Ocean S. O. S.

by Jan Burchett

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: DIVING IN

  CHAPTER 2: DOLPHIN DILEMMA

  CHAPTER 3: SAN MIGUEL

  CHAPTER 4: HURRICANE

  CHAPTER 5: LA GAVIOTA

  CHAPTER 6: CAUGHT

  CHAPTER 7: BLOOD IN THE WATER

  CHAPTER 8: SHARK!

  CHAPTER 9: FINGAL

  CHAPTER 10: SEVERE WEATHER

  CHAPTER 11: LOST AT SEA

  CHAPTER 12: SWIM FOR YOUR LIFE

  CHAPTER 13: LAND

  CHAPTER 14: HOME SWEET HOME

  Zoe plunged into the pool just ahead of her twin brother, Ben. They sped through the water until they reached the hot tub, their finishing line. Zoe slapped her hand on the wall.

  “I win!” she said.

  “Barely,” Ben said, panting.

  Zoe pushed her brown hair out of her eyes. “What should we do until the wave machine comes on?” she asked.

  “More competitions,” said Ben. “Bet I can sit on the bottom of the pool and hold my breath longer than you can.”

  “No thanks,” said Zoe. “You always win that one.”

  But Ben had already sucked in a huge mouthful of air and dived under the surface. Zoe joined him, and they sat on the floor of the pool. Zoe kept her back to her brother, knowing he’d do anything he could to make her laugh.

  All of a sudden, someone tapped Ben on the shoulder. He whipped around to see a young woman in dark goggles peering at him. She gave him a thumbs up. Ben let out all his air in a stream of bubbles and burst to the surface with a splash.

  Zoe popped up a second later. “I win,” she said excitedly.

  “I had to come up,” Ben said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “Erika’s here.”

  Zoe looked up and down the pool. “I can’t see her,” she said. “You’re just making up an excuse for losing to me.”

  “Over here!” came a voice with a slight German accent. Erika was standing next to a fountain in the corner and waving a glass eyeball at them.

  Ben and Zoe swam across to her.

  “Hey, Erika!” said Ben. “I take it we’ve got a new mission?”

  Zoe and Ben Woodward were like most other teenagers, except for one important difference: they were operatives for WILD, a secret organization dedicated to saving animals all over the world. It had been set up by their uncle, Dr. Stephen Fisher.

  Whenever Zoe and Ben were needed, Uncle Stephen sent his second-in-command, Erika Bohn, to bring them in. But she was never allowed to tell them the details of their mission. Instead, Uncle Stephen always sent them a glass eyeball that served as a clue to which species of animal needed their help.

  “Good to see you both,” said Erika, smiling brightly. She peeled off her goggles and handed them the glass eyeball. It was about the size of a human’s, and had an inky black pupil.

  Zoe turned it over in her hand. “I wonder which animal this is from,” she muttered.

  “You can think about that in the helicopter,” said Erika. “Come on, let’s get dressed and head to WILD Island.”

  Twenty minutes later, the three of them were flying out over the ocean. The familiar smell of chicken manure — the helicopter’s fuel — filled the air. Like everything at WILD, the chopper was environmentally friendly.

  Zoe took the chance to call their grandmother while Ben examined the eyeball. Their parents were vets who were currently working abroad, so their grandma looked after them while their parents were away. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward didn’t know that their children worked for WILD. Only Grandma was in on their secret.

  “That Stephen,” Grandma’s cheerful voice said through the speaker. “Where’s he sending you now?”

  “We don’t know yet,” said Zoe. “He gave us a clue, though.”

  “He was always one for a puzzle!” Grandma said with a laugh. “Take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you when you get back.” The speakerphone cut out.

  Ben held up the eyeball. Suddenly, the pupil caught the light and glowed brightly.

  “It shines,” said Ben. “You know, like a cat or a dog when you shine a light in their eyes. It helps them see in the dark.”

  Zoe took a look. “What other animals have that?” she asked.

  “Quite a few mammals,” said Ben. “Including one that lives underwater.”

  Zoe nodded. “Ben’s right,” she said. “It could be a dolphin.”

