Undetected

by Dee Henderson

  “I believe so, sir.” Bishop hesitated, then added, “She thought this one wouldn’t work. She then checked the data to confirm that and was surprised to discover just how robust and workable the idea is in practice.”

  Hardman smiled. “Good to know she surprises herself sometimes. The SecNav watched her first presentation, got to the point in the video where she said her idea was to remove the man-made noise of the ping and send a recorded ocean sound instead. He stopped the video, turned to his deputy and asked why the Navy hadn’t hired this woman back when she was in college and originally gave them cross-sonar. His deputy opened the background file on Gina Gray and told the SecNav she’d turned down a job offer, a fellowship, a block grant through the DoD, and a consultant role, but she would appreciate it if the Navy let her brother, Jeff Gray, interview for a position on the USS Seawolf.”

  Bishop smiled. “Sounds like Gina.”

  “See if there’s anything in particular she would like, Bishop. We’ll accommodate her if we can. A paycheck for a few weeks of her time doesn’t seem like adequate compensation, given the ground she’s breaking for us.”

  “I’ll ask, sir.”

  13

  Gina heard the soft footfalls of Mark’s tennis shoes along the hall by her office, then the familiar light tap on the door, sounds she had grown used to over the last week, as he joined her. He didn’t smell of sweat or salt water or smoke from a fire drill, so it had been a rare day spent in the office rather than the training facility. A deep lavender rose slid into the vase beside her terminal, where the daffodil had finally wilted and been removed.

  Mark leaned against the corner of her desk. “You need a break, Gina. I can almost see that headache.”

  “I still can’t get the speed I want in the object-shape algorithm.” She leaned back in her chair, rubbed at her neck. She turned toward him, raised an eyebrow at the civilian clothes. “Getting ready to play hooky?”

  “PR people with a camera have been dictating my day. They’re doing an update on one of the ‘life in the military’ brochures. Melinda roped me into the first one, and the Navy hasn’t let me bow out of the assignment since.” He turned his wrist so she could see the time. “Sunset means call it a day.”

  “I really wanted to get this particular algorithm figured out.” She shifted the keyboard and saved her work, then pointed the mouse at a private data file. “You want to see something fascinating?” She’d been monitoring what was happening with the Sun Research Group. She replayed the solar flare which had occurred that morning. The image from the SOHO satellite feed was breathtaking. The solar flare coiled out from the sun’s surface in a fiery loop, then burst into pieces.

  “This is what you’re going to work on next?” Mark asked, intrigued.

  “Yes. What causes them, how they form, how they behave, what happens to that massive burst of heat and light and energy as they come apart.”

  “I can see why you’re looking forward to it.” He watched the replay of the solar flare, then looked over at her. “You need an evening away from sonar algorithms and work or you’re going to burn out. Wrap it up and come with me, Gina. I’ll find us a movie to go see, a late dinner afterwards.”

  She blinked in surprise, then looked away, at the rose, seeing it in a new light. “Mark, I’m dating Daniel,” she said quietly.

  “I know. I made a mistake when Jeff first suggested I ask you out. I bowed out and said no because of the age gap between us. I’m correcting that error in judgment. I can’t think of someone I would enjoy spending an evening with more than you.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say, and too much time passed in silence to be comfortable. Her embarrassment about what to do just kept growing.

  Mark gently smiled. “Daniel and I both like you, Gina. Enjoy it. It’s considered a good thing.”

  She shook her head, confused. “I can’t break up with Daniel just so I can have dinner with you.”

  “I’m not asking you to do that. Call him, tell him I invited you out, see what he says, then say yes. I’m looking at a lady in desperate need of a night off. Trust me and come. A casual, come-as-you-are date. Starting 10 minutes after you let Daniel know.” He picked up her cell phone and held it out to her.

  “You’re not going to accept no, are you?”

  “I’d prefer a yes.”

  She chose an action PG-13 movie so there would be fewer awkward scenes to sit through and, surprisingly, felt herself relax in the nearly empty theater. She loved the big-screen movie experience. She shared popcorn with Mark, reached for another handful as the movie previews started. “I don’t understand why you want to spend an evening with me, Mark.”

  “We need to work on your self-esteem,” Mark said. “I enjoy your company. I’ve been thinking about asking you out since the sea trial.”

  “I’ve never thought of you as . . . well, date potential,” she said, feeling seriously uncertain about how to proceed. This was the guy she had always thought of as Jeff’s friend, someone she knew she could trust, and now it was pivoting into something she wasn’t sure how to define. “Tonight is a one-off break from work. It can’t be more than that.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll take what I can get, Gina. I put myself in this bind. I let Jeff’s suggestion slip by me, opened the door to have him introducing you to Daniel. I’m not asking you to get me out of the mess I made for myself. I’ll settle for the fact you’re dating Daniel, and you’re getting to know me while he’s away.”

  “I already know you pretty well.”

  He glanced over, raised an eyebrow at that. “Do you?” He shook the bag of popcorn, and she reached for another handful. “You don’t know me yet, Gina,” he offered quietly.

  She nodded, accepting the caution. “Daniel was more understanding about this evening than I would have been had the situation been reversed.”

