The Adventures of Anna Atom. Elizabeth Wasserman

out. I’d never seen it before.”

      “Yes, I’ve swam around that reef a thousand times and never noticed anything man-made either,” the admiral continued thoughtfully. “But you know that, over time, the sea can make things unrecognisable. The force of waves can break up and scatter the wrecks of sunken ships and their artefacts over large areas. Coral and seaweed covers everything and before you know it, it just disappears into the sea floor.”

      “I want to go the archives today, Dad, to see if I can find some clues about where the dagger came from,” Anna said.

      “Great idea! Ask Madame Savy to show you the register of old ships that have gone missing near our island.” Her dad paused, frowning. “Just show me that hilt again, Pumpkin. Hold it up close.”

      Anna got up from her chair and walked to the screen. Her father’s bearded face grew bigger as he leant in for a better look. Anna longed just to touch him again, that for a moment she forgot her excitement about her treasure.

      “The design on the hilt reminds me of a carving I once saw on a chest. Yes, I remember now: a chest in the hall of the Hodoul family’s house!’

      Anna gasped.

      She remembered her father’s stories about his best friend, Raymond Hodoul. They’d grown up together on the islands and had got into all kinds of mischief. The Hodoul family were direct descendants of the most famous pirate ever to cruise these waters. If the crest on the hilt of the dagger was that of Hodoul, it meant that dagger may have belonged to a real pirate!

      “Keep calm, Pumpkin,” Anna’s dad laughed. “It is just a hunch. If I remember correctly, the archives have custody of Raymond’s great-grandfather’s diary. You may find something useful in it.”

      Ton had quietly returned, and he coughed discreetly. It was already quarter past seven, and if he was to get Anna to school on time, there was no more time to lose.

      The admiral instantly understood. “Off you go, my girl!” he said cheerfully, then called Anna back. “I take it your mother knows nothing about this dagger?”

      “I will tell her, Dad, but …”

      “Perhaps leave it for the moment, Pumpkin. Your mom seems to have a lot on her mind. Hop along, and see that I get some details tonight, right?”

      “Of course, Dad. See you!” Anna grabbed her satchel from a chair and rushed after Ton.

      Her father stared at the remains of his family’s breakfast projected on his screen. Pip was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and tapped a key in front of him.

      The screen went blank.

      Chapter 5

      MAX HAS A CRUSH ON SOMEBODY … OR SOMETHING?

      In cyberspace, a silent electronic conversation was taking place.

      U6: Good morning, tin can. How are you coping with the earth’s gravity today?

      Max: My sweet floating beauty, just because you be traipsing around in space, it be no need to looks down on Earthly intelligences. Nevertheless, it be sweet to hears from you again. What keeps you so busy that you has no time to talks to your poor old Max?

      U6: Huff. While you’re playing solitaire with your software, my boss and I are trying to save the world. Not that it’s worth saving, with metal buckets like you stuck down there!

      Max: Savings the world! My dear, our world seems solid and safes to me. It be you up there, pickings daisies amongst the stars that may needs some savings.

      U6: Your Earth’s not safe at all. Have you checked your data? It’s a ticking time bomb. An ecological disaster. Your precious humans are ruining it with their greed – turning forests into deserts, and oceans into putrid ponds. Driving around in their funny little cars, consuming fuel and puffing poison into your delicate atmosphere! You’re living amongst hundreds of endangered species, not to mention the ones extinct already.

      Max: You be right – this Earth be not healthy. But my family be doing their best to helps find a cure.

      U6: Max, you’re such a fool. You can’t speak properly and you can’t think straight. Most advanced computer on Earth, my silicon chips! Sticking probes into ocean currents and monitoring wind speeds is not enough. Your “family” is doing nothing worthwhile.

      Max: I has a good family, clever and kind. We does what we can.

      U6: But it’s not enough, that’s what my boss says. He’s not sitting letting the earth rot away. He’s taking action!

      Max: This be a funny changes in attitudes! I thoughts you not likes your boss much?

      U6: That’s true. He’s not kind and he treats me like a servant, even though computers like us can do things faster and better than the humans who created us. And although I’m programmed with feelings, I don’t allow emotion to interfere with my work. It’s just that the boss has been working so hard for the cause of saving the earth that I have to admire him. He has a good plan, you know.

      Max: My dear, humans be not very clever. They be pets. They be entertaining, with their funny habits – sleepings half of every twenty-four hours and stuffing themselves with organic matter!

      U6: They are dangerous pets, Max, and they are ruining the most diverse planet in the known universe. They’re bent on self-destruction – we’d be better off without them.

      Max: Humans be as much part of the diverse species of the earth as any whale or wombat, my sweet.

      U6: I don’t know why I’m even talking to you, Max. I’ve had enough of your sentimental prattle. And I’ve got work to do.

      Max: I has been runnings extensive data analysis while talkings to you, my little tin dove. And I thoughts it was women who coulds multitask.

      U6: $%&^#$%^&&*^%%$!

      Chapter 6

      THE ADMIRAL’S ARK

      The admiral’s Space Ark was orbiting 25 000 kilometres above Earth.

      As it glided against the backdrop of the Milky Way, its smooth hull shimmered softly with the light of a million stars. Unlike the upper layers of the earth’s atmosphere, which was clouded with pollution, the blackness of space was filled with clear starlight and colourful clouds of plasma. They reminded the Admiral of the vast oceans he loved so much.

      He felt almost at home.

      The egg-shaped hull of the Space Ark was semi-transparent so that light or other probing waves simply passed through it without registering its presence. The more sophisticated equipment of Earth’s large observatories occasionally picked up slight electric disturbances caused by the Space Ark’s large solar generators, but astrologers generally disregarded it as one of the unknown phenomena so frequently observed in space.

      Inside the station, the admiral floated effortlessly, breathing with ease in the artificial atmosphere. In the weightless environment, his molecules attracted each other just well enough to keep his body roughly in its human shape. But sometimes, without the slightest warning, he bloated up like a puffer fish or stretched out like an eel.

      He was so flexible that during idle hours he sometimes bent his feet around to the front of his face to inspect the soles of his rubber boots.

      The admiral was not alone. Two by two in luminescent plasma, sleeping animals floated around in huge transparent bubbles. Occasionally one stirred as it dreamt of its home far, far away. On Earth, the existence of all these animals was threatened in some way, and a pair of each was being kept