Polar Quest

‘Hydrobot is in the water,’ Nedra said. ‘She’s all yours.’

The graphical display of gauges and bar graphs on Collins’s monitor became colorfully active as the stream of real-time data began flowing in from the hydrobot.

‘All systems are up and running,’ Collins announced. ‘I’m switching on lights and camera and powering up the propulsion system.’

Halogen lights in the bow of the hydrobot illuminated the crystal-clear water as it slipped downward toward the distant lake bottom. The hydrobot’s descent slowed, then halted as the screw propeller in its tail dug into the frigid water, spinning in reverse to counteract gravity. A trio of maneuvering thrusters clustered around the hydrobot’s center of mass pivoted in response to Collins’s command and slowly rotated it like a baton.

‘Signal strength is good. The hydrobot’s responding to guidance commands,’ Collins said, the image on his screen spinning wildly.

‘Do you have to do that every time we launch?’ Nedra asked, clinching her eyes shut as she rubbed her temples. ‘You know it makes me dizzy.’

Collins brought the hydrobot to a level stop. ‘Plotting course to the next search area.’

The bow of the hydrobot dipped down and Collins piloted the submersible in a gentle sloping descent toward the bottom. Other than a few gently drifting particles, the water in the upper reaches of Lake Vostok was crystal clear – there was no wind, currents, or tide to stir things up. Through the first three hundred feet of its journey downward, the hydrobot recorded only minor temperature fluctuations in frigid water.

‘I think I see something,’ Collins announced as the hydrobot entered the search area. The clear water characteristic of the upper lake was giving way to a gray-black haze. ‘Visibility is dropping.’

Nedra looked over her husband’s shoulder. ‘Where’s the bottom?’

‘Fathometer reads about seventy-five feet of water beneath the fish. This is deeper than the surrounding area. May be a rift in the bottom. The haze looks a lot heavier than before. I think we found a smoker.’ Collins slowed the hydrobot’s descent as it reached the haze. ‘Temperature is rising, pushing into the fifties.’

‘Let’s hold here and take another water sample.’

A clear rigid pipette extended out from the bow of the hydrobot into the water, the submersible’s camera relaying the action to the station above. Inside the hydrobot, a pump drew some water into a sterile sample capsule. After the capsule was filled and sealed, the sampling system purged its lines and withdrew the pipette.

‘Damn, I wish we had that lab kit on board. It’d be nice to know if we found anything alive down there.’

‘You’ll just have to wait. We’ll know within a couple of weeks after we get home.’

When the sampling was complete, Collins resumed the descent. Sixteen feet down, the water in front of the camera cleared considerably. The hydrobot’s lights grazed the underside of the thick silty cloud suspended over the lake bottom. Particles glinted as they fell through the powerful beam of white light.

‘I’m going to maintain about thirty feet off the bottom while we take a look around,’ Collins said. ‘Water temp is now in the mid-seventies.’

‘It looks like we’re inside a snow globe.’

‘Only that’s volcanic ash, not white glitter.’

Collins moved the hydrobot forward slowly as they scanned the image of the silty bottom for any sign that life existed inside this remote, alien realm.

‘Water temp is moving up,’ Collins said. ‘There just has to be a vent close by.’

‘If you do find one, just make sure you don’t get too close or you’ll fry the electronics,’ Nedra cautioned.

‘I know what I’m doing,’ Collins snapped.

He brought the hydrobot to a stop and began turning it in a slow horizontal sweep to the right. Forty-three degrees right of his previous heading, he spotted a plume of particles billowing out of a lumpy black mass of rock that jutted up from the lake bottom like a broken fang. The ash gray landscape surrounding the smoker was mottled with patches of white.

‘Is that what I think it is?’ Nedra asked.

Collins swallowed hard, his throat suddenly feeling very tight and dry. He pushed the hydrobot forward, gliding cautiously toward the nearest field of iridescent white. As he closed the distance, details began to emerge from the indistinct mass – long, thin strands of filaments. Collins brought the hydrobot to a stop just a foot above the edge of the spaghetti-like mass. The gentle turning of the hydrobot’s maneuvering thrusters disturbed the water, rippling through the filaments like a breeze through a wheat field. Small, transparent creatures similar to jellyfish darted out of the hydrobot’s light.

