Deep Trouble (6 page)

My uncle would probably never forgive me.

But I didn’t care.

I was going to do what I thought was right.

I was going to set the mermaid free.

My hand trembled as I reached up to unlatch the screen at the top of the
tank. The tank was taller than I was. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d get the
mermaid out of there. But I had to find a way.

As I struggled to pull the screen off, the mermaid began to squeal, “Eeee!
EEEEEE!”

“Sshh! Don’t make any noise!” I warned her.

Then I felt a hand grab me by the arm. I gasped, startled.

A deep voice asked, “What are you doing?”

I turned around to see Alexander standing behind me.

I stepped away from the tank, and he let go of my arm.

“Billy, what were you doing?” he asked again.

“I was going to let her go!” I cried. “Alexander, you can’t keep her in
there! Look how unhappy she is!”

We both stared at the mermaid, who had slumped to the bottom of the tank
again. I think she knew that I had tried to help her—and that I had been stopped.

I caught the sadness on Alexander’s face. I could tell he felt sorry for her.
But he had a job to do.

He turned to me and put an arm around my shoulders. “Billy, you’ve got to
understand how important this mermaid is to your uncle,” he said. “He’s worked
his whole life for a discovery like this. It would break his heart if you let
her go.”

He slowly led me away from the tank. I turned back to look at the mermaid
again.

“But what about
her
heart?” I asked. “I think it’s breaking her heart
to be stuck in that fish tank.”

Alexander sighed. “It’s not ideal, I know that. But it’s only temporary. Soon
she’ll have plenty of room to swim and play in.”

Sure, I thought bitterly. As an exhibit at the zoo, with millions of people
gawking at her every day.

Alexander removed his arm from my shoulders and rubbed his chin.

“Your uncle is a very caring man, Billy,” he said. “He’ll do his best to make
sure the mermaid has everything she needs. But it’s his duty to study her. The
things he can learn from her could help people understand the oceans better—and take better care of them. That’s important, right?”

“I guess so,” I said.

I knew Alexander had a good point. I loved Dr. D., and I didn’t want to spoil
his big discovery.

But, still, the mermaid shouldn’t have to suffer for science, I thought.

“Come on, Billy,” Alexander said, leading me below deck. “I promised you I’d
show you how the sonar probes work, didn’t I? Let’s go down to the lab, and I’ll
give you a demonstration.”

As we started to climb below, I took one last glance back at the mermaid. She
was still slumped forlornly at the bottom of the tank. Her head was lowered, her
blond hair floating limply above it like seaweed.

The sonar probes weren’t as interesting as I thought they’d be. All they did
was beep whenever the
Cassandra
was in danger of running ashore.

I guess Alexander could tell my mind was not on the sonar probes. “Want some
lunch?” he asked me.

Uh-oh. Lunch. I was hungry. But not for spicy chicken salad.

I hesitated. “Well, I had a big breakfast….”

“I’ll whip up something special,” Alexander offered. “We can have a picnic up
on deck with the mermaid. Come on.”

What could I do? I followed him to the kitchen.

He opened the small refrigerator and pulled out a bowl.

“This has been marinating all morning,” he said.

I looked into the bowl. It was full of thin strips of something white and
rubbery-looking. They floated in an oily, dark gray liquid.

Whatever it was, I knew I couldn’t eat it.

“It’s marinated squid,” said Alexander. “I added some squid ink for extra
flavor. That’s what makes it gray.”

“Yum,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I haven’t had squid ink in days!”

“Don’t be so sarcastic. You might be surprised,” Alexander replied. He handed
me the bowl. “Take this up on deck. I’ll bring some bread and iced tea.”

I carried the bowl of squid up and set it down near the mermaid’s tank.

“How are you doing, Mermaid?” I asked her.

She flipped her tail a little. Then she opened and closed her mouth, as if
she were chewing.

“Hey,” I said. “You
are
hungry, aren’t you?”

She kept making that chewing motion. I glanced down at the bowl of squid.

Who knows? I thought. This might be just what she’d like.

I stood on a rail and unlatched the top of the tank. Then I dropped in a
piece of the rubbery squid.

