BooksBarbecue
Back Max Save as PDF
Chapters (83)
  1. Copyright Page
  2. Prologue
  3. Part One
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. Part Two
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. Epilogue
  82. A Preview of "Witch & Wizard"
  83. 1

Off to one side, the mountainous thing moved past us, heading toward the surface. I saw now that it had a beginning and an end and wasn’t quite Everest-sized but still totally qualified as ginormously freaking big.

“There!” Gazzy pointed above us, and punched the remote that opened the Minnesota’s bottom hatch. The next water swell carried us up into the belly of the sub, Angel still holding on tightly.

“Close the hatch!” I commanded. The hatch doors closed beneath us, and lights flashed as the hydraulic pumps began to force water out of the chamber. Another twenty seconds, and we popped the Triton’s hatch, breathing in the damp air. Gazzy and I quickly jumped out, and I grabbed Angel, who was sopping wet and shivering. Holding her tightly, I stroked her hair.

“What happened with the M-Geeks?” I asked.

“I just asked them to go away,” she said. “They said okay.”

“O-kaaaay,” I said. “And what was the swimming mountain?”

Big troubled eyes met mine. “I don’t know, Max. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before — not like a person or an alien or a mutant. But — it was thinking. It has thoughts. It’s intelligent. And it wanted to kill. It wanted to kill everything.”

Just then something hit the sub hard, knocking us off balance. More alarms blared, and we heard shouting. There was a gut-wrenching grinding, the sound of screeching metal, then the sub went silent, tilted on its side.

We were dead in the water.

58

BITTER IRONY crushed me: we’d escaped death so many times on land and in the air, only to be doomed to die in the ocean.

I’d read news reports about a hundred Russian sailors who had all died trapped in their sub in less than two hundred feet of water. We were in much worse shape. I didn’t know if the sea monster would be back, or if the M-Geeks had really gone away. I didn’t know if we were sinking slowly into the darker, colder depths of the ocean, never to rise again. With the power gone, we couldn’t even limp back to the base. And at this depth, the water pressure was so great that the hatches couldn’t be opened. There was no way out.

But a leader can’t dwell on stuff like that. A leader has to lead.

“Okay, guys,” I said, channeling confidence and authority. “First, let’s get —”

The chamber door opened, and Total peeped in, the flashing red emergency lights highlighting his fur every couple seconds

“Yo,” he said. “Sub’s in trouble. Climb out here — we’re doing an emergency surface.”

“An emergency surface?” Quickly we scrambled up the slanted floor to the open doorway. Fang was standing behind Total, followed by Nudge and Iggy. My flock was together, and they’d come to find us.