It Takes Two. Joanne Michael

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СКАЧАТЬ mean the groundbreaking part?” Abby smiled. “Well, that’s every scientist’s dream, isn’t it? No, I’m here to add what I can to the general body of knowledge.”

      Abby knew her answer sounded rehearsed. Probably because it was. Growing up as the daughter of Drs. Norman and Lowell Miller had been both a blessing and a curse throughout her life. The shadow her parents cast was a huge one and Abby desperately hoped her own research in Tadoussac would finally enable her to step out of it.

      In college and later in graduate school, every time she had met a new professor or scholar, the initial introductions were inevitably followed by comments about knowing the Millers and their work. Intellectually, Abby knew these people were not comparing her to her parents. Still, even now, she was plagued with the uneasy notion that she never quite measured up to her parents.

      Belatedly, she realized Pete had said something.

      “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked, feeling a bit foolish.

      “I said, we welcome that.” Pete leaned across the desk. “The data you collect this year on the effects of noise pollution—especially from watercraft—will be an invaluable tool to help us recommend regulations controlling the whale-watching industry. There’s still so much we don’t know about the extent the boats impact the whales’ social behavior, breeding, calving, feeding and other life processes.”

      “And that’s where I come in,” Abby said.

      “Right you are.”

      “How many permit-holding whale-watching boats are there around here?” Abby asked.

      “A little more than fifty.”

      “Sounds like I’ll have plenty of opportunity to study the effects of sound on the beluga.”

      “Anxious to get started?”

      “Very,” Abby assured him.

      “Okay, then.” Pete nodded. Abby had the feeling he was holding something back.

      “Is there anything else I should know?” she asked.

      Pete sighed and picked up a piece of paper off his desk. “In your acceptance letter, it was mentioned that you’d have regular, scheduled use of a boat.”

      “That’s right. I need it to set my sensing equipment in the bay and up the Fjord and then make regular checks on them. In fact, I can’t do much else until those are in.”

      “I see.” Pete cleared his throat and looked Abby in the eye. “Well, I’m afraid that might be a problem.”

      “What kind of problem?”

      “Normally, we operate two research vessels—”

      “I know, the Mistral and the Caprice. Either one sounds perfect for what I need,” Abby assured him.

      “I’m sure they are,” Pete said. “Trouble is, the Mistral went into dry dock two days ago and I just found out she won’t be seaworthy for at least two months, maybe the whole season.”

      This was not good news.

      “The thing is,” Pete continued, “the schedules were already set and had to be redone for the one vessel with priority time going to our senior researchers.”

      Abby was getting a very bad feeling.

      “Unfortunately,” Pete said, “we couldn’t fit you in.”

      Abby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No boat meant no soundings. No soundings meant no data collection and no data meant no research analysis. The disappointment was palpable and she felt near tears.

      “I do have an alternative,” Pete said hastily.

      “Really?” Abby’s spirits lifted slightly.

      “There are a limited number of charter boats available in Tadoussac. If you could find one, I’m sure the center could certify it and then you could use part of your grant to pay for it.”

      Abby thought that possibility over. “Do you have a charter you could recommend?” she asked.

      Pete shook his head. “We’re not allowed to,” he said. “We get funding from the government and all of our business has to be based on bids. I can, however, give you a list of boats and their captains.” He pulled a sheet of paper from a desk drawer and handed it to Abby.

      It was a very short list, Abby thought, scanning it.

      “Well, I’m glad I accepted the office,” she said, standing. “Now I know how I’ll spend my first day—calling boat captains.”

      THREE HOURS LATER, Abby hung up the phone in her new office, folded her arms on her desk and laid her head down on them.

      There had been ten boats, and none of the captains were at the contact number listed next to each name. Abby had spent the morning tracking down the captains and had been referred to, among other places, a marina office, a café, a garage and a warehouse. When she’d finally reached them, one by one, they had said they were too busy or already booked for the entire summer, or else quoted a price that far exceeded the limits of her budget. It was not an auspicious beginning to her summer.

      Raising her head, she looked at the clock mounted on the wall and saw it was close to noon. Might as well break for lunch, she thought.

      Thinking she’d see if Pete or Chris would like to join her, she walked past the director’s office, but saw the door was shut. Hearing the sound of several voices coming from within, she continued on without knocking. Downstairs in Chris’s office, she saw the lab director was on the phone and decided to leave him undisturbed, as well.

      For lack of anything better to do, she decided to walk down to the wharf across from the building and look around. At the foot of the center’s dock, she saw the gleaming blue and red hull of the research vessel Caprice bobbing gently up and down. Abby watched enviously as a team of workers loaded equipment and supplies on board.

      Continuing down the path to the docks, she considered her options. Find a boat and find it fast, or revamp her entire project. At the moment, the former seemed impossible, and the latter unacceptable.

      MARC LOVED spending time doing routine maintenance on his boat. He found the work immensely satisfying. The engines of the Percé ran superbly, thanks to his regular attentions. He’d just spent the morning draining and replacing the oil and had come up to deck for some fresh air when he spotted a familiar form walking down the dock.

      “Well, ahoy there,” he called to Abby. He saw her looking around. “Up here.”

      Turning, she spotted Marc on the deck and watched him climb down the ship’s ladder and hop onto the wharf next to her.

      “How’s your first day going?” Marc said, wiping his oily hands on a rag.

      “I’m not sure.”

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Nothing, really,” she said. “Well, nothing СКАЧАТЬ