It's here! It's here! It's finally here!
Wordcount already over the 3k mark! And yet...not the best thing I've ever written. In fact I think it's terribly dull so far. But who cares, it's words! And my editor isn't allowed to care, they're locked up till the end of Nov 30th.
follows this (sort of)
The ocean was vast and expansive, frothing and rolling it's waves around on the surface. The surface of the water was like a blanket, covering all of the activity going on underneath of it. It gave the casual onlooker a sense that the ocean was empty, uninteresting, and dull. Not the case at all.
Beneath the surface covering, fish twinkled by in their little groups, milling this way and that between each other and the coral reef surrounding them. The ocean floor was like a city with sea anenomoes and coral polyps continually building it up around the marine life that patrolled in and around it. Now and again, the smaller fish would dart away, making way for a bigger one, for that was the way of things. Survival was key in this dance under the water. You never knew what was coming around the next corner. Or what was off in the distance just beyond your sight. Or what would come up at you from the ocean floor that you couldn't see a minute ago.
She twisted and twirled through the school of fish, spraying them off in all directions with her movements. They all ran, she was much bigger than they were and therefore had the right of way. The sun filtered down through the water, diffusing slightly and glinting off of a few of the strange creature's scales as she arced her body down to dive deeper towards the coral mountains beneath her. There was a vast canyon, too deep to see down for any length before it started to look bottomless altogether. She was patrolling along this place, swimming fluidly with just her tail, her arms held close to the sides of her body to cut down on water resistance. Swimming along the crack in the floor of the ocean. Even though it was quite a chilling sight, a bottomless canyon, this was one of the few places she could recognize. She was born here. It felt familiar to her. The sense of familiarity went hand in hand with the sense of danger.
She stopped for a moment, listening...the other fish were keeping their distance, she could feel their hesitancy to get too close to the underwater abyss. Farther beneath her, she knew sometimes sharks would lurk in the darkness, waiting to see an unsuspecting morsel swim by up above. She was always careful, just like she had been taught.
There was nothing as far as her senses could detect, so she continued on, trying to find the right spot. Soon she found it, a small cave-like section of the wall of the canyon. She circled around easily, her tail flowing behind her. Reaching her hand in, she found what she had been looking for. It was round and had many colors on it. It was beautiful. Holding her prize in her hands, she swam upwards, away from the darkness. She had to show her friends, perhaps they could tell her what it was for.
Way above her head, a research boat went by, heading into port...
Mitch guided the boat in, waiting for Tony to jump to the wooden walkway with a line before cutting the motor. He picked up his bag of scuba gear and hefted it over his shoulder as he walked down the gangway towards the deck. "Hey Skipper," Tony was tying off the lines and jerked his head towards the large entryway between the aquarium and the docks. "Looks like we got company." Mitch looked off to where he indicated and sighed unhappily. "What?" Sarah asked, climbing up out of below deck with her own equipment over her shoulder, adjusting her glasses to see what Mitch was not happy about. "Our illustrious sponsor is visiting again," Mitch pointed at the line of black official cars parked along the side of the building.
The Santa Barbara Aquarium was by no means the biggest aquarium in the world. It wasn't even the most famous. But it did have one boast to it's name. It was the most active in it's field research. And that was only due to generous donations from one certain businessman. "Wasn't he here last week?" Tony frowned, finishing his knotting and standing up to wipe his hands off on his jeans. "Yup, I think Tyler took him on a tour of that new tank he gave us. The one for injured animals." Mitchell gave Sarah a hand over before jumping to shore himself. "Wonder what he's going to want to see now."
"You'll have to take this one, Mitch," Tony said with a smirk in his voice. "Tyler's out of town on vacation which makes you the boss man for the next three weeks."
"Lucky me," Mitch said sourly. "Hope he doesn't have any ideas we'll regret him having while he's here."
