The Covenant of Genesis by Andy McDermott

‘it’s gonna be a very pretty morning, with about a five-knot easterly wind and a thirty per cent chance of rain in the afternoon. Although I foresee a one hundred per cent chance that our guests from the IHA are gonna get wet.’ He gestured down at the pontoon dock, where the day’s diving preparations were under way.
    ‘Not me today,’ Nina said. ‘Got to sit this one out.’
    ‘Damn, that’s a shame. Still, if you need something to do, may I invite you to take advantage of the Pianosa ’s extensive range of leisure activities? By which I mean a deck of cards with the aces marked, a box of dominoes and the PlayStation in my quarters. I got Madden !’
    ‘That’s enough clowning around, Mr Lincoln,’ Branch snapped. ‘Go make yourself useful and check the galley inventory. I’m sure somebody’s been helping themselves to the canned fruit.’
    ‘Yes, sir !’ said Lincoln, giving Branch an exaggeratedly crisp salute and winking at Nina as he exited. She smiled back at him, then looked through the windows. The ship was about six miles from the nearest island, a low shape at the head of a chain stretching off into the distant haze. The sea was calm, the only other vessel in sight a white dot rounding the island. Away from the shipping lanes, the Pianosa ’s only company over the course of the expedition so far had been the occasional passing yacht or fishing boat.
    Although it meant negotiating several steep sets of stairs and ladders, she decided to head down to the dock; anything was better than hanging around with Branch. Compared to other survey vessels Nina had been aboard in the past, the Pianosa was relatively small, a 160-foot piece of rust-streaked steel that was a good decade older than she was. But while Branch was far from the most charming ship’s master she had ever met, he knew his job, and his ship was up to the tasks the IHA needed of it, even if it lacked creature comforts.
    ‘How’s the leg?’ the drysuited Chase called as she reached the bottom of the steep gangway running down the ship’s side to the dock. Only one of the Pianosa ’s boats was in the water today, the other hanging from its crane on the deck above.
    ‘Oh, just fine. Y’know, I think I feel up to diving after all.’
    He eyed her right foot, on which she was conspicuously not putting her weight. ‘Sure you do.’
    ‘Oh, all right, it still hurts like hell. It sucks when you’re right.’
    ‘But I’m always right!’ Chase said smugly. ‘Your life must just be one crap thing after another.’
    She gave him a sly smile. ‘You really want me to go down that road?’
    ‘Maybe not, then. Did you get the weather?’
    ‘Yeah. Looks like it’s going to be fine - maybe some rain later, but nothing serious.’
    ‘Suits me. Oh, here we go.’ Bobak and Bejo made their way down the gangway, carrying a plastic case between them. They put it down and opened it to reveal a bright yellow pod the size of a large pumpkin, a spotlight and a bulbous lens cover giving it a lop-sided ‘face’. Bobak connected one end of a long cable to it. ‘At least you’ll be able to watch.’
    ‘If you aim the thing at anything worth seeing.’ The remote camera unit had no manoeuvring abilities of its own, and was reliant on the divers to move it around. ‘We should have got Matt to make us one of his little robot subs. At least that way I could control it myself.’
    ‘Yeah, it’s not like you buzzing an ROV round my head would get annoying.’
    Gozzi lumbered down the gangway carrying the larger of the two vacuum pumps. ‘I’m ready,’ he said. ‘Have we got everything?’
    Chase nodded at the equipment lined up along the pontoon. ‘Yup. All the suits are charged and gassed up.’
    ‘Okay,’ said Nina. ‘I’ll get back to the lab and set up the remote. Now . . . you will remember to take it with you, won’t you?’
    ‘Ah, get moving, Hopalong,’ said Chase, waving her away. Nina grinned, then started back up the