Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies (5 page)

ULF HIT THE COLD WATER AND HIS BODY GAVE A
shudder. His chest tightened, his wet T-shirt and jeans clinging to his skin.

The sea monster was struggling at the front of the examination bay. It was banging its shell against the underwater gate to the lagoon. Five of its tentacles were thrashing wildly, coiling up the walls. Its other three tentacles hung limply, dragging along the concrete floor.

Ulf dived down clutching the handles of the venom extractor.

The huge sea monster turned, opening its green eyes. It let out a low, menacing bellow and its tentacles whipped down from the walls and started lashing through the water.

Ulf steadied himself, cold with dread, as the sea monster loomed large, trying to pull itself toward him. Its body was tilting to one side and its tentacles were jerking.

Suddenly, one of the tentacles lashed forward through the water. Ulf dived beneath it and the tentacle went crashing against the side of the examination bay.

Another tentacle swept up and Ulf felt its barnacles scrape against his leg, knocking him sideways.

He heard a thudding sound and looked behind him. He could see Dr. Fielding at the window of the viewing gallery. She was banging on the glass.

He turned back as another tentacle came thrashing toward him. It whacked him in the stomach, sending him somersaulting backward through the
water. He tried to steady himself, kicking his legs, and another tentacle swept over his head. He could see the sea monster moving toward him, getting closer.

Gripping the venom extractor in one hand, Ulf stared into the sea monster's green eyes. They were blazing angrily.

There was a low scraping sound and a rumble of rocks as the sea monster's mouth opened like a cave. Ulf could see the half-eaten sharks floating inside. It was preparing to feed.

His heart was thumping in his chest.

He saw the stinger emerging from its hole. The snakelike limb slid out through the coral, pulsing with ice-blue venom. It weaved toward him, sensing his heartbeat.

Ulf trembled as the stinger flicked out its tongue.

At that moment, a tentacle swung around and struck Ulf on the back, knocking the venom extractor from his hands. It rose through the water, the air in the leather ball carrying it upward. The tentacle slid
around him, its oily suckers gripping his waist.

Ulf stretched upward, reaching for the venom extractor, but it was floating away from him. Desperate, he kicked and struggled, clawing at the tentacle around his waist, trying to prize the suckers off. Black oil seeped out from them into the water.

He glanced at the stinger. Its blue tip was opening, its fangs ready to strike.

I'm going to die,
he thought. He had to get the venom extractor.

He wriggled and squirmed, pulling at the tentacle.

As the oil leaked from its suckers, Ulf felt the tentacle's grip loosening. He kicked his legs and pushed with all his strength. Gradually he slid from the sea monster's grip, then shot upward and pulled the venom extractor down in front of him.

The stinger struck for his heart and Ulf felt an almighty thump as the venom extractor banged against his chest, protecting him. The stinger was
locked on to the ball, its fangs piercing the leather. The venom extractor was shaking.

Ulf gripped the handles tightly, struggling to hold on. His knuckles were white and his arms ached.

The stinger thrashed, convulsing like a whip.

His heart was hammering in his chest. He could feel the ball getting colder as the stinger pumped its venom. The freezing venom was collecting inside, trickling down into the flask.

The stinger's blue tip was pulsating. Its venom sacks were emptying.

The venom extractor was working.

Ulf watched as the stinger gradually changed color from blue to black.

Suddenly, it released the ball. The stinger swayed in front of Ulf, flicking out its tongue. Its venom sacks were empty. Ulf saw its black tip coming closer. It snaked up and down his body, probing him inquisitively. It seemed curious that he was still moving.

Ulf reached out and touched it. The stinger felt hard and scaly. It pulled back from his hand, then retreated, snaking back to its hole in the sea monster's shell.

Ulf looked to the viewing gallery. Dr. Fielding was calling to him from the window.

He kicked hard, swimming upward to the surface.

A huge hand reached into the water, dragging him out. It was Orson. Ulf came up, gasping for air, and Orson lifted him onto the dock.

Dr. Fielding ran up from the viewing gallery and threw her arms around Ulf, hugging him, rubbing him to warm him up. “Don't ever do anything like that again!”

Ulf was shivering. His teeth were chattering from the cold. “It w-works,” Ulf gasped. “Professor Farraway's v-v-v-venom ex-x-xtractor w-works.”

Dr. Fielding took the venom extractor and ran
her fingers over the fang holes in the leather ball. “I can't believe it,” she murmured. “It's extraordinary.” She unscrewed the flask and looked inside. It was full with ice-blue venom.

