The Leak

On Runit Island, marine biologist Dr. Lena Koyama studies the unique octopus species thriving in the coral reefs near the Runit Dome. As she bonds with a particularly intelligent octopus named Koa, Lena discovers unsettling signs of radioactive contamination in the water, prompting her to question the safety of the island and its marine life.

The Geiger counter sits on the gunwale of a sixteen-foot aluminum skiff, and its needle does what needles do in places like this. It twitches. It climbs a quarter inch, hangs, settles back. Climbs again. If you watched it long enough you'd …

During a scuba dive to collect samples, Lena witnesses an unusual behavior in Koa as the octopus displays a newfound ability to camouflage and manipulate its environment. Later, she discovers a hidden chamber in the coral near the dome, containing strange artifacts hinting at the octopuses' evolving intelligence.

Lena drops backward off the skiff and for a moment she can see her own bubbles before she can feel the cold. They spiral down past the coral shelf in slow silver braids, catching the late light, and then the water finds the gap at her wrist…

As Lena’s research progresses, she starts experiencing vivid dreams where Koa communicates through images and emotions. She learns that the octopuses are aware of the dangers posed by the Runit Dome and its leaking contamination. The urgency mounts as Lena realizes she must act before it’s too late.

Lena woke at three with the taste of salt on her tongue and the sense that she had just surfaced from something much deeper than sleep. The ceiling fan turned its slow circles in the dark. Her shirt was damp at the collarbones. There was a …

An unexpected storm isolates Runit Island, and Lena is forced to stay with Koa and a group of octopuses. During the storm, Lena witnesses Koa orchestrate a synchronized display, revealing that the octopuses are using bioluminescence to communicate with each other and warn of impending danger.

The storm came in as a wall of green-gray light along the western horizon, the kind of light that doesn't belong to weather so much as to a held breath. On Runit, the palm fronds went flat. Not bent. Flat. As if a hand had pressed them open…

As the storm subsides, Lena discovers that the contamination has worsened, with fish and marine life starting to display mutations. She realizes that the leak is more extensive than anyone anticipated, and her previous findings are now overshadowed by the immediate danger to the ecosystem.

The parrotfish was in the tide pool when Lena came down the steps with her coffee, and she stopped on the second-to-last tread and stood there long enough that the coffee went cold in her hand. It was floating belly-up, which by itself was…

Desperate to find answers, Lena rallies other researchers on the island to join forces with the octopuses. They begin using Koa’s unique abilities to gather data on the leak and create a plan to contain the contamination, forging an unprecedented alliance between humans and octopuses.

Four people. One folding table. A tablet between them like a small fire, throwing red onto the undersides of their chins. The map on the screen was Lena's, though she had not told them yet whose it was. The plume bloomed across the lagoon …