The Neptune Challenge

by Polly Holyoke

  :If they understand what’s at stake, I think Shadow or Sunny, or even the sparkhead, might help us,: Kalli agrees. We’ve all started picking up some of the slang and nicknames Kuron’s kids use.

  :I don’t know,: Ree says, shaking her head. :That’s asking a lot, considering how badly Kuron can punish them.:

  :But the ocean is their home, too. If it dies, their future dies,: Tobin points out.

  :For now I think we should keep searching on our own,: I decide. :Try not to think about c-plankton whenever Wasp is around, and keep your mental shields up.:

  :Yeah, we saw her right after we finished checking out a lab down on Deck Two yesterday,: Ree says. :I think maybe she was following us.:

  :I hope we can find those cultures soon.: Kalli rubs her arms. :One of these days Sham, Mako, Whitey, or Wasp could lose it, and someone here is going to end up dead.:

  AFTER DINNER THAT NIGHT, Tobin and I hurry off to search for the c-plankton cultures in that Marine Chemistry lab I found on the way to Mako’s greenhouse, but it’s full of empty shelves and workstations—a total dead end.

  :Do you get the sense Kuron has big plans, but many of them never really get off the ground?: Tobin asks me as he glances around the barren lab.

  :Yeah. It’s weird how there are just fourteen of us and only twenty keepers rattling around in this huge place.:

  Glancing at my dive watch, I realize it’s getting late. :Guess we’d better head back to our own rooms,: I say uneasily, and Tobin agrees.

  On our way, we run into Whitey, Sham, and Mako. My heart skips a beat when I see that Sham is holding Mako’s arms, and Whitey is pounding him with his fists. Mako twists and turns, frantically trying to wrench himself from Sham’s grasp, but the bigger kid is too strong for him.

  :Keep hold of the little freak,: I hear Whitey order Sham. :If he gets away, you know we’ll never catch him again.:

  :I got him,: Sham grunts, his wide face contorted with effort.

  :This is what you get for messing with my speargun, Twitchy. Don’t you ever touch my stuff again.:

  :I didn’t touch it. I just looked at it,: Mako protests.

  :You don’t even look at my stuff,: Whitey says, and hits him again.

  :Tobin, we’ve got to do something,: I cry. I start down the corridor, but Tobin grabs my arm.

  :Call Dai if you want, but we can’t help. These guys could tear us apart.:

  I struggle against Tobin’s grasp, but then I realize he’s right.

  :Dai!: I shout, but Wasp is blocking us again.

  Desperate, I change tactics. :Wasp, they’re hurting Mako,: I yell at her telepathically. :I know you can hear me. You’ve got to do something.:

  :Do you think I care?: Wasp drawls. :Whatever the little fish turd did, he probably deserves what he’s getting now.:

  Whitey pulls his fist back and drives it into Mako’s rib cage. This time I think I hear something crack.

  :No one deserves that.:

  I wrench free of Tobin’s grasp and sprint down the corridor. :Stop it! You’re hurting him,: I yell at Whitey.

  Whitey spins around. He grins at us, showing off rows of wickedly sharp teeth. The savage hatred in his face chills me. Right now he looks more shark than human.

  He raises his hand and lunges toward me, clawlike nails sweeping toward my head. I throw up my arms to protect my face.

  Before Whitey can slash me, Mako gasps, :You hurt her, the bossman will fry your brains. He wants her here. He wants them all here.:

  Whitey hesitates. The bossman seems to be the one threat that everyone fears equally.

  Tobin’s beside me now. He shoves me behind him, which makes me furious.

  :Mako’s right,: Tobin says quickly. :The bossman knows he needs some Neptune kids.:

  :We don’t want any Neptune kids here, and we sure don’t need you.: Whitey lowers his hand and glares at us. :I won’t forget this, Princess. Don’t even think about telling the bossman about this, or I’ll tear you both to pieces.:

  Whitey turns and swims down the corridor.

  Sham lingers a moment longer, his thick lips curled in a sneer. :And if you go crying to Ice,: Sham says to Mako, :you know what we’ll do to you later.:

  Sham follows Whitey. Before they turn the corner, Whitey looks back at me and gives me one last look so full of cold hatred that it makes me tremble. I turn to check on Mako. He’s just floating there, curled into a ball. Afraid he may be seriously hurt, I swim closer.

