Deep Waters (4 page)

The rescue operation had taken hours!

‘I should drop you off somewhere. You need to rest,' said Zac.
And I need to find the
Sea Devil
in a hurry
, he thought to himself.

Zac scanned his GPS navigation screen for the nearest populated land. There was an Eden Island nearby. Zac punched in the coordinates.

Half an hour later, Zac sighted land through the periscope. He headed for shore.

‘Come in, Eden Island,' said Zac into the radio. ‘Requesting permission to land.'

The radio crackled. ‘State your business. Over.'

How rude! The Eden Island Coast Guard must be very overworked.

‘Some passengers of mine need to come ashore,' said Zac. ‘There's been a plane crash. Over.'

‘I read you,' came the response, even less friendly than before. ‘You are cleared to land, but on the north side of the island only.'

‘Roger that,' said Zac, puzzled.

Why wasn't he allowed to land anywhere but on the north side? There was something very suspicious going on. But Eden Island was so close now. He had to drop off the Blythe-Joneses and get on with the mission.

Zac lowered the wheels on the bottom of the amphibious submersible. He turned the hydraulic steering column sharply. The amphibious submersible burst through the surface of the water. The next second, Zac was driving up the beach!

Straight away, a man ran over to them. He was dressed in a parka with a large Eden Island crest on the back.

‘Are these the people from the plane crash?' the man asked Zac, narrowing his eyes and looking the Blythe-Joneses up and down.

Zac nodded.

‘This way,' snapped the official. ‘There are showers and hot soup waiting for you,' he went on, herding the couple away.

‘And you,' he said, turning to Zac. ‘I suggest you be on your way. But don't go near the south side of the island, will you?'

Out of the corner of his eye, Zac noticed the huge, craggy mountain towering over the island.

His spy senses were tingling.

‘I swear I won't go anywhere near it,' he said.

He waved a casual goodbye to the Blythe-Joneses with his left hand. His right hand was in his pocket, fingers firmly crossed.

CHAPTER SIX

Zac raced back to the amphibious submersible. He had a hunch about Eden Island. Sure, it was most likely that Marine Tech's sub testing station was in very deep water. But that craggy island was so big, it could easily hide an entire submarine.

What if Marine Tech were building their
subs on Eden Island, then towing them out to
deeper water and testing them there?

Following this hunch would be risky. He was a long way off mission already, and stopping to check out Eden Island would use up even more time. All the same, Zac was a top spy. And taking risks is what top spies do.

Zac was going to investigate Eden Island!

Back in the amphibious submersible, Zac steered down beneath the water. He set a course for half a kilometre from the spot he'd dropped the Blythe-Joneses.

A hundred metres away from shore, Zac killed his engines. He needed to be as quiet as possible.

Silently, he landed and crept up the south side of the island. He looked around. It was nearly dark, and no-one had seen him. Or, at least he didn't think they had.

Just ahead of him, the mountain rose steeply out of the sand. He tapped his belt. Yes, there was his new electronic grappling hook, called the AutoHook. He leant back and pressed the ‘release' button. The AutoHook shot out high above his head.

Zac heard a clunk as the grappling hook caught on a rock. He gave the rope a tug. The AutoHook held tight.

He hit the ‘winch' button. Instantly, he was pulled at top speed through the air towards the hook. When he reached the hook, he held onto the rock as he shot it out high above his head again.

Zac kept doing this all the way to the top of the mountain.

At last, Zac was at the top. He switched his SpyPad to telescopic night-vision. He could see hundreds of metres ahead now, even though it was dark.

He twiddled the focus knob, trying to get the sharpest possible image.

Then he heard it…

A twig snapping!

Zac spun around. Maybe the official had seen him land on the beach, and had followed him up the mountain.

Yes, there was that sound again. But this time, it was followed by the soft pitter-patter of an animal's paws.

Sweat beaded on Zac's forehead. He wiped it away.
It's only a fox
.

Zac turned his attention back to his SpyPad. The image was crisp now. Time to check out what was really hidden on the south side of Eden Island.

It was unbelievable!

Through the SpyPad's powerful telescope, Zac saw people parading up and down the beach. There was no sign of the
Sea Devil
. In fact, it looked more like there was a party going on. Everyone was holding cocktails and dancing.

He looked closer.

There was something a bit weird about these people…

Zac's eyes nearly popped out of his head. They were all in the nude!

Zac's cheeks burned with embarrassment. The south side of Eden Island was a nudist resort! That was why the official didn't want anyone dropping in.

He might have scaled the mountain quickly, but Zac climbed down it even faster.

These people were as old as his mum and dad. And they were nude! It was just too gross to think about.

In a flash, Zac was back in the amphibious submersible. He sped out to sea. What kind of spy was he when his hunches were so very, very wrong? The clock on the dashboard read 12.34am.

He'd wasted so much time!

CHAPTER SEVEN

Zac settled down in the driver's seat, concentrating hard. No matter how low he felt, he had to get on with the mission. Maybe persistence was really the key to being a top spy.

He re-entered the coordinates for GIB's Safe Talker.

At last, he was on the right track.

All of a sudden –

The amphibious submersible had hit something, and it was big!

The next moment, the whole sub began rocking up and down violently.

What on earth is happening?
wondered Zac.

Zac rushed to the porthole on the right-hand side of the amphibious submersible. He looked out.

Yeuch! What are those things?

Through the window, Zac could see thick, black things that were covered with massive round suckers that opened and closed. Zac counted ten in all.

Ten…

Suddenly, Zac had it.

Squids had ten tentacles. The Blythe-Joneses had said there were giant squids in the West Sea. Zac was certain. A giant squid was attacking him!

Up and down, up and down.The amphibious submersible rocked harder than ever!

The squid was so big, it could play with the amphibious submersible like a bath toy. Zac knew he had to free himself, and fast.The submersible might be snapped in half!

He raced to the pilot's seat. He turned the speed dial up as far as it would go. The cockpit lurched as the submersible tried to leap forward. But the squid wouldn't let go.