Stefanie paused at the railing for a moment to catch her breath. She would be the one deploying the submarine and research platform when they arrived at their location. Cole would have kittens if he knew she was doing it with no backup crew to watch the perimeter cameras, but she’d have to ask for forgiveness later. She turned to shimmy down a small set of stairs to the area below deck. When she reached the bottom, she startled at a touch at her back. A moment before she heard his voice, she realized it was Joey. “You scared me.”
Joey whispered. “Sorry. How are you doing up there?”
“Good.” Stefanie’s heart pounded. “Something seems off with Fredrick. He looks way worse than just seasick.”
Quinn’s voice came through the earpiece. “On it.”
Soon, Quinn joined them. “Fredrick didn’t light up on my sensors, so he doesn’t have any bugs on him. He was leaning over the railing when I walked by. You’re right – he looks really ill. When do we get to the drop off location?”
Joey checked his watch. “Another forty-five minutes. I’ll go up and make sure our equipment is ready to deploy. Stefanie, you keep mingling on deck and see if you can figure anything else out. We should be out of range of Dmitri now if he’s trying to snipe us from shore.”
“You got it.” She tipped her head towards the main deck. “Want to come with me, Sis?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” Quinn flipped her hair behind her with a flourish.
When they returned to the deck, Cam was drinking from a travel mug of coffee and answering questions from Tony and Oliver, while Fredrick kept his eyes trained on the horizon, a classic tactic to manage seasickness. Stefanie looked at Quinn, who gave her a meaningful look in return. Hopefully, Fredrick didn’t realize the ships in the distance were their allies in the Coast Guard. They felt alone, but they weren’t, truly.
Stefanie walked up to Cam, who was playing the part of Parker. It took her a second to remember that she couldn’t call him by name, and she caught herself just in time. “Hey, Parker. Enjoying the ride?”
“For sure.” Cam smiled easily and turned to brace his back along the boat’s railing. “You’re going to have to explain to me what those boxes do again, using small words.”
The two consultants standing nearby looked on with interest and Fredrick finally pushed himself off the railing to join them, still half-focused on the horizon. Stefanie smiled at the group. This part, she could do. “Of course. Our normal platform can hold all kinds of measurement equipment – seismometers, sample collectors, communications equipment, custom sensors. You name it, we can do it. Today, our customers are bringing custom, proprietary measurement equipment, and we’re delivering it to an appropriate testing location.”
Cam lifted his travel mug of coffee in her direction. “Well, if I ever have to do measurements on the bottom of the sea, I know who to call.”
Finally, Fredrick spoke. His voice was hoarse, and he sounded like he was in pain. His accent was a little thicker than she remembered it, but perhaps it was because he wasn’t feeling well. “And Parker, what do you do for a living? Do you also work for the Oceanic Exploration Group?”
“No, sir. I’m just along for the ride. We were in town visiting Stefanie and she was kind enough to invite us. My wife, Ree, had some ideas on where she might be able to help with future developments and wanted to see everything in person. I hope you don’t mind us coming along.”
“Of course not.” Tony waved his hand. “And Ree, what is it you do?”
Quinn took on Ree’s animated disposition, the one that appeared when she talked about her work. The impression was spot on. “I usually study rocket engines, but I specialize in materials. When Stef said they were working in such a harsh environment, I wanted to see what types of coatings they were using to protect their delicate sensors. I have a special interest in difficult environments.”
“Like the end of a rocket nozzle.” Tony pulled a business card from a small leather wallet. “We do a lot of design work for a variety of clients. Let me know if you want to collaborate.”
Quinn slid the card into her pocket after looking at it politely. “That’s nice of you. So, your team does more than marine research?”
Fredrick spoke again, his voice hoarse. “We work in a number of areas.” He clutched his head. “I think I need to go sit down.”
Tony had wandered away from the group and was looking back at the equipment, checking something. Again. She’d handle the green seafarer so the CIA could keep an eye on Tony. “I’ll go check on him. I have some club soda onboard that might help.” She silently hoped Cam understood that he needed to watch Tony. Tony was the leader and couldn’t keep his eyes off the equipment. Fredrick could barely stay upright on the boat.
When she reached the back of the boat, Quinn was close behind. Just before she reached Stefanie, she whispered, “Not sure what they’re doing. Boys have eyes on Tony, and I have your back.”
Fredrick sat down, head lolling. Stefanie followed him quickly. “Sir, are you okay?” He shook his head, then gestured below deck.
Stefanie motioned for him to stop. “I’m so sorry, but if you go below deck, it’s only going to make your seasickness worse. I have some medication that might help.”
“No, it’s a migraine.” Fredrick’s voice was pained. “Not seasickness. I need to get away from the light. Could you assist me in finding a place to sit?”
Quinn followed Stefanie while she led him to a small area with
