The Octonauts and the Pirate Ship Predicament (complete)

Chapter Six

There were gasps of wonder from the pirate crew as they entered the Launch Bay with the rest of the Octonauts.

"Welcome to the Octopod," Barnacles announced with a cheery smile.

Hector smiled back at him, meeting his eyes with confidence. "Thank you for allowing us onto your ship. Mind if we have a look around before doing anything? It's just we haven't seen anything as advanced and beautiful as this for a long time."

"I'll give you a tour!" Kwazii offered enthusiastically. It was obvious he already viewed Hector as his idol.

Hector nodded with that same polite smile. "I'd like that, if only to stop me getting lost."

"That's fine," Barnacles agreed. "I'll get the Vegimals to start cooking something for us all."

A few minutes later, Kwazii was bouncing around chatting at full speed with the politely smiling Hector, obviously in his element. Annabel was listening intently to Dashi, who was telling her about the Octonauts and what they did, in her room, while Kan was discussing something with the Captain up in the HQ.

Tweak noticed Nut looking around the Launch Bay, his eyes wide as he took in the shiny monitors and the spacious area, and went over to him, meaning to help out. "Pretty big, huh? I designed it to be quite modern, so the equipment is fairly new. An engineer's dream build, really."

Nut looked terrified as he looked around at Tweak, his eyes big and brown and body shrinking somehow to make himself look even smaller.

"It's good to meet another engineer," Tweak continued with a smile, holding out her hand. "I'm Tweak, though of course you already know that. Nice to meet you, Nut."

Nut seemed to visibly cower, still not saying a word. His mouth was obstinately closed and he ignored Tweak's outstretched hand.

"It's okay," Tweak reassured in slight worry. "I was just -"

Nut suddenly turned and unexpectedly bolted into an Octo Chute faster than Tweak could even think of saying her catchphrase, let alone utter a word. The bunny cocked her head in complete confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"

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"And that there is the kitchen, matey," Kwazii said to the older cat. Hector watched in mild amusement through the door at the Vegimals scurrying about and singing at the top of their voices. "The food should be ready in about five minutes, so let's go up to the HQ."

"The final tour stop," Hector said with a smile. "I look forward to it, me hearty."

They joined the rest of the Octonauts and the pirate crew up in the largest room. Annabel was looking up in wonder as they watched the fish swimming around through the large glass panels in the walls. "They're so beautiful!"

Kan smiled slightly at Annabel's apparent wonder. He was definitely the strong silent type, Tweak had deduced. Nut was there too, huddled at the very end of the table trying to look as small as possible. The engineer decided against going over to him again just yet. Maybe he was just shy. Very very shy. And jumpy. Extremely jumpy.

The Vegimals poured in through the Octo Chute, expertly holding two plates each on both hands and coming to set them on the table. Tunip announced something in Vegimalese to the group, which Shellington quickly translated for the benefit of everyone else. "There are green seaweed cakes, green kelp cakes, yellow kelp cakes and of course, Tunip's special fish biscuits!"

"It all looks lovely!" Hector gushed.

Barnacles smiled widely. "Well, welcome, our guests. And dig in!"

Only Tweak felt a little uneasy, which she brushed away. There was something odd about the eerie politeness of the pirate crew and of course, the strange behaviour of Nut. But it was probably nothing. After all, Kwazii trusted Hector. Who was she to argue?