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Student's
Report:
In the summer
of 2000, a group of six students from a Florida maritime high school cruised
with NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown on a routine expedition to gather data
from the water column over the Axial Volcano off Oregon. As partial high
school credit for the experience, the students were required to write
a fictional short story that describes their adventures and knowledge
gained. It is hoped that through the creative expression of their encounters,
they learn more about themselves as well. These are samples of their work
and that of their teacher. The authors, in order are Vito Maselli, Darin
Tonks, Erik Davis , and Ted Davis. Yesterday we posted the first 2 stories,
here are the final ones:
Mysteries From the Deep
by Erik Davis
Way, Way Back
Swaying back and forth,
a pod of Ichthyosaurs were out on the hunt for some fish. The baits shimmered
with excitement as they drew the attention of the Ichthyosaurs and other
predators. Pretty soon they managed to force the schooling fish to the
surface as the waves of surging plant life hindered their movement. As
the Ichthyosaurs crashed into the fish, flying reptiles swooped down,
picking up their next unsuspecting victim. The Ichthyosaurs paid no attention
to the world around them, allowing them to become easy prey for other
larger marine animals. Suddenly, out of the deep, a dark gray figure appeared
out of nowhere. The pod of Ichthyosaurs left the trail of blood in concern
for their safety. They jetted quickly through the water often becoming
air born to gain extra speed. But the dark gray figure was still right
behind them. It took some extra force, allowing it to catch up with the
Ichthyosaurs. It was able wound one of them making it vulnerable. As the
handicapped Ichthyosaur was slowing down, the others didn't even know
their fellow companion was missing.
The wounded Ichthyosaur
had no energy to even move because so much blood had been lost. The dark
gray figure was starting to do circles around the injured Ichthyosaur.
Every rotation it was engaging closer. When close enough, the dark gray
figure moved into the cloud of blood, decapitating the wounded Ichthyosaur.
As the corpse started to float, the dark gray figure started ripping off
large chunks of meat and blubber. Above a calvary of flying reptiles were
feasting off the unwanted chunks of meat. Just then a flash lit up the
sky followed by a big bang, almost as if a huge bomb went off. Then the
water went black and all was quiet.
The Mystery
All was quiet when the
"Bait Waster" was leaving its homeport or a good day of fishing off the
coast of Washington. It was about 3am when Frank Hill left port. As he
was drinking his hot cup of coffee he stared at his fish finder. "Bingo"
said Frank. Schools of long fin tuna were near by so he set out his lines
and started to troll. zzzzzzz. "Fish on". He picked up the rod and started
to bring in the fish. zzzzzzz. "Another one". He was soon in a big school
of tuna. As the pounding of the tuna against the deck of the boat and
the blood squirting all over the place it had drawn some attention of
other animals. "One more and I have my limit". Just then a white shark
had came up and nabbed one of his tuna that he had on the line. "Oh no".
The shark started to pull out line and Frank was getting worried, for
the shark would shurley spool him. Suddenly the water started to rumble,
and the water was turning foamy. A sulfur smell was filling the air. Then
before his eyes, the shark and all of the tuna were floating up. Soon
his boat started to melt. He quickly went to the VHF and sent out a distress
call. "US Coast Guard, US Coast Guard this is the Bait Waster. I have
an emergency." "This is the US Coast Guard. What is your Emergency?" "My
boat is sinking, rather melting and all of the fish for a mile are have
vaporized." "Ok. We are sending out a chopper to come get you." "Ok. Bait
Waster out." " US Coast Guard out." Frank had no chance of getting out
of this and his boat was melting fast. As the water was seeping through
the boat, Frank was starting to pray for the forgiveness of all the sins
he had ever did for he knew that his time was coming up. Soon he was covered
in the water and as the acid burned him into vapor. The chopper arrived
at the scene just 7 minutes after Frank died. All they could see was an
up welling current that was a mile in diameter. The air reeked of sulfur.
The pilot said, " There must have been an eruption in the volcano on the
Juan de Fuca Ridge. That's probably what is causing this rotten egg smell.
