by JK Franks
“Captain, I’m good to return to port whenever you are,” Coffee said, now leaning against a far wall.
“Got something coming toward us, moving fast,” Trondo yelled out from above. They all rushed out on deck where a massive bulge of water was being pushed by the beast, now glowing with a rhythmic pulse of angry, blue light.
Micah started to speak, then paused as each of them suddenly clutched at their heads. The sudden intense pain surpassed anything he had ever felt. Accompanying the pain was immediate nausea and a sense of absolute doom. Micah saw Nance lying on the deck nearby, her body seemed to go rigid with fear or maybe pain as the animal crossed under the boat. The horrifying, glowing beast was even worse than the sonar image…much, much worse.
Coming back to the moment was an individual journey of torment for each of the passengers aboard the luxury boat. Each found their way back through a nightmarish hell of visions, pain, and nausea. Micah seemed to recover first, then slowly, Kissa, and then the others. Coffee was out nearly a full hour and went to a bunkroom to lay down immediately. For the first time, the big soldier was encountering a battlefield where the enemy was the strongest.
“What in the fuck just happened?”
Micah looked up from the display at Nance, who was rubbing the side of her head with her fist. “According to all the scans, nothing.” He gestured to send the visual to the large monitor on the front wall.
“My guess is that it was some sort of defensive neural field generated by the creature,” Doris said, her voice full of concern.
“Are we safe, has the animal left?” Nance asked.
“Yes, for now, you are out of danger. The organism is off our scope,” Doris replied.
“I think we can all agree that Kissa was being very honest in his description of what happened. This animal was almost certainly involved in the disappearance of Thera and Kissa’s admission that he was unable to respond to the attack. Jimmy and Riley are examining a slight spike in gamma wave energy generated at the time of your incapacitation.”
“What, like telekinesis or something?” Kissa asked after rinsing his mouth from a bottled water.
Doris answered, “Something like that. We are in uncharted waters here. That animal is not something from our world. It does not belong here.”
“How do you know? It could just be a strange mutation or a cryptid…you know, something from ancient times that we just assumed went extinct,” Kissa said.
“Nothing resembling this animal’s physiology has ever been discovered,” Doris informed them. “Although, since it may be soft bodied, the fossil record is very incomplete. The real reason is that it consumed several of the aqua drones before turning its attention on the boat. One of those drones managed to take a sample of the animal’s genetic material and began transmitting it out before it was destroyed.” The display updated to showcase more data. “This is a preliminary scan showing a very different biochemistry. While it does have an unusual form of DNA, it possesses none of the traditional corresponding genetic markers of terrestrial life.”
“So…this is what, Doris? Not from here? Not carbon-based?” Micah asked.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough of a sample to make those assumptions. My guess is that it is carbon-based, but that in itself doesn’t mean it isn’t something alien to our planet. It could have developed in an alternative environment, perhaps one sealed off from the rest of the planet. Numerous instances of shadow biospheres have been discovered, although most are microbial in scale. These can have radically different biochemical and molecular processes than any currently known life.”
Doris continued, “What I am really basing this early supposition on is the lack of fossil or anecdotal evidence of anything closely resembling it. The strange biochemistry and the unusual psychometric field it was able to generate. That shows a predatory response, something it would use to hunt and kill. Any animal in our history that was able to subdue prey at a distance would have likely become an apex predator.”
Nance could only recall how similar it was to the story the man in Guyana had told them about what attacked the oil rig. This was the monster that was terrorizing the Caribbean.
36
The Cove
The director had her own agenda; she liked things that fit, things she could understand and yes—control. The country was hemorrhaging money. Rearden was battling an unknown enemy in Antarctica. Charlie was busy tracking something off the coast of Guyana. Doris had taken on a Caribbean mission as a personal favor to Cade, and now parts of it were consuming her and the science team. She knew she needed more information, more assets in the area. With most of the Talon Teams already deployed, that was going to be a challenge. Many things about this mystery were unsettling, and the fact that it might well be connected to the other missions was undeniable.
The Cove Project had been negligent in its work on marine focused tech in favor of space and terrestrial based systems, although Riley’s team of engineers were now very busy remedying that shortcoming. Doris, on the other hand, was diving into the data stream Nance’s team had collected. Something about the animal resonated an air of familiarity. Finding herself needing human perspective, she sent her avatar to the linguistics lab where Doctor Isabella Feist and Jasmine were having a spirited discussion on some topic. “Excuse me, but could I use the assistance of a human brain…or two?”
The two friends laughed. “What’s up?” Izzy asked. Doris proceeded to fill them in on the Caribbean encounter. Izzy dropped into a chair near a workstation. She had been the one curating much of the data deciphered from the original alien message and trying to assemble it into a sort of codex to help index it in a more natural language database. That seemed well in the future, but they were making progress.
