Mel Sorenson and Connie Alvarez-Sorenson were waiting on the deck with Dokey.
“For the record, Chief,” Sorenson said, “I’m not happy about interrupting our maintenance schedule.”
“And off the record, Mel?”
“How much longer before we get underway?” Sorenson grinned.
“Just as soon as we’re stocked and all systems have been checked out.”
“What’s our crew complement?” Alvarez-Sorenson asked.
It was a good question. The crew makeup changed with every voyage. Scientists and engineers doubled as deckhands and galley personnel, reporting to the expedition commander in one capacity and to the ship’s commanders in another.
“You just want to know who you can order around, darlin’,” Sorenson said to his wife.
“We know of at least one she can boss, don’t we?” Dokey said, grinning at the ship’s captain.
Brande dug a Post-it note out of his breast pocket and handed it to her.
“We’ll be a little light, Connie. It’s a pretty straight-forward operation. Larry will handle the mapping. Okey and I will man the ROVs. In addition to the basic ship’s company, I’ve named nine others. Mostly, they’re people who haven’t been out for awhile. There’s a couple grad students who haven’t yet made a voyage. You and Mel can assign them any way you want.”
She scanned the listing. “Kaylene’s not going?”
“Not this trip.”
“Does she know?”
“Well, uh….”
Connie Alvarez-Sorenson looked up at him. “Can I be here when the fireworks start?”
Kaylene Thomas turned her car into the parking lot next to the warehouse. In her rear view mirror, she saw the van-bodied truck behind her signaling for the same turn.
She took the last parking place available, shut off the engine, and got out.
The truck eased to a stop next to her, and she told the driver, “You can park on the dock next to the ship. Everything goes aboard.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The truck rolled forward.
As she walked around the corner of the warehouse, she noted the activity aboard the Orion. People moved around with purpose, carrying cardboard boxes, recoiling lines, checking fire extinguishers. There were some employees on the ship that she hadn’t expected to be there, the two new interns — Bryce and Walters, for example. Connie and Mel cruised among them, supervising those with less experience aboard a research ship.
Depthfinder II and Sarscan were already in place on deck. Atlas, the small recovery robot, was in a sheath located under the submersible’s bow. She supposed that a couple Sneaky Petes were lashed down in the lab. That would be all they needed for this expedition.
She checked inside the warehouse, but couldn’t find Brande. Crossing the dock, she used the jury-rigged gangplank to board the ship.
He wasn’t in the big lab, either. The five computer consoles lining the aft starboard side of the lab had all been activated, and Dokey and Otsuka were going over them, double-checking their software.
“Hi, Kaylene,” Otsuka said.
“Have you seen Dane, Kim?”
“In the wardroom with Larry, I think.”
“You bring us nourishment?” Dokey asked.
“You’ll survive,” she said, turning to continue on through the lab.
At the forward end, she passed through the hatchway which led into a corridor that crossed the superstructure from one side to the other. Various companionways led to crew accommodations and engineering spaces in the twin hulls or to the deck above. Across the corridor was the open door to the wardroom which spanned the full width of the superstructure. It contained a galley in one corner, a scattering of tables and chairs, and booths along the starboard bulkhead. Oversized portholes gave diners and those off-duty a view of the seas ahead and to either side. It was a combination lounge, recreation area, and in Emry’s case, office. He preferred to set up a computer terminal in one of the booths to putting up with the often hectic activity in the lab.
She found the two of them parked in the first booth. A monitor and keyboard dominated the table between them, and Emry was pecking away with the forefingers of both hands. He had never learned touch-typing, but didn’t suffer much for speed anyway.
“Morning, Rae,” Brande said. “You’re looking vibrant today.”
He had gotten up and left the condo sometime in the middle of the night. He did that frequently, when some project was on his mind. Irregular hours were normal for him.
Emry glanced up from the monitor. “Ditto.”
“Any trouble provisioning us?” Brande asked.
“No. We’ve got a couple weeks’ worth going aboard now.”
“Hmm. I thought we’d settled on a week.”
“And I decided that you and Avery may have underestimated the time this is going to take.”
“That’s nonsense, Kaylene,” Emry said. “You have to remember that they’ve got me. Plus we have the exact coordinates from the Earthquake Center.”
“MVU policy,” she said, “is always to err on the side of safety. Or of hunger.”
“Good point,” Emry said.
Brande was watching her eyes closely. He was getting better and better at reading her moods. Almost as good as she was at reading his.
“Is something bothering you, Rae.”
“I’m assuming that John Bryce and Alicia Walters are simply helping load the ship.”
“Uh, well….”
“As well as Cornwell, Prettyman, and Forester?”
“Well, you see….”
“We only settled on the number of crew last night, Dane. We hadn’t talked about names.”
“I kinda did that this morning,” he said.
“Let me see the list.”
“Connie’s got it.”
“Tell me, then.”
He rattled off the names of those he had assigned, without consulting her, above the ship’s cadre.
“The kids aren’t ready yet,” she said. “They haven’t even finished their orientation sessions.”
“Oh, I think they need the trip, hon. They….”
“You conveniently left me off the manifest.”
“Well, now, I know you’ve got a lot of work stacked up.”
“It can wait. I haven’t been out for over six months, and I didn’t take on this job because I wanted to be stuck in the office permanently. You sure as hell aren’t pinning yourself down, are you?”
“Somebody’s got to watch over the shop,” he said.
“Maybe I should run an errand,” Emry said, starting to slide out of the booth.
“Sit, Larry,” she said.
He sat.
“You’ve already told everyone that they’re going?” she asked Brande.
“Yeah, I did.”
“I won’t countermand that, then, but damn it, if you want me to be president, let me be president.”
“Sorry, Rae.”
“And I’m going along.”
“But….”
“Ingrid can sit in my chair for a few days, if she can find my chair. Either that, or I resign as president.”
“Oh, now, Kaylene!” Emry said. “Don’t do that. I like getting my paycheck on time.”
“Or better,” she said, “you stay behind and do the paperwork. I can handle Depthfinder as well as you.”
“I think,” Brande said, “that Ingrid would be a fine acting president.”
It wasn’t until after Otsuka and Dokey had shared ham sandwiches and milk in the wardroom that Otsuka learned she wasn’t on the crew manifest for this mission.
Emry and Brande were sitting in the booth next to them, and Otsuka leaned around her back cushion and asked, “Dane, what time do you think we’ll get off?”