Atlantis United

by Gerard Siggins

  Chapter 34

  Joe really enjoyed that all the sports classes were now focused on football, and even more that the school subjects part of the Academy had been reduced to just two hours a day.

  ‘We will have to catch up on your classes after the big game,’ said Luce, ‘but we will be able to bring some maths, science, geography – even history – into your learning about football.

  ‘But today I’ve invited Mr St Vincent to join us, and he will talk to you about something which is one of the most important things in cricket and is also vital to a good footballer. But I’ll let him explain.’

  The tiny West Indian walked in and sat on the edge of the large table which stood at the top of the room. Craig and Ajit exchanged a grin as the coach’s short legs dangled above the floor.

  ‘Decisions, decisions,’ he smiled. ‘I suppose I had to make many thousands of them every game I ever played. Good decision-making is the key to being a good cricketer.

  ‘As a batsman, you even need to decide how and where exactly you’re going to stand. You need to make decisions based on how the bowler grips the ball, where he delivers it from, where and how high it bounces, the angle it is coming at you from, and then you must decide where you want to hit the ball, whether to defend, or attack. And many, many other factors come into it, such as where the fielders are standing, and wind, and distance to the rope. And then you must decide whether to run or not, and how many times too.

  ‘And … you must decide all these things in less than half a second. Doubts about any of these decisions can be fatal, in cricket terms, and then you lose your wicket.

  ‘Now, lots of these decisions are based on experience, on years of preparing for that moment so your instinct takes over and you know just what to do without having to think about it.

  ‘It’s the same in football, although I admit I was never very good at that. I did, however, once dribble the ball between a very tall central defender’s legs,’ he chuckled.

  ‘To get better at football you must be aware of the decisions you have to make and how they can affect your team. Football is a simpler game than cricket and the range of options will be smaller. Imagine having the ball at your feet – Do you pass? Who do you pass to, left or right, short or long? Do you dribble past your opponent? When do you shoot?

  ‘Entire games can swing on you making the right decision, and the very best footballers are the ones who aren’t afraid to make those decisions.

  ‘We will work on showing you when and how these key moments arise and how you should respond. It will mean a little time in here watching videos, but a lot more time outside with the Prof and a football.’

  ‘Where are we at the moment?’ asked Kim.

  Luce stepped forward. ‘Good question, Kim, because we are close to the coast of South America, off a country called Guyana. We will be able to surface shortly, and practise for a week or so before we head off to our final destination just down the coast.’

  ‘And where is that?’ asked Craig.

  ‘Well, where do you expect the most important football match in the history of Atlantis to be played? We’re heading for the home of football, the greatest soccer nation in the world …’

  Chapter 35

  The sun was high in the sky when Atlantis surfaced, and the glare was so strong it might have blinded the children had Luce not handed them each a pair of wraparound shades. The glasses had an elasticated strap to stop them from falling off, which was just as well as Joe kept falling over.

  ‘Sorry, Professor,’ he smiled, ‘I think I need a longer stud on my boots. The ground is a bit softer than usual.’ He squatted down and pushed his thumb into the artificial turf.

  Kalvin frowned and consulted his control box. ‘Hmmm. I think you’re right – but I can adjust that,’ he said.

  Joe noticed his thumb was being pushed back up as the ground dried out almost instantly. He never ceased to marvel at the wonders of Atlantis.

  ‘Look at that,’ gurgled Ajit, pointing to a large sea bird which was soaring back and forth across the island, before settling on top of the high fence that prevented footballs splashing into the sea.

  ‘That’s a Brown Booby,’ said Jess, before suddenly blushing. ‘I know, I know, I’m a bit of a nerd about birds, especially sea birds. They’re related to gannets that we see back home.’

  ‘That’s very interesting,’ said the Professor, ‘now let’s get back to business and welcome your new football coaches.’

  The football master was joined by Katrina, who had been teaching them track and field, and Deryck St Vincent. Fry, the scout who had first invited Joe, had also joined the coaching staff.

  The Professor began speaking. ‘Right, what will happen now – and every morning before the game – is that each of you will spend one hour with each of us, one-to-one, learning movement and other skills specific to football. Each of the coaches has been briefed on your particular talent and what you need to work on to turn you into excellent footballers. The rest of the morning, and all afternoon, will be spent on game play, with a one-hour wind down indoors at which we will review what we learned.

  ‘Any questions,’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, I have one,’ piped up Craig. ‘There are four coaches – but there’s five of us?’

  ‘Ah, I’m sorry,’ said the Professor. ‘There is one other person on the staff of the Sports Academy that was a top-class footballer – he even played in the Champions League for his club before injury ended his career. He has been here since Atlantis was built and I assure you he knows more about the art of goalkeeping than anyone I have ever met.

  ‘Craig, you will be working with Kalvin.’

  Craig opened his mouth, but no words came out.

  The giant handyman stepped forward, held out his hands, palms forward, and roared laughing. ‘These are the hands that stopped Bayern Munich for ninety minutes, and Manchester United too. I will do my best to make sure you stop everything Hy-Brasil can throw at you.’

