They were an odd pair, even atsea. Calvin was clean shaven, organized, andstylish. He had a collection of vintaget-shirts and sunglasses that Val realized after their third outing together must be extensive becauseshe never saw him in the same onestwice. His diving gear and cameras were always meticulously cared for,and he did sets of sit-ups and push-upsevery morning. She'd witnessed it anumber of times and seen the results in the form of hard abs and cuttraps.
Calvinwas fit, and he was the kind of bastard that walked around like he didn't know it. Val, of course, didn't mindbecause, aside from being pleasant to look at, Calvin was a smug, funny, cocky sort of person who did amazing workfilming in the water.
Lochner, onthe other hand, she had never once seen off his boat. Not even in the water. Infact, Val was fairly certain she had nevereven seen him out of a thick sweater. He was a big man with large browneyes and a beard that was very close to being too much. He wore a knitted ski cap all of the time, but Val could vaguelyremember seeing sun-bleached curlssticking out from under it once before. While Calvin could talk forhours, Lochner kept his sentences short and rare. It insured that, when he did give acommand, it got attention.
Shesupposed they were a lot like their mugs. Different, but both on thisship, day after day, traveling the oceans like it was all hometo them.
Val looked Calvin in the eyeand put another spoonful of sugar in her cup before defiantly stirring it intoa thick sludge.
He smiled, sunglasses clippedto the collar of today's t-shirt—vintage X-men. "Found out about the ex coming aboard, did you?"
Val frowned deeper.
Calvin shrugged and picked uphis coffees. "All passengers had to be cleared with Loch," heexplained his know-how and turned away fromher, heading toward the narrow stairs that led above deck.
"You could have warnedme." She was sure he was still smiling.
"Could have," heagreed and then disappeared, an expert atcarrying multiple full cups up the stairs of a swaying ship.
Val leaned her hip into thelinoleum-coated counter and took a sip ofher sweet fuel. She could hear the voices above deck. Henry had caughtsight of Calvin on his way up and tried tostop him for an interview, but based on the awkward way his words dropped off, Calvin hadn't stopped in hisroute to the wheelhouse.
She tookanother sip, wondering already what she was supposed to tell thosecameras. The same old stuff, she guessed. Who she was, where they were, what they were there to do, and why her. Why her was a goodquestion. She smiled and put the lip of hermug to her mouth again. The answers were always the same. It was her jobto be here because she knew the ocean and the things living in it. She was alsohere because her sister was the one obsessedwith the island and couldn't have gathered the funding for an island expedition that may turn upnothing unless she'd promised the sure bet of shark footage for the channel. Most of all, Valarie DeNolawas here because she was the fool willing to get into the water everytime they gave her a chance.
One ofthe cabin doors opened, and Oliver Camden walked out. His short copperyhair stuck out on one side, and his skin wasshaded in deep tans, hinting at the shapes of shirts he wore when sunburned. Despite bedhead, he appeared bright-eyed and ready for the day. In fact,he looked like he'd been up for awhile—freshly shaven and dumping anarmful of maps, rulers, pens, and a tablet onto the communal table. Valfrowned because she was pretty sure he wasn'tgoing to move that shit anytime soon by the way he immediately started spreading it all out and usedcups for weights at the corners of maps.
She tookanother deep swallow of caffeine and sugar and watched him. He didn'tlook her way or say anything to acknowledge her. At leastthree minutes of silence stretched out between them while Val stared at hisprofile, trying to decide if she was being ignored or if he was just oblivious.
At last, he looked up. But not at her. Oliver swiveled around in the tight spaceand noticed for the first time that something was missing.
Hemarched three steps and pounded his fist against a narrow cabin door."Maeko!" he shouted through the thin wood. A grumbling came frominside. "Get the fuck up, girl!" he hollered, Irish accent thick. "I'll leaveyou behind if you're not ready to go in an hour." His eagernesslooked greedy, and he hadn't even gotten into the water yet. Val already hated the idea of him actually finding anythingworthwhile but was also pretty sure he'dmake for a great show. Cameras love douchebags.
Maeko Watanabepractically stumbled out of her cabin, scrubbingher face to try to convince herself she was awake.
"Coffee?" Valsuggested.
Maekoscrunched her face as though offended by the idea, but shuffled closer, drawnby the gravitation of caffeine. She pushedup the long sleeves of her tight shirt and clawed fingers through herlong black hair, dragging the mess back from her pale face and binding it withone of the hair ties around her wrist.
Valscooted to the side to let the shorter woman by. She fumbled for a mug,eyes still blinking a little too slowly. Val tried not to smile.
"Get me a cup,"Oliver said in that casual way, completelycertain one of them would do it. Val stood there long enough to see that Maeko pretendedsuccessfully not to have heard him,filling her own cup and drinking it on her way to the bathroom.
Oliver looked up from his maps when he realized he stilldidn't have his coffee, and for the first time that morning, his blue eyeslanded on Val. She did smile then and took a sip from her cup before turningaway from him. It was going to be a longweek. She climbed the narrow stairs back into the rising daylight whilehe grumbled a curse and got his own coffee.
"I killed my parents when I wasthirteen years old."
And now,
