Page 32 of Honor Code

“And it’s not any of us. We’re being paid to ensure those kinds of things don’t happen.”

“Which leaves us with what?” Phoenix squinted across the deck. The risen sun had turned the sea into a mirror. He couldn’t see Ellie anymore. She must have gone back down to get ready for her day.

“Maybe it was an accident,” Boomer suggested. “The storm could have worked the bolts loose.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

But neither of them believed it.

CHAPTER 15

Ellie had just entered the lab when her phone rang. It was Ray!

After locking the door, she settled down on her ergonomic swivel chair and took the call. "Ray, thanks for getting back to me."

"I've got that data you wanted, Ellie. How'd you want to do this?"

"Can you share your screen with me?"

"Yeah, let's talk via Zoom. I'll send you a link."

She logged on to her high-performance computer just as Ray sent the invitation. After clicking on the link, the familiar screen popped up and she was facing her old college buddy. Ray, unlike her, had never left university. A true academic, he'd opted to study further and had applied to Stanford. He was now a professor of geological sciences.

"Sharing in progress," he said.

A satellite image filled her expansive, high-resolution monitor. Swirls of red, orange, and yellow were surrounded by cool greens and blues like an abstract Van Gogh painting.

She took a long, hard look. A nagging thought plagued her, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

"It's so strange," she said, finally. "From this, I wouldn't have said there were oil reserves beneath us at all, yet the reports we got say there are." Then it clicked. The rock structures on the reports looked different from what she was seeing on the screen.

"This is live, isn't it?" she asked, a little breathless.

Ray grunted. "Yeah, this is a satellite image of the seabed and surrounding rock formations based on those coordinates you gave me. I'm feeding it directly from the satellite."

"Would you mind if I printed off a copy of this?" she asked. "I can take a screenshot."

"Go for it. If you need it for your work?—"

"Thanks." She hit print and the high-end color printer beside her whirred to life. Shortly after, a crisp, standard-size image emerged.

Ellie stared at the images on the screen for a bit longer.

"What are you thinking?" asked Ray, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure." Ellie frowned, then shook her head. "I think I have to compare this to what I have here."

"Okay, no problem. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thanks, Ray. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Ellie. You take care now."

"You too." He ended the call.

She unlocked the lab door then darted into the corridor. The drills were silent now, as she had her test samples. In a day or two, they'd move on to the fifth test site and commence drilling there.

Except, what she’d just learned might change everything.

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