6. Garrett
Garrett
The next morning, I hurried down the corridor, one hand trailing briefly along the smooth wall as the ship rolled beneath my feet.
The ship couldn’t have been more different from Waypoint.
Back home, the station buildings had grown old, the infrastructure ailing, and the aesthetics were utilitarian. Here, everything looked… posh.
Light wood-toned paneling softened the walls. Recessed lighting cast an even glow overhead. Every corner, every doorway, every built-in cabinet seemed designed as part of a whole instead of being added whenever somebody found the budget for it.
I checked my watch and quickened my pace. I was late.
Normally I was awake before sunrise without needing an alarm.
Years on the ranch had seen to that long before Waypoint ever did.
However, I had slept poorly last night. Maybe it was sleeping on a ship instead of solid ground.
Maybe it was the constant groaning somewhere deep inside the hull whenever the sea shifted beneath us.
Maybe it was spending half the night replaying my encounter with Braddock whether I wanted to or not.
Whatever the reason, I was running late, and I hated that.
Dexter was probably already in the mess making friends with half the scientific staff.
Yesterday, we’d spent the rest of the day being shown around the ship and getting acclimated.
There hadn’t been any reason for Braddock and me to interact.
Today that changed.
Today we actually had to sit down and figure out how to recover a humpback whale skeleton from the bottom of the Southern Ocean. Which meant working together. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
I rounded another corner just as a door farther down the corridor opened. Someone stepped out carrying a mug. I took another two strides before the profile registered.
Braddock.
He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Our eyes met.
Both of us froze.
The corridor was empty. No one was around. I drew a slow breath.
Let it go.
You’re here to do a job.
Don’t engage.
Just let him walk away.
Go eat breakfast.
Braddock studied me for another second. Then, instead of continuing toward the mess, he turned. And started walking back. I frowned. Seriously?
I planted my feet wide and folded my arms across my chest. If he wanted to start yesterday’s argument all over again, he was welcome to try. This time there was no one to save him. And I wasn’t going to go easy on him again.
Braddock came to a stop in front of me.
He was wearing a light blue sweater today instead of yesterday’s yellow one. His shoulder-length hair was half tied back. The overhead recessed lighting glinted off the small gold studs in his ear. For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
He held my gaze without flinching and I had to give him that because I knew I looked intimidating to most people.
“I just want to make one thing clear, Landry,” he said evenly. “I had no idea the captain had asked for you. But just because you’re here doing him a favor doesn’t mean anything changes between us.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You’re still the same jackass. And after this project is over, I never want to see you again.”
I stared at him. Did this idiot honestly think I wanted to see him again? I let out a humorless laugh. “If that’s supposed to make me feel scared, you’re doing a hell of a shitty job.”
He lifted his chin and attempted to stare me down. It wasn’t working because I was half a head taller than him.
I took a step forward. “I don’t know where you got the idea that I’m interested in you, Braddock, or your opinion, or anything you have to say to me.”
A slow smirk spread across his face. “Oh yeah? Then why’d you send me that note, Landry? That doesn’t sound like somebody who’s apparently had no interest in dragging the same issue around for the last year.”
“It was the first, the only, and the last time I ever contacted you,” I ground out. “And it was for a rematch.”
He didn’t move.
“Which, by the way, you declined.”
I folded my arms tighter across my chest, willing myself to stay calm. “That just goes to show I was right all along. If you’re so confident you won fair and square, then fight me again.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Braddock’s voice dripped ice. “Why would I do that? I have far more important things to do.”
He took a step and closed the distance between us. I could smell his fucking shampoo and feel his breath.
“I already won.” He got right in my personal space. “I have absolutely nothing to prove to you.”
Our faces were only inches apart and I was hanging by a thread. I bit the inside of my cheek to ground myself.
Do not strike first.
Do not strike first.
“More importantly,” he continued with that smirk on his ugly posh mug, “I don’t engage with men like you.” He lifted a finger and pointed once between the two of us. “You and I don’t belong to the same class of people.”
The words landed harder than if he’d shouted them. I felt a chill travel down my spine.
“I’ve dealt with men like you before.”
His pale green eyes never left mine.
“I know exactly your kind.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“So let this be a warning.” He pointed at my chest. “Do your job here. And I sincerely hope you know what you’re doing.”
Then his expression hardened.
“When this project is over, leave my ship.”
He took a step back and turned away. “And never, ever contact me again.”
Then he walked away from me leaving me standing in the corridor, vibrating with so many emotions that I didn’t even know what I was feeling anymore.
* * *
An hour later, we were all gathered in the hoity-doity data suite.
The captain stood near the head of the table in the middle of the data suite.
Dexter had already claimed a seat in the back, being here only to observe as a scientist-in-training.
Beside the captain stood Braddock’s crewmate, a woman I hadn’t met before.
“Is this too complex for you, Mr. Landry?”
I scowled at Braddock sitting opposite me.
“Simply waiting for you to get to the actual complexity, Mr. Braddock,” I replied.
“Gentlemen, please,” the captain said.
I redirected my attention to the task at hand. I needed to stop paying the fucker any attention.
Floating above the center of the conference table was a three-dimensional projection of the recovery site. Yet again, it was clear the ship was funded by a billionaire. It grated on me after what Braddock had said to me. Entitled rich people.