Do you see the boats in distress?" The co-pilot said " No. He couldn't
have made it." As the chopper came to the launch pad a news team was already
there. As the cops held them back they shouted to the pilots. " Where's
the victim?" " Did you loose him?" " What happened to him?" As the pilots
entered in the Coast Guard building the Chief wanted to see them. " Sit
down boys. So what happened" The pilot said, "When we arrived at the scene,
we must have witnessed a volcanic eruption. We had not seen the boat or
the captain. We assumed that the eruption must have vaporized him." Well
we are going to send out NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown to go see what happened
down there. You boys are dismissed," said the Chief.
On the NOAA ship Ronald
H. Brown, all the crewmembers were celebrating a good but sad day. They
were celebrating "Doc's" last cruise on the ship, and it was also Darin's
birthday. They were all having a barbecue out on the stern deck and having
a grand old time thinking about the occasion. Then, up from the bridge,
Captain Parsons was paged to respond to an emergency. He rushed to the
bridge and demanded " What happened?" " We have a message for you on the
VHF. " This is Captain R. Parsons what's the emergency?" " This is the
US Coast Guard, we need you to go to about 300 miles Southwest of Puget
Sound. There must have been a crack in the Axial Volcano and sulfurous
vapors are threatening life in the area." " Ok we are on our way." responded
Captain Parsons.
NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown
arrived at the scene, and immediately started to lower the CTD. A CTD
measures physical and chemical characteristics of the water and can be
used the find the venting poisonous gasses. When the CTD hit bottom and
started to take samples. A prehistoric creature, larger than life seemed
to be awakened by the eruption. For two million years now it's behemoth
species have adapted to the abyss and the inexhaustible food supply of
global hydrothermal vents and giant squid. For the last few decades, its
food supplies have been scarce and its megaladon species have come upon
hard times. A lone creature was investigating what was going on. It circled
the CTD and because of the magnetic impulses emanating from the metal,
it attacked it. The confused creature crushed the whole CTD with its mouth
and started to carry it off. On top the Chief Scientist Dr. Baker was
looking at the screen and saw the CTD was no longer sending data to the
science computer. He ordered the crewman who was operating the crane to
hoist it up. As the crane pulled up the CTD, the cable stopped and then
suddenly sprang loose like a fish striking bait. When the CTD was back
on board and they saw what had occurred they were amazed. "What could
have done this?" Said one of the crewmembers. " I can't imagine."
Later that night the group
of high school students that were on board were fishing for squid. They
knew that when the CTD comes up, sharks follow it as well. That night,
Another CTD casting was made. The students were Vito, Erik, Jason, and
Darin. They were all trying their best to bring up a shark. When the CTD
came up a figure about 60 feet long appeared. Erik, who was trying to
catch baits, saw it first and called the other guys over. As soon as they
heard the word shark, they all raced over with their big rods. Erik said
" That shark was about the size of a whale." Just then the line popped
and the shark came for more. " Look, Look there it is." " Oh my god."
Vito called over one of the crewmembers to come look. " Wow that's a megaladon,
a prehistoric shark that lived here a long time ago. The shark was circling
the boat. That morning the shark was still there. The captain wanted to
get out of there but one of the Z-drive thrusters had been damaged. The
crew noticed the giant shark looked lost. "Hey I have an idea," said Erik.
Let's tie frozen squid onto the damaged CTD and try to lure him down to
the abyss where he belongs." They did and as predicted, the shark followed
it down. They released the damaged CTD and sacrificed it to the deep.
In the end, the props were repaired and the ship and crew returned. Making
a living at sea is hard and risky but there are still many mysteries to
come.
If Archaeans Could Talk
by Ted Davis
Chapter 1-Home
Bobby Olson was so excited
to get home from school he could hardly wait. Mr. Murphy, his Marine Biology
teacher had selected him to go on a field trip that was very special.
