Frederick lifts his hand and points discreetly at Damon who's standing by a brunette, leaning in close, telling her something that makes her throw her head back with laughter. The gesture exposes her gazelle-like neck.
"Who are you staring at?" Henry comments as he follows his friend's line of sight.
Lifting his glass to his mouth, Frederick takes a sip of cheap whiskey and nods at Elena.
"She's a babe..." Henry throws a few peanuts in his mouth. "What do you have to lose?"
''My teeth,'' Frederick states simply.
Henry purses his lips, sighing.
"I'm not worried about Salvatore, we can take care of him easily but if we go after his girl, it'll ignite something in him."
''If you don't want to make a move, I will," Henry says with finality, slamming his empty glass onto the table."
''Don't, don't..." Frederick glares at him. His voice is lost as Henry begins to make his way through the small crowd of loud conversations and slow dancing.
When Damon's head turns in his direction, he slows down. Even as intoxicated as he is, he doesn't miss the fiery glare on Salvatore's face; his blue eyes burning into his own, eyebrows quirking.
By now, the brunette is talking to a blonde and he can only see her back, every glorious inch of her olive skin that's not covered by her mint green floral sundress.
It's almost as though Damon is urging him to come closer, challenging him with a smirk on his face.
Henry does not accept the dare, instead returns to the bar to join Frederick.
"Klaus will feed us into a woodchipper feet first if we cross him. We have to wait for his okay." Frederick hisses at him as he grabs Henry by the sleeve and drags him out of the bar.
When they arrive back at the yacht, it's mostly dark.
"I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for asking me along." Rebekah smiles as she retreats.
"Goodnight," Elena slurs as she clumsily steps out of the whaler. Damon is by her side in a flash, holding her up. He walks her inside, through the shadows of the stairwell and to her bedroom, where he turns the nightlight on.
''Everybody must have gone to bed early," she says, throwing herself onto the mattress, stretching on it like a kitten.
Damon kneels by the bed, proceeding to take her high heels off.
''So, it seems. We're meeting the LiDAR guy tomorrow." He slides the shoes gently off her feet, and she watches him.
''Are you going to change?''
''Yes.''
Damon extends his hand to her, and she grabs it, pulling herself upwards.
Sighing, Elena walks over to the long mirror standing by her closet, melting her gaze into the crystal-clear glass. The girl looking back at her is tired, and a little tipsy; but her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are glowing brightly. Her hair is a little disheveled, her dark and her mascara is smudged.
She reaches back to undo the ties at the back of her dress. She releases the first one, but can't quite get the other one.
"Help a girl out, would you?" Elena looks over her shoulder at Damon.
Damon closes the distance between them. He's one fine looking man. His unbuttoned shirt hangs loosely from his shoulders and his jeans lay low on his hips. Elena presses her thighs together and turns back to the mirror, away from his bare chest and blue eyes.
''Can you help me with the knot?"
He inches closer, until finally there is only a whisper of space in between them. Damon's hands are skillful, graceful even. Elena can feel the strings fall loosely on her back, one by one. He never takes his eyes off the knots - off the skin he begins revealing - and heat spreads through her, making the air thick.
When he finishes, right at the small of her back, she leans into him, her bare skin resting against his chest. His breath brushes her shoulder and he holds her gaze, embracing her sweetly.
It's innocent enough but it doesn't feel like it.
Finally, she turns to face him, and kisses him.
When they pull apart, it's only to catch their breaths. Her stomach feels hot, her knees weak, her head is spinning and God she wants more. Elena raises up on tiptoes to press her mouth to his again, but this time, he stops her.
She frowns. "Why not?''
''Because you've had too much to drink, you're exhausted and we have to meet with the LiDAR guy in the morning."
"Who knew you could be a standup guy?" Elena quips, leaning on him once more as he leads her to bed.
Damon smirks. "Only for you." He gives her a warm kiss on the cheek, turns the light off and walks into the bathroom.
And Elena still hasn't changed into her pajamas. But it doesn't matter; she too drunk to care, so she lets the alcohol pull her into a deep slumber.
Damon steps out of the bathroom with his boxers and slides beneath the covers. Elena's already sound asleep when he pulls his into his chest and drapes his arm over her waist.
Hello, Tyler. It's good to see you." Elijah shakes his hand. "Friends, this is Tyler Lockwood. He's an expert on LiDAR technology. His family and mine go way back."
Tyler looks over the group as Elijah continues the introductions.
"Rebekah, you know. This is Elena and Damon Salvatore and Marcel Gerard."
They all shake hands before sitting down for coffee.
"How does LiDAR work?" Damon asks, thanking Elena when she pours him a cup.
"Okay, so let's get down to the technical aspect of how LiDAR works. A device which contains a LiDAR sensor is composed of 4 parts: a laser, a scanner, a specialized GPS receiver, and IMU. These parts work in tandem to collect data necessary to create high-definition images and maps.
LiDAR works by shining a laser at an object and measuring the time it takes for the light of the laser to come back. It is often described as a 'pulsating laser' which measures the distance between the device and the surrounding objects. The distance is calculated using the time it takes for the laser to return, using the velocity of light. This is sometimes called, 'time of flight'."
