Moonfin Page 8

“She is right. I must venture to the Deep as soon as possible,” he whispered secretively.

  “Tell me, first, what has happened to these fish? They’re frightening.”

  Iddo waved four wobbly arms about excitedly.

  “Ahh, terrible things! He has taken their life codes and played with them like they are his toys, for what end, I am not sure. They are truly suffering.”

  “Because they’re in pain?”

  “Because there is not a place for them anymore—lost creatures, they are—in the ocean, they will not know how to survive … so confusing to the others! Xili has had to care for them many times.”

  “I’ve seen fish like this before when I was a little girl,” Lizzy said sadly.

  “The old ones.”

  “You know them?”

  “In the beginning Dr. Krell accelerated their aging, before he started to change them in other ways. When he had no more use for them, he either sold them to small aquariums or threw them in the ocean to die. Some caused considerable damage, and others were easy prey,” Iddo breathed out thickly.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “Many long years.”

  Lizzy paused to think it through. There could be an explanation. “I dunno, Iddo, maybe Dr. Krell is trying to be helpful in some way. Sometimes, in science, you have to experiment and make mistakes to bring about the greater good.”

  “That would be if any good came from it, but this is not the case and only ends badly where Krell is concerned!”

  Kai and Jeff stood nearby and listened in on the one-sided conversation between girl and cephalopod, not having a clue as to what Iddo was saying on his end. They both found it funny the way he moved and bobbed around while speaking to her—very much like a human having a friendly chat with another human. He was expressive and breathless at times, even moving his pink arms about as anyone would while talking.

  Finally Jeff interrupted—“Lizzy, we’d better get moving and find a way out of here. I don’t want to maneuver around those crags in the dark, if we have to go that way.”

  Lizzy conveyed this information to Iddo, and also that she didn’t know how to break him free from the tank.

  “There’s a panel on the wall next to each floor tank. Open it and you will find a lever and a green button. Pull the one up and push the other down. After that, you will need to jump in here with me,” he said urgently, eyes glowing.

  Lizzy waited patiently as Iddo detangled his long, rosy tentacle from her arm.

  “You’re going to have to trust me,” she said to Jeff and Kai. “Iddo says to get in the tank with him now.”

  “What? No way!” shouted Jeff.

  Kai was also a little nervous about this idea too.

  “Is there anything else in there with him?” She peered down into the gleaming waters. “Like things with big eyes … or teeth?”

  Lizzy didn’t wait for their vote and hit the button—which made something grind and move inside Iddo’s tank, like a gate or a door opening up. The water began to recede rapidly and she plowed toward the tank.

  “Let’s go!” she yelped and hurtled in.

  Kai jumped in next. Jeff reluctantly followed, yelling something about slimy tentacles not coming anywhere near him and, “OOOOHHHH I’m gonna be siiiiiiiiick!”

  Down they plummeted, lightning fast, twisting and turning through a shoot carved out of smooth stone. It was a ride better than any they had ever had at an amusement park.

  “Wahoooo!” yelled Kai. “Where does it go?”

  “Iddo didn’t say!” Lizzy shouted above the churning waters.

  Jeff started to enjoy it—just a little—until he splashed landed in the motley pool of fish-subs. He shot out of the water, fists blazing.

  Lizzy reached her hands beneath the water for Iddo, worried he’d have a hard time swimming if he felt woozy. She could feel him at her feet swirling and swishing. He wrapped an arm around her ankle, which, if it were any other octopus, might have been alarming.

  “Aha! I am beginning to feel like my old self again. Well, Lizzy! We swim together here on the verge of the Great Deep. I wish these were happier times, but now I must go and help Xili and the others.”

  “The others?” said Lizzy, surprised. Were there more beings like Xili?

  “Yes, many others—but that will be for another day,” said Iddo. Lizzy gave him detailed instructions to the cave exit, including the fake door with the hologram, so he wouldn’t get stuck in the second pool.

  “Hologram?”

  She made a mental picture in her mind. “It’s an illusion made with light.”

