Moonfin (7 page)

“Yeah, not even if you were dying would I—”

“Never mind …
punk
.”

“Are you okay? We thought we lost you!” cried Kai.

“That was epic—you fell over thirty feet!”

Jeff was very impressed Lizzy hadn't died or been maimed in the fall. She didn't even seem to have a scratch on her.

“The trench pulled you under, and it looked like the riptide carried you out half-a-mile,” said Kai, helping her to sit up. “It seemed like forever. We were about to call for help when we saw you wash up on the beach. You really freaked us out!”

They talked excitedly for several minutes, piecing together the events of the fall. Kai checked Lizzy over to make sure she was okay and hadn't broken any bones.

Jeff looked at Lizzy strangely.

“What, do I have seaweed hanging from my nose?” She lifted a hand to her face and felt around.

“One moment you were there, and the next, gone—like,
vanished
!” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“It was almost like the wave reached up and grabbed you,” said Kai. “I never saw anything like it.”

“I guess it did,” she said slowly.

Lizzy realized Xili must have grabbed her from the cliff somehow. She looked at her two best friends and decided she couldn't keep all these things that were happening to her a secret any longer—especially since it was going to take more than one person to break Iddo out of the aquarium like Xilinx said.

“I have something to tell you both …”

It was now or never. Either they'd laugh or call her crazy or both. Here goes.

She took a deep breath and told them everything about the aquarium: the field trip, Iddo the octopus, how he could talk to other fish, how she saw a vision of a sea monster, how she could breathe with a conch shell, Dr. Krell's experiments and nefarious plans to change Iddo, and now the water-lady, Xilinx.

Awkward silence.

“And we have to set Iddo free,” she gushed.

More awkward silence, in which Lizzy's eyes grew wider and theirs grew narrower.

“Um—Lizzy, did you hit your head on a rock while you were swept out to sea?” asked Kai.

Crud
. It's the “she's crazy” verdict.

“Honestly—I'm telling you the truth, and I think I can prove it. All we need to do is find the room beneath the lab Xilinx told me about. She said that we would be able to see what Dr. Krell was doing to the fish in our bay … she called them ‘poor creatures.'”

“Xilinx?”

“Yeah, her friends call her Xili.” She could barely believe the words coming out of her own mouth.

“Err—maybe the lack of oxygen caused some hallucinations … can you stand up? We should probably get you dried off before you catch a cold,” said Kai, speaking like a mother to a sick child.

“Yeah, and take you to the emergency room,” added Jeff.

“No—I'm fine!” objected Lizzy.

“All right, well, it's starting to get dark. Let's head over to the lodge and see about those milkshakes,” urged Jeff, helping Lizzy stand to her feet. “We can grab a towel from the kitchen, at least.”

They trekked up the trail toward the Tiki Lodge. Jeff and Kai kept hold of Lizzy along the way in case she fainted, letting her babble on about what she saw.

“And what does she look like, this Xilinx?” asked Jeff skeptically.

“Mostly … well, I didn't exactly
see
her, and she didn't have time to explain what she was. I saw bubbles and light particle reflections floating around me, and I could hear her voice clearly. It was neat to be able to breathe underwater using the conch shell,” she said in a fast, airy voice.

Kai and Jeff looked at her like she'd lost her marbles.

“I know this sounds insane, but how do you explain me being underwater for so long?”

“You were under for a really long time,” admitted Kai. “And you did talk about that Iddo dude after the field trip to the aquarium, when you were acting weird and all.”

They made it to the Lodge and crawled into a booth. The waitress recognized Jeff—being the owner's grandson got him free food all around town. She brought everyone a round of milkshakes, onion rings, and a dry towel for Lizzy. For the rest of the evening they schemed how they could free Iddo and find the secret room. Kai and Jeff went along with the whole plan, waiting for Lizzy to come back from Crazyland and talk like herself again. She had always been a bit of an oddball, but this was pretty weird, even for her.

“I dunno, Liz, Dr. Krell is famous around here and super respected,” said Kai. “No one's ever going to believe he's doing anything to hurt the sea animals—he's the aquarium director. Maybe you saw a mirage.”

“A
mirage
is something you see in the desert, not in water. Besides, if Dr. Krell is truly hurting the fish, someone should do something about it, and it wouldn't hurt to check it out.”

“It just all sounds so far-fetched.”

“I guess we'll find out soon enough,” said Jeff, piling ketchup-drenched onion rings on each of his fingers and eating them one by one. “We start our jobs at Discovery Bay this week, and if he's hiding anything, we'll have plenty of time to check it out—like, the
whole summer
.”

Chapter 6
DISCOVERY BAY

D
iscovery Bay Aquarium was among the first to welcome the morning sun to her palace in the sky. Lizzy jumped atop the bike rack and watched the shadows peel away from the town below. She could see pets walking their owners along the early morning shores. Down on the wharf shopkeepers opened doors and rolled out carts, ready for a long day of tourist haggling.

“I love the beginning of summer,” she said, breathing in the crisp morning air. “Going to Monarch Middle is torture with that vast ocean calling to us from the picture windows.”

Kai nodded in agreement. “Now that school is out, we'll have more time to explore the tide pools, pick olallieberries, and—”

“Let me guess … surf?” Lizzy knew Kai's one-track mind.

“I was going to say run barefoot in the sand, but I like your idea better.”

Jeff pulled up on his mountain bike wearing a bright blue helmet, nearly running them over; his lanky frame hunched over the sleek bike, which he had souped-up to hot rod status last summer. During the school term, his arms and legs had grown exponentially, and now his fancy bike suited him better, even looked
cool
to Lizzy and Kai. He jumped off and locked his front wheel to the rack, flashing a proud grin.