‘I don’t think you need that lab kit now,’ Nedra said.

Collins’s eyes were transfixed on the digital image. ‘Send a message to the Jet Propulsion Lab: Lake Vostok is alive.’

3 JANUARY 25 Ann Arbor, Michigan

‘Is the coffee in there any good?’ Nolan Kilkenny asked as he approached the main conference room.

Loretta Quinn, executive assistant to the chairman of the Michigan Applied Research Consortium, looked up from the letter she was preparing and gave Kilkenny an annoyed look. ‘Does this look like the counter at Starbucks?’

‘No, but you’d be making a killing if it was. Maybe I should talk to the boss about leasing them some space, might be a good way to generate some extra revenue.’

‘Don’t you dare, Nolan. Knowing your father, he’d probably think it was a marvelous idea and I’d end up with a cappuccino maker next to the fax machine. There’s a fresh pot of coffee on the table, and – ’ Quinn glanced down at her notes, ‘your satellite window opens at four-forty-five, and you only have about ten minutes of air-time.’

‘Thanks, Loretta.’

Inside the conference room, Kilkenny set his files and a legal pad on the granite table and poured coffee into one of the dark blue mugs that bore the consortium’s logo. Outside the snow was steadily falling on the wooded grounds surrounding the building.

One of the files he brought with him contained the current financial projections for the biotech firm UGene. The Michigan Applied Research Consortium, known as MARC, had provided UGene with several million dollars of venture capital in exchange for a significant piece of the company. That investment paid its first dividends when Kilkenny orchestrated UGene’s initial public offering on Wall Street, a feat which turned him into a paper millionaire.

It still amazed Kilkenny how much his life had changed. Three years earlier, he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, commanding a squad of SEALs and existing on a military paycheck. Now he was crunching numbers and helping promising young companies develop their potential – and getting rich in the process.

‘It’s called snow,’ a basso profundo announced from the doorway, cutting through Kilkenny’s drifting thoughts.

‘I’m familiar with it, Oz,’ Kilkenny replied without looking. ‘I grew up here.’

‘Then you have my condolences.’

At six-foot-six and 220 pounds, Oswald Eames had the physical presence to justify a voice that broadcast in the Barry White-James Earl Jones spectrum. Kilkenny turned his chair around as Eames entered the conference room, followed by his partner, Lloyd Sutton.

‘Thanks for coming, gentlemen,’ Kilkenny said. ‘Have a seat.’

Sutton shot a nervous glance at Eames as he shed his overcoat. ‘What’s this all about, Nolan? The fourth-quarter numbers?’

‘Partly, though the numbers are fine,’ Killkenny said reassuringly. ‘I’ve got the preliminaries from our accounants and there are no surprises.’

Kilkenny handed out copies of the financial statements and quickly ran through the highlights: Bottom line, UGene was generating a modest profit – which was no small feat for a newcomer in the notoriously capital-intensive world of biotechnology. What kept UGene from burning through its IPO cash horde like one of the many over-hyped dot-coms was the total focus of Eames and Sutton on ‘bioinformatics’ – the company’s main product line, biological information. UGene specialized in parsing the genomes encoded in lengthy strands of DNA, identifying genes and proteins, and determining how they function inside living organisms.

‘Any updates on the most recent batch of patent applications?’ Kilkenny asked.

‘It’s the Wild West all over again.’ Eames’s reply masked little of his frustration. Like the work of early cartographers in the American West, what the scientists from the Human Genome Project and Celera produced was little more than the first decent map of a previously uncharted territory. The real work came in exploring this vast frontier, and biotech companies were staking claims – in the form of patents – over potentially valuable sections of genetic real estate.

The genetic gold rush was on, complete with prospectors in lab coats and outlaw claim-jumpers in dark suits armed with lawsuits and patent applications instead of six-shooters. ‘Most of our work is clear and uncontested,’ Eames continued, ‘but there are a few sequences we’re going to have to fight for.’