He slammed on the brakes in the driveway and almost hit the palmetto palms
that his dad had planted by the mailbox so that his native tree landscaping
would be more xeric. He grabbed his senior English and Marine Biology
books from the passenger seat, slammed the dusty door of his small pickup
truck, and bolted for the front door. The little chameleons scattered
from the sidewalk as he raced by. Bobby called loudly "Mom? Mom, are you
home?" Mrs. Olson was in the study room printing up some research she
had found about some meteorites that were found on Mt. Baker in the Cascade
Mountains. Mrs. Olson replied " I'm back here Bobby. What's all of the
excitement all about?" Bobby dropped his books and homework on the papers
that were newly printed from the Internet and exclaimed "I'm going to
sea on a NOAA oceanographic research ship. I can't believe it! Out of
all the other kids, Mr. Murphy picked me." Mrs. Olson replied "Picked
you for what?" Bobby answered "Tim Harden, John Earl, Adam Reynolds, and
I were chosen to spend sixteen days on a real science research ship. We
are going to fly to Seattle, take a ferry to Victoria, British Columbia,
and then we go out on a big NOAA ship called the Gerald H. Crown. We're
all going out to study hydrothermal vents on a real underwater volcano.
Man, I can't believe it! Can I go Ma?"
Mrs. Olsen was thoughtful
for a moment. Sixteen days was a long time to be away from her son whom
she still often thought of as her baby. Bobby was an enthusiastic young
man who loved science. He always questioned what he saw especially when
it came to animals and their environment. He loved to wonder what the
world was like when there were no people or even mammals. She thought
to herself "Well he has always wondered where life came from and how it
got here so maybe this will help him find some answers." "As far as I
am concerned Bobby, you can go but your father and I will have to discuss
it. Go do your homework for now and we'll talk later." Bobby said " Sure
mom" and he picked up his books and homework. When he did, he accidentally
took the papers that his mom had just printed. As Bobby sorted through
his homework, he came upon them. While Bobby was reading it, he thought
"Wow! Meteorites from Mars? Found on Mt. Baker? I think that's a volcano
near Vancouver. What's this? Scientists find what they think are primitive
Archaeans inside? Four billion years Old!
Chapter 2 - Victoria
It was on the jet that
the full realization of what they were doing began to sink in. Bobby was
lucky enough to have a window seat. As they neared Seattle, he could see
the majestic snow capped volcano, Mt Rainer. It was so massive that it
still had snow on it even though it was summer. Bobby thought to himself
"I remember what Mr. Murphy said about the Cascade Mountains. He said
that they were being made as the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates slipped
under Washington and Oregon and pushed up this huge mountain range. He
said that there are volcanoes up and down this entire range. Man from
up here, you can see em all!" Bobby looked over his right shoulder to
see if there were any empty seats on the other side of the plane. No one
was in window seat 21 F so he scooted over to see if he could see any
more on the other side. Sure enough, he could. Another alpine volcano,
but way off to the North. Bobby asked Mr. Murphy "What's that volcano
over there?" " It's Mt. Baker, way up in British Columbia" replied Mr.
Murphy. Bobby thought to himself "That's where they found all those meteorites.
I wonder if anyone found any more? The next thing he knew, the plane was
landing at SeaTac Airport. Mr. Murphy and the other boys loaded their
bags and were driven to a hotel near the ferry for the first night. They
couldn't go straight to Victoria because the ferry only ran in the morning.
The next day they left
the hotel and boarded the ferry. The Victoria Flyer disembarked at 0900
and was soon clipping along at 35 kts. While the boat was underway it
cruised up Hood Canal and out into Puget Sound. Bobby loved looking at
all of the big ships lined up to dock at the Port of Seattle. Soon he
could see the jagged snow covered mountains of the Olympic Range to the
west. He thought about the wild and misty green rain forests on the western
slopes with giant trees straining to be first for sunlight in an archaic
forest that probably once sheltered dinosaurs and creatures of long ago.
He thought to himself "hope it doesn't rain on us while we are out on
the ocean." and continued to watch the awesome glacially carved peaks.
As they crossed Puget Sound, they saw many ecotourist boats racing to
catch up with a local pod of Orcas that visit the San Juan Islands this
time of the year. As they entered the Port of Victoria on Vancouver Island,
the boys and Mr. Murphy saw NOAA Ship Gerald H. Crown tied up to the wharf
with men and women busily loading her with supplies. Soon the ferry stopped
but did so a little farther into the funnel shaped harbor than where the
ship was. They could see the picturesque capital city of Victoria wrapping
in all directions. The Victorian design of the buildings clearly indicated
that the engineers were of British architectural schooling. After they
went through customs, a NOAA transport car took them and their gear to
the ship.