“What do you think? I designed it myself.”

“The bike?” asked Kai, looking down at the silver frame enviously.

“No, the helmet. It has these snazzy built in goggles with infrared night vision and GPS. Way sleeker than the last helmet I owned.”

“Sleeker than the one with the built-in heating pads that nearly fried your head last winter?”

“Risk is a part of life, Kane—the First Law of Business Success.”

“Clever. So you're saying scrambled brains make good business?” She smiled slyly.

“Yeah, if it sells. Anything goes for the making of profit—that's law number two.”

Lizzy continued to be mesmerized by the view and spotted a school of whales headed northerly out to sea. “The aquarium is built so high up, you can see the whole ocean from here,” she mused.

“Oh, look there!” said Kai, suddenly excited. “When we surf the reef, sometimes we beach up under the cliffs by the lab.” She leaned over the rail and pointed to a cove under Deadman's Reef, where loads of sharp rocks cascaded into the rough seas.

Lizzy gasped disapprovingly, her pleasant thoughts ruined.

“Duuude—you're crazy,” said Jeff.

“You know that beach is off limits to swimmers
and
surfers!” chided Lizzy.

“What can I say? I'm in training.”

“Training for what—fifty stitches and a broken leg in the deal?”

A wild look crossed Kai's cyan eyes. “Lay off, already. The Pipeline isn't for babies, and I'm going to win it someday.”

Jeff gawked.

“Pipeline? As in Hawaii Pipeline Grand Masters Tournament?”

“Yep—all or nothing.”

Lizzy let out a tense sigh. She never could understand why Kai took so many risks with her surfing. She was really good—better than all the kids at school—and every day she was out on her yellow surfboard, gliding the crests in a sea of surfers. She commanded their respect, but she had also escaped the claws of death many times over.

“What do you think we'll be doing all summer?” said Jeff, changing the subject before a girlie squabble broke out: he was more concerned about having to do messy, hard work at the moment.

“I hear the grunt jobs mostly—like cleaning tanks and feeding the animals,” said Lizzy.

“That's what I thought … can't believe I let you talk me into this. I'm missing an African safari with my parents right now to clean fish sludge. But hey! I can't wait to meet this Iddo fish.” He was testing to see if she'd forgotten all her babbling the other day about Xili and Krell and dastardly deeds and such.

“
H
e's a
cephalopod
, not a fish,” Lizzy corrected at once.

Jeff exhaled.
Nope—still in Crazyland.

They made sure their bikes were secure in the racks and took the sidewalk up to the volunteer's entrance.

“I know it sounds insane, but he did talk to me, and thanks for believing me and not—”

“Turning you into the loony bin?” Kai chortled.

“All right, bonkers or not, we'll need a devious plan,” said Lizzy. She would just have to prove she was right all along, even if she wondered herself if what she saw was real.

“Let's get through our first day of work. We don't want to get kicked off the job for snooping the very first day,” said Jeff.

“Be cool. I can do that,” said Lizzy. She tripped on some steps and lunged into a fumbling blur.

“Yeah, smooth just like that,” Jeff laughed.

 

They found their group in one of the back hallways about to begin the tour. Barry Barklystone, a gangly man wearing a lumberjack shirt and faux leather moccasins, stood tall and fidgety at the front. His face awash in beard frizzles, he looked more like Father Time than anything else. The beard began to move and sounds issued forth, and the room fell silent to hear its wisdom …

“Yes, yes, glad you could join us,” he said as they straggled in.

Lizzy sized up the crowd to see who she'd be working with all summer. Usually the kids flunking middle school were assigned summer duty at the aquarium. Then there were the science geeks who
volunteered
to work there. She was that sort. There wasn't a familiar face in the crowd, but Jeff was surprised to see someone he knew.

“Oh no, the circus has come to town,” he groaned. A few yards away, a tall freckly-faced boy waved to him. He wore an oversized, black leather jacket, maroon pants, and sported a tawny mohawk hairstyle.

“What do you mean?” whispered Kai.

Jeff was about to explain, but all he could say was “cousin” before Mr. Barklystone began his spiel on Rules for Volunteers:

“Our job is simple: We are to
save the earth!
” He punctuated his words with a gung-ho swoop of the fist. “You can do this one tank at a time. Let's recycle, recycle, and recycle some more! All food scraps are to be composted in the aquarium garden. There are multiple bins for plastic, paper, and aluminum located all over the facility. Make sure you use them, or
else,
” he said with a threatening glare and pointing finger.

The group shifted uncomfortably. Confused glances passed from docent to docent. No one wanted to look stupid on their first day of the job, or fail to save the earth if it were possible.

A shaky little boy raised his hand. “But Mr. Barklystone, what are we s'posed to do?” he squeaked.

“I believe I already said it, young man. You can clean up the air, eliminate space trash, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels if you follow one simple rule:
recycle
.” He crossed his arms and winked encouragingly at them all, beard waving in agreement.

More nervous shuffles and blank stares.

How does recycling the hamburger wrappers eliminate space trash? And where were the mops and brooms to do their jobs?

The boy whom Jeff recognized spoke up.

“Excuse me, sir, but how
do—you—know
that the earth needs saving? I mean, has it communicated with you in some way?” He spoke in long, slow syllables, heavily stressing the word “know.”

Everyone stared. Some laughed.

“Do you speak ‘Earth,' and is there a special contact number one could call to talk to the representative of the planet?”

“Argh—
Dweedle
,” mumbled Jeff, turning red.

“What do you mean, young man?” Mr. Barklystone puffed indignantly. “Everyone knows that the human race is overpopulating the earth and taxing its resources. It's our job to protect the living, blue marble under our feet. We should not abuse it with synthetic garbage,” he said sharply.