Unearthly Power

by R. K.

  “I could pour some milk in it and maybe find a piece of chocolate or something to melt for flavor, but that’s about the best we can do.” He replied teasingly.

  “Surprise me.” She challenged.

  Girls were the same everywhere, Sean thought. The pretty ones always craved that little bit of special attention they decided belonged to them. Probably because they were always given it; and Tori was sure to have received a lot of attention in her life. He finished his measurements and started the machine. It might only be a cup of coffee, but he was sure they would be impressed with what was supplied on a boat such as the one they found themselves on. The Guatemalan blend he used was a special order he picked up from a local coffee roaster. He was a fanatic, but there was no arguing with his product. His guests soon found themselves sharing his sentiments.

  “It smells wonderful,” she said sincerely as the aroma drifted through the room.

  “I think I will try some of that,” her father agreed.

  Sean set out several cups and then took a seat at the table next to the attractive young lady.

  “So, you are the remote vehicle specialist?” he asked her.

  “Yes. I’ve taken Bingo down on four other wrecks. He hasn’t failed me yet.”

  “Bingo?”

  “Yep, Bingo. It’s what you yell when you’ve won. I’ve won with him several times. Don’t you like it? The name?”

  “Well, I don’t think it’s a name I would have chosen. But it’s only a name.”

  “Did you choose the name for this boat?” she asked with a slight smile.

  “As a matter of fact, yes. Contrary to any special achievements, I christened it based on temperament. Some would say it is more fitting to its owner, but I disagree.”

  They smiled once more at each other as the professor was absorbed in some papers he was reading. Sean got up to pour their coffee, and when he sat back down the professor asked, “You said before that the underwater currents were too strong to make a dive on the wreck,” without looking at him.

  Taking his eyes away from the girl Sean said, “That’s right.”

  “But you agreed to take us there. Is that because you think the conditions will be different, or just because you thought you could make a few dollars ferrying us out there just to say ‘I told you so?’”

  Sean realized then that while this man might be from a completely different world than his, he wasn’t a fool. That was both good and bad. He preferred to deal with people on the level, and in most cases with more candor than they would have liked. They looked each other in the eye and he said, “I agreed because I wanted to make the dive. We stayed on site for two days before we decided conditions were not safe. I have not had the opportunity to return, and based on what little information I gained while we were there, I saw no reason to make it a priority. It isn’t exactly convenient.

  “I found your call to be, not only out of the ordinary for such an obscure and unknown wreck, but interesting. If it afforded me the opportunity to dive on someone else’s dime, then so much the better.” He said honestly.

  For the first time since he came onboard, professor Kirby revealed a thin smile of his own. “Do you think we can explore the wreck with the ROV?”

  At that time Alex walked in being lured by the aroma. “Depends.” He said as he helped himself to a cup of the hot liquid.

  The professor looked up at him without repeating the statement.

  When he sat down he continued, “I’d need to know the power of its propulsion system, its weight and its design,” he said while sipping his beverage and looking over the brim of his cup.

  “Tori can fill you in on that.”

  After she finished, Alex said, “Maybe. Those waters were unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before. We might have a good shot at it, but don’t get your hopes up.”

  Sean smiled at his best friend and partner and privately thought about taking him outside and tossing him overboard. They were being paid better than any job they had before this one. The last thing he needed was for his customers to be discouraged, even if they were hearing the truth.

  “I’ve taken Bingo in some hazardous water before Mr . . .” she said dragging out the word waiting to hear his last name.

  “Tate,” Sean provided, “Sebastian Alexander Tate.” He said with a grin.

  Alex responded immediately with a threatening look at his friend. But before he could say anything, she continued.

  “Mr. Tate, I’ve never seen water conditions Bingo couldn’t handle.”

  He turned back to her, “I’m guessing Bingo is the name of your ROV?”

  Tori nodded.

  “Well, then you probably haven’t experienced anything like this, with or without Bingo,” he retorted.

  Before things degenerated into a fruitless debate, Sean decided to intervene. He knew only too well that his partner couldn’t be told anything contrary to something he already believed. “It doesn’t do us any good to discuss what can and can’t be done now. We’ll find out soon enough as long as it is waiting for us when we get to Nassau.”

  Professor Kirby took his cue from Sean when he too saw the looks on the faces of the other two people sitting at the table. “He’s right. We’ll see to that when the time comes. As for the craft being on site, I was assured that it was en route. If it is not there when we arrive we will wait for as long as necessary.”

  That was fine with Sean. Each day in port meant a full day of pay without the work. That triggered a previous thought. “You said it wasn’t you who is financing this excursion. Who is?”

  Professor Kirby looked at him through his thin rimmed glasses with a deadpan expression and said, “An anonymous benefactor.”

  “Anonymous to you?” Sean questioned.

  “Yes,” he said unconvincingly.

  “What about the men you brought along? Are they yours or do they too work for this anonymous person?”

  By now Tori and Alex had forgotten about their little exchange and paid apt attention to the conversation at hand. It was a subject that interested them as well.

