Searching Science - An Octonauts Story Book 3 (complete)

Chapter Eight - Search

A/N) I had to do actual research for this chapter. I hope you're happy, Octonauts. Making me actually learn things. Honestly.

Dashi wasn't panicking.

She wasn't panicking.

The fact that her heart was thumping louder than her feet as she raced around the room searching for any books she might have left didn't prove anything, and the fact that her headache seemed to be returning with a vengeance didn't either.

Shellington would never panic during a mission.

Much more than any of them did, anyway.

She nearly did Shellington's usual trick of tripping over the very pile of books she found tucked inside a bookcase she hadn't even known was in his lab as she hurried past them. Note to self: remember to take those back to the library later. 

A pair of worried sea otter eyes followed her around the room, Dashi unable to avoid glancing back at him every so often, just to reassure herself she wasn't talking to walls. She grabbed her tablet left on the lab desk and quickly switched it on, hitting buttons as deftly as she could as she brought up the Octo-computer. Her hands often worked faster than the server, unfortunately, and the small screen juddered as it struggled to process the information she was feeding into it.

"Right, new plan," she muttered to herself. "Give me a min, Shel!" she sung as lightly as she could. Not panicking, see, Dashi? Logical scientist, right here.

"Okay," the Scottish scientist replied, the screen on the lab wall beeping and going blank.

She clutched her tablet to her chest and added a notebook and paper to the pile, almost as an afterthought, before scurrying from the lab, feet tripping over themselves. For the second time in as many minutes she considered heading down to call in on Tweak, but took a deep breath and resolved herself. This was her mission. Shel had given it to her, in effect. She could do this.

The HQ was completely empty, not even a humming Vegimal in sight. The dachshund sprung from the Octochute and dashed to the computer, swinging herself into her usual position and tapping at her tablet, already on it linking it up to the main HQ screen system. The image of the mission crew reappeared, this time five times larger up on the main screen. Shellington blinked in nervous high definition.

The map didn't give many clues, apart from telling her that the icons of her three crewmates were in a nearby cave just over a mile away from here, with a pulsing orange dot next to them. Dashi swallowed and switched hurriedly to the creature directory on the ship, scrolling until she found the ocean they were currently in to speed up the search a little. There wasn't any time to waste. Shellington, Barnacles and Kwazii could be in huge danger right now and she was the only one who could help - the only one Shellington had trained. She swallowed again and wished Inkling was here.

"Shellington," she called, voice only wavering a little. "Point your camera at the - creature, please."

Obligingly, Shellington turned, his collar camera panning past a sheltering Barnacles and Kwazii who were squatting worriedly behind a large boulder, trying not to make any noise. "It looks like a crocodile," the scientist whispered. "But that's over twenty species, and it's too dangerous to go any closer to find out what kind."

"That's what I'm here for," she said confidently.

The camera focused enough to make out a shady creature, the light quality in the dark cave very poor. She guessed that would have to do, and pressed Search, crossing her fingers tight.

The Octopod computer beeped happily to itself as it wandered through the possibilities. Dashi tapped her paws impatiently as it took its time, seeming to hesitate on a distinct silhouette of a giant croc before flicking past it, past it to a blue screen which said simply...