Deep Waters (5 page)

Angrier than ever, it shook the amphibious submersible again.

Zac flew out of his seat.

The squid had turned the amphibious submersible upside-down! Zac went flying all the way across the cockpit.

Like a bullet, Zac shot towards the hard metal wall.

Zac slammed into the wall, head first. The cabin went blurry. He was seeing double! Blood flowed from a cut on his head. He stood up. Then, like a bad guy in a computer game, he slumped to the floor.

Zac was out cold.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Zac opened one eye. There was a deep cut just above it, and a huge, painful lump on his head. He was lying on the ground, stiff and cold. He checked his watch.

How long had he been lying on the ground? He couldn't remember.

He looked around. Nothing around him looked familiar. Where was he?

It looked like he was in some kind of mini-submarine, drifting all by itself somewhere in the middle of the sea. But why would a kid his age be all by himself in a mini-sub?

Zac thought hard for a moment. Who was he? What was his name? He realised he had absolutely no idea.

Zac had totally lost his memory!

It was the weirdest feeling, not even knowing your own name. Frantically, Zac searched the amphibious submersible for clues.

There was a jacket slung over the back of the pilot's seat. He tried it on. It was his size! It must belong to him.

Zac looked through the pockets. In the left-hand pocket, there was an envelope. Zac tore it open.

It was stuffed with money!

Thousands of dollars.

On the front were the words, ‘To Zac. You'll always be a son to us. With love and thanks from the Blythe-Joneses.'

His name must be Zac!

Zac Blythe-Jones.

It seemed right. Who else would give you an envelope of money except your own parents? And judging by the size of the present, his parents must be very rich. Perhaps the mini-submarine was some kind of very cool toy.

Just the sort of thing a millionaire's son
would have
, Zac thought.

Zac searched the other pocket of his jacket. There he found a strange object that looked a bit like a pocket calculator, only with a much larger screen.

‘SpyPad', he read on the front.

Some kind of expensive game or digital
camera
, Zac thought.

He flicked it on.

A photograph popped up. Zac saw himself standing next to a smiling man and woman. His parents!

True, he had brown hair and his mum and dad were blond. But then again, not all families look alike.

Just then, Zac heard a strange, mournful sound.

It was so loud Zac thought his ears might burst. He raced to a porthole to see what had made the sound.

There, right next to him, was the most awesome, high-tech submarine ever.

It was shiny black and bullet-shaped. There was a fancy winged keel underneath. On the front were 20 torpedo launchers. On top, Zac saw two very large surface-to-air missiles.

It must be navy submarine sent especially to rescue him! That must be the kind of thing that happens when your parents are millionaires.

The radio on board crackled to life.

‘This is Captain Stewart aboard the
Sea Devil
. Do you read me, over?'

Zac snatched up the radio.

‘Yes, I read you! This is Zac Blythe-Jones. I was out for a joyride in my mini-submarine here, but I've injured myself. Can you take me home?'

‘You say your name's Zac Blythe-Jones?

Over,' came the reply.

‘Uh huh,' said Zac. ‘I'm a millionaire's son.'

There was a pause. Zac started wondering if his radio worked.

‘Come aboard then,' finally came the voice from the radio. ‘Steer your submersible towards the rear of the
Sea Devil
and drive into the loading bay.'

Even as the voice said this, a large hatch was opening round the back of the impressive black submarine.

Zac leapt into the pilot's seat. He stared at the controls for a second. He wasn't sure exactly how, but somehow he remembered how to work the cool little mini-sub. Maybe he was getting his memory back, even just a little bit.

Zac backed into the
Sea Devil
's loading bay easily. The hatch door closed behind him. He was in an airlock. Silently, an interior door slid open. It must lead right into the centre of the
Sea Devil
. He wondered if Captain Stewart could let him have a look around.

Probably
, thought Zac.
She seems friendly
.

‘Zac Blythe-Jones,' boomed a voice over the submarine's PA system. ‘Proceed immediately to the galley.'

The galley? Wasn't that a ship's kitchen?

Excellent. He was just in time for breakfast.

CHAPTER NINE

The galley was full of people in boiler suits and diving gear eating breakfast. They all had the same thing written across their backs.

Marine Tech.

Strange. Zac had never heard of it.

A woman in a suit with Marine Tech stitched on the pocket met Zac at the door.

‘I'm Captain Stewart,' she said, sounding mean and friendly all at the same time.‘How about a bowl of Chocmallow Puffs?'

She showed Zac to a seat.

‘So, you're a millionaire's son,' said Captain Stewart, casually.

‘Yup,' said Zac, through mouthfuls of cereal.

‘Prove it,' said Captain Stewart.

Zac dug in his jacket pocket for the envelope.

‘Here, look. My mum and dad gave me all this money. And that was just today!' said Zac.

Captain Stewart's eyes widened. She got up and walked over to a man who was hovering nearby.

‘Don't think it's him,' she whispered to the man.

‘The kid we've got to watch out for is called Power, not Blythe-Jones,' said the man. ‘Should I get HQ to email us a photo of the Power kid, just to make sure?'

‘The test dive must go off without a hitch,' Captain Stewart said sourly. ‘Do whatever it takes.'

The man nodded and disappeared through a door. Zac caught a glimpse of the office that lay beyond.

Just then, a loud siren went off.

Everyone around him got up and rushed out the door. Zac stood up too.Was he supposed to be going somewhere?

Within seconds, the room was empty except for Zac and Captain Stewart.

‘No! Stay where you are, you little… rascal,' she finished quickly.

The galley door opened. Someone in a diving suit rushed in.

‘Captain Stewart? There's a problem with one of the dive mechanisms. You'd better come.'

The woman got up. ‘Don't you move, Zac,' she said, before rushing away.

Zac had a hunch.

Something wasn't right about Captain Stewart. Why didn't she believe he was who he said he was? And who was emailing his photograph?

Maybe these Marine Tech people were trying to kidnap him for his parents' money. He needed to get a look at that email!

But despite being a millionaire's son, Zac was just an ordinary kid. What did he know about following hunches or spying on people?

He took another spoonful of Chocmallow Puffs, and chewed thoughtfully.

All the same, something buried deep inside was telling him to do something. He was alone now. If there was ever a time to act, this was it.

Zac snuck towards the office door.

It was ajar.

Zac peered through the crack. Inside the office, the man from the galley was sitting behind a computer, his back to the door.

‘That's right, Boss. One of the guard-squids picked him up,' the man was saying. ‘Don't think he entered our test zone deliberately. Dumb rich kid just stumbled across it, I think.'

As Zac watched, something came up on the computer screen on the man's desk. The man was too busy sucking up to his boss to even notice.

‘So, you're sending the photograph now? Just need to be extra doubly certain the kid's not Zac Power,' said the man. ‘Not that he could be, of course,' he went on, laughing.

Zac squinted even harder through the crack in the door. He couldn't see what was on the screen. He hooked his finger in the door and slowly, very slowly, opened it wider.