Outside the Institute, Marlin was freaking out. “Are you absolutely sure that’s what I said? ‘Go wait over there and forget. It’s what you do best’?”
“Yeah, Dad,” said Nemo.
“I said that?” he asked again.
“You said that, Dory swam to the surface, and then she got taken —”
“All right, I don’t need the whole story again, I was asking about one part.” Marlin was pacing back and forth as he talked. “Because look, if I said that — I’m not positive I did — but it’s actually a compliment. Because I asked her to wait. I didn’t say leave. And I said it’s what you do best.”
Nemo looked at his Dad incredulously.
“It’s my fault!” Marlin threw his fins in the air. “It’s all my fault Dory got kidnapped and taken into — whatever this place is! What if it’s a restaurant?” he lamented.
Marlin yelled so loud that a couple of plump sea lions, Fluke and Rudder, woke up with a snort. They’d been sleeping on a nearby rock and were not happy to be disturbed.
“Oy! You two! Shut it!” Fluke shouted.
“Yeah, we’re trying to sleep,” Rudder said. “And you interrupted my favorite dream!”
“The one about you layin’ on this rock?” asked Fluke.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, that’s a good one.”
“Uh, excuse us?” said Nemo. “Hello. We’re trying —”
Marlin cut him off. “Son, son, son ...,” he whispered, trying to scoot Nemo away. “These are sea lions. They are natural predators. They could pounce at any moment!” One of the sea lions stretched open his mouth and let out a big, lazy yawn.
“They don’t look very pouncy,” said Nemo.
“That’s what they want you to think. Just get behind me and let me do the talking,” Marlin said. He cleared his throat and approached the sea lions.
“Excuse me. We’re worried about our friend. Is that a restaurant?” Marlin pointed to the large building behind the rock.
“Nah, mate, it’s not a restaurant,” said Fluke, chuckling. “Your friend is okay.”
“She is?” asked Marlin.
“It’s a fish hospital. Sigourney Weaver says she’ll be rescued, rehabilitated, and released,” said Fluke.
“Yeah, she’ll be in and out in a jiff,” said Rudder. “We should know.”
They lifted their tails to show tags that had been clipped on.
“Nasal Parasite,” said Fluke, explaining.
“Anemia,” said Rudder.
“All fixed up and sent on our way,” said Fluke.
Marlin was relieved. “Oh, thank goodness.”
“Sure, that’s right, don’t you worry about —”
Suddenly, a skinny sea lion carrying a green pail in his mouth appeared behind them, giggling and creeping up the rock.
“Gerald! Get off the rock! Off! Off! Off! Off! Off!” Fluke barked.
“Oy!” yelled Rudder. “Shove off, Gerald!”
Rudder and Fluke continued to yell, scaring Gerald away from the rock and causing him to jump back into the ocean.
Once he was gone, Fluke and Rudder turned back to Marlin.
“Don’t you worry,” Fluke continued. “That place is the Marine Life Institute: the Jewel of Morro Bay, California,” he said.
“She was right!” said Nemo. “Well, Dad, looks like Dory can do something besides forget.”
“Thank you, Nemo,” said Marlin sarcastically. “Thank you for that.”
“So how are we gonna get inside?” asked Nemo.
“Oh, wait. You want to get inside the MLI?” asked Rudder.
“Desperately! Our friend is in there, lost, alone. She’s scared. She’ll have no idea what to do,” said Marlin.
“Oh,” said Fluke with a smirk. “We know a way.”
“You do?” asked Marlin.
All of a sudden, Fluke and Rudder began cooing. “Oo-roo.Ooo-roo-rooo!”
“What are they doing?” asked Nemo.
“I don’t know,” said Marlin. “It sounds bad.”
在研究所外面,馬林感到惶恐不安。“你真的確定我當時是這么說的嗎?‘去那邊待著,然后忘掉。這是你最擅長的’?”