  Mark smiled. “The thing about men, Gina, is that we’re competitive. It’s in the genes. Had he said he preferred that you say no, it would be an admission that he was worried that if you spent time with me, you would like me more than you do him. He had to say ‘no problem’ or it would have been a problem.”

  She ran that logic back and then laughed. “Guys’ egos are odd.”

  “Seriously, I understand why you’re dating Daniel. I hope I’ve let you know that I like him and I think he could be a good fit for you. I’m not trying to step on any of your decisions about him. I’m simply fighting a very tight calendar. If Daniel doesn’t turn out to be your choice, I’d like to be at least a viable option before I have to disappear for 90 days on patrol. The Nevada returns in six weeks. I’ll be coordinating the refit and then be away at sea. I don’t have the luxury of waiting, Gina.”

  “That’s what tonight is, a marker?”

  “It’s permission to get to know me.”

  She stared at him, surprised at the answer, then slowly nodded. Not as Jeff’s friend, Melinda’s husband, Commander of the USS Nevada, but the man, Mark Bishop. “Anything I want to know?”

  He considered before he answered. “Within reason.”

  Her attention for the movie faltered as questions kept coming to mind. She wanted to know a lot of things. She wished she had a pad of paper and a pen. Even scrawling a few words in the dark on a napkin would be helpful to remember the questions. She finally reached for her purse and tugged out the university-offer letter—the envelope could be sacrificed. She searched for a pen.

  Mark held out his pen.

  “You’re missing a good movie,” he whispered.

  “You can bring me to see it again,” she whispered back and began writing reminder words on the envelope.

  Mark would give Gina points for focus. The envelope was crammed with writing across both sides. He took her hand as they left the movie theater. He might have only tonight before she marshaled her arguments not to see him while she was dating Daniel Field, and he wouldn’t be able to fault her if that was the decision she reached. But knowing this might be the on
ly casual evening he had with her for a while, he was determined to put some substance into it.

  “Ask your questions. We’re going to take a walk because it’s a comfortable night and the restaurant I want us to try isn’t far from here. I’ll answer what I can.”

  She hesitated, looked at him twice, before she seemed to accept the open invitation with a cautious nod. “Why do you want to get married again?”

  He glanced over, amazed at the opening question. “Interesting. Why I want to get married again . . . It’s simple. I miss being a husband.”

  “That answer doesn’t tell me much. Could you elaborate?”

  “It actually tells you a lot.”

  He let her think about that rather than offer more.

  “Why do you talk about Melinda so often?”

  “She’s my history, my point of reference for what marriage is like. You need to know some of my story with her to understand where I’m coming from.”

  “Why me?”

  He hesitated, wondering what direction to take with his answer. He looked at her, smiled. “You’re not boring. That is worth a great deal to me.”

  She bit her lip. The gesture reminded him again how young she seemed at times. He could guess at her likely rejoinder, the one which had just gone unsaid.

  “Gina, I’m not making a play for your emotions tonight because I just tossed the idea of me being a date possibility at you. I won’t unpack the emotions I feel about the matter until you’ve had some time to shift what you think about me. It wouldn’t be playing fair.”

  She nodded. “I think I’m grateful for that.”

  He tightened his hand on hers. “I’m not going to kiss you good-night for the same reason. That has nothing to do with what I’d like, and everything to do with what I think is best for you.”

  “Okay.” He felt her hand relax in his. She looked down at her envelope and bit her lip again. “You didn’t have a family with Melinda. Was that by plan?”

  “We would have liked to have a family, but we hadn’t yet begun pursuing medical reasons for why Melinda wasn’t getting pregnant.” There was some remembered regret with that answer, that they had not had children even though he was glad a young child hadn’t been faced with losing a mom. Gina seemed to recognize the emotions around this too, for she changed the subject.

  “You like fishing, hiking, rock-climbing. What else do you like to do?”

  “Watch baseball. Build stuff around the house. Read.”

  “I don’t have a sense of what your time is like. I know you’re at Bangor for long hours during the week.”

  “Some of that is the job, some of it is that I enjoy being around the guys. It’s not a 40-hour-a-week job, but it’s a manageable career. There is always something to do at Bangor, so I’ve fallen into the habit of being there rather than in an empty house.”

  She stopped asking questions. He gave her a few moments, then squeezed her hand. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m interviewing you.”

  “That’s a bad thing?”

  She nodded.

  He laughed. “Gina, one of the things you’ve got to get past is the idea there’s a right way to begin a relationship and date. What’s wrong with asking for information?”

  She didn’t reply.

  “You want swept off your feet, dazzled, pursued,” he guessed.

  “Maybe some combination of that.”

  “Gina, I appreciate romance too. The sentimental cards and the special meals, the gifts and the feeling of being together, focused on each other. It’s a good part of marriage, and I’m not going to be immodest and say I wasn’t pretty good at the romantic gestures. Melinda had a special spot for a DQ Blizzard delivered to her office. She also loved flowers of all kinds, or small, inexpensive gifts wrapped in pretty paper with a bow. And I enjoyed giving them to her, for no reason other than to see her smile when I handed her the package.