  :Nere, you gotta be careful.: Tobin catches my arm again. :He’s pretty freaked right now.:

  :We can’t just leave him like this.:

  Mako’s eyes are closed and his shoulders are shaking. I’m pretty sure he’s crying. :Hey, Mako, you okay?: I ask him gently, still staying out of his reach.

  Mako’s pain-filled eyes focus on my face. His tic is worse than ever. :Are th-they gone?:

  :I think so. Mako, we need to get you to the infirmary.:

  :No! D-don’t take me there. The keepers hate it when they have to treat us. They’ll do something awful l-later to get even.:

  :But someone should make sure you don’t have any broken ribs,: Tobin says, backing me up. :Whitey was slugging you pretty hard there.:

  Mako’s gaze flickers hopefully to Tobin. :Y-you could check me out. Bria said you’re a medic.:

  :I could, but I know you don’t like to be touched. I really don’t want you to bite off my fingers.:

  Mako reaches down and shakily unstraps the dive knife on his calf. I’m relieved when he doesn’t take it out of its nylon sheath.

  :I promise if I bite this, I won’t bite you.:

  :That works for me,: Tobin says.

  Mako slips the knife between his teeth and slowly straightens up. The first time Tobin touches his rib cage gently, Mako jerks, but he lets Tobin continue his exam.

  :It hurts worse there, and there,: Mako says.

  Tobin lowers his hands and shifts away. :I’m fairly sure you have two cracked ribs. If you get them strapped up, you’ll feel a little better.:

  Mako takes the knife from his mouth, reaches out his arms, and twists his body experimentally. :Everything hurts right now, but they’ve done a lot worse to me. I heal so fast, I’ll probably be okay again in a few days.:

  :They’ve done this to you before? Oh, Mako…: I reach out to touch his arm, only now he doesn’t have a knife sheath in his mouth. Mako flinches again but doesn’t try to bite me. Instead, he stares down at my hand for a moment and then raises his gaze to mine.

  :I don’t like to be touched, but I guess I don’t mind if it’s you.: He looks so young and wistful, for a moment, he reminds me of Robry again.

  My eyes prickling with tears, I reach out and smooth his tangled hair away from his face. I wonder if anyone ever hugs these kids. All at once, I miss my dad. I’m never again going to take his hugs for granted.

  :It doesn’t have to be like this,: I say as I lower my hand. :Kids don’t have to treat each other this way.:

  :That’s what Dai’s been trying to tell us,: Mako says, :and Ocho and Shadow believe it, too. But I don’t think Sham or Wasp or Whitey can be different. We’ve got to get away from them and the bossman and this place.:

  I stare at Mako. :Have you thought about trying to escape?:

  :Only all the time.:

  :But what would you do about your collar?:

  :Turn it off through the master control panel in the bossman’s private rooms,: he replies promptly.

  :Is that possible?:

  :It might be. There’s definitely a ‘kill switch’ for the collars. I’ve seen it.:

  :What do you mean, a kill switch?: Tobin asks him intently.

  :It’s one of the bossman’s nastier jokes, only I think it’s kind of an experiment, too.: Mako grimaces. :We can flip a switch that will deactivate the collars and free us, but that switch is rigged. The person who flips it will get permanently fried. I think the bossman wants to see if one of us is willing to sacrifice his life to free the rest.:r />
  :Has anyone ever seriously considered doing it?: Tobin asks.

  :We’re all still here with our collars, aren’t we?: Mako shrugs. :Rad and I snuck up there to look at it one day, and that’s as close as we got. I think we’re always going to be here, and now you’re stuck with us, too.:

  The hopelessness I see in his eyes makes me want to hug him.

  :Maybe you should go up to your greenhouse for a while,: I suggest. :I bet your plants would make you feel better.:

  :Yeah, maybe. And Nere, thanks for helping me. No one ever does that except Ice and Shadow.: Mako’s restless gaze meets mine. :But don’t do it again. I can take whatever Whitey dishes out better than you can.: With that, Mako swims off, as stiff as an old man.

  I glance over at Tobin. He looks furious, and it takes a lot to make him angry.

  :You know why they only hit his body, don’t you?: he asks.

  :No.:

  :If Whitey or Sham had hit his face, someone would see the bruises the next day. No wonder Mako has a tic. They could have been beating the crud out of him for years, and none of the other kids like Dai or Shadow would know unless Mako actually said something to them.:

  :The keepers must know.: I shake my head. :But I’m starting to wonder if the keepers ever do anything to help these kids.:

  :Well, if that story Dai told you is true and Mako crippled one of them, I guess I can see why they don’t go out of their way to protect him.:

  I’m glad Mako has a place he can escape to, at least for a little while.

  TOBIN AND I describe to our team the brutal beating Sham and Whitey gave Mako and tell them about the kill switch in the bossman’s rooms. The next day, Mako almost seems to be himself again. He even starts wrestling and hanging out with Sham and Whitey. I notice now how often he’s on the receiving end of the nastiest of their teasing, and we are more careful than ever to try to steer clear of the shark crew as we continue to search through countless labs and storage rooms looking for the c-plankton.

  After lunch, Ocho says that the bossman wants to see us right away. My stomach twists at this news. Dai is off conducting one of his deep-water experiments, which means we’ll have to face his dad without him. Even Kuron’s kids are quiet as we make our way up to the bossman’s conference room, and I sense the tension growing in all of us.

  Kuron’s waiting for us, dressed in another simple dark suit, his hands clasped behind his back. As we climb out of the water and line up before him, he smiles at us all pleasantly. It’s like he’s completely forgotten how angry he became when he found out we weren’t collared yet.

  The metal band around my neck feels colder and heavier than ever as he strolls over to where my team and I are standing together.

  “I’m very pleased with the way you Neptune subjects have been settling in,” he says to us. “It’s clear from your intelligence tests that your intellectual abilities, except for brilliant young Robry’s here, are on a par with my own specimens. I’m curious, too, about your physical capabilities, and I’ve designed a series of experiments to explore them.”

  My skin crawls at the way he refers to us as specimens and subjects. What happened to us being his “guests”? I’m starting to wonder if he really sees any of us as human. Shadow is standing near me. Her face appears as impassive as ever, but when I touch her mind, I can tell she’s seething with resentment.

  “Octavian,” Kuron continues, addressing Ocho, “I want you to take them to the Maze, conduct a level-one blind directional and memory test on all the Neptune subjects, and enter their results into the computer. I will have you run some other tests on them in a few days.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ocho replies.

  My friends and I look at one another uneasily.

  “Very well. You’re dismissed,” Kuron says with a curt nod and strides from the room.

  “Guess we’d better head to the Maze now,” Ocho tells us, and he dives back into the water.

  :What exactly is this maze?: I ask as we follow him.

  Wasp, Whitey, and Sham move up so they are swimming all around me. :The Maze is just what it sounds like,: Wasp replies before Ocho can, :and we have such fun playing games in there.: She looks so excited, my heart sinks.

  :I hate going in there,: Shadow declares. :It makes me feel just like a lab rat.:

  :Aw, the Maze ain’t so bad,: Sham says with a mean, toothy grin.

  :Particularly when we get to play ‘hunt and seek,’: Whitey adds and sends me a long, challenging look.

  :We are not going to play ‘hunt and seek’ with the newbies today.: Ocho looks back over his shoulder at the shark crew.

  :It’s really not too scary. One of us will lead you into the Maze,: Sunny explains, :and then we see how long it takes you to find your way out.:

  :But you have to do it with the lights off,: Sham says, a gleam in his eyes. :The bossman wants you to do a blind test, and that’s the best kind.:

  :So why do you guys like blind tests so much?: Ree asks.

  :Because I can echolocate,: Sham replies, :and Whitey and Mako here have the ability to sense electrical fields just like sharks can.:

  Goose bumps rise all over me. No wonder they like to play hunt and seek in the Maze. With the lights off, Sham would be able to use his personal sonar system to find other people, but the kids with shark senses would have an even bigger advantage. I’ve seen sharks find prey buried under inches of sand just by sensing the electrical currents their bodies generate.

