Dave Freedman - Natural Selection

MIKE COHEN began speaking before he was even through the door. “I’ll start by telling you where else these teeth didn’t come from. They’re certainly not from anything land-based.” Teeth from land-based animals vary considerably in shape and size, and included incisors, canines, bicuspids, molars, fangs, and tusks. Teeth from water-based animals, on the other hand, tend to come in just two basic shapes, sharp cutting incisors and crushing molars. “These teeth obviously came from something that lives in the water, but that’s the only thing I can say with certainty.” He sat behind his desk. “There are a few things I think are highly likely.”

Lisa leaned forward. “OK.”

“Three comments. One, these are what we call specialized teeth; they’re designed for a specific purpose, and in this case, that isn’t playful nibbling. These teeth are designed to pierce very thick skin and internal organs. I don’t want to scare you, Lisa, but they belong to a predator, and an extremely dangerous one at that. Their curved shape is a fascinating adaptation I’ve never seen before. It would make it very difficult for any prey to wriggle away, especially if the animal has powerful jaws.

“Two, it’s highly likely there’s a second type of tooth in the mouth these came from. You found canines, which are located in the front and sides of the upper and lower jaws, very possibly in multiple rows. But I’m positive there are molars, too, because when this thing finishes killing whatever it’s caught, it’s going to need something to chew the meat. I modeled what the mouth might look like. It’s speculative, so I’m not sure, but it could even have extra-long incisors, what you’d effectively call fangs. Sort of like a tiger’s fangs, except these would be considerably sharper. I expect the total number of teeth in the mouth could easily number in the hundreds.”

“Jesus.” Lisa leaned back on her chair. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Cohen knew his stuff, inside out, and yet what he was saying wasn’t possible…. “Are you sure about all this, Mike?”

Cohen looked at her blankly. “Yeah, I’m positive.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to second-guess you.”

“No problem. Last, what you have here are baby teeth. ”

“Baby teeth?”

“I don’t know how big the adult teeth that replace them will grow. It depends on how big the mouth itself grows. But these teeth will grow larger, perhaps considerably so.” He shrugged. “Anyway, that’s all I got.”

Lisa’s right leg had gone to sleep, but she didn’t notice. She just sat there, stunned. Baby teeth. This made sense with what they’d found, of course—it fit perfectly with the notion of the newborns teething on kelp while they replaced their baby canines—but there was something very fundamental she didn’t understand: How could the rays possibly have canines? Mantas possessed just one type of tooth, huge molars, which they used exclusively for crushing shells. So how could another similar species have canines ? And if Cohen was right, if the teeth grew proportionally to the size of the mouth, a manta’s mouth… My God, Lisa thought, trying to picture it…. But it wasn’t possible. It would mean the rays they’d been tracking were predators. And that simply couldn’t be.

The phone rang, and Cohen picked up. “Half an hour? Thanks.”

“Sorry I’ve kept you, Mike.”

“Trust me, I’m glad you did.” Cohen looked annoyed, though, at something she’d said earlier.

“Mike, I didn’t mean to doubt you before. Believe me, I know you know what you’re talking about. But the implications of what you’re saying… I just don’t understand them.”

This seemed to take the edge off. Cohen shrugged casually. “Well, I’m only looking at teeth here, Lisa. I can’t really comment on ‘implications.’” His eyes shifted to the door, and she realized she’d been keeping him.

She stood. It was late in the day now, and she suddenly wanted to get going herself. “I’ll let you go. Thank you very much.” They hugged.

“No problem. I’m glad you came in. I’ll assume all of this is strictly confidential unless I hear from you otherwise. In the meantime, if you don’t mind, I’ll write up a formal report.”

“Would you mind e-mailing me a copy?”

A nod. “A draft might even be done later today.” They walked to the door.

“Any closing comments?”

“Just a word of advice.” He eyed her ominously. “Lisa, if you actually find whatever these teeth came from… Be very, very careful with it.”

“THAT’S… RIDICULOUS.”

It was sunset, and Lisa had just returned to the now-quiet San Francisco marina. After her talk with Cohen, she’d been feeling good, anxious to relay to the others what he’d said. In the back of the Expedition, she’d done so, methodically and precisely. Then Jason had belted her with the “ridiculous” comment. She didn’t respond audibly, but her blood was suddenly boiling. The man had the sensitivity of a stampeding elephant. Lisa didn’t care about the others. She was going to have it out right now with Jason Aldridge if he didn’t apologize, and fast.

“What do you mean, ridiculous ?”

“I mean it’s too much. It’s just not realistic.”

“It explains why these rays are surviving despite the plankton depletion. It’s because they don’t eat plankton. Not with teeth like that.”

“That may be, but I’d still like to speak with this Mike Cohen myself.”

“Forget it.”

“What’s the big deal, Lisa? I just want to check what he said.”

“ Check what he said? Why? Because I got it wrong?”

“Of course not. I just want to go over it.”

“Absolutely not. I won’t have you embarrass me in front of a colleague like that.”

“Come on, just give me his number.”

“I said no!! Jesus, will you just trust somebody else for a change?!”

This was a neutron bomb. In the silence that followed, everyone looked embarrassed. Darryl, Monique, Craig, and Phil all turned away. Even Jason looked disturbed. Besides Lisa’s visible anger, he thought she somehow looked… sad.

No one said anything. They all just stood there, stunned.

Then Monique cleared her throat. Whatever the problem was, these two had to work it out by themselves. “Jason, Lisa. Excuse me. The rest of us are going to start dinner downstairs. Guys?”

Darryl turned to follow her, but Phil and Craig didn’t budge; they wanted to see a brawl. Then Darryl smacked them, and they all shuffled downstairs.

Alone, Jason and Lisa stood silently. Neither said anything. They noticed a nearby yacht, barbecuers talking quietly over their food. A few seconds ticked past.

“Sorry I upset you,” Jason said after a moment.

Lisa shook her head. “Whatever.”

“Really, Lisa, I’m sorry. It’s just that—” He stopped talking.

“What?”

“Can I just see a few of those teeth?”

“You’ll give them back?”

A smile. “Yeah.”

She handed him a few, and he raised one, studying it against the sunset. “Baby teeth. It just doesn’t make sense that these came from those rays. I mean, you know as well as I do that mantas can’t swim nearly fast enough to catch anything. If this species is their deep-sea cousin, why on earth would they need teeth like this? It doesn’t add up. You disagree?”

“No, Jason, I don’t. I’m as confused by this as you are, but Mike Cohen is an expert in the field, and I’m telling you what he said. I wish you could accept that.”

He exhaled. “I can. I’m sorry again.”

“He’s e-mailing us a written copy of his analysis. It might be on Phil’s computer already.”