‘That’s why I prefer my side of the business,’ Sutton offered. ‘The patents on my work are based on inventions and processes – they’re totally unambiguous. Gene patents are a claim of ownership over a naturally occurring molecule.’

‘Are you saying we shouldn’t try to patent what Oz and his lab team finds?’ Kilkenny asked.

‘Not at all. As long as it’s legal to do so, we have to file patents on our work, if for no other reason than to prevent some company from shutting us out of a potentially profitable line of research.’

‘Lloyd and I have had this conversation before,’ Eames explained to Kilkenny, ‘usually after a couple beers when we’re both feeling philosophical.’

‘Sounds like the old debate between discovery and invention. You can’t patent the fire, but you can patent the matches.’

‘Exactly, Nolan,’ Sutton agreed.

‘Since you brought up your side of the business, Lloyd, how’s work coming on that package for NASA?’

‘Slow, but we’re getting there. The biggest problem we’ve run into is vibration. Our equipment has to withstand a launch and a jarring impact on Europa.’

‘Take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’,’ Eames summarized.

‘I sent out a unit this week to NASA for testing. We should know something in a few months.’

‘Good,’ Kilkenny said. ‘Where are we on building depth?’

‘We’ve sampled just over twelve hundred individuals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds,’ Eames replied, ‘including multiple family members, so we’re making progress on building a database of genetic norms and variations. I’m just starting to get DNA in from zoos around the country, as well as material from the agriculture firms you cut deals with, but we’re about where we expected to be with the flora and fauna side of our database.’

‘What about the Jurassic Park stuff?’ Kilkenny asked.

Sutton rolled his eyes. He hated Kilkenny’s nickname for the extinct and endangered species portion of the database. ‘We have the first few samples, with more expected to trickle in over the next few months. Sorry to say, but there’s not a T-rex in the lot.’

‘Make lousy house pets, anyway,’ Eames added. ‘Better off sticking with your dogs.’

Kilkenny checked his watch. ‘Gentlemen, thanks for the update. Now I have a little surprise for you.’

A high-definition video monitor on the wall of the conference room displayed a bright blue test screen. A moment later, square bits of a still image appeared like scattered pieces of a puzzle trying to assemble itself. The image blinked once and filled the screen as the satellite connection between MARC and the LV Research Station was established.

‘Hello from scenic Lake Vostok,’ Nedra said with a smile, Collins seated at her side. ‘How are things back in the world?’

‘Cold, and we’re getting a bit of snow right now,’ Kilkenny replied.

‘You poor boys,’ Nedra said. ‘It’s a lovely morning here. The sun is shining, just like it does all day, every day, and it’s a balmy minus forty-four.’

‘You want to trade?’ Collins asked.

‘No way,’ Eames replied. ‘Michigan is more than cold enough for me. I don’t know how you two can stand it down there.’

‘Actually, it’s very cozy,’ Nedra said. ‘I’ve even managed to get a pretty good tan.’

Nedra turned in her chair and rolled the waist of her sweatpants down just enough to reveal a tan line on her hip. Collins laughed at the embarrassed looks on the faces of the three men in Ann Arbor.

‘You’ve been sunbathing at the South Pole?’ Kilkenny asked.

‘They’ve been down there too long, Nolan,’ Eames said. ‘NASA better pull them out ASAP.’

‘When there’s no wind, the sun’s strong enough to keep you warm,’ Nedra explained. ‘It’s like spring skiing at Tahoe.’

‘Enough of this chit-chat,’ Eames said. ‘What are you bringing home for us?’

‘It better be more than a T-shirt,’ Sutton added.

‘Oh, it will be,’ Collins promised, ‘considering what you’ve invested in this project.’

Nedra looked directly at Eames and Sutton. ‘The life flourishing in Lake Vostok is far beyond anything we anticipated. We’ve got some great samples for you guys to work on. Did IPL send you any of the pictures?’

‘Yeah, just got ‘em,’ Kilkenny replied. He slid a file across the table to Eames and Sutton.

‘Jesus, that’s beautiful,’ Eames said as he spread the glossy prints on the table.

