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She was writing Clark off, and with good reason. His triangles couldn’t be cut out. Tim had taken X-rays, seen the spiked triangle tails wrapped around Clark’s heart, lying against his arteries. Removing the triangles would kill him.

Nagy and Austin, however, were in the early stages of infection. It was worth a shot to see if the yeast could cure them.

Clark, Nagy, Chappas … that left one.

“What about Austin?” Tim said. “The kid who was crying. Are you going to expose him to the hydras?”

Margaret sniffed sharply. Her expression changed — she was done crying.

“We’re not treating him at all,” she said. “We have to know what we’re up against. We have to let Austin’s infection run its course, so we can see what he becomes.”

She turned and walked out of the a.n.a.lysis module. Clarence stared at Tim for a few moments — maybe because of Tim’s selfish choice, or maybe just because Tim had made his wife cry — then followed her out.

HOMECOMING

Cooper stood on the deck of the Mary Ellen Moffett, waiting for the Platypus to close in.

He was experienced and sure-footed, yet the screaming wind and the rough water made him hold the rail to keep from falling overboard. Steve Stanton’s machine had brought with it bad weather, the worst of the trip so far. Stanton and Bo Pan stood close by, watching carefully.

Cooper turned to José. “You ready?”

The Filipino was wearing only swim trunks, flippers, a mask and a snorkel. He gave Cooper a thumbs-up. How in the h.e.l.l the little man could tolerate frigid temperatures was beyond Cooper’s knowledge.

“You sure you don’t want a wet suit? That water will freeze your b.a.l.l.s off.”

José smiled. “I am married with two children. I haven’t seen my b.a.l.l.s in years.”

With that, the short man sat on the rail, put his hand tight to his mask and fell backward to splash into Lake Michigan. He surfaced in seconds. He grabbed a buoy that held a cable lead, then turned and swam toward the blinking light of Steve Stanton’s UUV.

The Platypus sat low in the water. The fuzzy, gray, wet material blended in with both the water and the cloudless night, making it look like a sea monster that might suddenly attack José.

José put his hands on the foam surface, pulled it in close. The cable lead had a hook on it, which he threaded through an eyebolt sticking out of the Platypus’s back. José yanked the connection to make sure it was secure, then gave Cooper a thumbs-up.

Cooper looked up to the crane’s tiny pilothouse, where Jeff was waiting. Cooper flashed a thumbs-up of his own. Jeff nodded, then worked the controls.

The winch whined as it reeled in the cable, lifting the UUV high. Water poured down from the machine’s foam covering, first in a triangular downpour, then a thick stream, then drips and drops as the crane pivoted, bringing the UUV over the Mary Ellen’s deck.