We'll have four chapters of CAVES today since I didn't get any up yesturday. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 5: Spying

After they had checked out their rooms, Marty went downstairs for a snack while Lucy wrote in her journal.

March 23, 2007, at my new home

Our house is amazing. Absolutely amazing. It is situated in the middle of a valley with a river flowing through it. The house is literally on top of the river! There is a dock with a boat supposedly leading to an island that has Seth's private lab.The rooms are enormous, and Marty and I even have our own bathrooms. I'll have to visit the library so I can do some research on CAVES. I'll have to ask Seth about it.

I had a dream on the way here. I was running through a deep, damp cave. Every step I took, I got hurt more. My legs wouldn't let me stop, I felt that I had to keep going on for some reason. I got to the end of the cave and collapsed. Something rose......... and then Marty woke me up.

The weird thing about it is that it is in a cave. There is a secret named CAVES. See the connection? I am planning on easing my way into asking Seth about it. I don't want to bug him, because then I'd just be annoying.

She couldn't think of anything else to write, so she closed the journal, which was almost like a diary. She was writing more thoughts then events that happened.

"Lucy, Marty!" Seth called. "We are going to the lab!"

"Be down in a sec!" Lucy called.

She rushed downstairs. When she got downstairs, she found Marty and Seth putting on life vests. Seth handed her one and she put it on. They headed outside, and went down an enormous hill. Marty didn't walk down it, he rolled. He fell down and rolled, and rolled. He couldn't stop, and didn't until he hit a wall. Lucy ran over laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Marty asked. "I think I just fractured my spine."

"And now you really are spineless," Lucy said.

They walked down to the boat, and got in while Seth untied it from the dock. Marty gestured for Lucy to come to him. She walked over.

"I was downstairs getting a snack and I overheard Seth on the phone," he whispered. "He said something about getting a secret out of us.... and he called us bratty."

"I knew there was something up with him!" Lucy said.

"Everyone ready?" Seth called. "We're about to leave."

The kids sat down in two of the many seats on the boat. Marty started eating Cheeze-Its, like always, and Lucy started to write in her Journal.

March 23, 2007, leaving for the lab

I just found something out... my guardian is a mad-man. It's not like he's mental, but Marty overheard him saying, "I'm going to get the secret out of those little brats". He was talking about us. I'm going to sneak off when I get in the lab. I'll try to get some more information on CAVES and Mr. Lydux. The best of luck..... to me.

She closed her journal and looked out to sea. It looked endless, stretching on forever, until it finally met the sky. With the water and wind whipping against her hair, she walked up to where Seth was.

"When will we arrive at the lab?" Lucy asked.

"It should come into view any second now," Seth replied.

And, of course, he was right. When it came into view, she was surprised. She expected a small island with a white lab completely visible. What she saw, was a rocky shore with no lab visible. Had their new guardian been lying?

"There it is, my island lab," Seth said. He looked back at the kids. "I'm not surprised that you are puzzled. That's sort of the point of the lab. It's hidden under the rocks. We had the builders take the island apart, build a lab, then basically rebuild the island. It takes longer, but it's hidden."

As they drew nearer, Lucy started to dread coming to the island. Seth could easily tie them up and force them to answer questions.

"Where is the entrance?" Marty asked.

"Hidden just under those rocks there," he answered as he pointed to a small opening in the rocks on the front of the island. It was so well concealed that they would have never seen it if he hadn't shown them.

As they went through the small opening, they were surprised to see they were drifting in a well lit chamber. There was a huge crack to let sunlight in, and dead ahead was a huge building. It had gray colored walls, and everything about it seemed hi-tech. There was even a finger-scanner on the front of the building.

"Watch your heads here," he was talking about a huge stalactite that was hanging from the ceiling down.

They got out of the boat and Seth pushed his thumb on the button for a few seconds. It then asked him for a voice check, and so he said, "Seth Lydux", and the door opened.

"Woah!" Marty said in amazement.

"It's amazing!" Lucy said.

"Thank you," Seth said. "Why don't I have Bruce give you a tour while I finish some important business."

"Okay," Lucy replied.

They followed the man named Bruce as he showed them many rooms filled with people sitting at laptops. There were some experimental rooms, and even more engineering rooms. What made them excited the most was the technology. For example, in one room there was a man sitting at a mechanical claw moving equipment from one room to another. In another, there were three men watching some sort of tube filled with an odd shaped object and greenish colored liquid.

"I'll sneak away now," Lucy whispered to Marty.

"Okay, but make sure you aren't caught," he whispered back.

"I'll be fine."

As she snuck away, she had a feeling that she was not going to be fine. Not fine at all.

She kept walking and heard voices talking quietly. She snuck over slowly and peered over the edge. She saw her new guardian talking to someone she had never seen before. He had black, curly hair and was talking angrily.

"I said I wanted the information by tomorrow!" the man whispered quickly.

"I know, I know," Seth whispered back.

"If I don't have it by April..." He made a slitting motion across his neck. That was Lucy's que to go. She quietly snuck back and.....

"Hey, you!" The man had seen her and was chasing her. She ran. And ran. And ran.

StF