By the end of October, they had tagged 20 more whales, in both the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and had travelled across the Arctic and down past Greenland to the North Sea, where they were in the process of tagging and tracking more whales.
Charting the data had become a mammoth task, and would have been much more difficult had it not been for Kristin. She now occupied much of Bill's time and handled his deteriorating health with great skill, allowing Beth time off from worrying about her mentor. The question had been raised as to whether it was appropriate to still have him on the boat, but his passion for conservation was still there, and working among them all helped to distract him, so Nathan had agreed to let him stay.
As for Beth herself – she was continuing to make progress, albeit slowly. She was still continually plagued by withdrawal symptoms, the worst of which were nausea and headaches. However, with a new found release to turn to, the paranoia and anxiety had been brought dramatically under control, meaning she was a much easier person to be around – something the other members of the crew had noticed.
"Yeah, I'm not so scared she's gonna bite my ear off anymore," Tim commented one evening as he and some of the guys played cards in Ben's room. Miguel simply scowled at him.
"She's a lot better these days," Ben mused, as he piled another handful of chips into his mouth.
"She has her moments," Lucas added, dealing a crushing blow to Tim's winning streak. "Sorry," he laughed, as Tim grumbled in the corner.
"What do you mean?" Miguel asked.
"I mean she can still get pretty wound up. She burst into tears for no reason the other day."
"She's trying," Miguel defended. "Which is a lot more than we can say for when she first arrived. It's just going to take time."
"Your hand, Ortiz," Ben reminded him.
They all turned their heads as a knock came at the door.
"Ok, who blabbed this time?" Ben looked accusingly at them all. Whenever they tried to have a private game of cards, there were always at least six others who tried to crash in on it. He placed his hand face down on the table and stood to answer the door. To his surprise, Beth stood on the other side.
"Oh," she said, as he swung the door open to reveal all the guys inside. "Is this a bad time?" she asked, taking a few backward steps.
"No, come on in," he invited, and motioned her inside.
"Hey," Miguel greeted, cheerily, pleasantly surprised to see her.
"Hey," she smiled back, a little too girlishly for her own liking. "What are you playing?"
"Pontoon," Tim replied.
Beth stared back at them blankly and held out her hands. "I really don't know why I asked," she laughed. "I don't have a clue about card games."
"Are you serious?" Ben asked. "You didn't play cards as a student?"
She shook her head. "Why? Is that what students are supposed to do?"
"Yeah," Ben replied. "That and skip classes and get drunk every night."
"Oh, is that where I went wrong?" she smiled.
"You should join us some night," Miguel suggested. The other guys just looked at each other and rolled their eyes in amusement.
"That would be good," Beth nodded in agreement. "But, I actually came to raid your supplies," she said, turning to look at Ben, hopefully.
"Oh, I see, so it's a business call. What are you after?" he asked.
"I don't suppose you've got any thermal underwear going spare? I've been told it's going to be very cold out there tomorrow."
The guys all chuckled to themselves, knowing full well that Ben did have some thermals going spare after his scheme to sell them off to colonists in the Arctic had backfired dramatically.
"As a matter of fact," Ben laughed. "I do have some lying around. How many pairs?"
"Two – one for me, one for Bill."
"Better make that three," Lucas piped up from behind them. "I'm going out with them too."
"Alrighty," Ben said, and began rooting around in boxes.
Finding some warm clothing was part of Beth's final preparations for their expedition to the surface, due to take place the next day. They had arranged for the seaQuest to rendezvous with a research vessel run by some of their colleagues from Portland State, giving them a chance to catch-up and share the data they'd already gathered. Lucas had expressed an interest in coming too, which she and Bill had no problem with.
"What time are we meeting the boat tomorrow?" Miguel asked.
"About 1100, I think," Beth answered.
"'Cause if you need any extra hands, just let me know. I'll be off watch by then."
"Cool, thanks," she beamed.
"Here we are," Ben announced, holding up an attractive pair of thermals.
"Excellent, thank you," Beth said, taking two from him and throwing another pair to Lucas. "Well, have a great night guys. I'm off to get some sleep…or at least try to – you know how it is," she joked.
"How's that going, anyway?" Ben asked.
Beth groaned. "There are good days, there are bad days, but it's getting better all the time."
