Dave Freedman - Natural Selection

“So if we determine jellies are safe to eat out here, they could be safe in the aquarium and—”

“And… what ? We can restock and try to make it all work one more time?”

He looked at her blankly. “Yeah.”

“You actually believe Ackerman will pay for that at this stage?”

“If we give him something promising… yes, I do.”

She shook her head. “We have five months left on our contracts, Jason, and then we are gone —do you understand that? Gone. ”

“You don’t know that, nobody knows that.”

“ Everybody knows that except you. If the job market weren’t so awful, we’d have new jobs already.”

He hesitated, glancing at the others. “You’ve been looking?”

She paused. “ I have. I can’t speak for anybody else.”

“Then that’s your business. It doesn’t mean Manta World can’t work.”

“You’re not being realistic.”

“I don’t see it that way.”

“It doesn’t matter how you see it, it’s how Ackerman sees it.”

“Well, I still think—”

“Jason, Manta World is over ! Don’t you get that? Over!”

He hesitated, glancing at the others. They looked away, and he wondered if they agreed with Lisa. He didn’t care. “We still have a job to do, and taking food samples is a critical part of that.”

“ You could have done it if it was so important.”

“You’re the nutrition expert, Lisa!”

“And you’re the one who’s always looking over my shoulder!”

“Because you don’t do your job! And even when you do, it’s for your own personal agenda, not the team’s!”

Now it was Lisa’s turn to glance at the rest of the crew. Jason’s “personal agenda” comment had struck a nerve. But Lisa could play rough too. “You look over my shoulder because you’re a control freak who can’t trust anyone to do anything.”

“I like to make sure things are done correctly.” Jason’s voice was tight.

Lisa just shook her head. Everyone on the boat thought Jason was a control freak. He constantly checked and rechecked their work on everything. But Lisa did feel a little guilty. Jason wasn’t a bad guy, and taking jellyfish samples was indeed part of her job description.

“I’ll take a sample after Ackerman leaves, OK?”

“Don’t bother, they’re all gone now.”

She was shocked. “ All the jellyfish are gone?”

“Those mantas were hungry down there.”

Wow. A day earlier, Lisa had seen literally tens of thousands of jellies, normally enough to feed a small herd of mantas for a week.

He eyed her curiously. “What do you make of that?”

“Like you said, they must have been hungry.”

“You think it’s related to the low plankton levels?”

Darryl turned suddenly. “I thought levels had gone back up.”

Lisa shook her head. “No, that was very brief. They’ve actually gotten worse. Are the mantas still jumping out more than usual, Jason?”

A sober nod. “A lot more, actually.”

“Does that… concern you at all?”

“I wouldn’t say it concerns me exactly, but it is kind of…”

“Strange?”

“Yeah, strange.”

Many ray species, especially mantas, regularly leap out of the sea, and even Jason, who despite his recent failures was still considered a top-ten expert on the great creatures, didn’t know why. There were theories of course: to rid themselves of parasites, to evade predators, even just to have fun. Regardless, they had been leaping out much more frequently than usual. Within just the past two months, the Gulf’s mantas had been seen heaving their four-thousand-pound winged bodies out of the sea up to seven times per day, considerably more than the typical three times per week.

More strangeness in the world’s oceans, Lisa thought. Then she heard the sound of a motor in the distance and put the binoculars back to her face. “Five minutes until Ackerman.”

Craig licked his lips lecherously. “Watch for bags of money falling off the side of his boat.”

The others chuckled, but Jason turned urgently to Phil. “Borrow your laptop real quick?”

“Note time? Sure.”

As Phil trotted downstairs, Lisa rolled her eyes. Jason had been using Phil’s laptop every day for months to record his notes. Taking notes was indeed an important part of a marine biologist’s job, but as with everything else he did, Jason was beyond thorough; he was obsessive. Phil handed him a sleek black IBM, the only computer on board configured to the Expedition ’s satellite data link, and still in his wet suit, Jason began to type.

Minutes later a massive hundred-and-thirty-foot yacht motored closer at the pace of a snail. In khaki shorts and a $250 silk golf shirt, Harry Ackerman stood atop the towering helm. “Ahoy, everybody!”

They put on their best happy faces. “Ahoy, Harry!”

“Hey, Mr. Ackerman!” Phil yelled cheerily.

“Tie this, please.” Ackerman hopped on board, handing Phil a braided white nylon rope. “And hold this for me too.” It was a worn leather day planner. “Hey, Monique.”

“Hey, Mr. Ackerman, how are you?” Monique wondered why he was holding a yellow legal pad.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Ackerman had always liked Monique Hollis. She had such an easygoing nature. Lisa Barton was also quite attractive but considerably rougher around the edges. The man’s expressionless gaze swept past Darryl and Craig, then settled on Jason.

“Harry, we weren’t expecting you.”

“Hey, Jason.”

They shook hands, and Ackerman noticed Phil’s laptop on a seat. Ackerman smiled to himself. Jason was no doubt typing his notes again, before he’d even changed out of his wet suit. Ackerman loved Jason’s obsessive side, such a hard worker. Though Jason certainly wouldn’t love the reason that Ackerman was here.

“I want to discuss that sighting near Clarita further. Have you had any thoughts on that?”

Jason didn’t answer at first. His eyes simply shifted. But he looked like he had quite a few thoughts indeed.

JASON ALDRIDGE didn’t change gears easily. He was great at focusing, at working on one subject, but change had always been problematic. The five-year quest to make Manta World a reality had been his life, and the notion of ending it in failure wasn’t even conceivable. So he simply didn’t respond to Harry Ackerman’s question. He was a smart, intense guy, but the implications of the answer were beyond his comprehension.

Ackerman cleared his throat. “I said, I’d like to discuss the sighting near Clarita Island. What are your thoughts?”

The question hung in the heated, tropical air for a second time. Lisa Barton, Phil Martino, and the Hollis-Hollis-Summers triumvirate all waited. Jason just stood in his wet suit, eyeing the empty plain of blue water, his intense eyes shifting slightly. “I’m still processing it.”

Ackerman grinned. “Still processing it, huh? That sounds like double- talk to me.” He turned to Phil Martino. “You agree, Phil?”

“I sure do, Mr. Ackerman.”

Ackerman smiled wider. Phil Martino reminded him of a new puppy, the dumbest one in the litter. Darryl and Craig shook their heads in disbelief, and Ackerman continued. “Come on, work with me here, Jason. You’re an expert, and I’m trying to understand this. What do you think of the idea of a new species of ray?”

Jason looked him in the eye, respectful but not afraid. While his workaholic tendencies hadn’t given him success or riches, they had given him confidence. He feared no one. “I don’t think much of it.”

Ackerman nodded. He’d always liked Jason’s directness and total lack of fear. Sure, there were those who said he was an unambiguous failure after the aquarium debacle, but Ackerman had always thought the guy had balls. At the moment, he didn’t care.