Emerson continued down two more levels before continuing aft. When he reached the stern, he stopped to observe the flurry of activity.
Two of the ship’s winches had been removed by his crew, making just enough room on the platform for a twenty-thousand-gallon water tank. This one larger than they’d built before…and for good reason.
Lee Kenwood briefly held up a finger over his shoulder before returning it to the keyboard and resuming his typing.
“Not yet.”
“It’s time, Lee.”
“I know, I know. I just need to finish this one module.” He continued typing hastily for another minute before stopping to double-check his work. When he was sure, he saved the window and clicked another button to begin compiling. He pushed himself away from the desk, rolling backwards and twirling his chair to face an impatient Alison.
“Done?”
“For the moment,” he nodded. “Enough to get things started. The rest I can do en route.”
“Good. Because we’re about to be late.”
“Sorry.” Kenwood leapt from his chair and stuffed his laptop into a backpack. “But believe me, that was something you definitely wanted me to do.” He then trotted to a wide cart holding several pieces of hardware. “Locked and loaded.”
Alison examined the computers stacked neatly on the cart, along with two large plastic containers packed with more equipment and peripherals.
“Fine. What were you working on?”
“I made some progress on that problem we had last time with IMIS getting confused with too many translations happening all at once. I identified the acoustical signatures for Dirk and Sally and am trying to create a filter based on those. It should help us single them out from other dolphin exchanges.”
“That’s great, Lee.”
He shrugged. “We shouldn’t get too excited yet. It’s probably going to take quite a bit of tweaking.”
That thought worried Alison. They were going to need to make it work sooner than that. But instead, she just nodded at his cart. “Are you sure you have everything?”
“Yep.” He patted one of the servers affectionately. “Redundant servers and as much data as they can hold. More powerful too.”
“Good.” She stepped in front of Lee as he began to move, reaching the door first and holding it open for him. Together, they wheeled their way to the elevator.
“Is Kelly here yet?”
“Yes. She and Chris are waiting at the dock. Everything else is packed.”
The elevator door opened and Lee rolled the cart inside, followed by Alison, who pressed the button for the bottom floor.
“So, about this audio signature thing.” There was a slight bounce as the elevator began to move. “How much tweaking do you think it will take?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never done it before. Probably a lot, but we can start on the way.”
Alison nodded. They didn’t have a lot of choice. They were in a rush, but she was worried about the trip for another reason. This wasn’t like their last trip where Dirk and Sally traveled alongside their small boat. That was much slower, but they had the luxury of multiple days, which made the arrangement possible.
This time, they were transporting the dolphins in order to get there faster. Something they had done only once before. On the same ship, as a matter of fact, but it was over a much shorter distance. This time, they were headed to Trinidad, which would take just over eight hours. The tank would be bigger, but still a very tight fit for two dolphins. And there was a finite amount of time they could remain in such a confined space with certain “needs.” It was also why they were swimming alongside them now to reach the Pathfinder in San Juan. It wasn’t something most people thought about, but Alison knew that without a bathroom break beforehand, they would soon have a natural problem on their hands.
The elevator reached the lower floor and opened again, where Alison and Lee wheeled out through one of the building’s side exits, into the warm morning sun. A strong wind blew against them when they rounded the corner of the building. Upon reaching the wooden ramp, Lee stepped around and guided the cart down slowly from the front.
Kelly Carlson ducked her blonde head out from the boat’s small cockpit when she heard the thumping over the uneven planks of the ramp. She’d been in Palmas Del Mar overseeing the purchase of another boat and the subsequent repair of its port-side engine. It still wasn’t perfect, but they weren’t going far, and she’d remain behind to continue the work.
She called Chris out of the salon to help Lee load the servers onboard and secure them for what was shaping up to be a short but somewhat exciting ride, given the morning chop.