Mission 3: In Deep Page 2

Max walked along the fence. He studied it for the slightest weakness. He found it a few minutes later. A small section of the fence’s metal twine had come undone.

  Perfect!

  Max began to carefully enlarge the hole. He unthreaded the twine until he had opened up a small gap.

  He pushed his hand through to widen the hole.

  The second he did, a harsh beeping sounded out. An alarm! There must be a trip wire behind the fence!

  Max stared at the fence. The gap was nowhere near the size he wanted it.

  What if I rip my Suit getting through?

  An automated voice said, “INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!”

  There was no time to lose. Max contorted his body expertly and just managed to squeeze through.

  The alarm screeched on. So did the robot warning, “INTRUDER ALERT!”

  Stay around and wait for the welcoming party? I don’t think so!

  “INTRUDER ALERT!” shrieked the voice.

  Max dropped to the seafloor on the other side of the hole and ran. Ahead of him was a series of tall, gray buildings. He ran past these.

  He turned left into a deserted alleyway. It was flanked by high, brown walls. At the end of the alley was an archway carved into a block of stone. Max leaned against the stone and caught his breath.

  The powerful alarm voice stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Max waited to see if it would be activated again. It wasn’t. He waited another few seconds. Then he peered through the archway. A very busy thoroughfare stretched to the left and right. A huge street sign on a high building read, MAIN STREET—AQUATROPOLIS.

  Aquatropolis!

  This wasn’t some tiny backwater town. This was an entire city! And it was populated by the most dazzling array of bizarre-looking creatures. They were half-human, half-fish. Max could hardly believe his eyes. Some had lobster heads and human lower halves. Others had grungy human teenager tops and swordfish bottom halves. There was even a couple with goldfish heads on top of chunky human legs dressed in lederhosen.

  Unreal!

  Max saw that some male and female creatures with human top halves wore colorful wraps around their bottom fish-halves.

  I need one of those wraps. I can’t step out with a whole human body. I’ll stick out like a whole human sore thumb.

  He watched the creatures going about their day. Some of them were swimming. Others were walking. Several were just floating along. They were busy chatting, riding bikes, and behaving like humans.

  How weird is this?! It’s just like a human city, but underwater. Who are these people?

  Max quickly scanned the buildings on the street. There was a bar called The Algae & Anemone. A group of creatures with salmon heads and bulky human bottom halves drank from huge pint glasses and sang raucous songs. Farther down was a shiny steel building called the H2O Center. Outside the building there was a faded poster for a concert by CURT AND THE WHALERS. Next to that was a fancy-looking restaurant called Le Fin.

  Max looked up and spotted a giant billboard. It was all white with a pair of beady brown eyes staring out above huge black letters: ARE YOU READY FOR RAY DAY?

  Ray Day? Who is Ray? And what’s his day about?

  Max looked around. He checked Main Street and the alley he’d come from. About twenty meters down was a low wall. Behind it was a block of apartments. There were several washing lines hanging out next to the wall. Max guessed they had washing lines underwater to keep clothes straight. Drying them wasn’t an option. Max was delighted to see a line holding some wraps.

  He hurried over and unpegged a blue wrap. He tied it around his lower half. Max made sure it completely covered his legs and feet. He checked it and checked it again.

  Perfect! I’ll look just like one of them. I’m just glad my friends can’t see me in a skirt!

  Max hurried back down the alley and stepped out into the street. He tried not to stare at some of the creatures. But it was hard when they all looked so incredibly weird. He’d come across a secret underwater race! He passed a kids’ playground. There were two tiny toddlers with the heads of eels whizzing down a slide.

  On the other side of the playground was another poster. This one was the same ARE YOU READY FOR RAY DAY? sign. Max tried to make sense of it. This Ray guy with the beady eyes was obviously very central to whatever was going on down here.

  Where can I get some decent info? I can’t exactly introduce myself to someone and say, “Hi, I’m new around here. What evil plan are you guys hatching?”

