A Tale of the C.O.O.L.: Green Lake Stories, #3

By J. R. Croft

 Murray Dae, the Chief Officer of Leaks, is two days from his retirement when the biggest leak of his career—and the history of the Great Green Lake—strikes the Half Lake Inn.

The Pon Pon flower shop has four terrifying leaks, caused by a family of Wood Fish. 

Murray and his staff race toward the impending catastrophe in the Leaks Agency's submarine, the Onyx, taking a dangerous shortcut through the Valley of Bones, guarded by the colossal turtle Baugmaus.

Will they outrun the leaping leviathan, and can Murray figure out how to save Half Lake Inn before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.R. Croft
• Release date: Mar 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781540138675

Book preview

Chapter 1

Murray Dae sat twirling his etching pens as he always did when he was nervous. His feet were nervous, too, tapping the floor like scrambling squirrels. As the Chief Officer Of Leaks, he had many reasons to be nervous, because, when you spend most of your life underwater, you have to be ready for leaks, and Murray Dae was in charge of all of them.

At last count, the Agency estimated that Murray had nine hundred forty seven reasons to be nervous, and each of them had one single job—to find a leak, fix it, and move on. Leaks agents were a wild bunch, high strung and misbehaved, but who else would do what they did?  They never stopped working, because water never stopped leaking. In its constant assault on their underwater world, the unrelenting fluid dripped, trickled, dribbled and poured in. Water invaded everything and everywhere: the lodges, the submarines, the outposts and the everything else, but the leaks agents fought back, plugging, plastering, stuffing and stopping the persistent molten ice wherever it appeared.

The feathers at the ends of the pens danced in the air, and their motion had a calming effect on the little rodent. Murray's inspection tour of the Great Green Lake was almost over, and so was his career. Barring any major catastrophes, he'd soon be walking out the door and into a new chapter of life. As he glided through the iridescent green waters, he pored over the notes of his last inspection, sitting in his booth in the cabin of the Onyx, a sleek submarine carved from a black walnut tree.

The cabin glowed with a soft, yellow-green radiance, so common to the underwater world. Candlebugs gathered in the wall sconce above Murray's seat and became enchanted by the wavering feathers. Some that hovered above him fell into trance and forgot to flap their wings, falling out of the air and bouncing off his head. They woke up in mid-bounce, caught themselves, then darted off down the aisle to trade places with others working in the ceiling lights.

Murray hardly noticed the shining flies; his mind was too busy worrying about his next inspection and the end of his career. He had many memories, some fond, others difficult, and he would not miss the stress of being the Chief Officer of Leaks, but as he gazed out the porthole next to his booth, he knew there was one thing he would miss: traveling in the magnificent submarine he'd grown so accustomed to.

The Onyx was a masterpiece of artistic expression, moving with a swift grace that no other submarine possessed. The elegant vessel was a traveling office, for those who oversaw the Leaks Agency's operations, and, for planning and communications, it rivaled the main office in Dark Island terminal. It was designed for comfort as well, for Officers who traveled in the sub, often were onboard for several days at a time, so the small bedrooms along each side of the cabin and the cafe lounge in the upper tier made the vessel feel just like home. Wherever the Onyx went, citizens gathered to marvel at her stunning beauty. They especially