  Each of the adults took one of the children to a different corner of the field, while Kalvin and Craig headed for the goal areas.

  It was hard work for the kids, especially those who had never had any previous soccer coaching, but they all learned fast and the Professor was delighted with their progress, as he told them at the review session at the end of the afternoon.

  ‘You are all going to be good footballers. Perhaps one or two of you could become very good footballers indeed. But if you all work as hard and learn as quickly as you all did today, then I think Kratos’ and Aston’s team will be waving the white flag of surrender by half-time.’

  With no homework to be done, Luce gave them the evening off and organised a screening of the latest Hollywood blockbuster in the Atlantis cinema. As he munched popcorn, Joe looked around at his team-mates – Jess was already asleep, and Ajit looked as if he was about to lose the battle with his eyelids to remain open. Craig was concentrating hard on the movie, and repeated every punch thrown by the heroes. Kim seemed to be enjoying it too, although she was laughing at all the bits that weren’t supposed to be funny.

  ‘Are we meant to take this seriously?’ she sniggered at Joe, who was sitting beside her.

  ‘I don’t know, I’m finding it hard to concentrate,’ he admitted.

  ‘Look at those guys in their leotards – which police or army in the world wears leotards to fight its enemies? So why does every superhero feel the need to wear something that makes you feel like you’re wearing hardly anything?’

  Joe shrugged. ‘I don’t think too hard about this stuff, to be honest. It’s just something to watch when we’re relaxing.’

  ‘Well, I don’t feel too relaxed,’ said Kim. ‘I’m just bored. Want to go for a walk?’

  ‘Where?’ said Joe, ‘we can’t get outside, and I’ve been down every corridor two hundred times by now.’

  ‘Follow me, I’ve an idea,’ replied Kim, leading the way out of the tiny cinema.

  She led Joe down
to the practice room and switched on the control panel. Two walking machines sprang up out of compartments buried in the floor.

  ‘OK, now, you have to use your imagination a bit, but if I switch on some of the golf course simulators…’

  She tapped a command into the computer and the walls suddenly turned from plain white to a blaze of green.

  ‘We’re now here in Augusta National, you know, where they play the Masters. It’s a gorgeous course and we can have a very nice walk looking at the lovely scenery,’ she grinned.

  Joe laughed. ‘So, we get a night off, and your idea of fun is to get back on the exercise machines and study a golf course. I can see why everyone thinks you’re going to be the biggest star of us all.’

  Kim frowned. ‘Do people say that? Honestly, I just wanted a change of scenery. We can switch off the exercise machines, I thought that would just make it seem more like we were going for a walk.’

  ‘No, no,’ said Joe, ‘let’s take a stroll around Augusta. Now, show me this place they call the Amen Corner.’

  Chapter 36

  The team spent a week practising above ground before Luce told them, one breakfast time, that they needed to move Atlantis once more.

  ‘We’ll be leaving as soon as the sun starts to set, so get a full day’s training in because we will be unlikely to be able to surface tomorrow.’

  The Professor decided to replay the first game the kids had ever played together – against himself and Kalvin. This time it was a very different story, and result. The five were much more in tune with their teammates, and their skill level had risen so that they were able to pass much more accurately and Jess had turned into a very accurate shooter. Only once did one of her shots rocket away wide and rattle the back fence, disturbing the slumber of the Brown Booby, who had seemed to have made his home on Atlantis.

  Kalvin was still very hard to beat in goal, but Jess was able to score twice and with Craig in brilliant form at the other end the game ended in a deserved draw.

  ‘Now that was a fantastic game, and a heartening improvement by each and every one of you,’ the Professor smiled.

  The kids trekked uphill into the cottage, kicking their footballs in front of them. Jess stopped to wave goodbye to the sea bird, who she had named Brian and now regarded as a lucky mascot.

  ‘I wonder where he’ll go now?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, unless he’s got a snorkel he wouldn’t want to hang around on top of that fence,’ chuckled Ajit.

  ‘He’d better shoo right now,’ said Kalvin, ‘I’ve got to slide the fence back underground to get ready for diving,’ clicking a button on the console which made the goalposts withdraw.

  ‘Can we go upstairs to the viewing room to watch the submerging?’ asked Joe. ‘I’d love to see what it looks like.’

  Luce looked at Kalvin. ‘All right, if Kalvin agrees to bring you, and you all agree to stay in the room and sit down and hold tight at all times, then you can go up there. See you downstairs for dinner afterwards.’

  After Kalvin had finished ensuring the overground part of the island was ready to submerge, he led the children to the viewing room on the top deck. They settled in and awaited the signal from the captain. Joe gazed out the window as the sun started to sink below the horizon, and the engines driving Atlantis rumbled into life.

  ‘Action stations, ready to dive,’ came the call over the loudspeaker.

  As the island gradually dropped beneath the waves, the children marvelled as the sunset rose higher in the sky as they looked out.

  ‘There’s Brian,’ gasped Jess, as the sea bird flew across the windows, twisting his head as he passed.

  ‘Yuck, his eyes are bright red,’ said Craig. ‘Is that natural?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ frowned Jess, ‘maybe it’s just the weird sunset?’