The three of them walked to their place of work, through the double glass doors at the back of the building. Inside at the anemone exhibit, a tour guide was showing a group of kids along the display on the wall, keeping them moving towards the dolphin tunnel. It was a tunnel of glass that boored through the dolphin tank. The kids loved seeing the dolphins up close and personal all around them and it kept the dolphins from little meddling hands and from getting too friendly with the humans. All of the marine biologists knew how hard it was to reintroduce animals into the wild so anything they could do to make it easier was a win for their side. Mitch could hear the echoes of oohing and aahing against the glass walls as the group disappeared around a corner and entered the tunnel. "They never get tired of that," he observed.
"I don't mind it myself. I sit in there on lunch breaks sometimes. Freddy is starting to recognize me from the outside I think." Tony waved as he broke off walking with them and headed for the back office to unload his stuff. Mitch tossed him his own gear and smoothed the front of his shirt. "Hope this will look alright," he muttered to himself. Sarah didn't seem to notice, she was reading the paperwork in front of her. "I'm going to go copy down some data in the computer, Mitch."
"Ok, don't get too caught up, we have to run the injury tank through it's paces again later I'm sure. I want to be able to find you later." Sarah nodded, slightly distracted and was soon gone from Mitch's side, off to tinker with her computers.
Mitchell wove his way through the exhibits, knowing them all by heart. He took a shortcut at the seahorses and was soon walking towards the front of the building. He was in the main building of the aquarium. There were quite a few outdoor exhibits beyond the main building, including the larger pools and tanks holding the larger captive specimens they had, such as the sharks and whales. At the front of the building was two or three bodyguards, their shades and earbuds in place as they scouted the area for any suspicous looking fourth graders that might get too close to the Mr. Walter Byron Mitner. Mr. Mitner was a long standing donor to their aquarium, interested in marine science and biology and the furthering of its study technologically. At least, that's what it said on the memo Mitch had recieved once. Walter Mitner was quite the celebrity in their town. An avid businessman, he made his way through the stock market like a practiced professional when he was only just starting out. Now he owned most of the large companies that ran the town so in effect, everyone was working for him. Even Mitchell Walker. But these frequent visits, Mitch was getting a bit nervous. Change was alright by him...so long as he had a say in it. With people like Mitner, they didn't usually give you a choice.
"Welcome back, sir," Mitch said as warmly as he could, trying to keep the tone of "oh boy what did we do now" out of his voice. Walter Mitner was a bit of a dashing figure. Still a bit old to be considered good looking by society's standards but he carried himself like he always knew what he was doing. With a clean cut suit, handkerchief folded neatly in the breast pocket, he looked more like a talk show host. His hair was thinning on top, but it was always trimmed neatly. His glasses were perched on his nose, his eyes always looking like he was thinking of something...something he wasn't going to share. Mitch wondered what businessmen had to be kept secret but that probably wasn't his place to ask. Mitner took Mitch's offered hand with a firm handshake. "Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Walker is it? I hope you don't mind the intrusion..."
"Oh not at all, please," Mitch gestured to the information office cubicle where a red headed girl was standing on her own. Mitch waved her off and took her place behind the desk. "What can I do for you today?"
Mitner leaned against the counter genially. "I actually have brought your department something that I would like you to test out in the field. If you're willing that is." He gestured to one of his bodyguards who brought over a large black case. Opening it up, the man turned it slightly so Mitch could see inside of it. Nestled in the cut foam inside was four small apparatuses no bigger than six inches in length with a mouthpiece on each of them. "It's a prototype for deep sea diving, a new kind of filter rebreather that takes the oxygen from the water around you." Mitner was in selling mode now as he removed one of them from the case to hand to Mitchell. Mitch hefted it approvingly, it was lightweight and seemed pretty durable on inspection. "I have the specs here as well," Mitner took out a folder of papers from the top of the case. "They have been tested in pool conditions but never in open ocean. I figured your people may wish to have a go at them before they were released for public use. And it would give my science department a chance to have them field tested appropriately before submitting them for production." The man was sizing up Mitchell's reactions, he could tell. It made him a bit uncomfortable, he didn't like making company type decisions. But as Tony had so gallantly pointed out, he was the boss man while Tyler was on vacation. And it seemed like a good plan.
