Read an Excerpt
"There! Over there!"
Jennifer jumped to Mogi's side as she followed his pointing finger.
Barely peeking out from behind a canyon wall, the professor's houseboat had drifted exactly right to reflect the early morning sun.
It had been a long night. The teens had made it to the Wahweap Marina, filled up their gas tank, and then hurried to the park headquarters, but the office was closed. The main dispatch office for the park rangers was located in Page, a few miles away, so the office wasn't staffed during the night.
After searching the marina for any other kind of official, they wrote another note. They explained who they were and what was happening, described their boat and the professor's houseboat, and slid the note under the door of the office.
They bought snacks and drinks from the machines outside the bait shop and then laid out cushions in the boat for their beds. Quickly learning that the idea of being rocked to sleep by gentle waves was an outright lie, they struggled through a miserable night.
After accepting that they would not sleep, they left the marina after sunrise. An hour later, they discovered the houseboat's hiding place.
"Now what do we do?" Jennifer asked, as Mogi turned the boat and passed by the entrance to the alcove.
"We can't be seen, first of all," Mogi replied. "If the professor is on the houseboat, we need to get him off. But we need to know if the bad guy is on the houseboat before we try anything. I'll swim over to see if the sub is there. If it's not, I'll get inside and see if the professor is still there. If he's there, we'll get him into our boat and find out if the guy has already planted the explosives."
"What if the sub is there?"
Mogi thought for a moment. "I don't think the sub can carry all the explosives in one trip. The guy will have to make several trips, and the smart thing would be to move the houseboat closer to the dam to make each trip as short as possible. So if we can't get the professor now, we can get him after the houseboat is moved and the sub has left."
Mogi sorted out the scuba gear from under the back seat and had his tank and its harness on in a few minutes.
Jennifer grabbed her brother's arm and looked into his eyes. "If you see something stupid to do, don't do it, all right?"
He smiled. "You betcha. I promise. Safety first."
Jennifer made sure he had his emergency inflation vest on, and then helped him fall back over the side of the boat.
