DR. CATALYST WAS SPEEDING BACK UP THE RIVER IN HIS boat. Last night’s trip to release the Muraecudas had taken much longer than planned. Finding a suitable place had proven difficult. A storm was rising, and once he was out in the sound, the wind had picked up. The waves had gotten rough. The boat could handle them, but in order to safely free the creatures, the water needed to be relatively calm. If he opened the release panel on the bottom of the boat in high seas, the boat could take on too much water and founder before the pumps could clear the tank.

He had been forced to stay in the harbor longer than anticipated. All the while, he’d debated returning to the aquarium, but once he’d loaded the creatures onto the boat, he preferred to let them go. The harbor was not a suitable location, for the lionfish fed in deeper water, and if Dr. Catalyst’s creatures nested there, it would be that much easier to capture and remove them.

The waters had finally calmed, and he’d piloted his boat into the sound, turning east toward Miami and the more popular beaches. The closer to the major metropolitan areas the better. Once the release was completed, he’d realized he had traveled a longer distance and would need to hustle to make it back to the aquarium.

Throughout the night he kept the onboard radio tuned to a local all-news station. He heard his name mentioned frequently in the discussions among the newscasters and journalists. But no word from the governor’s office about closing the beaches or Everglades.

Part of him was not surprised. After all, he had put them in a difficult position. They did not understand his true intentions. Calling him a terrorist when he was in fact a brilliant scientist had only made matters much worse. It confused the issue. Instead of having a genuine discussion, or allowing the benefits of his work to take root, the system was out to stop him.

There was nothing he could do now. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t given them a chance. If they refused to listen, he was powerless. From here on out, anything that happened was on their shoulders.

As he traveled up the river, drawing near Undersea Land, Dr. Catalyst’s phone buzzed in his pocket. The screen blinked, showing an alarm had been tripped at the aquarium. The phone was functioning as his tablet until he could secure a new one. He pulled up the on-site cameras and flipped through their feeds. In the control room he saw something truly shocking.

Emmet Doyle and Calvin Geaux. Calvin was sitting at the console, studying the board, and Emmet was gesturing wildly behind him.

He pulled back the throttle, and the boat sped up the river toward the dock. From a drawer in the console he removed a ski mask and placed it in a pocket of the blue coveralls he wore.

Somehow they had found him again.