by Adam Blade
“Where are the other pieces?” said the Professor sharply. “They must be close for it to be glowing like that.”
Max had to fight not look at Rivet’s back compartment. The curved piece of bone at his belt was glowing bluer than ever, sensing the rest of the skull. He could feel it tugging, trying to point to the other pieces. Lia shook her head a fraction, as if to say Don’t tell him! She must have understood what was going on.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Max, placing his hand over the piece of skull.
The Professor leaned forward in his seat, face darkening. “Very well,” he said. “Let’s start with that bit you’re holding.”
Max tightened his grip. “Over my dead body.”
The Professor climbed off his throne, and a smile played on his lips.
“It may come to that,” he said. “You may not care for your own life, but I wonder how you feel about your friend’s.” Max’s uncle stepped past Rivet. The dogbot barked angrily, but he didn’t move. Max saw his paws straining and realized why he wasn’t helping. The Professor must have magnetized him to the metal platform.
The Professor knelt beside Lia, and suddenly Max understood what he was about to do.
“Dedrick, no!” shouted Max’s dad.
The Professor gripped Lia’s mask under the chin. Max could see her eyes grow wide with fear.
“I’ll count to five,” said the Professor. “Give me the skull, or the mask comes off.”
ONE!” CALLED THE PROFESSOR.
Surely even Max’s uncle wasn’t so cruel as to let Lia suffocate to death?
But if I give him this piece of skull, he’ll find the rest of it right away, and our whole Quest will have been for nothing.
“Two!”
Lia tried to pull herself out of the Professor’s grip. She must have known that her life was in Max’s hands.
Perhaps he’s bluffing….
Rivet’s eyes flashed and swivelled madly. “Scared, Max!”
“Three!”
Max spotted something on the other side of the viewing window. It came close to the glass, sweeping quickly past. Spike! The swordfish’s body whipped back and forth as he darted across the window. But there was nothing Lia’s pet could do. Even Spike can’t break glass that thick.
“Four!” said the Professor. “My patience is running out.”
Max saw another shape through the viewing window, behind Spike. Something huge. Something red.
Kraya.
And suddenly, hope rose up in his heart.
“Fi —”
“Okay!” Max said to the Professor. “You can have the skull!”
Max’s uncle smiled and clicked his fingers at the woman guarding Max. “Give it to her.”
Max handed the guard the piece of bone, and she hurried up the ramp toward the Professor’s platform. His uncle took the glowing fragment. He hadn’t seen the Blood Shark yet. Max saw Kraya’s green stare fix on the horn. But then the monster disappeared into the black depths.
Where are you going? thought Max.
“You made the right choice,” his uncle said. Then he tore the mask from Lia’s face.
“No!” Max and his dad shouted in unison.
Lia fell back on the platform, choking and writhing, her bound hands clutching at her throat. Max’s uncle looked sideways at the Merryn girl. Her body arched like a beached fish.
“We had a deal,” said Max desperately. “Let her live.” Where was Kraya?
The Professor shook his head and threw the Amphibio mask across the chamber, where it landed at Max’s feet. “You defeated all four of my Robobeasts,” he said. “Did you really think I would let your friend go?”
Lia’s lips were turning blue as her thrashing became weaker. Her face strained as her terrified eyes met Max’s.
The skull fragment glowed brighter than ever as the Professor held it aloft. His eyes narrowed and fell upon Rivet. “Ah … I think I just figured out where the rest of the prize might be.”
Beyond the viewing window, Max caught sight of Kraya, purple in the horn’s blue light. Just as he’d hoped, the Blood Shark was heading for the glass. The Professor wasn’t paying any attention to the viewing panel, though. He was moving toward Max’s dogbot.
Lia stopped moving. She can’t be dead, Max willed.
The Blood Shark’s bulk grew larger all the time. Its green eyes shone with intelligence, focused on the glowing horn in the Professor’s hand. Spike swam out of the way and Max tensed, ready for action.
