Liza paced her room. It was early morning, and she was too anxious to sleep any longer. Her watch said that it was six in the morning, but she knew that the time probably wasn't right on a different planet. It was still nice to know what time it was back home, though.

They were leaving in about an hour. Everyone was still sleeping, but it would take about an hour to eat, finish any last-minute packing, get dressed, and fully wake up.

This was exciting. They were going to try to find out what had happened to Dr. Coisson. Maybe they would even find a way off of this planet. Nobody knew what would happen, but it would be an adventure no matter what.

They had found the beacon last night. They were planning on turning it on after they knew what direction to go in. Liza was still nervous, but she was sure that they knew what they were doing.

==*==*==*==*==*==

"Alright, let's go out and see if any Coissons have shown up," said Jay, opening the inside door of the airlock. They all put on their scuba gear, and went out into the ocean.

Jay swam around, and felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, and saw Cinnamon pointing to his left. There, swimming in place, was a Coisson.

The doctor's picture had been fairly accurate, but there was no way anyone could capture this magnificent animal with ink. Its pelt was sleek and black, transitioning smoothly to blue-green scales around its midsection. Its brown eyes stared at Jay, and he got a feeling that it was quite intelligent. Something about the Coisson seemed a bit off. Then he realized that it wasn't an it at all. It was a she.

Jay turned to Cinna. He pointed at the rest of the group. Go get them, he tried to say. But all that came out was bubbles. Luckily, she understood his gesture, because she nodded and swam off. The Coisson watched Cinnamon go, but switched her gaze quickly back to Jay. She seemed to want him to follow her. Not yet, Jay thought. Wait for the others.

Cinnamon swam back with Liza, Wayne, Quince, and Rachel. They all stared in wonder at the Coisson, which turned around and swam away. After a few seconds, it turned around again and looked at them. Are you coming? It seemed to ask. They swam after it. Only later did they realize that they forgot to turn on the beacon.

==*==*==*==*==*==

They had been swimming for about fifteen minutes before the Coisson led them into some plants. They looked like the Meepvines that had been in the storage room back at the base. They were very tall, and had slender leaves that swayed slightly in the current.

The Coisson seemed to know exactly where to go. It-she- wove through the plants, sometimes pushing a vine out of the way with her muzzle.

Finally, they broke through the weeds and came upon something strange: a cave. This cave only had an entrance underwater, so they swam under it, still following the Coisson, and broke the surface.

The interior of the cave was covered in strange glowing crystals in different pastel colours: yellow, pink, blue, green, orange, and purple. They emitted a strong  glow, so the whole cave was lit up. There was a large pool of water that they were in, and it connected to other, smaller tide pools that had more Coissons in them. Five more, to be exact.

They all came over, and sniffed the one that had led the crew there. They seemed friendly, and they were all different dog colours: gold, brown, and black. Then, there was a cough from the far end of the cavern. The crew pulled themselves out of the pool, and went to investigate the sound.

At the end of the cave, there was an old man. He was wearing an old scuba suit, and he looked weak. But his eyes were bright and sharp as he looked at the newcomers. Then, in a feeble voice, he said: "Hello. My name is Dr. Phil Coisson. And you are?"