She maneuvered the mechanical arm to reach around. Grasping the spear’s restraining arm, she used the hydraulics to crush it next to the stalk, and actually severed the clinging arm. Suddenly freed, the sub rocked, sank, and ripped away from the feeling tendrils.

Immediately, the spear reacted, striking viciously at the sub as it sank along the thing’s tall stem, the lower arms reaching out. As it did, the hydrophone erupted in what sounded like a ululating scream. Michaela could see the spear’s trunk vibrating in the water.

“Get us away from this,” Michaela called, as the spear began to bend toward them. “Full speed.”

Casey accelerated out beyond the spear’s reach. Michaela watched it drop behind in the rear cameras. The spine-chilling scream began to recede, morphing into a plaintive kind of peuwww peuwww call that dwarfed the musical background she’d grown used to.

“Jaim? You might want to steer clear of the spears. Uh, these really tall tree-like things. They have arms that shoot out from the trunk to grab hold of you. That’s the sound that is overloading your hydrophones.”

“Roger that. We had the same problem with the bottom growth. Several of the life-forms kept grabbing the remote arm, and others tried to attack the mechanical hand. When I pulled us back, we ripped a couple of plants out of the bottom. They’re still refusing to let go.”

“Varina? What’s your call?”

“Let’s go for another fifty meters. Give it a look-see.”

“Roger that. We’re on descent, but we’re out about twenty meters after our escape from the spear. Once you establish a position, we’ll maneuver in as closely as we can to cover you.”

“Roger that, Michaela,” Varina replied. “We’re giving it a once-over. Trying to see where there’s an opening that won’t disturb the plants so much. Okay, so plants might be the wrong word. These things are way too interactive. And it’s so weird the way they scamper along the bottom on their roots.”

“Yeah, welcome to a whole new world.”

Michaela heard the first ping from the sonar. She watched the signal grow. The thing was rising up along the sloping bottom, ascending from one hundred fifty meters. Maybe attracted by the “tree’s” distress call? Perhaps like a coyote reacted to a wounded rabbit’s vocalizations?

“We’ve got a hard contact,” Michaela said. “Coming up. One hundred twenty-five meters and rising.”

“What do you want me to do?” Casey asked.

“Position us right behind Varina’s sub,” Michaela said thoughtfully. “We’ll just go neutral buoyant, hold position, and let the thing pass. Maybe it will just ignore us if we play dead.”

“Good plan,” Casey agreed, looking at monitors as she maneuvered around, keeping a careful distance from the closest spear as she backed in toward Varina’s sub.

“Fifty meters. Everyone hold your positions. Freeze, now.”