The Adventures of Anna Atom. Elizabeth Wasserman
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episodes from anywhere else in the world, at any time. They could also find no natural explanation. They also double-checked all possible effects that the waves may have had on the earth’s ecosystems.
They worked until dusk had settled over the little island, and the time for the children’s supper was long past.
Chapter 3
MONPETIT ISLAND
Admiral Atom and his wife, Sabatina, had bought Monpetit Island just before Anna was born. It was one of the smallest of a group of beautiful tropical islands scattered almost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, just south of the equator. Their island was one of the many peaks of a mountain range that had disappeared under the sea millions of years ago. It was now covered with coconut palms and takamaka trees.
In the middle of the island, in the shade of some huge granite boulders, the admiral had built a house in the traditional Creole style. The roof was thickly thatched with dried palm leaves that shaded the interior from the harsh tropical sun. A broad veranda circled the house, and bamboo shades rolled down around its edges to keep out the tropical rain. Inside, huge fans whirled over all the rooms, stirring the air into a gentle breeze that always kept it cool.
A forest of breadfruit, mango and avocado trees surrounded the house. Wild vanilla and passion-fruit blossoms added their fragrance to the scent of the bark of an old cinnamon tree marking the footpath down to the sea. The beach was made of powdery white sand, and coral filled the shallow water around the island with life and colour. A myriad of fish and other creatures frolicked in the clear, warm water, and turtles came ashore at night to lay their eggs.
Next to a wooden jetty stood a small hut, and that was where the boat Ton used to take Anna to school and to run errands on the main island was moored. From the air or the deck of a passing ship, the little island may have looked like just another pretty picture on a travel agent’s website.
But this was no ordinary leisure island, because the beach hut also marked the entrance to Monpetit’s secret underground facilities, dug deep into its granite belly. Concealed inside the hut was the air-conditioning plant, and a trapdoor covered the stairs down to Professor Sabatina’s subterranean laboratory. In another part of the underground cavern, the family kept their more unusual vehicles, which were intended mainly for scientific purposes. The Jetcopter was seldom used, but when Anna was little, Sabatina had often taken her on scenic cruises in the Submarine Explorer, to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the island’s underwater world.
On an island like this, Anna’s life might have seemed perfect, except that these days Anna’s mom was always busy, and there wasn’t a lot of time for leisure. That, and the fact that an accident with an atom-displacement ray had confined her father to living in space. His molecules had become unstuck, and the earth’s gravity was too much for him: in his current form, he could only survive in zero gravity, at least until somebody figured out how to cure him. She missed her dad so much that it sometimes felt as if a dark shadow edged the bright tropical sun.
Anna’s little brother Pip wasn’t of much use to her either. Half-human, half-machine, he was the prototype of a new kind of biotron the US scientists were developing. He could run exceptionally fast and appeared to be inhumanly strong, amongst other things. But Anna understood little of all of that – she only knew that five-year-old biotron brothers are exceedingly annoying. Pip didn’t talk much, and when he did, he made no sense to her. He was clumsy and he broke her things.
So Anna played mostly by herself, with Mutt as her one constant companion.
Chapter 4
THE CREST OF THE HODOUL FAMILY
At breakfast the next day, everyone in the family was distracted except for Pip, who was trying to stick a fried banana to Mutt’s tail.
Sabatina was still worried about the strange waves she and Max had observed in the South Pacific, and Anna was secretly excited about the dagger she had found. The previous night she had cleaned it with a special solution for silverware that Ton kept in his pantry. The dagger’s blade was made of strong steel, and the hilt was decorated with an intricate pattern of tiny gemstones. She had it tucked into the waistband of her skirt, and kept on touching the cold steel as if to make sure that it was real, her head filled with fantasies of adventure, treasure and danger.
The dagger must have been stuck under that rock for many, many years, she thought. But how had it got there? Perhaps it had come from a shipwreck – the reefs around Monpetit could be dangerous in stormy weather. Or maybe a pirate had used the little island as a hiding place … A few hundred years ago there were lots of pirates operating in this part of the ocean, and there were rumours of lost treasure.
Anna decided to visit the archives on the main island after school to find some clues. She had decided not to tell her mother about her dagger, not just yet. If she did, it would be hard not to mention her encounter with the shark. Her mother had already appeared cranky that morning, and hearing that her daughter had almost became a shark’s dinner would certainly not lighten her mood.
Suddenly, the plasma screen above the dining-room table lit up with an image of her father’s bearded face.
“Good morning, my Earthly family,” his voice boomed over the speakers mounted underneath the screen. “And how are you all today?”
Sometimes his face would flicker and fade, and his voice would crack with static interference. But today, the connection between Monpetit and his Space Ark appeared to be good. From his geosynchronous orbit hundreds of kilometres above the earth, the admiral had strapped himself into his seat for the early-morning conversation with his family. He frowned at the image of his little son projected on his laptop screen – Pip was now trying to insert the sticky banana into Mutt’s ear.
“Abraham, I have to discuss something with you.” Sabatina shot an anxious glance at the two children, and her husband immediately understood that she didn’t want them to hear what it was.
“That’s fine, my dear, we’ll have time a bit later. First, kids, tell me what you are planning today. How’s life on your glorious island?”
Pip merely glanced at his father before continuing his experiments with Mutt and the banana. He had never actually met his father face to face, and these virtual visits didn’t mean much to him – Pip couldn’t throw a ball or play with a father who was so far away.
Over her fruit salad, Anna was smiling at the screen. Her heart beat a bit faster every time her dad’s face appeared. Today she was burning to show him the dagger, but she knew she couldn’t until she’d shared her secret with her mother.
Luckily, Max suddenly addressed Sabatina: “Professor, I thinks you must better comes down to the lab. There be some developments over the South Pacific that you needs sees.”
“Thank you, Max – I’ll be down immediately. Darling,” she addressed the plasma screen, “I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as possible. Please try to maintain your connection – I think something important is happening, and I need your advice.” With that, she got up from the table, wiped her mouth with a napkin, threw it on the table and rushed out the back door.
Ton, who was hovering close by, obligingly gathered the dirty napkin and took it to the kitchen.
It was the chance Anna had been hoping for.
“Dad!” she quickly said. “Look what I found yesterday!” She held up the dagger to the video camera mounted in the screen, and turned it around slowly for his inspection.
Admiral Abraham Atom whistled softly through his beard. “Wow, Pumpkin, it looks like you have a real pirate artefact there! Tell me, where exactly did you find that?”
“Just