Ted and Theresa left their bait floating beside the smoker wall overnight. They were both up early, coffee in hand, and back down to the lab. They hopped into the console seats and zoomed the camera up on the floating bait, which now appeared white, having been boiled overnight. With the bait moving around in the current, it was hard to see if they’d had any takers.
“One observation—at this temperature, no other fish have gone after it. Those hagfish and fangtooth fish don’t get too close to the vents,” said Ted.
Theresa nodded. “Not surprised. That water’s gotta be well over a hundred, even this far from the vent. I’ve never understood how the mussels, crabs, and clams don’t cook at those temperatures.”
“Like I was telling you before, the bacterium offers some sort of protection and affects the metabolism. You’re right—you can cook clams and crabs on your stovetop at lower temperatures than they’re running around in right now out there. It’s why this research is so important to any space exploration. We always assume some carbon-based life-form needs our temperature range and breathable atmosphere to exist. If we described the atmosphere outside this ship to any scientist from thirty years ago, they’d tell you that life simply couldn’t exist under these circumstances.”
“I think that was Ian’s point—that if we’d put some of the resources we’d used for NASA into exploring the deep oceans and inner space, we’d know a hell of a lot more about our own planet.”
“Oh, jeez—not you, too,” he mumbled.
“No disrespect, Ted. I think you and Ian need to talk about this stuff. We’re down here for an entire year. You two can’t be pissing on each other every day. You just said it yourself—the research here is vital to your space programs. Our own planet may have clues you need for what your ultimate goal is. There’s no reason we can’t all work together on this.”
Ted folded his arms across his chest. “He started it.”
“What are you—five?”
“I’m just sayin’. I’ll play nice, but you tell that prick to show some respect. I’ve been to the space station and back. I’ve run space missions for other crews. Other than go fishing, what’s Ian ever done?”
“Oh my God, this is going to be a painful year,” said Theresa. “Hey! Check the monitor!”
Ted spun in his chair and watched a fluttery ribbon hover by the bait. At first they both thought it was another hagfish, but they looked closer, zooming in tight with the camera. It was definitely a tube worm that had swum out of its casing.
While in their calcareous casing, the tube worm looked like a white pipe with a feathery red plume sticking out of the end. The plumes were actually a form of gills that pulled oxygen from the seawater using hemoglobin to transport the oxygen and hydrogen sulfide to create energy. On the rare occasion a worm left its protective casing, the free-swimming creature looked like an oversized earthworm with long, wing-like flaps along each side of its body that it used for locomotion. The red plumes fluttered back over its body like a scarf in a breeze, and the eyeless, mouthless, stomachless creature flew through the water the same way its ancient cousins did a few hundred million years ago.
The two of them watched in silence as the worm swam over the bait, rubbing its body against the cooked fish.
“Start bringing in the line. Real slow,” said Ted quietly, as if the creature could hear him outside the sea lab.
Theresa pressed the button on the winch and they both watched in silence as the worm continued to dance along the surface of the bait. Although it looked smaller out of its tube, the worm was still over four feet long and perhaps as thick as Theresa’s wrist.
“Slow . . . slow . . .” whispered Ted.
“There’s only one speed, Ted. I’m keeping it as steady as I can. I’m bringing in the arm a little at a time as we go. If it senses the temperature change too fast, it’ll take off for sure.”
Ian and Mike walked over and watched from behind them. The each quietly cheered for Theresa to capture the bizarre-looking creature.
“Stop! It’s moving away!” barked Ted.
“Easy, easy . . .” coached Mike from behind her.
“Shh! Everyone just shut up! I’m getting it!” snapped Theresa. She gingerly retracted the arm back toward the ACD’s outer door. The worm had slowed its movements, perhaps because it was getting cold, but it stayed with the bait.
Mike was now standing right behind her chair, cheering her on. “That’s it, baby! That’s it! Get it inside!”
Theresa pulled the arm in as the winch finished winding up the leader, and the cameras inside the ACD showed the worm was still there. Mike slapped the button that closed the outer door without needing to be told. “You got it!” he shouted.
Theresa pumped her fists into the air and screamed, “Yes!”
Ted slapped her back in triumph. “Unbelievable! First try!”
Even Ian was smiling. “Great job, Theresa. Let’s ’ave a look!”
The four of them placed a collection tank against the seal of the inner door and began the depressurization process of the ACD tube. They watched the worm from their monitor, still dancing around the meat, although now moving slower.
“Think it’ll die outside of its tube?” asked Mike.
“Not necessarily,” answered Theresa. “But we do need to raise the temperature of the water, I think. It’s about sixty-eight in here—I think it needs to stay warmer.”
“Not sure how you can do that,” said Mike.
“We can move the collection tank to the power plant. It’s always hot in there,” said Ted.
They opened the sealed hatch on the inner door, and the worm and cooked bait poured into the collection tank along with the hot seawater. The four of them stood around the tank watching the creature rubbing against the food.
“Primitive-looking thing,” said Ian.
“Yes and no,” said Theresa. “Simple organism in some ways, yes—but it’s figured out a way to survive down here in an environment that defies convention. And I’m going to figure out how.” She smiled broadly, her excitement radiating out of her face.
The four of them were interrupted by Jessica. “Well, don’t you all look excited,” she blurted as she entered the room.
Theresa couldn’t help herself. “We are! We just captured a tube worm off the smoker! This is my dream come true for this trip. I’ll be busy for months studying this!”
“Excellent—and I’ll be busy studying all of you. Now everyone roll up your sleeves . . .”