A Change of Agent

There were coconut palms dotted with slanting sunlight, a sea of blue, sunshine, sand, waves, cacti, and a young captain.

On the small volcanic island, there were only Frederick, Susan, and Lilu.

The fleet had found the Horseshoe Islands and planned to rest here for a while, establish a new base, and wait for Kamala to settle matters back home.

So Frederick had taken Susan and Lilu away to live the life of three on a small island.

The Weissen People aboard the fleet weren't surprised at all, but some of them sensed that something was a little different.

"Wow, there's a crab in the tree!"

Frederick hadn't expected Lilu to climb so fast. In the blink of an eye, she had reached the top of a coconut palm.

But, come to think of it, climbing masts was a basic skill for sailors.

"There are crabs in trees?!"

Susan had never heard of such a thing, and followed her up.

The two girls' weight bent the coconut palm over. Standing on the beach and looking at the coconut crab in front of him, Frederick said, "Let's boil it."

"Come to think of it, I think if one of you jumps down now, the other one will get flung off the tree."

Lilu and Susan exchanged glances and grinned at the same time, then jumped down.

The bent coconut palm sprang back. Luckily, Frederick had quick reflexes and caught the crab, or it would have been flung away.

That night, Frederick regretted it.

"Disgusting."

"It's like eating a steam engine."

No one had expected the crab meat to taste like machine lubricant. Even the smell was unpleasant; taking a bite was sheer torture.

"Forget it. Let's have noodles and canned food."

Frederick boiled instant noodles by the campfire and said, "My