After I change and return to the group, the main interior doors open.
Finn walks out and greets a glaring Scott.
“Sorry,” Finn says. “I’ve been in the middle of a rather heated debate with our guests for the last half hour. My attempts to smooth things over before this meeting may not have yielded the outcome I was hoping for. And Dr. Harlow’s enthusiasm about the prospect of the SEALs taking over the diving didn’t help our case.”
He glances at Sid.
“Well, he can back off. It looks like he’s going to get his way, regardless,” she huffs and gives Scott a lethal look.
Finn turns his attention back to Scott. “This may be a hard sell.”
We follow him through two laboratory rooms and a galley, entering a conference room aft of the wardroom.
After he introduces us to the commander and his officers, we all gather around the rectangular table, where Garrett’s already sitting. There aren’t enough chairs for everyone, so the officers remain standing, and Sid perches on the corner of the table.Scott and I stand next to her. The body heat in the room is palpable.
The commander nods for Finn to begin.
“Commander Nicolaus’s SEALs arrive tomorrow,” Finn says. “We’ve agreed to run a few reconnaissance dives with ROVs to collect as much data as we can, as deep as we can, while we wait. We’ll also start staging supplies at the cave locations we can still reach in wetsuits. There are eight Dante’s Shields, so we need to decide who’s diving and where. Thin wetsuits are still usable in sections below ninety-five degrees, but only for limited exposure times.”
“That’s a lot of information, Dr. Clark,” the commander says. His face is weathered, and he doesn’t frown or smile.
He inhales sharply and continues. “It makes the most sense for my men to wear the Shields. They’re trained, and they can use cave maps and anything else you can give them to get familiar with Carter’s Drop’s architecture.”
Finn clears his throat and glances toward us.
“Very good, sir. But if I may,” Finn says, trying to ignore the commander’s hard stare. “Scott and Nathan are two of the most skilled cave divers in the world.” Finn clears his throat again. “It’s taken them hundreds of hours of dive time to get that good. Their teammates are also experts. Please understand that Carter’s Drop is one of the most complicated systems we know of, and with this heating anomaly, it increases the risk tenfold.”
He pauses, gauging the commander’s reaction. There is none.
“You mentioned that none of your men have experience in caves yet. As skilled as they may be as divers, that doesn’t mean their skill will automatically transfer to cave diving, at least not in the time we’re talking about.”
“Do I look dense, Dr. Clark?” he asks. Finn shakes his head. “We already discussed this twice. My men do the diving in theShields.” He looks at Scott and me. “What Iwillagree to is allowing your team to train with the suits, and Scott and Nathan can go on the missions. We’ll consider rotating more of your people in as we progress.”
“Fair enough,” Finn quickly agrees.
“Good. We’ll start the training tomorrow, when my men get here.” He gets up and makes a curt goodbye gesture to the room. “Appreciate it.” He walks off briskly, his officers in tow.
“Did we do something wrong?” Jamie asks.
The Dante’s Shield schematic lies flat across the table. I’m going to get to dive in that suit. How awesome is that?
After we leave the room, I look at Scott. “You were quiet in there.”
“No point fighting it right now. I can’t tell him what to do with his men. But none of us are getting in the water if I think it’s unsafe.” He stops walking. “You don’t have to do this. You’ve just got home. It’s all right to focus on Crystal and Natalie. I know you don’t think so, but we can do this without you. You don’t have to prove anything.”
“I’m in.”
On the drive back home, I stop at the general store to pick up some groceries that Crystal asked me to get.
We’re having fish tacos.
With Natalie at Mads’s and Scott’s place, we have the house all to ourselves, and I feel much better than I did last night. I smile at the thought of dinner.
“There he is,” a woman’s shout and a scattering of footfalls.
Turning, I see half a dozen people coming my way with cameras and a microphone.
“Nathan, I just have a few questions for you. Is now a good time?”
