This document is part of the Ocean Girl Archive — Last update: 2011-10-23 — source — meta
| Kal: | Hi, nice see you. |
|---|---|
| Neri: | There are seven more pieces to find. |
| Brett: | We know that, Neri. |
| Neri: | Synchronium must be ready. Harm is coming to the oceans. |
| Jason: | Mum and Winston are keeping a watch on everything, but they can’t see any damage. |
| Neri: | Will come. The blasting still happens, yes? |
| Brett: | Yes. |
| Neri: | So we must keep searching. |
| Jason: | You’ve got to be patient. We’ve been looking at records of unusual sightings, but there’s nothing that matches the other piece. They must have all fallen at different times. |
| Brett: | Which means going through HELEN’s data base could take months. |
| Neri: | No, is too slow. UBRI will beat us, they have one piece already. |
| Brett: | We will get it back… One day. |
| Jason: | Well, at least they don’t know we’ve got one. Which reminds me, you can’t just leave it lying around. |
| Neri: | It is not “lying around”, is in my nest. |
| Kal: | Hi! |
| Neri: | I know where no one will find it. |
| Brett: | Yeah? Where? |
| Neri: | Shhhh, not tell Kal. Safer. |
(music)
| Brett: | Hey. |
|---|---|
| Cass: | Where have you been? |
| Brett: | I had to do some stuff with mum. |
| Cass: | What kind of stuff? You weren’t in the lab. |
| Brett: | Oh, er, just checking out some marker buoys up topside. |
| Cass: | Right. |
| Brett: | Upper F4. |
| Cass: | Hey, gimme a break, okay? |
| Benny: | That’s what I was going to do anyway. |
| Brett: | Oh, yeah, sure. |
| Benny: | I was. |
| Benny’s father: | Benny, it’s past ten. |
| Benny: | Yes, dad, I know. I was just… |
| Benny’s father: | You are supposed to be in your cabin studying. I’m sorry to interrupt your game. |
| Cass: | It’s cool. We’ll finish it tomorrow. |
| Benny’s father: | Come. |
| Cass: | And I thought my parents were slave drivers. |
| Brett: | Mm. |
| Benny’s father: | You’re not even half way through your physics assignment. |
|---|---|
| Benny: | But I’ll catch up. |
| Benny’s father: | Not good enough. You are supposed to be one step ahead, not one step behind. |
| Benny: | It’s vacation, dad. I need to spend some time with my friends. |
| Benny’s father: | I’m not sure I like your choice of friends. That Cass girl is a born rebel, if I ever saw one. |
| Cass: | Somebody there? |
|---|
| Cass: | He wasn’t from ORCA. He was barefooted and out of uniform. |
|---|---|
| Sallyanne: | Who? |
| Brett: | A ghost she reckons she saw. |
| Cass: | It wasn’t a ghost. |
| Jason: | Right, the phantom of delta level. |
| Brett: | The ghost of the galley. It’s the spirit of someone who was poisoned by the ORCA curry. |
| Cass: | Look, I saw him, okay? He looked scared. |
| Brett: | Hey, look, now, you’d scare anyone even a ghost. |
| Cass: | It was not a ghost and I’m going to prove it to you. |
| Brett: | Sure. |
| Sallyanne: | Time we weren’t here? |
| Jason: | Yeah, see you later, guys. Oh, Brett, don’t forget about HELEN. You know, data base? |
| Brett: | Yeah, I hear you. |
| Benny: | Do you think Cass really saw something? |
| Brett: | Nah, she’s making it up. |
| Benny: | Must be a day for tall stories. |
| Brett: | Hmmm? |
| Benny: | I was just reading about this sunken treasure that’s supposed to be around here. In the wreck of the henrietta van rijk. |
| Brett: | A treasure ship? |
| Benny: | Yeah, a couple of hundred years ago, the article said. According to them, it was loaded. |
| Brett: | What, with doubloons, or something? |
| Benny: | Would’ve been guilders. It was a dutch ship. Gold coins, anyway, and plenty of them. |
| Brett: | Gold… Hmmm… |
| Brett: | I’ll meet you back here at dinnertime, okay? |
| Neri: | Kal, come. |
| Benny: | That guy beat me at trigammina. I’d like to play a return round. |
| Brett: | Hey, look, I’ll tell him. You just go and organize that stuff, okay? |
| Benny: | See ya. |
| Brett: | Yeah. What are you doing here? |
| Neri: | I come to see if you have found more clues yet, of synchronium pieces. |
| Brett: | Come on, Neri. You only asked yesterday. |
| Kal: | I go exercise class. |
| Brett: | Ah, look, just don’t talk to anyone. I’ve got to head up to HELEN’s now. |
