Take Your Last Breath. Lauren Child

over with a case that Spectrum 8 have been looking into – LB thought it might be an idea to join forces.’

      As they walked, some of the slick white corridors became clear glass-tube passageways, and fish swam by on the other side – sunfish, rockfish, cardinal fish, kelpfish, garibaldi, stingrays, and a thousand others. It was sort of like being in a giant aquarium, though the fish might well conclude it was the people who were the exhibits here.

      It was strange for Ruby to enter Spectrum as a fully paid-up agent in training. She stifled a smile, remembering that at the tender age of thirteen she had already achieved her lifetime ambition of becoming an undercover secret agent for one of the most undercover and secret of secret agencies in the world.

      She looked around her at the huge domed space with its glass floor and sealife moving underfoot.

      ‘Hey kid!’ shouted Hitch. ‘Want to look lively? LB’s waiting.’

      Ruby had taken off her jacket and slung it over her shoulder so it was again possible to read the slogan written in bold letters across her T-shirt: excuse me while I yawn.

      Hitch paused a minute. ‘Kid, my advice? Put your jacket back on and zip it right up – LB sees that and she might not find it so funny.’

      ‘She not in a good mood?’ Ruby called across the hall.

      ‘I doubt that sincerely kid. That diver who just washed up dead on the beach – he was one of ours and losing an agent always puts a crimp in her day.’

      HITCH LED THE WAY DOWN A STEEPLY SLOPING PASSAGE that wound round and round and seemed like it must spiral right through the seabed. When they reached a black circular door, Hitch punched in some numbers and they were admitted to the screening room.

      The room was full of agents and Spectrum staff, sitting in cinema-style seats which all faced a large white screen. There was a buzz in the air, everyone knew something big had happened, but few knew exactly what had gone down. Ruby tried to get her bearings, looked around – unfortunately straight into the eyes of Agent Froghorn (he of the silent G). He made much of pointing to his watch, indicating that it was way past her bedtime, and Ruby mouthed a word not to be repeated. Agent Redfort and Agent Froghorn were never likely to exchange birthday cards.

      Sea Divison headquarters had much in common with Spectrum 8 HQ, but there were some very obvious differences, the main one being: when you looked out of the window you saw water. Agent Trent-Kobie, head of Sea Division, had been called away on urgent business and so the briefing was to be given by the boss of Spectrum 8.

      LB.

      Dressed all in white, LB walked into the room – and instantly the chatting stopped. LB had this effect on people. She was immaculately dressed but for her feet, which were bare, red nail polish perfectly applied to her toes. The head of Spectrum 8 did not much care for shoes of any kind and was rarely seen in footwear.

      When she reached the front, where the microphone stood, she dropped a perspex file onto the small table to her side, and launched right in.

      ‘So, as you will know by now, Agent Trilby’s body was found on Sunday evening – he had been diving off the coast not far from Twinford Bay beach. During the past month he has been investigating unusual ocean activity – strange behaviour of marine life. There has been a lot of unusual ocean activity recently and it can all be found in Agent Trilby’s report.’ She continued to go through example after example of things that had been occurring just off the coast of Twinford.

      Dolphins refusing to leave the bay, seagulls flocking inland, fishing stock low.

      ‘As we all know,’ continued LB, ‘Trilby was a very proficient diver and it is highly unlikely that he would have drowned in normal circumstances. We are still waiting for the autopsy, but it would seem that he was unfortunate enough to come into contact with something like a stingray or an electric eel. There is evidence of bruising to his leg that still needs to be explained, but we feel it’s likely that he encountered this sort of creature and this either led to a cardiac arrest or a severe shock that in turn led to drowning.’

      It couldn’t have been a stinging creature that killed him, thought Ruby, Trilby would definitely have utilised his Spectrum-issue anti-sting Miracle serum. It was a comfort to know that every diving agent had this life-saver with them even if it couldn’t guard against shocks and bites.

      LB pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. ‘Yes?’ she said, spotting a raised hand.

      ‘Do you think the strange ocean activity is linked to something else – some dark plot I mean – or do you think it’s all just a consequence of some natural event throwing things off course?’

      The question came from Agent Blacker, a dishevelled-looking man in a crumpled jacket – an agent Ruby had a lot of time for. They had worked together on the Jade Buddha case and he was not only a smart person, he was a nice guy. He had a laid-back manner, but was as sharp as a pin tack.

      ‘There is nothing to suggest that Trilby was the victim of foul play if that’s what you’re getting at,’ replied LB. ‘However, I am interested in his findings in the context of other unusual activity – some of you will have been party to the ongoing investigation into the missing or scrambled coastguard signals and reports of disruption with shipping vessels; cargo going awry, turning up in the wrong place.’

      She listed the coastguard reports – and the list was long. Trainers, coffee, corncobs, bananas, you name it, it seemed to have ended up in the wrong port.

      ‘Even a six-ton elephant on its way to Baltimore has gone astray,’ concluded LB.

      Ruby made a mental note to apologise to Del Lasco: give or take a few elephants, she had actually been telling the truth.

      LB wound up her talk and removed her glasses, hooking them onto her shirt. ‘To be honest with you,’ she said, ‘we really have no idea what might be going on. To date we are not investigating any criminal activity. All we know is that Agent Trilby was monitoring unusual events at sea and regrettably died. If it wasn’t for the coastguard reports, we would continue monitoring marine life and not look any further.’

      Blacker raised his hand again.

      ‘Yes?’ she said.

      ‘So you are looking to make a link?’ said Blacker.

      ‘Either that or to establish that there isn’t one – it could all be a coincidence,’ she replied.

      ‘But link or no link, you’ll be wanting me to plot through Trilby’s findings and see where they take us?’ said Blacker.

      ‘Correct. Meanwhile, I understand that Agent Kekoa from Sea Division will take over Trilby’s ocean research. She is intending to make sound recordings – this way we hope to learn just what is causing the marine disturbance. If the strange sealife occurrences are just a series of natural blips and shifts, then so much the better; the information will be passed onto those who deal with such things and we will concentrate on the shipping alone.’

      LB stepped to one side and Agent Kekoa walked to the front – Ruby’s dive instructor looked shorter out of the water and less assertive. You could tell she wasn’t particularly comfortable standing there talking. She clearly wasn’t really comfortable out of her wetsuit in fact – clothes made her look strangely out of her depth.

      ‘There have been reports of a sound, a whispering sound,’ said Kekoa. She clicked the clicker and up popped a slide showing a kid of about seventeen, his photo alongside a map of the Twinford coast, and an arrow pointing to the sea beyond Little Bay.

      ‘Tommy Elson was swimming out past Little Bay and reported a whispering sound coming from under the water.’

      Click: Slide of a young couple in beach gear – the map showed that they were in a sailboat far out at Rock Point.

      ‘Same