“Perhaps they’re some kind of animal,” Danny suggested to the others. “Shellfish, maybe.”
“Wonder if they’re good to eat,” said Joe.
“We can ask the Professor when he’s done with his work. Look, there are some of those hatchetfish they had in the collecting tank.” Danny pointed. Alongside the hull of the Urchin swam a dozen tiny, glittering fish, like jewels floating in the murky water. Their round eyes and gaping mouths made it seem they were wondering what kind of monster the ship was.
“I’ve got their sounds on tape,” Danny said. “Remember? Chirp, chirp, chirp!” He put his mouth close to the side of the hull. “Hey, fish!” he called. “Cheep, cheep!”
The hatchetfish flicked their tails, turning so that the lights along their bellies flashed. They shot away into the darkness.
“You probably said something insulting in fish talk,” said Joe. “Like, ‘Get the hook.’”
“Whatever I said, I’ll bet they couldn’t hear me through three inches of plastic,” Danny laughed. “But isn’t it fun being able to see these things just as if we lived down here? It’s better than an aquarium.”
“Better?” said Joe glumly. “It’s the same thing as an aquarium. Only we’re the ones in the tank—an air tank instead of a tank of water. Wonder if the fish think somebody put us down here for them to study?”
“I wonder,” Irene said thoughtfully, “if there could be any people living on the ocean floor?”
“Well, sure there are,” said Joe. “You, me, the Professor, Dr. Grimes—I don’t know whether we can count Danny as people—”
“Oh!” Irene interrupted. “What a beautiful fish!”
The two boys went up to the pilot’s seat. Through the clear plastic bows they could see, at the edge of the circle of light, a large, flat, pearly creature. It had a tiny mouth and eyes that were no more than pinpoints. Its smooth body, which seemed to have no scales, glowed like a moon.
Irene touched a control button and sent the ship forward a little way so that she could see the fish better.
“Here, what are you up to?” cried Dr. Grimes. “Hold steady.”
“Sorry.” Irene stopped the ship again. The pearly fish turned and swam back to the left, parallel with the ship but just outside the light. Then Irene gasped, “Oh! Look!”
A monstrous blue-green shape, paler below than above, glided into view on the right. It had a flat snout shaped like a shovel, and round milky-white eyes, and when it turned they could see the cruel teeth in its down-curved mouth.
“A shark,” whispered Danny. “What a whopper! He’s almost as big as the ship.”
“Oh, Danny,” said Irene. “Do something! He’s going to attack that lovely little fish.”
“Little fish?” Joe repeated. “Oh, man! girls sure do get their sizes mixed up. That little fish is the same size as the shark.”
“But his mouth is smaller,” Irene said, wringing her hands. “Danny, can’t you do something?”
The pearly creature was at the stern of the Urchin by now, and the shark slid toward it along the other side. There was something tigerish about the way the shark moved, that made the young people shiver. Danny rushed to the stern and thrust his arms into the metal sleeves that controlled the jointed arms and claws outside the hull.
As the shark came even with the stern of the ship and began to turn on its side, Danny raised one of the arms. He grabbed for the shark’s sharp tail and tried to pinch it. The metal claws rasped against the rough hide of the fish, which was too tough for them.
But the shark’s attention was attracted, away from the pearly creature and to the Urchin. He turned like lightning and snapped his great jaws against the side of the ship. The plastic was too strong for him to penetrate, but the ship rocked under the blow.
Both Professor Bullfinch and Dr. Grimes had been too busy to notice what was happening. But now, they were almost knocked off their feet. They tried to steady themselves, shouting questions and commands at once.
Danny kept his balance and punched at the shark with the right-hand claw. He hit the creature hard and hurt it. The monster doubled round. Its jaws clashed on the metal arm and made two large dents in it. Then it turned on its side and swam straight for the Urchin.
Once more the wicked teeth scraped the smooth plastic, and the people inside were jolted about helplessly by the violence of the attack.
