Free Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies by David Sinden Page A

pale and she was shaking. She took a deep breath then scrunched up her tiny fist. “I hate Baron Marackai!” she said.
    Ulf ran to the broken window and looked out. In the distance, he could see the Baron’s boat motoring out of the seawater lagoon. The boat was dragging something behind it in the water. “The sea monster! He’s got the sea monster!”
    Tiana flew out of the window and hovered high in the air. “And Orson!” she called. “He’s got Orson too!”
    Ulf could just make out the giant shape of Orson’s body on the deck of the boat. “Meet me in the yard, Tiana!”
    Ulf clambered over the boxes. “Look after this place, Druce,” he said, taking the key from his pocket and placing it on the table beside the gargoyle. “You’re in charge now.”
    Druce was stroking Professor Farraway’s bony hand. “I’m in charge, Professor. Drucey in charge.”
    Ulf ran from the room, down into the yard, and Tiana flew to meet him as he sped off on his ATV. She perched on the handlebars, clinging to the speedometer. “Hurry, Ulf!” she said.
    â€œOpen!” Ulf called. He raced through the gate and into the beast park. The needle on the speedometer pointed to fifty miles an hour. He skidded past Troll Crag and through the marsh, heading for the lagoon. He roared along the shore to the dock and slammed on his brakes.
    â€œDr. Fielding,” he called, looking around. Dr.Fielding’s glasses lay broken on the ground.
    â€œHe’s taken her too!” Tiana said.
    â€œWe’ve got to catch him,” Ulf replied. He jumped off his bike and ran to the RSPCB speedboat. A wrench was sticking from its dashboard and wires were hanging out. The controls had been smashed.
    Ulf looked out to sea. The Baron’s boat was disappearing over the horizon.
    â€œWe’ll never catch him now,” Tiana said.
    â€œYes, we will,” Ulf told her. “We can take the submersible.”
    He ran along the dock to the RSPCB’s orange underwater-reconnaissance vehicle. It was half-submerged in the water. He untied its mooring rope and stepped onto the metal hull, then lifted up the hatch to get in.
    Tiana hesitated. She’d never been underwater before. “How can we follow them under the water? We won’t be able to see them.”
    â€œWe can track the sea monster. Its beacon will show up on the submersible’s computer. Come on!”
    Ulf started climbing down a short ladder. Tiana flew in, and Ulf reached up and closed the hatch.
    He climbed into the submersible’s cockpit and looked out through the viewing sphere, a bubble-shaped window at the front.
    â€œAre you sure you know how to work this?” Tiana asked, flying past a row of red buttons. The inside of the submersible was dotted with switches and dials.
    Ulf flicked a switch. The controls lit up and the engine hummed. He checked the power levels and tapped the pressure gauge. Then he turned on the navigation system and a blue screen appeared in a panel on the wall. It was an electronic map. In the center of the screen was a white cross indicating the submersible’s position. To the west an orange dot was flashing. It was moving away from them. “That’s the sea monster’s beacon,” Ulf said.

    Tiana flew to the viewing sphere. “Full steam ahead!” she said. “FOLLOW THAT SEA MONSTER!”
    Ulf pushed the control stick forward and the submersible’s thrusters powered up.

Chapter 19
    AS THE SUBMERSIBLE PULLED AWAY FROM THE dock, Ulf turned a metal wheel, emptying the pressure tanks. The submersible began to dive. A depth gauge on the control panel showed its descent: one meter, two meters, three meters, four meters, five meters…
    Bubbles rose in front of the viewing sphere as the four thrusters propelled the submersible through the lagoon.
    Ulf could see sea beasts in underwater enclosures. They passed a