The Seventh Secret

Chapter 11 — Gadgets Ready, Engines Fueled

Purdue listened to the lively chatter within his normally quiet mansion, as Sam and the women debated the best way to get to the wreck site.

“If we fly down, we’ll have to wait a few days for Crystal’s survey ship to make it down there,” Nina countered. “If we charter a boat there for, say, three days, we can, at least, scout the area and locate the vessel in the meantime.”

“That would be a waste of time. We may as well travel on the survey ship in the first place,” Crystal negated the idea.

They were trying to figure out how to proceed, especially since the wreck was in territorial waters and the whole excursion had to be as inconspicuous as possible. Purdue smiled.

“You do realize that chartering a ship would double the expenses and that others would know that something is afoot, right?” Purdue called from the adjacent study, where he was mapping out a route on his tablet. It was a brand new version of his tablet he had only been using for three days so far, but he was getting the hang of it.

He could hear their moans of defeat at his comment, but they soon started arguing again. The suggested schedule would allow for them to spend approximately three days on the eastern coast of South Africa hoping they wouldn’t arouse suspicion from locals or the coast guards. The whole excursion would be expensive either way, he thought, so he wanted to give his latest invention a try. Purdue had been working on the software since Sam approached him about the prospect of a Nazi Panzerschiff in the Indian Ocean.

His multi-functional tablet had been upgraded with his own software and he was now able to employ external data he — as he put it — “grabbed from the atmosphere” to locate anything he wanted to. He had not tested the software’s ability to penetrate water without scrambling coordinates yet. It had already proven to be a problem to navigate through atmospheric disturbances at different locations around the globe, depending on the season, weather and distance from the magnetic influences of the poles.

If he was closer to the wreck, in person, it would be child’s play. Better yet, he would not have to go out on a yacht every day to survey. He could do it from the coast, undetected. Once he had gathered enough information for the sonar mapping, his only problem would be to get the wreck raised and towed out of territorial into international waters. In case they would run into any trouble with the coast guard, Crystal would deal with the legal side of it. From the same, data Nina would be able establish the authenticity and likelihood of it being the infamous battle ship, and once that was determined and the wreck was worth the salvage, he would pull out the ace he had up his sleeve.

“Purdue,” Sam groaned as he stumbled into the study, “please tell me you have a solution! Those women are going to be the death of me!” His hand was in his hair, his tired eyes blinking profusely, as he leaned on Purdue’s desk. Purdue just smiled contentedly, ignoring Sam’s plight, since he knew they were bickering for no reason.

“I already have the solution,” he said calmly. Nina appeared behind Sam.

“What?” she frowned. “Would it have been too much of a bother to tell us this before we racked our brains to work out the logistical nightmare South Africa poses?”

“I considered it,” he teased, punching in his password to open the final draft of the design he hoped to have conquered.

Nina rolled her eyes, but she was secretly relieved. Crystal joined her and Sam in silent anticipation.

“Well? Don’t exclude us from the latest great Purduic plan,” Crystal pried in her sternest tone, mocking him.

“Purduic?” Nina asked, staring at the tall lawyer with a look of warning. “Don’t flatter him too much. He already thinks he is a god!”

Sam chuckled.

Purdue waited for the tone to announce he was signed in and softly said, “Behold, my kingdom of simplicity.” He turned the tablet and lifted the top so that they could see the bright blue lines and numbers that filled the black screen. Some of the numbers were red and in the top right corner there was a lime green digital compass.

“This is to keep us from going arse about face on all the data we collect on the screen, see?” Purdue explained the compass.

“And what are all those lines?” Nina asked.

“It looks like the lines on a map.” Sam quickly excused, “That much is obvious, but, I would like to know exactly what they are for.”

"Wonder no more, dear lad, wonder no more," Purdue boasted, sounding much like a snake oil salesman of old trying to show off his elixirs. "Those are contour lines of the ocean floor. By these contours, we can calculate the distance between different depths. But there is more…”

“Ooh, I’m positively tingling,” Nina said in a pretend-bored tone with a smirk on her pretty face. Crystal winked at her in amusement.

Purdue touched the screen with two sweeps of his index finger along the bottom frame and the contour lines blurred to almost nothing, but a wealth of strange shapes of all sizes and infrequent arrangement appeared. "This is sonar mode. It uses high-frequency sonar in a 5km radius to detect objects on the same terrain. The only part I have not determined beyond doubt is its submarine accuracy."

"That could pose a problem since we have to see beyond that distance on the ocean floor. Dr. Malgas is adamant that the vessel is close to the edge of South African territorial waters,” Sam added.

“I know,” Purdue nodded, his light blue eyes darting over the objects on the screen as he mulled it over. “I will just have to increase its reach.”

“So, when and how are we going?” Nina asked.

Purdue snapped out of his deep thought, “Oh! I have decided to rent a house on the coast, maybe a holiday rental. Then I can use the landscaper software from there until we know exactly where the wreck is located.”

“You do know that Bluewater Bay is not exactly a holiday destination, right?" Crystal informed Purdue. "It is an ordinary town, and I doubt anyone who lives on the beach will just give up their house for you to use.”

Purdue scoffed. He flashed one of his trademark confident smiles at the women and patted Sam on the shoulder as he walked by. “Sam, could you check the property sites and get us a house, please? Make sure they can’t resist the bait, will you?”

“Aye! Absolutely,” Sam grinned and made for the high back chair behind Purdue’s computer on the desk. “What time should I give Dr. Malgas? Are we taking your jet?”

"We are indeed," he heard Purdue say cheerfully on his way to the bar fridge. "Tell him we should be there by Tuesday late afternoon. Also, Crystal, do me a favor and draw up the necessary contracts for our crew, please. That includes Nina and Sam. Sam will give you the names of Dr. Malgas' team if he is bringing his own people.”

“On it,” Crystal replied, and gave Purdue one of her sexy winks as she exited the room to fetch her laptop.

“No chores for me, then?” Nina asked. Although she had never enjoyed being given orders, she felt excluded.

“You have already gathered all the information you could get about the Admiral Graf Spee there is, haven’t you?” Purdue asked cordially. Nina nodded. “That means your work is done for now. You are welcome to roam or rest at your heart's delight, my dear," he smiled, tenderly running his hand through her hair like he used to when they were a couple. It ignited something in Nina, and she glanced over to Sam who was so engrossed in his task that he barely noticed her anymore. With the charming, rich German woman in their midst, Nina felt even more insignificant, and Sam's reciprocation to Crystal's flirtations confirmed her feelings.

At that moment, Nina decided to stop the self-pity and remember who she was. She made the conscious choice of letting go of all her self-doubt and any inkling of inferiority she had been harboring since coming to Edinburgh a few days ago. Perhaps it was her new-ish life in her hometown of Oban that had changed her perception of herself. Living in the most hated house in Oban’s history, she had begun to feel lonely.

As a fellow at Edinburgh University under the unbearable arrogance of the misogynist Prof. Matlock, she at least had had a schedule to focus on. Back then, several years ago, she had had classes to teach and exams to grade on a regular basis, keeping her mind off her personal life that lacked romance. Now that she was older, approaching her forties, there was a subliminal urge to settle down she had never entertained before; and for some reason it made her self-conscious.

Somewhere along the way, the sexy historian had forgotten that her looks and petite body gave most women in their twenties a run for their money, but from now on, she decided, she would not be intimidated by anyone anymore. