Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror - Rilegato

Alten, Steve

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0385489056 ISBN 13: 9780385489058

Casa editrice: Doubleday, 1997

Riassunto

Jonas Taylor, a paleontologist and ex-undersea submersible pilot, becomes a reluctant participant in a deep-water mission, an expedition that brings him face to face with the Megalodon, a prehistoric, massive predator and ancestor of the great white shark. A first novel. 250,000 first printing. Tour.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

"Two words: Jurassic Shark."
--Los Angeles Times

Estratto. © Riproduzione autorizzata. Diritti riservati.:

Life.  The amount and variety within the trenches had shocked scientists, who had incorrectly theorized that no life form could  exist  on the planet without sunlight.  Jonas felt awed at being in the Challenger Deep.  In the most desolate location on the planet, nature had found a way to allow life to exist.

Next to a patch of giant clams and mussels, Jonas could see a magnificent cluster of massive tubeworms, flowing like clumps of spaghetti in the warm currents.  Pure white and fluorescent, except for the tips, which were blood red.  Twelve feet long, five inches thick, in groups too numerous to begin to approximate.  The tubeworms fed on the bacteria in the water.  In turn, eelpouts and other small fish fed off the tubeworms.

A bizarre food chain, located at the bottom of the world, a world existing in total darkness.  What species is at the top of this food chain? wondered Jonas. Giant squids?  Undiscovered genera?  Seven miles down, separated from 16,000 pounds per square inch of water pressure by a few inches of alloy, Jonas now felt thankful that he had been wrong about the Meg's existence.

Jonas slowed the AG II.  He could see the bright glare of the second sub's searchlight approaching from behind.  He picked up the radio.  "You can take over from here, D.J."

D.J.'s sub slowly "flew" around and ahead of Jonas, careful to maintain sufficient distance.  The two aquanauts wanted to remain within sight of one another, but didn't want Jonas to get caught in D.J.'s trailing cable.

DeMarco's voice came over the radio.  "The canyon wall should be to port, approximately one-five-zero feet."

Jonas followed D.J. along the ocean floor until he could see the vertical wall of the submerged mountain range, known as seamounts.  The subs entered a valley surrounded by high walls.  It was as if God had lifted the Grand Canyon and submerged it under seven miles of ocean.  Jonas was traveling back in time, knowing the seamounts were at least 200 million years old.  He maneuvered within the gulley, keeping D.J.'s sub within sight.

"Doc, it's a bit rough ahead, so hold on," warned D.J.  As if on cue, Jonas felt his tail section begin wagging like a dog's tail.  "We may have had another landslide down here."

"I hope you're wrong about that," Jonas said.  "Can you see anything up there?"

"Not yet, but I've picked up the damaged unit's homing signal on my radar. North along this gulley.  You'll see," said D.J., "the valley will open up again.  The UNIS had positioned itself about sixty feet from the canyon wall on our left before it broke down."

Jonas looked to his right.  Sure enough, the seamounts disappeared, revealing more black ocean.  On his left, the canyon wall still loomed tall, disappearing upward, well beyond his view.

Jonas saw the red blip appear on his console screen.

"There it is!" D.J.  said after a long silence.

The shell of the destroyed UNIS looked like a piece of scrap metal buried beneath several rocks.  D.J. positioned his sub well above the remains, shining his spotlight over it like a streetlamp.  "It's all yours, Doc.  Go ahead and take a look."

Jonas moved closer to the UNIS, floating into the light of D.J.'s sub.  He aimed his own spotlight at the shattered hull and drifted past it to the other side.  Something's different, he thought, looking at the debris around the base.  It's moved.

"You see anything?" D.J.  asked over the radio.

"Not yet," Jonas said, straining his eyes for a glimpse of something white.  He moved closer, peering into the rocks.  And there it was!

