Aubrey had greeted them at the top of the gangway and welcomed them aboard the ship. Aubrey was a slightly built man whose flighty energy, sharply pointed nose and nonstop chatter made him resemble an English sparrow. He led them to their cabin. After dropping off their bags, they headed to the mess hall. They settled at a table, and Aubrey brought them cups of tea.

“Damn, it's great to see you,” he said. “I'm really pleased you could join our project. How long has it been since we've seen each other, three years?”

“More like five,” Gamay said.

“Ouch. Much too long, in any case,” he said. “We'll make up for it on this trip. The ship's due to leave in a couple of hours. I often think of you working at NUMA. It must be fascinating,” Aubrey said in a voice tinged with envy. “My work on big swirling masses of water pales by comparison with your adventures.”

“Not at all, Hank,” Gamay said. “Paul and I would kill for the opportunity to do pure science. And from what we've read, your research affects a great many people.”

Aubrey brightened. “I suppose you're right. There will be a formal scientific orientation session tomorrow. What do you know about the phenomenon of ocean eddies?”

“Not a lot,” Gamay said. “Mostly, that the swirls are a largely unexplored scientific area.”

“Absolutely right. That's why this survey is a matter of great importance.” He plucked a napkin from its holder and produced a ballpoint pen from his pocket in a gesture the Trouts had seen on a dozen other occasions.

“You'll get to see the satellite images, but this will show you what we're dealing with. We're headed to a site close to the Gulf Stream, about two hundred miles out. This swirl is a hundred miles across, located east of New Jersey, on the edge of the Gulf Stream.” He drew an irregular circle on the napkin.

“Looks like a fried egg,” Trout said.

Trout liked to kid Aubrey about his penchant for working out scientific problems on restaurant napkins, even suggesting once that he compile them in a textbook.

“Artistic license,” Aubrey said. “It gives you an idea of what we're dealing with. Ocean eddies are basically giant, slow-moving whirlpools, sometimes hundreds of miles across. They seem to be cast off by ocean currents. Some rotate clockwise. Others move counterclockwise. They can transport ocean heat or cold, and move nutrients from the bottom of the ocean to the top, affecting weather and creating an explosion of marine life up the food chain, depending.”

“I've read somewhere about fishing trawlers working the edges of these things,” Trout said.

“Humans aren't the only predators that have discovered the biological implications of eddies.” Aubrey sketched out a few more pictures on the napkin and held it up.

“Now it looks like a fried egg being attacked by giant fish,” Trout said.