The Curiosity Machine (15 page)

‘Quick!' Gerald said. ‘Shut off the motors. Turn everything off.'

Sam prodded at the controls and the motors died. The soft buzz of the electrics gave way to the sound of hard plastics knocking against the side of the submarine. All around them, rolling in the swell, was a slick of filth.

‘Felicity,' Ruby said. ‘You may finally be right.'

Felicity held her fingers across her mouth. ‘What do you mean?' she asked.

‘This truly is sick-making.' Ruby turned her head away, searching for something else to look at. ‘Why did we have to turn off the motors?' she asked Gerald.

‘So the propellers wouldn't get tangled in this fishing line,' Gerald said. ‘Then we'd be stuck here too.'

‘How did all this rubbish get here?' Felicity asked. ‘It's just awful.'

Gerald shrugged. ‘People throw stuff into gutters and rivers. It has to end up somewhere. I guess it washes up here.'

Sam climbed onto his seat and turned the locking wheel on a hatch above their heads.

‘What are you doing?' Ruby asked.

‘I still gotta pee.'

Ruby shook her head. ‘You may as well,' she said. ‘It's not like you can make this place any worse.'

The hatch popped open and a burst of rank salt air filled the cabin with the stench of rot and decay. Felicity grabbed her nose. ‘Oh, that is foul,' she said.

Sam clambered through the hatch and stared at the waterlogged wasteland outside. ‘You might want to close your eyes,' he called down through the opening.

Ruby stared the other way as Sam went about his business. A few metres off, a dead albatross lay tangled in fishing line on a raft of matted plastic bags, its feathers slicked with oil. The remains of rotting fish smeared against the outside of the submarine. ‘I could close my eyes for the rest of my life,' Ruby said, ‘and I'd
still be seeing this.'

Sam dropped back into his seat, looking relieved. ‘That's better,' he said. ‘Anyone else want to go?' Gerald climbed up to take Sam's place.

Ruby dropped her gaze, sickened by the devastation all around them. Her eyes fell on the body of a tiny dolphin, floating on its side just below the surface. A strand of green fishing line trailed from the corner of its upturned mouth.

‘Let's get as far from here as we can,' Ruby said.

Gerald finished up and closed the hatch above his head. ‘How far is it to this island?' he asked.

Sam tapped his way through the menus. ‘Another hour or so and we should be able to see land,' he said.

‘Good,' Felicity said, ‘just as long as we don't have to see all this rubbish.'

‘Just because we can't see it, Felicity, doesn't mean it isn't there,' Ruby said. ‘You can't just wish it away.'

‘Be quiet, please,' Felicity said. She folded her arms across her chest and stared through the glass. ‘I don't want to talk about it.'

Gerald tapped Sam on the shoulder. ‘Can we get out of here without snaring the propellers in this mess?' he asked.

Sam flipped a switch and the sub's flotation tanks filled with water. They dropped through the matted debris like a boulder. When they were well clear of the netting and fishing lines, Sam pressed the green button
to fire the engines, and the little sub surged forward on its trek toward the remote Pacific island.

Soon the glass bubble was once more surrounded by a wash of azure water, abundant in schools of fish darting across their path.

‘That's better,' Felicity said, looking into the blue beyond. ‘Nothing but pristine waters.'

‘Felicity—' Ruby began.

Felicity cut her off. ‘Ruby, it is my experience that one only sees unpleasantness if one goes looking for it. There are still plenty of beautiful things in nature—we should be content with that.'

‘You can't seriously—' Ruby tried again.

Felicity clamped her hands over her ears. ‘La-la-la-la…I can't hear you.'

Ruby gave up. Some people just didn't want to know.

The red line tracking the sub's path continued to shrink. Eventually Sam declared it would be worthwhile surfacing to see if they could sight land. The sub's nose tipped up and they broke the surface.