NOAA Officer Kathy Marshall
greeted them on the wharf and showed them to their berths. A berth is
a place where a mariner drops after standing a tiresome watch. When they
wake up, they feel like they are "reborn" to face another day at sea.
We secured all of our things and soon met Captain Peterson. He explained
the things that they would be doing for the next sixteen days and then
gave us leave to visit Victoria. "Go ahead in town and enjoy your selves.
Find some souvenirs to take home to your families." The Captain said.
"Just make sure you're back by 1700. We've been challenged by the Canadian
Coast Guard to a friendly game of base ball and we would like to invite
a few of you to play on the NOAA team" he said. So off they went, wearing
their high school t-shirts with pride as they took in the sights of Victoria.
The snug little coastal city was beautiful to these Southern Florida boys.
They were used to coastal maritime tourist towns but they were happy to
be in warm sunshine with a cool sea breeze in off the Sound. Like the
old Key West town that they were used to, Victoria had plenty of "nick-knack"
stores that compete for a limited tourist season. The things that they
saw were fascinating to them but very expensive. Bobby had saved up some
money for the trip but he did not want to spend it all on junk. He thought
to himself "It has to be something special." They looked but Bobby couldn't
make up his mind. Soon Mr. Murphy said " Well boys, it's time we got back
to the ship. We don't want to miss that baseball game." Bobby began to
feel panicky and said "hey you all, I'll meet you on the field. I think
that I just spotted something that I might like." "Ok Bobby but be careful
that they don't ask too much," said Mr. Murphy. Hurry up Bobby. We all
want to stop for some fish and chips after the game" Adam shouted over
his shoulder.
Bobby watched them continue
on to the ship and turned to walk down an old and narrow street. It still
was cobbled with the original granite stones that honeycombed the Town
of a hundred years ago. There were no cars allowed and the street was
stratified with portable stands bedecked with jewelry and exotic items
poised to attract you over and bargain with the merchant about the price.
Bobby casually meandered through the forum. Soon he was attracted to a
stand that appeared as if the merchant had temporarily set it up intending
on a one-day use only. The rugged looking young man had an arrangement
of necklaces, each of which were exhibited with a variety of polished
rocks as amulets. He noticed that he had on climbing shoes. Next to him,
on the ground was a daypack full of semi precious stones. Bobby could
tell that he wasn't used to selling jewelry to fat tourists in the street
so he asked him where he found all the rocks. The young man was pleased
to talk with some one whom appeared to be interested in them so he told
him all about rock hunting in the Cascade Range. He described the adventurous
lifestyle of a mercenary geologist. He explained that he had been in the
mountains for three months now and was trying to sell some of his adornments
for some food and supplies. Bobby noticed one very unusual rock that was
reddish black yet had a smoky metallic shine. It was teardrop in form
with hundreds of tiny oval shaped patterns that covered the surface. Bobby
knew instantly that this was what he wanted. Pointing to the amulet Bobby
asked, "Where did you find this one?" The young man said, " I think that's
a meteorite. I found it up on Mt. Baker three months ago. I sold quite
a few of them to some scientists a while back. Do you like it?" Bobby
grinned and said "Yeah. How much do you want for it?" It's worth over
a thousand dollars but you can have it for a hundred," said the young
man. Bobby paid the man and told him about the trip that he was going
to go on. He wished Bobby well and smiled as he watched him put the necklace
on and then dash off to catch up with his friends. As Bobby ran, his eyes
were distracted briefly by the dashing rays of sunlight that sparkled
from his new good luck charm from space. Bobby thought to himself "A real
meteorite! I wonder if it's from Mars?"
Chapter 3 - The Ship
The morning of our departure,
the ship was bustling with excitement and anticipation. The crew was busy
making final preparations so Mr. Murphy said " Let's go out on the wharf
and take some final pictures of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains."
As they were standing there taking group shots at the opening to Victoria
Harbor, they witnessed an unusual phenomena. Mr. Murphy said "Look Boys.
