双语漫威故事《钢铁侠》 第七章

Chapter　7

第七章

 

“ETA, J.A.R.V.I.S.?” asked Tony, sweating inside his armor despite the temperature control.

“预计到达时间，贾维斯？”托尼问道，尽管控制了温度，穿着盔甲，还是流着汗。

 

“Estimated time of arrival three minutes, three seconds,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

“预计到达时间为三分三秒。”贾维斯答道。

 

Tony checked his visual scanners as he skimmed the surface of the Atlantic Ocean—low enough to evade any A.I.M. radar. Almost as if on cue, A.I.M. Island appeared on the horizon.

托尼在掠过大西洋表面时，顺便检查了下他的视觉扫描器——低到足以躲避任何先锋科技的电磁雷达。几乎就在这时，先锋科技岛出现在地平线上。

 

“Let's go for a swim, J.A.R.V.I.S.,” said Tony. In response, J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately prepped the armor for underwater maneuvers. All openings were sealed; carbon dioxide exhaust ports were activated.

“贾维斯，去游个泳吧。”托尼说。作为回应，贾维斯立刻将盔甲转换为水下装置，封住了所有出口，并且启动了二氧化碳排气口。

 

Tony plunged into the ocean.

托尼潜入海洋里。

 

Why did I snap at Cap back there? he thought.

“为什么我在那要突然打断队长呢？”他心想。

 

Tiny caterpillar drives—silent engines—turned in Tony's boots, propelling him toward A.I.M. Island with stunning speed. In the quiet ocean void, Tony gave himself over to his thoughts. I wasn't angry with him. I was angry with myself. None of this is his fault. If I hadn't built the generator in the first place, those aliens wouldn't be trying to take over the earth. And M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. wouldn't be helping them.

微小的履带推进器——静音引擎——在托尼的靴子中运作着,推着他以惊人的速度前往先锋科技岛。在安静的海洋虚空中，托尼陷入了沉思。“我没有生他的气。我只是生自己的气。他什么错都没有。如果一开始我没有发明生成器，这些外星生物就不会试图控制地球。魔多客和先锋科技也不会帮助他们。”

 

Once again, Tony was overwhelmed with guilt. How could he continue to invent advanced technologies but also guarantee they would be used only for good and not evil—to help others, not hurt them?

托尼又一次深感愧疚。他怎么才能够继续发明先进科技，并且保证它们可以用来造福人类，而不是供坏人作恶，伤害人类呢？

 

He checked his oxygen supply—85 percent. So far, so good. The armor's motion detectors revealed three objects circling in the distance. Sharks, maybe? But J.A.R.V.I.S. hadn't detected any life-forms. Robot sharks, I bet. Of course A.I.M. would have robot sharks. Why didn't I listen to Cap instead of running off on my own?

他检查了自己的供氧系统——百分之八十五。目前为止，还很充足。盔甲的移动探测器检测到有三个物体在远处盘旋。也许是鲨鱼？但是贾维斯没有探测到任何生命形式。“我打赌是机器人鲨鱼。当然先锋科技会有机器人鲨鱼。为什么我没有听队长的建议，要自己单独行动呢？”

 

Tony activated his armor's underwater countermeasures, and several small robotic beacons ejected from his shoulder launcher. Each mimicked the sounds of Tony's armor and drew two of the robot sharks away. The third shark was hungry . . . for metal! It attacked Tony from below and almost swallowed him whole! The metal teeth ground against his armor, and his suit began to fizzle and cave in on him. Tony quickly grabbed the robotic jaws and activated his elbow thrusters, tearing the metal mouth in two.

托尼启动了盔甲的水下应对装置，几个小的机器信标从他的肩扛发射器中射出。每一个都模仿托尼盔甲的声音，将两个机器人鲨鱼引开了。第三个鲨鱼对……金属极其渴望！它从底部攻击托尼，几乎要把他整个吞入口中。金属牙齿紧贴着他的盔甲，他的衣服开始发出嘶嘶声，向内塌陷。托尼迅速抓住机器人下颚，并激活了他的肘部推进器，将它的金属嘴撕成两半。

 

Really? Tony thought. I almost bit the bullet because of a robo-fish? He rocketed like a torpedo toward his destination.

“真的吗？”托尼心想，“仅仅一个机器鱼就几乎让我遭受了巨大的痛苦？”他像鱼雷一样向目的地疾驰。

 

Beneath the ocean, A.I.M. Island looked like a large geodesic dome constructed of foreign materials—nothing like the islands Tony was used to vacationing at.

在海洋之下，先锋科技岛形似由异域材料建成的大型网格状球顶，一点也不像托尼之前度假的岛屿。

 

This is where Cap would say, “We need a plan. We need to act as a team,” thought Tony. And here I am with neither. Well done, Stark, well done.

“这就是队长所说的，‘我们需要一个计划。我们需要团队作战。’”托尼想，“现在我一个人在这，既没有计划也没有团队。很好，斯塔克，这很好。”

 

“Okay,” Tony said to himself, “time to make a door.”

