Deep Trouble II (4 page)

My goldfish were gigantic!

They filled my cabin. They were the size of small whales!

Well, maybe not that big. But they were at least as big as me.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
They flopped on the floor, their tails pounding into
the wood.

“They—they’re giants!” I gasped.

“What’s going
on
?” Sheena cried. “How did everything get so big?”

“Oh, my. Oh, my!” Dr. D. muttered over and over. “Oh, my!” He seemed to be in
shock.

We all stared at the fish. First the minnow, then the snail, and now this. It
was hard to believe.

What was happening? Why was everything suddenly growing so huge?

“I feel like I’m living in some kind of dinosaur world,” I said. “Only
instead of dinosaurs, we’re surrounded by giant sea creatures!”

Dr. D. shook his head to clear it. “I’ve got to get a grip on myself. We’ve
got big problems here!”

“Huge problems!” Sheena added.

“No wonder the boat’s tipping over,” Dr. D. said. “Those fish are monstrous!
Their weight is pulling the boat over.”

“My goldfish, my goldfish!” I couldn’t believe it.

They looked beautiful, all golden and shiny. You could really see them now
that they were so big—nearly as big as horses. Little brown specks on their
gills and their scales glittered in the sunlight that spilled through my
porthole.

“We’ve got to get rid of them,” Dr. D. said. “Otherwise, they’ll tip over the
boat.”

“Can we shove them through the window?” Sheena asked.

“They’re too big,” Dr. D. said. “We’ll have to haul them up to the deck
somehow.”

“And then what?” I asked.

“Throw them overboard,” Dr. D. declared. “We can’t keep them here, that’s for
sure.”

“Maybe they’ll be happier in the ocean,” Sheena reasoned. “They probably
hated being cooped up in that little bowl, anyway.”

“But goldfish are freshwater fish!” I protested.

“We have no choice, Billy,” Dr. D. said grimly.

“We won’t survive out here. We won’t be able to sail anywhere—unless we get
these giant fish overboard.”

I knew he was right. The fish had to go.

“You two grab the tail. I’ll push from the other side,” my uncle said.

I tugged on the slick golden tail. “Unh—it’s so heavy!” I grunted.

The fish flopped. The tail slapped Sheena’s hand.

“Ow!” she cried. “That hurt!”

“Hold him still!” Dr. D. ordered.

We dragged the first fish out of my room—uphill—and into the passage. The
snail no longer blocked our path. The snail slime in the passage helped us slide
it out.

We hauled the big fish up the steps. It flopped on the deck.

“Good-bye, goldfish,” I said.

We shoved it overboard. It flipped its tail and swam away.

“Now we have to do it all over again,” Sheena complained.

“And what about the snail?” I said. “It’s even heavier than these fish!”

“One monster at a time,” Dr. D. said.

As soon as we dragged the other fish overboard, the boat righted itself.

“What a relief,” Dr. D. said. “I can stand up straight again!”

“I’m beat,” Sheena whined. “This has been the worst day of my life.”

We started back down below. The boat looked like the set of a disaster movie.
Broken glass everywhere, pools of water, floors and walls streaked with white
slime. And the giant snail sitting in the corner.

“What are we going to do about
him
?” Sheena asked.

Dr. D. sighed heavily. “Let’s just leave him for now.”

I slipped on a puddle of slime on my way to my cabin.

My cabin. What a mess.

It looked as if a giant had come, turned it upside down, and shaken it.

I headed for the closet to get a mop. I stopped.

I thought I heard something.

I listened. Yes. Footsteps. Up on deck.

“Dr. D.?” I called.

“Right here, Billy,” he answered. He was busy cleaning up his lab.

Sheena popped out of her cabin. “Did you hear that?” she asked.

I nodded. “Someone’s up on deck.”

Dr. D. came out of the lab, wiping his hands on a towel. He glanced at me,
then at Sheena. Then he looked up toward the ceiling.

“If we’re all down here,” he began, “then who’s walking around up there?”

We crept up the stairs and stepped out on deck. The afternoon sun beat down
on us. “I don’t see anyone,” I said. “Look behind you,” boomed a deep voice. We
turned around. There stood three men. Three total strangers.

The three men stood side by side, wearing shorts, button-down shirts, and
boating shoes.

The man who had spoken was tall and thin, with glasses and longish brown
hair. On his left stood a burly, sunburned blond man. On the right, a
curly-haired guy with a long, beaky nose on a birdlike face.