"Well, I have no objections if Sarah clears it as being safe."
"Sarah?" Mitner asked.
"My right hand girl. She's a whiz at gadgets, she'll love to get her hands on the blueprints for these, I'm sure."
"Then we have a deal. I want a full report sent to my science department when you've tested them fully." Mitner gave a signal to the bodyguard who closed the lid and handed the case to Mitchell with all the enthusiasm of an undertaker. "Friendly guys you've got with you," Mitch mentioned offhandedly as he took the case.
"Yes, they serve their purpose. PR men, they are not." Mitner laughed at his own joke. "Well, if you'd like, there's another tour guide coming around in a few minutes," Mitchell offered as he stepped away from the desk, case in hand. "No, I must get back. Though I would like to see that one dolphin you've been working with....oh, what's his name...?"
"Gordon," Mitch supplied.
"Yes, the one with the broken tail, how's he getting along?"
"Quite well, that injury tank is working like a charm. He'll be healed in no time at all, I'm sure." Mitchell walked them back behind the displays and exhibits to the research facility part of the building. The part that the tourists didn't get to see. It extended throughout the building behind all of the tanks and aquariums so every specimen could be accessed by Mitch's team. In the middle of it all right now was a new sort of tank. It had been donated by Mr. Mitner awhile back. It was different in that it was set up for injured underwater animals. Large ones, like dolphins, whales, sealions, etc. At one end, it was a regular pool extending ten to fifteen feet deep. But the end closest to the medical equipment was smaller and shallower. A small circular tunnel ran along the outer edge, started and ending back in the main pool. It had a window on the side of the tank where one could see the harness inside. Water jets inside moved oxygen rich water along the side of the tank and through the harness, giving the injured animal increased oxygenation and helping them to stay active and mobile. Right now, Gordon was in it for his daily exercise routine. Tony, who had changed into his wetsuit was working with him at the moment. He was doing a series of hand signs to Gordon, getting the male dolphin to work his tail up and down. The dolphin was hesitant but his tail bones had mended together nicely, they wouldn't be hurting him anymore for awhile. He would be sore but that would be the extent of it. Now it was all down to physical therapy. "That's it, Gordo, keep it up," Tony was telling him. "You'll be swimming circles around Stella in no time." The dolphin squealed a happy reply, swishing his tail through the water making little bubbles. Tony noticed they had company and swam to the side of the tank to hook his arms over the side. "Come to check up on us, Boss?" he asked with a cocky grin. Mitch wasn't really sure if he was asking him or Mitner but Mitner took it as him. "Yes, I wanted to see how my little invention was going."
"Working like a charm, he's healed twice as fast as a dolphin normally would. We should have integrated him back in the local pod out back by next week easy."
"Good to hear," Mitner nodded approvingly up at Tony, patting the side of the jet humming tank. "We're going to try and sell the idea to other aquariums. With the research you do here, we'll revolutionize the treatment of underwater injuries to animals." Tony did an eyeroll behind Mitner's back at Mitchell...who gratefully was able to keep a straight face.
"Well, keep up the good work. I'll be back some time next week to see how you fare with the rebreathers." He shook both men's hands as if he wouldn't see them again in awhile and his bodyguards began to show him out.
Mitch waved as they left. "Slick as a car salesman, that one," Tony said, leaning against his arm on the tank. "What new toys did he bring us?"
"New kind of rebreather. I'll have Sarah check them for any defects or hazards."
"Oooo, I'd like to take a crack at those when you want them tested." Tony climbed up the ladder, dripping his way down to the floor. Opening the case, he whistled at the new equipment. "Nice. Aren't we a lucky group to have such a benefactor?"
"Yes...I suppose we are...and yet..." Mitch let the question hang there.
"Yeah I know what you mean." Tony watched out the window to the cars pulling away. "You think they've got a different agenda than we do."
