Making Waves (7 page)

Bubbles streamed behind EJ as she glided slowly through the water. Squirt swam next to her, clicking and whistling. The A-Sub's searchlight kept swinging around and EJ kept her eyes firmly on Adriana, who was standing at the window squinting, as she watched out through the water. The A-Sub seemed to turn back towards EJ.

Uh oh,
thought EJ,
Adriana's bound to see me and if she does, I'm done for. I need somewhere to hide. And quick.

And then, as if on cue, a school of large fish
swam by, large black fish, each one as big as both of EJ's hands, with flashes of yellow and deep purple on their tails. There were scores of them and, as they swam past EJ, everything seemed to go black for a moment. She couldn't see anything except fish. And that gave EJ an idea on how she might make it to the top of the A-Sub without being seen by Adriana.

Can I use the fish to hide me?
wondered EJ.
My wetsuit is almost exactly the same colour as their scales and if I can just get enough of them to keep swimming with me, it just might work.

EJ took off her fish charm and twisted it. She was holding a small bottle with a lid like a salt-shaker. There was a label.

The bottle held fish food. EJ shook the lid and a cloud of tiny particles flooded out of the bottle and floated in the water. EJ waited and watched. No fish.
Maybe that wasn't enough?
she thought. She shook out more particles. That did it. In seconds the school of large black fish returned but they were not alone. Hundreds of other fish, large and small, rushed to eat the reef feed, all frantically pushing each other to get at it. And in the middle of the mass of tussling fish was EJ.

The commotion did not go unnoticed by Adriana. Through the mass of fish, EJ could just make out Adriana peering over in her direction. Did that mean Adriana could also see her? The A-Sub's spotlight swept over EJ and the fish. EJ fed out more fish food and more fish came. Just when EJ was convinced she had been discovered, she saw Adriana shrug her shoulders and look away.

Phew,
thought EJ.
That was close. If I can just keep swimming and feeding them, these fish will keep hiding me and I should be able to make it to the top of the A-Sub and over to C2C's
SHINE
mobile.

It worked like a charm. EJ kept releasing fish food and hundreds of fish kept flocking around her as she swam closer and closer to the A-Sub. When she reached the top of the vessel, she stopped sprinkling the reef feed and slowly, the fish drifted away. EJ hovered above the A-sub and then saw C2C's
SHINE
mobile. She slowly swam down to it and peered in the window. C2C's face smiled out at her. EJ gave her the thumbs up and C2C smiled again, also giving the thumbs up. C2C then pointed upwards and wrote in the condensation on her window.

EJ admired C2C's handwriting—and the fact that she was writing backwards—but there was no time for that now. She gave C2C the thumbs up and swam back up to the top of the A-Sub. EJ pulled herself along the top until she came to a door with a large metal wheel, the A-Sub's escape hatch. She pulled hard to twist the wheel lock. It didn't budge. EJ tried again and this time she felt it give a little. She pulled again with both arms straining on the wheel and both legs pushing on the sub's roof. Finally, with a last heave, she felt the wheel turn. She spun the wheel once around and pulled the door open, then slid into the small chamber as the water rushed in. Once inside, EJ tightly turned the wheel lock on the other side of the door and pressed a button on the wall next to a light that flashed red. As she did, the water was pumped out and another light flashed green. The cabin was sealed and airtight. EJ took off her air tank and opened the next hatch below, dropping into the submarine cabin. She clicked her flippers and they converted to dive shoes.

She had made it past the searchlight, through
the deep water, had checked C2C was alright and got into the submarine. EJ was feeling pretty proud of herself. Now all she had to do was find Adriana and figure out a way to stop her. No problem. EJ moved across to open the door in front of her. She hoped it would lead her to Adriana—just not quite as fast as it did.

‘Well, well, who might this be? Another Shiny friend from under the sea!'

It was Adriana.

‘So, we meet again, EJ12. Will you never learn? Yes, that's right, it's me, I told you I'd return.'

Adriana had led EJ out to the observation room of the submarine. In the middle of the deck was a large tank filled with what EJ instantly recognised as live black coral. Brilliantly coloured coral but with a jet-black skeleton.

‘Isn't it beautiful?' asked Adriana. ‘So fine, so fragile, so valuable.'

‘It's more beautiful in the sea,' said EJ.