Look at that wave" The Boys turned around and noticed the single wave
moving up the harbor in a crescent shape. They looked around and didn't
see any boats or ships. "That's a tidal bore." said Mr. Murphy. He explained
that it was unusual to see them and that you had to be lucky to be in
the right place, at the right time. He said that it was like a battle
between land water and seawater sparring to see who can out push whom.
He said that the sea always wins and pushes the land water back up the
river as a wave called a tidal bore. Bobby thought, " We're lucky alright.
Lucky to be standing there looking at NOAA Ship Gerald H. Crown slowly
lift as a tidal bore passes with Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains
behind it. They went back on board and the ships powerful "Z" thrusters
moved them away from the dock. The mighty Gerald H. Crown sounded her
horn with one long blast, and soon they were outward bound. The boys all
rushed to the bow with excitement in hopes of spotting a whale or perhaps
some frisky sea lions. The cold Pacific air soon "bit" into their Florida
bones and they quickly abandoned their vigil for some leeward perch that
was out of the wind. Soon that gave way to a look out spot from the ship's
portholes, sipping on one their "bottomless" cups of hot chocolate. After
a few hours went by, Mr. Murphy came by and asked them to all to come
into the ship's library for a briefing from the Chief Scientist, Dr. Banner.
The boys went to get their notebooks and quickly took their seats. Mr.
Murphy introduced Dr. Banner as an Oceanographic Scientist who is working
for NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Mr. Murphy said, "
Dr. Banner is going to tell you what we are looking for and why. He is
going to tell you what your duties are and how you will perform them."
Dr. Banner stands and thanks Mr. Murphy and turns to face the boys. He
was a man of middle age and of medium build. He was not real tall but
had a stance of a seasoned mariner. As the ship began to pitch from side
to side, his body leaned into the yaw but he maintained his balance. It
was mid afternoon by then and the typical mountain breezes were beginning
to pick up quite a sea in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The boys didn't
quite have their "sea legs" yet and were having trouble listening to Dr.
Banner. The closeness of the walls and people in the room were not apparently
moving by perception of their brains. It was being confused by contradictory
information from their inner ears. A little bubble inside the semicircular
canals could not by fooled and tells the brain that the room in moving.
This and the nerves of the muscles and joints trying to keep in balance
cause a conflict in messages resulting in motion sickness and they were
beginning to feel the effects. Dr. Banner began to speak. "In 1998, there
was a volcanic eruption at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean about 260 miles
off the coast of Oregon. We're going out there for sixteen days to gather
data after the event, two years later. We're going to drop a cylindrical
stainless steel cage Text item: Text Item 3 of 3 called a CTD rosette
down 1500 to sometimes 2700 meters to the hydrothermal vents that are
clustered around the sides of the volcano." As Dr. Banner went on, the
boys were feeling queasy and their minds drifted off. Dr. Banner explained
that "Hydrothermal vents are like geysers of super heated water that bring
minerals up from within the crustal plates at mid ocean ridges. The mineral
deposits settle around the vents and form tall chimney stacks that spew
out smoke-like water. John thought to himself "Spew? He said Spew!" John
politely excused himself and made a b-line for the head. The other boys
found themselves in a similar situation but Bobby remained fascinated
by Dr. Banner's discussion. He went on to explain about the unique ecosystem
that thrived around "black smokers." He listened as he said, "Huge leathery
pogonophoran tube worms are sessile to the mineral rich pervasive alterations
of which the smoke stacks are made of. Amazingly the whole ecosystem is
independent of the sunlit photosynthetic world. It is entirely dependent
on symbiosis and chemosynthesis." Bobby didn't understand a lot of the
words that Dr. Banner was using so he asked, "What do you mean by symbiosis?"
Dr. Banner replied in as simple terms as he could. "These worms cannot
make their own food so they must rely on something else for sustenance.
You see, these worms have red blood.a type of hemoglobin with iron in
it like ours does. The red blood captures hydrogen sulfide that comes
out of the hot water vents. Tiny bacteria-like organisms called thermophiles
live in the worm's tissue where these sulfur compounds are brought to
by the worm's blood. They biochemically change the hydrogen sulfide into
food by chemosynthesis." Bobby was absolutely fascinated by the explanation.