"Yeah, while we're testing their equipment, they make all the money and do none of the legwork." Mitch walked over to his cluttered desk and sank into his chair with a sigh. "But I suppose without their money, we wouldn't have any of this."
"Scratch their back, we get ours scratched," Tony agreed, climbing back up into the tank. "Alright Gordon, lets do some slow laps," he worked on getting the harness off so Gordon could swim with him. As Tony dove in, Sarah came through the doors at the end of the room, carrying printouts of their last outing and studying them studiously. "Hey, Sarah, I've got some new toys that need clearance from your expertise in gadgetry."
Sarah looked up slightly interested as Mitch showed her the rebreathers. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get on them but here..." she spread out the long piece of paper across his desk, pointing to a couple of peaks and valleys on the sheet. "Do you see this? This here, and here....that's not the dolphins. I can't account for the noise. It's below what a normal human would be able to hear, but the dolphins should have been hearing it. They weren't acting any differently." Mitchell looked where she was pointing, frowning. "You're right. What time did you log for this?" Sarah pointed to the time stamp. "When we were near the fishing boat."
Mitch frowned thoughtfully stroking the stubble on his chin. "You think they might have some sort of secret sonar equipment?"
"It's possible, not the first time they've been caught using illegal equipment. But there's no way of determining what it is..."
"Hey, maybe it was the mermaid," Tony called out as he and Gordon lapped past in the pool. Sarah gave him a withering look. "Very funny, Tony. You've been underwater for too long." Tony gave her a cocky grin as he swam past.
"He might have a point, there was something at least on that ship." Mitchell countered. "Even if we didn't get to see it, it could account for that strange noise wave." He handed the paper back to Sarah. "Maybe tomorrow we'll get lucky and catch it again."
She shrugged. "Well, alright if you say so." She picked up the case. "Guess I'll go to work on this. Where will you be?"
"I'll finish up here and then help with some of the tours. I think Tony's got his hands full with rehab for Gordon today so I'll take his place."
"Got it, see you in a few." She walked off, folding the paper under her arm to file away in her own office later. Mitchell did wonder where all those readouts went ultimately. Sarah seemed to know where everything was at any one time. He didn't know how she kept it all straight.
follows this (sort of)
The ocean was vast and expansive, frothing and rolling it's waves around on the surface. The surface of the water was like a blanket, covering all of the activity going on underneath of it. It gave the casual onlooker a sense that the ocean was empty, uninteresting, and dull. Not the case at all.
Beneath the surface covering, fish twinkled by in their little groups, milling this way and that between each other and the coral reef surrounding them. The ocean floor was like a city with sea anenomoes and coral polyps continually building it up around the marine life that patrolled in and around it. Now and again, the smaller fish would dart away, making way for a bigger one, for that was the way of things. Survival was key in this dance under the water. You never knew what was coming around the next corner. Or what was off in the distance just beyond your sight. Or what would come up at you from the ocean floor that you couldn't see a minute ago.
She twisted and twirled through the school of fish, spraying them off in all directions with her movements. They all ran, she was much bigger than they were and therefore had the right of way. The sun filtered down through the water, diffusing slightly and glinting off of a few of the strange creature's scales as she arced her body down to dive deeper towards the coral mountains beneath her. There was a vast canyon, too deep to see down for any length before it started to look bottomless altogether. She was patrolling along this place, swimming fluidly with just her tail, her arms held close to the sides of her body to cut down on water resistance. Swimming along the crack in the floor of the ocean. Even though it was quite a chilling sight, a bottomless canyon, this was one of the few places she could recognize. She was born here. It felt familiar to her. The sense of familiarity went hand in hand with the sense of danger.
She stopped for a moment, listening...the other fish were keeping their distance, she could feel their hesitancy to get too close to the underwater abyss. Farther beneath her, she knew sometimes sharks would lurk in the darkness, waiting to see an unsuspecting morsel swim by up above. She was always careful, just like she had been taught.
