Mary stepped up the stairs to find Jester seemingly unaware.
- We've got visitors. 2 guys on a small boat, 8 o'clock. Looks like they are trying to sneak on us.
- And no transponder. Let's put the lights on and radio in. Most likely, boardies decided to pay is a visit.
Wen crawled out of her hole as well
- Or Navy?
- Nah. Yankees are absolutely uncapable of sending less than a squad of marines.
...
...
- Officer Robert Baker, Border Force. May I step on board?
- Peter Jackson, kinda captain here. What brings you in so late, insomnia or vigilance? - Jester threw down the ladder.
- You're here with the lights off, so we came to check.
- Could have just radioed in. We are stationary, so lights aren't a hard requirement.
- Can't agree to that. You are unanchored and I can hear engine humming down there.
Mary stepped out of the shadows. Her voice was calm and commanding:
- With all the respect, officer, there is nothing in the naval code that says we must be "anchored" to remain stationary. You can stay here with us and watch your GPS for the next few hours if you want.
Baker dished out a questioning look, but didn't really feel like asking aloud.
- That is Victoria Russel, university of Brisbane. She is the professor in charge of the expedition. The noise you hear is a small generator that powers stabilizer motors.
- We usually run them on batteries to avoid extra noise because it ruins the research, - Mary slightly changed the tone, still maintaining the pressure of the commanding pattern.
- Same with the lights. But since the silence was already broken with your arrival, we decided to charge up at least.
- We are researching a few species that are light sensitive and stay deep below during the day. They come closer to the surface during the night and run away from any noise, thus remained undiscovered for a while. The species are unique to this place, so if we are successful enough, it might get enchanced protection status. Hopefully, enough to stop the oil drilling to the west.
- Could at least run a transponder.
- If we had one. The ship was built in 1952, registered to a public organization. On paper, it is a self-propelled barge, not even required to have a radio.
- Pretty good shape for a relic.
- After an accident in 1968, she ended up in the nice dry storage since university didn't have the money for repairs. Only recently, one of the student parents sponsored retrofit.
- Aren't stabilizers a bit more expensive than a transponder?
- In fact, no. The shipyard only welded a couple of hardpoints and the rest was grad project by engineering students. I'd never bet on these, but hey, they only need to work for a few days in these calm waters.
Baker gave one last look to the deck and headed back to speedboat. His ride was already snoring like a hog.
- Wake up, seaman! We have seas to sail.
Walker has snapped from the middle of a dream, a bit disoriented, but that didn't prevent him from driving the boat. He could probably do it without waking up.
As they sailed away, Baker was overthinking the conversation. Something was off, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.
- Walker, don't you think these guys are up to something?
- Negative, sir. They sure are weird but the story seems to check out. Ship's registration was renewed only a few month ago. After all, what would you suspect? Contraband?
- More likely, illegal divers. They look like total rookies, you never get smugglers like that.
- Hate to disappoint you, sir, but they got a license.
- You kidding me? Nobody got a diving license here for the last 3 years or so.
- At least, that's what our comms officer says. Maybe you should check with him once we get back.
- Heck, I'm done with them. Now sure who they are, maybe CIA or something, but that doesn't make any sense.
- I agree sir. Let's just file a report and forget about them for a while
...
Wen climbed back onto the boat from the starboard. Jester met her with a towel.
- Damn, I really hate getting wet.
- So, the stories about vampires who are afraid of running water do have something behind them?
- If you live long enough, you see a situation that changes your attitude. Heck, that officer is truly hard-headed.
- Even for a mind-reading witch? - Jester raised an eyebrow. - So, that's why you went for the other guy?
- Kind of. He plays it soft, but in reality is a notable smuggler. Not like a real mafia boss, but a couple of boats and a few hundreds of kilos per shipment. He was quite annoyed by the possibility of getting stuck here and crossing ways with one of his boats on their way back. He knows his boss well and most likely will manipulate him carefully into almost fogetting about this case.
- So, you think we're good?
- Absolutely. - Mary has joined the discussion. - Baker wanted to go to university but neither was too bright, nor had the money. So when he heard about the research, it quite touched him. For a while, he will feel guilty and won't even think about coming here again.
- Impressive. You made a lot of progress. - Wen smiled a bit more honestly than she normally did.
- Okay ladies, if we are done with the mind games, let's prepare for a walk on the bottom of the sea.
WoD and cherries
Mary stepped up the stairs to find Jester seemingly unaware.
- We've got visitors. 2 guys on a small boat, 8 o'clock. Looks like they are trying to sneak on us.
- And no transponder. Let's put the lights on and radio in. Most likely, boardies decided to pay is a visit.
Wen crawled out of her hole as well
- Or Navy?
- Nah. Yankees are absolutely uncapable of sending less than a squad of marines.
...
- We've got visitors. 2 guys on a small boat, 8 o'clock. Looks like they are trying to sneak on us.
- And no transponder. Let's put the lights on and radio in. Most likely, boardies decided to pay is a visit.
Wen crawled out of her hole as well
- Or Navy?
- Nah. Yankees are absolutely uncapable of sending less than a squad of marines.
...