Deep Trouble II (7 page)

I shut my eyes again, wishing it would go away.

I opened them. There it was.

No! It can’t be! It’s too horrible!

I shook Dr. D. “Wake up!” I cried. “Look where we are!”

Dr. D. opened his eyes. “Huh?” my uncle muttered. “Where are we?”

“The dolphin carried us back!” I wailed. “Back to Dr. Ritter’s boat!”

“Oh, no!” Sheena wailed. “Not again!”

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“Shhh!” Dr. D. whispered. “Stay calm. They don’t know we’re here. Maybe we
can get away somehow.”

“Get away?” I exclaimed. “To where?”

“I can’t stay on this raft another minute!” Sheena insisted. “I want to go
home!”

“That stupid dolphin!” I muttered. “I thought dolphins were supposed to be
smart! I can’t believe it pulled us to Dr. Ritter’s boat.”

The fog surrounded us like a thick gray curtain. It swept in and out, making
Dr. Ritter’s boat appear to shimmer.

The rubber raft drifted closer to the boat. I could almost touch the side of
the bow.

I thought I saw a word printed there. I did. The name of the boat.

I strained to read it. I could make out the first few letters.

C-A-S…

Huh?

“Dr. D.!” I cried. “It’s not Dr. Ritter’s boat. It’s
our
boat! It’s
the
Cassandra
!”

Dr. D. squinted. “Yes!” he cried. “You’re right, Billy!”

We were safe! Sheena and I jumped up and danced around.

“We’re home! We’re home! We’re home!” we sang.

The lifeboat bounced under our feet. “Whoa!” I cried. We nearly tipped it
over!

“Sit down, kids,” Dr. D. said. “We’re two feet from safety. We don’t want to
drown
now
.”

We paddled the rubber raft to our boat and dragged ourselves aboard.

I was so tired. But I couldn’t help doing another little dance on the deck of
the
Cassandra.

Sheena slapped me five. “Nothing can stop us!” she cried happily. “Not a
stormy night on the high seas! Not getting stranded on an empty island!
Nothing!”

Dr. D. laughed. “I can’t wait to take a shower and go to bed. But first—I’m
cooking us all a big breakfast.”

“Pancakes!” I suggested.

“Pancakes and waffles!” Sheena cried.

“Breakfast is going to have to wait,” a deep voice said. We all froze.

Dr. Ritter stepped out of the cabin. “You won’t be hungry much longer,” he
sneered.

“I can’t take this!” Sheena wailed. Tears formed in her eyes.

“Quiet!” Dr. Ritter snapped.

Dr. D. laid a hand on Sheena’s shoulder and shushed her. “Where are your
assistants?” he asked Dr. Ritter.

“That’s none of your business. I don’t need them now. I can take care of you
myself,” Dr. Ritter replied. “You’re all very tired and weak, aren’t you? Even
you, Dr. D. That’s what happens when you don’t eat for two days.”

I glanced at Dr. D. It was true. He looked exhausted.

“Go ahead,” Dr. Ritter went on. “Get back in the lifeboat. I dare you.”

My eyes fell on the rubber boat. Dr. Ritter knew what he was doing. I would
rather have eaten fish guts with horseradish than get back in that thing.

“What do you want now, Ritter?” Dr. D.’s voice was tired, but angry. “Why did you wait here for us?”

Dr. Ritter scowled. “I can’t let you live. I can’t let you tell the world
about my plankton.”

“We promised we wouldn’t tell!” Sheena cried. “Look—cross my heart and hope
to die.” She crossed her heart and held up her hand, Girl Scout-style.

Dr. Ritter laughed. “You’re very amusing. I’m so sorry it has to end this
way. Really, I am.”

The sun finally burned through the fog. I shivered. I wasn’t cold and wet
anymore. But Dr. Ritter was giving me chills.

“All of you—down to the lab,” Dr. Ritter ordered. “Go!”

He forced us downstairs. Into my uncle’s lab.

Dr. Ritter stood in front of the cabinet—the one that held the plankton
bottles.

“I believe these are the plankton samples you collected, Dr. Deep,” he said.
“Am I right?”

Dr. D. nodded.

“Good. You’ve gathered a lot of my work. You must have been very interested
in it.”

“Of course I was,” Dr. D. said. “I’m a scientist.”

“Yes,” Dr. Ritter hissed. “You’re a scientist. You want to learn more—am I
right?”

Dr. D. nodded slowly.

“Excellent. You asked me earlier about the side effects of my plankton
experiments, Dr. Deep. About the few kinks I haven’t worked out yet. I think now is the time to show
you what they are.”