  Erika pointed toward a hole in the computer’s console. “Let’s see what your uncle has to say,” she said.

  Ben placed the eyeball into the slot. At once, a hologram of their uncle appeared.

  “Hello, my wonderful nephew and niece,” he said. “Have you figured out what it is yet? You might need a clue. It’s —”

  The image began to flicker. Their uncle’s voice flickered in and out. “Something . . . wrong . . . hologram,” he sputtered. “Wish I hadn’t . . . spilled . . . tea . . . computer.” Then the hologram disappeared.

  Zoe laughed. “Uncle Stephen may be brilliant, but he’s pretty clumsy,” she said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait.”

  “WILD Island coming up,” Erika said as she brought the helicopter down for a landing.

  As soon as they’d exited the chopper, Erika pressed a button on a handheld remote, activating a mechanism.

  Suddenly, a fake shed rose around them to hide the helicopter. Then they made their way to an outhouse, that was, in fact, a secret elevator.

  Ben and Zoe felt their stomachs lurch as they zoomed down into the headquarters of WILD. When the elevator doors opened, they found themselves face to face with their uncle. He was wearing a lab coat over bright shorts, with a funny hat atop his messy hair.

  “Greetings, children!” Uncle Stephen cried. “Now come with me, there’s no time to lose.”

  They hurried down the hallway. Next to a door marked CONTROL ROOM, they all took turns placing their fingertips on a small pad. As soon as their prints had been identified, the door slid open.

  Now they stood in front of a large, bright room that was the headquarters of WILD. Consoles and lights flashed. Operatives clicked away at keyboards, but they all paused to smile and wave at Ben and Zoe. The two of them had developed quite a reputation among the WILD employees after all their daring rescues.

  Uncle Stephen led Ben and Zoe over to his desk. “Sorry about the hologram,” he said. “Were you able to figure out what animal the eye belongs to?”

  “Well, we’re pretty sure it’s a mammal,” Ben said.

  “And?” Uncle Stephen asked.

  “That’s not much to go on,” Erika said. “Maybe you should give them another clue.”

  Uncle Stephen stroked his chin. “Although this animal is a mammal,” he said, “it lives in the sea, and it’s particularly intelligent.”

  Ben opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Zoe cried out. “I knew it,” she said. “We’re rescuing a dolphin!”

  “Nice work,” said Uncle Stephen. “I knew you two would discover the answer!”

  Zoe tugged at their uncle’s sleeve. “Tell us the details!” she said impatiently.

  “I want you to look at this,” said Uncle Stephen. He pointed to a huge wall monitor displaying a website for a marine park. The park looked bright and welcoming, with the slogan “Mundo Marino, the jewel of the Caribbean Coast” on top of the webpage.

  “We have an operative who keeps track of what goes on in water parks and zoos all over the world,” Uncle Stephen explained.

  “Recently, she picked up reports of problems at this place in Mexico,” added Erika. “It used to be run by an old man wh
o loved all forms of marine life.”

  Uncle Stephen continued the story. “He died six months ago, so his son took it over,” he said. “He didn’t spend enough money on the park and if any member of staff complained, he fired them. By the time the authorities found out and closed it down, many animals were in terribly unhealthy.”

  “That’s horrible!” said Ben.

  “It gets worse,” Uncle Stephen said. “Of the four bottlenose dolphins there, only one four-year-old male named Fingal was still alive. And he has a scar running from his right eye to just below his mouth, so he must have been mistreated.”

  “That’s awful,” said Zoe. “So we need to rescue Fingal. But if the park was closed down, where is he now?”

  “We don’t know,” said Erika. “When the owner found out the authorities were after him, he dumped all the animals in the ocean. Most of the animals were born in captivity and won’t be able to survive in the wild.”

  “So he could be anywhere in the Caribbean by now,” said Ben.

  “We don’t think he’s gone far,” said Uncle Stephen, “and that’s part of the problem.”

  Uncle Stephen tapped a key, bringing a map of the Caribbean Sea to the screen. He indicated a point on the southeast coast of Mexico. “San Miguel,” he said. “That’s where Fingal was dumped four days ago.”

