10 Aloha!

Chapter 10 ALOHA! Andrew pressed a black button on the dashboard. "Remove net from giant squid," he said. Uncle Al used the wiggly tail of the See Horse to help. The Crab-Mobile's claws tugged the net all the way off and dragged it through its round door. "Its eyes are so amazing!" said Judy, looking into the black platter-sized disks. meep… "Biggest eyes of any animal!" said Thudd. "Maybe use eyes to find animals with living light. Then eat 'em!" The See Horse shined a spotlight on the tentacles that drooped around the squid's mouth.

There were ten of them. Two of them were much longer and thinner than the others. The eight shorter ones were as thick as fire hoses. Uncle Al shined the light on the eight shorter tentacles. "These are the squid's feeding tentacles," said Uncle Al. "The squid uses them to stuff food into its mouth." Uncle Al traced the two longest tentacles with the spotlight. "The squid uses these to hunt," he said. "I can see the suckers!" Andrew said. Each of the feeding tentacles had two rows of circle-shaped suckers. The suckers were the size of silver dollars. Around each sucker was a ring of small, sharp teeth! meep… "Squid hang on to prey with suckers," said Thudd. "Squid fight sperm whale with suckers, too." Inside the circle of tentacles was the giant squid's mouth—a beak as big as a man's hand.

Awk! "It's got a beak like me!" squawked Burpp. meep… "Squid beak strong, strong, strong!" said Thudd. "Bite through steel!" "Wait a minute," said Uncle Al. "This guy looks even bigger than a regular giant squid. I want to get a closer look at these hunting tentacles." The club-like shapes at the ends of the long tentacles had suckers with swiveling hooks. "Good golly, Miss Molly!" yelled Uncle Al. "This isn't a giant squid! An ordinary giant squid doesn't have hooks on its suckers. The animal that does is… the colossal squid!" Suddenly one of the squid's hunting tentacles began to twitch. "Jumping gerbils!" said Andrew. "The squid's alive!"

The other hunting tentacle snaked through the water. The tentacles around the squid's mouth began to wiggle. The colossal squid sprang to life! Its tentacles shot toward the Crab-Mobile and wrapped around it. meep… "Squid love to eat crab!" said Thudd. "Hey there, big squid fella!" said Soggy Bob. He was shaking. "Hold yer horses! Ah don't mean ya no harm!" Awk! "Got to save Soggy Bob!" said Burpp. "But how can we get near the squid?" asked Andrew. Uncle Al spoke up. "I'll try to communicate with it."

Uncle Al drove the See Horse between the squid and the Crab-Mobile. The See Horse flickered red, then purple, then pink. The colossal squid turned a deep red. It removed a tentacle from the Crab-Mobile and lashed out at the See Horse! The See Horse dashed away from the squid. Uncle Al shook his head. "I think the See Horse looks too different. The colossal squid may think it's an enemy—or something to eat." "You know," said Judy "the Water Bug with the Octo-Tool looks kind of like a squid. Maybe it can communicate with the colossal squid." "Too risky," said Uncle Al. "We've got to try," said Judy. Andrew pressed the black Octo-Tool button and spoke into the microphone. "Tell the colossal squid we're all friends," he said. "Tell it that we'll never bother it again." The Octo-Tool crept out bravely. It twirled its tentacles to get the squid's attention.

The Water Bug glowed bright blue, then purple, then red—the same red as the colossal squid. The squid let go of the Crab-Mobile—then it jetted toward the Water Bug. Its tentacles waved like the tails of angry cats. "Let's all get out of here now!" said Andrew. He pushed the Octo-Tool button. "Start escape jet!" he yelled. A fat black tube popped out from under the hood. "Follow me, guys!" said Uncle Al. "We're going back to Hawai'i!" The Water Bug, the Crab-Mobile, and the See Horse raced through the twinkling ocean. It seemed as vast as the sky! It was only when the sea began to turn from black to blue that Andrew and Judy realized how tired they were. As the underwater vehicles rose, the sun's rays made a sparkling ceiling above them. Andrew and