“Are we getting somewhere here, Will?”
“Yeah, sorry. What I’m really getting at, is that someone had to build that place inside the cliff, right?”
“Clearly.”
“So, if they were going to travel here, to bring their tubes and DNA, they had to arrive in a relatively short amount of time. I mean, even they would have a finite lifespan, right?”
Caesare shook his head thoughtfully. “Presumably.”
“Even if your body stopped aging, it doesn’t mean you would survive forever. So, regardless, whoever brought those tubes here had to do it in a short enough timeframe that they could still finish the job.”
“Which means fast travel.”
“Exactly. And fast travel means a lot of power required. And that means efficiency.”
“I see. In other words, you don’t take what you don’t need,” Caesare said.
“Yes! You don’t take what you don’t need, so you can get here faster. It’s no different from any other form of transportation.”
“Very true.”
“So whoever it was would have needed their cargo, food, and a host of other things. And the further away they came from, the more fuel they would need to achieve velocity. So my point is… that they would not only need all of this to get here, but they would need almost twice as much to get back!”
Caesare stared at him thoughtfully. “Which means if they had to get here and back within a lifespan, they would have to go even faster.”
Borger nodded. “And that means doubling again the amount of fuel, and if you start nearing light speed, the energy needed begins to approach infinite.”
Caesare leaned back in his chair and put two hands together in front of his mouth. “So, it was a one-way trip.”
“It was a one-way trip,” Borger repeated triumphantly. “It’s possible it was round trip, but the probabilities and physics are hugely against it. Regardless of what kind of propulsion system they used. That’s assuming we’re not talking about some make-believe technology like on TV. No energy source is free from mathematics or economics.”
Borger continued. “And since they clearly had cargo to transport, they had to use some kind of vessel or ship. So my question is this… where’s the ship?!”
Caesare was looking at him over the top of his hands now. “Well, if they hid their cargo, they could certainly hide a ship too.”
Borger nodded agreement.
“So… I guess either they bury it or ditch it.”
“That’s basically what it boils down to.”
“So where is it?” asked Caesare.
Borger took another deep breath. “I have absolutely no idea.”
Caesare remained in his chair, thinking about it for a long time. Finally, he shook his head and stood up. “That’s a damn good point, Will.”
Once he was standing, Borger noticed a large black bag sitting on the floor behind Caesare. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I am.” Caesare picked up the bag and winced from the pain in his side.
“But you’re not even healed yet.”
“I know, but I can’t wait.”
“Where are you going?”
Caesare grinned subtly. “To find Miguel Blanco.”
“Does Clay know?”
“Clay’s busy.”
The Hercules C-130 transport plane was waiting for Caesare on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base. Its four turboprop engines were already idling smoothly when he climbed aboard. He smiled immediately, seeing the faces of a Ranger team lining each side of the fuselage.
The door was closed behind him as he sat down onto the metal bench next to one of the soldiers. He peered down the line with a look of admiration before leaning back carefully against the metal wall behind him.
It was Caesare’s favorite way to fly. And his flight to Brazil would give him plenty of time to think about Borger’s lingering question.
Where was the ship?
Clay dropped the main sheet, letting it slide down to the boom where he began folding it accordion style. He then quickly wrapped the straps around, securing it in place. He paused and laid an arm over the folded sail, looking out over the horizon again with amazement.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Alison grinned, wrapping the last strap around the smaller end of the boom, and gazed out with him. “I doubt many have.”
He turned to her as Alison suddenly cleared her throat.
“Can I… ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Okay.” Alison tilted her head nervously. “So, I know this might not be the ideal time and place, but… it’s been a year now. And I know we haven’t exactly been able to spend a lot of time together over the last three or four months.”
Clay listened as she continued.
“I mean, not as much as maybe we’d like.” She stopped herself. “Not that I’m assuming how much time you want to spend with me…” She rolled her eyes. “This isn’t coming out right.”
She looked into Clay’s blue eyes and quickly glanced away. “It’s just that… I want to, um… spend more time together. And I don’t know if you’re seeing anyone else. I mean, why wouldn’t you be? You’re amazing. It’s just that I really like you and I don’t know-”
“Alison,” Clay said calmly, cutting her off. She stopped with raised eyebrows. He smiled warmly at her and walked the length of the boom until he was just on the other side from her. “Alison, I need to be honest with you.”
Her heart sank.
“I haven’t been interested in anyone else since our first date.”
Alison’s expression melted. “Really?”
“Really.” He wrapped his hand over hers. “You’re the one who’s amazing. You’re incredibly intelligent, beautiful, and compassionate. There are so many wonderful things about you that it’s hard to even count them all. Not to mention, you’re awfully cute when you’re nervous.”
Her eyes softened and she pursed her lips. He suddenly ducked under the boom and came up close to her. From there, Clay wasted no time, squeezing Alison’s shoulders and kissing her deeply.
Come now, Come now.
“Just a minute!” Alison sighed, then turned and frowned at Dirk’s head, bobbing out of the water, excitedly.
In the cockpit, she took the face mask from Chris and pulled the straps carefully over her ponytail.
Chris waited a moment then asked, “Air?”
Alison gave him a thumbs-up.”
Next to them, Lee was helping with the second mask. “How’s that, Mr. Clay?”
Clay grinned. He’d given up trying to get Lee to call him by his first name. He wiggled the outside of the mask to make sure it had a secure seal. “Good.”
He then added the waterproof earplugs and turned to look at Alison. “Can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
Together they wriggled the BCDs and tanks onto their shoulders. They slipped their arms through and then clipped the wide straps together.
Through her mask, Alison motioned to Clay. “You’re going to love this.”
“I’m sure I will.”
As he followed Alison to the stern of the boat, Clay stopped and gazed out again over the ocean. He was still amazed. Tens of thousands of dolphins together at once and surrounding the boat for miles. What was this place?
Clay watched Alison jump into the water with a scissor kick, keeping her head above the surface. She rotated herself around and waited for him.
He hadn’t worn this exact kind of a system before, but Clay was almost as comfortable in diving gear as he was in his own skin. He fell smoothly into the warm Caribbean water and popped up a few feet away.