  “We met them on the plane ride down here. They are here to render any assistance we need,” he said, providing little in the way of explanation. “I think I would like to go lie down. It’s been a long day,” he said, excusing himself.

  Sean didn’t like being on the short end of an explanation, but since there was no reason to be overly suspicious he decided to let the subject drop for now.

  “I don’t like those men. I started to reach for one of their bags to help them to their room and all three of them moved next to me telling me to stay away from it. They seemed to relax after I withdrew my hand, but something isn’t right about them . . .” Alex said to the others.

  “You always complain about having to handle people’s baggage. Now you complain about not doing it. You just can’t please some people,” Sean said, looking at Tori with a smile.

  “You know what I mean,” Alex said defending himself even when he knew that Sean was just kidding. He looked at one, and then the other, and it dawned on him that they would rather be alone. Either that or they were challenging each other to a staring contest, which he doubted. Feeling like the third wheel he said, “I think I’ll go see how Dee’s doing.”

  “Good idea,” Sean said without looking his way. “Take her a cup of coffee while you’re at it.”

  Once they were alone he asked, “So how did you end up here?”

  “I work for my uncle’s company. We do contract salvage work around the world.”

  “This is more of a treasure hunt than a salvage operation,” he replied.

  “I know.” She smiled again showing a perfectly aligned set of white teeth.

  No matter who you were, or what you did in life, the prospect of hunting for treasure was alluring. For most, it was nothing more than a passing thought. For Sean, it was a way of life. He didn’t think of it the way most people did, but he was pleased to see the child-like reaction fro
m the woman sitting next to him.

  “What about your father? He doesn’t strike me as the type that gets out much.”

  “No, not really,” she said seriously. “He asked for my help when he was contacted about this a few months ago. He didn’t say much about it, but I’d do anything to help him. So here I am.”

  “I’m glad you came along,” Sean found himself saying before he thought about it.

  She brightened at the remark and so did Sean. The only difference was that Sean’s reaction involved a slight reddening of his face. He sat there awkwardly for a moment before continuing, “So, what do you do when you are not traveling the world looking for odd pieces of junk to bring back to the surface?”

  Understanding the question for what it was, she said, “I keep an apartment in Boston. I’m an avid Bruins fan. I love to go to the symphony orchestra, but only with people who love it as much as I do. I’m a history buff, mostly because of my father’s influence, and I even like to swim for fun, not just for work.”

  Seeing that he was paying close attention and enjoying the moment herself, she decided to go on. “I like when people give me gifts. I love chocolate, walks in the park, and candlelight dinners. And I never pass up a good cheeseburger and beer!”

  “What about you?” She asked.

  “Me? I love cheeseburgers and beer.”

  “No, silly, I meant tell me about yourself.”

  “Oh.” He said feigning misunderstanding. “Well, my job is my life. I can’t see myself doing anything but diving for one reason or another. I live with Alex, and my sister Deidra lives in Miami but she helps with the business too.”

  “No wife, kids, or significant other?”

  “No. This is it. You?”

  “No. I guess our jobs keep us too busy for that.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. But, there probably are circumstances that could change that.” He said reasonably.

  “I certainly hope so. Most of the things I like in life are better when shared with someone else.” She said seriously as she stared into his eyes.

  “Unless you’re running low on beer,” he replied, instantly changing the seriousness of the moment which resulted in his seeing the better portion of her tongue.

  ~ Four ~

  When the Cantankerous II made port, both Dee and Tori helped Alex secure the boat while Sean shut down the engines. Tori spent most of the cruise in the company of either Sean or his sister. She was close in age to Deidra and they soon found they were more alike than they would have imagined. Intelligent and professionally minded girls of their age were seldom taken seriously; especially when they had the physical attributes they were endowed with. There was no competition between them in their current circumstances and no threat to any personal interest. While she loved her father, Tori was happy with the situation she found herself in. Having people her own age to interact with on the job was a luxury she seldom experienced. In the short time that she knew them, she instinctively knew Deidra and her brother were close and that there were more similarities between the two than not, excluding their outward demeanor. So even if she didn’t spend all of her time flirting with her good-natured brother, Tori learned much about Sean from her interaction with Deidra. She liked them both.

  Once the ship was secured, Alex inspected the engines, Sean filled out his log book and the professor came to the wheelhouse.

  “I’ll go ashore and make arrangements for fuel. I also need to contact our benefactor to see about the ROV. I shouldn’t be long,” he stated before turning to leave.

  “Sounds good.” Sean managed to say to his back as he walked out the door.

  When everyone was finished with whatever self-assigned task they had, they gradually filtered into the galley.

  “So what now?” Alex asked.

  “We wait until the professor gets back. He’s checking on the ROV and some fuel.” Sean answered.

  “It’s a beautiful day out. Maybe we can spend some time ashore.” Tori said.

  Dee nodded her head in agreement.