  “We’ve been monitoring local radio reports,” Uncle Stephen said, “and it seems that a young dolphin has been harassing fishermen in San Miguel. We think this must be Fingal. He seems to be after their fish.”

  “Fingal was born in the park, so he would naturally go to humans for his food,” said Erika.

  “The fishermen won’t like that,” said Zoe.

  “You’re right,” said Uncle Stephen. “And that’s why your mission is so urgent. Fingal will either get hurt or caught in a net if he’s not rescued soon. And there’s always the danger of a shark attacking a young dolphin that isn’t protected by a pod.”

  Erika nodded and added, “Fingal needs rehabilitation before it’ll be safe for him to live in the wild,” she said.

  “Who does that kind of rehabilitation?” asked Ben.

  “The Agua Clara Dolphin Sanctuary is about 100 miles from there,” said Uncle Stephen, “but they don’t have the time or resources to travel that far to search for a dolphin in trouble.”

  A sly grin crawled across their uncle’s face. “However, I can think of one way they would find him very quickly,” he said. “If he were tracked down and encouraged to sit still for a while, then maybe the center could come and get him.”

  “Well, Ben,” Zoe said, winking at her twin brother. “I wonder who our uncle has in mind for this challenging task?”

  “I suppose we could do it, Zoe,” Ben said with a grin. “We’re not very busy lately, and it is summer vacation.”

  Uncle Stephen smiled at them. “I knew my wonderful nephew and niece would be up for it.”

  “When do we leave for San Miguel?” asked Zoe eagerly.

  “We’ll be leaving as soon as you’ve got all of your equipment,” said Erika. “I’ll pretend to be your aunt who is taking you along on vacation while I work. I’m going to pose as an environmentalist.”

  “You are an environmentalist!” Uncle Stephen said with a laugh. He turned to Ben and Zoe. “Her reason for being in a Mexican fishing village is real. I’ve been looking into the problem of dolphins being caught in fishing nets for some time. There are devices that mimic the call of a much larger marine mammal so that dolphins are warned to stay well away.”

  “But those devices can be too expensive for poor fishing communities like those around the San Miguel area,” Erika added.

  “That’s right,” Uncle Stephen said with a nod. “So I’ve developed my own version that is much cheaper and just as effective.”

  “I’m going to offer the fishermen a free trial,” said Erika. “And while I’m doing that, you can search for Fingal.”

  “Will we get to do some snorkeling?” Ben asked.

  Uncle Stephen rubbed his hands together. “You certainly will,” he said. “And you’ll be using my latest invention to do it.”

  He opened a drawer and rummaged through it for a few moments. Finally, he pulled out two snorkels and some flippers, and then handed them to Ben and Zoe.

  “Snorkels have already been invented, Uncle Stephen,” Zoe said, smiling.

  “These may look like normal snorkels,” said their uncle, “but they’re not. They’re GILS — Great Integrated Life Support. Unlike a snorkel, this will give you ten minutes of oxygen.” Uncle Stephen pointed to Zoe’s device. “See the little capsule there in the mouthpiece? This is a special compressed air tank. All you have to do is go back up to the surface and it refills automatically. I’ve set it to give you a strong taste of peppermint when the air is about to run out so you have a warning. And if you look closely at the mask, you’ll see it’s designed to give improved underwater visibility.”

  “And let me guess,” said Ben, pointing at the flippers. “These are no ordinary flippers, either.”

  “Indeed,” Uncle Stephen said, smiling. “They’re extra streamlined for increased speed.”

  “Cool!” said Ben. He slipped on the flippers and waddled round the room. “They feel really light — and strong.”

  “What sort of boat will we be using?” asked Zoe.

  “A speedboat?” said Ben hopefully.

  “Don’t be silly, Ben,” Zoe said with a laugh. “The engine would frighten Fingal away.”

  “Zoe’s right,” said Erika. “I’ll be renting a sailing dinghy for you.”

  “Perfect!” Zoe said, pumping her fist in the air.