‘Cousteau would’ve been proud,’ Kilkenny agreed.

‘We loaded the last samples yesterday and the cryobot is on its way back to the surface,’ Collins said. ‘As the pictures show, there’s some pretty bizarre stuff down there, and we’ve only just started exploring this lake. I hope we can count on UGene’s continued support of this project.’

‘Once we get these first samples analyzed, I’m sure there won’t be any trouble funding a more comprehensive investigation of Lake Vostok,’ Kilkenny predicted. ‘Since NASA’s announcement in December, I’ve taken calls from several drug companies offering millions for a peek at your samples.’

‘Lloyd and I have increased the scan rate on our sequencers,’ Eames said. ‘Depending on the size of the genome, it shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to decode whatever you’re bringing back.’

‘And we’re working on some more improvements to make the process even faster,’ Sutton added.

‘I’d be even happier if you’d make your equipment smaller and lighter,’ Nedra said. ‘As you already know, space on the Europa Lander will be at a premium.’

‘We’ll do what we can,’ Sutton promised.

‘While you two are busy raising the cryobot and getting packed for the trip home, I’ll be working my way south to pick you up,’ Kilkenny announced.

‘What? You’re coming here?’ Collins asked, incredulous.

‘Yeah. Something came up and the NSF agreed to let me have a seat on one of their planes. If everything stays on schedule, I’ll be knocking on your front door in couple of weeks.’

The image on the wall monitor began to degrade.

‘Looks like our time is up,’ Kilkenny announced. ‘See you soon.’

Collins and his wife waved, then the image disintegrated and the screen turned solid blue. Kilkenny switched the monitor off. ‘It’s not every day you chat with someone at the South Pole.’

‘These photographs are amazing,’ Sutton said. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this.’

‘Twenty million years of total isolation will do that to an ecosystem,’ Kilkenny said. ‘The Galapagos Islands were never cut off like Lake Vostok.’

Eames looked up from the photos. ‘All this good news calls for a celebration. Everyone up for dinner?’

‘I’m in,’ Kilkenny replied.

‘I’ve got plans,’ Sutton said apologetically, ‘but let me make a quick call. I’m sure I’ve got time for a drink.’

They ended up at Connor O’Neill’s, a Main Street restaurant modeled after the pubs of rural Ireland. In the front corner, a live band filled the place with a rollicking ballad that incited several patrons to holler and clap along with them.

‘Evening, Oz,’ a waitress called out as they entered, her accent authentic Dublin. ‘I see you brought some friends with ya tonight. If you like, there’s an open table by the fire.’

‘Thanks, Hannah.’

‘You come here a lot?’ Kilkenny asked.

‘I’m a regular,’ Eames replied. ‘Didn’t I ever tell you I was Black Irish?’

Kilkenny considered for a moment if Eames was serious. While it was obvious that most of Eames’s lineage was African, Kilkenny had to concede the possibility that, somewhere in the scientist’s ancestry, there might be a Spanish sailor who washed up on the Irish coast after the English navy destroyed the famed Armada. ‘I guess that would make us cousins.’

Eames turned and smiled at him. ‘Glad you finally noticed the family resemblance.’

On the way back, they ordered three pints of amber ale from the bar and settled in at a table by the fireplace.

‘To Lake Vostok,’ Kilkenny offered, his pint of beer raised.

Eames and Sutton seconded the toast and drained an inch from their glasses.

‘May I join you?’ a woman asked.

Kilkenny looked up as a woman approached the table. She looked to be in her early forties, with shoulder-length blond hair and the wardrobe of a working professional. To Kilkenny’s surprise, Sutton rose and kissed the woman on the cheek.

‘Nolan, this is Faye Olson,’ he said proudly.

Kilkenny stood and shook Olson’s hand. ‘A pleasure.’

‘For me as well. Lloyd speaks very highly of you.’

Olson then turned to Eames, who remained seated. ‘Hi, Oz.’

‘Hello, Faye,’ Eames replied politely.