“Here it is, Doris. The Dhakerri reference a number of species with advanced abilities you tag as neural transmissions. None are precisely as you describe, but an entry in one of the explorer archives shows a planet with no intelligent life forms where a predator was observed crippling a prey animal with what we might describe as a bat-like sonar. It seemed to use neural projections instead of sound waves.”
“That’s it,” Doris said. “Jaz, since you now also have the highest training of cryptozoology here, do you think any creature like this could have ever originated on Earth?”
Jaz thought for a moment. It was an intriguing question, and her initial thought was no. She mentally began going through the checklist of how such an adaptation might have emerged, how successfully would it have been, and how likely it could have stayed hidden. “If it were native to the very deep ocean, I’d put the odds at low, very unlikely, but not impossible. It’s an extreme environment, nearly totally unexplored and nearly as alien to us as another planet might be. That said, its biochemistry is another matter. If what you are saying is true, then in my mind, there are only two options. One is that it is alien to our planet, or two, it was genetically engineered.”
“That tracks with my thoughts, too. Since it seemed to show limited intelligence, mainly just hunter prey instincts, I doubt it built a starship and landed here, so I am leaning heavily toward someone making this beast,” Doris offered.
“We need a better sample, this one seems…incomplete.”
“I agree, Izzy,” the director jumped in, “but we also need to know its point of origin. Get with Jimmy; he has the scans and the data points on where it has been seen. See if you can come up with any way to detect it at a distance or narrow in the search grid. Nance and her team are mostly recovered and ready to track it if we can give them a direction.”
Riley had spent little time with Jaz, but they found themselves together in The Cove’s Earth Sciences section both looking for possible explanations of the creature’s origin. “The problem with that, Riley, is even if it were created, some sort of synthetic biology…that DNA switch had to exist first. Generic engineers are getting better at uncovering the complex inter-working of switching genes on and off, but they have
not really reached the point of designing a brand new genome,” Jaz explained.
“So, an adaptation like the neural pulse would have had to exist somewhere in its ancestral lineage?”
“Maybe. While that would be the simpler answer as to how it came to be, the fact is, a gene from another genome could work as well,” Jaz said looking through a database of genetic data.
“I’m certain I’ve never heard of any other animal possessing anything like this,” Riley responded.
Jaz nodded in agreement. “Could be something long dormant, something from very early in the evolutionary tree, but it wouldn’t necessarily have to be from an animal. Any biologic organism could be the donor.” She pointed to a rack of plants growing in another section of the lab. “At the genetic level, there are a few differences between plants and animals. However, if you go a bit deeper to the chemical level, the cells of all animals and plants contain very similar DNA. Both animal DNA and plant DNA molecules are made from the same nucleotides. A growing belief among researchers is that animals’ eyes may have evolved from specialized cells in plants, those involved in tracking the sun to improve photosynthesis. Perhaps there is a fungus or bacteria that uses something that, scaled up, could evolve into what we’re seeing.”
Riley shook her head in frustration. “Okay, so now we have to consider every plant that’s ever existed as well?”
“That will not be easy to unravel,” Jaz said. “First, we have only sampled, much less mapped out, the genomes for a fraction of the plants or animals that are alive right now. Also, new species and variants are discovered all the time. Not to mention all the billions that have preceded it, which we may never know, much less have any way to recreate genetically.”
Riley had to agree, “Sounds Herculean. So, what are our options?”
Jasmine shrugged. “I’m at a loss. Until we get more information, I’m not sure what we can do, except possibly run some computer models on how a trait like this would have emerged. What type of environment would this have been an adaptation necessary for survival?”
Riley smiled, she so enjoyed working with smart people. Just like her interactions with Doris and her childhood friends here at The Cove. The exchange was puzzling, maddeningly frustrating, if she were honest, but still, they always seemed to develop a plan to find the solution. “Well, we do have the most powerful computer in existence.” Riley grinned, pointing up. “Also, I have a theory. Since this appears to be a marine animal, what if the neural pulse is not just to stun for food? What if it is part of its sensory system? You know, how it detects or sees its environment.”
“Something like shark’s ampullae of Lorenzini?” Jaz answered. Her briefing upload had included that. “Sharks have notoriously poor eyesight. So, they have evolved a line of sensing organs forming a network of jelly-filled pores. These pores are generally in a lateral line running down the side of the fish or under the nose. These are keyed to pick up very tiny, electrical fields, primarily from living creatures nearby. Similarly, some eels have electrogenic cells that they use to stun prey, defend against predators, and we believe they use it to communicate with other eels.”
“Yes!” Riley said excitedly. “We also know that some species of porpoise use their sensing sonar to echo locate, but also to blast and stun prey fish. The possibility of a sensing organ that can also be an offensive weapon has a solid basis to explore.”
They were making progress with very little to go on, but both now believed it might be possible this creature potentially had a terrestrial point of origin. Now they just needed to narrow down the family tree, or trees, it was derived from and who might have the expertise to pull off such a feat.
