Chapter 14
The Widow
I wake to the shrill bells of the four a.m. alarm after a restless night.
Reaching for my phone, I turn it on. The photo fills the screen, and there’s Nathan. Standing by my car window, waving goodbye.
I’m so exhausted I can’t feel my body, and I don’t care. This is a good kind of tired to be. I feel lighter today. Less burdened. Ready to get to work and make a difference. I feel like myself again.
I glance at the made side of the bed. Is it wrong to want him here? I picture him asleep in the cottage right now, alone in that bed. Our bed.
A darker thought follows. What if he wants different things as he moves forward? What if he doesn’t exactly find his way back to me when he finds himself?
No stinking thinking, Crystal. Get up.
Usually, I drop Natalie off at the school’s daycare around seven and go straight to City Hall. Today, I move through the house on careful feet, leaving her with my next-door neighbor before sunrise to meet my team at the marina at five.
As the city’s lead marine biologist, I’m overseeing the operation to start temporary mitigation efforts at the reef.
It’s the first day, and I expect it to be long, but if we turn things around, even a little, it will be worth the hard work.
After today’s setup, I’ll split my time between the conservation dives and office days and try to find a balance with what I’ve got going on at home.
We have all the support we need with NOAA’s CERF money and a few wealthy locals who are bridging the gap until those funds are released.
This is the first time we’re using these quick-hit methods for coral preservation.
Anything is better than nothing, but these techniques are limited in scale and impact.
We’re only talking about a reduction of one to three degrees Fahrenheit.
But it matters. One thing that we have going for us is that we’re in the late fall, heading into winter.
The dropping ambient temperature helps. This would have been ten times worse had it been summer.
The reality is we may fail. If the conditions can’t be reversed and continue to deteriorate, we’ll need to consider what to do next. We’re discussing the salvage extraction of unique genetic lines if it becomes necessary. We’ve already identified the coral we’ll save.
The thought of those choices and of our beautiful coral reef seascapes being reduced to lab specimens sickens me.
God, please don’t let it come to that.
After our morning prep and briefing, the six of us meet Fred and a couple of NOAA officials at the Reefing Around and begin loading. Shade canopies. Submersible cooling fans, LED lights, and ancillary equipment are packed onto the deck. Somehow, we all fit.
Fred casts off, and we head to Coral Fang.
The dive meeting is in full swing when I walk into the inn’s dining room.
Yesterday’s reef mitigation dive was productive but emotional.
When we got to Coral Fang, even more polyps were showing signs of bleaching.
Our efforts seem woefully inadequate based on what we’re facing.
We didn’t have time to get to Carter’s Drop.
We’re going to speak with NOAA officials about next steps.
I scan the crowd for Nathan first. He’s sitting quietly by Ms. Connor, who’s holding baby Christopher.
He glances at me, raising his hand with a smile, then looks back down at his plate.
Is he nervous? There have to be more than twenty people here today.
He told me about his beach day last night when I called him.
He must be shell-shocked by the rapid introductions.
All these people are strangers to him. Strangers who expect different things and are here for different reasons.
I want to sit beside him so badly, but I’ll wait. I take a croissant and a bottle of water and squeeze into the only spot left—next to Garrett.
“We don’t know what’s down there,” Scott barks. “I’m not sending my team into what could be a death trap on a whim. You’re going to have to lay down some hard facts to sell me on why we need to expedite our schedule and change our plans.”
“And we haven’t even been in the Drop in over six months,” Jamie adds and points to the profile map of Carter’s Drop on the wall. The map is Scott’s latest survey of the Drop. It draws the distances traversed to date and lays out planned exploration routes based on sonar readings.
“Isn’t that what cave explorers do? Explore.” Garrett’s tone is snide and frustrated. Scott raises his hand to caution Jamie not to respond.
“I, for one, am itching to get in there,” Sid quips, rubbing her hands together.
Scott shoots her a stern look. “Yeah, well, you’re not going anywhere unexplored. Main line travel only, Miss Diva.”
“Okey dokey, boss. You’ve told me that a few times. I’ve got good ears. My crew will stay on the lines.”
“I don’t see why you can’t wait until the experts map the area before you try to film it. You’re only going to get in their way,” Garrett says. He’s still trying to keep her out of the caves.
“She’s okay if she stays on the main lines.” Scott smiles at Sid. “One of us will supervise the film crew on each dive. We’ll rotate so we don’t get bored.”
She gives him the OK sign and snickers.
Scott turns back to Finn. “We can re-prioritize traverse however we need. What I don’t like is the rush. Rushing gets people killed.”
Hearing the danger spoken aloud makes this real. These people are my family. I don’t think I’ll survive if I lose anyone else.
Finn’s calm voice cuts in. “Scott, understandably, you have concerns.” He walks over to the map like a professor about to lecture the class.
“Let me get us all briefed on the science, then we can jump into logistics and the dive plan. Before I begin…” He turns to me.
“Crystal, do you want to summarize the current coastal impacts so we have a reading of what’s at stake? ”
I pick up my notes. Nathan looks at me intently from across the table.
His gaze makes me burn up, and it’s hard to think for a moment.
I clear my throat. “We’re running pH/salinity tests daily now, and the trends are grim.
We don’t have much time. The water temperature in those areas is already consistently measuring over eighty-six degrees.
That’s enough to cause bleaching, and if it’s sustained or increases, it will cause death. It’s already dying.”
I stop and take a breath, trying to hold in my tears.
“That’s bad.” Scott’s eyes and voice soften. “But what are we supposed to do about it? Do we even know what we’re looking for?”
“All we can do is try to buy the coral time,” I continue.
