by Finn Black
Dr Fesuzia put a stopper in the top of his beaker and stowed it away in his case of instruments. ‘Well, nice talking to you. I must take this back to my lab to analyse.’
Ant couldn’t suppress his curiosity. If there were scientific investigations happening, he wanted to be in on them. ‘Can we help? I’m a bit of a scientist myself, you know. Well, an inventor. I invented the Jorange!’ He pointed proudly at his backpack with Jeffrey swimming around in his tank of water.
Dr Fesuzia grinned. ‘Impressive.’
‘So, what is it you’re analysing?’ asked Fontaine. The three of them started to walk along the shore towards the village.
‘Well, when a cyclone churns up the waves to that extent, it tends to deplete the oxygen levels, and makes the water more saline –’
‘He means salty,’ Fontaine told Ant.
‘Well, duh-ur,’ Ant said. ‘I did know that, actually!’
‘And salinity wouldn’t be great news for the king,’ Dr Fesuzia finished.
‘The king?’ Ant asked in excitement. There was actual royalty living on the island? Maybe I could meet the king, he thought. He began to indulge in a fantasy where the king was so impressed with his invention that he knighted him. Or better still, knighted Jeffrey. Sir Jeffrey of the Jorange ...
There was a shout from further down the beach. A figure was running towards them, kicking up sand.
‘Dr Fesuzia! Dr Fesuzia!’ the woman cried, stumbling to a halt in front of them. She rested her hands on her thighs as she drew ragged breaths.
Dr Fesuzia placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘What is it? What’s happened?’
The villager pointed back down the beach. ‘Someone’s been washed up,’ she panted. ‘She’s alive, but – she needs your help!’
CHAPTER FIVE
Dr Fesuzia broke into a run, following the woman along the shore. Ant and Fontaine looked at each other, nodded and ran after them.
They caught up just as Dr Fesuzia reached a group of villagers gathered on the shoreline. The crowd parted and Ant saw that a fishing boat had been washed up. Its name, ‘The Outcast’, was written in curling script on the stern. It was large, with armoured metal plates along its sides and a sharp, jutting prow. It immediately reminded Ant of the object that had crashed into the Aronnax and cracked their window. Could it be the same vessel?
A young woman was lying on her back, eyes closed, in the bottom of the boat. She was wearing a strange wetsuit, slick and grey and slightly furry, like the pelt of a seal.
Dr Fesuzia leaned over the side of the vessel. ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’
The woman’s eyes opened. She looked startled. With an effort she hauled herself to her feet. She rested her weight against a large wooden box with an open lid. It was full of tools: spanners, wrenches, soldering irons.
‘Are you all right?’ asked the doctor.
She passed a hand across her forehead. ‘I must have passed out.’
‘The king!’ muttered one of the villagers.
‘Yes, it must be the work of the king,’ said another.
‘The king, the king!’ The murmured words ran through the crowd like an electric current.
Ant and Fontaine exchanged a puzzled look. How could the king possibly have been responsible for the young woman fainting in her boat?
‘I’d better check you over,’ said Dr Fesuzia. He vaulted lightly into the boat. ‘Let me see if there are any puncture wounds.’ He took out a magnifying glass from his case and examined the woman’s wetsuit, looking with particular care at the feet. ‘I just need to check you haven’t sustained any injuries from poisoned barbs. Don’t worry, I have antidotes with me if necessary ...’
‘Why would he think she’s been poisoned?’ Ant whispered.
Fontaine shrugged, her face blank.
But the doctor appeared to be satisfied with his examination. ‘You’re fine,’ he told the woman. ‘Just a bit shaken up. That was quite a storm last night, eh? Here, give me your arm and I’ll help you out. People – can you stand back?’
The crowd backed away, and with Dr Fesuzia’s help the young woman clambered out of the boat. She stood for a moment on the sand. Then her knees buckled, and before the doctor could catch her she slumped to the ground. The villagers muttered among themselves.
‘All right, don’t try to get up just yet,’ he said. ‘Get your strength back. Tell me – who are you?’
‘My name is Edwina,’ the woman said faintly. ‘I was out on a mission.’ Her face suddenly creased in pain and they had to wait for her to continue her story. After a moment or two, she wiped a hand across her face. ‘But I was caught up in the cyclone. My boat … hit something.’ Her gaze came to rest on Ant’s face and he felt himself flush – then her eyes rolled back in her head and she gave a moan.
So it was her who hit us! Ant thought. He opened his mouth to speak, but …
‘She certainly likes a drama,’ Fontaine whispered out of the side of her mouth.
Dr Fesuzia was bent over the woman, asking her more questions as he gently rubbed her back. ‘What was your mission?’
‘Help me up, please.’ She reached out a trembling hand and the doctor helped her to her feet. Some instinct made Ant shrink back behind a villager, pulling Fontaine with him. He hadn’t liked it when her gaze had caught his.
‘I have an urgent message to deliver from the WOA,’ she said in a formal voice, looking around. ‘It’s for the crew of a vessel called the Aronnax.’ A frown creased her brow. So she hadn’t recognised Ant as a Nekton – why did that make him feel better? ‘Apparently, they can’t be reached by satellite communication. Has anyone here seen or heard anything of the Aronnax?’
She looked from face to face.
‘Why are we hiding?’ Fontaine whispered to Ant, though she seemed willing to follow his lead.
Ant shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ said Dr Fesuzia. He peered into the crowd. ‘Two of their crew are here … somewhere.’ He frowned. ‘Or they were a minute ago. Has anyone seen … ?’
Ant felt a sudden dig in his back and he was shoved forward by a villager. Fontaine quickly stepped up beside him and he felt a rush of gratitude. She wouldn’t let him face this alone.
Dr Fesuzia’s face brightened. ‘Ah, here they are!’ He gestured for them to move closer. ‘These are our new friends from the Aronnax. Their sub has run aground on the other side of the island. Strange coincidence!’
Edwina gazed at Ant and Fontaine with a bright, friendly face. If she’d figured they’d been hiding from her, she didn’t let it show. ‘How lucky to meet you here! I have orders from Commander Pyrosome.’
‘Oh yes?’ said Fontaine – Ant could tell she shared his suspicions. What was it about Edwina that made them so uneasy?
‘The commander wants a scientific investigation of a device you’re in possession of. A small metal orb. It probably doesn’t look like much to you, but we need to examine it.’
Ant felt his heartbeat suddenly begin to race. If he was suspicious before, now his senses were on high alert. How did this woman know about the Circlotron? Likewise Commander Pyrosome? He could feel its weight in the Jorange hanging on his back.
‘I told you to leave it on the Aronnax!’ Fontaine hissed.
‘What’s that? You have it with you?’ Edwina’s expression became sharp and watchful. ‘Show it to me.’ She moved towards Ant, her hand held out, fingers trembling with anticipation.
This doesn’t feel right. Not right at all, Ant thought, and wished with every cell in his body to be back on the Aronnax. Whose idea had it been to bring it anyway? Oh yeah. Mine.
He backed away. ‘It’s ours – you can’t have it!’ Why was he suddenly talking like a sulky child? Fontaine was staring at him.
‘Oh yes I can, and I will!’ Edwina stepped closer.
The crowd shifted from foot to foot and Dr Fesuzia’s face was creased with anxiety.
‘Excuse
me,’ the doctor said, stepping between Edwina and the Nektons. ‘You do have authorisation, don’t you?’
‘Authorisation?’ Edwina’s face cleared, turning innocent again. ‘Oh, of course, yes, I have authorisation. Excellent authorisation from the very highest level.’ She patted the pockets of her wetsuit, as though looking for something. ‘Let me see. Now, where is that … ?’
Before she’d finished speaking, she darted around Dr Fesuzia and threw herself at Ant, taking them all by surprise. She ripped at the straps of the Jorange, dragging it from his shoulders.
‘Hey, stop that!’ Ant shouted, struggling to hold on to the Jorange as Fontaine tried to push Edwina away.
But Edwina was too quick and too strong. With one hand she gave Fontaine a shove that sent her reeling, while with the other she twisted the Jorange from Ant’s grasp.
‘So kind of you to cooperate! I’ll tell Commander Pyrosome about your helpful attitude!’
She slung the Jorange over one shoulder and leaped back into her boat. The whole fainting fit – it had been one big act. There was no doubting her energy and strength now.
‘Stop her!’ shouted Ant.
Dr Fesuzia and the villagers raced towards the boat – but it was too late.
Edwina reached for something in the interior and everyone gasped as a gleaming metal shell rose and snapped shut over the boat. Dr Fesuzia had to snatch his hand back to avoid losing his fingers.
Edwina had disappeared beneath the silver carapace.
The boat’s engines roared into life. With a churning of sand and surf it moved into the shallows. Frantically, Ant ran after it, up to his knees in the water. He beat on the metal shell with his fists. ‘My Circlotron! Jeffrey! Give them back!’
The boat moved away, picking up speed. Ant tripped and fell in the surf, salt water blinding him.
The Outcast suddenly accelerated like a torpedo. It shot away, leaving behind a white creamy wake.
By the time Ant climbed back on his feet it was a dot on the horizon.
His hands hung helplessly by his sides. His Jorange was gone.
His Circlotron was gone.
And Jeffrey was gone.
CHAPTER SIX
There was a stunned silence. ‘I’m sorry,’ said Dr Fesuzia. ‘I had no idea –’
‘It’s not your fault,’ said Ant, wading back on to the beach. His mind was still reeling. He looked at Fontaine. ‘I’ve lost the Circlotron. And even worse, she’s got Jeffrey. I’ll never see them again!’
‘Yes, you will,’ said Fontaine, laying a hand on his shoulder. ‘We’ll chase Edwina to the ends of the Earth and somehow we’ll –’
‘But how?’ said Ant despairingly.
There was a sudden gasp from the woman who’d raced to find Dr Fesuzia. She was pointing to the ocean with a trembling hand.
They all followed the line of her finger.
‘What is that?’ said Dr Fesuzia.
The massive form of the Aronnax – a quarter kilometre long – had come into view in front of the bay. Ant felt a rush of pride to see the titanium hull glittering in the sunshine. It cruised towards them and stopped a little way out, sending waves rolling over the sand and wetting the feet of the villagers.
‘That’s the Aronnax,’ said Fontaine.
‘That’s home.’ Ant grinned.
Dr Fesuzia gave a low whistle. ‘Impressive.’
The turret at the top of the submarine opened and the figure of Will appeared, waving. ‘We’re all fixed up!’ he called.
Ant’s spurt of pride disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Now he’d have to tell his parents what had happened.
‘Come on.’ Without stopping to say goodbye, he ran into the surf, closely followed by Fontaine. They swam the last few metres and climbed up the steel ladder their father had lowered.
‘Goodbye!’ called Dr Fesuzia, waving after them. ‘And good luck!’
Ant barely paused to shout back, ‘Thanks!’
He and Fontaine scrambled on board and went through the door on the top deck. The elevator whisked them down to the bridge.
Kaiko glanced up from the control deck. The moment she saw Ant’s stricken face, her eyes widened with concern.
‘Are you OK, Ant?’
‘Jorange gone – and the Circlotron – she was in a boat and she had a wetsuit like a seal – and she’s got Jeffrey – and the lid closed and –’
‘Hey, slow down!’ Will guided Ant to a seat.
Fontaine took up the story as Ant collapsed on to the chair, explaining what had happened. ‘So, the Jorange, the Circlotron – they’re gone,’ she finished. ‘One minute they were there, the next …’ She snapped her fingers. ‘Edwina snatched them.’
Ant could hardly bring himself to look at his family. He’d let them down – badly.
‘Well,’ said Will, after a long pause. He looked at Kaiko and she gave him a discreet nod. ‘We’ll soon pick up this Edwina on the sonar. Her boat may be fast but I very much doubt it’s as fast as the Aronnax.’
He went over to the monitor and set the sonar scanner for a long-range sweep. A green circle appeared on the screen with a line sweeping around it. Halfway around the circuit, it gave a ping and a black dot appeared at the edge of the screen as the line passed through it.
‘Got her!’ said Will. ‘Kaiko?’
‘I’m on it,’ said Kaiko. She pressed the submerge button. ‘Luckily, I managed to fix the ballast tanks. Something very strange happened there, I think they might have been tampered with ...’ She frowned and shook her head. ‘Anyway, no time to worry about that now.’
As she pressed the submerge button, the island disappeared from view and the sub smoothly dived below the surface. Kaiko pulled the throttle towards her. Ant felt the power surge as the mighty submarine accelerated through the glassy green water.
He watched the needle on the speedometer swing swiftly round to the Aronnax’s top speed: fifty knots. He desperately hoped they would be able to rescue the two things most precious to him in all the world. ‘We will catch her, won’t we?’ he asked his parents.
‘Oh yes. There’s no way she can outrun us,’ his mother assured him.
‘And when we catch up with her she’ll have some questions to answer,’ Will said grimly. ‘This is all mighty strange. Who is she, and how did she know about the Circlotron?’
‘She said she worked for the WOA,’ said Fontaine. ‘To be fair, she did know our satellite link was down.’
‘I’ve fixed the satellite link,’ said Kaiko. ‘So we can check that out right now!’
She keyed in the code on the video link to connect to the WOA. A moment later, the screen filled with the unsmiling face of Commander Pyrosome. Her hair was cropped short like a soldier’s and she wore the dark blue uniform of the Worldwide Oceanic Authority. Ant had never seen her out of uniform; he had a theory that she slept in it.
‘Yes?’ snapped Commander Pyrosome.
‘Hello, Commander, how are you?’ Kaiko began with exaggerated politeness. Ant bit his lip to stop himself from smiling. ‘We have a query for you. Do you employ someone called Edwina? She has a boat called the ... what’s it called, kids?’
‘The Outcast,’ said Fontaine.
‘The Worldwide Oceanic Authority is a huge organisation, as I’m sure you are aware,’ said Commander Pyrosome in her precise, clipped tones. ‘Directly or indirectly, we employ over twenty thousand people. One of them might be called Edwina, I really couldn’t say. Now I’m afraid I’m rather busy, so if you’ll excuse me –’
‘Wait!’ said Will. ‘Commander, we’re asking you for help.’ Did Ant see the face up on the screen soften ever so slightly?
‘Go on,’ she said after a moment.
‘OK.’ Will took a deep breath and threw Kaiko a glance that said, ‘I’ll take it from here’. ‘Did you recently inform an agent that the Aronnax’s satellite link was down? And send her on a mission to get the Circlotron from us?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ s
aid Commander Pyrosome. She looked perplexed. ‘Who is this person? I’ve never heard of a Circlotron. What’s going on?’
‘Hey, look!’ said Ant, pointing at the sonar. The black dot was almost at the centre of the screen now, and the pings were virtually continuous.
‘I’m afraid we’re rather busy, Commander, so if you’ll excuse us –’ said Kaiko, and zapped off the link before she could respond.
‘And now for a word with the mysterious Edwina!’ said Will.
‘I’ll take us up,’ said Kaiko.
The Aronnax rose and daylight spilt in through the windows once more. Ant saw the Outcast, no more than a stone’s throw away. It was still travelling, leaving a wake behind it – but they were getting nearer with every second.
‘What is that? It looks like a giant mollusc shell,’ Will said.
‘Some sort of … metal lid that covers her boat. It nearly took off the doctor’s hand when it snapped shut,’ Ant said.
‘All right, let’s see if she can hear through that thing.’ Will flipped on the electronic address system and spoke into the microphone. ‘Ahoy there! You cannot escape. Give yourself up and return what you have stolen. Repeat, give yourself up!’
The titanium shell covering the Outcast slid back to reveal Edwina standing in the boat. Kaiko gasped. There was no denying it, the other woman looked impressive in her strange wetsuit, her short dark hair escaping from the diving mask that was pushed back on her head. The Jorange was on her back, and as she turned slightly Ant caught a flash of purple and gold. So Jeffrey was still there, unharmed.
Thank goodness, he thought. She’s going to come quietly ...
But he was wrong. Edwina scrambled to the back of the boat and sat on the side. There was a dazzling flash of silver in the sunlight.
‘Crazy outfit!’ said Fontaine.
The whole of Edwina’s bottom half was covered in some sort of metallic layer. It looked like liquid silver – or armour – or …