"D.J., I can't believe it!  I think I've located that tooth!"  Jonas could barely maintain his excitement.  He extended his sub's mechanical arm, aiming the claw above the eight-inch white triangular object, then lifting it carefully out of the mound of sulfur and iron.

"Hey, Doc." D.J.  was laughing hysterically.

Jonas looked at the object he had traveled seven miles down to obtain.

It was the remains of a dead albino starfish.
Terry Tanaka, Frank Heller, and Alphonse DeMarco nearly fell out of their chairs in uncontrollable fits of laughter.  Jonas could hear them over the radio.  For a moment, he seriously considered ramming his submersible into the canyon wall.

"I'm sorry for laughing, man," said D.J.  "Hey, wanna laugh at my stupidity? Take a look at my sub's mechanical arm."

Jonas looked up.  The steel cable had wound in a dozen chaotic loops around the six-foot mechanical limb, so much so that the arm was barely visible beneath the cable.  "D.J., that's not funny.  You've got a lot of untangling to do before you can free yourself up."

"Don't worry.  I can handle it.  You work on clearing those rocks."

"Taylor!" DeMarco's voice burst from the radio.  "Maybe you thought you saw a sixty-foot starfish..."  Jonas could hear Terry's high-pitched laugh.

Jonas lowered the mechanical arm, trying to focus on the task at hand.  He felt his blood boiling, beads of sweat dripping down his sides.  Within minutes, he had managed to clear the debris from the UNIS.

"Nice job, Doc."  D.J. was slowly revolving the mechanical arm in tight counterclockwise circles.  Gradually, the steel cable began freeing itself from around the extended appendage.

"You need some help?" asked Jonas.

"No, I'm fine.  Stand by."

Jonas hovered the Abyss Glider twenty feet off the bottom.  Masao had been right, all of them had.  He had hallucinated, allowed his imagination to wander in the abyss, violating a major rule of deep-sea exploration.  One mistake, one simple loss of focus, had cost the lives of his crew and his reputation as an aquanaut.

What was left for him now?  Jonas thought about Maggie.  She'll want a divorce, no doubt.  Jonas was an embarrassment.  She had turned to Bud Harris, his own friend, for love and support while Jonas had built his new career on a hallucination.  Today's return dive into the Challenger Deep in search of evidence of the Megalodon's existence would make him the laughingstock of the paleontologist community.  A starfish, for Christ's sake...

Blip.

The sound caught him off-guard.  Jonas located his radar.  A red dot had appeared on the abyssal terrain, the map indicating the source of the disturbance was approaching fast.

Blip.  Blip, blip, blip...

Jonas felt his heart racing.  Whatever it was, it was big!

"D.J., check your radar," commanded Jonas.

"My radar...whoa, what the fuck is that?"

"DeMarco!"

Alphonse DeMarco had stopped laughing.  "We see it too, Jonas.  Has D.J. attached the cable yet?"

Jonas looked up, the sub's mechanical arm was twisting wildly, attempting to free the last loops.  "No, not yet.  How big would you estimate this object to be?"

"Jonas, relax.  I know what you're thinking.  But DeMarco says you're probably looking at a school of fish."

Jonas watched the radar, unconvinced.  The object appeared to be heading straight for them, as though the subs were a homing beacon...

"D.J., stop twisting!" commanded Jonas.

"Huh?  I'm nearly--"

"Shut down everything, all systems.  Do it now!"  Jonas shut off his sub's power, the 7,500-watt searchlight going dark.  "D.J., if this object is a Meg it's homing in on the vibrations and electrical impulses from our subs.  Kill your power!"

D.J.'s heart raced.  He stopped twisting the mechanical arm.  "Al, what should I do?"

"Taylor's crazy.  Attach the cable and get the hell out of there."

"D.J..." Jonas stopped speaking, his eye catching a massive object circling less than five hundred yards away.

It was glowing.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Doubleday
• Data di pubblicazione: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0385489056
• ISBN 13: 9780385489058
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 278