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– Whoa-whoa. Don’t rush, Margaret. Everything will fall out of your hands now.
– Sorry. Just wanted to ask.
– I’m not running a hundred meters here. There is no need to rush so much – the forty-two-year-old teacher continued in a soft tone.
Margaret only smiled in response.
– Well, ask.
– Dr. Cage, I wanted to ask you about the essay on cetaceans that you said to be done by next week.
– Are you having any difficulties? – the teacher asked puzzledly, continuing to leisurely walk along the corridor with the leather briefcase.
– As if… in general, I couldn’t really find enough data about dorudon. Even on the Internet, all information comes down to only a mention of their existence in the Eocene era, and in the library there are only a few encyclopedias, which only provide a definition of biological and species affiliation.
– Why did you even choose dorudon?
– I just wanted to write about some monster. Well, you know, a hefty predator, and it has an unusual appearance. I liked it in the movie you showed.
– I’ll give you some of my monographs. But it is unlikely that it will be possible to draw objective conclusions based on them. Still, my advice to you is to choose someone else. Let’s say kutchicetus or protocet. These are also representatives of the Eocene. But there is a little more information about them, and their body structure is much more interesting.
– Then, can I change it?
– Certainly.
– Thank you.
– No problem.
– Goodbye, Dr. Cage.
Hector Cage collapsed into the seat of his Ford, sighing with ease that the work week was over. Teaching at the new university was not easy for him. This is his second year of work and he has never yet managed to get a place on a research expedition to go study new and rare species of fish. And something told him that this would not happen very soon. At his previous job, he systematically found himself as part of an expedition, going on research to Australia, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia. Now all his work boiled down to continuous lectures and listening to the tedious remarks of many students who were not able to distinguish different types of living fish, not to mention the swimming creatures that inhabited the Earth in the era of dinosaurs.
In order not to get to the point where he begins to feel sick from working with the same materials twenty times a week, Hector had to turn to a private psychoanalyst for a prescription for a sedative. Otherwise, the old story that got him fired from his previous university may repeat itself.
It was already dark outside. The city streets were shrouded in natural darkness, diluted by the glow of street lamps and car headlights.
Having crossed the threshold of his rented apartment, Hector set water to boil for a cup of strong tea. Turning on the kettle, he went to the laptop, hit the keyboard several times, and after a couple of seconds the sounds of the song «Mamy Blue» began to be heard from the stereo system. While waiting for the kettle to boil, Hector Cage sat back on the sofa, listening to the voice of Julio Iglesias and feeling how all the accumulated negativity was gradually evaporating somewhere. This continued until the craving for sleep set in and Hector’s consciousness turned off, falling soundly into a deep sleep.
Only in the morning did Hector lift his face from the upholstery of the sofa six minutes after he realized exactly where his body was. He managed to get to his feet only after his bones had at least woken up a little, namely after an hour and a half.
Turning off the music, he decided to boil water to make a cup of tea that had not happened the day before. But at the last moment the ichthyologist preferred to drink coffee.
Hector looked in the mirror and wondered who he saw in it. He looked as if he had been subjected to severe torture, not allowing him to sleep all weekdays. It was already noticeable how the bags under the eyes were looming, and the hairstyle, shabby due to the lack of a pillow, only emphasized the condition called «vegetable».
The clock showed twenty minutes to nine when the doorbell rang.
At the threshold stood a tall dark-skinned man dressed in a respectable suit.
– Good morning. Dr. Hector Cage?
– Yes. Hello. Yes. It’s me, confused in the flow of words, Hector answered.
– My name is Stephen Frost – said the man at the threshold, holding out his hand. – Nice to meet you. I represent the company «Best Technologies». May I steal some time from you?
With a gesture of his hand, the scientist offered to go to his modest apartment.
– Sorry for the mess. I just can’t find the time with work.
– No, everything is fine. Do not worry. If you saw my apartment, you would understand that your simply shines.
– Tea? Coffee?
– At your discretion.
While Hector poured the invigorating instant drink, Stephen Frost carefully examined the bookshelf, on which most of the books were devoted to river and ocean fauna. Among them were reference books about the inhabitants of the world’s oceans, divided by time periods of the geochronological scale from the Triassic period to the Calymmian period. Judging by the titles on the spines of the books, it was clear that the scientist was particularly interested in cetaceans.
Hector placed two cups of coffee on the coffee table, after which he invited Frost to sit on the sofa, and he sat down on the chair on the opposite side.
– Well… – Hector said, inviting Frost to get down to business.
– Your library is impressive.
The scientist looked at his collection of books with an indifferent glance for the thousandth time and said:
– I spent my whole life on this.
– Do you have to study rare fish species from time to time?
– Well, it happened before. Actually, that’s what I liked about my job. Observe live what few people have seen before. And to explore…
– Have you written any manuals in your field?
– Manuals? No. A mountain of monographs, but not a single book. It was in the plans, but a change of job got in the way. So what did you want to talk about?
