Outside the Marine¹ Life Institute, Marlin and Nemo were wondering how they were going to get inside the Institute. Fluke and Rudder were still "Ooo-roo-ing," and things were looking hopeless.

"What are you doing?" Marlin asked. "What is that?"

"Calling her over, of course," said Fluke.

"Calling who?" asked Marlin.

Almost instantly, a flock of loons landed nearby. The loons parted to reveal the wackiest-looking one of all. "Lads, meet Becky," said Fluke. Rudder spoke³ to her in her loon² language, and she responded with a loud SQUAWK!

"Flying?" screamed Marlin. "No, no, no, no new information. Listen, tell her thank you. I mean, you guys have gone above and beyond, really. But is there a way to get in that involves water? Like swimming? Because that's really our strength," said Marlin.

"Look, your friend is going to be in Quarantine. That's where they take the sick fish," explained Fluke.

"And the one — and only one — way into that place ... is Becky!" said Rudder.

Becky squawked again, landing right behind Marlin and Nemo.

Marlin jumped, laughing nervously⁴. "Hi, Becky."

Becky started to peck Marlin. "I think she likes you, Dad," said Nemo.

"Becky, love?" said Fluke adoringly.

Becky stopped pecking and looked up at Rudder and Fluke, curiously⁵ cocking her head. "These two nice fish need to get into Quarantine," said Fluke.

"Are you free today, Rebecca darling?" asked Rudder.

Becky cooed as she looked at Marlin.

"Becky is, uh ... Would that work with your schedule?" Marlin asked awkwardly. Becky began pecking at Marlin again.

"Ow!" Marlin screamed. "She doesn't understand what I'm saying."

"All you have to do is imprint⁶ with her, mate," said Fluke.

Marlin was confused.

"Look her in the eye and say 'Ooo-roo,' and she'll be in sync with you." Fluke was suddenly very serious. "Now, look her in the eye!"

"Yeah!" added Rudder. Marlin pulled Nemo aside, and the two slinked underwater to speak privately⁷.

"Nemo, I think we should discuss an alternate plan. One that involves staying in the water, and with someone sane⁸, because this bird, this bird — this ain't the bird!"

"That's fine, Dad," said Nemo. "And in the meantime, Dory will just forget us. Like you said, it's what she does best."

"Fine," Marlin said with a resigned sigh. The fish swam to the surface, and Marlin cautiously approached Becky. "Look her in the eye," he said to himself. Then he turned toward the loon. "Which eye?"

"Just pick one, mate," said Fluke.

Marlin tried again. "Becky?"

Becky tilted⁹ her head and looked down at him with her crooked¹⁰ eyes. Then she began to coo.

"Roo," said Marlin, trying to speak Loon. "Ooo-roo."

Becky squawked. She sidled up next to Marlin and wrapped her wings around him as their lines of vision synced. Nemo laughed while Becky cooed.

"Okay, now, this is all great," said Marlin, spitting out feathers. "But how, exactly, is Becky supposed to carry us?"

"Aw, yeah," said Fluke. "I almost forgot."

Gerald was off in the distance, holding his small pail in his mouth. Fluke called to him, "Gerald!" With his flipper¹¹, he motioned for Gerald to come over.

"Hmmm," Gerald said, looking over at them hesitantly.

"Yeah! Gerald!" shouted Rudder in a friendly voice.

"Come on, son!" said Fluke. He and Rudder grinned widely.

Gerald hesitated, contemplating¹².

"Come on, Gerald," said Fluke. "Give us your pail."

Gerald shook his head. "Uhn-uh."

"We'll let you sit on the rock ...," said Fluke temptingly.

"Yeah, Gerald. We swear it," added Rudder.

Gerald cautiously inched forward as Fluke and Rudder coaxed¹³ him over. "That's right," said Fluke. "Shimmy on over here."

"C'mon," added Rudder. "You can do it."

"That's right."

"Mind you don't scuff¹⁴ your bum," warned Rudder in a sweet voice.

Gerald giggled¹⁵ happily and put down the pail as he settled in. He continued to laugh and chuckle¹⁶ as if he were simply too happy to form words.

"Thank you so much, Gerald," said Fluke.

"Welcome to your time on this rock," said Rudder.

"Comfortable, isn't it?" said Fluke.

They sat in silence for a short moment, and then Fluke and Rudder lunged at Gerald, yelling in his face. "TIME'S UP! Now get off, Gerald!" shouted Fluke.

"Off! Off! Off! Off!" barked Rudder.

Gerald leapt into the water without his pail and swam away.

Becky scooped¹⁷ Marlin and Nemo into the bucket with a bit of water.

"This is nuts!" shouted Marlin. "Why do I keep getting talked into insane choices?"

Marlin and Nemo screamed as Becky squawked and flew into the sky, carrying them toward the Institute.

