03 Mini-Sub

Chapter 03 Mini-Sub “ You’ve really done it now, Annie! ” said Jack. “ Sorry, sorry. But look out the window! ” Annie said. “ Look! ” “ Forget it! We have to figure this out! ” Jack stared at the computer. He saw a row of pictures at the top of the screen. “ What did you do?” he asked.

“ I just pressed the ON button, ” said Annie. “ The screen lit up. And I pressed the starfish. ” “ That must be the command to go under the water, ” said Jack. “ Yeah. Then the map came on, ” said Annie. “ Okay, okay. The map shows the reef, ” said Jack. “ Look! There’s the mini-sub on the map! It’s moving away from the reef. ” “ It’s like a video game, ” said Annie. “ I bet I know what to do. ” Annie pressed a key with an arrow pointing right. The mini-sub on the screen moved right. The real mini-sub turned to the right, also. “ Great! ” said Jack with relief. “ You press the arrows to steer the mini-sub. So now we can go back. ”

“ Oh, no, not right away, ” said Annie. “ It’s so beautiful down here. ” “ We have to get back to the reef, ” said Jack. His eyes were still glued to the computer screen. “ What if the owners find it gone?” “ Look out the window, ” said Annie. “ Just for one teeny second. ” Jack sighed. He pushed his glasses into place and looked up. “ Oh, man, ” he said softly. Outside the glass was a strange world of bright moving color. It looked like another planet. The mini-sub was moving past red, yellow, and blue coral—past little coral mountains, valleys, and caves—past fishes of every color and size. “ Can’t we stay a little while? The answer to Morgan’s riddle must be here, ” said Annie.

Jack nodded slowly. She might be right, he thought. Besides, when would they ever get to visit a place like this again?