  Then something caught his eye. A long line of children was coming down the street. At the front was a boy. He had a sea bream head and a pudgy human lower half in baggy jeans and sneakers. At the back was a girl with an angelic human face. She had bright blue eyes and curly blonde hair—and octopus legs.

  A scary-looking teacher with the head of a tuna was holding a clipboard. She tried to keep control of the whole group. Max watched them pass and began to follow.

  The teacher eventually stopped in front of a green building.

  “Right, then,” she said in a shrill voice. “I told you earlier, I’m standing in for Miss Rowntree today. I don’t know all of your names. But you know my name. I’m Mrs. Flint. I want all of you to remember what we talked about back in class. A library is a place of silent learning. That means we all need to put our talking lips—human and fish—away.”

  Max spotted a sign on the side of the building: Aquatropolis Central Library.

  Libraries and teachers … this is just like being at home! But at least I might find out some information about this place!

  “Right 6B,” trilled Mrs. Flint, “let’s go inside in single file.”

  Max hurried over to join the back of the line. He watched as the children at the front of the line shuffled in past the teacher. Mrs. Flint checked off each one on her clipboard. The line moved forward. Then the girl with the octopus legs in front of Max turned around.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “Who are you?” Max shot back.

  “I’m Harriet. I’m in class 6B. And you?”

  “Er … I’m just here for the day,” Max replied.

  “For one day?” she asked suspiciously.

  “It’s Mrs. Flint,” replied Max. “She’s … er … she’s … my mom.”

  The girl looked from Max to Mrs. Flint and back.

  “Really?”

  “Really.” Max nodded.

  “Oh. It’s very uncool for your mom to be a teacher. I wouldn’t mention it to the others.” And with that she turned her back on him.

  The line edged forward. There were now only seven kids between Max and Mrs. Flint. He quickly tapped Harriet on the shoulder. “Don’t say anything to Mrs. Fl—I mean, my mom. She doesn’t want anyone to know.”

  “I won’t say anything,” promised Harriet.

  “Right,” the teacher murmured to herself. Mrs. Flint checked off more children on her list. “Number thirty,” she declared as Harriet reached her. “And that’s the end of the …”

  Suddenly Mrs. Flint looked up. She stared at Max. “What’s going on?” she enquired. “I’ve already counted thirty pupils. That’s the whole class. But you seem to be number thirty-one.”

  Max gulped.

  Harriet nudged Mrs. Flint with her elbow and winked at the teacher. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “You don’t need to pretend you don’t know him. Your secret’s safe with me.”

  Max cringed. His cover was about to be blown!

  Mrs. Flint gave Harriet a funny stare. “What on earth are you talking about?” she asked.

  “The extra kid. I know why he’s here. He’s your so—”

  “I just LOVE libraries!” cried Max. He stepped on one of Harriet’s octopus tentacles.

  “Oww!” yelped Harriet.

  “Yes!” Max continued. “Books are great. I love big books. Small books. Thin books. Fat books. Any kind of books.”

  Mrs. Flint looked completely bewildered.

  “He just stepped on me
,” whined Harriet. She frantically hopped about on her other seven tentacles.

  At that moment, there was a loud thud from inside the library. The boy at the front of the line had knocked over a large display of books. Mrs. Flint groaned. She placed her clipboard under her arm and hurried inside to assess the damage.

  Harriet gave Max an angry stare. “I’ll get you for that,” she said.

  “It was an accident,” replied Max.

  “Yeah, right!” snapped Harriet. She glided into the building. Harriet went to the children’s section where the rest of the class was waiting.

  Max hung back and took in his surroundings. Except for an ancient-looking sardine-faced creature that was dozing over a copy of the Financial Times, there was no one around.

  He looked up at the signs tacked to the various sections of shelving. CORAL SCIENCE, read the nearest one. He stepped between two shelves and hurried to the end of the row. He turned left and passed rows labeled NON-WATER SPORTS, SCALY HUMOR, AND CARP PHILOSOPHY. He passed a table with a display of books. Each book had a picture of a giant purple gem on the cover and the same title: Tasmine Crystal.

