"They're coming!"
Booker, the communications officer, yelled out the news and everyone cheered. But MacInnis only smiled faintly, and he kept his eyes on the third, now exposed, arm of the station.
He saw the blip representing Rodriguez, standing guard.
"He's got balls, that one," Dell said.
"Not like some of us," MacInnis said.
"Oh, you're not holding it against me because I wouldn't play guard for you? I've seen what those things can do, MacInnis. I'm not stupid."
"No—just gutless."
"Ouch. I didn't see you volunteering to go there."
"I have to meet the seaQuest... I have to talk to them."
"I'm sure we could have found someone to pinch-hit for you."
MacInnis saw Dell look up at the tracking board. There was Rodriguez, on one side of the locked doors, and there were these other blips, gathered antlike against the electronically locked doors.
"They sure look as if they want to get out," Dell said. "Are you sure they're all contaminated... Are you sure that there aren't some people wanting to escape?"
"I'm sure."
"seaQuest has downloaded the station schema, Mr. MacInnis," Booker called out. "But there's something else."
"What—what is it?"
"We're being watched. Something's outside gathering data, scanning the station. A couple of things... probes of some kind." Booker looked over with a sick look on his face. "They're checking us out, Mr. MacInnis."
"Uh-oh, Mac," Dell said. "Hope they don't see that we have a petite problem. Wouldn't want to scare them away."
Come on, MacInnis thought. Just keep coming.
Ortiz looked at the information picked up by Junior.
Power was off in two—no, three wings of the station. Completely shut down, all power off.
Now what could be the reason for that? Whatever the reason, that was probably why they couldn't use the main sub bay. Still, it was something to tell Captain Bridger.
So Ortiz called down to the moon pool.
"There," Dr. Shimura said, fitting the communication chip into Darwin's head. "Now, how does that feel?"
The dolphin still didn't look right, his eyes wild, upset.
"Don't worry. I'll have you hooked up in a minute, and we'll find out how you're feeling, eh?"
The dolphin slapped his tail fin against the surface of the water, sending a spray up to the low ceiling of the medical center.
"Trying to water some of my bromeliads? I'm afraid they don't like saltwater, my friend."
Shimura glanced up at the screen in the corner of the lab, showing the Azores research station—their destination—and the alien terrain of the hydrothermal vent field.
"No, Darwin," Shimura said, tightening the communication harness, "I don't want to go there either..."
Bridger opened the door to the moon pool, and walked right into Terry McShane. He saw Ernst standing by one of the bays as the sea shuttle cruised into place.
"What do you think you're doing down here?" he asked.
"I'm going."
Bridger laughed. "I don't think so."
But Terry didn't smile. "Captain—" She lowered her voice. "My responsibility is to watch Ernst. That's what I'm here for—"
"No, no—that doesn't include taking you into a potentially dangerous situation."
He saw Ernst look over.
"I'll watch him for you." Bridger saw Lieutenant Tim Maklin come out of the shuttle. The sea shuttle was an awkwardly shaped submersible, looking more like a light fixture than a ship. Though it could be operated by a single pilot, it held up to thirty personnel and nearly two tons of cargo.
"You're staying, and that's it—"
"I can have Admiral Noyce tell you—"
Bridger stopped and turned. "Tell me what? Give me another damn order? You know, I knew it was a mistake to leave my island, to think that this was an opportunity to do something—"
Terry reached out for him, grabbed his hand, and squeezed it.
"It is an opportunity, Nathan. You're right. What's down there could be dangerous. And there's no one better to be going in than you. But no one's stopping you from doing your job. Please—" She squeezed his hand again. "Don't stop me from doing mine."
Maklin was helping Ernst into the shuttle.
"Nathan—you'll have to check the station. Let me watch Ernst."
"Captain—"
It was Ford's voice over the moon pool's speaker. "Captain, we're ready for shuttle launch here. We're one klick away from Azores Station."
"Nathan—it's not a favor... it's my job."
Bridger ran his fingers through his hair. "I've got to be crazy... Come on—"
He led her over to the waiting shuttle, bobbing like a bizarre children's toy.
Well, thought Dr. Westphalen, if I can't go one way... I'll go another.
She reached down and slipped a VR-goggle unit on her head. Normally, she hated the things. They were so clumsy, and she rarely felt the need to be totally immersed in the virtual images.
But Nathan had left her no choice.
She hit a key on her console, and, inside the goggles, she was suddenly surrounded by a misty gray fog.
"Of course," she said... Of course there would be nothing to see.
She hadn't released the VR probe yet.
She slipped her hands into the data gloves. She wasn't expert at using them, but she had seen Lieutenant Krieg move the VR probe effortlessly through the most delicate maneuvers.
Still, she'd have to do this herself.
The VR probe sat in a compartment that could be opened to the sea.
Westphalen pulled back on her right index finger, curling it. And the gray scene in front of her changed... as the door to the outside opened.
The water near the exterior of the ship was lit by the faint glow of seaQuest’s running lights. But Westphalen curled another finger, and the probe's bright tungsten lamp came on.
Now she could see a good twenty meters ahead... mostly the organic "snow" that constantly fell, bits of plant and animal material sinking to the bottom.
The scientist waited patiently for the sea shuttle to begin its trip.