  ‘Let’s not worry about that now,’ said Kalvin, ‘hold tight, we’re about to go under…’

  And with that the island dropped underwater, with nothing left on the surface to show they had ever been there except a few scattered brown feathers.

  Chapter 37

  The children spent the next day working with the Professor on formation drills, planning for who would slip into position should one player be taken out of the game for a short time while play carried on. He also suggested some changes to their attacking formation, but left Joe to decide where and when they would be used.

  ‘Remember, I will not be out on the field with you. You will hear me shouting instructions occasionally, but I am not very keen on coaches who try to run the game from the sideline. I prefer to give you all the information and skills you require, and then to let you make your own decisions as players out on the pitch.

  ‘Our training has come together very well, and I am confident that you will be able to withstand most opponents. Certainly, any side Hy-Brasil can put out at this short notice.’

  Luce called down to see them at dinner, and after slipping them an extra treat for afters, she capped it all by telling them that this evening they would be allowed have a video conference with their families.

  It had been so long since Joe had seen his parents that he wondered did he look any different. There were no barbers or hairdressers on Atlantis, so his hair was starting to grow past the collar when he wore a polo shirt. Maybe he’d let it grow like one of those French players.

  The kids were asked not to talk about where they were now sailing, or where they had been at all on the voyage, and definitely not to tell their parents that Victor had just put up the whole island for a bet with his twin brother.

  ‘You look skinny,’ said Joe’s mother. ‘Are they feeding you at all?’

  ‘We’re getting loads of food, really nice food,’ insisted Joe. ‘But we’re doing an awful lot of running around too. Honestly, I feel great.’

  ‘I hope all that running around isn’t affecting your studies,’ said his father.

  ‘Well … we’ve been doing a bit less for the last few weeks,’ admitted Joe, ‘but honestly, we were doing plenty of school work. I’ve learnt a lot more than I would have at home – there’s only five of us in the class.’

  His dad was also keen to find out about where he was, but Joe said they’d been sworn to secrecy. They didn’t even know he was on an underwater island, which was probably just as well.

  His parents filled him in on the news from home, and how Woodstock Wanderers had been doing – not very well – but there was talk that a scout from Arsenal had been over to check Robbie out.

  Talk of Wanderers suddenly made Joe very homesick, and a lump started to form in his throat. He tried to hurry the conversation to a close.

  ‘They’re calling us for dinner now,’ he lied. ‘You know how important regular meals are, Mam.’

  They said their goodbyes, and Joe felt a tear escaping as his mother started to cry on the other end of the link.

  ‘I’ll see you soon enough,’ he called, but Kalvin had already cut the connection.

  ‘I saw you were struggling there, Joe,’ he smiled. ‘But everyone gets like that.’

  He mentioned the most famous rugby player in the world, a tough forward who would-be tacklers bounced off.

  ‘I remember when he was here – he cried every single night. It’s completely normal.’

  Joe swallowed the lump and wiped his eyes. ‘Thanks, Kalv. I don’t miss home usually, but seeing them there, and Mam’s red eyes…’ he trailed away.

  ‘Red eyes,’ he gasped.

  ‘Kalvin, can you bring me to Luce? Right now – it’s really urgent.’

  Chapter 38

  The manager’s eyes widened as Joe explained what he had seen and his theory about what it might mean.

  ‘Right, stay there, I’ll go see the captain.’

  Luce raced off to the bridge while Kalvin and Joe shrugged their shoulders.

  ‘That’s an amazing idea, Joe,’ said the giant handyman, ‘you think he could have been spying on us all week?’

  ‘I supp
ose so. He was always there. We have to get back up there to check.’

  Luce returned and told them they would be resurfacing immediately. She told Kalvin to take Joe and his classmates back to the viewing room and remain there until she came for them.

  Back in the room Joe remained silent as the rest of his team joined him. Jess rushed to portholes as soon as they surfaced, but she complained that she couldn’t see Brian the Brown Booby.

  Joe squinted his eyes to focus on the distance and could distinctly see a cluster of red lights in the same part of the sky as he had seen the drone weeks before. As soon as the island re-emerged from the water the lights seemed to grow brighter, and slightly bigger.

  ‘I think it’s coming closer,’ whispered Kalvin to Joe.

  Joe looked down at the ocean and was startled to see that a dinghy with an outboard engine had cast off from Atlantis and was making speed towards the lights.

  The rest of the team spotted it too and watched as the two men race across the waves in the little orange boat.

  ‘Can we use the binoculars?’ asked Ajit, as he took a pair down from a rack on the wall. Kalvin nodded and six pairs of eyes zoomed in on the tiny craft, although Jess soon became distracted and scanned the skies.

  ‘There’s Brian – or one of his family anyway,’ she smiled. ‘His eyes are still a bit bright though.’

  The men had travelled more than a kilometre from the island when they suddenly stopped. One man lifted something from the bottom of the dinghy and passed it to the other man who removed it from its case.

  ‘He’s got a rifle!’ called Craig. ‘What’s he going to shoot out there – there’s nothing to be seen?’