37
Antarctica
His head was bobbing side to side as the heavy MARs-1 lumbered across the ice field. Cade let the rhythm of the moment take him. He had no name for what he was doing, but it was something he’d first realized he was doing while being held captive by the radicalized Islamic group, Jeish al-Sahaba. It was a coping mechanism; he was sure one of the countless doctors had described it as such. His entire body relaxed. He let go of the feeling of pain from the skirmish; he let go of the smell of smoke on his coat, the sensation of the cold windows against his cheek. Deeper, he let himself disconnect from the physical reality until all that existed was his mind in all its multi-hued colors. There were no shapes or even names, just thoughts, but this was where the collective that was Cade Rearden gathered. It was into this auditorium he laid out the mission. It was here he finally delved into what Director Stansfield’s original instructions had been.
There were too many disconnected pieces, too many loose ends for even Ace to make sense of. Still, Cade knew they were onto something. Something that someone was willing to kill to protect. That in itself was important. That meant they had rattled the right doors. He needed more data, more context, but most of all, he needed to protect his remaining team. They were in an unforgiving environment, all of them far out of their element.
A part of him felt the vehicle jerk over some disturbance on the ice field, but his heightened state of focus ignored the would-be interruption. He didn’t understand this process, but was agreeing with Doris that this was how he tapped into his subconscious mind, the intuitive part that collected all the bits and managed to somehow make sense of them. In his wakeful state, that part of him had a voice, but here it was even more capable, more insightful. One thing he was now sure of, Margaret had not been totally forthcoming in the briefing.
The transport lurched again, this time to the left; Cade’s head rattled against the thick window, but he didn’t awake. Someone wants us dead. Scientists disappeared down here, trouble in the Caribbean. That was the essence of what he had. Now, what was he looking for? What was the mission of those original scientists? Ace had the info immediately, it had been in the upload packet, ‘Magnetic Anomalies.’
What in the fuck is that? Cade wondered. He’d been brought up to speed previously on the fact that the planet’s magnetic field was not uniform. Some parts of the planet had slightly higher or weaker magnetic fields, all presumably the result of the uneven distribution of certain geologic masses, primarily, those highest in magnetic properties like iron or nickel. Ace informed him that the magnetic poles also drift quite a bit and multiple times in history had reversed polarity entirely. How does any of this help with this mission? Cade voiced internally.
Ace explained, Antarctica is a strange place, forget the cold and ice and lack of humans. First, there is an enormous geomagnetic object deep underground. Quite possibly a meteorite, maybe one as large as Oumuamua. I think the anomaly is located beneath the frozen wasteland in a place they call Wilkes Land. The area is massive, and the object is at a depth of about 2,700 feet. The ‘Wilkes Land Gravity Anomaly’ was first uncovered in 2006, when NASA satellites spotted gravitational changes which indicated the presence of a huge object sitting in the middle of a 300-mile-wide impact crater.
Damn, Cade thought.
Indeed, an impact that large would have far exceeded the one that supposedly killed the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. One possibility Doris had is that it could have been another killer, though. One much older, something called the Permian–Triassic Extinction Event, which killed 96 percent of Earth's sea creatures and up to 70 percent of the vertebrate organisms living on land.
The vehicle jerked several more times. Cade was having increasing trouble maintaining his focused state.
Ace continued, Something else that may be connected is truly bizarre. Cosmic rays are apparently being emitted from somewhere beneath the ice. That is a high-energy particle that's blasted its way through space, into the Earth, and back out again. But here’s the thing, the particles physicists know about—the collection of particles that make up what scientists call the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics—shouldn't even be able to do that.
What does all this have to do with the mission? Another massive jolt pulled Cade into full wakefulness.
“Sorry about that, mate.” Judah grinned, looking back. “The ice field gets a bit more irregular here as we’re getting to the mountains. The glaciers pile up on the peaks and well, make driving a lot more hazardous. Just one of the reasons why we usually fly in, when we decide to come here at all.”
“So, not many missions to these parts?” Cade asked, his voice sounding groggy and a bit hoarse.
“Not much, everyone now wants to drill deep ice cores out on the pack ice or determine the melt rate on the ice shelf. A few monitor the buried lakes for emerging life forms, but this part, too remote, and too little to see.”
Cade looked out at the landscape, finally detecting some rocky islands in the sea of ice. The stark contrast of brown and black to the white ground and piercing blue sky was jarring. He thought of several things from his inner session. Samuel had said something about lying unconvincingly. For some reason, that was stuck in his head. “Judah, what is the most outlandish story you’ve heard about Antarctica?”
The man gripped the wheel and smiled up into the mirror. “Oh mate, it’s a whopper.” He reached down and took a pull from a thermos of hot tea and began.
“You see, back, I’d guess around 1947, Admiral Byrd, not the earlier one, but a bloke named Richard E. Byrd, brought 4,000 sailors and soldiers down here. Most were from America, but some Brits, Norwegians, and Canadians in the mix as well. It was, in essence, an invasion of Antarctica. They called it ‘Operation Highjump.’”