The mermaid leaped toward it and caught it in her mouth.

She chewed, then smiled.

She liked it!

I gave her some more. She ate it.

I rubbed my stomach. “Do you like it?” I asked her. I nodded yes.

She smiled again. Then she nodded yes.

She understood me!

“What are you doing, Billy?” Alexander asked. He had come up on deck carrying
two plates and a loaf of bread.

“Alexander, look!” I cried. “We communicated!”

I dropped another piece of squid into the tank. She ate it. Then she nodded
yes.

“That means she likes it!” I said.

“Wow,” murmured Alexander. He put down the plates and picked up his notebook.
He scribbled some notes.

“Isn’t that way cool?” I demanded. “I’m a scientist, too—aren’t I,
Alexander?”

He nodded, but kept writing.

“I mean, I’m the first person on Earth to communicate with a mermaid—right?” I insisted.

“If she stays with us long enough, you might be able to talk to her in sign
language,” he said. “Just think of the things we could learn!”

He spoke aloud as he wrote, “Likes to eat squid.” Then he put down his pencil
and said, “Hey, wait! That’s our lunch!”

Uh-oh, I thought. I hope his feelings aren’t hurt.

He looked at me. He looked at the bowl. He looked at the mermaid.

Then he started laughing.

“At least
somebody
around here likes my cooking!” he exclaimed.

About an hour later, Dr. D. returned with the groceries and supplies. Luckily
he had bought plenty of seafood in Santa Anita. We fed some of it to the mermaid
for supper. While she ate, Dr. D. checked the readings on the meters Alexander
had set up in the tank.

“Interesting,” Dr. D. commented. “She sends out sonar signals through the
water. Just as whales do.”

“What does that mean?” asked Sheena.

“It means there are probably other mermaids like her,” said Dr. D. “She must
be trying to contact them with underwater sounds.”

Poor mermaid, I thought. She’s calling to her friends. She wants to be
rescued.

I went to my cabin after supper and stared out of the little porthole.

An orange sun sank slowly into the purple horizon. A wide carpet of gold
light shimmered in the rolling ocean waters. A cool breeze blew in through the
porthole.

I watched the sun drop into the ocean. The sky immediately darkened, as if someone had turned off a lamp.

The mermaid is up there all alone, I thought. She must be so frightened. A
prisoner. Trapped in a fish tank in the dark.

The door to my cabin suddenly burst open. Sheena bounded in, panting, her
eyes wide.

“Sheena!” I scolded angrily. “How many times do I have to tell you to knock
first?”

She ignored me. “But, Billy!” she gasped. “She’s escaped! The mermaid
escaped!”

I leaped off my bed, my heart pounding.

“She’s not there!” Sheena cried. “She’s not in her tank!”

I darted out of the cabin, up the hatch, and out on deck.

Part of me hoped she really had escaped to freedom. But part of me wished she
could stay forever—and make my uncle the most famous scientist in the world
and me the most famous nephew of a scientist!

Please let her be okay, I thought.

Up on deck, my eyes adjusted to the evening darkness. Tiny lights glowed all
around the edge of the boat.

I squinted across the deck at the giant fish tank.

I ran so fast, I nearly toppled overboard. Sheena was right behind me.

“Hey—!” I cried out when I saw the mermaid floating listlessly in the
water, her green tail shimmering faintly in the fading light.

It took me a few seconds to realize that Sheena was laughing. “Gotcha!” she
shouted gleefully. “Gotcha again, Billy!”

I groaned long and loud. Another one of Sheena’s stupid tricks.

“Good one, Sheena,” I said bitterly. “Very clever.”

“You’re just mad because I fooled you again. You’re so easy to trick.”

The mermaid raised her eyes to me, and a faint smile formed on her pale lips.
“Looorrrooo, looorrrooo,” she cooed at me.

“She really is pretty,” Sheena said.

The mermaid is hoping I’ll let her go now, I thought. Maybe I should….

Sheena could help me, I decided. It would be easier with two of us.

But would my sister cooperate? “Sheena—”I began.

