impatient.”
“This is very cool, Alison,” Caesare said, folding his arms. “Translation out in open water is exciting stuff.” He flashed her a devilish grin. “Come to think of it, maybe you could use some help from a couple old ‘sea dogs.’”
Clay laughed. He could imagine Langford’s reaction.
Caesare held up a hand in an innocent gesture. “Hey, let’s not forget Alison’s got some pull with the Admiral.”
Alison remained close to Clay, smiling, but said nothing. It was true, she still had a few favors to call in, but that wasn’t something you did lightly with Admiral Langford. No, she was saving her favors for a very rainy day. Not one involving Caesare lounging around on her boat and soaking up the sun with a beer in his hand. She liked Steve Caesare a lot. He was both tough and smart, but from what she’d heard, parties had a habit of finding him.
She turned and looked up at Clay. “So, how much time do you have before you have to leave for D.C.?”
“Probably a couple of hours.”
Caesare watched her frown with a look of mild disappointment. He rolled his eyes. “Oh, for crying out loud. Why don’t you two get out of here? I’ll hang out with my pal DeeAnn.” He gave her a wink. “Besides, I want to have a look at this new portable unit the boys have created.”
Clay looked down at her with raised eyebrows. “What do you say to an early lunch?”
“I would love that.”
“Just make sure you have him back on time.”
Clay nodded to Caesare, waved to the others, and grabbed Alison’s hand. “I’m all yours.”
Wasting no time, they headed for the outside door. She flung it open and pulled him outside into the bright sunshine. She paused for a few moments, letting the large metal door close behind them with a loud “click.” Before Clay could say anything, Alison pulled him close and kissed him.
11
Caesare followed DeeAnn back through the hallway to the habitat. She punched her code in and pushed the door open, then held it a moment for Caesare. As the two stepped up onto a gentle mound, they spotted Dulce sitting on the ground, playing with a large wooden game board. She promptly looked up and stared at Caesare.
“There’s my girl!” he called out.
Ecstatic, Dulce jumped up and covered the distance quickly, leaping into his big arms.
Caesare hugged her, then reached up and gently rubbed her head. “How’s my sweetheart?”
Steve here, Steve here, Dulce said, the words coming from DeeAnn’s computerized vest. Me miss you.
He matched her wide smile. “And I missed you.” He hugged her again and then leaned back and stared at the adorable gorilla in his arms. “You want to race?”
An hour later, Caesare was staring down at Lee and Juan’s new toy, lying on the table. “That’s pretty impressive, fellas.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied. “We got a little help with production, but the design is pretty close to what we drew up. The board is under here.” He touched an outside section of the vest’s material. “There’s obviously some processing needed locally but we tried to keep it to a minimum, pushing the rest to IMIS for translation. Unfortunately, even with the barest operating system, and a load of flash memory, it still sucks up a lot of energy. Especially with the constant, high-speed wireless connection.” Lee reached down and peeled the thick rubber seal away, releasing the plastic door to the battery compartment. “Less than five minutes underwater still used up quite a bit of power. Which means usage is going to be limited in open water.”
Caesare nodded and looked curiously at the large rectangular battery. He fingered it and gently pulled it out of its socket. “This lithium?”
“Yep.”
Caesare turned it over, noting the connection points. “You know, the Navy’s got a team working on a new battery prototype for some
“This is very cool, Alison,” Caesare said, folding his arms. “Translation out in open water is exciting stuff.” He flashed her a devilish grin. “Come to think of it, maybe you could use some help from a couple old ‘sea dogs.’”
Clay laughed. He could imagine Langford’s reaction.
Caesare held up a hand in an innocent gesture. “Hey, let’s not forget Alison’s got some pull with the Admiral.”
Alison remained close to Clay, smiling, but said nothing. It was true, she still had a few favors to call in, but that wasn’t something you did lightly with Admiral Langford. No, she was saving her favors for a very rainy day. Not one involving Caesare lounging around on her boat and soaking up the sun with a beer in his hand. She liked Steve Caesare a lot. He was both tough and smart, but from what she’d heard, parties had a habit of finding him.
She turned and looked up at Clay. “So, how much time do you have before you have to leave for D.C.?”
“Probably a couple of hours.”
Caesare watched her frown with a look of mild disappointment. He rolled his eyes. “Oh, for crying out loud. Why don’t you two get out of here? I’ll hang out with my pal DeeAnn.” He gave her a wink. “Besides, I want to have a look at this new portable unit the boys have created.”
Clay looked down at her with raised eyebrows. “What do you say to an early lunch?”
“I would love that.”
“Just make sure you have him back on time.”
Clay nodded to Caesare, waved to the others, and grabbed Alison’s hand. “I’m all yours.”
Wasting no time, they headed for the outside door. She flung it open and pulled him outside into the bright sunshine. She paused for a few moments, letting the large metal door close behind them with a loud “click.” Before Clay could say anything, Alison pulled him close and kissed him.
11
Caesare followed DeeAnn back through the hallway to the habitat. She punched her code in and pushed the door open, then held it a moment for Caesare. As the two stepped up onto a gentle mound, they spotted Dulce sitting on the ground, playing with a large wooden game board. She promptly looked up and stared at Caesare.
“There’s my girl!” he called out.
Ecstatic, Dulce jumped up and covered the distance quickly, leaping into his big arms.
Caesare hugged her, then reached up and gently rubbed her head. “How’s my sweetheart?”
Steve here, Steve here, Dulce said, the words coming from DeeAnn’s computerized vest. Me miss you.
He matched her wide smile. “And I missed you.” He hugged her again and then leaned back and stared at the adorable gorilla in his arms. “You want to race?”
An hour later, Caesare was staring down at Lee and Juan’s new toy, lying on the table. “That’s pretty impressive, fellas.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied. “We got a little help with production, but the design is pretty close to what we drew up. The board is under here.” He touched an outside section of the vest’s material. “There’s obviously some processing needed locally but we tried to keep it to a minimum, pushing the rest to IMIS for translation. Unfortunately, even with the barest operating system, and a load of flash memory, it still sucks up a lot of energy. Especially with the constant, high-speed wireless connection.” Lee reached down and peeled the thick rubber seal away, releasing the plastic door to the battery compartment. “Less than five minutes underwater still used up quite a bit of power. Which means usage is going to be limited in open water.”
Caesare nodded and looked curiously at the large rectangular battery. He fingered it and gently pulled it out of its socket. “This lithium?”
“Yep.”
Caesare turned it over, noting the connection points. “You know, the Navy’s got a team working on a new battery prototype for some
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