Deep Waters (2 page)

He pressed a green button, and then a flashing yellow one. The amphibious submersible's engine responded with a series of very loud, very satisfying revs.

Then a dial labelled ‘speed control' caught Zac's eye. He turned it up as far as it would go. The amphibious sub-mersible shot forward!

A thrill raced through Zac's body.
This was way better than a school
excursion, staring into boring old fish tanks.

Fish tanks?

Suddenly, Zac remembered he was still inside the turtle tank at the aquarium.The amphibious submersible was racing at top speed towards a huge glass wall that stood between him and the West Sea.

Frantically, Zac looked around for the exit. There seemed no way out.
Was there
a button on the dashboard that would somehow
slide the glass aside?
Zac wondered.
It was
probably somewhere in the instruction manual.

But then, Zac hadn't read it!

Faster and faster Zac sped towards the glass wall. If he hit it, the glass would break into a million pieces. And Zac didn't like to think what would happen to the amphibious submersible!

Then Zac saw something. The glove box! He popped it open. Inside, he saw a remote control that looked exactly like his garage-door opener at home. He hit the big red button on the top.

The glass wall began to slide out of the way! Zac shot through the gap with only millimetres to spare. He was out in the open sea.

Zac pulled down the visor in front of him to check his hair. And there, taped right across the mirror was a small metal disc with a note attached.

Zac sighed. The fun was over. It was time for work again.

He pulled his SpyPad from his pocket. A SpyPad looks a bit like an electronic game but it is actually a mini-computer, satellite mobile phone and laser, all rolled into one. Every GIB spy has to have one.

Zac loaded the disc into his SpyPad.

CLASSIFIED

FOR THE EYES OF ZAC POWER ONLY

MISSION RECEIVED
TUESDAY 9.45AM

Top-secret sources tell us a new type
of submarine has been invented.

An ordinary submarine can
dive 1500 feet below sea level.

Rumour has it this new sub can
dive 4000 feet below sea level.

The new submarine is due to be tested
somewhere in the West Sea
in the next 24 hours.

YOUR MISSION

• Locate secret submarine.

• Discover who is behind it
and what they plan to do with it.

END

He'd got out of school, was piloting the coolest amphibious submersible ever and all he had to do was find some submarine? So far this mission was working out well!

CHAPTER THREE

One thing was for sure,
thought Zac.
The
secret submarine would need to be tested in
water at least 4000 feet deep
. And that could only be a long way away from shore.

Zac was going to have to set a course right out to the middle of the ocean. And if that meant he could squeeze in a little joy ride on the way…well, that was
almost
part of the job.

Flicking the autopilot switch, Zac stuck his feet up on the dashboard. He plugged in his iPod and speakers and turned the music up really loud. His satellite GPS navigation software could handle the directions. It was made by Marine Tech. Zac knew this small company somehow always came out with the coolest sea technology just before the bigger companies did.

Zac typed in the coordinates for the middle of the sea, where the water was deepest. At least, he
thought
he did.

He must have hit the wrong button, because the next second the amphibious submersible was upside down and spinning round and round in circles.

The foghorn was blaring, the cabin lights were flashing on and off and the fire sprinklers activated.

Just then, Zac heard his SpyPad beeping.

He picked it up.

It was Leon calling! This was going to be embarrassing.

‘Zac here,' he said, trying to sound like he had things totally under control.

‘What's all that noise, Zac?' asked Leon anxiously. ‘Are you OK?'

‘I'm fine,' Zac snapped, holding a bucket under the fire sprinkler and trying to muffle the foghorn with a towel.

‘
Sure
you understand how to operate the submersible?' asked Leon.

‘Of course!' said Zac, breezily. The submersible spun round and round. He was going to be sick any second.

‘OK,' said Leon doubtfully.‘Listen, I've got new information about the mission from our mole at Marine Tech!'

‘Uh huh,' said Zac.

‘It looks like the they're behind the
Sea Devil
.'

‘The
Sea Devil
?' asked Zac.

‘The secret deep-sea submarine!' said Leon, sounding impatient. ‘Marine Tech is going to use it to get to GIB's Safe Talker, hidden on the floor of the West Sea!'

Leon went on. ‘We thought the Safe Talker was secure because it's 4000 feet down. But now that Marine Tech has invented the
Sea Devil
, they can easily bug it. I'm working on deactivating the Safe Talker now, but it's going to take at least 24 hours.'

Leon finally paused for air. Zac tried to make sense of what he'd said.

‘Leon,' Zac said finally. ‘What's a Safe Talker?'

‘Only GIB's most important piece of technology ever!' Leon yelled. ‘Safe Talkers transmit all our secret communications. They're in code, of course. But if anyone got their hands on a Safe Talker, they could switch off the encryption filter. All our communications would be in ordinary English.'

‘So they'd understand every word,' said Zac.

‘Yup,' said Leon. ‘And our secrets are pretty high-tech stuff. The enemy could use them to build aircraft, subs, satellites …whatever! Then they could sell them for heaps of money.'

‘I've always thought it's strange that a small company like Marine Tech invents the coolest stuff first, every single time,' said Zac slowly.

‘This must be how! They steal other people's secrets,' said Leon.

Zac's mind chewed over the mission. ‘If Marine Tech's after our Safe Talker, won't their sub testing station be somewhere close to it?'

‘I'm sure you're right, Zac,' said Leon. ‘Good spying. The Safe Talker's located at 89 degrees west south-west.'

Zac programmed it into his GPS. Automatically, the computer calculated the distance Zac would have to travel to reach the Safe Talker.

‘It's ages away. It will take me hours just to get there – let alone stop the
Sea
Devil
from diving 4000 feet down to the Safe Talker,' said Zac.