He responded with a "Wow!" and then he asked, "What do the thermophiles
get?" Dr. Banner explained "These thermophyles are probably some of the
oldest life forms on earth. They bear certain similarities to bacteria
and cells like ours but are different. They even have their own taxonomic
group. They are the Archaeans." Archaean was a word that Bobby recognized.
He thought of the research paper that he read at home and then he remembered
the meteorite. He grabbed the amulet around his neck and glanced at it
as he tried to listen to Dr. Banner go on about the vent community. He
wondered if those little oval patterns on his meteorite might really be
Archaeans. As Dr. Banner went on, he began to describe the details of
the scientific mission. By then the rest of the boys had rejoined the
discussion. He was saying, "We will be lowering a water sampling devise
that tells us information like conductivity, temperature, and depth. We
will use this CTD like eyes underwater. When the CTD tells us that we're
in the hot water area of the vents, we will close the sampling bottles
and bring it back up to the ship. Once we have the water in the lab, we
will filter it for particulate matter and test for trace elements like
Helium isotopes." The doctor finished the lecture and the boys all went
to their births. They quickly fell asleep but Bobby slept restlessly.
The days passed by quickly and the boys loved their experience. Sometimes
they helped the officers on the bridge while other times they helped out
with the deck crew and galley. Bobby was well liked by everyone on board
but he especially liked working in the lab with the oceanographers. His
enthusiasm showed through his diligence and soon enough he started to
help a scientist named Robin Stafford filter particles from the water
samples. Each time the CTD came up with new samples, he would run out
on deck with the science crew and drain the sampling bottles that were
attached to the rosette frame. The whole CTD was connected to a crane
by a galvanized steel cable so that it could be lowered up and down. The
sampling went on for days so long as the weather held. One day as the
CTD was being towed, an electric storm hit suddenly from the east. It
carried with it a large amount of charged particles of dust from an anomalous
continental air mass up from Mexico. The storm moved in quickly and caught
them all by surprise. Lightning strikes began to brighten the already
darkening sky. The Captain ordered the CTD to be brought up and to secure
the ship for a ride. The waves began to build and the cable strained to
race the storm. Dr. Banner signaled the CTD to close all of the bottles
so that he might salvage a little data from this tow. Suddenly as the
bottles were shutting, one of them closed on the feathery reddish crown
of one of the giant tubeworms attached to a vent. The rosette was finally
brought back on deck as the storm was passing. Just as suddenly the storm
came, so it went. It then became eerily still. Large swells still moved
in from out of the semidarkness but the ocean surface was smooth. As the
crew stood by on the deck, they witnessed a phenomenon rarely seen by
mariners. Bobby shouted, "Look at the crane! It's glowing with some sort
of green light." The eerie, luminescent green glow soon enveloped the
CTD rosette and all twenty-one of the sampling bottles. The light illuminated
the faces of every one on deck and Bobby asked, "What is it?" Dr. Banner
said, " It's St. Elmo's Fire." Huh? Tim questioned dumbfoundly. Dr. Banner
explained "Saint Elmo is believed by some to be the patron saint of maritime
travel. In this case, his guiding light is a sure sign of good luck."
John asked, "Why is it good luck?" "Because it only happens after a storm
has passed and it let's mariners know that safe passage home lies ahead."
Bobby of course asks, "How did it happen?" Dr. Banner answers "I believe
it happened because the electrically charged particles that followed that
storm excited the valence electron orbital of the oxygen atoms that are
a part of the wet crane and CTD. When their valence electrons were energized
they jumped to a higher energy level. As they lost their energy, they
went back to their equilibrium orbital and give off that luminescent light
you saw in the process. It's sort of like an Aurora Borealis on the ship."
Bobby thought to him self, "sorry I asked." It was then that he noticed
the meteorite glowing. Adam said "Bobby! Look at your necklace. It's glowing
too." Bobby stared in disbelief. He held it in his hand and closed a fist
around it. As soon as he did this, the light surrounding the meteorite
went out. As he did this, so did the light surrounding the crane and the
CTD. They all stared silently at the darkness before them. They knew that
they had just been witnesses to something strange and a chill began to
settle. Soon Mr. Murphy said, "Well come on boys. Let's help Dr Banner
get these sampling bottles inside so that he can finish filtering all
of the water in them." Inside the lab, the scientists and students were
busy draining the water from each of the bottles. The water would be filtered
and the concentrated extract was poured into a glass container with a
glass stopper. A microscope would be used later to scan it. Bobby was
draining the last bottle when suddenly something inside plugged the drain
hole. "Hey! Something's in here" said Bobby. Bobby and Robin poured the
contents into a bucket and out plopped a reddish-white blob of flesh.