  “Given time, I’ll find the simple things that have a tangible meaning for you. At first guess, your short list is probably time, and substance in a conversation. I’ll figure out what matters to you, if you’ll let me. But I’m asking you to please take seriously the fact that all I’ve got is six weeks before I’m tied up preparing to leave again. Ask your questions so we can get some of the surface stuff off the list early on.” He glanced over. “You should have asked me by now if I smoke, since that’s on your must-not list.”

  “Do you?”

  “Nope, never have.”

  “Are you financially responsible?”

  She had braved asking another of her requirements, and he smiled as he answered, “I’m a careful planner, and a bit on the thrifty side. You seem looser with money than I am. I’d guess you have an inclination to buy whatever you need, but I think you also keep your need list short.”

  “That’s accurate.”

  “What else was on your list? Oh yes. I don’t drink because I don’t like the taste, rather than object to it on principle. Melinda would have said I’m a one-gal kind of guy. And I do my best not to let people down.”

  “Jeff says you’re a person people lean on.”

  He nodded, accepting the description. “Some of that is the type of job I have. I’ve got a young crew. The commander is the voice of experience and reason and direction for everything sub-related, and that trust tends to expand so the crew also includes career advice and family concerns.”

  They reached the restaurant and found it moderately busy. He asked for a table off to the side of the room, held Gina’s chair for her. “I can tell you that the chicken and the seafood are both good choices here,” he said as he sat down across from her.

  She scanned the menu. “I’m comfortable with the scallops and a salad.” She set aside the menu and reached for one of the hot rolls their server had brought. “Next note on the envelope—I was going to ask about your biggest disappointment in life, but I want to stop with the questions for a while. You can ask a few, if you like, or talk to me about the next few weeks.”

  “You’re nervous.”

  “I never would have thought in terms of you and me. You’ve been a wonderful friend in every way, but I’m uncomfortable sitting here, Mark. I’m dating Daniel. I shouldn’t be here.”

  He pulled out his phone and punched in a number. “Daniel, tell her again she has your permission to see a movie and have dinner with me. Yes, I’m aware of the time in Connecticut.”

  He handed over the phone.

  “Hi, Daniel.” She listened, shot Mark a surprised look, then smiled. “Thanks, Daniel. Go back to sleep.”

  Mark pocketed his phone. “Okay?”

  “I’ve been told to order something really expensive for dinner and enjoy myself.”

  Mark chuckled. “Sounds like Daniel.” He scanned the menu, chose shrimp and steak for himself, set the menu aside. “Okay, I’m too old for you?”

  “I don’t know how to answer that question. If you were 60 and I was 30, it would matter. So I know it’s relevant, but I don’t think your age—or mine—has come up during my three hours of thinking about this so far.”

  “You seem rather young to me at times, Gina. Bright certainly, but maybe a bit insecure? I don’t think you have a lot of confidence around guys.”

  She simply nodded.

  “Has it always been that way or has it gotten worse with Kevin being the latest blow?”

  “My track record leaves me cautious.”

  He wondered what it was going to take to repair that damage. “Answer me one question, Gina. Why do you want to get married? Not the answer that sounds correct, but the one in your gut that might even embarrass you a bit to put into words.”

  She flushed, but finally answered him. “Since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to be married. I wanted someone to be my knight in shining armor to rescue me from trouble and love me. When you’re 14 and at college, you dream a lot about being rescued.”

  He considered her words for a long moment, then nodded. “Melinda
said she was 12 when she decided for sure she was getting married one day. She knew she would look fabulous in a wedding dress, and she wanted that album of photos with her looking her best to have for the rest of her life. The guy in the picture didn’t even have an image yet. She just wanted the wedding dress.”

  Gina smiled. “You love that story.”

  “I do. It amused me when she told me, but I made a point of giving her that huge wedding album as my wedding gift to her. She used to look at it once or twice a year, delighted with the memories of that day. Childhood dreams can be powerful things, Gina. It’s good to know they are there.”

  “Did you have one?”

  “Starting at about age 10. Not about marriage directly. I just wanted her to like me. The her varied through the years with whatever crush I had going at the moment.” He broke a roll in two. “It’s still a powerful dream. I’ll appreciate it a lot when you decide that you like me, Gina, as something more than a friend.”

  “You mean that?”

  “I do. If you make that decision, it will matter to me a great deal.”

  14

  Mark chose the indirect route to their destination to avoid a steep gradient in the hike.

  “Do you consider this a date?” Gina asked.

  He was surprised she would have to ask. “Sure,” Mark said. “I’m planning to share my superduper spot to watch the fireworks. And the second folding chair I’m lugging up this hill for sure makes it a date.”

  “Because you forget to mention there would be 80 or so friends of yours coming along.”

  Mark laughed, looked at the crowd climbing to various elevations on the hillside, then back over at her. “Fourth of July spent with the gold crew is tradition. If I’d mentioned them, you might not have spent so much time getting ready for the evening, and I appreciate the results. You look very nice.”

  The gold-colored top she wore was the perfect shade to go with the gold crew colors, and there were red, white, and blue shoelaces in her tennis shoes.