“It really did work, Dr. Fielding,” Orson said.

“Professor Farraway used to swim with sea monsters,” Ulf told her. “That's how he did it. The Redback's stinger can't hurt you without its venom.”

“Hooray for the werewolf!” Ulf heard. He looked up. Captain Crab was standing on the deck of his boat, holding his wrench. “I knew you'd save it!”

“We can operate now,” Ulf said to Dr. Fielding. “It's safe to go near it.”

Dr. Fielding gave Ulf's shoulder a squeeze. “You should go and get dry,” she told him.

“I'm fine,” Ulf said, standing up. “I want to stay and help.”

Dr. Fielding looked up at Orson. “Do you think
you could raise the sea monster to the surface?” she asked.

“No problem,” the giant said. He strode over to the marine store.

“Come on then, Ulf,” Dr. Fielding said. “Let's fix this sea monster's brain.”

ULF HELPED ORSON ROLL EIGHT YELLOW FLOTATION
barrels across the dock into the examination bay.

“I'll need the bungees too, Ulf,” the giant said.

Ulf went to the marine store where Dr. Fielding was gathering tools for the operation. He fetched eight elastic bungee ropes and carried them out.

Orson the giant was swimming in the water, floating the barrels across the examination bay. The sea monster was below him. One of its tentacles reached up and wrapped around the giant's shoulders. “Easy, girl,” Orson said, gently peeling the tentacle off with his huge hand.

Ulf threw the bungee ropes and the giant caught them.

Orson pushed a yellow barrel under the water, took a deep breath and dived down. He took hold of a tentacle and tied the barrel to it with a bungee rope. A moment later the barrel bobbed to the surface, lifting the tentacle with it.

Orson came up for air as another tentacle reached for him. He caught it, pulling the sea monster toward him, and attached a second barrel. The water churned, tentacles lashing as the giant pushed a third barrel down. One by one, Orson attached all eight barrels. The air in the barrels lifted the sea monster to the surface of the examination bay, and Ulf watched as its red shell rose out of the water. It looked like a coral island surrounded by a ring of barrels. Three of its tentacles lay limp on the surface of the water while the other five coiled up the concrete walls.

Dr. Fielding came out of the marine store,
carrying her medical bag, a circular saw and a suction pump. “Could you bring that bucket, please,” she said to Ulf, looking back to a bucket by the door of the marine store.

Ulf fetched it. The bucket was full of wet cement. He carried it to the examination bay, following Dr. Fielding.

“Could you tether the sea monster securely, please, Orson?” she asked.

Bolted into the walls of the examination bay were steel harnessing rings with ropes attached. These were used to secure large sea beasts during operations.

Orson swam around the walls of the examination bay, tying the ropes to the sea monster's tentacles, securing them to the harnessing rings so they could no longer thrash.

The ropes creaked as the tentacles pulled.

“Don't worry, girl,” Orson whispered to the beast. “Dr. Fielding will fix you up.” He stroked one
of its tentacles, checking the rope was secure.

Orson pulled himself out of the water, then slid a wooden plank from the edge of the examination bay to the top of the sea monster's shell. “She's ready for you, Dr. Fielding.”

“Come on, Ulf,” Dr. Fielding said. She carried her medical bag and tools along the plank, then stepped onto the sea monster. She climbed down the front of its shell to a ledge a couple of feet below. “It's perfectly safe, Ulf,” she called.

“Just make sure you don't fall in the water,” Orson said, chuckling.

Ulf carried the bucket nervously along the plank and stepped off onto the sea monster's shell. He could feel its coral and barnacles pressing into the soles of his bare feet. He passed the bucket to Dr. Fielding, then clambered down to the ledge.

Dr. Fielding was laying her tools out carefully. “You might see a lot of blood,” she said.

“I'll be okay,” Ulf told her.

“Everything all right there?” Captain Crab called from his boat. “Need a hand, do you?”

“We're fine, thank you, Captain. Ulf's helping,” Dr. Fielding called.

She started examining the sea monster's shell. She ran her fingers over a jagged crack three feet long. “This is the fracture, Ulf. Under here is its brain.”

Ulf picked out a loose piece of coral from the edge of the crack.

“Can I see that, please, Ulf?” Dr. Fielding asked. Ulf handed her the piece of coral and she examined it, frowning.

“What's the matter?” Ulf asked.