| Neri: | Good. Remember, others are looking, too. |
| Hellegren: | Lena, I am going away on business for 24 hours. You’ll be all right? |
|---|---|
| Lena: | I’ll be fine. |
| Hellegren: | Lena, please. There are books and magazines all over the house. Would you at least put them back on the shelves. |
| Lena: | Well, I can’t read them on the shelves, father. Will Ms. Kellar be going? |
| Hellegren: | No, she will be busy at UBRI. Goodnight. |
| Lena: | Goodnight. |
| Kal: | Ah, Neri! Do exercise. |
|---|
| Sallyanne: | Hydrographic calibration and technostructural theory. |
|---|---|
| Jason: | Ah, great, another fun-packed day. |
| Brett: | The henrietta van rijk. |
| Cass: | The what? |
| Benny: | An old shipwreck. |
| Brett: | Filled with gold and treasure. |
| Benny: | We don’t know that for sure, and we don’t know we’ll find it. |
| Brett: | Sure we’re gonna find it. You wanna come? |
| Cass: | I can’t, busy. |
| Brett: | Ah, ghost-hunting again, are we? |
| Cass: | That? I was just putting you guys on. Should’ve known you wouldn’t buy it. I gotta go. |
| Cass: | Sleep okay? So this is how you got down here, huh? Smart opening it up. What did you do with the stuff you took out? |
|---|---|
| Rang: | In water. |
| Cass: | Well, that’s pretty amazing. Swimming all that way across from the boat, at night. Very strong, very brave. |
| Rang: | Only way stay here. Good country. Heap money, heap job. |
| Cass: | But your parents, they were on the boat. |
| Rang: | Sent back now, our country. Whole boat sent back. |
| Cass: | Because they were illegal immigrants. They’ll be missing you. |
| Rang: | Maybe. No jobs in our country. No food, very poor. |
| Cass: | Well, what are we gonna do with you? I mean, you can’t find here forever. |
| Rang: | You help Rang stay here? |
| Cass: | I don’t know what I can do. |
| Rang: | You no tell? |
| Cass: | Hey, relax. I won’t tell anyone you’re here. Least till I’ve figured out what to do. |
| Rang: | You, a-1 good buddy. |
| Cass: | Yeah. Look, just don’t go outside, okay, Rang? I’ll bring you food and if you hear the door, get behind there quick. |
| Rang: | No go. Stay. Talk. |
| Cass: | Well, just for a bit. |
| Brett: | I’ve got the zodiac booked. |
|---|---|
| Benny: | Wait till you see this. |
| Brett: | What is it? |
| Benny: | It’s a submarine metalliferous ore scanner. It’s worth heaps. I had to register my I.D. When I signed it out. If the quartermaster notices it’s only a student I.D… |
| Brett: | Ah, don’t worry, we’ll have it back on board before they even realize it’s gone. |
| Girl: | Excuse me, sir. |
|---|---|
| Commander: | Yes, duty officer. |
| Girl: | One of last night’s surveillance discs. I think you should see it. |
| Commander: | Go ahead. Map up, HELEN. Notify security. We have an unidentified intruder aboard. |
| Benny: | Nothing. |
|---|---|
| Brett: | So, we keep trying. |
| Benny: | Maybe we should think about getting back. |
| Brett: | Hungry for that gold, man. |
| Benny: | There’s a bit of a storm building up. |
| Brett: | One more dive, okay? Hey, maybe it would’ve gone down further out, let’s try. |
| UBRI: | This area is for authorized personnel only. |
|---|---|
| Lena: | I’m sorry. I was, um, looking for an earring. I think I dropped it when I was here last time with my father. |
| UBRI: | Can I help you, miss Hellegren? |
| Lena: | No, I’ll be all right, thanks. My father gets mad at me, I lose things so often. |
| UBRI: | I’m just about to go off duty, but you take your time. Just make sure the lights are off when you leave. |
| Lena: | Okay, I’ll only be a minute. |
| Benny: | I think we’ll have to call it a day. |
|---|---|
| Brett: | But we’re not licked yet. We’ll come out again tomorrow. |
| Benny: | No! |
| Brett: | Oh, no. Benny! |
(music) (Whale call)
| Brett: | Benny. Benny, are you okay? |
|---|---|
| Benny: | Yeah, I’m fine. Who? |
| Brett: | Uh… This is a friend of mine, Neri. |
| Benny: | Neri. Oh, no, the detector! |
| Brett: | You wouldn’t like to do us another huge favour, would you? |
| Benny: | And she crashed in a spaceship years ago? |
|---|---|
| Brett: | Yeah, and that guy that, who beat you at trigammina, he was on board, too. |
| Benny: | Another alien? |