A female guard pointed past Max’s uncle with a shaking arm. “Kr … Kray …”
As the Professor turned, the Blood Shark filled the window.
Glass exploded inward, and Max threw himself to the floor in a ball. The ocean spilled into the room in a tremendous gush. The force swept Lia off the platform and broke the magnetic hold on Rivet. The men and women on the balconies lost their footing and fell into the surging water. Through a cascade of spray, Max saw the Professor leap back onto his hoverthrone.
Max just had time to grab the Amphibio mask from the floor in front of him before the seawater flooded over him, picking him up and spinning him around. He was swept in every direction as he bounced off stairs and walls, but one thought filled his head.
Dad!
Max grabbed a stair rail, righting himself. He still had the Amphibio mask, the only thing that could save his dad from drowning. He searched the bubbling, foaming flood for his father, sucking water through his gills once more. Something pulled on his sleeve. Rivet!
The dogbot dragged Max through the water. “No,” said Max. “We’ve got to find my dad!”
And then he saw where Rivet was taking him. Callum was treading water at the top of the chamber, mouth raised into the last remaining pocket of air.
Max swam up beside him, bursting above the surface.
“Dad!” he shouted. “Put this on!”
His dad looped the mask over his face. “What about you? You won’t be able to …” His eyes drifted to Max’s neck and widened. “What happened to you? What did —”
The water surged over them.
Max realized his dad was staring at the gills. He flicked a switch at the side of the Amphibio mask, turning the communication system on. “There’s no time to explain,” he said. “We’ve got to find Lia.”
The control room was completely filled with water now, and they headed downward. The other scientists and guards swam in panic toward various doors. Max was glad to see they’d all put on their own masks in time.
Max and his dad were thrown backward as the Professor shot past on his hoverthrone, thrusters at full power, pursued by Kraya. The Blood Shark matched his every duck and dodge. “Stop!” squealed the Professor. “I don’t have the skull!”
Back at the central platform, Spike was nudging Lia’s body softly with the side of his sword. Max swam quickly over and crouched beside his friend. His heart tightened. Was she dead? If she was, it would be because of him. It would be his fault.
But then he saw that her gills were drifting slowly open and closed. Her eyelids fluttered.
“Max …”
He grinned as she sat up, looking around her.
“Spike saved us,” said Max. “He led Kraya to the skull. The Blood Shark goes crazy for it.”
Lia threw her arms around her loyal swordfish, and he let out a series of happy clicks.
“Stop!” shouted the Professor, whizzing past with Kraya close behind. “Leave me alone!” He shot off through the wrecked viewing window and into open water. Kraya’s red body streaked after him.
Lia smoothed her silver hair back from her face and pointed toward the bottom of the chamber. “Is that what Kraya’s looking for?” she said. Max spotted a faint blue glow tucked beside a control panel. His heart leaped.
“The Professor must have dropped it so the Blood Shark would stop chasing him,” said his dad, laughing behind the mask. “What a shame no one told Kraya!”
M
ax tickled behind Rivet’s metal ears. “Fetch!”
As soon as the dogbot dove, Spike raced alongside him. Both darted toward the bone fragment. Rivet got there first and tossed it up with his nose, but the swordfish snatched it out of the water and fled. Max watched as his dogbot chased Spike around the submerged control room. “Never mind, boy,” he called.
Rivet stopped, his tail between his legs, then swam back to their side. Spike followed, his mouth stretched around the horn.
“We’ve got all four pieces,” said Lia. “We did it! Let’s get back to Sumara and give them —”
A piercing siren cut into her words. “What’s that?” asked Max.
“FIVE MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCT,” boomed an electronic voice.
“So Dedrick wants the last laugh,” said his dad. “The whole facility is going to blow!”
“What about the prisoners back in the factories on the seabed?” asked Max.
Max’s dad frowned, his face pale under the mask. “Unless we do something fast, they’re all going to die.”
I KNOW A SHORTCUT BACK TO THE FACTORIES,” said Callum.
“Then let’s go!” said Max.
