The Octonauts and the Overfishing Incident (complete)

Chapter Five

"Next patient please Dashi!" Peso announced, watching as the pink fish swam away now sporting a bandage around its tail. Dashi came up beside him, holding a small squid looking very unhappy. Peso assessed the injury quickly and brought out a bandage to wrap up one of the bruised tentacles. They were nearly finished treating all the hurt fish, and Peso was nearly out of bandage rolls. As Dashi came up again carrying a salmon gently in her paws, Peso picked up his last bandage from his medical bag.

"I'm all out of bandages. This is my last roll. What's your name please?"

"Shana," the salmon replied quietly. Peso saw that her fin was slightly bruised and deftly bandaged it up.

"There you go, good as new. Just be careful now," Peso advised for what seemed like the hundredth time today. The salmon smiled shyly and swam away to join the other two uninjured salmon beside the Gup A.

"That was the last patient, Peso!" Dashi informed the medic.

"And just in time. I've run out of bandages. There might be some more in the Gup E but I'll probably have to go back to the Octopod for more." Peso sighed in relief, stowing away his medical bag and looking up.

"Time to go back to the Octopod and decide what to do next about that fishing," Captain Barnacles stated, who was standing next to Peso as he worked. Tweak came into view, already in the Gup D.

"I put the rope in the back of the Gup E," she told Dashi. Dashi nodded.

"Right everyone, back to the Octopod. I think we all need some of Tunip' s fish biscuits before we sort out this mess." There was a general murmur of agreement as the Octonauts headed back to their respective Gups.

Suddenly, Shellington remembered something. "My magnifying glass! I left it back at the reef!" Dashi looked at him and rolled her eyes in mild amusement before activating her radio.

"Captain, Shellington left his magnifying glass at the reef. We'll just go and get it. We can meet you back at the Octopod."

"All right Dashi, see you back at the HQ. We'll get some hot chocolate on."

Dashi turned to Shellington. "Can you remember where you left it?"

Shellington looked embarrassed. "Er...no, not exactly..."

Dashi mentally facepalmed. "Okaay, that's really helpful. Er, Captain, this could take a little while. Tweak, would you mind helping us look for it?"

"Sure thing Dashi!" Tweak turned her Gup to face back to the reef next to the Gup E.

"See you in a few minutes." Captain Barnacles drove the Gup A back to the Octopod as Dashi, Shellington and Tweak moved back to the sandy sea floor.

"You look that way, Tweak, and we'll search this side." Tweak gave a thumbs up and drove the Gup D along the bottom of the reef, upturning sand as she went with the Gup' s arms. Dashi drove along the other side, both Octonauts keeping a keen eye on the floor to see a glint of glass. Shellington still had a sheepish look on his face, Dashi noted with exasperation and amusement at his forgetfulness. After a few minutes of scanning the reef neither had seen Shellington' s pride and joy. Tweak reported in, she hadn't seen it either.

"I know! It could be on the other side of the reef! Yes I'm sure it could be, I must have dropped it when I was searching," Shellington cried out in revelation. Dashi flashed him an automatic withering look and he drooped slightly. Dashi felt like laughing out loud at the look on the scientist's face and softened her expression to a smile directed at him.

Honestly, it was like dealing with a toddler who had lost his toy at times.

"Cmon then, let's go and see if you're right." Shellington nodded and Dashi moved the Gup forward to the other side of the reef, leaving Tweak to search the other side.

Behind them, nobody saw all the fish suddenly go into a mad frenzy and scurry for cover in the reef. The captain relaxed into the steering of the Gup, enjoying the feeling of freedom it gifted him as he drove back to the Octopod. Kwazii was looking up at the dark shape through his spyglass and Peso was sorting through his medical bag. No one looked back at the now oddly empty reef. The only movement anyone would have seen was the Gup D moving slowly along the sandy sea floor. And below them, the net moved steadily upwards, rippling the water as it went...