“Good luck hiding that thing. They’ll be boarding it within the hour.”
“Right.” Finn throws his stuff into the RIB vessel, unties it, and boards. “I’m getting these specimens to the lab. Based on the condition of the metals and ceramics, they must be tens of thousands of years old. I’m particularly intrigued by the one with the beautiful patina.” Waving goodbye, he sails toward the ship.
Finn got all his goodies from the team’s first technical dive. Nathan and I were there for the post-dive debriefing. The team successfully reached theMegaronand collected the artifacts they were after. Controlled chaos was the best way to describe what they encountered. Halfway down, temperatures approached the upper limits of what could be safely tolerated. And some rocks soared to over four hundred degrees in small clusters throughout the walls of the room. The water was so hot in those spots that it shimmered. Everyone had to stay meters away from the walls. Presumably, this means that the water in some portions of the caves won’t be accessible.
Scott turns back to me. “Where’s Nathan?”
“Taking Natalie to school. He’ll be here soon.”
“How areyouholding up?”
“Good,” I say quickly. As much as I love my brother-in-law, I don’t want to get into the mess that is my emotions with him. “I’m excited to see him get back into the water today.”
Nathan has moved in with us, and I’m relieved to have him back, but my dread about what will happen in Carter’s Drop and the diminishing returns my conservation team is experiencing is disheartening.
Our coral restoration dive activity may be doing more harm than good, and we’re about to decide whether to pause our work and instead focus on how we can support Dr. Clark and the dive team.
We see Nathan’s car pull into the marina lot. He steps out wearing sunglasses and a yellow rash guard. He looks exactly as he used to on boating days. Grabbing his dive bag, he slams the door and walks down the pier.
“There he is.”
“Ready to get wet?” Scott calls out as Nathan approaches.
“Ready to see the blue hole.”
“It’s waiting for you. Let’s go see it.”
When we board, Maddie’s standing there waiting for us on the deck. None of us knew she was coming.
“Maddie? Where’s Christopher?” Scott asks, eyeing her and the pink tanks stashed over in the deck’s corner suspiciously.
“Ms. Connor.”
“…and why are you here, sweetheart?”
“I couldn’t miss this.” She walks over to Nathan. “You took me on my first dive. So, I’m going to take you on this one,” she beams.
Nathan, looking a little worried, smiles back at her.
“Hell, Maddie. You’re not diving. You just gave birth a week ago.”
She shoots Scott an annoyed look. “I can handle it. I’m prepared, and I won’t go too deep. It’ll be fine.”
“No, ma’am.” Scott walks up to her and gives her a sweet kiss.
Maddie pouts. But she knows she can’t dive.
“I’ll be his buddy on this dive,” I tell her. “You can have him next time.”
“Dang it. I wanted to, Nathan. Give me a few more weeks, and we’ll go.”
“I can’t wait, Maddie.” He hugs her.
“Mads,” she whispers. “You always called me Mads.”
“Mads.”
Her gaze drops to his belt. She stills, then reaches for something. Pulling out one of his dive knives, she stares at it.
