Page 26 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

“Hightower drones,” Oliver muttered. “That’s probably how they got in to search the wreck. Well, at least that makes it easier for us. We’ll send in our own drone to look

around. Lucy…” He glanced at her with a smile. “You want to do the honors?”

She gasped. “Can I?”

“Well, considering all the time you’ve been spending with Hayley, you probably know more about it than I do, so…yeah.” Oliver scooted to the side, indicating the control panel. “Go for it.”

“Hey, why does she get to press a button?” Roux asked as Lucy eagerly leaned forward. “I’m part of this team, too, right? When do I get to press a button?”

Lucy gave him a frosty look. “And do you know anything about maneuvering underwater drones and what you have to do to keep them buoyant while manipulating their cameras and front graspers at the same time?” she asked.

Roux blinked. “I don’t think any of that was actual English,” he stated.

Oliver shook his head. “That’s why she gets to press the buttons,” he told Roux.

Shinji felt another mechanized vibration through the floor of the sub, and a second later, something detached from its underside, swimming up in front of them. While theSeabeetlewas shaped like a large bug, this thing reminded Shinji more of a manta ray: sleek and streamlined with two large yellow “eyes” that emitted beams of light that cut through the water. A round lens at the front was the underwater camera, he guessed.

“Camera on,” Lucy muttered, flipping a switch, and the

screen in front of her flickered to life, showing the vast ocean floor and the hulking wreck from a much lower point of view. Shinji scooted behind Lucy, peering over her shoulder, as she grasped a pair of video-game-like console sticks, and the drone began to move through the water.

Now everyone crowded close, watching the screen as the drone glided effortlessly over the ocean floor toward the looming shipwreck. As it drew closer, Shinji began to feel…strange. As if something was watching them, being alert to their presence, and his presence in particular. His heart rate picked up, and goose bumps prickled his skin. If a long, squiddy tentacle suddenly reached out of one of those holes and grabbed the drone, he was probably going to scream.

The drone circled the ship, and they could see the holes much more clearly now. There were nearly a dozen of them poked into the hull, reminding Shinji of Swiss cheese.

“Plasma torches,” Oliver said. “Definitely Hightower. They couldn’t have just one drone, they had to send in a whole fleet.” He shook his head in disgust. “I guess I should be thankful that they used plasma torches and not explosives. Lucy, take us in.”

The drone swept through one of the holes, shining its spotlights around, and Shinji felt a chill run down his back. The images, even viewed on a small screen, were eerie. A flooded room greeted them, algae-covered pillars and

rotting pipes glimmering as the light crept across walls and floors. The interior was a mess. Rotting crates and barrels lay everywhere, and debris floated in the water, spookily suspended in time.

“This must be the hold,” Oliver said, gazing at the screen. “Anything of value would’ve been stored here, along with the supplies needed for the trip home.”

“Looks like it’s been tossed pretty good,” Roux said.

Lucy frowned at him.

“What?”

“It’s been gone through,” Roux explained. “Someone trashed it looking for stuff. Man, they really made a mess, didn’t they? Good luck finding anything in this.”

“We don’t have to find a lot,” Phoebe said, watching the screen intently as Lucy sent the drone deeper into the hold. “If we can discover just one thing that can tell us more about the Natia, it will be a victory.”

The feeling of being watched was getting stronger. Shinji felt more goose bumps rising along his arms as the drone glided farther into the room. Fish swarmed through the water, flashing through holes and weaving between rusty columns as the spotlight invaded their dark haven. Shinji’s heart pounded as the drone circled the room, poking at empty crates, shining its light into dark crevices. He knew he wasn’t in the wreck, that he was just watching the camera as it glided through the ship. But it still gave him the same

eerie, tense feeling as someone feels watching a horror movie or a scary video game. Like something was going to leap out of the shadows and jump-scare him.

As the drone rounded an algae-covered post, something large and torpedo-shaped flew toward them from the darkness, making Shinji jump. Thankfully, it was not a torpedo, and as it zipped by, he saw pointed fins and the unmistakable gray-and-white body of a shark.

Roux yelped and jerked back from the screen before he remembered he wasn’t in the same room with the predator. “Oh good,” he said, playing it off like it was no big deal. “Now Jaws has joined the party. We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Shinji tilted his head. “He looks a little smaller than the one in the movie. Wasn’t Jaws a great white?”

“I don’t care what you call it; it’s a fish with pointy teeth. Who cares what it is if it bites you?”

“Shortfin mako,” Oliver said, watching the shark swim gracefully through the water. “Generally not aggressive to humans. Though it’s strange to find one way out here.”

The shark circled back, coming very close to the front of the drone, so close Shinji saw the jagged teeth poking out of its bottom jaw. As he watched it glide past the screen, a chill ran up his back. The shark seemed to be looking directly at him.

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