RECOVERY

The Navy MP on duty outside Jonas's room at the Aura naval hospital rose to attention as Terry approached the door.

"Sorry, ma'am.  No press allowed."

"I'm not with the press."

The MP eyed her suspiciously.  "You sure don't look like family."

"My name is Terry Tanaka.  I was with—"

"Oh . . . excuse me."  The MP stepped aside.  "My apologies, Ma'am.  And . . . my condolences."  He averted his eyes.

"Thank you," she said softly, and entered Jonas's room.

Jonas lay near the window, a gauze bandage wrapped around his forehead.  His face looked exhausted, pale and scarred.

"I'm sorry . . ." he said, his voice still weak.

Terry nodded silently.  "I'm glad you're all right."

"Have you talked to your father?"

"Yes . . . He'll be here in the morning."

Jonas turned toward the white light of the window, unsure of what to say.  "Terry, this is my fault—"

"No, you tried to warn all of us.  We just ridiculed you."

"I shouldn't have let D.J. go.  I should have—"

"Just stop it, Jonas," Terry snapped.  "I can't deal with my own guilt, let alone yours.  D.J. was an adult, and he certainly wasn't about to listen to you.  Let's face facts.  He wanted to go, despite your warnings.  We're all devastated . . . in shock.  I don't know what's going to happen next.  I can't think that far ahead—"  Tears flowed from her almond eyes.

"Take it easy, Terry.  Come here."  She sat down on his bed, hugging him while she cried on his chest.  Jonas smoothed her hair, trying to comfort her.

After a few minutes, she sat up, turned away from Jonas to wipe her eyes.  "You're seeing me in rare form.  I never cry."

"You don't always have to be so tough."

She smiled.  "Yeah, I do.  Mom died when I was very young.  I've had to take care of Dad and D.J. all these years by myself."

"How's your dad doing?"

"He's a wreck.  I need to get him through this.  I don't even know what to do . . .  Do you have a funeral?  There's no body . . ."  The tears clouded in her eyes.

"Speak to DeMarco.  Have him arrange a service."

"Okay.  I just want this to be over.  I want to get back to California."

Jonas looked at her a moment.  "Terry, this shark business isn't over yet either.  You need to know something.  There were two Megs in the trench.  The one that the Kiku hauled up, it was attacked by a larger female.  She was rising with the carcass . . ."

"Jonas, it's okay.  Everyone on board was watching.  Nothing else surfaced.  Heller says the other creature, this female, couldn't survive the journey through the icy waters.  You told us that yourself—"

"Terry, listen to me."  He tried to sit up.  The pain forced him down again.  'The male's carcass, there was a lot of blood.  Megalodons are like great whites.  They're not warm0blooded like mammals, but they are warm-bodied.  Some scientists call it gigantothermy, the ability of large body size, low metabolic rates, and peripheral tissues as insulation—"

"Jonas, stop lecturing.  You're losing me."

"The Megalodon is able to maintain high internal temperatures.  Its blood is warmed internally as a result of the movement of its muscles.  We're talking seven to twelve degrees warmer than its external environment, and the tropical currents in the trench were quite warm."

"What's your point?"

"When Kiku began hauling up the remains of D.J.'s sub, the male Megalodon became caught in the steel cable.  I saw the larger Meg, the female rising with the carcass, rising within the warm-blood stream.  I watched her disappear above the warm layer into colder waters."

"How hot would a Megalodon's blood be?"

Jonas closed his eyes, calculating.  "Living in the trench, blood temperature could be well above ninety degrees.  If the female remained within her dead mate's blood stream, she could have made it to the thermocline.  She's very big, maybe sixty feet or more.  A shark that size could probably cover the distance from the trench to the warmer surface waters in twenty minutes."

Terry looked at him a long moment.  "I have to go.  I want you to get some rest."

She squeezed his hand, then left the room.