The sphere dropped down, falling gently away from the TES cable like a slightly buoyant stone. With a dull pop two panels on opposite sides of the sphere opened and locked into position. They looked like flippers. From the rear, a previously concealed compartment opened. Two propellers extended out into the water and began spinning. Having transformed into a sleek submersible, the sphere launched through the water.

A bolt of excitement shot through Connelly. TES had already performed beyond their best predictions and now the submersible was working flawlessly.

Sitting behind the controls, which looked like those of a fighter jet, Connelly thrust the control stick forward and the sphere sped up. Robert fell back into the seat next to Connelly and quickly buckled himself in. "Warn me next time you're going to do that."

Connelly hardly heard the words. Her thoughts were preoccupied with catching the pod of bio-whales. They had covered a fairly large distance in a short amount of time. Determined not to lose sight of the creatures, Connelly pushed the sphere to its max speed of thirty knots, hoping that the creatures wouldn't mind a snooping tailgater.

Within a minute, they were pulling up behind the pod, gaining on the baby and what must be its mother, a sixty-foot behemoth swimming just above. Connelly eased up on the speed and kept pace with the pod. A squeeze on her arm broke her concentration. She looked at Robert, whose face was pale. "Be careful," he said. "Please."

Connelly grunted an unintelligible response that confirmed she had heard the words, but made no indication of whether or not she would heed Robert's warning. If these creatures wanted to lose them, they could—Connelly felt sure of it. If the bio-whales saw the sphere as a food source, they would have eaten them when the sphere was dangling helplessly from the surface. Twisting her lips, Connelly began a mental brawl, one side arguing Robert's point, the other compelling her to push forward.

With a deep sigh, Connelly eased back on the speed. Robert's advice was usually wise. It pained her to not venture closer. But as she slowed, so did the pod, like they were waiting for the sphere to catch up. As if to confirm Connelly's suspicions, the baby craned its head around, a feat an Earth whale could never do, and called to them. The sound was soft and inviting, like a deep resonating coo. Connelly looked at Robert, her eyes probing for his thoughts.

"Go ahead," he said with a quick nod. "If we're going to die while making first contact with an alien species, so be it."

"We made it this far," Connelly said. "We're not going to die." With that she accelerated the sphere forward, nearing the outer edge of the pod. They bobbed up and down in the wake of the bio-whale's pulsing wing.

Robert gripped the sides of his seat. "So says you."