Zac swam hard through the water, kicking away with all his might. But he knew it was pointless. He was no match for a huge shark. Then he caught sight of a button labelled JETS on one of his gloves, and quickly slammed his other hand on it.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Twin jets of compressed air suddenly blasted out behind Zac. He zoomed forwards, twisting his body left and right to steer – like Superman, but underwater!
Excellent, thought Zac. This is more like it! He whooshed along, trying to put some distance between himself and the shark.
He glanced back over his shoulder, checking to see how far away he was now. But even with Zac’s jetpack firing at full power, the shark was still behind him! Up close, Zac could see into its huge, gaping jaws. He gulped and kicked even harder.
Then Zac looked up ahead and realised he’d gone off-course. He was swimming straight at an active mine! He leant hard to the left, veering out of the way just in time.
The shark swerved around behind him. It stayed well clear of the mine, almost like the shark knew they were dangerous. Then Zac saw more shapes moving in the water. There were two other sharks up ahead!
They were right next to the sub, weaving through the minefield towards Zac.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Zac did a high-speed tumble-turn and raced away in another direction. The three sharks shot through the water after Zac.
Zac veered back around toward the sub. It was gliding slowly through the water up ahead, just clear of the minefield. He glanced back and saw the sharks right behind him. Their huge jaws glinted in the submarine’s light.
Time to get back to the sub, Zac thought, pulling out his grappling hook. He steered through a narrow gap between two mines and aimed the hook up at the sub’s airlock. He pulled the trigger.
SHOONK!
The magnet flew out on the end of a thin grey wire, rocketing towards the sub.
CLINK!
Yes! It was a direct hit. Zac squeezed the trigger again, and the magnetic grappling hook started reeling him in towards the sub. Zac was dragged along through the water, finally clear of the sharks’ jaws. He shot up inside the airlock, and the door slid shut automatically beneath his feet.
HISSSSSS!
The water slowly drained out of the airlock. Zac looked out into the ocean and saw that the sharks were still out there, racing to catch up with the submarine.
HISSSSSS!
The second door opened above Zac’s head, leading back into the sub. Grandpa reached out and grabbed hold of Zac.
‘Nice work, kiddo,’ Grandpa smiled.
‘Mum and Dad just radioed in,’ called Leon from the front of the sub. ‘They’ve got back-up and they’re on their way.’
Zac stood up and pulled off his glass helmet. ‘A bit late for that now,’ he said, slipping out of the scuba suit. ‘Caz and Blackwood are probably already there.’
‘Better late than never,’ Leon shrugged. ‘Anyway, we’re clear of the mines. Should be smooth sailing all the way to –’
The sub gave a sudden lurch and Zac was almost knocked back down into the airlock. He stumbled sideways and stared out through the front of the sub.
‘What’s going on?’ Leon shouted.
‘It’s the sharks!’ said Zac. ‘They’re attacking the sub!’