"You're looking better," Ben admitted.
"Well, thank you, Lieutenant," she smiled. "Night, guys."
After she'd closed the door behind her, Ben turned to the others and raised his eyebrows. "Lieutenant? Are we not on first name terms yet?"
"Guess not," Lucas commented. "What does she call you?" Lucas asked Miguel.
"Darling? Babyface? Sweetcakes?" Ben teased, causing the others to laugh.
Miguel just sat, nodding along, humouring them. There was no point in pouring fuel on an already smouldering fire.
***
The following morning, they all stood in the launch bay, kitted out in their warm clothes. They were close to the eastern coast of Iceland, and the climate was heading towards winter, so the weather was likely to be quite unforgiving. They weren't planning on being out there for more than six hours, so the thermals would be more than enough to keep them warm for that time.
Beth had jumped at the chance to have Miguel join them, not just to show him more of the work she'd been involved in, but also as a chance to spend time with him off duty.
"I feel like an abominable snowman," Lucas moaned, fidgeting about in all his layers of clothes.
"But a warm abominable snowman, so that's something at least," Kristin added.
Jonathan, who was overseeing their departure, announced that the launch was ready for them. "It'll return in a few hours to collect Doctor Westphalen and Chief Ortiz," he said, as they climbed the stairs to the hatch.
"Are you ok there, Bill?" Beth couldn't help but giggle as she noticed how he could hardly move under all the layers of clothes. His movements had been reduced to not much more than a waddle.
Beside her, Miguel's mouth twitched in amusement. "Here, let me give you a hand," he offered.
"This is ridiculous!" Bill barked. "I have trouble enough moving as it is, without being bundled up like a caterpillar in a cocoon!"
Try as they might, they all couldn't help but laugh.
"Have a good trip," Jonathan smiled and sealed the docking bay doors behind them.
***
The wind was indeed bitter and managed to bite through the layers of clothing they'd bundled themselves in, but thankfully the sea was relatively calm for the meantime.
The Delilah, manned by two of Bill's ex-MSc students – Rod Turnbull and Sam Atherton, was a small old coastguard vessel, converted to carry a miniature ROV for deep-sea exploration and research. She was rather rough and ready looking, but Rod assured them that she was sea-worthy.
"Come on, old man!" he told Bill, as he helped them up the ladder and onto the deck.
"Less of that!" Bill grumbled as he reached the top.
"Hey you!" Beth greeted him with a brief embrace, and did the same with Sam, before introducing everyone to each other. "This is Doctor Kristin Westphalen and Lucas Wolenczak of the seaQuest science staff, and this is Chief Petty Officer Miguel Ortiz, the boat's sonar operator."
They all shook hands, warmly.
"Rod and Sam were students of mine a good few years ago, and they haven't quite flown the nest yet – they're still working for me," Bill joked.
"You must be doing something to keep them coming back," Kristin added.
"Well it's not the pay, that's for sure," Rod teased. "Maybe we should go inside, where it's a bit warmer."
"Thought they'd never ask," Lucas mumbled to Miguel, and followed them below deck.
It was a tight squeeze, but they managed to get everyone down into the mess.
"You've lost weight," Rod commented to Beth, quietly. "You look good – what you been doing? Working out?"
"Something like that," she smiled, awkwardly.
Not far away, Miguel scowled, knowing that the reason she'd lost weight wasn't because of the boxing, but as a result of the withdrawal process. He didn't think it looked particularly good, and didn't think another man should be telling her that either.
Bill was keen to look over the data from the project they'd been working on – making a population estimate of the Northern Atlantic Right Whale.
Beth squeezed past Rod to stand next to Miguel. "This is what I was working on before I came onboard. I helped with the analysis work while these two," she nodded cheekily towards Rod and Sam, "were living it up on the ocean."
"Hey!" Sam defended. "There's only so much equipment you can fit on this tug, let alone people!" she insisted.
"How's Gypsy?" Beth asked.
"She has good days and bad days," Sam replied.
"Lucas wanted to take a look at her, do you mind?"
"I did?" he asked, looking confused.
"She's our ROV," Rod explained. "Madam here," he said, giving Beth's head an affectionate pat, "insisted on the name."
She grabbed his hand and removed it from her head, scowling at him in fun.