The sun was low in the sky. Almost an entire day had passed since they had escaped the
Archer
. There was quite a swell and the submarine was tossed about like a beach ball. As the vessel rose on a wave, Felicity cried out with excitement. ‘Oh, there! Can you see it? Was that land?' She pointed straight ahead, and when the sub rose to the peak of the swell again, Gerald saw it too: standing above the waves some kilometres in the
distance, was the unmistakable shape of a cliff-face rising out of the ocean.

Cries of congratulations and backslaps rained down on Sam's shoulders.

‘We're not there yet,' he said. ‘Save the celebrations until then.' Sam flooded the flotation tanks and once more the submarine sank below the surface.

‘Where are we anyway?' Gerald asked. ‘Is there a name for this island?'

Sam tapped at the satellite map and zoomed in. ‘Oh. My. Gosh!' he said.

‘What is it?' Ruby asked.

‘It says here…it can't be…would you believe that this is Culpepper Island?'

‘What?' Ruby said, her eyes growing wide. ‘No!'

‘Just as well,' Sam said. ‘Because it's not.'

Ruby pummelled punches into her brother's shoulder. Sam laughed as he tried to ward off the barrage. ‘The map says it's unnamed,' he said, ducking and weaving. ‘So I reckon that gives me naming rights.'

Ruby threw a final fist at Sam and then flopped back into her chair. ‘I suppose Halfwit Island does have a nice ring to it,' she said.

Ruby and Sam bickered happily for another quarter of an hour until Sam decided it was time to check on progress. The last strands of the day's sun painted the clouds on the western horizon orange and pink as the submarine broke the surface. There was just enough light
to show the cliff rising out of the ocean, like a granite giant stepping out of the bath. Even through the sub's glass enclosure they could hear the thunderous crashing of waves just in front of them: breakers rising, curling and dashing against a ring of rocks that jutted out from the cliff base.

‘It's a reef!' Gerald said. ‘We're being washed onto a reef.'

‘I'll get us clear,' Sam said. He pulled on the throttle just as the last of the charge drained from the batteries and the submarine's engines died.

Chapter 14

The submarine jostled in the rolling waves. Inside, it was as if panic had broken out inside a tumble dryer.

‘Do something!' Felicity cried. She fell heavily against Gerald's ribs. ‘Can't you dive, Sam?'

‘I can't!' Sam cried back. ‘There's no power.'

Gerald could feel the air inside the submarine getting thin. They would have to open the hatch.

A wave picked up the sub and gave its occupants a grandstand view of what lay before them: a ring of rocks spread out like jagged teeth at the base of the cliff. Breakers shattered across the reef, sending shards of spray skyward. Beyond the reef was a sheltered bay fringed with coconut palms.

‘We have to get across those rocks,' Gerald said.
‘There's no other choice.'

‘And how do we do that without being smashed into a jillion pieces?' Ruby said. ‘Swim for it?'

‘And risk a shark attack?' Sam said. ‘Not likely. We have to ride it out.'

‘What? Right onto the reef?' Felicity said.

In the end, they had no say in the matter.

The swell loomed up behind them, lifted the submarine and threw it at the reef. The flotation tanks took most of the initial impact, exploding with a percussive roar. The sub lurched forward and skidded across the rocks. The glass pod broke free from its housing and landed hard, cracking open like a giant egg, and sending Gerald, Ruby, Felicity and Sam tumbling out, only to be taken from behind by another wave breaking over the unforgiving reef.

Gerald's head hit something hard as he cartwheeled into the bay. A shower of sparks detonated in his brain. He was suddenly aware of an all-embracing darkness as he rolled and tumbled in the water. Salt stung his eyes as he fought his way to the surface. His head broke through to clear air and he sucked in a lungful. Against the darkened sky he could just make out the ruins of the mini-submarine on top of the rock shelf.

Gerald was almost at the beach when he heard his name being called. He stumbled out of the water to find that Ruby and Felicity, waterlogged and bedraggled, had beaten him ashore. He flopped onto the sand next to them.

‘Are you all right?' Ruby asked.

