seaQuest DSV: Fire Below by Matthew J. Costello

Author:Matthew J. Costello
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1994-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

Ernst's briefing was held in Dr. Kristin Westphalen's Science Wing.

Westphalen had already complained to Bridger that Ernst was being incredibly tight-lipped about what was going on at the Azores base.

"What are they doing down there, Nathan, that they can't tell me?" she asked Bridger, and the Captain had to reassure her that this lack of knowledge was temporary.

"I'm sure you and your science crew will be involved as much as you want to be... once we get there."

Then Westphalen, prone to snap decisions, said, "I don't like him."

Bridger almost said, Nor do I. But he took a seat while Emst prepared his downloads from the EarthNet to aid the presentation.

Besides Westphalen, Hitchcock and Ford were there, as well as Terry McShane and Akira Shimura. Bridger would have liked to have had Lucas at the briefing—but already the small conference room was crowded. No matter, Lucas would be able to pick up all the downloads and watch them as they came in...

"All set, Dr. Ernst?"

Ernst was hitting the keyboard, downloading images, maps, filmed footage that he wanted to use.

"Er—yes, now..." And Ernst turned around. "Thank you all for coming." There was a trace of an accent in his voice, only a slightly Anglicized pronunciation to some words.

Ernst looked a bit better this morning, Bridger saw. Amazing what a good night's sleep could do. "I've been asked by your Captain Bridger to provide a briefing on the hydrothermal vent area we are going to..." Ernst smiled, and Bridger saw that the scientist was an old hand at selling his scientific package to groups, probably the big-money boys, the ones who funded the exploratory mining colonies.

There was nothing the mineral and ore wildcatters liked better than a scientist who told them that this square mile on the ocean floor was where they would hit it big.

The large paper-thin gas-bubble screen behind Ernst came on, and there was a map of the South Atlantic. The image was 2-D, but the high-definition screen gave it a breathtaking realism. As Ernst talked, the image changed from a satellite photo of the ocean to increasingly tighter views.

"Hydrothermal vents have been places of intense interest on the part of the scientific community ever since their discovery in the 1980s. At that time, a number of oceanographers, including Dr. Robert Ballard—the man who found the Titanic—uncovered full-blown ecosystems that developed around the volcanic seeps. These seeps form along fault lines and fissure zones at the ocean's bottom."

The ocean photos gave way to a side view illustration showing the depth of a vent area, and an animated graphic of a submersible going down.

But that sequence was interrupted by filmed footage of the vent creatures—a sight that never failed to impress Bridger. Here were fields of giant tube worms, some stretching twenty feet or more, all tinged with a telltale pinkish color.

Monstrous albino crabs scurried in between the worms, while eyeless shrimps darted around them. Clusters of overgrown mussels dotted the landscape.

"The strange thing about these ecosystems...

Westphalen leaned close to Bridger and whispered, "The way he's talking, you'd think we weren't a research ship.

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