Michaela, however, didn’t anticipate trouble. Fact was, unlike the circumstances where they’d lost Shin and Lara, no one was exposed. She could think of no place safer than being inside one of the subs. The vessels were Seascape Model 15s. They weighed tons and were constructed of steel, graphite fiber, sialon, and thick vacuum-formed drop-forged glass. Not exactly the savory mouthful of organic goodness that would appeal to any denizen of Donovan’s deep.

Michaela sat in the elevated commander’s chair behind the glass transparency in the nose, while Casey Stoner sat in the driver’s seat ahead and below. The controls were situated so that the commander was sort of piggyback with the driver’s head between the commander’s feet. Both had a complete one hundred-and-eighty-degree view. Call it the next best thing to being in open ocean.

Using her implants, Michaela interfaced directly with the submarine’s lights, diving controls, remote mechanical arms, and ballast. With a simple command, she could aim and fire the torpedo.

The main cabin behind her had additional view ports as well as workstations and seating that would accommodate an additional two occupants. For this initial run, Michaela had made the decision that it would only be the two of them. Assured as she was that this initial voyage was low-risk, she was nevertheless unwilling to place any additional personnel in jeopardy.

The others would be watching from the monitors aboard the Pod, and those with research interests would be able to make requests of the subs’ occupants if they saw anything through either of the Seascapes’ cameras that piqued their interests. Michaela suspected that group participation would be anything but limited. In fact, she suspected that once they got in position, the requests would be coming so fast and furious that she’d have to referee, or they’d never get past twenty meters.

“Ready to go?” Casey called up from the driver’s seat.

“We’re tight and charged,” Michaela told the woman as she checked the heads-up display where the sub’s systems were displayed. “Varina? Are you a ‘go’ for submersion?”

“Roger that, Director. Tight and charged.”

“Kevina, how do you read?”

“My readouts for both subs are all green. I read tight and fully charged. Telemetry is at one hundred percent. Every system on my board is a go. You’re a go for launch.”

“Let’s do this, people. Tobi, put us in the water.”

Michaela felt the vehicle shove forward on its track. Through the sub’s transparency she watched the Underwater Bay’s interior slide past. Then, at the edge of the pool, the sub’s nose dropped and Michaela felt herself tilt forward.