There was nothing as far as her senses could detect, so she continued on, trying to find the right spot. Soon she found it, a small cave-like section of the wall of the canyon. She circled around easily, her tail flowing behind her. Reaching her hand in, she found what she had been looking for. It was round and had many colors on it. It was beautiful. Holding her prize in her hands, she swam upwards, away from the darkness. She had to show her friends, perhaps they could tell her what it was for.
Way above her head, a research boat went by, heading into port...
Mitch guided the boat in, waiting for Tony to jump to the wooden walkway with a line before cutting the motor. He picked up his bag of scuba gear and hefted it over his shoulder as he walked down the gangway towards the deck. "Hey Skipper," Tony was tying off the lines and jerked his head towards the large entryway between the aquarium and the docks. "Looks like we got company." Mitch looked off to where he indicated and sighed unhappily. "What?" Sarah asked, climbing up out of below deck with her own equipment over her shoulder, adjusting her glasses to see what Mitch was not happy about. "Our illustrious sponsor is visiting again," Mitch pointed at the line of black official cars parked along the side of the building.
The Santa Barbara Aquarium was by no means the biggest aquarium in the world. It wasn't even the most famous. But it did have one boast to it's name. It was the most active in it's field research. And that was only due to generous donations from one certain businessman. "Wasn't he here last week?" Tony frowned, finishing his knotting and standing up to wipe his hands off on his jeans. "Yup, I think Tyler took him on a tour of that new tank he gave us. The one for injured animals." Mitchell gave Sarah a hand over before jumping to shore himself. "Wonder what he's going to want to see now."
"You'll have to take this one, Mitch," Tony said with a smirk in his voice. "Tyler's out of town on vacation which makes you the boss man for the next three weeks."
"Lucky me," Mitch said sourly. "Hope he doesn't have any ideas we'll regret him having while he's here."
The three of them walked to their place of work, through the double glass doors at the back of the building. Inside at the anemone exhibit, a tour guide was showing a group of kids along the display on the wall, keeping them moving towards the dolphin tunnel. It was a tunnel of glass that boored through the dolphin tank. The kids loved seeing the dolphins up close and personal all around them and it kept the dolphins from little meddling hands and from getting too friendly with the humans. All of the marine biologists knew how hard it was to reintroduce animals into the wild so anything they could do to make it easier was a win for their side. Mitch could hear the echoes of oohing and aahing against the glass walls as the group disappeared around a corner and entered the tunnel. "They never get tired of that," he observed.
"I don't mind it myself. I sit in there on lunch breaks sometimes. Freddy is starting to recognize me from the outside I think." Tony waved as he broke off walking with them and headed for the back office to unload his stuff. Mitch tossed him his own gear and smoothed the front of his shirt. "Hope this will look alright," he muttered to himself. Sarah didn't seem to notice, she was reading the paperwork in front of her. "I'm going to go copy down some data in the computer, Mitch."
"Ok, don't get too caught up, we have to run the injury tank through it's paces again later I'm sure. I want to be able to find you later." Sarah nodded, slightly distracted and was soon gone from Mitch's side, off to tinker with her computers.
Mitchell wove his way through the exhibits, knowing them all by heart. He took a shortcut at the seahorses and was soon walking towards the front of the building. He was in the main building of the aquarium. There were quite a few outdoor exhibits beyond the main building, including the larger pools and tanks holding the larger captive specimens they had, such as the sharks and whales. At the front of the building was two or three bodyguards, their shades and earbuds in place as they scouted the area for any suspicous looking fourth graders that might get too close to the Mr. Walter Byron Mitner. Mr. Mitner was a long standing donor to their aquarium, interested in marine science and biology and the furthering of its study technologically. At least, that's what it said on the memo Mitch had recieved once. Walter Mitner was quite the celebrity in their town. An avid businessman, he made his way through the stock market like a practiced professional when he was only just starting out. Now he owned most of the large companies that ran the town so in effect, everyone was working for him. Even Mitchell Walker. But these frequent visits, Mitch was getting a bit nervous. Change was alright by him...so long as he had a say in it. With people like Mitner, they didn't usually give you a choice.
