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Adam gritted his teeth.
Just enough time to write our obituaries.
Phoebe seemed unperturbed. She continued to study the life around her. She had a notebook in her lap and drew rough sketches. Over the past hour, she and Datuk had been whispering, speculating, theorizing about everything. He suspected—at least on Datuk’s part—that it was to distract from the inevitable.
Phoebe pointed to a shining swirl of hundreds of polyps. They swept past and cascaded in a complicated, coordinated dance. “That behavior looks less like theschoolingof fish and more like themurmurationof starlings.”
Datuk leaned closer. “They must be using a combination of bioluminescent patterns and sonic calls to synchronize their movements. Such behavior could explain why the species appears to be more intelligent than the average octopus. With rare exceptions, octopuses live solitary lives. Intelligence is whetted far better in a societal structure, which requires honing communication skills and cooperation.”
Adam tuned them out and sighed heavily. He turned the other way.He looked toward the dark forest and pictured the fissure back there. They had monitored it with their sonar and watched the lowermost edge close to a narrow gap. It looked like the fissure might be wider up higher, but there was no way to get through the squeeze at the bottom.
Motion drew his gaze to the edge of the black forest. Flocks of the bioluminescent creatures swirled at the fringes, darting among the trunks, as if wanting to enter but still wary of the radiation. As he stared, more and more gathered at that edge, a frustrated army of them.
“What are they doing?” Adam mumbled.
Phoebe glanced back. “What’s wrong?”
Adam swung to Bryan. “Can you spin us around?”
The Aussie nodded and boosted the thrusters to turn theCormorant. They all watched the gathering at that blackened fringe of forest.
“It looks like something’s calling to them,” Datuk said. “But they don’t dare cross the irradiated area to get there.”
Phoebe pulled up the acoustic headphones. As she listened, two deep lines creased her brow. She turned to Bryan and pointed at an earpiece. “Can you put this on speaker?”
He flipped a switch, and a low roaring filled the sphere.
A few passing polyps spun and circled back to theCormorant. Luminous eyes peered inside, studying them.
“They hear it, too,” Datuk said. “It’s clearly attracting them.”
Phoebe nodded. “Someone’s broadcasting it. From above. It must be echoing through the gap in the trench.”
“But what is it?” Adam asked. “Who’s sending it?”
Bryan pointed at a monitor to the right of his helm. “It’s coming from theTitan X. It’s accompanied by a text message.” He glanced back. “From our old shipmate Monk.”
Adam leaned over, nearly crawling atop Bryan.
The Aussie elbowed him back. “I’ll send it to all your screens.”
Adam returned to his seat and read a long missive from Monk. It told a story that went back two centuries. He was clearly trying to share as much intelligence as possible.
“Bullroarers?” Datuk said. “That’s what we’re hearing? That’s what’s agitating these creatures?”
Phoebe looked unsurprised. “The species communicate via harmonics. Maybe it’s due to the silicon in their DNA or some amplification through the crystalline structure of their coral skeletons. No matter the reason, it’s clearly a powerful tool for them.”
Adam turned as the roaring dimmed in the sphere. The sonic communication slowly faded. He pictured theTitan Xsailing away from these waters, heading for Raoul Island.
They’ve moved out of range.
Frustrated, Adam turned to the others. “Does any of this help us with our situation? Monk clearly has no idea if we’re trapped or not. He must have dispatched as much as he could, letting us know where to look for him if we ever made it out of here.”
Phoebe ignored his question and played with the sonar array, casting out pings. She leaned over Bryan and checked their positional reading and compass.
“What are you doing?” Adam asked.
Phoebe turned to him. “I know how to get out of here.”