His dad led them out of the control room and steadily downward through a gloomy, water-filled shaft. Max and Lia kept overtaking Callum, then waiting for him to catch up. As they swam, Max explained to Lia where they were going and what the sirens meant.
“There are Merryn prisoners there, too,” she said. “I can’t let them die.”
They reached a narrow hatch. Swimming through, they emerged at the base of the canyon. Ahead of them was the shattered dome where Max had faced Kraya.
“FOUR MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCT,” said the voice.
Max could see humans and Merryn trapped in factory pods, gripping one another in panic. Some were crying and others wailing with despair.
“There must be an override switch to unlock the prison chambers,” said Max’s dad. He was following a set of twisted cables along the wall.
“That’s fine for the Merryn,” said Max, “but if we let the humans out, they’ll drown. They can’t reach the surface in time from this depth.”
His dad used a screwdriver to pry off a metal panel set in the canyon wall. “Don’t worry about them. There’s another way.”
The panel floated free, and his dad gripped a handful of hyper-conductors. “I hope this is right.” He yanked them from the wall.
The Merryn domes hissed open and the prisoners stared at one another in disbelief.
Lia hopped onto Spike and swam above them. “Follow me!” she called down to the Merryn. “I’ll lead you out of here.”
Flocks of Merryn rose up from the domes, swimming after her as she climbed toward the top of the canyon.
“See you up there,” yelled Lia. “And good luck!”
“THREE MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCT.”
Max’s dad was examining a complex set of circuit boards and switches. “Dedrick’s programming is good,” he muttered. “But there must be a way to release the humans, too. All their chambers have escape hatches leading to the docking bay.”
Max swam beside him, looking at the panel of blinking lights. “Docking bay?”
“It runs along the canyon wall,” said his dad. “If we can get to it, we can use the submarines stored there to escape. Dedrick wanted me to work on designing weapons for him, but I did some snooping while I was here, too.”
Max peered over his dad’s shoulder at the circuitry, trying to work out how it was put together. “I think I know what to do,” he said.
“Are you sure?” asked his dad.
Max chewed his lip. The prisoners were getting desperate, banging on the glass. He flipped two switches, avoided a third, then pressed the fourth. He eased out one of the circuit boards and held his breath….
“DOME ESCAPE HATCHES OPEN,” said the electronic voice.
“Great work!” said Max’s dad. “Those hatches will take them through passageways to the docking bay. Let’s go.”
The human prisoners were waving their thanks and rushing to leave their domes. Max followed his dad through sliding metal doors into another airlock in the wall of the canyon. The water drained out. Max breathed air through his nose once more, and his dad ripped off his mask. They stepped, soaking wet, through a second set of sliding doors and into the biggest inside space Max had ever seen. Hundreds of sleek silver vessels were stacked in hexagonal launchpods along the wall. It looked like a giant beehive. “This must have taken years to build!” Max gasped.
“Four, to be precise,” said his dad. “Your uncle was gathering an attack fleet. Just a few more weeks and he would have been ready to destroy Aquora and anyone else who stood in his path.”
“TWO MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCT.”
The stream of frightened humans from the factory pods above piled through a far door into the bay area. “Thank you, whoever you are,” said an elderly woman.
“That’s Callum North, isn’t it?” said a younger man in a bedraggled sea-patrol uniform. “Head Defense Engineer from Aquora City.”
Max felt a swell of pride.
“That’s right,” said his dad, climbing onto a set of loading steps. “Now listen to me, all of you. We don’t have long. Find a ship and get inside. Two per vessel. If you don’t know how to pilot a sub, press the green button to activate autopilot, and it’ll navigate out of here for you.”
“ONE MINUTE TO SELF-DESTRUCT.”
The prisoners rushed up the steps to the tiers of vessels and climbed on board.
“THIRTY SECONDS.”
“We should go, too,” said Max.