Olson shed her overcoat and sat at the table as Sutton flagged down a waitress for a glass of white wine. ‘So, what are you celebrating?’

‘Just some exciting new things for these two guys to work on,’ Kilkenny replied.

‘I know how good that feels. I just brought in a big historic restoration project for my firm.’

‘You got Gordon Hall?’ Sutton asked.

Olson nodded with a smile.

‘Congratulations,’ Kilkenny said. ‘I live out that way. Given the history surrounding that old place, it deserves to be restored. What are your plans?’

‘Judge Dexter built the main house in the 1840s, so that’s our key date. We’ll make some concessions for mechanical and electrical systems, things that can be hidden in the walls,’ Olson explained, ‘but the rooms and the details will be as authentic as we can make them. Right now, the house is cut up into four apartments, so all that stuff has to go, as well as a couple of houses that were built on the property during the fifties.’

‘What about the acreage?’

Olson smiled. ‘All seventy acres are included in the National Historic designation, so no developer is getting his hands on it. This was, after all, a stop on the Underground Railroad.’

‘So that view will remain unchanged?’

‘It’ll actually be improved. When we’re done, it’ll be a pristine example of a Greek Revival mansion set on a rolling meadow.’

‘Sounds like an interesting project,’ Kilkenny said, picturing in his mind Olson’s architectural vision.

‘It is,’ Olson agreed. ‘Lloyd, do you have the tickets?’

Sutton patted his breast pocket. ‘Right here.’

‘What are you seeing?’ Kilkenny asked.

‘Natalie Merchant is playing at Hill Auditorium tonight – Faye’s a big fan. We’re sitting in the main floor center.’

‘Good seats,’ Kilkenny said. ‘I saw her a few years ago. She puts on a very good show.’

Olson glanced at her watch. ‘I hate to steal Lloyd away from you, but we have dinner reservations next door and the show starts at eight.’

‘Have a good time,’ Kilkenny replied.

‘Thanks,’ Olson said. ‘Good to see you again, Oz.’

‘You, too,’ Eames replied.

As Sutton and Olson departed, the waitress returned and they ordered dinner and another round of beer.

‘I had no idea Lloyd was dating anyone,’ Kilkenny said. ‘I thought he just worked all the time.’

‘I think he learned from me that all work and no play makes Jack a lonely man.’

‘How’d you teach him that?’

Eames took another sip of his beer. ‘Faye is my ex-wife.’

‘Oh?’

‘It’s not as bad as it sounds. My divorce was final last year and they just started dating a few weeks ago. The three of us have known each other for a lot of years. I met Faye when we were undergrads at UCLA. Shook both our families up when we started getting serious, but they got over the black-white thing by the time we got married. We spent the summer after our wedding backpacking across Europe. Those were good times.’

‘If you don’t mind my asking, what went wrong?’

‘It started with grad school. Faye stayed at UCLA and I went to Stanford. Long-distance relationships suck.’

‘Yeah, they do,’ Kilkenny agreed.

‘I hooked up with Lloyd at Stanford and we started laying the groundwork for UGene,’ Eames continued. ‘After Faye finished up her master’s, she moved up to be with me and took a job with a big architecture firm in San Francisco. We shortened the distance, but we still weren’t spending enough time together. It was mostly my fault. I fell in love with my work, and a man can only have one true love at a time. By the time I earned my Ph.D., Faye was ready to divorce me. I managed to talk her into giving me a second chance.’

‘How’d you pull that off?’ Kilkenny asked. ‘I’m interested in second chances myself.’

‘It was the promise of a fresh start. After Lloyd and I finished up at Stanford, we both signed on with the Life Sciences Initiative here at Michigan. Faye hired on with a preservation firm in town and we bought our first house. Things were pretty good for about three months, then I disappeared into my work again. By the time Lloyd and I officially formed UGene, my marriage was dead.’

‘Is it weird that your partner is dating your ex-wife?’

Eames sipped his beer and thought for a moment. ‘When you put it like that it sounds like something off a daytime talk show. Look, Lloyd and Faye are both entitled to happiness, and if they can find it together, then who am I to stand in their way?’