Dr. Ritter opened the glass door of the cabinet. “When fish eat the plankton,
they grow huge.” He pointed to the bottles of plankton lined up on the shelves.

“You’ve already seen that, haven’t you? But what do you think happens when a
human
eats the plankton? Billy? Want to take a guess?” Dr. Ritter asked.

I took a stab at it. “Um—they grow into giant people?”

“Wrong!” Dr. Ritter cried. “Sheena? What do you think?”

Sheena shrugged. “I couldn’t care less.”

“You should care, Sheena,” Dr. Ritter said. “Because whatever happens, it’s
going to happen to
you
.”

He turned to my uncle. “Dr. Deep? Any guesses? Or have you already figured it
out in your research?”

“Just tell us what happens, Ritter,” Dr. D. snapped impatiently.

“All right. I’ll tell you. When a human eats the plankton, he turns into a
fish!”

“Excuse me?” I cried.

“Is this fairy-tale time?” my uncle groaned.

Dr. Ritter ignored us. “The human becomes a fish!” he repeated. “Almost
instantly! And that person will remain a fish—for the rest of his life.”

“That’s impossible!” Dr. D. protested. “You’re crazy, Ritter. Let us take you
to shore and get you some help.”

“I’ll show you who’s crazy,” Dr. Ritter declared. “I’ll prove it to you!”

He grabbed me by the back of the neck.

“Hey! Let go!” I shouted.

He didn’t say a word. He just shoved me up to the glass cabinet. He shoved my
face close to a row of bottles. Bottle after bottle filled with murky brown
plankton.

“Take a bottle, Billy,” he ordered. “Any bottle.”

He pushed me again, until my forehead nearly knocked a bottle over. Then he
let go.

“Go ahead,” he repeated. “Choose one.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why do you want me to take a bottle?”

“I’ll tell you why,” Dr. Ritter said. “Because you’re going to drink it,
Billy. All of it.”

I stared at the bottles.

“Take one, Billy,” Dr. Ritter insisted. “Or I’ll take one and pour it down
your throat.”

I had no choice.

I reached up and picked the last one from the middle shelf.

I stared at it. Disgusting brown and green glop.

Not exactly the breakfast I had in mind.

“Wait till you see this, Dr. Deep,” Dr. Ritter said. He stared at me. His
eyes gleaming.

“The growth hormone reacted strangely with the plankton,” Dr. Ritter
explained. “As soon as the boy drinks it, he’ll turn into a fish. It takes only
a minute or two.”

He grabbed the bottle from me. He opened it and handed it back.

“Drink.”

I lifted the bottle to my lips.

“No!” Sheena cried.

Dr. D. covered the lip of the bottle with one hand.

“Wait, Billy,” he said. “This is ridiculous, Dr. Ritter. Stop this silliness
immediately. And let us go.”

“I can’t do that. I already explained why,” Dr. Ritter answered.

“You need help, Dr. Ritter,” Dr. D. said. “You’re not thinking clearly.
You’re a brilliant man. You could be a great scientist.”

“I
am
a great scientist,” Dr. Ritter insisted. “I’m about to prove
that to you right now! Drink, Billy!”

Dr. D.’s hand still covered the bottle.

Thank you, Dr. D., I thought.

“You can’t be a great scientist if you hurt people,” Dr. D. insisted. “Let us
go. We’ll get you the help you need. Then you can change the world for the
better.”

“You’re an idiot, Dr. Deep,” Dr. Ritter sneered. “You’ll be the next one to
turn into a fish. Just as soon as I finish with the boy.”

He swatted Dr. D.’s hand away from the bottle. “Drink that plankton
now,
Billy,” he commanded. “Or I’ll throw you all overboard.”

I swished the brown liquid in the bottle.

I gulped.

It looked so gross.

But what was my choice? Drown or drink…

My hand trembled as I raised the bottle to my lips. And I drank it down.

I made a disgusted face. My whole body shook.

Then I stood there stiffly. Every muscle tensed. Waiting.

The others stared at me. They didn’t move, either.

Sheena’s chin trembled. “I don’t want you to turn into a fish, Billy! Why did
you drink it? Why didn’t you throw it on the floor?”

“He would just pick out another bottle for me,” I replied hoarsely. I could
still taste the liquid in my mouth. I felt it gurgling around in my stomach.

At least a minute passed. Then another minute.

“Okay,” Dr. Ritter said. “It should happen—
now
!”

He pointed at me. I stood there. I was still a boy.

“I don’t see any changes,” Dr. D. said.

