Titan 5 - Over a Torrent Sea (29 page)

“Symbiosis,” Keru observed with a touch of Trill irony. “The life up above is feeling the pain of the life below.”

“You’re more right than you know, Ranul. There’s a deeper symbiosis as well.” She moved to the wall screen and called up an image of several tiny arthropod forms, magnified thousands of times. “These are bathyplankton—the deep-sea zooplankton that Cethente sampled in the intermediate layers of the ocean, even deeper than we’d sampled them before. As you’ll recall, we were wondering why they would exist at such depths when there’s no sunlight or food to sustain them. Well, Eviku and Chamish figured that out.”

She altered the display to show the creatures alternating between two modes. “It turns out the bathyplankton have a dual biochemistry. Their life functions are based on two distinct types of organic molecules. One is the ordinary type found in the surface life and most carbon-based life forms. The other is the type found in the barophiles. At low pressures, normal life processes operate and the barophile molecules are inert, just part of their structural bracing,
which is why we didn’t register the bathyplankton’s dual life cycle before. Near the surface, they consume organic nutrients and use photosynthesis to store solar energy—making them as much phytoplankton as zooplankton.

“But eventually, if they don’t get eaten, gravity and convection currents pull them into the depths. As they sink further, their normal enzymes stop working, and they fall dormant. But then, when they get down to the dynamo layer, the pressure and temperature become great enough for their barophile biochemistry to become active.”

“But how do they stand the pressure down there?” Ra-Havreii asked.

It was practically the first thing he’d said to her since the shuttle. Fortunately, Melora didn’t have to respond directly to him. She called up a cross-section graphic, pointing to an array of small, glassy spindle shapes within them, and addressed the group. “They have an internal skeleton of silicate spicules. Up top, the spicules are loosely distributed, giving them some additional structural strength but leaving them fairly flexible. As they descend, they’re compressed further and further, the spicules coming together into a tight, geometric array that braces them against the pressure. As with the pure barophiles, the silicate framework contains and directs their molecular machinery the way cell walls do in our kind of life.”

“That’s fascinating, Commander,” Vale said, “but how does it connect the barophiles to the surface life?”

“Sorry,” Melora said. It was easy to get caught up in the wonder of this. “The critical thing is what the bathyplankton do once they’re down there. They feed on the
metals and heavy elements that are part of the saline layer’s biosphere, the residue given off by the barophiles.”

“Which they in turn consumed from the clathrates in the mantle,” Onnta said.

“Exactly. And once they’ve stockpiled on metals, they swim upward until they reach the interface with the normal ocean. Then they spread fins that let them catch convection currents that carry them back up to the surface. The barophile life functions fall dormant, they drift upward, and finally their normal life functions engage again.”

Vale’s eyes widened. “And once they’re up there, being plankton, most of them end up getting eaten by bigger critters.”

Melora nodded. “Except enough of them survive to reproduce and start the cycle over again.”

“But they’re how the metals get back up from the mantle to the upper ocean. They’re what makes it possible for life to exist on the surface.”

The Elaysian couldn’t help grinning, despite the gravity of the situation. “An entire biosphere, a whole sentient civilization—it wouldn’t exist without these tiny, invisible creatures. Chamish suspects the barophile biosphere evolved first, driven by the energy of the magnetic dynamo, and that these bathyplankton somehow developed the ability to spread up to the ocean surface and take advantage of a new energy source, sunlight. Maybe they initially relied on some kind of organic molecules that could function well at intermediate pressures and marginally at surface pressures, and eventually replaced them with molecules better suited to surface life. Finally some of them evolved
into forms that lived permanently on the surface and lost their extraneous barophile compounds, and the rest of the surface biosphere evolved from those.”

“But what matters,” Vale said, “is that the surface life depends on the barophile life for its survival.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And the barophile life is dying.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Because we thought shooting an asteroid would be a helpful thing to do.”

“Well…we did mean well.”

Vale sighed. “What exactly will happen if we don’t fix this?”

