Chapter 57: The Royal Society Part 3
"The astonishing thing was the discovery of giant crabs whose legs spread over six feet across."
"Nonsense," Dr. Gostan's voice yelled from the crowd. "No crab can grow that big."
The curtain moved to reveal an immense crab mounted on a rough hatchway, threatening the crowd with its pincers. On the other side a preserving jar held another even larger specimen. The crew had brought them back along with the rudder from the derelict ship. Pentam had given them bonuses and thanked them profusely.
The gasps and muttering from the audience overwhelmed Dr. Gostan's objections.
"That isn't, however, the most astonishing find from our expedition." Lahdin waved Pentam up to the podium again. "I'll call on Pentam Booksdale to present this part of the evening."
"Fraud!" Dr. Gostan yelled. "He barely has an undergraduate degree."
"Sit down, you old coot. I want to hear this." Another voice boomed through the room and the audience muttered in support.
Pentam stepped up and took up giving the report as if there'd been no interruption. Sir Shillingsworth had said he was better to ignore the hecklers.
"While we were studying the activity of the birds over the seaweed Miss Shillingsworth noted an interesting pattern. All the species of bird we found were content to float on the ocean near the ship, none spent more than the briefest time on the seaweed. While watching our progress through a spyglass she saw something snatch a bird from the surface as easily as one of those birds would pick up a crab.
"The team devised a method by which we could capture and study whatever hunted the birds."
"Mr. Booksdale is being too modest." Prof. Orthin stood. "What he means is he came up with an elegant way to snare a potentially dangerous creature." The audience clapped as Pentam blushed.
"We set out in two boats..." Pentam described his plan, talking about how Cal had translated his idea from scribbles to a clear, concise process.
"After a long and boring afternoon," Pentam said, "nobody claims science doesn't have its dull moments, we were successful in capturing a creature never imagined to exist, though stories of them have been told by sailors for centuries." He drew out the moment as long as he dared.
"I present serpens marinus calliope." As the audience watched mouths agape, the curtains opened the rest of the way to show the largest of the serpents mounted. Women screamed and the gasps and muttering went on and on.
Once the room had quieted, Pentam described the chemistry and anatomy of the serpent.
"One last thing before you may return to look through the many displays and specimens set up for you in the main hall." Pentam and the team had long debates on whether to talk about the large serpent. Pentam insisted they had no evidence, the others argued that as scientists, their observations were evidence. The rest of the team won the argument.
"We'd captured three of the serpens marinus calliope but were determined to bring more specimens home for study. The process had become routine, and we got careless. A large creature snagged our net, almost swamping our boats. The rope tangled around my leg and dragged me out of the boat and under the water. Tragically, one of our crew had lost his life in this same way, but we hadn't put the pieces together. The only reason I stand before you today is the immediate and brave action by Miss Shillingsworth who dove in after me with a knife in her teeth and pulled herself down to me. I have never been so happy to see a woman with a knife. After cutting myself free, we were helped to the surface by a member of the Peregrine's crew, Thomas Bondry.
"You will understand that after this close call, Captain Cully and Sir Shillingsworth decided it was time to return home. Yet fate intervened. While fishing off the stern of the Peregrine, catching one last supper of fresh fish, I attracted the attention of the large serpent. Once again I owe my life to Miss Shillingsworth, who spotted the danger and warned me in time to escape the creature. The ship wasn't so fortunate, losing its rudder and taking damage in the engine room."
"Stuff and nonsense." Dr. Gostan stood up and pointed at Pentam, red in the face. "I suppose you have a giant sea serpent hidden in your pocket."
"Dr. Gostan has apparently granted himself a doctorate in biology as well as chemistry." Pentam had to grip the podium hard to stop himself from collapsing at the sound of that voice. His heart leaped in happiness.
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