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

Three to four feet wide jaws gaped open at me with teeth surely as sharp as syringes. The gums of the upper jaw thrust out as its teeth moved forward to close the gap between it and me. The jet propulsion sputtered for a second, giving me enough momentum to slide to the side. In the split second it took for the jet propulsion to kick into gear, I reached out and grabbed hold of the shark’s gills, letting the jet propulsion device give me enough momentum to tug on them with enough force to let the shark know I was not something to mess with. Instantly, the shark spun around and quickly swam off.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out with a sigh of utter relief, I pushed the Jet Propulsion 500 to high speed and continued on my course. Not too long afterward, I noticed an object that I was sure was the submarine, and as if to quell any lingering doubts, the A.I. piped up. “We are here, Allie.”

“Thank you,” I replied gratefully, turning off the jet propulsion, and swimming towards the bottom hatch of the submarine.

The hatch jutted out only slightly from the main body of the sub. In the few moments it would take to get to there, I took in what was in front of me. Gray like many of the other submersibles Oceania had, this one was the shape of a blimp. The front was bulbous and rounded, while the back tapered more towards a point with a rudder and twin propellers. Unlike the largest vessel Oceania had, this one had fewer viewports; only one expansive one wrapped around the front along with a few portholes on the sides.

Once I reached the bottom hatch, not knowing what else to do, I rapped three times as hard as I could manage with the fluidity of the water.

Before long, the door opened and I felt a two-fold pressure emit. One around me thrust the water down and the other in the center pulled me upwards. I came up into a very small chamber, which quickly emptied with water. As soon as the water was gone, another door above me opened and I stared up into the somewhat happy, somewhat worried faces of Dr. Wilcox and Dylan.

“Welcome to the Marine Ocean Voyager, Miss Allie,” said Dr. Wilcox with a nod and slight smile.

Chapter 16

“Thanks,” I awkwardly responded as they grabbed my arms and hoisted me up into the main area of the sub. The hatch promptly closed beneath me as soon as my feet were clear.

Gazing around, I examined the vessel I now stood in. The curved, smooth, silver walls of the interior spread a bland theme of gray that made me feel like I had entered a space ship. Two chairs anchored to the floor were to the right of me, directly in front of what looked like a large console. Slightly to my right, several feet behind the console stood a table with two chairs attached. On my left was an area fit with scuba tanks and gear next to a door I assumed led to the rest of the ship.

I commanded the A.I. to unbind the helmet of the suit and power down, which it did almost instantly. Waiting for the skin to peel back from the helmet, I watched the interior of the helmet go dark. Once I felt the suit finish retracting, I tugged off the helmet.

Dylan turned toward me with apologetic eyes, “I’m sorry I had to leave like I did, Allie. The Master Coders were on to me and I didn’t want to make them suspicious in the event that they might start asking questions about you.”

I stared at Dylan with confidence blazing in my eyes. “Do they know about me? About my visits to Oceania?”

“No, they don’t. At least, I don’t think so based on the kinds of questions they were asking me.”

“Then why would the Master Coders be on to you at all? And who are the Master Coders anyway?” I followed Dylan and Dr. Wilcox over to the table in the middle of the room. Dr. Wilcox and I sat while Dylan stayed standing.

Dr. Wilcox folded his arms across from me and answered in Dylan’s stead. “The Master Coders are like Oceania’s version of the FBI or NSA of the United States of America. They are the ones who monitor security for the city of Oceania. They also monitor when and where people are using their codes. You don’t do or go anywhere requiring the use of your code without the Master Coders knowing about it.”

Dylan further added, “The Master Coders wanted to see me because they noticed the spread of time from when I entered my code to leave the docking bay and when I returned. According to them, I had the seamobile out too short of a time for my observational research. They also noticed how I’d been making two trips instead of one since I’ve met you.”

“So, what did they do to you?”

“They interrogated me for a while, but didn’t suspect that I had been associating with a Land Dweller—that much is certain. Unfortunately, I’ve been waterlogged.”

“Waterlogged? What do you mean?” I furrowed my eyebrows at Dylan.

“It’s kind of like being grounded. Basically, it means that you aren’t allowed to leave Oceania on your own for any reason. It means I can’t come to the surface.” Beneath Dylan’s resoluteness, I could see sadness behind his eyes. My curiosity had dearly cost him; I could see it.

“It also means that you two must be a lot more careful. I was barely allowed to take Dylan here with me in the Marine Ocean Voyager. The Master Coders have flagged Dylan and he is now on their watch list. Any suspicious activity