‘Very noble. Have you gotten over her yet?’

‘What kind of question is that?’ Eames asked defensively.

‘It’s just that I recently screwed up a relationship so badly that the woman I thought I’d be going home to is training to leave the planet, and our future is one very big question mark.’ Kilkenny raised his hands up. ‘So, if I’ve crossed the line, tell me.’

‘If you’re asking whether or not I’m carrying a torch for Faye, I guess the answer is no. Our divorce wasn’t ugly and I still care for her, but I think I’ve accepted the fact that we will never be together again.’ Eames sipped on his beer. ‘So what’s your sad story?’

‘When my hitch with the navy was almost up, a friend of mine here at the U asked if I’d give her a hand with a project she was working on – an optical computer processor.’

‘Sounds like something Lloyd would like.’

‘It is. Kelsey, my friend, and I have known each other since we were kids. She was quite literally the girl next door.’

‘Your old high school sweetheart?’

‘No, back then our families were so close that it would’ve been like dating my sister. After high school, I went to the Naval Academy and was pretty much gone for about twelve years, but we kept in touch. We were just good friends up until a couple of years ago when some crazy things happened that forced us to peel back a few layers. Marriage seemed like the next logical step.’

‘There’s your mistake, mixing love and logic. Oil and water, my friend, oil and water.’

Kilkenny nodded. ‘Our problems started after the craziness was gone and things got back to normal. I know Kelsey loves me … and we both take the idea of marriage seriously.’

‘So who got cold feet?’ Eames asked.

‘She did, but it wasn’t cold feet as much as a better offer.’

‘Another guy?’

‘No, a lifelong dream. Kelsey has wanted to be an astronaut since we were kids. She’s been in the corps for a few years, and last August, she got the call. I was excited as anyone for her, until we got the bad news.’

‘What?’

‘NASA needed her to go to Houston ASAP to begin mission training with the rest of the crew. They’d work right up to launch, then she’d spend the next five months on the space station. That kind of schedule wasn’t going to leave a whole lot of time to plan a wedding, at least not the kind she had in mind.’

‘Why didn’t you two just elope?’

Kilkenny smiled grimly. ‘That’s what I suggested. Not a Vegas quickie at the Elvis chapel, but a small private ceremony. No dice.’

‘Most women have pretty strong feelings about their wedding day.’

‘So I discovered. I also learned that, according to the etiquette books, a wedding is the bride’s party and the groom is just one of the invited guests. Long story short, I misread all the signs and started a fight in which I said some truly boneheaded things to her. During the few days when she wasn’t speaking to me, she gave some serious thought to our situation and decided it would be best for both of us if we postponed our engagement until after she returned from space. After all, seventeen months is a long time to be apart.’

‘Define postponed.’

‘My current status is single and unattached. Kelsey and I parted with no conditions and no promises regarding the future.’

‘Que sera sera.’

‘Yep. Doris Day is singing the sound track to my love life.’

‘I hear you, Nolan, and if I can offer you one bit of advice, as a man whose last romantic bridge is so badly burned that there’s nothing left but ash and some tiny bits of charcoal, it’s this: Get off your ass and do something about it. Wishing won’t fix nothing between you and Kelsey, and neither will hiding from it. I wished and hid my way right out of a marriage.’

‘Any suggestions?’

Eames took a draw on his beer. ‘She’s following a dream right now, that’s good. Make damn sure she knows you support her all the way and that you’ll be waiting for her when she returns from the heavens.’

After dinner, Eames returned to his office at UGene and spent the next several hours reviewing experimental data. His radio was tuned to a campus station that was playing a Natalie Merchant retrospective in connection with the concert. Eames recalled taking Faye to see the sultry vocalist back when she fronted for 10,000 Maniacs.

Eames left his office well after midnight. As he drove toward his home, he gave into an impulse and changed direction. He entered a modest neighborhood of well-kept homes and turned onto a street called Pineview. On their first visit to Ann Arbor, Faye had fallen in love with a cute ranch house that they eventually moved into.

Passing his former home, Eames saw that it was dark and Lloyd Sutton’s car was parked in the driveway.