Gerald touched the back of his head, and felt the warm stickiness of blood. He winced, then batted away Ruby's inquisitive hand. ‘Ouch!' he said. ‘Why is everyone's first response to seeing a wound to stick their finger in it?' He rose to his knees. ‘Where's Sam?'

Ruby's expression hardened. She waded into the sea and yelled Sam's name into the night. She called again and again. Gerald and Felicity joined her. But the only response was the rhythmic crashing of waves on rocks.

‘Oh, Sam,' Ruby said. She nestled her face into Gerald's chest and closed her eyes.

Felicity draped her arm around Ruby's waist, and the three of them stood motionless in the bay.

It took Gerald a moment to realise that someone else had joined them.

‘What are we looking at?' Sam asked.

Ruby's eyes shot open and she pushed herself free from Gerald and Felicity, flinging herself at her brother. The force took them both into the water, splashing around in the shallows.

‘Steady on,' Sam said, trying to free himself from Ruby's embrace. ‘People will think we actually like each other.' He made it to the sand and pointed along the beach. ‘I got washed up over there,' he said. ‘Come and see what I found.'

Sam led the way to where a line of trees marked the edge of the beach and led to dense jungle beyond.
‘There's a sleeping platform up here and a ratty old tarp overhead to keep the dew off. It must have been used by some local fishermen,' Sam said. ‘We'll be dry, or at least only damp.'

Gerald climbed up onto the raised timber platform. He suddenly felt incredibly tired. He turned at the sound of material being torn to see Ruby ripping a strip of cloth from the bottom of her T-shirt.

‘This thing is too big for me anyway,' she said. ‘Come on. Let's see to that cut on your head.'

Gerald allowed himself to be bandaged, and only yelped once. Ruby admired her handiwork with satisfaction. ‘Done. Patient mended.'

Then the four of them huddled together, squirming around to get comfortable on the hard platform.

‘What do we do now?' Felicity asked. ‘We're stranded in the middle of nowhere with no water or food. We've got no way to communicate with anyone. No one knows where we are.'

‘Felicity, there's nothing we can do about any of that until the sun comes up,' Gerald said. ‘You can either worry about it and get no sleep, or get some sleep and worry about it later. I'm going for the sleep-now option.' He rolled to his side and closed his eyes. He felt the others settle around him.

‘Hey Gerald?'

‘Yes, Sam?'

‘Happy birthday.'

‘Thanks.'

The tarp above their heads flapped in the gentle breeze and soon the white noise of the surf pounding the reef lulled them into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Gerald woke to a gentle rocking on his shoulder. His eyelids flickered and immediately screwed shut again at the stark white light that stabbed at his brain.

‘Gerald,' a soft voice whispered. ‘Gerald, it's time.'

Gerald opened his eyes, and this time he saw a face smiling down at him, a white halo glowing around its circumference. He thought it the most beautiful face he had ever seen.

‘Is this…heaven?' he was embarrassed to hear himself ask.

A brash response came from off to his right. ‘Not unless they moved heaven to a desert island and forgot to put on any catering. Have I mentioned that I'm starving?'

Sam.

Gerald sat up slowly and discovered that it was Ruby who had shaken him awake. She sat beside him with a look of concern on her face. ‘How's your head?' she asked, reaching out to adjust the makeshift bandage.

Gerald pushed her hand away. ‘Sore enough without you prodding around in it,' he said.

Felicity dropped down beside them and lifted a
sodden bag onto the platform. ‘We've been exploring,' she said. ‘What's left of the sub has been washed into the bay. I swam out and managed to salvage your backpack, and Sam found the flares and some water bottles.'

‘And I found a freshwater spring running down from the tree line just a bit further up the beach,' Ruby said. She handed a bottle to Gerald and he took a sip. Not bad—just the slightest hint of salt. He drank deep.

‘So, we've got water and somewhere to sleep,' Sam said. ‘But no food—did I mention that I'm starving?'