I’d never seen any of them before. What were they doing on our boat?

Dr. D. cleared his throat. “May I help you?”

The tall man spoke. “I hope we didn’t frighten you. And I’m sorry to barge
aboard like this, but we were worried. Are you in trouble? We saw your boat
tilting dangerously to one side and became alarmed.”

Dr. D. chuckled, trying to act casual. “We hit some rough water,” he lied.
“But everything is all right now, as you can see.”

Where did these guys come from? I wondered. I stepped to the edge of the deck and saw a motorboat tied up to the side.

“I was afraid you were going to tip over,” the man said. “We thought we would
have to rescue you!”

“No, no. We’re fine now. Aren’t we, kids?” Dr. D. insisted.

“Fine?” I blurted out. “What about—”

Dr. D. squeezed my shoulder. Hard. I shut my mouth.

Why was Dr. D. acting as if everything were okay?

When goldfish blow up into monsters, everything is
not
okay.

“It was very kind of you to come and help.” Dr. D. let go of my shoulder,
finally. I rubbed it.

“My pleasure.” The tall man smiled. “I’m glad there’s no trouble. Always
happy to help a fellow sailor.”

He offered his right hand. “I’m Dr. Ritter. These are my assistants, Mel
Mason and Adam Brown.” Mel was the burly blond one. Adam was the curly-haired
beaky one.

Dr. D. shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Dr. George Deep. This is my
nephew, Billy, and my niece, Sheena.”

“Hi, kids. Wow, they look like good, strong swimmers.”

Dr. D. grinned. “They are.”

“What kind of doctor are you, Dr. Deep?” Dr. Ritter asked. “A surgeon on
vacation?”

Dr. D. shook his head. “No. I’m a marine biologist. The
Cassandra
is
my floating lab.”

“Really?” he asked. “A fellow scientist! Wonderful!”

Dr. Ritter began to stroll around the deck, gazing at the ropes and
equipment. His assistants followed him.

“I’ve got a floating lab myself,” Dr. Ritter told us. “Not far from here, as
a matter-of-fact.”

He sucked in a big breath of salty air and patted his chest. “Ah, yes. We
marine biologists are a noble bunch, don’t you think, Dr. Deep? Studying the
mysteries of the sea. It’s the last true frontier on earth, I always say.”

Dr. D. trailed after him. “Yes. The last frontier,” he agreed.

“What are you working on, if I may ask?” Dr. Ritter said.

Dr. D. cleared his throat. “Oh, I’ve got a couple of projects going. I can’t
really talk about them now, Dr. Ritter. They’re in their early stages. I’m sure
you understand.”

The three strangers paused by the ladder where their boat was tied.

“Yes. Indeed. I guess we should be leaving,” Dr. Ritter said. “I’m glad
you’re all safe.”

“Thanks for stopping to help,” Dr. D. said.

Dr. Ritter put his hand on the ladder. Then he stopped.

“By the way—you haven’t seen anything strange in the waters around here
lately, have you?”

“Strange?” Dr. D. asked. “What do you mean?”

“Odd fish, unusual creatures, anything like that?”

Odd fish! I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “We’ve seen all kinds of weird
stuff!” I gushed. “My goldfish turned into giants! And we saw huge jellyfish
bigger than a car! Ow!”

Something sharp poked me in the ribs. My uncle’s elbow.

Whoops.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dr. Ritter said.

“Yes, it was really scary!” I agreed. “Ow!” Dr. D.’s elbow again. “What did
you do that for?”

He frowned at me.

What? I thought. What did I do this time?

“Billy is just joking,” Dr. D. assured him. He played nervously with his
glasses.

Dr. Ritter said, “Joking? You weren’t really joking—were you, Billy?”

“Well…” I gazed up at Dr. D. I didn’t know what to say.

“I’m really sorry,” Dr. Ritter repeated. “I’m sorry you saw those creatures,
Billy. Because now I can’t let you go.”

“Huh?” I gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve seen too much,” Dr. Ritter replied solemnly. “And now I have to
decide what to do with you.”

He snapped his fingers. The two assistants moved in.

“Hold on, there.” Dr. D. put his arms around me and Sheena. “Don’t pay any
attention to Billy. He has a wild imagination.”

“The wildest,” Sheena piped in.

“He’s always making up stories,” Dr. D. went on.

“He’s a big fat liar,” Sheena added. “Everybody knows that.”

