Undetected by Dee Henderson Page A

them at a backyard barbecue seven years ago. A good man and protective of his sister. “Gina, the genius,” Jeff liked to whisper with affection, his arms draped across her shoulders. He’d give her cover from the crowd when her words wouldn’t come and shyness overwhelmed her. She was interesting, Mark thought, for her unusual life and abilities. She had never met his late wife, but he knew Melinda would have liked her.
    With a nearly full moon and a gentle southwesterly wind, enjoyable Bangor views of the night sky welcomed them outdoors, and he nodded north so they could walk a bit and be away from those who might overhear a conversation. Security fell in a ways behind them.
    He opened his ice cream; she opened hers.
    â€œIt’s good to see you, Mark,” she finally said softly.
    â€œThe same.” He took a bite of ice cream, glanced her way. “I saw Jeff in passing four days ago, off the coast. He was having a good time. I left him chasing an Akula.”
    She smiled. “He’ll enjoy that.”
    â€œYour cross-sonar works like a charm. Fast-attacks use it all the time to sync up when they’re protecting a battle group. But it’s been handy even for us boomers, especially when we’re at our most vulnerable, coming into home port.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear it.”
    â€œWhat brings you out to Bangor?” he asked again.
    â€œI had some sonar ideas I wanted to explore, and I needed to get away from Boulder for a while.”
    â€œSomething happen?”
    She shrugged. “A guy I met there . . . well, we broke up. It’s been hard seeing Kevin at work every day. And the satellite mapping work I’ve been doing of the oceans’ seabed is done but for the processing time.”
    â€œI’ve seen a couple of the new navigation maps. Those yours?”
    She nodded.
    â€œThe detail is superb.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œI’m sorry to hear about Kevin. Jeff’s mentioned him a few times.”
    Mark knew Gina had been dating Kevin Taggert for the last two years. Her brother thought he was okay, but Mark could hear in the way Jeff talked about it that he was kind of cool on the guy. Kevin was a government academic who also worked at NOAA, maybe a good fit for her on paper, but not so much in reality. The fact the relationship had broken apart wouldn’t surprise Jeff.
    â€œKevin was kind about it, but I didn’t see it coming. Not sure why I didn’t.” She shook her head. “You had a good patrol?” she asked.
    â€œAll-quiet,” he said. “The best kind.”
    â€œGot a chance for the battle E this year?”
    He smiled. “Working on it. Nebraska is going to be stiff competition.” He wanted to win Best Boat of the Year, and his crew was giving him their all to make it happen. They were a competitive bunch of guys.
    He liked Gina. Always had. She was younger than his sisters. She had started college at 14, taken an interest in sonar because her brother was pursuing a career as a submariner. The Navy had gotten a fortunate break there. She could have turned her interest to medicine or biochemistry. Cross-sonar was so classified, the Navy department that deployed what she’d developed had been given the name Sonar Maintenance and Acoustical Hardware Longevity Program. The name alone suggested it was too boring a department to be curious about, which was effective at keeping interest low as to what was being done.
    â€œGina, the genius,” Jeff would say with affection, while privately Mark knew he worried about what his sister was going to do to keep from being bored. It was one thing to be a gifted child, another to be a gifted adult. She was ahead of where knowledge was at in her own fields of study, and finding something to keep her absorbed required breaking new terrain. Jeff was concerned about the pressure she felt from expectations on her to produce new science. She