As the vessel leveled out, Enrique realized he was looking at a Mola alexandrini—the “bumphead” sunfish. But the details of its appearance here remained a mystery that the authorities were working hard to bury.
The biologist knew this species usually lived much deeper and in different latitudes; its presence signaled global shifts in the ocean. Every second wasted was killing the giant, whose gills struggled to catch oxygen from the air.
“We must lower it into the water now, or you will be responsible for the death of the rarest specimen in history!” Enrique shouted. His boldness worked on the captain, who gave the order to start the crane.
The nets began to lower into the azure waters, taking away the secret Enrique had only just begun to unravel. But at the last second, as the fish touched the water, an object fell from its mouth and hit the deck.
A small, slime-covered metal cylinder hit the deck with a distinctive ring, rolling right to the biologist’s feet. While all eyes were on the disappearing giant, Enrique quickly covered the find with his boot.
The security teams began searching the deck for samples, but they were looking for biological material, unaware of a technical device. Enrique felt the cylinder beneath his sole pulsing with a faint vibration.
The fish finally vanished into the depths of Ceuta, leaving only ripples and stunned witnesses. The officers, frustrated that the object had slipped away, began checking the crew’s documents.
Enrique knew that if this object was found on him, the consequences would be catastrophic. He slowly backed away toward his tool bag, pretending to pack up his equipment after a hard day’s work.
Waiting for the guards to distract themselves with the captain, the biologist snatched the cylinder and hid it in a sample container. His hands shook not from the cold, but from the realization that the fish was an unwitting courier.
Back in his lab at the University of Seville, Ostalé locked the door and dimmed the lights. Under the microscope, the cylinder looked like a high-tech sensor that clearly didn’t belong to oceanographers.
Cleaning away the salt, he found a serial number leading to a classified deep-sea project. The sunfish had swallowed this “beacon” at a depth where no human had ever ventured.
A persistent knock at the lab door sounded like a gunshot in the silence. Enrique froze, realizing his path from the port to the university had likely been tracked from the start.
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