  He hurried on and came to a sign saying DEEP SEA HISTORY. He dashed down the first row and ran his finger over the titles. Crab Archeology for Beginners, A Short History of Anemones, The Court of Lady Shrimpton.

  And then he spotted it: Where Do We Come From? A Brief History of Aquatropolis.

  It was a slim volume with a pale blue cover. He pulled it off the shelf and opened it. Max scanned the contents page, looking for the best place to start. The title of chapter three caught his eye: “A Reflection on our Evolution.”

  Max turned to the beginning of the chapter and started to read:

  It is now accepted by most history experts in Aquatropolis that Humans and Slithers developed side by side.

  So that’s what these creatures down here are called. Slithers!

  As Humans developed from apes, so Slithers developed from fish. The main difference between us and Humans is that in spite of retaining some apelike features, Humans evolved into a distinct and totally separate group of beings.

  Slithers only evolved up to a point. We stopped at the stage where we kept a human half and a fish half. While Humans were unable to live underwater, Slithers can live on land and in water.

  So these guys could come and live with us. Yikes!

  According to our current ruler, the Mighty King Flago, it is not fair that …

  Suddenly, a hand grabbed Max roughly by the shoulder.

  He spun around. It was Mrs. Flint. And she didn’t look pleased.

  “What under sea do you think you are playing at, young man?” she demanded in a shrill tone. She grabbed him by the ear and led him back to the children’s section. “You can’t just wander off from the rest of the class like this. And your name isn’t even on the class list I was given.”

  “There must be some mistake,” replied Max. He looked around for a possible quick exit.

  “Well, none of the other pupils know you. And Harriet started telling me some nonsense about me being your mother.” Mrs. Flint narrowed her fishy eyes at him.

  Max edged a few steps toward the library’s exit. But the teacher caught his elbow. “No way,” she said firmly. “You’re coming with me. I’m going to find out who you are!”

  Max gave Mrs. Flint his most charming smile. “If you let go of me, I swear I’ll tell you who I am. There’s nothing fishy going on. I promise,” he said. Apart from you lot!

  Max took Mrs. Flint’s arms and pushed her firmly down onto one of the movable library stools. Mrs. Flint opened her mouth to protest while Max put his foot against one of the legs. He shoved with all his might. The stool sped off, skimming over the highly polished floor and taking Mrs. Flint with it. The whole class burst into laughter. The teacher spun toward the children’s section, knocking into books and tables and chairs as she went.

  Max didn’t wait to see where she ended up. He pushed open the door and sped back into the street. In front of him was a large shopping mall called The Reef Center. He hurried inside. The library had been a good starting point. But he needed more information. Maybe he could find a bookstore.

  Then he saw a café that had a huge TV screen in the far corner. The words ARE YOU READY FOR RAY DAY? were plastered across the screen. Seconds later, they were replaced by an image of the earth.

  Max stared up at the screen. Would he get some answers? What did Aquatropolis’s leader King Flago think wasn’t fair about Humans evolving to live on land and Slithers living underwater? And what did this have to do with Ray Day? Max’s brain was buzzing as he stepped into the café and walked down the aisle. The tables were bare except for the odd dish of moldy-looking seaweed fritters and seaweed burgers.

  Yuck! All they seem to eat in this place is seaweed!

  Most of the tables were taken. But there was a spare seat at the one nearest the screen. The other three seats were taken by old Slithers. They had bearded human heads and prawn bodies. One of them was wearing a blue bandana and a large silver earring in his right ear. Their eyes were fixed on the screen.

  “Is this seat taken?” Max asked.

  The men shook their heads but kept their eyes on screen. Max slid into the chair and turned his attention to the screen.

  “RAY DAY will be our day,” ran the commentary. “A time for conquering. A time for victory! At last we will get to use our precious Azulin Filter! At last we will …”

  “To the Azulin Filter!” cried the men at Max’s table, raising their glasses.

