Chapter 21
This was not the kind of place where flashing a badge would be advantageous. JD and I paid the cover and handed over a bottle of Wild Fury whiskey. The bouncer gave us our drink chips, and we stepped into the dim club and surveyed the area for Paris and her friend.
We arrived at the table and joined the party. Paris slid down the bench seat that circled all the way around, and I took a seat next to her.
Paris made introductions. "Tyson, this is—“
"No names," the man said.
"Right," Paris replied. "This is Mr. X, and Mrs. Y.”
"It's nice to meet you both," I said. “Thank you for speaking with us.”
"Just so we’re clear, I'm speaking to you because I want you to stop them from continuing to destroy the environment. I'm also speaking to you under the condition that we’re not going to get in trouble for anything discussed here at this table."
"If you tell me you killed somebody, I'm going to investigate."
"I didn't kill anybody.”
“Short of that, I’m just looking for answers.”
Mr. X gave a nervous glance around. He took another look at me, then exchanged a glance with his girlfriend. Both looked uneasy. Mr. X’s eyes found mine, then he said, "Nah, fuck this. We’re out."
They both started to slide out of the booth.
"Sit your ass back down!” I commanded. “If you want to stop whatever is going on, you'll talk to me.”
They both froze. After exchanging a glance, they sat back down.
"What do you know about Aqus?”
Mr. X hesitated, then said, "Andrew reached out to me. He expressed concerns about the direction things had taken.”
"Why you?”
Mr. X shrugged. "I've been pretty vocal about several other environmental issues. He thought I could help get the word out. We happened to meet in a bar maybe six months ago. We got to talking about the environment and the work he was doing. I told him about our organization. He seemed intrigued. I think he was a guy who really cared about the ocean and the marine life.”
"Obviously, something's going on over there that they don't want people knowing about," I said.
Mr. X nodded and shared another glance with his girlfriend before continuing. "The Marine Science Center is a front for covert operations.”
I shared a look with JD. I knew what Mr. X was going to say next.
"They're part of a defense research project modifying shark DNA.”
"Why?”
"To improve the physical attributes of the sharks. They want something that can swim farther, go deeper, and thrive in diverse environments.”
"What for?"
"Just bear with me. I know this is going to sound a little out there.”
"I'm listening.”
"Sharks are highly electrosensitive. They can detect minute changes in electrical activity via the Ampullae of Lorenzini—canals in the snout filled with conductive jelly.
They can detect electric fields as small as 5 nanovolts per centimeter.
It's their superpower. It gives them an uncanny ability to detect prey and geo-locate in relation to the Earth's gravitational field.”
"I think I know where you're going with this, but continue."
"During the Cold War, the Navy actually ran tests to determine if sharks could be used as magnetic anomaly detectors.
But there was one major problem that caused the whole thing to be scrapped.
They had an effective range of 10 to 15 meters.
That's it. Not useful at all. But the work Andrew and others were doing at Aqus changed all of that. "
"Are you saying the Marine Science Center is running a black ops program using sharks to detect submarines?”
"That's exactly what I'm saying. They're using neural implants and extensive tracking data to modify and control behavior. Genetically altering sharks gives them vastly better electrosensitive abilities. The Ampullae of Lorenzini are orders of magnitude bigger in a megalodon than in a great white. That pushes the detection threshold from 5 nanovolts to .05. The pores on their snouts are spaced wider apart, giving them a better ability to resolve direction to an electric source. Think of it like binocular vision but for voltage gradients. These genetically altered sharks can swim deeper and cover more ground. I know it sounds crazy, but we know the military has already developed superconducting quantum interference devices. These SQUID arrays can amplify the signal. With these kinds of enhancements, we’re talking a detection range of 1 to 2 kilometers and the ability to pick up a sub in silent movement.
If there's any kind of flaw in the propulsion—pump noise, a shaft leak—detection could expand to 10 to 12 km.”
I’d heard of crazier experiments.
"All the data is sent back to Aqus and tracked in real time.
Of course, there's no universal coverage.
The sharks have to be near a buoy to upload data, or when the shark surfaces, the satellite tags relay the information.
Imagine thousands of these things roaming the sea, filling in the gaps of the comprehensive detection network. "
The idea of a thousand great whites with the modified genetics of a megalodon swimming around the coast wasn't a pleasant one.
"And Andrew told you all of this?"
Mr. X nodded.
"Do you have any proof to back up these claims?”
Mr. X frowned. "No. Andrew died before he could get it to me. I think somebody found out he was going to blow the whistle and killed him. He never intended for his work to be used like this. I mean, you don't think he was really killed by a shark, do you?”