“Help! What’ll we do?” yelled Joe. He was almost thrown to the deck by another blow against the ship. He grabbed for something to cling to and his hand closed about the lever that worked the suction pump. The pump started.
“That’s it!” Danny cried. “We’ll trap him so he can’t move.”
He staggered to the collecting tank, which was rapidly filling with water. He seized the wheel which controlled the flexible intake pipe. He turned it toward the shark just as the beast made another rush at the ship.
The shark’s snout slammed into the suction intake and stuck there tightly.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“It’s Gold!”
The ship rolled and pitched as if caught in a storm. Struggling to get free, the shark lashed its tail and jerked its huge body from side to side, but its snout was jammed in the intake valve, and the suction of the powerful pump motor held it firmly. The people in the ship were banged about unmercifully. They hung on to whatever they could to keep from being bruised.
“Can’t we do something?” Joe groaned. “I’m beginning to feel like a tossed salad.”
The Professor was clutching the side of the laboratory bench. He said, “I expected to do a certain amount of collecting of specimens, but it looks as though this specimen is trying to collect us. How on earth did you get us into this, Dan?”
“I’m sure it was easy for a boy with his talents,” said Dr. Grimes. He was underneath one of the shelves with his feet braced against the wall. “I didn’t expect to end my career inside a shark.”
“As a matter of fact,” said Professor Bullfinch, “I believe this is a member of the Squalidae, one of the dogfish family. Very interesting. As you know, the sharks and dogfish are living fossils, survivals from the Devonian Age, millions of years ago. Instead of scales they have plates of shagreen on their bodies, and their teeth are simply enlarged sections of this rough skin—”
“You are an idiot, Bullfinch!” shouted Dr. Grimes. “It’s not a dogfish but a Port Jackson shark. Look at the dorsal fins—”
“Tut, tut,” said the Professor, “I really believe—”
“Can I say something?” shouted Irene over the noise.
“Dear me, do you think it’s a Port Jackson shark, too?” said the Professor mildly.
“I was just going to say that Danny ought to just shut off the suction pump,” Irene said.
Almost before the words were out of her mouth, Danny was at the lever. Water was splashing over the sides of the tank and he was soaked, but he grabbed the lever and pushed it. The pump stopped. But the shark was by now wedged so tightly into the intake that this made very little difference.
“No good,” Danny gasped, holding the tank with one hand and trying to wipe the water out of his eyes with the other.
“One reverse after another,” cried Dr. Grimes angrily. “First Beaversmith’s accident, and then—”
But Danny interrupted him. “Reverse? That’s it!”
He seized the lever and pulled it over as far as it would go into the “Reverse” position.
The motor whined, and suddenly all the water in the collecting tank vanished into the hose. At the same time, Joe cried, “He’s out!”
When the motor was reversed, a strong current of water and air shot out through the hose. They saw the shark literally blown backward in the water, away from the ship. He hung still for a moment as if dazed by his experience, then flapped his tail frantically and was out of sight before t
hey could blink.
“That’ll teach him not to play with strangers,” said Joe. “Oh, my back. I’ll never be the same again.”
“Neither will that dogfish,” said Danny, rubbing a bruise on his arm.
“Port Jackson shark, you mean,” said Dr. Grimes, crawling from under the shelf. He went to the air chamber. He threw the switch to pull the core sampling tube up from the mud. There was a rattling sound. He opened the chamber.
“More trouble!” he said. “This is really too much.”
“What’s the matter?” asked the Professor.
“Look for yourself. During all that banging about, the cable was broken. We’ve lost the core sampler.”
He sat down with his head in his hands and groaned. The Professor patted his shoulder. “Be calm, Grimes,” he said. “After all, we did take a number of samples. And we can have another tube sent to us—when we get back to the surface.”
“When?” moaned Dr. Grimes. “When we get back? Do you seriously think we’ll ever escape?”