Stephen Frost leaned slightly towards Cage and began to expound:
– Mr. Cage, our company is planning an expedition to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. In order for it to take place, we need a highly qualified expert in the field of marine fauna…
From such words Hector experienced a noticeable rush of blood to the brain. It was like an injection of adrenaline into the very heart, which was about to beat much harder. It seemed that Hector had finally woken up. It was as if he heard a bomb explode near his ear and went deaf, losing for some time the ability to hear at least some sounds. Instead of sounds a ringing thundered in his ears, and Frost’s lips moved silently for some time.
– … never had to before.
– And what is the purpose of the expedition?
– A complex of scientific research at the intersection of biology, ichthyology and paleontology.
Thinking a little, Hector tried to say something, but Frost interrupted:
– Are you interested in payment?
– No, no. How long is the work planned for?
– Two month. Maybe a little more.
– When do you intend to start?
– Possibly in the coming months. The time frame can vary from three to seven months. Now the question is about recruiting the expedition. At the moment we are interested in the ichthyologist.
Dr. Cage pondered in absolute silence, his gaze cast somewhere to the side.
– In any case, we do not require an urgent response. You have time to think.
Hector looked around his apartment, the scattered books, the countless educational and lecture materials that he had to grind a hundred times every day. He thought about what his life had become. Its colors remained as gloomy as his rented apartment.
But suddenly Hector came to his senses and decided that he needed to at least pretend to have doubts.
– Can I ask one question?
– Sure. Ask – Frost answered, taking a sip from his cup.
– Since you’re talking about payment, can you provide some clarity?
– Oh, of course. For two months of work you will be paid, well, let’s say, enough so that you can afford to quit teaching and not think about it for a very, very, very long time. To be more precise, it will be…
Frost took out a notepad with a pen from the inside pocket of his jacket, wrote down the amount and pushed the notebook across the table towards his interlocutor.
– But, just so you understand, Mr. Cage, this is the amount that you will receive regardless of the results of your work. – Frost began to drink coffee in large sips. – We understand perfectly well that this is largely a matter of luck and the number of individuals and species discovered does not depend on you. Therefore, the contract will provide for a fixed salary. The amount you see will be paid regardless of the results of the expedition. And if any discoveries are made, new species are discovered, then… well, you understand me.
Hector Cage actively scratched his nose, while Frost added:
– I’ll leave you my business card. Do not hurry. Think it over carefully.
– Sorry, – Hector interrupted, – Mr…
– Stephen.
– If such an offer had come a couple of years ago, I would have thought a thousand times. But under the current circumstances, such a vacancy creates too strong a contrast with my current job to think about anything. I agree.
– Glad to hear that. Oh, and I forgot to mention one more thing. If individuals of rare biological species are caught, you will be offered a job on a long-term basis. You will study or manage the progress of scientific work on the study of those individuals that will be at our disposal. And one last thing. How do you feel about greater depths?
– Excuse me? – Hector Cage said perplexedly, frowning his eyebrows.
– The expedition, that our company is planning, will take place near the ocean floor at a depth of about seven and a half to eight thousand meters.
– And do you have suitable equipment for this?
– Actually, we produced this device. There are no analogues. At least for now.
Cage thought even harder, and Frost had already finished his coffee by this time.
Gradually, a kind of thirst began to appear on Hector’s face. After some time he said:
– Where to sign?
Hearing these words, Frost burst into a wide smile. But as soon as that smile faded, he immediately spoke in a serious voice:
– Mr. Cage, I have one request for you.
– I’m listening.
– No one should know about my visit to you, as well as about this conversation. Is this possible?
– I don’t see a problem.
– I like it. And finally, so that you don’t get bored, I will leave one gift. Maybe you can come up with a few new theories.
Frost placed a piece of paper with the image on the coffee table and added:
– Take a look sometime. Thanks for the coffee. It was delicious. And I didn’t say this out of politeness.
They shook hands, after which Hector escorted his guest to the door.
Almost reaching the threshold, Frost turned around and asked:
– Mr. Cage, may I ask you one question?
Hector spread his arms.
– Why were you fired from your previous university with such success in science?
Hector felt a surge of energy. Now no bad memories could spoil his sharply increased enthusiasm. He straightened his back, put his hands in his pockets and answered in a confident tone:
– I knocked out eight teeth of a graduate student who was diving into my wife.
– I respect you – Frost said before leaving.
3. KAYLA FOX
In a lecture hall filled with students, with the lights off, the voice of thirty-five-year-old Kayla Fox, Doctor of Biological Sciences, sounded. She commented on the next image that came from the projector:
– Here is a sample of a human zygote – the result of the fusion of two different-sex gametes. In other words, this is what happens when you forget about contraception.
There was synchronized laughter in the lecture hall.
– In this image we can see how the tail of the sperm has already dissolved in the cytoplasm of the egg. The nuclei of both gametes of opposite-sex individuals begin the process of fusion, after which the diploid set of chromosomes is restored. Thus, in the cell of the future organism, the formation of genetic material occurs, half of which comes from the egg, and the other from the sperm. And so, from two haploid cells a diploid cell is formed with a full set of chromosomes, which are carriers of hereditary information. What questions will you have regarding this part?
– Miss Fox? – the voice of one of the students was heard.
