Chapter 16
“It’s morning, everyone!” Peach was stretching her arms, the first one awake in the tank. “Today’s the day. The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we are getting out of—”
Suddenly she gasped. The tank was clean? Moments later, everyone gathered at the filter. They stared up in horror. It was a new filter—a huge, towering one. And it didn’t have any moving parts they could break—or put a pebble into!
“Boss must have installed it last night while we were sleeping,” Gill said, shaking his head, disappointed.
“The Aqua Scum 2003 is an all-purpose, self-cleaning, maintenance-free saltwater purifier.” Peach was reading a booklet that lay open on the counter.
A red laser beam shot out from the filter, sweeping the water. “Temperature eighty-two degrees,” an automated voice recited. “Ph balance normal.”
The Tank Gang looked on in amazement. Then they realized what had happened. “Curse you, Aqua Scum!” cried Gurgle.
“That’s it for the escape plan!” Bloat cried, inflating in anger. “It’s ruined!”
“What are we going to do about…” Nemo panicked. The door of the dentist’s office swung open.
“Darla!” shouted the Tank Gang. “Stay down, kid,” Gill said sharply.
A little boy walked into the waiting room with his mother. “False alarm,” Bloat said.
Nemo sighed with relief. But then, before he could move, he felt a net fall around him—a fishnet!
He was lifted up, up, up. “Gill! Help me!” he shouted. “Nemo!” Gill shouted back.
Quickly taking action, Gill swam as fast as he could over to Nemo and jumped into the net with him. With all his might, he started to swim down, in an attempt to get the net away from the dentist.
“C’mon, kid,” Gill said to Nemo. “Swim down! Swim down!”
The rest of the Tank Gang jumped into the net as well, and they all swam down as hard as they could.
Just when Nemo thought he’d gotten free from the net, Dr. Sherman trapped him inside a plastic bag filled with water.
The dentist plopped Nemo on a counter and walked away.
The Tank Gang raced to that side of the glass. “Roll, kid!” everyone told him. “Just roll! Keep going. You can do it.”
Nemo twisted around and around. It was working. Slowly, the bag was moving.
The window! He saw it on the other side of the counter. If he could make it there, it would be one jump to the harbor below.
Then Dr. Sherman grabbed the bag. “Now that would be a nasty fall,” he said, placing the bag on a tray.
Suddenly, the office door flew open. A table toppled, and a lamp shattered.
Darla had arrived.
第 16 章
“現(xiàn)在是早上了,各位!”作為水族箱里最早醒過來的小魚,小桃正伸展著手臂。“今天是個大日子。陽光燦爛,水族箱干凈,我們要逃出——”
突然她倒吸了一口氣。水族箱很干凈?過了一會兒,大家都聚集在過濾器旁。他們驚恐地注視著上方。這是臺全新的過濾器——一臺高聳著的、巨大的過濾器。而且它沒有任何活動的部件能讓他們損壞——或者放鵝卵石進去!
“老板一定是趁昨天晚上我們睡覺的時候裝上的。”吉哥一邊說一邊失望地搖搖頭。
“水得清2003型是一臺多功能、自動清潔、免保養(yǎng)的鹽水凈化器。”小桃讀著臺子上攤開的一本小冊子。
一束紅色的激光從過濾器里射出,掃過水面。“溫度82華氏度,”一個自動化的聲音說著,“酸堿值正常。”
魚缸幫驚訝地觀望著。接著他們意識到發(fā)生了什么。“該死的水得清!”膽小鬼大叫。
“逃亡計劃又泡湯了!”豬豬大叫道,他生氣極了,“計劃被破壞了!”
“我們要做……”尼莫很驚慌。這時牙醫(yī)辦公室的門開了。
“達拉!”魚缸幫大喊。“快躲下面,孩子。”吉哥嚴(yán)厲地說。
一個小男孩跟著媽媽走進了候診室。“虛驚一場。”豬豬說。
尼莫如釋重負地松了口氣。但就在這時,他還來不及反應(yīng),就感到有個網(wǎng)罩了下來——一個漁網(wǎng)。
他被撈上去了,上去了,上去了。“吉哥!救我!”他大喊。“尼莫!”吉哥也朝他大喊。
吉哥很快就行動起來,盡快游到了尼莫身邊,跳到網(wǎng)里陪伴他。他用盡全力向下拽,想讓網(wǎng)從牙醫(yī)手里掉下來。
“快點,孩子,”吉哥對尼莫說,“往下游!往下游!”
魚缸幫其他的魚也跳進了漁網(wǎng),他們都盡量使勁往下拽。
就當(dāng)尼莫以為自己已經(jīng)掙脫漁網(wǎng)的時候,謝爾曼醫(yī)生把他裝進了一只裝滿水的塑料袋里。
牙醫(yī)把尼莫輕輕地放在臺子上,走開了。
魚缸幫們沖到那一側(cè)的玻璃前。“快打滾,孩子!”每個人都這么告訴他。“就打滾!一直往前。你能行的。”
尼莫扭來扭去。這很管用。慢慢地,袋子移動了。
窗戶!他看見窗戶在臺子的另一邊。如果他能到那兒,只要往下一跳就能到海港。
這時,謝爾曼醫(yī)生一把抓住了袋子。“掉下去就麻煩了。”他說著,把袋子放到了托盤上。
突然,辦公室的門猛地開了。一張桌子倒了,一盞燈摔壞了。
達拉到了。