“Give it another minute,” Dr. Ritter insisted. “I know it works. I tried it
on my assistant, Mel, last night. He’s swimming around out there playing tag with a blue marlin right
now!”

The room fell silent as we all waited for me to turn into a fish.

My stomach felt a little queasy. Otherwise, nothing.

I sighed and shifted my feet.

“It’s been more than five minutes, Ritter,” Dr. D. said. “Looks like your
plankton doesn’t work.”

Dr. Ritter scowled furiously. “No! That’s impossible! It works! I know it
works!”

He grabbed me and shook me. “Fish! Turn into a fish!”

I bumped him away. He toppled backwards.

Dr. D. pounced on him. “Gotcha!”

Dr. Ritter pushed him off. And grabbed a bottle of plankton.

He raised the bottle over his head.

“Look out, Dr. D.!” Sheena cried.

Dr. Ritter swung the bottle.

Dr. D. ducked.

I snatched the bottle from Dr. Ritter’s hand.

My uncle leaped at Dr. Ritter. Dr. Ritter dodged him and dashed out of the
lab.

“He’s going up on deck!” Sheena shouted.

We raced after him. Dr. D. tackled Dr. Ritter on the deck. Dr. Ritter rolled
away. He jumped on Dr. D.

They wrestled around. I set the bottle of plankton down.

“Get off him!” I yelled. I tried to pull Dr. Ritter off my uncle.

Dr. Ritter elbowed me away. Dr. D. grabbed him. They rolled across the deck.

“Dr. D.—look out!” I screamed. He was about to roll overboard.

With a grunt, Dr. D. jumped to his feet. He dove on Dr. Ritter and pinned him
to the deck.

“Get a rope, Billy! Quick!” he ordered.

I grabbed the first rope I found on the deck. “Tie him up!” Dr. D. ordered.
“Sheena—help me hold him down.”

Sheena took a running start and leaped on top of Dr. Ritter.

Dr. Ritter grunted. “My stomach!”

Sheena sat on top of him. Dr. D. pinned his arms down. I wrapped the rope
around his wrists.

Dr. D. had taught me some sailor’s knots the summer before. My mind raced,
trying to remember them.

How did it go? I thought in a panic. Over, under, around?

Dr. Ritter squirmed under Sheena. “Hurry, Billy!” she snapped.

“I’m trying!” I said.

“It’s over, Ritter,” Dr. D. said. “We’re taking you to the International Sea
Life Patrol.”

Over, under, over?

“No, you’re not!” Dr. Ritter cried. He bucked Sheena off.

She tumbled to the deck.

He wrenched his hands from the rope and shoved Dr. D. away.

My crummy knots were useless.

Dr. D. tried to grab him. But Dr. Ritter dove away and crawled across the
deck. He snatched up a bottle of plankton.

He stood and waved the bottle at us. “You’ll never turn me in!” he declared.

Then he pulled the bottle open, tilted it over his mouth, and drank it down.

“It works!” Dr. Ritter declared. “I’ll prove it to you!”

He tossed the bottle aside. The glass smashed on the deck.

“You can’t fool us, Dr. Ritter,” Sheena said. “We know that stuff doesn’t
work. We saw Billy drink it.”

But Dr. Ritter’s body began to tremble. Quickly, his skin began to darken to
a slivery, blue-gray.

“Something’s happening!” Dr. D. exclaimed.

Dr. Ritter’s skin began to flake. Then it turned scaly. It glittered in the
sunlight.

His body began to shrink. His clothes slid off the slick scales. His hair
fell away. His head flattened. His whole body shrank and flattened.

“It’s working!” I gasped. “He’s turning into a fish!”

Dr. Ritter’s arms shriveled into fins. His legs melted together, melted into
a fish tail.

He flopped on the deck. One flat eye stared glassily up at us as he flapped
his tail.

“He’s a fish!” Sheena cried. “I don’t believe it!”

With one great flip of his tail, the fish plopped over the side of the deck
and into the water.

We watched him as he dove under the surface.

“Stop him!” I shouted. “He’s getting away! We can’t let him escape!” I
started for my snorkeling flippers.

But Dr. D. squeezed my shoulder. “No, Billy. It’s okay. Let him go.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You heard what he told us, Billy. Dr. Ritter will be a fish forever,” Dr. D.
explained. “He can’t do anyone any harm now.”

I stared down at the silvery fish. It splashed its tail in the water and swam
out to sea.

“Wow,” Sheena gasped, pressing her hands against her cheeks.

Dr. D. put his arms around us. “I guess that adventure is over,” he sighed.
“I was never so scared in my life.”