Michaela launched into her second helping. After the endless monotony of ration, this was pure bliss—though she and the rest were still struggling to come to terms with Port Authority’s preoccupation with hot peppers and garlic. So, what the hell if it burned the skin off her tongue? Taste was everything!

“You’ll adjust,” Raya Turnienko—the MD at Port Authority—had informed them. “And the garlic is necessary as a chelation agent for the constant exposure to heavy metals. Believe me, you’ll stay healthier for it.”

Michaela had to admit, the profusion of garlic in the lasagna wasn’t nearly as overpowering as some of the dishes Bill Martin had been serving up. Since he’d finally been turned loose in a real kitchen, the man was a marvel. Maybe Shinwua was the smartest of them all when he married the man.

The lasagna was also a celebration. Today they’d actually started their research in earnest. Schwantz had taken the first of the buoys out. Jaim Elvridge had piloted the submarine for its rather limited shakedown dive while Casey Stoner had manned the recorders and cameras to take the photos of the fantastic creatures that called the reef home. To see the stunning array of life forms was overwhelming. They had no frame of reference for the creatures and plants. No terms to describe the colors, the incomprehensible shapes. Casey had been speechless—a wonder given that she’d specialized in kelp-forest ecology and trophic systems theory.

And then there was video of the polka dots, and Kevina’s report about the torpedoes and Big Mouth Thing—whatever kind of creature that might have been. Kevina hadn’t been quick enough to get video of the deepwater leviathan.

“Wish she had,” Michaela muttered under her breath. Anything as big as Kevina described it—not to mention as fast as she claimed it to be—would be well worth further investigation.

“Have to think about how we record these missions. We need some sort of three-sixty video record.” She made a mental note to discuss it with Shinwua.

Baby steps to be sure, but the first for their exploration of Donovan’s oceanography.

She was reveling in the feeling of euphoria when Bryan Atumbo wiped his mouth, pushed his plate back, and rose from his seat. The man walked over asking, “Got a minute, Director?”

“Hey, I’ve got all night, Bryan. But I’m going back to watch that holovid that Casey took of the reef. That purple thing with a thousand eyes just can’t be for real.”