The Octonauts and the Pollution Incident

Chapter 8

@Uniquedoll602

Kwazii slithered through the Octopod, experienced after a few years now of doing just that, especially after run ins with a very angry rabbit. He wished Paani were here--he'd understand the plan better than Kwazii did. That macaque had such a talent for weird.

But Paani's job now, and Ryla's, was to fix that broken pipe and collect samples before it hurt anyone else. Kwazii felt like his own mind was spinning with everything that was happening-here his friends were probably dying, the Octo-Agents AND their children were in danger and a whole town above them was in the same boat.

So he could easily imagine how Shellington felt, when he slithered past the open lab doors to sea the otter trying to become a part of his desk, his head down and covered by his arms. Kwazii frowned, forgetting the plan momentarily, to enter the room. "Whasamatter matey?"

"What ISN'T?" Shellington asked. Kwazii's frown deepened. "You aren't...crying, are you?"

"No," the sea otter stubbornly wiped his eyes. Kwazii sat down next to him and looped an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I don't blame ye." Shellington was their biggest hope right now, the only one well enough to do his job, to work for a cure. But he wasn't immune. They were all surprised he hadn't seemed to have gotten sick yet.

Shellington sighed. "All this work, all these leads and hopes...it's gotten us nowhere. I don't know how we're going to cure everyone on the Octopod, much less a whole town." He carefully wiped his face, trying to find some comfort. Kwazii nodded softly. "Aye. But there's no time for that now. We gotta do our best, and we can't quit. We'll find a cure and then we'll be able to get some rest." He chuckled softly. "Especially you. I'm pretty sure that after this is all over, you'll be so sick."

If this was meant to be a joke, Shellington didn't smile. He just put his head back in his arms. "I can't think."

Kwazii sat and cuddled him for a moment, holding Shellington's head to his chest. Shellington felt that familiar comfort from the multiple times when the captain would do just that.

They COULDN'T lose the captain...there could be no life without him...

Kwazii shushed him, head against head, and they stayed that way for a small while, when Kwazii remembered he was supposed to be on a mission. "Hey, I'll come check on you later, okay?" He nuzzled the sea otter gently, and gave him a worried look before leaving. Shellington nodded. "I know. It'll be okay." Although he still didn't sound too convinced himself.

But Kwazii still had a point. With a heavy sigh, Shellington sat back hard and looked at the notes he'd been poring and puzzling over for the last hour. It seemed like they had all this information, and yet, still nothing but dead ends. Paani and Kwazii's immunity...plus Peso's research, combined with his own...Paani's experience from wild disease outbreaks in India...hopefully something from that leaky pipe...and adding Kwazii's family's cures, and maybe a few of Paani's weird Indian rituals that Shellington had asked him about....hopefully something from the leaky pipe would help to end all this nonsense.

He shook his head. It all felt hopeless.

"Did Peso ever feel this way?" He thought, wondering about Peso, their ever talented medic, who had saved them during a cone snail invasion, who had become such an amazing medic at such a young age. Who could make medicines out of nothing...he was the one who should be doing this. He would know what to do. Not Shellington.

Wait a second...

Shellington bounced up and made for the sick bay. He headed straight for the desk cabinet where he knew Peso kept his books, ignoring Bianca's look of surprise. She had been in here ever since she'd come, vigilantly looking after her brother and adopted nephew, who didn't seem any sort of willing to let the captain be alone any more than Bianca was. The two cold-adapted creatures in question were bound in the sick bay, where the temperature was much more easily controlled. Peso cracked open an eye. Kwazii's herbs seemed to be doing some magic, but not enough. Peso was better. But he was still a child, and as the only non-adult on the ship, the disease seemed to be hitting him pretty hard. The captain too, although Shellington couldn't figure out why yet. And Tweak, and the only lead Shellington had there was her jellyfish DNA, still a particular mystery as to why it was there inside of her body in the first place.