 

海洋生物研究所的外面，马林和尼莫正疑惑着该如何进入研究所。弗卢克和鲁德尔还在不停地“呜——噜——”，一副毫无希望的样子。

“你们在干什么？”马林问。“那是什么？”

“当然是在叫她过来。”弗卢克说。

“叫谁？”马林问。

突然间，一群潜鸟落在近处。这群鸟儿分列开来，露出了一只长相最为癫狂怪异的潜鸟。“兄弟们，来见见贝琪。”弗卢克说。鲁德尔用潜鸟语对她说了几句，然后她响亮地回应了一声粗粗的叫声！

“是要飞吗？”马林尖叫道。“不，不，不，别来新花样了。听着，跟她说谢谢。我的意思是，你们已经做得够多了，真的。难道就没有水路进去的方法吗？像是游泳？因为那才是我们真正的强项。”马林说。

“听着，你的朋友将要被送到隔离检疫所。那里是他们安置生病的鱼类的地方，”弗卢克解释道。

“而去那个地方的一个——唯一的——方法……就是贝琪！”鲁德尔说。

贝琪又嘎嘎叫着，停在了马林和尼莫的右后方。

马林跳了出来，紧张地笑道：“嗨，贝琪。”

贝琪对马林又亲又啄起来。“我觉得她很喜欢你，爸爸。”尼莫说。

“贝琪，亲爱的？”弗卢克含情脉脉地说道。

贝琪停止了亲啄，抬头望着鲁德尔和弗卢克，好奇地耸起了脑袋。“这两条可爱的鱼儿要到隔离检疫所去。”弗卢克说。

“你今天有空吗，亲爱的丽贝卡？”鲁德尔问。

贝琪望着马林咕咕地叫了一声。

“贝琪是，呃……你有空行个方便吗？”马林笨拙地问道。贝琪又开始亲啄起了马林。

“嗷！”马林尖叫道，“她不懂我在说什么。”

“你只要给她留下深刻印象就好，老弟。”弗卢克说。

马林困惑不解。

“盯着她的眼睛，说‘呜——噜’，然后她就会跟你同步了。”弗卢克突然严肃起来。“现在，盯着她的眼睛！”

“是的！”鲁德尔应和道。马林把尼莫拉到一旁，他们俩潜到水下私语起来。

“尼莫，我觉得我们得商讨出另一个方案。一种可以待在水里的方法，最好跟个神志正常的家伙，因为这只鸟，这只鸟——这可不是只正常的鸟啊！”

“没事的，爸爸，”尼莫说，“这说话的功夫，多莉就会忘了我们。就像你所说的，那是她最擅长的。”

“好吧，”马林听天由命地叹息道。他们游回水面，马林小心翼翼地靠近了贝琪。“盯着她的眼睛，”他自言自语道。然后他转身面向那只潜鸟。“哪只眼睛？”

“随便哪只，老弟。”弗卢克说。

马林又尝试了起来：“贝琪？”

贝琪斜着脑袋，歪着眼睛朝下望着他，然后咕咕地叫了起来。

“噜，”马林试着说起了潜鸟语，“呜——噜。”

贝琪嘎嘎地叫了叫。她侧身走到马林旁边，用翅膀将他裹住，他们俩的身影重合在了一起。贝琪咕咕叫着，尼莫大笑起来。

“好吧，现在，这可真不错，”马林说着吐出了口中的羽毛，“但是，确切地说，贝琪该怎么带我们去呢？”

“哦，对的，”弗卢克说，“我差点忘了。”

就在远处，杰拉尔德嘴里叼着他的小提桶正要离开。弗卢克冲他喊道：“杰拉尔德！”他挥动着鳍，招呼杰拉尔德过来。

“嗯，”杰拉尔德犹豫地望着他们说道。

“是的！杰拉尔德！”鲁德尔亲切地叫道。

“过来，孩子！”弗卢克说。他和鲁德尔咧嘴大笑起来。

杰拉尔德犹豫不前，凝视着他们。

“过来，杰拉尔德，”弗卢克说，“把你的提桶给我们。”

杰拉尔德摇了摇脑袋。“嗯哼。”

“我们允许你坐在这块岩石上……”弗卢克诱惑道。

“是的，杰拉尔德，我们发誓。”鲁德尔补充道。

杰拉尔德小心翼翼地向前挪了几步，弗卢克和鲁德尔接着哄骗他。“对的，”弗卢克说，“快点晃过来。”

“快点，”鲁德尔补充道，“你可以的。”

“对的。”

“当心，别磨破了你的屁股。”鲁德尔甜甜地提醒道。

杰拉尔德开心得咯咯直笑，爬上来放下了提桶。他哈哈地笑个不停，似乎快乐得无以言表了。

“十分感谢，杰拉尔德。”弗卢克说。

“欢迎你此刻享用这块岩石。”鲁德尔说。

“很舒服，是不是？”弗卢克说。

他们沉默地坐了一会儿，然后弗卢克和鲁德尔冲向杰拉尔德，朝着他的脸大叫。“时间到！立刻下去，杰拉尔德！”弗卢克叫道。

“下去！下去！下去！下去！”鲁德尔吼道。

没了提桶的杰拉尔德跳入水中，游走了。

贝琪连水将马林和尼莫舀入了提桶。

“这太疯狂了！”马林叫道，“为什么我会被说服去做这些疯狂的事情？”

在马林和尼莫的惊叫声中，贝琪嘎嘎地飞向空中，载着他们向研究所飞去。

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