"And the discovery of which," Connelly said, "would give us hints as to the planet's climate going back millions of years. Not only that, but the discovery of new organisms helps us to understand the world and quite often lends to major breakthroughs in other scientific fields."

"Like medicine?" Willard offered.

"Exactly," Connelly said.

"Though even I'll admit that the chance of a new drug being derived from a million year old microbe is unlikely," Robert said.

Willard smelled the aromatic coffee. "This lake...isn't it a closed ecosystem? I've seen enough conservation specials to know that bringing in foreign germs or animals usually wreaks havoc on the ecosystems without defenses. Your million year old microbes might catch the modern flu and be wiped out."

"That's two intelligent statements. Watch out, Ethan, you might just change my opinion of you. Though you're correct. That's why TES will be sterilized before melting through the ice."

Connelly chimed in. "And the exterior surface of the TES sphere, and even the TES cable are so hot that any microbes or viruses that the sphere comes in contact with on the way down will be vaporized."

"Huh," Willard said as he sipped from his coffee. "Sounds like you have all your bases covered."

"That's why we're the scientists," Robert said, "and you're the bodyguard."

"Safety specialist."

"Same thing."

"Hey," said Willard, "you two would have died like twenty times already without me here. If there's one thing I've learned about you science types, you've got all the brains in the world and no common sense. Not only do you walk into door frames and microwave metal containers—"

Robert looked over his steaming mug. "That only happened once."

"But you also believe that microbes could survive beneath this ice. You still haven't explained that to me. Your microorganisms are going to have to be beyond extreme to pull that off."

"There is one likely source of energy," Connelly said. "Given the shape of the lake, which is roughly the size of Lake Ontario, but far deeper, it's possible that there are geothermal vents heating the water and providing reduced metals and chemical nutrients. On top of that, the ice above is constantly moving, about four meters—thirteen feet—every year, providing nutrients and perhaps even ancient biological matter to the water. It is the most extreme environment on Earth, to be sure, but anything's possible."

"OK, fine," Willard said. "But why Vostok? Aren't there any other frozen lakes in the world? We're in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to do but freeze our butts off and play solitaire."

"There are seventy lakes under the ice in Antarctica, but most are much smaller than Vostok and probably have frozen solid within the past few thousand years. Vostok's size and depth make it the ideal hunting ground for microorganisms."

Willard placed his mug on the table. "So you're saying there is no other place like this on Earth?"