“Gradually, more and more of the barophiles will die. They’ll sink to the mantle, and there won’t be enough surviving barophiles to bring up enough clathrates. That’ll lead to a crash in the bathyplankton population, and that’ll leave the surface life with progressively worsening metal deficiencies. Meanwhile, with the magnetic field patterns permanently disrupted, the surface life will continue to behave erratically or have difficulty performing necessary tasks. Remember how on Earth, many cetaceans would beach themselves and die because the noise from human ocean vessels confused and blinded their echolocation sense?” Vale nodded, looking embarrassed. “It’s a similar principle. There’s no telling how much the Dropletians’ navigation, mating cycles, and so on could be thrown off by this. It could endanger whole species even without the excess violence this is producing among the sea life.

“In time, the contamination will dissipate; the dust will either use up its exotic charges in the dynamo layer or will
sink to the mantle, get locked in clathrates, and dissipate its charge into the ice. The surviving barophile life will recover, and there will probably be enough dormant bathyplankton left to resume the nutrient exchange with the surface. But not before there’s major loss of life on the surface, possibly even a mass extinction.”

Vale shook her head. “So with a few phaser shots and two torpedoes, we kill a whole biosphere. That’s efficient.”

“Don’t forget the antimatter canisters,” Melora replied, earning a glare.

“What about the squales?” Xin asked. “Could their biotechnology protect them?”

“If anything, I’d say it makes them more vulnerable,” she shot back. “They’re dependent on so many other species that I doubt they could weather an extinction event. Not without enormous loss of life, at any rate.”

There was a pause before Vale spoke. “Just for the sake of argument…if Riker and Lavena are still alive down there, somehow, what are their chances?”

Melora shook her head. “They’d succumb to metal deficiencies before this became an issue. If they managed to escape the crazed predators.”

Vale glared at her. “Somehow, that’s not very comforting.”

LUMBU

The landing was fairly rough, since Krotine brought the
Armstrong
in on antigravs for the last few hundred meters.
They made a water landing in one of the city’s wide canals and secured the shuttle under a bridge; luckily, travel through this portion of the canal was blocked by two large ferries at either end, both unable to move with their electrical systems and lights burned out from the pulse. In all likelihood, the shuttle would remain undiscovered for a few hours, at least.

It took the team half an hour to reach the hospital on foot, using tricorders on proximity scan to avoid encountering any Lumbuan citizens. Fortunately, Ree’s jamming field did not prevent tricorder operation, enabling the team to scan the hospital’s structure and determine an optimal stealth entry route. It was difficult for a Vulcan, a Boslic, a Caitian, and an Orion, all giants by Lumbuan standards, to make their way through the police perimeter undetected; but Tuvok had decades of experience at stealth and his teammates were well-trained. Hriss in particular was able to move with the soundlessness of a felinoid predator, but the lithe Krotine was nearly as light on her feet. Dennisar had a harder time of it, particularly since it was difficult for him to squeeze his bulk through Lumbuan doorways. Had Tuvok known that this world would be Ree’s destination, he would not have picked Dennisar for the team. But it could not be helped now. As Dennisar attempted to squeeze through a narrow maintenance passage into the hospital, he inadvertently produced a noise that drew the attention of a police officer guarding the perimeter. But Tuvok was able to waylay her with a nerve pinch before she could catch a clear sight of them or raise the alarm.

Finally they reached the corridor outside the maternity ward, where three Lumbuan guards stood, one at each of
the entrances. They all kept as far from the actual ward as possible while still keeping it in sight; no doubt Ree had demanded that they keep their distance. It made it easier to pick them off one by one; Tuvok took one down with a nerve pinch while Hriss ambushed another and injected him with a tranquilizer that would leave no traces detectable to Lumbuan science.

But Tuvok’s guard let out a moan before she fell to the floor, and that drew the attention of the third guard, who came running with his weapon drawn. “What have you done?” the guard asked, his voice trembling. “What are you?”

“Your colleagues are unharmed,” Tuvok told him. “The same will hold for you if you do not interfere with us.”

“You—you’re another giant. Another monster.”

Tuvok raised a brow. “What leads you to that conclusion, sir?”

