Free Pressure by Brian Keene

temperature change) and unloaded their first haul of samples.
    â€œSeriously,” Abhi asked again, “what’s with the crab?”
    â€œHypoxia,” Carrie replied. “It’s what happens when the water is low in oxygen. It’s usually caused by agricultural pollution or jellyfish blooms. Or, in this case, the collapsing seafloor. The bottom around the trench is littered with dead stuff.”
    â€œExcept it’s not hypoxia.” Paolo poked the dead crab with his finger. “I thought so at first, too, but look at this. You see?”
    Carrie frowned. “No.”
    â€œIt’s frozen solid. Go ahead and inspect it for yourself.”
    She did, tentatively at first, and then with astonishment. The creature was indeed frozen, as if it had just been removed from the freezer of a supermarket, rather than the seafloor. Although they didn’t have a thermometer on hand, it was obvious to Carrie that the crab’s body was far colder than even the ambient temperatures Paolo had found it at, one hundred fifty meters below. Even now, after bringing it up through the warmer tropical surface waters, and exposing it to the sunlight and heat here on the boat, it hadn’t begun to thaw.
    â€œThis isn’t hypoxia,” she said. “This is something else.”
    Paolo nodded. “Right, it looks like it at first blush but hypoxia isn’t what killed this creature. And I bet if we go back down, we’ll find that the other corpses are just like this one.”
    â€œSo,” Abhi said, “there’s this hypoxia thing, but something else killed this crab?
    Paolo and Carrie nodded.
    â€œBut if it wasn’t hypoxia,” Abhi asked, “then what was it?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Carrie admitted. “Something … new. We need to get back down there and retrieve more samples. Abhi, can you put this in the cooler, so we can study it later?”
    â€œYou mean … touch it?” He paused, staring at the crab with concern. “It’s not infected with something is it? I don’t want to catch a disease.”
    â€œIt’s hard to say for sure,” Carrie admitted. “I don’t know of any sort of virus or bacteria that would cause this, but we should be careful all the same.”
    Abhi opened the toolbox, pulled out a faded red grease rag, and used that to pick up the corpse. His nose wrinkled. He carried the dead crab gingerly, arm outstretched, as if it were a live grenade. Then he placed it in the cooler, closed the lid, and shuddered.
    Carrie turned to Paolo. “What happened down there? Was everything okay? I thought you were in trouble for a second.”
    â€œAt about a hundred meters,” Paolo confirmed. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that before we dive again. I think you’re right about that weird neurological effect in the water. It hit me just past a hundred meters or so. My lips began to tingle, and get numb.”
    â€œI felt it, too. But I’m okay now.”
    â€œYes,” Paolo agreed, “it seems to have passed for me, as well.”
    â€œWell, just to be safe, let’s use the tape to double seal the seams on our wetsuits.”
    She retrieved the roll of tape and began applying it to Paolo’s suit. Then he did the same for her. Carrie shivered as his fingers brushed against her, but if Paolo noticed, he gave no indication.
    â€œReady?” he asked, when finished.
    She nodded. “Let’s go.”
    â€œOr,” Abhi suggested. “We could just call it a day, head back right now, and find a bar. Surely this is enough of a sample to study.”
    â€œCome on, Abhi.” Carrie smiled. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
    â€œI left it behind in my forties.”
    Carrie winked at him. “Then do it for science.”
    She dived back over the side with a splash. Paolo followed her. Abhi moved to the side of the boat, and