The friendly banter between them made Miguel feel a little more than uncomfortable, and disappointed at the same time. Although he knew Beth felt able to be herself around him, he hadn't seen her so relaxed around anyone else, and it brought out unusual feelings.
"Sam, how about you take Lucas down to see Gypsy while I show the others what we've got so far?" Rod suggested.
"Sure," Sam smiled, indicating for Lucas to follow her.
"I'll go too," Miguel shrugged.
"Are you sure?" Beth asked, surprised.
"Yeah," he smiled, and left with the other two.
"Right then, Mr Turnbull, dazzle me with your data," Bill announced, as ever causing Kristin to chuckle in amusement. His manner was something she never grew tired of.
***
"It certainly makes you appreciate the seaQuest," Kristin commented to Miguel as the launch arrived back in the docking port.
"Yeah, it's not exactly comfortable," he mused.
"It shows how dedicated they are though."
"Beth and Bill are just as dedicated," he said, without much thought.
"That's not what I meant," Kristin reassured, standing to climb the ladder as the hatch opened above them, and thinking on how quick he was to leap to the defence.
"So, how was the expedition?" Jonathan asked as they reached the top and began walking down the stairs.
"An eye-opener," Kristin commented. "We've left Beth and Bill pouring over charts, and Lucas tinkering with their ROV. Between you and me, I think he's taking design notes for the 'Stinger'.
Jonathan laughed, then looked up as the alert lights were illuminated, followed shortly afterwards by the alarm sirens.
"XO to the bridge. Chief Ortiz and Doctor Westphalen to the bridge," O'Neill's voice called across the intercom.
"Let's go," Jonathan ordered, urging them on.
Once they arrived on the bridge, he wasted no time in asking the Captain what was going on.
"Take a seat, Commander and listen up," Nathan ordered. "This is a naval exercise, codename – Founding Fleet. In ten minutes we will rendezvous with three military vessels from the North Sea Confederation, and the exercise will begin," he announced to everyone. "Information is being fed to your stations – read over the mission brief. Commander Ford, Commander Hitchcock, formulate a strategy. Doctor Westphalen, brief and prepare your staff. Mr O'Neill, radio the Delilah and put me through."
"Aye, Sir," O'Neill nodded and began broadcasting. "Research vessel Delilah, this is the seaQuest, are you receiving?"
It took a moment, but a voice eventually came through the static. "This is the Delilah, go ahead."
"I've got them, Sir," O'Neill told Bridger.
"Thank you, Mr O'Neill. Delilah, this is Captain Bridger of the seaQuest. We have been called away on military exercise. This is likely to take us away from your location for about 12 hours. We'd appreciate it if you'd take care of our passengers during that time."
"Understood, Captain, that won't be a problem," Rod assured him.
"Thank you," Bridger paused as Jonathan passed him a sheet. "It seems there's a storm coming in, headed in this direction. But we should return before things get too rocky," he reassured them. "Keep this channel open in case we need to contact you. seaQuest out." He nodded to O'Neill, who ended the transmission. "Alright, people, let's show the North Sea Confed what we're made of," he shouted, buoying their enthusiasm.
***
Despite having a passion for all things technological – being abandoned on a rickety research vessel with nothing but an ROV for entertainment was far short of being a novelty, and Lucas' interest soon began to wane.
Bill was quite happily pouring through the records of charts and data on the small onboard computer, while the others were also suffering from a lack of entertainment. None of them had expected to be out there for so long.
"You know, Iceland has a really spectacular coastline," Rod told them. "Why don't we take the rib and go explore some of the caves along the shore?" he suggested.
Sam's eyes lit up, clearly enthralled by the idea, and she looked to Beth eagerly, who shook her head.
"I don't think so," she said, apologetically, looking through to the next room where Bill was still busy scanning their findings, wrapped up in an extra blanket against the cold. "And I don't think Bill would be up to it either."
"What about you, Luke?" Rod asked.
Lucas cringed – he hated it when people called him that, just to make it sound like they were really friendly, when actually it just sounded weird. "I'll pass, thanks."
Rod and Sam both looked disappointed. After months on the boat, they were looking forward to an excursion that didn't involve looking at whales.
"Just go," Beth told them, a little too harshly. "Moor the boat and take a radio with you. We'll be fine."