  Between their taunts and having to swim with the shark crew right next to me, I’m pretty wired by the time Ocho leads us through the doorway to the Maze. It’s labeled with a plaque that reads DIRECTIONAL AND MEMORY TESTING FACILITY.

  :Guess Kuron couldn’t just call a maze ‘a maze,’ could he?: Tobin says so sarcastically that I smile, but once we’re all inside the small control room for the Maze, I don’t feel like smiling anymore. Whitey, Wasp, and Sham still look way too eager about our tests. Wasp spins around and hits a set of light switches beside the door. The small room is plunged into complete darkness. I bite my lip and wonder if Whitey is sneaking up to tear a chunk out of me.

  :You could have waited five more minutes,: Ocho says, resignation in his tone.

  :They might as well get used to the dark, Ochy,: Wasp says sweetly.

  :Sunny?: Ocho asks.

  :I’m on it,: she replies. Moments later, her hands begin to glow. The light emanating from them grows brighter and brighter until the control room is illuminated as brightly as it was before Wasp turned off the lights. I stare at Sunny’s hands. The light shines right through her skin, just the way it does in bioluminescent fish.

  :That is just sooo cool,: Robry says, shaking his head.

  Sunny smiles at him. :You never need a flashlight when I’m around.:

  :All right, Kalli and Ree, you guys are up first,: Ocho tells them. :Shadow and Sunny are going to lead you into the center of the Maze. They’ll leave you there and see how long you take to find your way out. If you can’t do it in fifteen minutes, we’ll send someone in to get you.:

  :This should be interesting,: Kalli mutters as Shadow slips a wide, thick blindfold over her eyes.

  When both Ree and Kalli have blindfolds on, I ask, :Can you see anything?:

  :Nada,: Ree replies.

  :Take ’em in.: Ocho nods to Shadow and Sunny, and turns on a dozen different screens that display the interior of the Maze.

  :We’ll be cheering for you,: Rad calls after them.

  We watch on the screens as Shadow and Sunny lead Ree and Kalli into the heart of the Maze.

  :Time starts NOW,: Ocho declares after Sunny and Shadow return.

  Sunny switches off the light she’s been generating, and the only illumination in the booth comes from the screens. We watch as Kalli and Ree start trying to find their way out. The shark crew laughs as my friends take a series of wrong turns and head farther into the southeast corner of the Maze.

  After fifteen minutes, Kalli and Ree still haven�
��t found their way out. Sunny lights up her hand again and swims into the Maze to lead them back.

  :So here are your test results,: Wasp taunts them when Kalli and Ree return. :You have no sense of direction and your memory stinks.:

  :Like you could find your way out of there.: Shadow shakes her head.

  :Wasp gets lost in the Maze all the time,: Rad tells us with a smirk while Wasp glares at him.

  Ocho nods to Tobin and Robry. :You’re up next.:

  :Can’t Nere come with us?: Robry asks.

  :Nope. The bossman left express orders that she has to go solo.:

  That news makes my skin prickle. I still manage a smile for Robry before Shadow helps him put on his blindfold.

  After Sunny leads them in, Sham snickers. :I bet they get more lost than the first two.:

  :I think you’re about to get a big surprise,: I say. Sure enough, as soon as Ocho tells them to start, Robry begins to lead Tobin along the shortest route out. The shark crew swears in disbelief as Robry chooses the correct turn again and again.

  Our guys return to the Maze’s entrance in less than three minutes.

  :What took you so long?: I ask Robry after he takes off his blindfold.

  :I had to feel my way along.: He grins. :If the lights had been on, I could have had us out of there a whole lot faster.:

  :Not bad. How’d you do that, squirt?: Rad asks.

  :Robry has an amazing memory,: I say proudly.

  Ocho enters their results into the computer. :Pretty impressive, kid. You guys should head back to the school room now. Sunny and I will come after we finish up Nere’s testing.:

  I hate whenever our team gets split up, but I’m pretty sure Rad and Shadow will keep an eye on my friends. I catch Wasp and Whitey exchanging a conspiratorial look that I don’t like at all, but they leave with the others.

  :It’s your turn next.: Ocho sends me a smile when the door closes behind Whitey. :Remember, if you can’t find your way out, it’s no big deal. We’ll just come find you in fifteen minutes.: