Oceania: The Underwater City by Eliza Taye (novels for teenagers .TXT) 📕

Kicking my legs along with the propulsion device, I checked the tiny glowing map in the lower left-hand corner of my screen to stay on track. A green light blinked, indicating my location in relation to the blue dot that was the destined beach of my choice.

Once again paying attention to the world outside my helmet, a pod of dolphins comprised of about ten to twelve members materialized through the murky blue water in front of me. One broke off from the group and made a beeline for me.

 Shocked, I continued swimming, remembering that the suit had the ability to blend me into my surroundings. I knew dolphins were intelligent, but there was no way they could sense what wasn’t there. The echolocation blocker on the suit surely would work as well.

Playfully circling me and sending out whistles and clicks, I realized the dolphin looked a lot like Jagger. Tentatively, I put my hand out and gently pressed it against his rostrum. Rolling partly on his side, the dolphin swam halfway past me, nudging me with his dorsal fin. Repeating the motion twice, I finally got the message and grabbed onto the leading edge of his fin.

Immediately, he took off, cutting through the water like a knife cutting soft butter. The elation I felt at being tugged along by Jagger was amazing. He weaved up and down in the water, pulling me this way and that. I could feel the strength of his muscles contracting to propel us through the water. I was having so much fun I hardly cared if he deviated me from my course.

Eventually, Jagger slowed down and I let go. I gave him a wave as he slapped his fluke down, giving him the propulsion to go forward and rejoin his pod.

I continued on, realizing somehow Jagger had taken me in the right direction and the coast was nearing. The continental shelf lay far behind me and the shore was ever closer. California sea lions swam around me with both curiosity and apprehension, as I continued to make my way back to the beach.

Eventually, after hours of fear, uncertainty, joy, and elation, I made it to the surface and onto the restricted beach. As I gazed up into the sky, I realized dusk had come and I would have a very short time to get back to Gran’s house before I was in big trouble.

Climbing onto the rocks elevated above the high tide line, I found a crevice between two large rocks leaning against one another. Squatting down, I pushed both the SCUBAPS and the Jet Propulsion 500 into the hole.

Standing up, I realized the camouflage device indeed appeared to have failed, which was probably why Jagger sensed me. Tapping the side of the helmet, I thought about how I would confront Dr. Wilcox about that the next time I saw him.

Chapter 13

“Hi, Gran!” I shouted, throwing open the door to the house and closing it back. I haphazardly tossed my pack into the corner of the hallway, directly underneath the window and started walking towards the kitchen.

“Alexandria, good, I’m glad you’re home.” I heard her answer from the kitchen. “I wanted to ask you something as soon as you got here.”

Leaving the foyer behind me, I came across Gran sitting at the table playing holochess with a friend over the Network, the projection of the game board shimmering up from her omniphone. “What was it you wanted to ask me?”

“I know staying cooped up here in this small town for the summer isn’t exactly what a young, teenage girl like you wants to do. So, I thought that maybe this weekend we could go to San Francisco.” Gran paused the game and looked up, wrinkles streaking her face as the corners of her lips stretched into a smile, “How would you like that?”

My eyes must have twinkled like the stars as I dropped my jaw when I realized what Gran was saying. San Francisco! The place where it all was happening. The place where there were endless things to do. The place that was one of the most technologically advanced cities in the whole world.

Sprinting the four strides over to Gran, I hugged her and exclaimed, “YES! I would love that very much!” Ever since I was a young girl, I’d always envisioned myself visiting the city. I’d quickly become obsessed with all things San Francisco, and now I’d finally get a chance to see it.

Gran chuckled, her overweight belly jiggling against my chest as I hugged her across the waist. “I thought you would. And if you want to, you can invite that friend of yours that you’ve been hanging out with. I would love to meet them.”

“Okay!” Flew out before I thought about what I was saying.

Oh, asteroids, how could I ever find a different way to explain to Gran that my friend’s parents would never give permission for him to go to San Francisco because they thought it no longer existed? Or that I had no idea if I’d get to see him again based on the amount of trouble he was in? Or the fact I couldn’t simply holocall him anytime to ask if he wanted to come to San Fran with me?

“But of course, you know I’ll have to meet this person’s parents before I decide to take them anywhere.”

And there it was.

I just knew Gran was going to say something like that.

“Oh, this weekend?” I stepped away from embracing Gran and tapped my finger on my lower lip in thought. “Um, I think he said something about his parents having to go to Los Angeles for business. I don’t think you’ll be able to meet them this weekend.” I was getting deeper and deeper into my lies and I had no idea when they were going to stop. Every time another one sputtered out