Steve Alten - Vostok

“Yo, Doc? Are you seeing this?”

Was it my fault the pilot had died? Should we have surfaced the moment the biologic blooped in my headphones? If only we had gone active on sonar… realized their size and numbers—

Without thinking, I pressed the red button marked ACTIVE.

Ping .

“Zachary, what are you doing?”

“Huh? Sorry. There’s something out there, I just thought … ” My eyes widened as data compiled on my screen. “It’s a biologic. Range: 1.4 kilometers to the east. Depth: 833 feet. Geez, this thing is big.”

“Another crocodile?”

“No, Ming. These waters are way too cold for Purussaurus .

Ben swore. “Any good news?”

“The good news is it isn’t coming after us.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t have let it know we’re here.”

I was about to retort when a flesh-tingling zzzzzzzzzzt sound rattled the cockpit’s dome. My stomach knotted. “I think I just screwed the pooch.”

“What was that sound?”

“We were just echolocated. Ben, kill the engine.”

“Damnit.” Ben powered down the propulsors, allowing the neutrally buoyant sub to rise slowly to the surface.

“This is Colonel Vacendak. Why have you stopped?”

“We were just echolocated by a biologic, a Miocene sperm whale.”

“Wait… that fossil we saw?”

“Easy, Ben. So far it’s staying deep.”

“But we’re not. The moment we hit the surface, the river’s current will carry us east again.”

“Dr. Wallace, the biologic is circling between you and the entrance to the bay.”

“Thank you, Colonel, we know.”

“We suggest you wait until you get closer and then accelerate past it into the bay. We can guide you into the shallows where you’ll be safe.”

I turned and looked at Ben and Ming. “It’s worth a shot.”

The Barracuda continued to rise. As it drew closer to the surface the current swept us up and carried us east at seven knots.

Another tingling zzzzzzzzzzt rattled the sub.

I listened intently on sonar. “Damn. It’s either feeding along the bottom or waiting in ambush. I can’t tell which. Twelve hundred feet until we pass over it. Hang tight, Ben.”

“Captain Hintzmann, once you’re in the bay, relinquish command and we’ll remotely guide you to your destination. No worries; we’ll see you past this little speed bump.”

“Obviously you didn’t see the size of the little speed bump’s teeth. Zach?”

“Stand by. Eight hundred feet.”

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzt .

I heard Ming cry out in the darkness.

“Three hundred feet. It’s gotta know we’re here. Ben, restart the engine but don’t hit the gas until I say.”

“Just keep in mind this monster probably has another gear, too.”

“Two hundred feet. It’s getting agitated… It just went vertical. Shit, it’s fast. Gun it!”

I clenched my teeth and cursed myself as the propeller struggled to catch water a second before the back of my head hit the seat and we shot ahead—

— the surface behind us erupting.

I turned to see a white lower jaw and abdomen rise majestically from the depths.

Livyatan melvillei… This is insane .

For a spellbound moment the hundred-ton bull whale seemed to defy gravity. Then it collapsed belly-first in the water, its tidal-wave splash crashing over our acrylic cockpit. By the time the creature attempted to echolocate us again, we had entered the tributary doing thirty knots.

Ben continued on a northerly course for another three miles before he was convinced we were sufficiently safe enough to warrant turning the sub over to Vostok Command.

“It’s all yours, Colonel.”

I grabbed for the handrail as the Barracuda rolled into a steep dive, avoiding islands of ice. We accelerated through the depths, our sonar now thankfully biologic-free.

The sub surfaced thirteen minutes later. Our night-vision glasses confirmed we were now in a bay. Ahead was a peninsula, or perhaps it was a small island; it was hard to tell, as the coastline was partially obscured by mist. A snow-covered mountain towered seven stories above sea level, its peak reaching half the distance to the ice sheet ceiling.

Two hundred yards from shore our vessel suddenly accelerated through the ice-riddled surface, heading straight for land without any signs of slowing.

“Easy, Colonel, slow down!” I tightened my harness seconds before the Barracuda skidded out of the shallows and slid into a snow drift with a teeth-rattling thud , our impact chasing off a quartet of beefy female elephant seals.

“What the hell, Vacendak!”

“Sorry, kids, but we needed to get up a head of steam to beach your craft. Dr. Wallace, this island is the source of the magnetic interference that has equalized the pressure of the ice sheet and has enabled life to flourish in this section of Vostok. Before we pilot the Barracuda to your extraction point, we need the three of you to establish a sensory array around the base of the mountain.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Colonel, you don’t seriously expect us to go outside, do you?”

“The pressure’s normal in this area of Vostok; there’s no danger.”

“Apparently, you didn’t see the size of the creatures you just scared off.”

“The Barracuda ’s exterior lights will keep them a safe distance away. I assure you, Dr. Wallace, it’s perfectly safe.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Let me rephrase that: setting up a sensory array on this island will be far safer than what you’ve already experienced. Dr. Liao, inside the storage compartment behind your seat you’ll find a duffle bag containing Extreme Weather Gear, climbing axes, boots, and backpacks for each of you. Inside each pack is eighty feet of nylon rope, night-vision goggles, a night-vision monocular lens, bottled water, a first aid kit, and a lead case the size of a small poster tube. Do not open these tubes until you arrive at each of your designated coordinates, as they contain the sensory instruments. Inside you’ll find a telescopic aluminum antenna capped by a small metal octagonal unit the size of a golf ball that will feel warm to the touch. But do not touch it; the reason it’s warm is because the exterior casing is composed of plutonium.”

“You exposed the three of us to plutonium?”

“The plutonium keeps the unit heated against the elements. I can assure you, Captain, the lead casing more than contained any harmful radiation.”

“How are these sensory units powered?” I asked.

“A radioisotope thermoelectric generator provides electricity to five sensors designed to monitor everything from atmospheric pressure changes and energy fluctuations to magnetic variations. A computer vision system will create 3-D thermal images while another instrument uses x-ray diffraction to determine the mineral composites within the asteroid impact zone.”

Ben winked as he passed me one of the neon-orange nylon backpacks, along with extreme weather pants, gloves, a hat, spiked climbing boots, and a jacket. There was also a combination magnetometer, GPS unit, and Geiger counter — all contained in a unit the size of my cell phone.

I tested the latter, just to make sure the plutonium canisters were doing their job.

We dressed quickly while the Colonel downloaded coordinates to each of our GPS units. “The first site must be established three-point-seven kilometers to the north at an elevation of seventy meters above sea level. Dr. Liao will remain at the first site while Dr. Wallace makes his way to the northwest coordinates, and Captain Hintzmann heads to the northeast. Once all three devices are powered up and the array triangulates, we’ll send a signal through your GPS units to regroup with Dr. Liao. Return to the sub, and we’ll have you at the extraction site in just under an hour. Are we ready?”