“The suit’s unofficial name isDante’s Shield. The prototype has completed testing, and additional units have been produced. These shields provide divers protection in thermal extremes.”
Diving with heat shields. Everyone looks around at one another. Some with excitement. Me with dread.
“Damn. It’sseaQuest!” Jamie shouts, grinning ear to ear. Most of the guys join in. Even Margaret and Sid geek out.
Finn continues. “In theory, the Shield can withstand temperatures of up to eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit.”
Silence.
“Sounds like a solution to me,” Nathan says.
There’s going to be no stopping him now.
“Wait… did you miss thein theorypart?” Jamie asks Nathan.
“Right,” Finn continues. “Let’s discuss the limitations. Once activated, the heat protection lasts roughly fifty-five minutes. Give or take. When the coolant’s gone, it’s gone. Failure is virtually immediate. There’s little warning.”
“How much time?” Nathan asks.
Finn shrugs. “Maybe a few seconds?”
“Enough time to know you’re gonna die,” Jamie says grimly.
Oh God. Someone’s got to stop this. There’s got to be some other way.
Scott, who’s been quietly listening, asks. “Where are these magic suits, and who’s going to be using them?” His face is stoic and calm. The way he usually looks before he loses it.
“The Navy SEALs are bringing them. They’re all trained on the suits—but I’ve confirmed—none have cave diving experience.”
“So, you’re going to have untrained men down there navigating an unexplored cave environment in deadly conditions?” Scott raises his brows, still calm for now.
“That’s the question, isn’t it? Do we train them to cave dive, or do they train us on how to use the suit? The suit’s the simpler option. It’ll take a day for us—if that. Getting the commander on board will be our challenge.”
“Finn, let’s be clear about something. I will not experiment with my team’s lives. Only when we have clear facts in front of us and come up with a sound dive plan that assures everyone makes it out safely will I consider it… Or we don’t dive.”
“That’s reasonable. I’ll ensure…”
“Stand up,” Scott says.
Finn looks confused but stands.
Scott steps directly in front of him and fixes him with a hard stare. “I don’t like you. And I don’t trust you.”
“I’ll own that. But we don’t have any other options—at least none we’re prepared to entertain.”
Staring for a few beats more, Scott walks back to Margaret. Finn stumbles back down to the lounge.
“Okay, I have one more question for now,” Scott says.
“What the fuck is anyone who gets down there supposed to do? You’ve got no clue what the hell this even is. And you expect we’re going to figure that out on the fly when we’re down there. With a ticking clock? Make this make sense.”
“You’re quite right. This will require a series of incremental dives for discovery and analysis, all within a tight timeframe. I recognize the risk and the uncertainty. But again… what alternative do we have?”
“Finn, when do they get here?” Nathan asks.
“The suits? Two days. But Commander Nicolaus is already here. I’ll introduce you in the morning. On my ship.”
After the dive meeting wraps up and Nathan and I gather our things, Finn walks up to me.