  “Aaahhh, I see. The modern times we live in beguile me,” he said, untethering from her leg. But not before a worrisome thought flowed from his mind into hers: “What you discover will be difficult. You must be brave …”

  He released his grip and jetted through the tunnel toward the open sea

  “What’s he going to do?” asked Kai.

  “Not sure. He said he had to go to the Deep, whatever that means…. I sensed he was afraid of something.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  Jeff jerked his head toward the cave wall. “Krell took that metal staircase—it might be a way out for us—and lots better than climbing back over those nasty rock piles.”

  Lizzy and Kai agreed.

  Clambering stealthily to the base of the stairs, they climbed, wet and dripping, up to the top and faced a bulky metal door with a wheel attached, similar to a submarine hatch. Jeff cranked the wheel and they pushed their way into an alcove next to the shark exhibit within the aquarium. A strange buzzing sound carried through a glass-paneled door full of brightly colored wrappers.

  “We hit the jackpot!” said Jeff, reaching in and grabbing a candy bar.

  “A vending machine door cover!” said Kai, amazed. “How many times have I bought cookies from this machine not knowing what was behind it?” She grabbed a bag of Dunk-a-roos then stopped short.

  “Wait. Shouldn’t we pay for these?”

  “Yeah, you got some money?”

  Kai dug into her pocket. “Uh, some … I have seventy-five cents.” Jeff pulled out the money box and she tossed it inside. Then he shut the door firmly behind them and it locked into place.

  “Hey! What about you? Aren’t you going to pay for that candy bar?”

  Jeff smiled mischievously.

  Kai exhaled. She’d been had.

  “Ohhhhh, okay, I get it. Your family owns the all vending machines in the aquarium, don’t they?” She gave his arm an unfriendly poke. “Thanks a lot, Jeff, really.”

  “And thank you for your business.”

  Tiptoeing out of Discovery Bay, they made their way home before nightfall without being seen.

  Or so they thought …

  For in the deep, dark waters of the cavern below bobbed the speckled and hairless head of a man, in the process of becoming less of a man. His yellow, luminous eyes carefully watched the three children climb the staircase. He wriggled and writhed and seethed out a low and scratchy hhhhhiiisssssss, then said, “Lizzy Grape … I know who you are now…. hhhaaaaannd you can no longer hide from meeee!”

  His black body arched and stiffened with waves of electricity, unleashing a shock into the water that sent the Bips jerking and thrashing in fright.

  Chapter 9

  A MYSTERIOUS GIFT

  “You cheated!”

  “How is that even possible in checkers? You can see every move I make,” said Jeff slyly.

  “I don’t know how you do it, but you always win at board games, and it’s … exasperating.” Kai angrily tipped the checkerboard over, tumbling all the black and red pieces onto the glossy boat deck.

  “Bwahahaha! I am the checker champion of the world!” He threw his sharply waxed cowlick back in a menacing whoop of triumph.

  Kai glared at him.

  “Nice laugh, spiky-head. Seriously, dude, did you dip your head in cement to get your hair to stand up like that?”
Jeff’s gloating got on her nerves. He was more competitive at board games than she was at her surfing.

  “Look who’s talking, Bluebell.” He was sorry he said it before the words left his lips—the morons at school gave her that nickname.

  Kai reached up and ran her fingers through her jet-black and blue-tipped hair. She didn’t care what anyone thought about her fashion sense.

  “Short hair is easier to take care of with all the sand and salt around here. Besides, I don’t have time to be prissy about it.” She sprawled out on the deck next to Jeff and Lizzy and gazed up at the night sky, wondering what it would be like to be rich and own a fancy boat like this one, especially since all her family owned was a little travel trailer on the bluffs.

  “Great yacht. Does it belong to your grandfather?”

  “Yep. He hardly ever uses it, except when he’s schmoozing investors—lets me come here whenever I want.”

  “Sweet deal. How ’bout we take it out for a spin?”

  “That would get me grounded for, like, forever.”

  Jeff started to explain the fine points of sailing to Kai. Lizzy’s thoughts turned toward the secret passageway they discovered beneath Discovery Bay. It had been several days since they snuck into the cavern and set Iddo free, but the experience had left more questions in her mind than answers. What did Xili say? Dr. Krell changes things? She wondered what else he was up to in that lab of his.

