Ian was sitting in his room reading a thick reference book on the anglerfish he had been dissecting earlier. It had been an amazing dissection. Almost all traces of the small male fish were gone, having been ingested into the female’s body. What was left was a small parasitic organism that manufactured sperm cells, which the female used at her own whim when she decided to produce eggs. When he had cut away the small male’s body from the larger female, almost all traces of its original anatomy had either been altered or completely disintegrated, yet it was still a separate living organism.
Ian jumped when Ted entered his small room unannounced.
“Can I come in?”
Ian looked up at him coolly. “You are in.”
“So I am. Listen, Ian, I came by to bury the hatchet. I spoke with Mike, and we’re on the same page now. I’d like to make peace with you and be able to work together without any animosity. We’re on the same team.”
Ian looked into Ted’s eyes, trying to see what was inside his head. “We’re fine,” he managed to say.
“I’m serious, Ian. We can help each other. We can even learn from each other.”
“You mean I could learn from you,” he said.
“You can. But I know I can learn from you as well. Like I said—we’re on the same team. Tell me about what you’re working on.”
Ian chewed the inside of his cheek and cocked his head at Ian suspiciously. “Like you care what I’m working on all of a sudden?”
“I do. I care about everything that happens on the sea lab. And the work you’re doing isn’t so far removed from mine. You’re examining a parasitic relationship. I’m studying a symbiotic relationship that may end up being parasitic. It’s all related. Now tell me about your anglerfish.”
Ian relaxed a bit. He was always excited to discuss his findings about his studies with anyone who would listen. “Pull up a chair,” he said. Ted walked over and sat in the small chair next to Ian’s bed, where he sat with his large book. As Ian was finding a page in the book, Ted poured the contents of a small vial on Ian’s pillow before carefully putting it back into his lined pocket. He smiled and feigned interest in Ian’s stupid fish.
**********
Tony had gone to the lab and showed Mike how to maneuver one of the cameras and change filters to best capture images of the various life-forms he and Theresa had been studying. When Mike and Theresa were better trained, he returned to Jess’s room, quite happy to find her still there. He walked in and quietly said, “Knock, knock . . .”
“Close the door,” she responded.