“Believe me, Dr. Bitter,” my uncle pleaded. “We haven’t seen anything strange
at all. I mean, a giant goldfish? You’re a scientist, Dr. Bitter. You know as
well as I do that that is impossible.”

Dr. Bitter opened his mouth to speak. Something stopped him. A loud noise. A
loud, lumbering, thudding sound.

CRASH! PLOP!

Something broke through the doors and bounced onto the deck.

The giant snail.

I dropped my head in my hands. “Oh, no!”

Dr. Ritter raised an eyebrow. “Looks like your brother is not the big fat
liar you say he is.”

“Oh, he’s a big fat liar, all right,” Sheena insisted. “And he’s stupid too.”

I kicked her in the shins.

“Ow!” she cried.

“Kids, quiet!” Dr. D. commanded.

The burly blond guy grabbed me. He pinned my arms behind my back with one
hand and gripped me around the neck with the other.

“Let go of me!” I shrieked. “That hurts!”

“Quiet—or I’ll really hurt you!” the blond guy threatened.

The beaky guy grabbed Sheena. She squirmed and tried to kick him. But he was
too strong for her.

“Let them go!” Dr. D. cried.

Mel tightened his grip on me.

“I’m so sorry, Dr. Deep,” Dr. Ritter said. “I hate to harm a fellow
scientist. But you shouldn’t have snooped around here. I hate snoops.”

He sighed. “What a shame you wandered into my plankton beds. What a shame you
poked your nose into my experiments.”

“What experiments?” Dr. D. asked.

Dr. Ritter laid a strong hand on Dr. D.’s shoulder. “I’m working on such a
brilliant project. It could change the world. It could solve all our problems!”

“What is it?”

“Ha-ha. You
are
a curious fellow!” Dr. Ritter laughed. “Well, I may as
well tell you. I’ve been injecting a growth hormone into the plankton beds in
these waters. The fish who feed on the plankton grow to be very large. You’ve
seen the results yourself.”

Dr. D. nodded. “But how does that solve any problems?”

“In my heart, I’m a good man,” Dr. Ritter said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.
I want to help
everyone
! I plan to raise huge fish to feed the world. No
one will ever have to go hungry!”

“Let go of me!” Sheena screamed. Adam still held her tightly.

“This one is noisy,” Adam complained.

“Let her go,” Dr. Ritter said. “For now.”

Adam dropped his arms. But he stayed right behind Sheena.

“Your experiments sound interesting, Dr. Ritter,” my uncle said. “I’d like to
hear more. Are they working?”

Dr. Ritter smiled. I could tell he liked to talk about his work. “Well, there
are a few kinks at the moment. But nothing I can’t fix.”

“What are you going to do with us?” Sheena broke in.

Dr. Ritter frowned at her. “I’m afraid you know too much.”

“But I am a scientist,” Dr. D. declared. “I would never tell anyone about your work. You have my word on that.”

“Your word isn’t enough,” Dr. Ritter growled. His temper flared. His face
reddened. “I can’t let anyone steal my idea.”

“I would
never
steal!” my uncle insisted.

“I’ll make sure of that,” the other scientist replied coldly. He turned to
his two assistants. “Take them.”

Before Sheena or I could move, Mel and Adam grabbed us and forced us into
their motorboat.

I broke away for a second. And scrambled for the ladder, trying to get back
to the
Cassandra.

But before I could reach it, they grabbed Dr. D. and forced him aboard their
boat too.

Mel cut the line with one flick of a knife. Adam started the motor.

It all happened so fast. We didn’t have a chance.

Dr. Ritter jumped aboard and grabbed the wheel. He steered the boat out to
sea.

“Where are you taking us?” I cried. “What are you going to do?”

“Get down there!” Adam shoved Dr. D. down into the small cabin. Sheena and I
stumbled after him. Mel followed behind us.

“What are you going to do?” I repeated.

“You’ll see,” Adam growled.

We marched through a tiny galley. Mel and Adam forced us through a small door
into a stuffy cabin with a table and chairs. Mel tied Dr. D. to a chair.

“This really isn’t necessary,” my uncle said softly. I could see he was
trying to sound calm.

“Tell that to Dr. Ritter,” Mel muttered.

Adam tied up Sheena, then me.

“Not so tight!” I cried. I leaned over and bit Adam’s arm.

“Good one, Billy!” Sheena bounced in her chair.

“Hey!” Adam pulled back, rubbing his arm. “This kid bit me!”