  “… and the Gulf Stream takes you all the way up to Ireland,” Jeff said to Kai. “It’s so warm, palm trees grow along the coastline—”

  “We need to decide our next move,” Lizzy suddenly cut in, interrupting Jeff’s lesson on ocean currents, “like … maybe we should try to set the rest of the prisoners in the secret room free?”

  “Naw,” said Kai lazily, “didn’t Iddo say they were misfits now? They’d probably die out there. Try to imagine that sea turtle with shark’s teeth swimming around—he’d be lost in the food chain.”

  “Yeah, we should lie low for a while,” added Jeff. “It’ll be easier to move around the lab and aquarium if everything stays normal. We don’t want to get fired.”

  Kai rolled her eyes.

  “We can’t get fired, doofus, we’re volunteers.”

  “Whatever. I don’t want to end up in some bizarro cave under the aquarium if we’re caught.” They all cringed at the thought.

  “There’s got to be tons more to discover about that lab and the underground cavern, I can feel it. We can’t give up,” said Lizzy a slightly desperate tone.

  “At least we were able to set Iddo free,” said Kai. “I wonder if he made it to that place—the Deep he called it—safe and sound.”

  Lizzy exhaled. They were right, there wasn’t anything much they could do at the moment—just watch and wait. “I hope so, it seemed so important to him.”

  They fell silent. The yacht bumped a gentle cadence against the pier and shook the metal tackle along the mast. Lizzy watched the twinkling night-lights and thought about Iddo and how he had risked his life trying to escape the aquarium. She felt a pang of guilt at not getting to him sooner.

  Something moved in the night sky. “Oooh look, a meteor shower!” Kai squealed with delight.

  A stream of bursting light shot across the velvety canvas overhead and burned a fiery trail into the night. The starlight show mesmerized their thoughts while soft winds blew off the ocean, ruffling their hair and anything else not tied down. With eyes fixed upward, it was easy to miss the bubbling swirls at the side of the boat where molecules of water came together, and a fluidic hand rising quietly above the deck ever so gently pouring shiny objects next to the three stargazers.

  Kai dreamily followed the path of a shooting star with her outstretched finger to see where it landed. She made a wish … or two.

  “And what about those fish-subs—what did Dr. Krell call them—Bio-chemical-pots?”

  “Biomechanical Pods, not chemical pots,” said Jeff. “Bips for short. I see what the ‘bio’ part means, but what does the rest of it stand for?”

  Lizzy had a theory, as crazy as it was.

  “I only saw a glimpse, but I think the inside was completely mechanized. At least the eye part was when it passed by us in the tunnel. It was made of Plexiglas, I’m sure of it.”

  Kai nodded, remembering. “Yeah, with slimy fish scales on the outside—I could hardly believe my own eyes.”

  “It’s incredible, whatever it is. I wouldn’t mind taking a ride in one just to find out how it works.”

  “No way, I’d hate to be in one of those when a hungry whale came around,” said Jeff.

  “I’d hate to be the whale,” Lizzy balked. “Imagine chomping down on what you thought was a juicy fish only to break a tooth on a bolt or something—”

  “OOOWWWW!”

  A wall of water had risen up and splashed over the transom of the boat, smattering them all with an array of icy droplets. It felt like a hundred little blow darts had hit their skin all at once.

  “What the—!” Jeff spluttered.

  “That actually hurt!” said Kai.

  A faint giggle floated above the black water.

  “Do you hear that?”

  “Yeah, maybe some kids from the beach are playing a trick,” said Jeff. “It’s probably that ditsy Krista.”

  “Let’s hope not! I wouldn’t want her to hear what we were just talking about, mechanical fish and all.”

  Lizzy scuttled over to the deck rail where the source of the splash came from. Water puddled and beaded on top of the waxy floor boards, and she noticed something shimmering along the edge—silvery-green and red colors glinting in the lamplight.