They dashed up to one of the remaining subs and Max’s dad pulled open the door vertically. There were two seats, side by side, and a bank of controls. As well as the basic navigation systems, Max saw buttons for torpedo launchers, laser cutters, mine-drops, grappling hooks, and a host of other weapons.
“TWENTY SECONDS.”
He clambered in, and his dad took the other seat. A button brought the door down with a hiss.
“TEN SECONDS.”
His dad’s finger hovered over the red LAUNCH button and pressed. The sub surged forward, throwing Max back in his seat. Narrow tunnel walls flashed past, tipped them upward, then shot them into open ocean like a bullet.
Gradually, the sub slowed and Max gained control. He steered the vessel in a full circle, marveling at the hundreds of subs floating in the water like silver pollen. The canyon wall was pocked with the round, dark holes of the launch tunnels. Among the subs swam the escaped Merryn prisoners, herded by Lia on Spike. Rivet swam excitedly in front of their submarine’s viewing panel.
BOOM!
The whole ocean seemed to shake, and Max felt his bones vibrate. The seafloor below shifted and collapsed in on itself, showering rocks and plant life down into a vast chasm. Huge clouds of sand rose from the Professor’s imploding lair.
Max punched the air. “Yes! Years of evil work destroyed.”
Suddenly, the small screen on the sub’s dashboard blinked into life, showing the Professor’s snarling face. Behind him was what looked like the inside of another submarine. So he escaped from Kraya, Max thought. He felt his heart sink.
“This battle isn’t over, Max,” said his uncle. “Especially if you want to see your mother again.”
His words hit Max like a fist to the stomach. “Mom?” he said.
“Sonya?” said his dad at the same time.
The Professor’s leer widened and the screen blinked off.
“He’s bluffing,” said his dad angrily. “Your mother is gone. He’s just trying to hurt us.”
How can you be so sure? thought Max.
Lia swam up to the viewing panel on Spike and pointed upward. “Look!” she shouted.
Max lifted the sub’s nose and saw a sleek white vessel streaking away over the lip of the canyon at incredible speed.
“It must be Dedrick,” said his dad.
“We have to go after him!” said Max, th
umbing the thrusters.
His dad laid a palm on his hand. “There’s no point,” he said. “These subs couldn’t keep up. That’s a Nebula X-series, Max. Fastest submarine I know of.”
“But he said that Mom —”
“Son,” said his dad, “don’t listen to his twisted words. We have to accept it — she’s gone.”
Max slumped back in his seat.
“Let’s get back to Sumara,” said Lia, through the sub’s speakers.
Max watched the Professor’s sub become a distant dot, then disappear. It was gone. And with it went any chance he had of learning the truth.
KING SALINUS SAT ON HIS WHITE BONE THRONE in his pearl crown, silver beard swaying gently in the current.
Hundreds of Merryn had packed into the throne room, lining up between the curled coral columns. Lia wore a silky dress of vivid green and stood beside Max, looking like a true princess of Sumara. Spike hovered in the water just behind his mistress, his sword decorated in a spiral of scarlet seaweed. Max’s dad stood on his other side. A Deepsuit 2000, retrieved from the Merryn junkyard, allowed him to breathe and kept him from floating up and away.
“Today, three heroes stand before us,” said King Salinus. The crowd cheered, and Rivet barked. Spike wagged his sword back and forth. “Perhaps I should say five heroes.”
The assembled Merryn laughed.
“Before today if you had told me that two Breathers would be the saviors of Sumara, I would not have believed you,” said the king. “For too long, we have viewed Breathers with suspicion, but Max and his father have proved themselves our allies.”
The Merryn cheered once more, and Max glanced at his father. Callum couldn’t understand exactly what was being said, but he seemed to get the gist and waved to the crowd.
“And I must also thank my daughter, Lia,” added the king. “She has acted with great courage and helped bring back to Sumara our most valuable possession.” An attendant carried forward the three fused pieces of the Skull of Thallos on a golden platter and offered it to the king. Lia held out the final piece — the horn retrieved from Kraya’s throat harness. King Salinus took it and positioned it on the skull.