“好的，”托尼对自己说，“是时候造个门了。”

 

“They kind of give me the creeps,” said the A.I.M. agent with a shudder. She stood with another agent at the door of a large control room.

“他们有点让我毛骨悚然。”先锋科技的特工打了个寒战说。她和另一位特工站在巨大的控制室门口。

 

“Shhhh,” the second agent replied softly. “Don't let the boss hear you talking like that!”

“嘘，”第二位特工轻声回答，“不要让老板听到你这样说！”

 

ZAAAAAAK! The wall ripped open, torn apart by a massive repulsor blast! In rushed a torrent of seawater and, along with it, Iron Man! The agents were knocked unconscious. An alarm wailed for only a second before it was silenced by Iron Man's repulsor.

咔——咔！墙被一束巨大的冲击光束劈开了！冲进来一股海水，还有钢铁侠！特工们被打昏了。警报仅仅响了一秒钟，就被钢铁侠的冲击光束关闭了。

 

Let's hope I didn't wake anybody up, he thought.

“希望我没有吵醒任何人。”他想。

 

Within minutes, the wall had resealed, leaving no sign of Iron Man's entrance. “Self-healing polymer walls,” said Tony. “We'll have to look into those for Stark Tower. Save a fortune every time the Hulk busts a wall.”

几分钟后，墙壁自动恢复原样，丝毫看不出钢铁侠的入侵。“自我修复高分子墙壁。”托尼说，“我们要将它用在斯塔克大楼上，这样每次绿巨人撞坏墙，都可以省下一笔钱。”

 

Iron Man was inside A.I.M.'s hidden base, in a corridor. Activating his boot jets, Tony took off, continuing to follow M.O.D.O.K.'s energy signature.

钢铁侠进入先锋科技秘密基地内的通道。托尼激活他的靴子喷射器，飞了起来，继续跟踪魔多客能量标记。

 

The master control room is enormous, Tony thought. He was up in an air shaft, looking down at the room through a grate. He saw an assembly of A.I.M. agents—all armed—surrounding an enormous duplicate Cosmic Bridge Generator.

“主控室很大。”托尼心想。他在一个通风井上方，通过格栅看向这个房间。他看见一场先锋科技特工会议——全都全副武装——围绕着一个巨大的宇宙连接生成器的复制品。

 

“You are too cautious,” said a spine-chilling voice.

“你太小心翼翼了。”一个令人毛骨悚然的声音说道。

 

“And you are not cautious enough!” came the reply, silencing everyone in the room.

“而你太不小心了！”另一个声音答道，房间里每个人都安静下来。

 

Tony took a second to place the first voice, but he knew the second one. . . . M.O.D.O.K.

托尼花了一些时间来确定第一个声音来源，但是他清楚第二个声音是……魔多客。

 

Iron Man smirked. He was confident he had the element of surprise. He prepared to blast through the grate, but before he could act, an explosion struck Tony's hiding spot. He fell to the floor of the master control room, hard.

钢铁侠笑了笑。他确信自己可以带来一份惊喜。他准备炸开栅栏，但是在他动手前，一次爆炸袭击了托尼的藏身之处。他重重地跌入主控室的地板上。

 

“You're late, Iron Man,” M.O.D.O.K. intoned. He almost sounded bored. “I expected you approximately thirty-four seconds ago.”

“你迟到了，钢铁侠。”魔多客缓慢地说道。他听起来很无聊。“34秒之前你就该到了。”

 

Iron Man righted himself and was greeted by the army of A.I.M. agents. Floating beside them in his hover chair was M.O.D.O.K. His head was impossibly huge and his limbs tiny, almost useless. In the center of his vast forehead was a glowing beam, the source of his immense psionic powers.

钢铁侠让自己站直，先锋科技特工军队就迎了上来。漂浮在他们周围，坐在悬停椅子上的是魔多客。他的头不可思议的大，四肢却极小，几乎无用。在他广阔前额的中央有一束发光光束，那是他巨大能量的来源。

 

“I would have been here sooner, but the traffic was terrible,” Tony joked. He tried to sound like his usual devil-may-care self, but the odds were against him. Things didn't look good for one lone Iron Man.

“我原本可以早一点到的，交通太堵了。”托尼开玩笑地说。他试图让自己听起来像往常一样无所忌惮，但是胜算对他来说并不大。当前情形对于只身前来的钢铁侠来说不太乐观。

 

M.O.D.O.K. ignored Iron Man and hovered over to the generator's control panels. Iron Man saw the familiar yellow-green blobs, their many arms reaching, grabbing, constructing. This new Cosmic Bridge Generator dwarfed the one Tony had destroyed at Outpost 13.

魔多客没有理会钢铁侠，而是盘旋到生成器控制面板上方。钢铁侠看到熟悉的黄绿色团状物，许多手臂伸出来，抢夺、构建。这个全新的宇宙连接生成器相较于托尼在13号哨所摧毁的那个有些矮小。

 

“That thing looks big enough to, I don't know, bring a whole planet of slimy, scummy creatures to Earth,” said Tony. Channeling as much power as he could to his repulsors, he unleashed a barrage of devastating blasts at the generator. Well, they should have been devastating. Unlike the generator at Outpost 13, this one was unaffected by his repulsors.