"Welcome back, sir," Mitch said as warmly as he could, trying to keep the tone of "oh boy what did we do now" out of his voice. Walter Mitner was a bit of a dashing figure. Still a bit old to be considered good looking by society's standards but he carried himself like he always knew what he was doing. With a clean cut suit, handkerchief folded neatly in the breast pocket, he looked more like a talk show host. His hair was thinning on top, but it was always trimmed neatly. His glasses were perched on his nose, his eyes always looking like he was thinking of something...something he wasn't going to share. Mitch wondered what businessmen had to be kept secret but that probably wasn't his place to ask. Mitner took Mitch's offered hand with a firm handshake. "Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Walker is it? I hope you don't mind the intrusion..."
"Oh not at all, please," Mitch gestured to the information office cubicle where a red headed girl was standing on her own. Mitch waved her off and took her place behind the desk. "What can I do for you today?"
Mitner leaned against the counter genially. "I actually have brought your department something that I would like you to test out in the field. If you're willing that is." He gestured to one of his bodyguards who brought over a large black case. Opening it up, the man turned it slightly so Mitch could see inside of it. Nestled in the cut foam inside was four small apparatuses no bigger than six inches in length with a mouthpiece on each of them. "It's a prototype for deep sea diving, a new kind of filter rebreather that takes the oxygen from the water around you." Mitner was in selling mode now as he removed one of them from the case to hand to Mitchell. Mitch hefted it approvingly, it was lightweight and seemed pretty durable on inspection. "I have the specs here as well," Mitner took out a folder of papers from the top of the case. "They have been tested in pool conditions but never in open ocean. I figured your people may wish to have a go at them before they were released for public use. And it would give my science department a chance to have them field tested appropriately before submitting them for production." The man was sizing up Mitchell's reactions, he could tell. It made him a bit uncomfortable, he didn't like making company type decisions. But as Tony had so gallantly pointed out, he was the boss man while Tyler was on vacation. And it seemed like a good plan.
"Well, I have no objections if Sarah clears it as being safe."
"Sarah?" Mitner asked.
"My right hand girl. She's a whiz at gadgets, she'll love to get her hands on the blueprints for these, I'm sure."
"Then we have a deal. I want a full report sent to my science department when you've tested them fully." Mitner gave a signal to the bodyguard who closed the lid and handed the case to Mitchell with all the enthusiasm of an undertaker. "Friendly guys you've got with you," Mitch mentioned offhandedly as he took the case.
"Yes, they serve their purpose. PR men, they are not." Mitner laughed at his own joke. "Well, if you'd like, there's another tour guide coming around in a few minutes," Mitchell offered as he stepped away from the desk, case in hand. "No, I must get back. Though I would like to see that one dolphin you've been working with....oh, what's his name...?"
"Gordon," Mitch supplied.
"Yes, the one with the broken tail, how's he getting along?"
"Quite well, that injury tank is working like a charm. He'll be healed in no time at all, I'm sure." Mitchell walked them back behind the displays and exhibits to the research facility part of the building. The part that the tourists didn't get to see. It extended throughout the building behind all of the tanks and aquariums so every specimen could be accessed by Mitch's team. In the middle of it all right now was a new sort of tank. It had been donated by Mr. Mitner awhile back. It was different in that it was set up for injured underwater animals. Large ones, like dolphins, whales, sealions, etc. At one end, it was a regular pool extending ten to fifteen feet deep. But the end closest to the medical equipment was smaller and shallower. A small circular tunnel ran along the outer edge, started and ending back in the main pool. It had a window on the side of the tank where one could see the harness inside. Water jets inside moved oxygen rich water along the side of the tank and through the harness, giving the injured animal increased oxygenation and helping them to stay active and mobile. Right now, Gordon was in it for his daily exercise routine. Tony, who had changed into his wetsuit was working with him at the moment. He was doing a series of hand signs to Gordon, getting the male dolphin to work his tail up and down. The dolphin was hesitant but his tail bones had mended together nicely, they wouldn't be hurting him anymore for awhile. He would be sore but that would be the extent of it. Now it was all down to physical therapy. "That's it, Gordo, keep it up," Tony was telling him. "You'll be swimming circles around Stella in no time." The dolphin squealed a happy reply, swishing his tail through the water making little bubbles. Tony noticed they had company and swam to the side of the tank to hook his arms over the side. "Come to check up on us, Boss?" he asked with a cocky grin. Mitch wasn't really sure if he was asking him or Mitner but Mitner took it as him. "Yes, I wanted to see how my little invention was going."
