The Blue Lagoon

Part 4

Adele and I decided we are interested. The concept of being a part of the police force and keeping order was very appealing to both of us.

We are in the middle of the training sessions, which are a mix of problem-solving and combat practice.

When we arrive at the UWD- Under Water Defense, we show our ID, as is protocol.

We swim down the hall and into Mr. Mathew Fishdom's office.

"Hello, girls. Thank you for coming."

"Of course." We both plop into our usual chairs, facing him.

"So today we are going to do one of my favorite role plays," he rubs his palms together, "I will tie you both up, and you have to get out of this building undetected. It's hard, so don't beat yourselves up if you don't manage it the first or even second time. You have five minutes."

"All right."

Next thing we know, two figures walk in and tie us down to the chairs we float above. Then they step out, leaving Adele and me to the task at hand.

I try to ease out my arm, but the rope is tight around me. I try to jiggle around, but it's no use.

"Any luck?" I ask Adele

"No," she sighs

I didn't realize how long I was sitting there, trying to plan when Mathew enters. "Remember what I said. I'm going to give you another five minutes now. Good luck."

I move as much as the rope will allow me, shifting my weight to one side of the chair. I reach down with all of my strength and grab hold of a piece of loose sharp coral. Then I twist my arm around, ignoring the pain, and manage to make a few slices in the rope, releasing me. Then I use the coral's sharp edge to free Adele.

I only breathe once more when Mathew returns with a broad smile on his face. "Great work. With time, you will be quicker and quicker, as you learn to evaluate your surroundings and train your mind to problem solve." He clears his throat, "now we will move on to the more physically inclined portion of the training."

"What does he call what we just did then?" Adele mutters under her breath.

Mathew leads us into a new room, where there are two designated rows, and in the back, there is a cage. Something moves, and I squint to focus better. "This exercise is to test your agility. You will race to the cage and free the puggle." He looks at his timepiece, "begin now."

Adele and I exchange looks before we both propel forward. When one needs to swim faster, one should focus on arm motions rather than on tail flapping. I perfected my technique, which is why I reach the cage before Adele. I look around and find a key lying on the floor, which I dive for. I free the purple and green puggle, and it gives me a lick with its orange tongue for the effort.

"Good job," Adele says

"Thanks."

"Great work," Mathew states, "now we will work on the last portion of today's session, which is focus and aim." He leads us to yet another room. It is the weapon room.

"There are two guns we primarily make use of. The harpoon gun, perfect for close range, and the fillo 5000, which shoots darts long-distance." He turns from the weapons and towards us, "You must master both guns, and you will be practicing, naturally." He directs our attention to something I haven't noticed, "you will be practicing shots on the dummy." It looks realistic and is the same size and proportion as any merman.

Adele is up first, and I never realized how good of an aim she has. She looks like she is in her zone.

I struggle far more than she did, but I do manage a few fairly good hits.

Then we are done for the day, and I'm thankful we are because I'm totally exhausted.