“Why…your size. Your color. And…Great Anam, you have no
clarfel
!”

“So are these the qualities that define a Lumbuan?”

The guard thought it over. “Well…some of them.”

“But are they not mere appearances? And cannot outward appearance be deceptive?”

More thinking. “I suppose. My supervisor says I appear unintelligent. For that matter, so does my wife. And she appeared warm and loving when I married her,” the guard added, speaking more to himself now.

“Then, as an intelligent man, you must know better than to take outward perceptions at face value. What you see could be a dream or a hallucination.”

“Oh, no.” The guard shook his head. “I’m not falling
for any Solipsist casuistry. That’s Kumpen talk, and I’m as loyal as they come.”

Tuvok realized he had overreached himself. “Very well. I will stipulate that I am objectively real. Even so, the standards you employ for defining me as not Lumbuan are still in question. Is it your external attributes that define your identity? Or is it your intellect? Your self-awareness? Your ability to communicate?”

“Well, that’s what I always say,” the guard replied slowly.

“Excellent.”

“Though come to think of it, I just say that because it’s what my wife thinks. And that’s appeal to authority, right? Which is a fallacy. Besides, she’s not here, is she?” The guard raised his gun again. “Me, I’ve always been a believer in the appeal to force.”

Luckily, Tuvok had distracted the guard long enough for Hriss to come up behind him and inject another dose of tranquilizer. “I thought you had him on the ropes for a moment there, sir,” the Caitian told him.

“Thank you, Ensign. Unfortunately, membership in a philosophically driven society does not guarantee an inquisitive spirit.” He sighed. “I believe I now understand the human saying that one should avoid entering into a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. Especially one who is armed in a more literal sense.”

Tuvok made his way to the maternity ward doors, which were sealed off from within. His team came in behind him, phasers at the ready. “Doctor Ree!” he called. “This is Commander Tuvok. Please respond.”

“Tuvok!” The voice was Troi’s. But before she could say
anything more, the doctor’s raspy, sibilant voice emerged.

“Welcome to Hvov Memorial, Commander,” Ree said. “I’m afraid I can’t invite you in. Counselor Troi’s contractions are arriving closer together. I believe first-stage labor is imminent, and I must keep my patients safe. I assume you and your companions have weapons, and that cannot be tolerated. If you’ll please wait outside? Outside the hospital, that is. I imagine the local constabulary would gladly extend their hospitality. They’ve been trying to get me to accept their invitation all day.”

“Doctor. I understand why you are doing this. You feel compelled to protect the baby. I can assure you we all share that priority. I give you my word as a Vulcan that I will allow no harm to come to the child.”

“Forgive me, Commander, but that offer would be more credible if your identity as a Vulcan were more stable.”

Tuvok suppressed a wince. “Then I give you my word as a father.”

“A father who cannot keep his own children safe?”

That was an even lower blow. Ree’s outward courtesy masked a vicious streak in more ways than one. And if he was trying to anger Tuvok, he was coming close to success. “Can you guarantee that you can keep the child safe?” Tuvok replied with some heat.

Something heavy slammed against the door. Tuvok could see the shape of Ree’s elongated head through the frosted glass, his rapid breaths fogging it further. “You doubt me too? That is my
purpose!
I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks—I will not let anything happen to this child! Not again!”

Tuvok’s eyes widened. Processing this new informa
tion, he began to arrive at a deeper understanding of the situation. “Doctor Ree. I would like to speak to Counselor Troi.”

“You may not enter.”

“I believe she can hear me from here. I wish only to speak. You may listen.”

Ree gave an uncertain growl. “Very well. But briefly.”

“Tuvok? I’m here,” came Troi’s voice. “Alyssa and I are all right.”

“I am pleased to hear it,” he called. “Counselor, do you have an understanding of what has precipitated the current situation?”

After a moment, Troi said, “Yes. Ree’s in guardian mode. My fear for the baby triggered it.”

“Exacerbated, no doubt, by my own enduring grief. I apologize for my role in this.”

“It’s not your fault, Tuvok. I’m the catalyst here.”

“But does it not seem to you that the effect should have worn off by now?”