I focused on the captain’s voice. “As you can see right here, we are positioned next to this iceberg. You can also see that its submerged mass extends far below the surface.” He touched the air and the projection rotated.
“Now here, Mr. Landry, you can see how part of the iceberg’s bottom has melted due to warmer ocean waters. ”
“Yeah. I see the overhang,” I said.
“That’s where Nate’s whale skeleton is.” He tapped the air on a menu.
A new glowing object showed up on the projection.
I could trace the shape of a long skeleton.
It was wedged under the iceberg. Hell of a place to end up.
I could already see why they’d called me instead of trying to yank it straight up.
“Nate?” The captain turned to the man.
“Thank you, sir. As you can see, the skeleton has only recently been exposed. My guess is that the whale originally died many years ago and its body was trapped in the ice.”
“So what happened now?” I asked, proud of myself for keeping my voice steady and my mind on the technicalities.
“Warmer ocean water.” The woman answered. “Hi, I am Hillary. I’m an oceanographer.”
I stood up and tipped my hat. “Nice to meet you, Ma’am.”
Her eyes widened and a flush rose up her throat. She cleared her throat. “Well… Due to the climate warming up, the waters that pass through this area have been melting the underside of the berg.”
“Wouldn’t it melt everything?” I asked.
Hillary shook her head just as Braddock said, “That’s a good question.
” He looked pleased but then his expression shuttered.
As if he had just remembered who he was talking to.
But in that one moment of unguarded enthusiasm, he looked very much like a passionate scientist who had possibly spent years studying whales, and nothing like the cheater I remembered.
I sat back down and let Hillary talk.
“The ocean here is very unique. The Weddell Sea lies at the intersection of different ocean currents. The one flowing under this iceberg is not the same one flowing over the top, for example.”
Huh. “So warm water below, cold water up here?”
“To make it simple, yes.” She smiled.
“I get it now. Thank you, Ma’am.”
The captain folded his arms. “So that’s where we stand. The question is how we get it out of there without turning it into a box of loose bones.”
The room fell silent. The 3D projection hovered in the air between us. This was going to be a complicated project. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible to do what they wanted to do.
“Well,” the captain said after a few minutes, “I think I’ve done enough talking. I’ll leave the capable people to argue over the details amongst yourselves. If anyone needs me, I’ll be back up on the bridge.”
He walked around the table until he stopped beside me. “Mr. Landry, I know this is outside of your work duties. I truly thank you for coming all the way from Waypoint. I owe your station chief for loaning you to us.”
I stood and shook his hand. “Happy to help, Captain.”
The captain clapped me solidly on the shoulder and exited the data suite.
“Well, Mr. Landry.” Braddock smirked and folded his arms. “I suppose your protection has left.”
I rested both hands on the edge of the conference table and leaned towards him.
“Oh, I think I’ll manage just fine, Mr. Braddock. If anything, now you can finally stop pretending to be civilized.”
A faint smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “For you,” he said evenly, “it’s Doctor Braddock.”
My eyebrows climbed. “Doctor?”
Dexter waved his notepad from where he was sitting in the corner. He wasn’t part of the project, but he could observe as a grad student. I was glad that I had brought him along. At least one of us was having a good time.
“He has two PhDs, did you know that?” Dexter said in a chipper tone.
What the hell. “Two?”
“Isn’t it remarkable?” Dexter continued excitedly. Did I need another word with my brother about whose fucking side he was on?
“Dr. Braddock has one in marine biology and another in medieval history.”
I blinked. “Medieval history?”
Dexter nodded enthusiastically. “That’s why he knows so much about knights, swordsmanship, and when you both—”
Okay. That was it. “Dex.” I raised a hand to stop him.
“Oops. Sorry. I forgot that he is…” He squirmed uncomfortably. “Um… the enemy,” he finished in almost a whisper.
I sighed. Maybe it was too much to expect that he wouldn’t fanboy over a scientist. That blood would triumph over science. But I couldn’t be mad at him. Not really.
The esteemed fucking doctor was, of course, smirking at me. Lord, how I despised him.
“Mr. Landry?” Hillary asked.
I looked over at her.
“Do you have any other questions for me? Anything regarding the ocean currents or the iceberg itself?”
I shook my head. “No, ma’am. You’ve explained it well.”
She smiled warmly. “In that case, I’d like to steal Dexter for a little while. I thought he might enjoy seeing the laboratories.”
Dexter’s face lit up so quickly it almost made me laugh.
“Yes! I’d love to.”
He looked toward me, trying very hard to hide the hope in his expression.
“Go on.” I waved at him. “You’ll never forgive me if you miss the chance.”
He was already halfway out of his chair. “Thank you!” He came over and hugged me fiercely before following Hillary out of the data suite like a puppy wagging his tail.
Their voices faded into the corridor as the door slid shut behind them.
The room suddenly felt much quieter. Across from me sat a man with two PhDs, raised in a world so different from mine that I couldn’t even imagine it.
I thought about the workshop back at Waypoint, about years spent learning with my hands in a shed in Texas instead of from books.
The way he dressed, the fine wool of his sweaters, and the posh accent he spoke with had all already made me think he came from money. Now I knew this swanky ship was funded by a billionaire. After what he had said to me earlier, I had no doubt left that he looked down on me.
Because I had no fancy degrees.
Or designer clothes.
Or rich sugar daddies.
Good. Because I wanted nothing to do with men like him.
Our worlds were never meant to intersect.