"Excellent, you're a gem," Rod said, pointing at her with a smile, as he and Sam thundered up the stairs to get the rib ready.
"I thought you'd want to go with them," Lucas commented.
"I would, if I didn't feel like I was going to lose my lunch," she groaned, sinking to the floor and leaning her head on her knees. "We should just have gone back to the seaQuest with the others," she said, quietly.
***
"We won't be more than a couple of hours!" Rod shouted from the rib, and waved as he started the engine and roared away towards the shoreline with Sam. They'd anchored the boat offshore, being careful to stay clear of the shallow reefs and rocks that littered the coast.
On the deck, Lucas had taken out his camera and was taking pictures. "He was right about one thing – this coast is pretty spectacular," he said, his teeth chattering with the cold wind.
"Yup," Beth said simply, focusing on the rocky outcrops ahead, rather than the bobbing sea all around them.
"Still feeling sick?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah," she breathed, watching their breath disappear in puffs.
"Isn't there anything Westphalen can give you for that?"
"No, Lucas, there isn't anything she can give me, that's the whole point. I'm trying to get off the pills," she snapped, rubbing her hands together.
"Sorry," he grumbled. "I just thought she might be able to give you something to ease the symptoms a little."
"Well she can't," Beth sighed, turning away from the edge and looking in the opposite direction, across the deck. "What did you think of Gypsy?"
"She's alright," Lucas shrugged. "Not as impressive as the Probe, or the WSKRS."
"No, I guess not."
"Sam's nice," he said, suddenly.
"Is she indeed?" Beth smiled, and looked at him sidelong.
"Hey," he laughed. "It's not easy being a 16 year old guy on a submarine. You're all right - at least Ortiz looks back at you. Every woman I get a crush on thinks it's cute. It's hopeless."
"What about that girl at Node Three?" she asked, moving her legs back and forth to keep the blood flowing. 'Man, it's flipping cold!' she thought.
"Julianna? I'll probably never see her again."
"You never know."
Lucas grimaced. He appreciated that she was just trying to cheer him up, but he didn't appreciate empty sentiments. You shouldn't tell someone you think something might happen if you didn't actually believe it. He'd experienced that plenty times with his father.
"How old is Sam?"
"Four years older than me and two years younger than Rod," Beth answered, cryptically.
"That would help, if I knew how old you were."
"Twenty three," she answered. She waited a few moments for the sums to work out.
"Nah, too old," he decided. He'd already been there with Hitchcock, and didn't want to wander down a similar path. He looked up and Beth for a reaction, but she had turned ash-white and bolted back inside, heading for the toilet. Deciding he'd better make sure she was alright, he followed her and sat outside the door, trying not to let the sound of her retching affect him. "Are you ok?" he asked once there had been silence for a while.
"Yeah," she groaned.
He could hear the tap running and water splashing, then footsteps heading for the door. He stood up as she turned the handle, to find her, still white-faced, red and puffy eyes, glazed over. "You look great," he told her.
She shook her head and gave his head an affectionate push. "Is it just me, or is this boat rocking a bit more than before?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think the winds are picking up."
She wiped her face and walked up to the bridge to radio the rib. "Rod, are you receiving?" she asked, getting nothing but static in return. "Rod, Sam, this is the Delilah, are you receiving?" She waited a few more moments. "And what did you mean about Ortiz looking back at me?" she asked Lucas, who had followed her.
"Nothing," he shrugged.
"Beth? What's up?" Rod crackled back across the radio.
"The winds and surf are picking up – I think we should get away from these reefs before the storm hits."
"It'll be fine," Rod insisted. "Give us another 30 minutes and we'll be back with you."
"Roger that," Beth grumped and signed off. "Stupid!" she mumbled.
***
"I told you things were getting rocky!" Beth yelled to Rod as they hauled the rib back aboard. By the time they'd returned, the waves were kicking up into a strong swell and the boat was struggling to remain in position.
"Where's Bill?" Sam asked.
"He's inside with Lucas!"
"You two secure the rib, and I'll get us underway!" Rod shouted.
"He's still as stubborn as ever!" Beth shouted to Sam after he'd left.
"What did you expect? He has to be! Have you seen the state we're living in?" Sam retorted back. "Pull that line!" she shouted.
