Theo Roelofs is a molecular biologist. He's a detective. And he's upset. His latest mission, to assess evolutionary changes in the thermoplankton web, is yielding some very unsettling conclusions. It's the stuff to affect us all.

Dr. Roelofs, a Thor Fellow at the University of Uppsala, wrote the seminal work entitled Absorption and Excitation Spectra in Thermoplankton, a publication that influenced the commercial development of the existing TP Net. His team created the mutation model for the most durable TP communities we see today. He is the experts' expert when it comes to the study of TP, especially Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Plankton cells, like those in other life forms, contain mitochondria. These semiautonomous "organelles" act as cellular respirators, insuring the generation of energy with the help of oxygen. Mitochondria contain a small amount of DNA and grow and reproduce within the cell. Since even the comparatively complex altered mtDNA of the TP contains only 36 genes that code for proteins, it evolves five to ten times faster than nuclear DNA. It is a good means of measuring short-term evolution. In the case of common TP (CTP) strains, it is a gauge now reading "red."

According to Dr. Roelofs' most recent analysis, a substantial percentage of the TP biomass consists of a new species that, while related to CTP, exhibits markedly different and unacceptable characteristics. For one, the infra-sonic frequencies employed by THOR to signal and monitor the TP Net don't always work with the evolved TP (ETP). ETP also displays slightly different characteristics when it comes to solar radiation reflection. Most functions across a wider "albedo gap." Isolated groups found in the Indian Ocean display a golden hue on the "dark" side, creating a much less radical reflection/absorption variation.

An article in the Uppsala Plankton Journal refers to these species as "Black ETP" and "Golden ETP" and points out that, while both hungrily absorb directed narrow-band micrometer wave transmission energy from power satellites, neither variety is adaptable to the current THOR directives or constraints. Each has developed a "renegade profile" in addition to a competitive advantage over the ancestral CTP. In short, nature seems to have reclaimed its reins.

Now Dr. Roelof and his fellow scientists must scramble to either retard the ETP onslaught, adapt THOR, develop a newer and more cooperative ETP, or simply buy a miracle. Whatever the solution, it must come soon; otherwise, who knows what the skies may wreak?"