“那个东西似乎大到足以，我不知道，将整个行星的黏糊糊的生物带到地球上。”托尼说。他尽其所能转移能量至冲击光束装置，对着生成器释放出毁灭性的爆炸波。好吧，照说应该是毁灭性的。但不同于13号哨所的生成器，这个丝毫不受他冲击光束的影响。

 

One of the beasts let out a bitter laugh, then slowly shuffled its mass toward Iron Man. Its writhing arms shot out and grabbed Tony by the neck. Then, without warning, it dropped him and began to change shape.

其中一个怪物发出一声嘲笑，接着慢慢地移向钢铁侠。它伸出扭动的手臂，抓住钢铁侠的脖子，毫无预兆地把他摔下来，接着它开始改变形状。

 

Its features slowly morphed, going from altogether alien to a little more . . . familiar. Two arms, two legs. Tall. Elongated facial features. Almost human.

它的身体开始缓慢变形，从外星人转变为有些熟悉的体型。两只手臂，两条腿，高大、瘦长的面孔，几乎成为人形。

 

Something Tony had seen years before.

托尼多年前遇见过这类事。

 

“Phantoms?” said Tony in disbelief. Back when the Avengers had first joined together to fight evil, he had encountered a strange being who called himself the Space Phantom. He could change his shape to mimic almost anyone or anything. He imitated the different members of the Avengers, pitting the heroes against one another.

“幽灵？”托尼不可思议地说。他的思绪回到最开始，复仇者们齐力与恶魔作战时，他曾遇到过一个奇怪的生物，称自己为太空幽灵。它可以改变自己的形状来模仿几乎任何人任何事。它将自己仿造成不同的复仇者，让英雄们自相残杀。

 

“Yes, that is what your kind call us,” snarled the alien, its voice practically dripping with slime. “Our own world has become . . . inhospitable. But your world . . . your Earth . . . will make a glorious new home. Once you and your miserable kind have been . . . displaced.”

“是的，你们人类就是这样称呼我们的。”外星人咆哮道，它的声音几乎是黏糊糊的。“我们的世界不再适合居住。但是你们的世界，只要我们可以取代你和你们可怜的人类，你们的地球将会是我们极好的全新家园。”

 

“Slow down, sloppy joe. What about all the nice people who already live here?” Tony asked. The A.I.M. agents began to circle Iron Man. Tony's audio sensors detected the sound of their weapons heating up.

“等一等，邋遢乔。那些早就居住在这里的好人们怎么办呢？”托尼问道。先锋科技特工开始包围钢铁侠。托尼的音频传感器检测到他们启动了武器。

 

“The Phantoms shall first replace all those humans in positions of power,” M.O.D.O.K. explained. “Your Cosmic Bridge Generator will transport the Phantoms here and send their human counterparts to their destroyed home world.”

“幽灵们会首先取代那些掌权者。”魔多客解释道，“你的宇宙连接生成器会将幽灵们带至地球，将人类送到幽灵们已遭毁灭的世界。”

 

That explains why they needed the generator! Every time a Phantom imitates someone, that person is sent to the Phantom's world. But when a Phantom changes its shape again, the person returns. They would need some other method to send people away permanently . . . like the generator!

“他们需要生成器原来是因为这个！幽灵每次仿制出一个人，被仿制的人就会被送去幽灵的世界。但是当幽灵再次转变身形，这个人就会回到地球。他们需要其他方法，可以将人类永远地送走，比如利用生成器！”

 

“And what's in it for you and A.I.M.?” Tony asked M.O.D.O.K.

“那你和先锋科技会得到什么好处？”托尼问魔多客。

 

M.O.D.O.K. threw Tony a look of annoyance. “Is it not obvious? I desire complete control of this world. With the Phantoms, that goal is within my grasp.”

魔多客恼怒地看了眼托尼。“这还不够明显吗？我希望控制整个世界。有幽灵在，一切都在我掌握之中。”

 

Tony had heard enough. He ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to switch all energy reserves to his repulsors. But just as he was about to unleash all the force he could muster, he was struck by the A.I.M. agents! They fired at once, encasing him in a field of hard light. Then J.A.R.V.I.S. came online with more bad news: “Power now operating at reserve levels.”

托尼受够了。他命令贾维斯将所有能量聚集到他的冲击光束装置上。但是正当他准备释放所有他能聚集的能量之时，先锋科技的特工击中了他！他们立即开战，把他包裹在强光中。接着，贾维斯带来了更多坏消息：“电力正以备用水平运作。”

 

M.O.D.O.K. and the Phantoms closed in on Tony.

魔多客和幽灵们靠近托尼。

 

He struggled against the onslaught, but he could still hear Cap's words echoing in his head: This is too big for any one of us, Tony.

他艰难地对抗袭击，但是队长的话仍然回荡在他脑海里：托尼，这对我们任何一个人来说都是件难事。