"Very interesting. Is it a slow process?" Elijah asks as he stirs some sugar into his coffee.
"Many LiDAR sensors can do these hundreds of thousands or even millions of times per second. Some can do it with a narrow angle of view, and some can do it in 360 degrees by 90 degrees. With each 'return', the 3D scanning process creates a 3D visualization, which is known as a point cloud. By combining these points with other data generated in the collection process, an accurate, three-dimensional interpretation of the surrounding area, such as the shape of the earth or surface characteristics, is made.
"What about underwater usage?" Marcel posits, as he listens intently.
"With so many of the world's shipwrecks and submerged historical sites inaccessible to marine archeologists, they're starting to turn to bathymetric LiDAR systems to broaden their ability to research. Bathymetric data sets have been used to locate ancient Roman and Greek vessels, as well as sunken World War II aircraft. However, highly damaged or smaller wrecks may be harder to locate."
"You obviously know your stuff, Tyler." Elijah nods at him.
"The Maravillas sunk in 1715. The odds are astronomical that she's still in one piece. But what if there's...say...a bank of silver coins, could it pick up those?" Elena asks, sharing a glance with Damon.
"I believe so. The Leica Chiroptera 4X is a bathymetric and topographic LiDAR system that can capture 140,000 points per second, as well as cover shallow water regions down to a 25-meter depth. This bathymetric LiDAR system was used to efficiently map the Cape John peninsula in Canada and the Tonga archipelago in the Pacific."
"We believe the wreck to be in the area around the Marquesas Keys. Do you think you can scan that area or should we try a good old-fashioned magnetometer?" Damon asks, as he rakes his fingers through his hair.
"The water there isn't exceptionally deep. The technology should work, no?" Marcel asks.
"I'm more than willing to give it a try. Isn't searching for sunken treasure every kid's dream!?" Tyler remarks with a smirk.
Rebekah smiles at Marcel and turns to Tyler. "How soon can you start?"
"I'm pretty booked up...I can probably move things around a little and maybe get my equipment down here with a couple of weeks- give or take," Tyler informs them as he glances at his watch.
"Keep us informed."
Tyler nods. "I hate to run but I have another meeting. I'll be in touch."
Elena is sitting on the Whaler and hears Damon before she sees him. His bubbles pop and burble on the surface. When his head breaks, she grabs the neck of his scuba tank and, after he unfastens the belt and one shoulder strap, hauls the tank abord the boat.
"See anything?" she asks.
Damon pushes his face mask up onto his forehead. "Nothing. Sand and coral."
"Well, maybe Tyler Lockwood's LiDAR scanning will pick it up."
"The hell with that. I'm going to find it if it's here."
"But...it might be smarter to have the technology." Elena counters.
"I don't need it," Damon rebuffs.
Elena looks off the stern. "Well Marcel said we should be in deeper water. They're about 20 miles north of here with another boat Elijah leased."
"Let's move to about a forty-foot depth. Maybe today will be the day?" Damon winks at her.
"Stranger things have happened." Elena laughs as Damon starts the engine and the boat skips over the waves.
When they're about ten miles from the Marquesas Keys, Damon throws the anchor overboard. As soon as it catches in the rocks, he adjusts the straps on his scuba harness to go down again.
Elena stands her tank upright and checks the lengths of the harness straps. "Ready to give me a hand?"
Damon helps her with the tank and adjusts his own.
Elena rolls backward off the gunwale and disappears in a cloud of bubbles. He jumps into the water right behind her.
Shafts of sunlight streak through the blue, dappling the sand. The water is calm today and Damon can see a good distance. He looks around sees Elena digging in the sand with her fingers.
Damon kicks slowly down the anchor line. He looks around, trying to discern shapes in the distance where blue dwindles into a dim mist.
About halfway down, he notices a group of fish. As he gets closer to them, Damon eyes widen to the size saucers. Right in front of him is the outline of a cannon. His heart nearly beats out of his chest as he swims to Elena and gestures excitedly for her to follow...
"We were diving in about 40 feet of water. We found nine cannons. Do you believe it?" Elena gushes.
Damon watches her with a twinkle in his eyes. "I was so excited, I thought at first I was seeing things until I laid my hands on them. My heart is still pounding."
"Mine, too. But, Elijah, we need to have the cannons mapped and photographed just as we found them. And then we have to see if there are any identifying marks and if they match the Maravillas gun list." Elena holds up her crossed fingers.
"Can Marcel do that?" Rebekah asks as she smiles at him.
"Yes, that's my area of expertise. I can't wait to dive down there to see them," Marcel states as he gives Rebekah's hand a squeeze.
"Tomorrow." Elena's eyes shine excitedly, "We'll go back tomorrow."
Thank you, everyone.
I did post the first chapter of "Until Proven Innocent" Friday. When Elena inexplicably disappears, Damon is convicted of her murder on a circumstantial case. As soon as F&G is completed, I'll start posting it and TQR regularly.
Have a fabulous day.