“是的,爸爸。”尼莫說。
“我是這么說的?”他又問道。
“你是這么說的,于是多莉游向海面,然后就被抓走了——”
“好吧,我不想再提整個經(jīng)過了,我只是在問這段細節(jié),”馬林一邊說一邊慢慢游動著,“因為,你瞧,如果我是那么說的——雖然我不確信自己是不是那么說的——可那其實是一種贊美。因為我讓她等著。我沒說讓她走。而且我還說了那是她所擅長的。”
尼莫滿臉狐疑地望著他的爸爸。
“這都是我的錯!”馬林將雙鰭甩向半空中。“都是因為我,多莉才會被拐走帶到——這個不知道是什么的地方!這要是個餐館可怎么辦?”他哀嘆道。
馬林叫嚷著,聲音大得吵得兩頭圓滾滾的海獅也呼哧呼哧地醒了過來。他們是正在附近巖石上睡覺的弗盧克和魯?shù)聽?,此刻被攪了清凈,很是不悅?br />
“喂!你們兩個!閉嘴!”弗盧克喊道。
“是啊,我們正要睡覺,”魯?shù)聽栒f,“你們攪了我的美夢!”
“是那個你躺在這塊巖石上的夢嗎?”弗盧克問。
“是的。”
“哦,那確實是個美夢。”
“嗯,請原諒?”尼莫說,“你們好。我們正要——”
馬林打斷了他。“兒子,兒子,兒子……”他低聲說道,想要快點弄走尼莫,“這可是海獅啊。他們是天生的食肉動物。隨時可能突襲!”其中一只海獅張大嘴巴,懶洋洋地打了個大哈欠。
“他們看起來不像會要突襲啊。”尼莫說。
“他們就是想讓你這么覺得。躲在我的身后,讓我來說。”馬林說。他清了清嗓子,靠近海獅。
“不好意思,我們很擔心我們的朋友。那里是一家餐館嗎?”馬林指了指巖石后方的大型建筑物。
“不是的,老弟,不是餐館,”弗盧克咯咯笑道,“你朋友沒事的。”
“她會沒事?”馬林問。
“這是一家魚類醫(yī)院。西格妮·韋弗的主張是救援、治療和放生。”弗盧克說。
“是的,她進去了瞬間就會出來,”魯?shù)聽栒f,“我們都知道。”
他們抬起尾巴,露出了夾在上面的標簽。
“我是鼻寄生蟲病。”弗盧克解釋道。
“我是貧血。”魯?shù)聽栒f。
“都治好就放我們回來了。”弗盧克說。
馬林松了口氣:“啊,謝天謝地。”
“當然了,可不是。你們不用擔心——”
突然,一只瘦削的海獅出現(xiàn)在了他們身后,他嘴里叼著一個綠色的提桶,傻笑著爬上了巖石。
“杰拉爾德!快從巖石上下去!下去!下去!下去!下去!下去!”弗盧克咆哮道。
“喂!”魯?shù)聽柡暗溃?ldquo;走開,杰拉爾德!”
魯?shù)聽柡透ケR克不停地吼叫,嚇得杰拉爾德爬下巖石,跳回到了海洋里。
等他一走,弗盧克和魯?shù)聽栍殖R林轉過身來。
“你們不用擔心。”弗盧克接著說道,“那個地方是海洋生物研究所,俗稱加利福尼亞的明珠莫羅灣。”他說。
“她沒說錯!”尼莫說,“嗯,爸爸,看來多莉能干點有記性的事了。”
“謝謝你,尼莫,”馬林譏諷道,“謝謝你這么說。”
“那我們怎么進去呢?”尼莫問。
“啊,等等。你們想到海洋生物研究所里面去?”魯?shù)聽枂枴?br />
“拼了命也要去!我們的朋友就在里面,迷茫無助,孤立無援。她很害怕。她會不知所措的。”馬林說。
“啊,”弗盧克得意地笑道,“我們有個辦法。”
“你們有辦法?”馬林問。
突然間,弗盧克和魯?shù)聽柟竟镜亟辛似饋恚?ldquo;嗚——嚕。嗚——嚕——嚕!”
“他們在干什么?”尼莫問。
“我不知道,”馬林說,“聽上去不太妙。”