  The Azulin Filter? What on earth is that? And how is it connected to Ray Day?

  Max leaned forward and eagerly awaited the next part of the commentary. But the screen suddenly went blank. His heart sank with disappointment. The guys at the table turned to face him.

  “So,” said the one wearing the blue bandana, “are YOU ready for Ray Day?”

  “Er … yeah,” nodded Max hesitantly. “Totally ready. I’m really looking forward to it!”

  “That’s the spirit, kid!” the Slither said. “What do you think our chances are against the Humans?”

  Max coughed nervously. “Well … I think … if we fight them, er, properly, we’ve got a great chance,” he replied.

  The guys were silent for a few seconds. They suddenly all burst out laughing.

  “Good one!”

  “Imagine!” another chortled. “Six billion Humans against us! We’d stand a great chance, wouldn’t we!”

  Other customers who’d heard Max’s comment joined in with the laughter.

  Max felt his cheeks redden as confusion swept through him. So Zavonne’s wrong. The Slithers aren’t going to attack us. They accept they’d be outnumbered. So WHAT is going on? And how am I going to find out who Ray is?

  Suddenly a series of loud smashes came from over by the bar. Everyone turned around to see what was going on. One of the waiters had been shoved out of the way by a hideous-looking creature with a vicious shark head. He’d dropped a large tray of glasses that crashed to the floor.

  The laughter immediately stopped.

  “Who’s that?” Max whispered.

  “Dreydor, captain of the Shark Corps,” the Slither with the bandana whispered.

  The Shark Corps? Now there’s a friendly-sounding organization!

  Max watched as another five of these shark creatures stormed into the bar. They fanned out behind Dreydor and showered everyone with accusing stares.

  Dreydor took a few paces forward. He scanned the terrified faces of the café’s customers. “Many of you know an intruder entered Aquatropolis earlier today. My men and I are doing spot checks all over the city. We believe it might be a whole Human.”

  Max gulped nervously.

  “So anyone wearing a fashion wrap needs to take it off immediately,” added Dreydor. “That way we can rule you out.”

  He paused for a second, and his eyes narrowed. “Unless, of course, one of you is that Human. Then we’l
l deal with you appropriately.”

  Max clutched at his wrap. What do I do?

  He couldn’t just hang around waiting for Dreydor and his men to make their way to his table. Max glanced around and scanned his surroundings for an escape route. He wouldn’t be able to get to the main entrance undetected, but there was a swing door that led into the kitchen.

  “Nothing here, Captain Dreydor!” the Shark Corps shouted as they continued their search. They were three tables away from where Max was sitting when he made his move. He stood up and hurtled toward the swing door. Everything on the table went flying.

  “STOP HIM!” yelled Dreydor. The captain and his troops thundered across the room after Max.

  Max reached the door and threw it open. He dived through and heard it swing back and catch Dreydor in the face with a bang.

  Max fled through the kitchen. He sped past a cart on wheels and a tower of seaweed pizza delivery boxes. He crashed through a door at the end of the kitchen. Max found himself in a deserted hallway at the back of the mall.

  It was a service corridor stretching to his right and left. In front of him was a service elevator. He ran over to it and thumped the button. A green light flashed. The elevator was five floors above him. He hit it again, but the display didn’t change. What’s wrong with it?

  Behind him he heard shouting. The thudding feet grew nearer. He glanced left and right. He’d never make it to either end of the corridor. He was a fast runner. But these guys had legs three times longer than his. And the elevator was still going nowhere.

  “GET HIM!” he heard Dreydor roar.

  Max started to imagine what being eaten would be like. Then he suddenly had a brainwave. The Crash Divider! It opened doors and panels! He pulled it out and slipped it between the elevator doors. The doors parted in a second. Max dived through and immediately felt himself falling.

  Max had forgotten that there was no elevator on the other side of the door! He looked down for a second. Below him was a deep pit of darkness.