," said Peanut. "Carry on." "Er, as I was saying," said Leo, "about three months ago it changed. Stanley had something for me." "What was it?"

就是如果他们其中一个被抓了，就要建一条秘密通讯线，把自己的下落和安危消息传给家人。 只要先建好情报管道就行。 “你说情报管道是什么意思？”罗克韦尔说。 “就是某样东西，或者某个人，把信息从一个地方传给另一个地方，从一个人传给另一个人。 这次就是偷偷传信。” “所以斯坦利就是这个情报管道？”皮纳特说。 “没错，”利奥说。 “他就是连接克罗玛和我们这边的纽带。” “他告诉你什么了？” “什么都没说。 反正最开始好长一段时间都没消息。 我得每周去一次画廊，找他登记，看看有没有新消息。 这样整整过了一年，他一次都没有消息带给我。 我们那时候只知道爸爸被关在某个地方的牢房里。 然后大概三个月前，情况变了。 “三个月前。 那正好是我们第一次去克罗玛回来之后，”罗克韦尔对皮纳特说。 这话让利奥有点懵。 “等等，你们去过克罗玛？” 他惊讶地说道。 “等一下。 那扇奇怪的门就是这么回事对不对？” “没错。 不过我还是之后再跟你细说，”皮纳特说。 “你继续说。” “呃，我刚才说到，”利奥说，“大概三个月前情况变了。 斯坦利有东西给我了。” “是什么东西？”

A Post-it note. With a strange drawing on it. A thick, black L-shape. It also had a little handwritten message saying "Love you forever", followed by a kiss. And it was in Dad's handwriting! I couldn't believe it!" Rockwell walked over to Peanut's wardrobe, found the note, peeled it from the door and held it up to show Leo. "You mean this?"

是一张便利贴。 上面画了个奇怪的图案。 一个粗粗的黑色L形。 上面还写了一行小字“永远爱你”，后面画了一个亲亲。 而且那就是爸爸的笔迹！ 我当时简直不敢相信！” 罗克韦尔走到皮纳特的衣柜旁，找出那张便利贴，把它从柜门揭下来，举起来给利奥看。 “你说的是这个吗？”