The Neptune Project is the last book of the Neptune Trilogy. Who is it by? We'll never know.
Timeline[]
- Nere is with the dolphins and a few other people from Safety Harbor on their patrol. Tsukwani, a First Nation girl is in a canoe on the surface. Mariah relays that the girl motioned for Nere to come and speak with her. As Nere heads to the surface, she scans Tsukwani's mind and finds that she is worried about a whale calf entangled in a net, but still wants to be sure. Tsukwani tells her exactly that, and Nere asks Mariah if they could pssibly communicate with the mother Humpback whale. The dolphins tow the Sea Rangers to the incident, where the dolphins are then sent off the locate the calf. It is decided that only Dai and Nere should approach the calf in the case that the mother doesn't approve. Nere sends feelings of calm and an image of her helping the calf, and the mother lets them pass. Nere begins to cut the calf out of the net, allowing the calf to rise for a breath. One of the cables the calf is wrapped in has too much tension due to the calf's position, as she is not yet out of the net. In order for Dai to cut her out, she must move in such a way that releases the tension. After Nere and the dolphins show a movement of raising their head and shoulders, the calf mimics the movement. Dai returns and the pair cuts the rest of the net so the calf is free.
- Nere discovers that Dai cut his hand on a wire while freeing the calf, as he was not wearing his gloves.
- The patrol returns to Safety Harbor. Nere is confronted by Vival for their recklessness, both in Dai not wearing his gloves and their efforts to save the calf in general.
- Nere and the others head to the mess cave, where the meals are held. Nere acknowledges that her and Dai, strong telepaths, have trouble in the mess hall due to the psychic noise cause by 300+ kids between the ages of 10 and 16. Kalli makes a comment that mocks the heroic perception of Nere in Safety Harbor, but Nere retorts that the whole patrol helped save the calf, not just her.
- Tobin speaks with Nere about her tendency to assign herself the most dangeorus jobs.
- Dai swims with Nere to the ladder heading topside so that she can speak with her dad. Nere thinks about her relaationship status with Dai, who overhears. She mentions that she cares for him, but Dai retorts ruefully that she's still not ready to be his girlfriend.
- Dai says that maybe helping the whales evened the score a little bit. "The score" referring to the atrocities he's performed in the past that he feels he needs to make up for.
- Nere runs into James, who tells her just how much they need to find a way to stop climate change. The tests on the c-plankton that Nere and the crew brought back from Atlantea are not going well, he says.
- Nere runs into Doc Iharu, Safety Harbor's chief medical doctor, who says her dad had jsut left to check on something in the bio lab. When Nere asks, he mentions that fires on land are getting worse.
- Nere's father returns, declaring that his scientists were certain that her team did not bring hom the correct strain of c-plankton from Atlantea. This is when he mentions that Idaine had kept a computer with a water-proof hard drive, so the data from the shipwreck would still be intact.
- Sevier, a witness on Idaine's boat, the Storm Petrel, talked about what happened on the boat to Mark Hanson. Ran and Idaine wer arguing quite violently in the cabin, and then a mine went off. He saw Ran come out with Idaine slung over his shoulder. He set her down, and then Sevier noticed she was dead, neck broken. Then Ran came out with Dai over his shoulder, and he threatened Sevier with a gun. Sevier left on the only life boat, and Ran returned to his boat.
- Mark Hanson mentions that he does not want Dai to be on the salvage team helping to find the hard drive, as someone from inside Safety Harbor has been giving information to Kuron's people.
- Ree, Kalli, Penn, Thom, Tobin, Lena, and Nere report to the transportation hub so they can start deep-water testing. The tests were conducted starting three months ago, when Mark Hanson suspected they had received the wrong c-plankton, and had begun planning a team of people who could handle the deep water. Rohan gives everyone sensors to monitor their vitals.
- The first test is swimming down the boat's anchor chain to one hundred feet. Nere takes the lead, and the others follow. Then, they do some mental and coordination tests. Then, they are told to descend two hundred feet. This time, Tobin goes first. A shark appears, then leaves. When they reach the depth, they do some more mental and coordination tests. Finally, they return to the surface.
- Shadow and Ocho hold a concert that everyone enjoys. Looking at their smiling faces, Nere can hardly believe either of them would betray Safety Harbor.