In the background, above the increasing sound of the wind and waves, they could hear Rod trying to start the engine, but every time he increased the throttle, the engine cut out. Eventually, it roared into life, and they began to manoeuvre away from the coast, much to Beth's relief.
She headed below to see how Bill and Lucas were doing. Lucas had made some food for them – there were plates of crackers and cheese set out on the table.
"Thanks," she smiled, appreciatively, picking one up and sitting next to him. Her stomach was beginning to growl in protest after losing all its contents earlier, so she thought it was about time she fed it something else.
"You look pale," Bill commented.
"I was sick," she told him, through a mouthful of crumbs.
"I see," he nodded.
The boat gave a lurch as the hit a particularly large wave. They must have made it out past the reefs and into deeper water. Although it was safer than being near the rocks, it wasn't necessarily going to be any more pleasant.
"Maybe I shouldn't be eating anything," she mused, and set down the remainder of her cracker.
"Don't just leave it – no one else wants something you've nibbled on," Bill scolded her.
Lucas suppressed a laugh as, with a scowl, she picked up the cracker and placed it all in her mouth, munching discontentedly.
Once she'd stopped munching, and swallowed down the food, she realised that things were an awful lot more silent than they were a few minutes before. "The engine isn't running, is it?" she asked.
"Doesn't sound like it," Lucas answered.
They both looked up, as Rod came thundering down the stairs, soaked with the rain, and headed down towards the engine room.
"What's going on?" Beth asked, following after him, anxiously.
"We've got a dodgy fuel pump motor. It's happened before, it's nothing we can't fix," he said peeling off his jacket and grabbing his box of tools.
"It's happened before?" Beth asked, incredulously.
"Yes!" he snapped back.
"If you fixed it, it shouldn't be happening again!"
"Well it is, now shut-up and let me get on with it!"
"Argh!" she yelled, and climbed down the ladder after him. "What do you need?" she asked.
"I need you to get out of here and leave me to it!" he shouted, as they both stumbled backwards with the boat, helpless against the motion of the gathering storm.
"Get out of the way!" he told her.
"This boat is a piece of junk!" she commented, looking around her.
Rod threw his head up, furious. "Easy for you to say, living in your five star accommodation!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means it's not our fault the funding wouldn't stretch to a better boat! Apparently there was a shortage this year!" he bellowed. "This is what the rest of us have to deal with while you two are off living it up on the ocean!" he mocked.
They both stumbled backwards again, this time Beth was hurled against the wall, hitting her head, hard. She gripped it and looked at Rod, who appeared worried.
"What?" she asked, slightly disorientated.
"ROD!!!!" Sam screamed from up on deck.
The boat shuddered once more, this time with a distinctive metallic 'clang', sending them sprawling to the floor.
"That didn't feel like a wave," Rod commented, quietly.
It wasn't long after they'd picked themselves up that the boat lurched and gave an almighty shudder as she was tossed against the reefs around the coastline. They could feel the hull straining as it scraped along the rocks, threatening to buckle.
"Get up the ladder!" Rod shouted over the sound of creaking metal.
He threw down his tools and dragged Beth to the ladder, forcing her up, all the time, staring at the hull below him. As he watched, the whole boat seemed to tip upwards, before falling down onto the reef with such force that it broke through the decaying hull, sending water gushing over the floor. He flew up the ladder behind Beth and hauled Bill from his seat.
"Everybody up on deck!" he shouted. "Beth, grab jackets, blankets, anything warm, and as much food as you can. Lucas, help me!" he ordered, and as Lucas took Bill's other arm, they carried him rapidly up onto the deck of the boat. "Sam! Leave the wheel – we're hulled! Get the rib out. We have to go NOW!"
He left Bill with Beth and Lucas and pushed past Sam as she left the bridge, heading for the radio. Fingers trembling, and struggling to maintain his footing as the Delilah began to founder, he desperately called out a mayday signal.
"Mayday, mayday, this is the research vessel Delilah calling the seaQuest DSV, mayday mayday! We have complete engine failure, and we are hulled, going down by the bow, fast! Mayday, mayday, I repeat we are going down, position unknown! This is the research vessel Delilah calling the seaQuest DSV, mayday, mayday! DOES ANYBODY HEAR ME????"