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Adam scowled. “If the submarine fell that far, we might as well give up.”
Phoebe refused to accept this. “We could drop to fourteen thousand meters.” She turned to Bryan. “TheCormorantcould handle that, right?”
“Theoretically,” the pilot warned.
“Once at that depth, we could use our cameras and zoom in. Search what’s down below. Like we did before. Whatever’s there might explain what’s causing the Tonga’s swarm of quakes.”
Datuk nodded, while working diligently at his station. “We’ve come this far.”
From Adam’s deep frown, it looked like he wanted to argue, but he stayed silent.
Satisfied, Phoebe turned around—then flinched back in her seat, startled by movement right outside the glass. She calmed herself once she recognized it was theCormorant’s hydraulic arm. It extended out into the water.
Datuk must have taken control of it from his seat.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
The arm swung farther out. Its claws snagged something and drew it closer. It looked like a limp snake, but she recognized its smooth glistening surface. It was one of the glowing tentacles that they had spotted earlier. Only now, ripped away from its body, it had dimmed to this lifeless gray husk.
“I was hoping to test it,” Datuk explained. “To try to understand how such a species could survive at these depths, under such pressure.”
Phoebe had forgotten about the biochemist’s interest in piezophiles and their relationship to exotic biosignatures of alien life. She watched him draw the sample closer. This lifeform could certainly be consideredalien, if not in the exact context of Datuk’s research.
“What are you testing for?” Adam asked, his voice still tinged with suspicion.
“Before all this started, I had theCormorantequipped with a MinIon sequencer. It’s a new tool for genetic analysis. It requires no amplification to detect DNA or RNA. It’s sensitive enough to discern between standard and modified bases, even differentiate polypeptides from other polymers.”
“Which means what?” Adam asked.
Datuk shrugged. “The nanopore sequencer was designed to search for the rudimentary signs of biological life. Besides using it for my own genetic studies, I’ve been commissioned to test it in real-world challenges. Like under extreme pressures. And now, unfortunately, under heavy radiation. It’s all to see how the MinIon might fare as an investigative tool aboard future exploratory spacecraft.”
“To help search for biosignatures,” Phoebe said.
“Exactly.”
Adam frowned and returned to the original topic. “While you do that, we’ll proceed with Phoebe’s suggestion. Try to get our eyes on the submarine through the cameras.” He gave them all a stern look. “But we dropslowly. If Bryan believes there’s any danger, we go straight up.”
Bryan grunted his acknowledgment. “Trust me, mate. I won’t be asking for permission.”
With the matter settled, Phoebe shifted her attention fully forward. As they started to descend again, she cast another ping. TheCormorantfollowed that pulse down. On her screen, the new depth sounding appeared.
The haloes were still down there—but they had shifted positions.
She squinted at the oddity. The change was surely due to sonar ghosting.But a more troublesome worry popped into her head, especially considering the enormity of those haloes.
Is something moving down there?
35
January 24, 2:22P.M.NZDT
Pacific Ocean, six hundred miles NE of Auckland
At the bow end of theTitan X, Monk climbed over a huge red anchor. It rose twice his height and filled the small hold on the starboard flank of the massive yacht. A huge chain was spooled behind it.
He crossed to the open hatch of the anchor bay and leaned out, hoping no one noted when the door had swung open. No doubt somewhere on the bridge a warning light was likely blinking. Hopefully if any of the crew noted it, they would remain silent.
At least for a few more minutes.