“We’re focused on those tactics right now.
Restricting aquatic activity near the reef, deploying shade cloths, cooling pumps, and feeding lamps.
And we’ll continue to monitor impacts.” I turn to Finn.
“What we need is to find out what’s actually causing the heating and stop it. ”
Finn nods and jumps back in. “Back to the question about what we’ve learned.
My team has been running dozens of surveys and tests over the last couple of days.
” He pushes up his glasses. “We’ve identified the hot zones in the caves.
And Nathan’s stone is giving us valuable data about the material in those areas. ”
Nathan jerks his head toward Finn at the mention of his name.
“I have theories… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“How hot is the stone right now?” I ask.
“Two hundred and sixty degrees.”
Scott stands. “We can’t swim in water that hot.”
“Oh no,” Finn says quickly. “The main flow won’t be that hot.
Warmer, yes, but the heat drops off fast once you’re away from the source.
Think of geothermal vents. The hot water is localized, then it mixes.
” He rubs the bridge of his nose before continuing.
“We’ll use temperature probes and, of course, everyone needs to avoid the rocky walls. ”
“Who else knows about this?” Scott asks.
“I’ve kept the findings of the stone and the temperatures to a small group of scientists I trust, and now all of you. We haven’t notified outsiders yet. But we’re in contact with local NOAA and Coast Guard officials.” He looks in my direction. “And the mayor’s office, of course.”
“How long before the Feds show up and this place turns into a shitstorm?” Scott asks.
“Two weeks at most.”
Scott shakes his head. “Fuck.”
He looks up as Maddie comes back into the room and takes Christopher from Ms. Connor. She looks exhausted.
“Time for his feeding.” She walks over to Scott and squeezes his shoulder, then lifts onto her toes to give him a short kiss. Her touch instantly calms him down.
He gives her a kiss, then kisses Christopher on the forehead before they turn to leave.
I look over at Nathan. His eyes are locked on the map. He’s been tracking every word, and curiosity is seeping from his pores.
Fear hits me hard. He wants to be a part of this. And when he sets his mind to something…
“All right, thanks for the science lessons. Let’s get to the plan,” Scott says.
“So do you want to tell us where we’re all going, Mr. Big Brains?” Jamie asks Finn.
“Yes, well.” Finn points at a large section of the map. “The Megaron. I want to collect the artifacts Nathan discovered, and it’s also where Scott and Maddie observed heat last year.”
It’s also where Mark died, I think, bitterly.
“It can be frigid in the deeper areas of the cave. At least it was. How do we plan to balance out the swim? Dry suits, wetsuits, no suits?” Scott asks.
“My suggestion is light swimwear under thin wetsuits. Ninety-two degrees is generally the upper limit for low-exertion dives. With medium to high exertion, I recommend a conservative safety maximum of eighty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. Above that, hyperthermia becomes a concern. If we encounter anything warmer, we’ll need to consider other options. ”
“I’d like to come.” All heads turn to Nathan. “Looks like you can use another hand.”
He’s looking at Scott for an answer. Finn sits down, amused.
Oh no.
“Sorry, man, that’s not happening,” Scott says.
“Why not?” Nathan asks. “You know I’m a cave diver. A damn good one. I’m in.”
Scott studies him. “No doubt. But you just got back, and you may not remember...”
“This is bullshit. I have it all in my head.” He lets out a frustrated exhale, his words coming out fast. “I can do everything I used to do. I just don’t remember doing any of it. Don’t treat me like I’m clueless.”
Scott pauses, thinking.
Maddie walks back into the room and hands Christopher to Ms. Connor.
Then she moves to Nathan and clasps the back of his chair, leaning down to his ear.
“Hey… the technical dive we’re talking about is happening this week.
Why don’t you plan to go on the next one?
Get your feet wet with something simple first so you can convince this guy you’ve still got the skills. ” She points her thumb at Scott.
Nathan’s nostrils flare, but his eyes soften when he looks up at Maddie.
“Fair enough.” He shifts his gaze back to Scott. “Thanks.”
“Saturday,” Scott says. “We’ll check out the water near the Drop. Then we’ll figure out what you’re ready for next.”
“Here.” She hands Nathan a stack of folded papers. “Your maps of Carter’s Drop. You’ve gone farther than anyone else has.” She motions to the others in the room.
“Thank you.” He takes the maps from Maddie and flips them open. His eyes light up with excitement.
As I watch him immediately start examining it, I realize this won’t be easy. I can already imagine myself losing him again, and once Natalie meets him…
The table conversation shifts back to the dive plan.
“Sid, your team is with Margaret and Finn this time—only as far as the line takes you in the Megaron.”
“Yippee!” Sid’s all exuberant energy, while Scott just huffs.
“When you reach the end of the line…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, boss…”
Nathan gets up and walks to the back porch. I follow. He rests his elbows on the railing, looking out over the pool and garden. When I step up beside him, he turns toward me.
“Did you get any sleep?” I ask.
“Yeah, actually. I did.”
His skin is smooth, and the dark circles under his eyes from Sunday have disappeared.
“Talk about jumping right back into the deep end,” I say.
“I want this.” He leans into the railing, bearing more of his weight against it. He turns to me. “I feel more alive than I have in six years. I can make a difference.”
I believe him, and that’s what terrifies me. But I refuse to put up another wall. Time is short, and I won’t let fear waste any of it.
“You will.” I take his hand. “I wanted to ask you if you’d like to come over tomorrow night. To my place. Let me cook you some dinner, and you can meet Natalie.”
A grin breaks free. “Is there anything you need? I can stop by the general store.”
“Just you.”