I heard footsteps behind us. “Hey, kids.” It was Dr. D. “It’s almost
bedtime,” he called. “Ready to go below?”

“We never go to bed this early at home,” Sheena whined.

“Maybe not. But I bet you don’t get up so early at home, either. Do you?”

Sheena shook her head. We all stood at the tank and watched the mermaid in
silence. She gave her tail a little flick and settled back down at the bottom of
the tank.

“Don’t worry about her,” Dr. D. said. “I’ll check on her during the night to
make sure she’s all right.”

The mermaid pressed her tiny hands against the glass wall of the tank. Her
eyes pleaded with us, pleaded with us to set her free.

“She’ll feel better once she gets to Marina Zoo,” Dr. D. said. “They’re
building a special lagoon just for her, with a reef and everything. It’ll be
exactly like the lagoon off Ilandra. She’ll be free to swim and play. She’ll
feel at home.”

I hope so, I thought. But I didn’t feel so sure.

The
Cassandra
rocked gently on the waves that night, but I couldn’t
fall asleep.

I lay on my bunk, staring at the ceiling. A pale beam of moonlight fell
through the porthole and across my face. I couldn’t stop thinking about the
mermaid.

I tried to imagine what it would feel like to be trapped in a glass tank for
a whole day. It probably wouldn’t be that different from being trapped in this
tiny cabin, I thought, glancing around. My cabin was about as big as a closet.

It would be terrible, I thought, fiddling with the collar of my pajama top. I
pushed open the porthole to let in more air.

The fish tank might not even be the worst of it, I figured. I know Dr. D.
cares about the mermaid. I know he’d never hurt her.

But what will happen to her when the zoo people take her away? Who will look
out for her?

Sure, they’re building a fancy fake lagoon. But it won’t be the same as the
real lagoon. And there will be people around, staring at her all the time.
They’ll probably expect her to perform tricks or something; maybe jump through
hoops like a trained seal.

They’ll probably put her in TV commercials, too. And TV shows and movies.

She’ll be a prisoner. A lonely prisoner for the rest of her life.

This is all my fault. How could I let this happen?

I have to do something, I decided. I can’t let them take her.

Just then I thought I heard something—a low hum. I lay very still and
listened. At first I thought it was the mermaid. But I quickly realized it was a
motor.

I heard it chugging softly, from a distance. But slowly the sound moved
closer.

A boat.

I sat up and peered out of the porthole. A large boat pulled quietly up
beside the
Cassandra.

Who was it? The zoo people?

In the middle of the night?

No. It wasn’t the same boat. This boat was much bigger.

As I peered out the small porthole, I saw two dark figures quietly slip on board the
Cassandra.
Then two more.

My heart began to race. Who
are
these people? I wondered. What are
they doing?

What should I do?

Should I sneak up and spy on them? What if they see me?

Then I heard more strange noises.

A thud. A muffled cry of pain.

It came from the deck.

The deck. Where the mermaid was trapped helplessly in her tank.

Oh, no! I thought, feeling a chill of panic. They’re hurting the mermaid!

I charged up to the deck. Sheena ran right behind me.

Stumbling over a tow rope, I grabbed the rail to steady myself. Then I darted
blindly to the fish tank.

The mermaid huddled at the bottom of the tank, her arms wrapped protectively
around herself.

I saw four men standing tensely near the tank. All four were dressed in
black. They had black masks pulled over their faces.

One of the men held a small club in his hand.

And a body lay sprawled on the deck, face down.

Dr. D.!

Sheena screamed and ran to our uncle. She knelt beside him. “They hit him on
the head!” she cried. “They knocked him out!”

I gasped. “Who are you?” I demanded. “What are you doing on our boat?”

The four men ignored me.

Two of them unfolded a heavy rope net and spread it over the fish tank. Then they let it fall into the tank, draping it
over the mermaid.

“Stop it!” I yelled. “What are you doing?”

“Be quiet, kid,” the man with the club muttered. He raised the club
menacingly.

I watched helplessly as they tightened the net around the mermaid.

They were kidnapping her!

“Eeeee! EEEEEeeee!” she squealed in terror and started to thrash her arms,
struggling to free herself from the heavy net.