“Who would be so irresponsible as to let a fish like this escape into the wild? Apparently, there are others, if we are to believe the fish- ermen. We must get someone in the field immediately.”

“I agree wholeheartedly. It's evident that this white devilfish is al- ready competing with the wild species for food. Whether it can pass along its genes is another question.”

“That's what has bothered me all along about this whole issue, its unpredictability,” Throckmorton said.

Barker glanced at his watch. “What is not unpredictable is my next class, which meets in a few minutes.” He bowed slightly and shook hands with Paul and Gamay. “I'm sorry that I have to run. A pleasure meeting you.”

“Your colleague is fascinating,” Gamay said. “He looks more like a professional wrestler than a geneticist.”

"Oh yes, Frederick is one of a kind. The female students love him.

He rides a motorcycle around the city, which they think is very cool."

“Is there something wrong with his eyes?”

"You noticed the sunglasses, of course. Frederick tends toward al- binism. As you can see from his lack of complexion, he avoids the sun, and his eyes are very sensitive to light. His handicap hasn't hindered his accomplishments, though. Everything I said about his brilliance is true, though, unlike me, he is putting his expertise to work in the private sector. He'll probably become a millionaire. Anyway, we must both thank you for alerting us. I'll start immediately to put a field team together/'

“We've taken enough of your time/' Gamay said. ”Not at all. It's been a treat to talk to you. I hope we'll meet again.“ Throckmorton asked if he could copy the video. Minutes later Paul and Gamay were in a cab headed down the hill to the hotel. ”Interesting afternoon/' Paul said.

“More so than you think. While Throckmorton and I were copy- ing the tape, I asked him who Barker's employers were. I thought it wouldn't hurt to have another lead to chase down. He said the com- pany was named Aurora.”

“Pretty name,” Paul said with a yawn. “What did he say about it?” Gamay smiled mysteriously. “He said Aurora is a subsidiary of a larger company.”

Paul blinked. “Don't tell me-” She nodded. “Oceanus.”

He thought about it for a moment, then said, “I tried to look at this as if I were creating a computer graphic, but the problem is more like a kid's picture puzzle. Barker is one dot, the guys who tried to drive us off the road are another dot. If we connect the two, we can start to sketch out a picture. So our course of action is very clear.” “And what might that be?” Gamay said with skepticism. Paul gave her a lopsided grin. “We have to come up with more dots.”

NUMA 4 - White Death

23

THE LOCATION RYAN had suggested for a rendezvous was