| Dave: | Good afternoon, gentlemen. Now, about that detector… |
| Benny: | I’ll have to tell him exactly what happened. |
|---|---|
| Brett: | You can’t bring Neri into into. You mustn’t tell anyone, [?] |
| Benny: | I’m no good at lying. |
| Brett: | Who is? There’s times when you can’t tell the truth, at least not all of it. For the sake of everyone. Neri’s our friend. Jase and I have to protect her, and Kal, too. If outsiders found out, can you imagine what would happen? They’d lock them up and gawk at them like they were animals in a zoo. Besides, there’s other stuff. Neri and us have got a big job on our hands… Something really important. It could affect the whole world. |
| Benny: | What kind of job? |
| Brett: | Later. So, can I count on you? |
| Winston: | Well, well, who have we here? Come on, come out. Don’t be frightened, I won’t hurt you. So, this is our mysterious stowaway, is it? You’ve been harbouring him, have you? |
|---|---|
| Cass: | He swam to ORCA. His family are boat people, turned back by immigration. |
| Rang: | Mister? No tell. No make me go back. |
| Winston: | Did you think you could keep him here forever? |
| Cass: | No, just until I figured something out. |
| Winston: | You really believed he wouldn’t be found? |
| Cass: | No, Rang! |
| Guys: | Hey, stop! |
| Winston: | It’s out of our hands now. |
| Commander: | Communicative, are you, eh? Well, I can’t say I blame you. I’m afraid immigration will have to get the rest of your story. |
|---|---|
| Cass: | No, please. I’ll take charge of him. I’ll talk to my folks. Maybe we can adopt him or something. |
| Commander: | The immigration people are already on their way. You’re going to have a ride in a helicopter, young fella. That won’t be so bad, will it? Will you stay with him until they arrive? You and these gentlemen, of course. Good luck, Rang. Now, this other business. Sorry to keep you waiting, doctor. Let me get this straight. You “borrowed” a very expensive piece of equipment in order to go on a wild goose chase for sunken treasure, and it “accidentally” fell off the gunwale of the zodiac. Am I right so far? |
| Benny: | Yes, sir. |
| Commander: | You went back down to retrieve it, but you ran out of air. |
| Benny: | Yes, sir. |
| Commander: | I think you mentioned you made several attempts already, and that young Brett also ran out of air. |
| Benny: | Yes, sir. |
| Commander: | Then how did you get it back up at all? Surely somebody must have been down there to help you. |
| Benny: | I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t tell you the truth. I didn’t run out of air until after. And it didn’t fall overboard. I was operating the detector down on the ocean bed. I looked away and let it hit against a rock. I didn’t want you to know how careless I’d been. |
| Commander: | Careless is an understatement. You illegally requisitioned a highly expensive piece of equipment, and you’re not even an experienced enough diver to handle it. 40 demerit points and no access to stores for any purpose until further notice. |
| Benny’s father: | Imagine what this boy would give for what you’ve got. You’re so privileged. What’s happening to you? Why do you keep letting us down? |
|---|---|
| Cass: | I’ll find out where you are and I’ll write. Will you write back? |
| Rang: | Sure. |
| Cass: | And I’ll see you again one day, I promise. |
| Rang: | Okay, buddy. |
| Guy: | Time to go, son. |
| Winston: | Hey, you gave him friendship. |
| Cass: | Yeah, sure. He’s really going to care about that when he’s back in some stinking refugee camp without enough to eat. |
| Winston: | He will be with his family. One day, ORCA city will be built, and be a model for other cities underwater, and so perhaps ease the dreadful overpopulation of our planet and help the plight of people like Rang. Perhaps even one day, he will live in such a place. We have to look forward. We have to hope. |
| Brett: | That was great, what you did for Neri. |
|---|---|
| Jason: | You won’t be sorry. There’s only a handful of people in the entire world that know about Neri, and you’ve just joined the club. |
| Benny: | It’s all so weird. |
| Brett: | Oh, Benny, wait till you hear the rest of it. |
(Whale call) (music)