  “We’ll see,” Sean said not unreasonably. “It’ll depend on what your dad has to say. It’s his dime.”

  When professor Kirby returned to the boat, the sound of voices led him to the crew.

  “The boat will be refueled later today,” he said as he stepped into the room. The others became silent waiting for him to continue. “The bad news is that the delivery scheduled for the submersible has been delayed. It won’t arrive for another two days.”

  While that may have been bad news to him, the other four people in the room felt quite the opposite. The boat owners were being paid by the day regardless of their activity and his daughter had sight-seeing on her mind.

  “So there isn’t any reason we have to stay onboard.”

  He looked at his daughter, considered what she said and then replied, “No. I don’t see why there is. Unless there are any other preparations that need to be made,” he finished as he turned to look at Sean.

  “No sir. I’ve ‘put in’ here before. If you’ve made arrangements for fuel, it’ll be taken care of. Other than that, we’re ready to go as soon as you are.”

  “Okay.” Professor Kirby said as if everything that was being discussed had originated with his presence, “As long as the submersible gets here in two days we can leave immediately after we get it onboard. Other than that, feel free to use your time as you will.”

  There were smiles all around. The four of them practically ran out of the room before anything could be said to change that declaration. They continued to walk quickly down the well-traveled wooden dock until they instinctively knew they were out of range to hear anything that might be shouted from their boat. When they came to the end of the pier they stepped around a hanging chain which blocked the single access road to the docking area itself.

  “Okay, where to?” Sean asked.

  “Clothing store.” Dee said.

  When Sean and Alex looked at her with disappointment she continued, “I seemed to have forgotten to bring any extra clothes for this trip. Sorry if that disrupts your plans but I need clothes.”

  “That sounds like fun. And,” Tori said as she turned to look at their escorts with a smile on her face, “we need someone to look after us.”

  Before Alex could object Sean said, “All right. It’s early. The sooner we get you outfitted the sooner we can enjoy our time here. Let’s go get it over with.” He thought that as long as Tori was able to negotiate some shore-leave with her father, she might as well be given preference for how they spent it. Alex wouldn’t be thinking the same way, but he would be able to have that talk with him when the girls were busy playing ‘dress-up.’ As long as they had each other to serve as approving judges, Sean was sure he and Alex could find a nearby water-hole to occupy their time.

  Unexpectedly, the girls finished their shopping rather quickly. They both showed them what they had purchased, and in turn, the guys acted as if they were impressed. Sean, of course, was more genuine in his attention than was Alex, but that was because of his growing interest in Tori.

  The day was pleasant with a mild breeze blowing in from the ocean and a few white clouds dotting the sky. The buildings were tall enough to provide a measure of shade which made conditions for walking nearly perfect. It was getting close to dinner time as they meandered aimlessly through the busy streets. When they reached a part of town Sean remembered from a previous visit, he suggested a place to eat. They all agreed as he led the way.

  He found that time and again Tori had placed herself near him as they went along. Their conversations remained casual, but he was trying to decide if what he was experiencing was a product of his own emotional fantasies, or if it in fact was reality. In most cases, his flirting, accompanied by his audacious manner, was enough to chase away the average woman. He always believed that the only woman for him would be the one who could handle anything he could throw at her. And, after numerous experiences, every one of them had run away at some point. He
thought of it as more of a game than anything. He saw no point in changing who he was now. But this one was not showing any signs of running. If anything, the more risqué he behaved, whether toward those he was with or strangers they met on the street, the more she was attentive to him. It was probably just the fact that they had to work together for the next several days and nothing more, he thought.

  Deidra was impressed when they walked through the broad entryway of a luxurious hotel. She figured her brother’s taste would lead them to nothing more than a hot dog stand in a dark alley. They followed him as he confidently made his way through the lobby and past an indoor garden. On the opposite side of the entry they found a section of elevators. He pressed the up arrow and waited. They stood in silence, all four of them staring at the illuminated numbers above the door as it went through its progression. When the door opened, an elderly couple smiled as they walked past them. They stepped inside and he pressed the button for the top floor. Tori stood close to Sean. He could smell her womanly scent which was highlighted by a mild yet pleasing perfume. He turned to look at her out of reflex and she returned the look with a smile. The door opened and they followed him a short distance to the entryway of the restaurant. Dee saw a payphone mounted on the wall and said she needed to call her boss. The others went inside.

  The breeze had died down and the early evening air was pleasant. A three piece band was setting up in one corner and they were shown to a table nearby. They could look across the tops of smaller buildings to see the ocean. It looked calm and unmoving from this distance. They were all underdressed for the establishment, but that thought never entered their mind as they enjoyed their surroundings. When the British accented maître d’ showed them to their table, Tori took a seat immediately next to Sean as they were given their menus. Sean was still trying to process her behavior. He didn’t put too much thought in her choice of seating as two of the three remaining seats were next to his. The odds were on his side. Uncharacteristically, he found himself disturbed by this young woman. He decided he would take it easy on the drinks. No sense in making a complete ass of myself.