Chapter  16
“It’s morning, everyone!” Peach was stretching her arms, the first one awake in the tank. “Today’s the day. The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we are getting out of—”
Suddenly she gasped. The tank was clean? Moments later, everyone gathered at the filter. They stared up in horror. It was a new filter—a huge, towering one. And it didn’t have any moving parts they could break—or put a pebble into!
“Boss must have installed it last night while we were sleeping,” Gill said, shaking his head, disappointed.
“The Aqua Scum 2003 is an all-purpose, self-cleaning, maintenance-free saltwater purifier.” Peach was reading a booklet that lay open on the counter.
A red laser beam shot out from the filter, sweeping the water. “Temperature eighty-two degrees,” an automated voice recited. “Ph balance normal.”
The Tank Gang looked on in amazement. Then they realized what had happened. “Curse you, Aqua Scum!” cried Gurgle.
“That’s it for the escape plan!” Bloat cried, inflating in anger. “It’s ruined!”
“What are we going to do about…” Nemo panicked. The door of the dentist’s office swung open.
“Darla!” shouted the Tank Gang. “Stay down, kid,” Gill said sharply.
A little boy walked into the waiting room with his mother. “False alarm,” Bloat said.
Nemo sighed with relief. But then, before he could move, he felt a net fall around him—a fishnet!
He was lifted up, up, up. “Gill! Help me!” he shouted. “Nemo!” Gill shouted back.
Quickly taking action, Gill swam as fast as he could over to Nemo and jumped into the net with him. With all his might, he started to swim down, in an attempt to get the net away from the dentist.
“C’mon, kid,” Gill said to Nemo. “Swim down! Swim down!”
The rest of the Tank Gang jumped into the net as well, and they all swam down as hard as they could.
Just when Nemo thought he’d gotten free from the net, Dr. Sherman trapped him inside a plastic bag filled with water.
The dentist plopped Nemo on a counter and walked away.
The Tank Gang raced to that side of the glass. “Roll, kid!” everyone told him. “Just roll! Keep going. You can do it.”
Nemo twisted around and around. It was working. Slowly, the bag was moving.
The window! He saw it on the other side of the counter. If he could make it there, it would be one jump to the harbor below.
Then Dr. Sherman grabbed the bag. “Now that would be a nasty fall,” he said, placing the bag on a tray.
Suddenly, the office door flew open. A table toppled, and a lamp shattered.
Darla had arrived.