Dr. Fielding placed the piece of coral in her coat pocket. “It's probably nothing. I'll check it out later.”

From her medical bag she took a pair of safety goggles and put them on.

Ulf took a pair for himself.

“Are you ready, Ulf?”

“Ready,” Ulf said.

“Then let's take a look at its brain,” Dr. Fielding said. She picked up the circular saw.

Ulf stared. At the front of the saw was a large circular blade with jagged metal teeth. “Won't that hurt it?” he asked.

“It has no feeling in its shell,” Dr. Fielding said. She turned the saw on and the metal blade started spinning. “It's no different than you filing your claws.”

Ulf watched as Dr. Fielding pressed the saw into the sea monster's shell. Bright sparks flew from the blade and it made a loud screaming sound as it cut through the coral and barnacles. She ran the saw in a wide circle around the crack.

Ulf could see a large circular slab of shell coming loose.

Dr. Fielding switched the saw off. “Right, now we need to lift it out.” She placed the saw down. With both hands she pulled at the slab of coral. “Help me with this, Ulf,” she asked.

Ulf gripped the coral with his fingers and heaved. Slowly he and Dr. Fielding lifted out the large circular slab from the sea monster's shell. It came away with a sucking sound. It was as heavy as concrete.

They laid it to one side, and then Ulf peered into the large hole where it had been. Inside he could see a bulging mass of spongy white flesh crisscrossed with veins.

“That's the sea monster's brain,” Dr. Fielding said.

The sea monster's brain was sitting in a pool of blood.

DR. FIELDING TURNED ON THE SUCTION PUMP, A
metal canister with a rubber hose. “Can you get the blood out, please, Ulf?” she asked, passing him the hose. “Make sure you suck it all up.”

Ulf poked the hose into the pool of blood around the sea monster's brain. The suction pump gurgled as blood bubbled up the hose and into the canister.

Dr. Fielding put her headlamp on and peered into the hole. “We need to find the source of the bleeding,” she said. She shone her lamplight on the bulging spongy brain.

“It's big,” Ulf said.

“It needs to be. A sea monster's brain is highly specialized,” Dr. Fielding told him.

She pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and pointed to two large bulges covered in a slimy membrane. “These are the brain's cerebral lobes, Ulf. The left lobe controls the sea monster's interactive functioning: perception, recognition and communication. The right lobe controls its deep sea functioning: orientation, navigation and body temperature. I can't see any signs of damage.”

Dr. Fielding felt a large bulge at the front of the brain. “This is the visceral lobe. It controls all the internal organs.”

Ulf moved the suction hose so Dr. Fielding could look for the cause of the bleeding. Then he watched as she reached down to a smaller bulge. “This here is the occipital lobe, Ulf. It controls the sea monster's vision.” She slid her fingers down, gently lifting the fleshy tissue to reveal a thick pulsating tube. “That's
the optic nerve. It connects to the sea monster's eyes. Sea monsters can see infrared, which means they can hunt in the dark.”

Dr. Fielding waited while Ulf sucked up the remaining blood surrounding the brain. He turned off the suction pump and placed it carefully to one side.

“Well done, Ulf. Now have a look at this.” Dr. Fielding reached deep down the front of the brain to a small black bulge. “This is the neco lobe. It picks up vibrations in the water.”

The neco lobe was nestled in a thick bundle of nerves. Dr. Fielding parted them with her fingers and shone her lamplight into a cavity that ran down inside the shell.

Ulf leaned in and looked down. The bundle of nerves twisted from the brain, wrapping around one another to form a single tube that was covered in scales. It ran down to a ledge behind the sea monster's eyes. “That's its stinger!” he said. The stinger
was coiled on the ledge like a snake, resting after its devenoming.

“And it's harmless now, thanks to you, Ulf,” Dr. Fielding said. “It'll take a day or two to replenish its venom.” She reached to the back of the brain. “This over here is the brachial lobe. It controls movement.” She carefully slid her hands down either side of the bulge. “Oh, my goodness,” she said.

“What's the matter?” Ulf asked.

“I've found the problem, Ulf.”

Gently, Dr. Fielding pushed her hand in, parting the spongy flesh.

Ulf saw a huge red lump. “What is it?” he asked.

“A blood clot, Ulf. A ball of congealed blood.” It was massive. “The artery that goes to the brachial lobe has ruptured. The brachial lobe isn't functioning correctly. That explains why its tentacles are in spasm.”