“Keep your spirits up,” said the Professor. “How is our captain?” he added, turning to Irene. “Are you all right? We can’t afford to have another pilot put out of action.”
“I’m all right,” Irene said. “Just a little bumped. But come up forward, Professor. There’s something very odd ahead.”
“Another shark—or Port Dogson jackfish—or whatever I mean?” said Joe.
Irene sent the ship forward a little way. The lights shone on a high wall of mud, which towered up before them.
“Ah, that’s one side of the canyon into which we’ve dropped,” said the Professor.
“Yes. And do you see that shiny thing near the bottom?” said Irene.
Projecting from the mud was what looked like part of a wheel. But in the lights it gleamed brightly, like a stray piece of sunshine.
They had all gathered behind the pilot’s seat by now, and suddenly Joe said, “I know what it is.”
They all stared at him. Slowly and dramatically he drew from his pocket a folded piece of parchment.
“The Aztec treasure?” Danny burst out. “Gosh! I wonder—”
“For all we know,” said Joe, “it’s right on the spot marked with a cross. Why couldn’t it be?”
“Aztec treasure?” Dr. Grimes said. “What sort of rubbish is this?”
“Better explain, Joe,” said the Professor. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Quickly, Joe told the story of the Sun Image, as Ramon had narrated it. When he was finished, the Professor went close to the side of the hull and peered out at the golden thing.
“Thorough nonsense,” barked Dr. Grimes. “It is probably a piece of brasswork from some ship.”
“I don’t think so, Grimes,” said the Professor. “Brass would have corroded in the water. Copper would have turned green. This is still shiny in spite of the mud and shellfish all over it. It is certainly very interesting…”
“Hum,” said Danny in a soft voice and with a sly, sideways look at the Professor. “I wonder what sort of shellfish those are.”
“Yes. A good point,” said the Professor, rubbing his chin.
“It wouldn’t be too hard to get it into the ship,” Irene said, as if to herself.
“You’re right. I think we ought to try,” said the Professor. “Grimes, what do you say?”
Dr. Grimes frowned. “I doubt that it is an Aztec treasure, or any other kind of treasure,” he said. “But it is certainly an odd shape and color. Perhaps we ought to investigate it.”
He and the Professor went to the after part of the cabin, while Irene carefully turned the ship until its stern was directly over the shining object. Dr. Grimes put his arms into the hanging sleeves, while the Professor bent over the air lock on the floor. This was a round hatchway with two covers and a good-sized space between them. Pressing a lever, the Professor opened the outer cover. Then Dr. Grimes maneuvered the claws and tried to pick up the golden thing. He grunted and muttered to himself, for it was deeply buried, but at last he pulled it free and set it inside the lock. The Professor closed the outer cover. The water was automatically pumped out of the lock. They opened the inner cover and bent over their catch.
It took both men to pull it up into the cabin, for it was very heavy, and in addition, it was encrusted with mud and tiny shells. It was round and thick and carved with Aztec figures of men and beasts, and even Dr. Grimes was forced to admit that it was clearly something old and valuable.
The Professor let out a long breath. “No doubt of it,” he said. “It’s gold. And it is definitely ancient Aztec.”
“An image of the sun, I would say,” said Dr. Grimes. “And see here, Bullfinch, on the other side is a carving of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent.”
“I knew it,” said Joe. “This thing must be worth a fortune.”
“Not in money, Joe,” the Professor said gravely. “If we are right, it is priceless. It’s a historical treasure, and no one can say what it is worth.”
“What—” Danny began and then stopped short. The others froze, as well. In the cabin behind them sounded a dismal, hollow groan.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Trapped!
It was Captain Beaversmith. He was awake and trying to rise, but the lashings, which had kept him from being thrown about during the shark’s attack, held him fast. His tanned face was very pale, but otherwise he seemed quite normal.
“Where are we?” he mumbled. “What’s happened?”