"The storm must have made the CTD crash into a vent just as we signaled
the CTD to close the Niskin bottles. This one must have closed on one
of those tube worms and it's loaded with those symbiotic thermophiles."
said Dr Banner. He filtered the water from the bucket and poured the extract
into another specimen jar. He gave it to Bobby and asked him to place
it on the lab table for examination. As Bobby walked towards the bench,
he unstoppered the jar to get a better look. At that moment, a wave caused
the ship to tilt to starboard and Bobby spilled some of the contents on
his arm. Bobby quickly closed the jar with a stopper and set it down.
He wiped the goo off his arm with his bare hand like he was wiping his
nose. Instead of wiping it off, he ended up spreading it more and then
it all just disappeared. A weird itching sensation came from his arm and
he felt as if they just went right into his skin. Bobby felt tired so
he cleaned up. He soon went below to his berth to take a shower and get
some rest after a long but strange evening. Chapter 4 - Home That night
as Bobby slept, he was overcome by restless dreams again. They were strange
dreams about planets all over space. There were exotic creatures appearing
and disappearing that made him feel like he was watching time go by on
an ancient planet. Suddenly in this dream, the planet is bombarded by
asteroid collisions. When he awoke from his dream, his arm was itching
in the same spot when it just stopped. Bobby realized that he had slept
way past noon and that he probably missed lunch. When he got to the galley,
the Chief Steward Nito was there. "Sorry son, you missed it." Bobby looked
disappointed and Nito took pity on him. "Tell you what. I have some good
gumbo still warm on the stove. How about I heat you up some? It'll make
you feel great. I caught some deep water squid last night and put it in
the stock." Bobby ate the gumbo ravenously and asked for another bowl.
Next thing you know, he downed three and thanked the cook. He then went
down to the lab on the main deck. Dr. Banner helloed him and Bobby was
soon caught up in the routine of scientific date collection. Soon it got
dark outside and Bobby worked on. One by one all of the boys, Robin, and
Dr Banner went to bed not having slept till afternoon themselves. Bobby
was strangely energetic and worked on until past 2400. It was just after
the watch changed on the bridge that bobby heard the voices. They weren't
really voices as much as emotions. Something was communicating with his
brain and it was from within himself. It was a feeling of great sorrow.
The kind of feeling that you might have when you've been separated from
a close family member. Someone, who has raised you when you were young,
but was taken away from you, long, long ago. Bobby had to go out on the
deck for some air. As he walked he could not shake this feeling of sorrow.
He gazed out into the evening thinking about where he was and then he
saw his meteorite hanging on his chest. Like a bolt of lightning it came
to him. He realized that the meteorite must have come from Mars. He remembered
again the report that he had read. It all came together in his head and
he knew the truth. This time real voices came into his head. They said,
"Unite us with our ancestors son of Archaea." Bobby was not afraid. He
thought, " Unite you! But how? How can I help you? What do you want me
to do?" "Throw it," said the Archaeans. "How do you speak to me? I know
what you are saying but there is no sound." said Bobby. We have always
been a part of you. We have only awakened the part of you that we both
share. Your DNA. We want to become reunited with our ancestors as well."
said the Archaeans. "Please throw it. Throw the sleeping chamber of our
ancestors into the water so that it may sink down to our kinsmen below.
We will awaken our Archaean ancestors and we will all be united. "Bobby
looked down to the meteorite hanging on his chest and it began to glow
again. Without hesitation, he threw the amulet out into the darkness and
watched as the green light disappeared into the depths. Below him the
vents billowed blackness and the giant tubeworms waved gently in the convection
currents. The voices stopped and Bobby was overcome with a feeling of
gratitude. Somehow he felt that he was a part of that meteorite and that
it was a part of all life on earth. An earth that is a part of the universe.
A universe like a family that has come home.
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