Fathom L. Standage (books for 8th graders .TXT) 📖

Calder got out without a word. Did he want me to go with him or stay in the car? I opened the door and stepped out. He unlocked the front door and went inside. Sam got out of my car along the sidewalk. With a shrug, she made her way to the door. I kept my arms folded and together we entered an empty foyer. Sam’s eyes roved over the white walls and dusty wood floors.

“You’re back already?” someone asked from the next room where Calder had gone.

“I am,” he replied.

“Then you have it?”

“Yes. Surprised?”

“No. Impressed.”

He huffed. “Don’t patronize me.”

“What? I’m serious.”

“I had help,” he said, sounding reluctant to admit it.

“From who?”

Calder appeared in the entryway. “Come in.”

Samantha lingered near the front door, looking nervous, while I stepped forward.

I entered a spacious family room equipped with folding chairs and lightweight desks. The desks held a mess of cords draped and taped in semi-organized chaos. The screens of three laptop computers glowed in the dim lighting along with other various pieces of equipment I couldn’t name. The only other furniture was a very ugly, worn out sofa of light brown plaid. The family room, dining room, and kitchen were otherwise empty and open.

In the room sat some people I recognized: the gigantic South African man and the emo Australian woman with the long black hair. Eamon O’Dell stood nearby. Expressions of confusion and astonishment passed over their faces as they set eyes on me.

“Why are you still here?” Eamon asked me. His tone wasn’t harsh—only sorrowful and concerned. I looked at the ground, wishing Sam stayed beside me instead of hanging back at the front door.

“She got the vessel,” said Calder.

The South African guy stood. I took a step back, intimidated by his bulk. “Will you show it to us?” he asked, his voice low but kind. I reached into my purse and held it out to him. He didn’t take it. He and the others only looked at it, then me, and back at the shell again.

“Natasha, would you please go prepare a place for our guests?” Eamon said.

“Of course.” Her gaze lingered on me as she passed by, walking to the carpeted staircase on the left-hand side of the family room and going up. I looked around, feeling awkward and anxious.

“Calder, we’ll need more supplies.”

Calder nodded once and walked out of the house.

“Now, would you care to sit down?” Eamon gestured to the sofa. I looked back at Samantha uncertainly. “Please, come in. Walter, would you mind getting some water?” Eamon spoke as though we were a couple of neighbors dropping by for tea and crumpets…or whatever Irish people ate when entertaining. Sam, wringing her hands, came into the room. We walked around the equipment and sat on the ugly couch. Eamon took a seat in one of the folding chairs. He rested his elbows on his knees. I offered him the clam, but he shook his head.

“No, you just hang on to it for now.” He sighed and frowned in deep thought before speaking again. “Why did you go after it?” His eyes bore into mine. “You had no obligation to.”

I looked down and took my time putting the clam back into my purse as I felt a creeping flush in my cheeks. “It was really stupid of me, I know.”

“Yes, it was. You could have been killed, or worse.”

I marveled for a moment at what could be worse than death but then decided I didn’t want to know.

“I’m sorry,” I said, for lack of a better reply. Why did this man care so much about whether I lived or died? Despite all he and his friends had done for me, he was still a complete stranger.

“The young ones are always reckless,” said Walter with a smile. He handed Sam and me bottles of water.

“Have you had training in reconnaissance or retrieval?” Eamon asked the odd question in the tone of a lecturing parent.

“No.” I said. Of course I hadn’t been trained in reconnaissance and retrieval. I was an average nobody, not a CIA agent. But the word rang a bell. Reconnaissance was listed on Delfina’s profile in the Project Fathom folder.

“Why did you come?” Eamon asked.

“Your Scottish friend brought me.”

“No, why are you here? In San Diego?”

“Oh…well, my aunt asked me to housesit for her while she’s in Europe for the summer. I’d like to major in marine biology, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to put together a scholarship project for college.” A scholarship project that I’d completely forgotten about the second I saw Linnaeus walking through the Oceana theme park with the clam in his hand. “I invited Samantha to come with me.”

Eamon’s brow furrowed. He stared at me for a long time as his face paled.

“Where, exactly, are you from?”

I exchanged a perplexed look with Samantha.

“Arizona,” I said. This phrase, so insignificant to me, appeared to be a complete revelation to Eamon. He stared at me in shock, his jaw slack.

“So you’re not…” His voice withered. He turned his head to look at Walter. All the affability in Walter’s face turned to widened eyes and a raised brow. He seemed to have dwindled a little in his loud Hawaiian shirt.

“But Calder said…” Walter murmured, his great black eyes like granite.

Eamon looked back at me. “You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?”

I slouched.

“Don’t be frightened,” Walter said. “It’s all right. Just tell us what happened.”

With my eyes on my shoes, I swallowed, licked my dry lips, and began at the beginning.

“It started with the tide pools.”

I told them about Linnaeus and one of his men catching me at the tide pools. I told them about seeing Calder and the Delfina woman on the beach. I told them about the crime scene, about Delfina giving me the clam, and about the kidnapping. Then about Oceana: seeing Linnaeus across the dolphin feeding pool, following him to his office, and finding the clam after hiding from him.

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