‘Well, maybe, but it's no good there. You can't use it to make beautiful jewellery,' replied Adriana, stroking the large black pendant that hung around
her neck. ‘And my coral is perfect for jewellery. The tests of my first harvest show it to be of the highest quality. You have no idea how much money
SHADOW
and I can make from selling my coral.'

‘Except it's not your coral.'

‘It is now,' said Adriana, smiling smugly.

‘But you can't just take it,' cried EJ. ‘And your harvesting collects the rest of the reef as well.'

‘But I just did take it,' said Adriana. ‘And anyway, I throw back all other stuff.'

‘But it's too late then, it's destroyed.'

‘Oh I suppose that's a pity,' sighed Adriana. ‘But the jewellery is so pretty and I do like pretty things.' Adriana's squinty eyes glared meanly at EJ over the top of her thick black glasses. ‘But now, I'm bored with talking to you, EJ Nothing,' she said, her voice hardening. ‘In fact, I am tired of you always trying to ruin my projects, you little goody-goody. You're as bad as my sister. Actually, shall I tell you a little secret about your precious A1?'

‘No!' shouted EJ. ‘You shouldn't tell other people's secrets.'

‘Why not? I was never very good at keeping secrets,' said Adriana.

‘Well you should get better,' said EJ.

‘Oh should I now?' snapped Adriana. ‘Do you really think that you can tell me what to do, EJworrywart-12?' Adriana cackled. ‘
You
can't stop me.'

‘Yes I can. We can. I have alerted A1 to our location and she and a team of
SHINE
agents will be here at any moment.'

Adriana stopped cackling, her smile fell away and she was completely still for a moment. ‘Well, not that I wouldn't love a family reunion...'

And with that, Adriana pressed her pendant. The floor underneath her opened and she dropped down to a lower deck of the submarine. EJ rushed over but the floor closed up again before she could get across the room. There was a loud, clanking noise as if something was moving from underneath the deck. Then a voice boomed over a speaker somewhere in the observation room.

‘Thanks for dropping in, EJ. Do give my worst to
A1 but I really can't stay. You know how it is. I win, you lose.'

EJ rushed to the window to see that Adriana was making her escape in a small black mini-sub.

‘I don't think so, Adriana. You're not getting away this time,' said EJ12 as she rushed to the A-Sub's control panel.

The control panel was enormous. There were buttons, levers, dials and flashing lights everywhere but EJ wasn't one of
SHINE's
leading agents for nothing. She knew exactly what she was looking for as she scanned the panel. First she flicked an audio switch and spoke into a handset.

‘C2C, do you copy?' said EJ into the radio.

‘I copy, EJ,' replied C2C. ‘I am so pleased to hear your voice.'

‘I'm going to pull the release lever for the robotic clamp that's holding your
SHINE
mobile. Hold on.'

‘Check,' said C2C.

EJ scanned across the board and then pulled a lever on the right. ‘C2C, did that work?'

‘No, I think that one controls the net. Try another one.'

EJ pulled the next lever. She heard another clanking sound from the back of the A-Sub.

‘That was it. Well done. EJ, my sub's oxygen levels are low so I need to surface. Will you be okay?'

‘Oh yes,' said EJ smiling. ‘I have everything under control. I'm now in pursuit of Adriana.' EJ was going to enjoy this. Adriana had escaped from her last time and there was no way EJ12 would let that happen again.

With C2C's
SHINE
mobile now safely clear, EJ switched the engine to turbo and the A-Sub surged forward, racing through the water. EJ could see Adriana's mini-sub just ahead. Its engines were no match for the A-Sub's powerful ones and she gained on Adriana quickly. She then pulled the net lever again and waited. As she drew in closer to the mini-sub, EJ pulled the A-Sub up higher in the water
and moved the net lever down.

‘Just a little further, just a little further,' she said. Adriana's mini-sub was now directly in front of the A-Sub's net. If EJ could just get close enough she would be able to activate the net.

‘Perfect,' said EJ as she pushed the button to open the net. The net hovered over the mini-sub.

EJ pushed the button to close the net. ‘Gotcha,' she said, and she began to bring both the A-Sub and the now entangled mini-sub up to the surface. EJ could see a very cross Adriana looking up at her.

Piinngg!

There was a message from
SHINE
on EJ's phone.

EJ12 smiled as she sent her reply.