  Ben grinned. “You would say that,” he said.

  “I bet right now you’re wishing you’d taken those sailing courses with me last summer,” said Zoe.

  Erika opened Uncle Stephen’s drawer. After removing two apple cores and an old milk carton, she produced what looked like two handheld game consoles and held them out to Ben and Zoe. “Of course you can’t go without your BUGs,” she said.

  Ben and Zoe’s BUGs were impressive little gadgets. They had built-in radios and phones, satellite trackers, translators, and countless other useful gadgets. They even had one or two video games, which Ben loved.

  “Wait a minute,” said Ben. “Are these still going to work in the ocean?”

  “They’re waterproof,” said Uncle Stephen. “I’ve tested them in my bathtub!”

  Ben and Zoe groaned.

  “I’ve also added a limpet,” Uncle Stephen said, ignoring them. “It’s a wireless extension of your BUGs.”

  Zoe turned her BUG over in her hand. She peeled off a coin-sized piece of rubber with a metal device embedded in it. “Is this it?” she asked.

  “Yep,” said Uncle Stephen. “It’s designed to stick to the side of your boat by giving off a slimy substance, just like a real limpet does. It transmits and identifies calls underwater. All the info will be displayed on your BUG screens.”

  “Awesome,” said Zoe.

  “You’ll also have a supply of treats to lure Fingal to you,” Erika added.

  “I made up the recipe,” Uncle Stephen said. “They’re only tasty to dolphins.”

  “Good,” said Zoe. “Otherwise Ben would eat them all!”

  Ben smiled. “She’s probably right,” he said with a shrug.

  “Time for you to leave,” said Uncle Stephen. “The WILD jet is fueled and ready to go — and Fingal is depending on you.”

  “I think there’s something you forgot to tell them, Dr. Fisher,” said Erika.

  “What’s that?” Uncle Stephen asked.

  “The weather?” Erika said as she raised her left eyebrow.

  “Oh yes!” said their uncle. He turned to face Ben and Zoe. “One other thing — it’s hurricane season in the
Caribbean.” Uncle Stephen frowned. “I hope that won’t scare you off,” he said.

  “No way!” said Zoe. “Fingal, here we come!”

  Zoe looked out the guest house window at the clear blue sky. She pulled on her shirt and shorts over her wetsuit. “It’s a lovely day,” she said. “Light breeze, good sailing weather — perfect for our mission.”

  They had arrived with Erika at the Casa Blanca guest house in San Miguel late the night before. The hotel’s owner, Señor Rodriguez, had greeted them and given them hot drinks and a big plate of cookies.

  “Come on, Zoe,” said Ben impatiently. “Let’s get going.”

  “Don’t be so hasty,” Zoe said. She sat on her bed and lifted her backpack up beside her. “We’ve gotta do a final check of our equipment first.” She rummaged through her bag. “First-aid kit, binoculars, GILs . . .”

  “. . . flippers, diving belt with knife, treats for Fingal,” muttered Ben, carefully repacking each one. “How’s your Spanish?”

  “I can say please and thank you,” said Zoe.

  “Can you say, ‘do you know where the missing dolphin is because we’ve come to rescue him and get him to a rehabilitation center?’” Ben said with a smirk.

  Zoe rolled her eyes. “I’ll leave that to you!” she said.

  Ben picked up his BUG and peeled off a small plastic earpiece from the side. “At least with our translators we can make sure that we understand everything we hear,” he said, stuffing it in his ear.

  Zoe did the same and they turned on their BUGs’ translation mode.

  Just then, Ben’s BUG vibrated. “Message from Erika,” he said. “Sailing dinghy rented. It’s down on the pier.”

  “I wonder how her meeting with the fishermen is going,” said Zoe, tucking her flippers, mask, and snorkel into her bag. “Good thing she’s fluent in Spanish, since she has to explain how Uncle Stephen’s complicated nets work!”

  Erika had wasted no time. Immediately after breakfast, she had departed for a large fishing village along the coast.

  Erika planned to start her campaign of persuading the fishermen to use the new nets right away, so Ben and Zoe were on their own already.