Matthew Silver and the Monster Hunters, Book One: The Darkest Waters

Chapter Sixteen

SilverCHAPTER SIXTEEN

The next morning, I got up early to start setting up the sonar. We had two different sonar systems: active and passive. The active sonar would send out sound waves and would come back with data of objects on or under the water’s surface. A handy tool when you’re tracking a monster. The other sonar, the passive sonar, was basically a specialized listening device. If anything swam past us, we would know.

By combining the collected data, I’d be able to get a good idea of what was going on behind the muddy curtain. But first, I needed to set up the transducer for the active sonar. The transducer was what would send out the sound waves and interpret the echoes.

The transducer was attached to a long spike, which kept it rooted to the muddy underwater ground. Scott would be setting his sonar up just a bit farther down the loch so we could do a broader search. I would cover one portion of the loch, while he would cover another.

I sent out Are you ready? in Morse code across the loch with my laser. I didn’t expect an answer right away. I never found it easy to interpret Morse code. I repeated the message.

A minute or so later, I saw several flashes of green light. Marking now, came the short answer.Either that, or he was describing his bathroom porch.

He marked the ground a few feet to my right. I marked the spot with a few sticks. Directly across from that spot, all the way across to the other side, was where his transducer would be positioned. That meant I’d have to set mine several yards to the left of it. I marked the ground on Scott’s side of the loch, directly across from where I’d be planting my own transducer.

I stepped into the water, which immediately chilled me, even through the wetsuit I’d put on. I couldn’t believe how people could like swimming in those temperatures. I’d had enough of freezing water already.

I had barely made it a yard away from shore, when the ground gave way underneath my feet into a drop-off. I gave a surprised yelp as I lost my balance and dropped underwater. I resurfaced quickly, just in time to see Jay getting ready to dive in after me.

“I’m fine,”I waved to her. “It’s a lot deeper than it looks.”Now wary of the deceiving depth of the water, I adjusted my mask and sank underneath the water again. I swam to the bottom, which was much farther down than I had expected. I began digging around in the mud, and the water grossed me out. It was murky, thick, and freezing cold. Bits of grime, pieces of dirt, and other garbage danced in front of my mask. It was hard to see anything at all. I figured that if there really was a monster down there, it’d be next to impossible to find without the sonar.

I planted the transducer firmly into the mud. Luckily, the mud was soft and squishy, so the spike sank in easily. Just for good measure, I packed it in around the base with mud before going back up to the surface again.

Jay had a fire going, which relieved me. I was freezing from the water, and the cool fall breezes only made it worse. I changed in my tent and draped my wet clothes on a clothesline over the fire to dry. I pulled my chair next to the flames to warm my hands.

Jay stood next to me. “See anything down there?”

I blew into my hands to warm them up. “The water’s so dark and dirty, that if there’s a monster in this mud pit, I get how it’s managed to stay hidden.”

Jay picked a few leaves out of my hair and made a face. “The sonar should do that job for us. Other searchers just haven’t had the time or patience to sweep the entire loch.”

“Things could still go wrong with this. The monster, if there is a monster, could easily slip past the sonar when we’re not using it.”