The three cleaned up in silence. A small area of the lab was affected, some water on the floor and battery acid slowly chewing its way through the ceramic tile on the floor. The pungent smoke, a bitter reminder of the experiment, hung above them. Melinda gathered the boots and gloves and placed them orderly against the wall.
Moto left and returned, wearing neoprene gloves and apron, with protective goggles perched at the top of his forehead. He used a neutralizing acid absorber to clean any corrosives from the floor. Dan grabbed a mop and bucket from the storage room and quietly wiped at an insignificant wet spot.
James sat, his swivel chair tilted as far back as it would go, his eyes closed against the inevitable. "This isn't primarily a nano project, is it Dan?" James said.
Dan leaned on his mop, thoughtfully. "Nope; as I see it we have to figure out how to stop the whale." He placed the mop against the wall, next to the boots. He walked over to his research area and flipped open his laptop.
James rolled over to the computer. Dan moved slightly, opening up a space for James in front of the screen. Dan clicked expertly through several tabs and settled on a medical site.
"There are more than a few different tranquilizing agents we can use against Titan and sufficient data supporting several models that keep him alive," Dan revealed.
James' sagging silhouette perked when he heard they might be able to keep Titan alive. Encouraged by James sudden show of interest, Dan continued.
"This sort of procedure is done frequently at aquariums and places like Sea World," he clarified.
"What we don't have is data on the Novo Cetus, or mutated whale. For example, how much does it weigh? We see that Crabbo's weight increased significantly with the addition of the nano-altered exoskeleton. In parallel – this Titan is huge. The skeletal structure must have changed significantly to support the creature in the pacific. He clicked through several other tabs and landed on a picture of Crabbo. Dan leaned in to the screen and questioned, "What damage and repair has been done here that we cannot see?"
Melinda listened and nodded her head in agreement. She and Moto pulled up close and paid careful attention. Moto's eyebrows furrowed with determined concentration. His eyes popped wide.
"Gretchen Greenwood!" he blurted. Three confused faces stared at him.
"The forensic anthropologist," he explained. "She would have made use of the more than adequate digital imaging lab here. We have ultrasonometers, x-ray bone densitometers, and I've even seen a mandibulometer and other forensic equipment," he finished, obviously proud of himself.
Dan took advantage of Moto's satisfied silence and said, "I think what he said was that we could use that digital equipment to see what changes took place inside Crabbo. We can determine bone density, body proportion and may even get a three-dimensional representation of any organ reconstruction."
"Do we have a Spectral Doppler? I don't suppose you can get your hands on a Japanese hand-held MRI?" Dan rushed his questions together.
"Whoa," James interrupted. "I thought hand-helds were only in the concept stage?" The possibility of internal examination of Crabbo excited him, but micro-machines were his passion.
Dan pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tightly against the memory of his last encounter with that particular piece of equipment.
"I was on assignment last year in Kabul," he said. "A guy I was working with used one to discover a microchip hidden in a terrorist's shoulder joint." Dan shuddered. "Even with the MRI image, it was pretty messy to extract."
Melinda made a very disgusted face. "Alrighty then . . . We're way off topic now. . . Moto how long do you need to get everything together?"
"Why don't you three take time and have lunch," he said, as he calculated the time it would take to locate and prepare for the trial. "You can structure the experiment while I prepare an arena for the examination to take place."
Grumblings of empty stomachs exceeded grumbles of rebellion; they reluctantly agreed and headed for the rec room in search of food.
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Novo Cetus
Science FictionDeep in the Pacific Ocean, submarines wait like snipers for the go-ahead to destroy the threat they are targeting. Simultaneously, scientists scramble to determine the origins of the beast and one scientist in particular needs an answer to the deadl...
