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They took an unmarked shell path in a direction opposite that of the nature trail and caht reen The air vibrated with the hum of unseen electric motors

“Resource cultivation is done in this building,” Mayhew said “It e of biomedical research”

The dihted fish tanks A couple of white-coated technicians armed with clipboards moved from tank to tank They paid no attention to the newcomers, except for a casual wave The air was heavy with a wet, fishy smell

“These seawater tanks are precisely anisms they contain,” Mayhew explained

“How ?” Gamay asked

“Dozens of species and subspecies Letstar of the show”

Mayheent over to a tank that housed several vibrantly colored red blobs, each about the size of a grapefruit Short, pointed tentacles surrounded their mouths They festooned the rocks inside the tanks

“Lovely,” she said “This must be the sea flower that I read about it in the scientific journals”

“The staff likes to give co our tongues around Latin locutions There’s the sea star and the sea blossom, and so on Ironic, when you realize that these exquisite creatures are efficient killing h to sting and devour”

“There’s another irony,” Ga poisonous, they may be able to cure disease”

“Killing and curing aren’t ood poison that’s used in medicine Botox too”

“Tell me about the sea star, Dr Mayhew”

“Gladly That little beauty is related to another sponge discovered in 1984 Harbor Branch Oceanographic was diving off Bere in the sub’s suction tube The sponge contained a chemical that in lab tests killed cancer cells”

“I read about that in the scientific journals An exciting discovery,” she said

Mayhew nodded