Irene got to him first. “Dear Captain Beaversmith,” she said, dropping to her knees. “Do you feel better?”
“That’s a difficult question,” he said with a wan smile. “Better than what? My head seems to have come loose.”
“Please lie down and rest,” said Irene, pulling the edge of the blanket up over him again.
“Yes, you’ve had a rough time of it,” said the Professor. “Better take it easy.”
Danny got out another blanket, rolled it up, and tucked it under the Captain’s head, while Dr. Grimes unfastened the lashings and made him more comfortable. Captain Beaversmith sank back with a sigh.
“I can’t seem to recall what happened,” he said. “There was a short circuit, wasn’t there? I jumped up—and that’s all I remember.”
“You hit your head on my tape recorder,” Danny explained. “It was on the shelf above your seat.”
“Tapped by a tape,” murmured the Captain. He closed his eyes wearily. “I see. And where are we now?”
“I’m afraid you must prepare yourself for a shock,” said the Professor. “We are on the sea bottom.”
The Captain blinked. “On the bottom?” The blow must have done something to my eyes. I can’t see a thing outside the hull.”
“Dear me,” said Professor Bullfinch. “We have all the searchlights on.”
“Are you sure, Professor?” Danny put in, in a strained voice.
“Yes, of course. Why?”
“Because the blow on the Captain’s head must have done something to my eyes, too. I can’t see anything out there either.”
It was true. Outside the hull was a solid wall of dark yellow, as if they had been rolled up in wrapping paper. They stared and rubbed their eyes, and Captain Beaversmith said, “In my experience, that can only mean one thing. Mud.”
“Mud?” Dr. Grimes repeated in surprise.
“Help me up, old chap,” said the Captain.
The Professor and Dr. Grimes took his arms and helped him get to his feet. He shook his head to clear it.
“I’m still a bit groggy,” he said, “but I can manage. Now, then. We were above an undersea canyon just before I took my little nap. Did you decide to descend into it?”
“Not exactly,” said the Professor. “We didn’t decide. We just descended.”
“Ah, I remember now.
The sea-water tank pumps weren’t working properly. But didn’t you even try to pull the lever?”
“We couldn’t,” the Professor said. “It was gone. We looked everywhere for it, but couldn’t find it.”
Captain Beaversmith took his chin in his hand. “That’s odd,” he said. “I’m almost sure I was holding it… Well, first things first. So you sank into the canyon, is that it?”
“Yes. In fact, we pulled the sun image out of one wall of the canyon,” the Professor replied.
“Sun image? What on earth do you mean?”
“It’s an ancient Aztec relic. There it is, on the deck.”
The Captain inspected it. “Handsome bit of jewelry,” he said. “Pretty valuable, I shouldn’t wonder. Well, that explains it.”
He returned to the pilot’s seat and sat down with a sigh. “When you pulled that golden pie dish out of the canyon wall,” he went on, “you started the soft mud falling. It turned into an undersea avalanche, an avalanche of sand and mud. We are surrounded by a cloud of the stuff held suspended in the water.” He looked pensively through the nose of the ship. “Looks like a real London pea-soup fog, it does. Makes me feel quite homesick.”
“It’s the saltiest pea soup I ever saw,” Danny said.
“Stop it,” begged Joe.
“Why? Am I scaring you?”
“No, you’re making me hungry.”
Dr. Grimes interrupted. “What do you suggest, Captain?”
“To begin with, can we move at all?”
“The propellers are still working,” said the Professor.
“Good. Then let’s try backing out of this mud cloud, if we can. We’ll be able to work better in clear water.” Captain Beaversmith took the controls and slowly sent the ship backward.
They could see that they were moving because the particles of sand all around them moved past the hull. They traveled for fifteen or twenty minutes with no sign of the cloud thinning, and suddenly the ship stopped with a bump. Fortunately, they were going very slowly.
Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor Page 7