"Working like a charm, he's healed twice as fast as a dolphin normally would. We should have integrated him back in the local pod out back by next week easy."
"Good to hear," Mitner nodded approvingly up at Tony, patting the side of the jet humming tank. "We're going to try and sell the idea to other aquariums. With the research you do here, we'll revolutionize the treatment of underwater injuries to animals." Tony did an eyeroll behind Mitner's back at Mitchell...who gratefully was able to keep a straight face.
"Well, keep up the good work. I'll be back some time next week to see how you fare with the rebreathers." He shook both men's hands as if he wouldn't see them again in awhile and his bodyguards began to show him out.
Mitch waved as they left. "Slick as a car salesman, that one," Tony said, leaning against his arm on the tank. "What new toys did he bring us?"
"New kind of rebreather. I'll have Sarah check them for any defects or hazards."
"Oooo, I'd like to take a crack at those when you want them tested." Tony climbed up the ladder, dripping his way down to the floor. Opening the case, he whistled at the new equipment. "Nice. Aren't we a lucky group to have such a benefactor?"
"Yes...I suppose we are...and yet..." Mitch let the question hang there.
"Yeah I know what you mean." Tony watched out the window to the cars pulling away. "You think they've got a different agenda than we do."
"Yeah, while we're testing their equipment, they make all the money and do none of the legwork." Mitch walked over to his cluttered desk and sank into his chair with a sigh. "But I suppose without their money, we wouldn't have any of this."
"Scratch their back, we get ours scratched," Tony agreed, climbing back up into the tank. "Alright Gordon, lets do some slow laps," he worked on getting the harness off so Gordon could swim with him. As Tony dove in, Sarah came through the doors at the end of the room, carrying printouts of their last outing and studying them studiously. "Hey, Sarah, I've got some new toys that need clearance from your expertise in gadgetry."
Sarah looked up slightly interested as Mitch showed her the rebreathers. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get on them but here..." she spread out the long piece of paper across his desk, pointing to a couple of peaks and valleys on the sheet. "Do you see this? This here, and here....that's not the dolphins. I can't account for the noise. It's below what a normal human would be able to hear, but the dolphins should have been hearing it. They weren't acting any differently." Mitchell looked where she was pointing, frowning. "You're right. What time did you log for this?" Sarah pointed to the time stamp. "When we were near the fishing boat."
Mitch frowned thoughtfully stroking the stubble on his chin. "You think they might have some sort of secret sonar equipment?"
"It's possible, not the first time they've been caught using illegal equipment. But there's no way of determining what it is..."
"Hey, maybe it was the mermaid," Tony called out as he and Gordon lapped past in the pool. Sarah gave him a withering look. "Very funny, Tony. You've been underwater for too long." Tony gave her a cocky grin as he swam past.
"He might have a point, there was something at least on that ship." Mitchell countered. "Even if we didn't get to see it, it could account for that strange noise wave." He handed the paper back to Sarah. "Maybe tomorrow we'll get lucky and catch it again."
She shrugged. "Well, alright if you say so." She picked up the case. "Guess I'll go to work on this. Where will you be?"
"I'll finish up here and then help with some of the tours. I think Tony's got his hands full with rehab for Gordon today so I'll take his place."
"Got it, see you in a few." She walked off, folding the paper under her arm to file away in her own office later. Mitchell did wonder where all those readouts went ultimately. Sarah seemed to know where everything was at any one time. He didn't know how she kept it all straight.