Felicity was rubbing her index finger on Felix’s thumb and forefinger. “Feels slippery, all right. Is that why you kept dropping your cup this morning?”

“I don’t know.” He jerked his hand away. “Let go! It’s not your business anyway.”

Felicity sat back, a frown lining her forehead as she rubbed her fingers together.

17

As the seatruck approached the island’s white sand, Yoshimura said, “Slow us down, Shin. Let’s take our time closing on the beach. Maybe follow a course parallel to the littoral? Say one hundred meters out? Give me a chance to get the UUVs in the water and get a look at what’s under the waves?”

“You got it, Yosh.”

Kalico had to brace herself on the transparency as the seatruck settled into the water, rocking as it rode the rise and fall of the swells. Shinwua steered them parallel to the beach and lowered the two drones into the water.

The depth here averaged around seven meters, visibility excellent in the crystalline water. Not more than thirty centimeters under the surface, a collection of what they called “jellyfish” were expanding and contracting as they moved slowly forward. Like the terrestrial versions, some were nearly transparent, others came in all sizes and colors. Unlike the earthly versions, these scattered as the drones approached. Created a sort of tunnel along the drone’s path. As they did, all were changing color, turning to a remarkably uniform orange-red.

Shin immediately sent the second drone deep, dropping it down through the clear water to hover a meter above the bottom. As it descended, colorful, tube-shaped creatures shot this way and that, apparently propelled by jets of water blasted out through vents at their rear.

“Three-sided,” Kalico said in instant revelation. “It’s a pattern we see on land. Trilateral symmetry. And the basic Donovanian physiology, it comes from the tube shape being used as a means of propulsion. Like quetzals who suck in air and vent it out the back. But here, it’s water.”

“And perhaps for oxygen exchange,” Yoshimura said. “They must have some equivalent of gills inside.”

“That’s where quetzals, chamois, fastbreak, mobbers, and the rest have their lungs,” Kalico agreed. “Look at the way—”

“Um, guys?” Shin called, pointing to the monitor displaying the first drone’s transmission.

Kalico shifted her gaze, tried to figure out what she was seeing. The tunnel the jellyfish had made around the UUV was contracting, becoming more of an envelope that shrank down, closing in around the UUV until the camera was blotted out.

“What just happened?” Shin asked as he worked the joystick that controlled the drone. “I’ve got nothing here. Drone’s responding despite a deteriorating signal, but it’s lost maneuverability. Like something’s grabbed hold of it.”

“The jellyfish,” Kalico said thoughtfully. “They’ve swarmed the drone. My guess, Donovan being Donovan, they’re trying to eat it.”

“What?” Yoshimura asked.