  “Take a look at this,” she said, stooping down. Jeff and Kai followed after her, finding what looked like a small pile of glistening scales lying at their feet.

  “They’re like pieces of metal or something,” said Jeff, intrigued.

  Lizzy picked one up and dangled it over the strip lights that ran along the deck.

  “More like bone material, or exoskeleton, like Mrs. Gates taught us in science. It acts as protective armor for some animals. Look, they fit together like puzzle pieces.” She snapped a few together, making a pattern.

  “But how …?” Kai leaned over the edge of the rail and thoroughly searched the dark ripples dancing toward the hull.

  “Jeff and I were playing checkers on that very spot a few minutes ago. I think we would’ve noticed them before.”

  Lizzy stepped carefully around the yacht, checking for people and lights on the boats tied up along the docks. The water smelled of seaweed and engine petrol—normal tang found in the harbor. The air was quiet. It seemed like someone or something put those bone pieces there on purpose, just for them to find.

  She rounded back to Jeff and Kai with an idea and scooped the glittering scales into the palm of her hand. “I think we should take them to the lab where my mom works. She’s seen about everything that’s come out of this ocean in the last twenty years and could probably tell us what they are,” Lizzy said, reaching for her jeans’ pocket.

  Kai liked how they looked and had a different idea.

  “Oh, but wait! These would make great necklaces. Let me see if I can drill a hole in them and put a leather cord through.”

  Jeff smirked. “Leave it to a girl to accessorize almost anything.”

  She ignored him. “Look, if I take three, there’s still plenty left to show your mom.”

  “I guess, they don’t look dangerous or anything.”

  Kai grabbed some out of Lizzy’s hand and threw them in her knapsack. Lizzy pocketed the rest of the shiny pieces then watched as several bonfires flared up along the beach in the distance. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was forgetting something … or somewhere, she was supposed to be at that moment. The big luminous moon peeked above the expanse and she suddenly realized what it was.

  Turning toward Jeff and Kai, she gushed, “It’s time for the gimpits to run!”

  Kai blink
ed. Jeff gawked. Both were speechless.

  The gimpits were part of local lore that no right-minded person from outside Blowing Prawn believed. Might as well say the hobgoblins were coming.

  “Er—I gotta go and trim my iguana’s toenails,” said Jeff quickly.

  “Yeah,” said Kai, “I need to … um … wash my surfboard and stuff.” She had already finished washing and waxing it down that morning.

  “C’mon,” Lizzy whined. “I told Sugar we’d meet her at the beach and try to catch enough for her famous soup. Don’t make me go alone.”

  “Wow. Yum,” said Kai sarcastically.

  “It has something to do with her girlhood memories on the bayou,” Lizzy said, trying to sound convincing. “She wants us each to fill a whole bucket—pleeeeease,” she begged. “I can’t do it all by myself.”

  “That could take all night,” Jeff complained. “I wouldn’t mind eating them, I just don’t want to wait that long to catch and cook them—if they’re even for real.”

  They hopped off the side of the boat and onto the smooth, weathered pier, leaving the yacht jouncing behind them. The aged wood was cool and pressed lines into their bare feet as they climbed the ramp up to the wharf, arguing the whole way about whether or not gimpits truly existed.

  Kai tried to think of a way to get out of it.

  “You know it’s all a myth, don’t you?”

  “She says it isn’t. Besides, I promised her we’d help. Jade and Lee are supposed to meet us there.”

  Jeff’s expression changed.

  “Jade … with Lee, the intern from the lab?” he asked, trying to act nonchalant.

  “Yep. A friend of my dear sister’s. Why, Jeff, I do believe you might be jealous.”

  “No!” he spouted, face reddening.

  “Ah-kaaaay,” Kai groaned irritably, “but only for Sugar would I go fantasy gimpit hunting—because she bakes us cookies and other yummy things—and I won’t disappoint her. Anyone else I would call crazy to their face.”

  “Yeah, and if they’re for real, think of all the tasty things Sugar could make for us,” said Jeff, rubbing his tummy.

  Kai looked at him doubtfully.

  “Don’t get your hopes up, oh Stomach-of-Steel.”