Oceania: The Underwater City Eliza Taye (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

quite as skin-tight as before. Then I remembered that it bulged loosely to allow one to put it on easily then snapped skin-tight once it reached the neckline. Placing the suit on one of the nearby rocks, I reached in to get the propulsion device. I’d wedged it in pretty well and had to tug hard to make it come loose.

Glancing around one more time to make sure the place was deserted, I began to suit up. Not wishing to leave anything behind that would arouse suspicion; I put the suit on top of all my clothing. Unfortunately, my sneakers wouldn’t fit, so I left them hidden underneath a rock with my socks stuffed in them. Tugging the material up to my neck, I was thankful for the front zipper design, making it easier for me to close the suit.

The jet propulsion device was another story. I picked it up and tried very awkwardly to place it on my back. It was extremely difficult to attach myself. Just as I lifted it up, it slouched to the left side and I couldn’t sling it onto my back in the correct location. I tried again and it slouched to the right. Twisting and turning, I repeatedly attempted to get it on. Eventually, on the fifth try, I wedged the jet propulsion device into a gap between two close rocks, kneeling and scooting backward until they lined up with the straps. Stretching my arms back so far that they screamed in pain, I latched the jet pack down securely.

Dr. Wilcox would definitely be hearing about how difficult that was. Like a true beta tester, I was going to divulge every single issue with the design.

Having everything that I needed on my body, I plugged the GPS coordinates into the suit and made my way to the sea. Thanks to the suit, my body didn’t register any cold as the waves crashed into me while walking into the surf, but their strength did drive me backward. Fighting the waves, I continued past them into the only slightly calmer waters before diving into the blue of the ocean.

I tried not to focus on the protective camouflage feature of the suit being broken, as I noticed other fish and sea lions in the water along with me. I had yet to see a shark, but I hoped that as usual, they would be solitary and mind their own business. I swam along and waited for my view screen to come alive.

“Hello again, Allie.”

“Hello,” I responded to the A.I. “How long will this trip take?”

“If you dive down another five meters, you will be able to turn on your jet propulsion device and we can be there within the hour.”

“A.I., what time is it now?”

“It is 10:25. ETA is 10:56 a.m.”

I nodded, even though I knew the A.I. wouldn’t be able to register it and dove as instructed to five meters. When I turned on the jet propulsion device, I felt a jerk when it kicked into gear and began speeding me towards my destination. Feeling the resistance of the water increase with my velocity, I peered at the bottom left of my screen to see that my speed was nearly twenty miles an hour.

The water whooshed around me as I sped through the somewhat viscous liquid. Although I was moving fast, I could identify some of the animals I had seen before when swimming off the coast. A pod of common dolphins swam by without paying me any attention, picking off various fish I still had trouble identifying. I also thought I saw what looked like a leopard shark as I whizzed past, but I was moving too fast to be sure. Looking straight ahead, I watched more California sea lions than I’d ever seen in my life heading towards shore.

“Detour necessary,” spoke the A.I., and I felt my direction change.

“Why the detour?”

“The kelp forests. We want to keep you clear of them so you do not become entangled. We need to keep away from the shoreline and go into deeper water.”

“Okay, I understand.” I wasn’t going to argue. There was no way I wanted to die from being tangled up in seaweed.

For a while longer, I continued towards my destination. I began to feel like I was simply floating through a mass of liquid blue until a large object loomed in the distance. Relief flooded over me, I had finally reached the submarine. But then, why hadn’t the A.I. told me that I had arrived?

Within a few seconds, I had my answer.

A great white shark, larger than I’d ever seen before, became clear in front of me. It happened so fast that I couldn’t turn away and bumped into its side fairly hard. The impact rattled my brains and my upper body ached from the collision. The solid muscle beneath its iron gray skin made it feel like I’d collided with a brick wall.

The shark, too, seemed stunned for a second—but only a second. It turned around towards me and it didn’t seem happy. The middle of its body hunched as it turned its fins down. Arching even more, its scrunching form undulated directly at me.

Scrounging up everything I had inside, I tried to remember what I’d learned about how to deter sharks when I went snorkeling with my mother in the Isles of Florida three years ago. It came at me aggressively. Instinctively, I put my hand out and pushed it away on its snout. My body felt frozen in fear for a moment as the shark’s mouth opened in protest to me shooing it away. It turned to the right and began swimming away, but then spun around and came back. Fearing I had only angered it, I braced myself for an attack and got ready to give instructions to the A.I. When the shark was only about three feet from