“Can you fix it?”

“It'll be tricky. We'll have to perform an arterial bypass.”

“How do we do that?” Ulf asked.

“We'll have to redirect the blood flow with a synthetic blood vessel, then remove the clot. While we operate we'll have to seal off the blood supply entirely. It's a risky operation. It's possible that the tentacles will be left paralyzed.”

Dr. Fielding took another headlamp from her medical bag and Ulf put it on. “When I say, I need you to hold that blood clot for me.”

She took out a laser pen, two metal clips, and a length of thin silicone-rubber tubing. “This is the synthetic blood vessel,” she explained, showing him the length of tubing. “We'll use it to replace the ruptured artery.”

Dr. Fielding looked across to Orson. “We're about to close off the blood supply to the brachial lobe,” she called. “She should go still for a while.”

The giant was wrestling with a tentacle that had slipped free from its rope. “You got it. Good luck,” Orson called.

Dr. Fielding parted the upper lobes of the brain. Ulf could see the huge red clot. “Lift it up,” Dr. Fielding told him.

Ulf cupped his hands around the blood clot. It felt sticky and warm. As he lifted it, he saw a thick blood vessel running along its base to the brachial lobe.

“That's the ruptured artery that we have to replace,” Dr. Fielding said. She carefully clipped the metal clips to it, on either side of the clot. “Now the blood flow is sealed off, we have to work quickly.”

Ulf glanced up. All the sea monster's tentacles had gone limp.

“Concentrate, Ulf.”

He held the clot steady. Dr. Fielding took her laser pen and pressed its tip to the artery.

Ulf saw a glowing red dot as the laser burned a small hole in the artery wall. Dr. Fielding repeated the procedure, burning a second hole in the artery on the other side of the clot.

She switched the laser pen off and, with a microneedle and thread, stitched the ends of the synthetic blood vessel onto the two holes.

“Now we have to cut out the clot.”

With a pair of small scissors, Dr. Fielding snipped the clot from the damaged artery. Ulf felt it come free in his hands. It was heavy, and wobbled as he lifted it out.

“Perfect,” Dr. Fielding said. She held open a specimen bag and Ulf dropped the clot inside it. “Now let's see if the bypass has worked.”

She unfastened the metal clips.

Ulf could see blood starting to flow through the synthetic artery. “You've mended it!” he said.

“Don't get your hopes up, Ulf. We won't know definitely for a minute or two.” Dr. Fielding looked across to Orson. “Tell me if you see any signs of movement,” she called.

The sea monster's tentacles were hanging limply all around, attached to the ropes.

“Will do,” Orson replied.

“Ulf, could you help me get the shell back on now, please?” Dr. Fielding asked.

Together, Ulf and Dr. Fielding reached across and lifted the large circular slab of shell back into the hole.

“Now seal it up,” Dr. Fielding said, handing Ulf a trowel. While Dr. Fielding gathered her tools, Ulf grabbed the bucket of wet cement. He spread the cement into the circular cut in the shell, and then along the jagged crack.

“Orson, can you start to release the tentacles?” Dr. Fielding called. The giant walked around the top of the examination bay, untying the tentacles from the metal rings. Ulf saw them fall limply in the water.

“They're not moving,” he said to Dr. Fielding.

She was climbing up the sea monster's shell. She carried her tools across the wooden plank to the dock. “Come on, Ulf,” she called.

Ulf clambered after her carrying the bucket.

Orson pulled the plank from the top of the sea monster, then all three stood watching and waiting. Orson put his hand on Ulf's shoulder. “You've done your best,” he said.

The sea monster's tentacles still weren't moving.

The giant knelt beside Ulf and pointed to the far corner of the examination bay. “Look,” he whispered. The tip of one of the tentacles twitched.

Then at the opposite side of the examination bay another tentacle started twitching. It slowly stirred in the water.

“It's working!” Ulf said.

One by one, all of the tentacles slowly came to life, calmly swaying back and forth in the water. They began exploring the examination bay, feeling the walls and touching the flotation barrels. The tip of one tentacle reached up and felt the mended section of shell where the operation had been performed.

“I'll leave the flotation barrels on while the cement sets,” Orson said to Dr. Fielding. “It will give her time to get her strength back.”

“Thank you, Orson,” Dr. Fielding replied.

“Is the sea monster going to be all right now?” Ulf asked.

Dr. Fielding smiled. “She's going to be fine, Ulf, thanks to you.”