With the pod of whales surrounding them, the interior of the sphere transformed into a world of glowing colors. Bio-whales swam on every side, some coming closer to take a peek, some paying no attention. Connelly half worked the controls and half gaped in amazement. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she worked to avoid a collision with one of the creatures, an accident which would certainly be fatal.

The light within the sphere suddenly grew brighter and Connelly found herself navigating around the head of the largest creature. Looking back, she could see all seventy-five feet stretched out. She wondered if this was as large as the creatures grew. Maybe there are other, larger specimens? she thought.

A large black eye, the size of a cantaloupe stared inside the sphere, watching them. Connelly stared right back into the eye and saw intelligence.  A gentle moan vibrated from the creature's skull and vibrated the inside of the sphere. Connelly could feel her organs shake within her body. She wasn't sure what the noise meant. It could have been a warning, a greeting or just a grunt. But as Connelly looked into the giant's eye, she was sure it meant something. They were going to have to figure out what, someday.

"Umm, I feel ridiculous bringing this up now, but ahh, have we had the external cameras running?" Robert's voice sounded nervous.

Tension sprung into Connelly's body and panic set in before she had time to process the question. The sensation was much like the tricks her cousin Tom pulled on her when they were teenagers. He would look at her homework, license or other important document and say as seriously as he could, "You spelled your name wrong." Connelly always fell for it, feeling momentarily panicked while her mind reminded herself that it was impossible, she could never make such an obvious mistake. And even though she knew she had spelled her name right, she always double-checked after Tom left the room, just in case.

Connelly reached forward and checked the status of the external camera array. All were functioning. All were recording. Thank God.

A sudden shriek, louder than any sound Connelly had heard in her life, ripped through the interior of the sphere. Connelly and Robert both fell to the floor, clasping their hands over their ears. Even after the sound had dissipated, a constant ringing plagued her hearing. Connelly rubbed her head, clearing the confusion away. When she refocused her thoughts, something had changed.

It was dark.

Connelly pulled herself up and saw Robert searching the circumference of sphere, peering out into the pitch black water surrounding them. The bio-whales had left. Fast.

"Any sign of them?" Connelly asked.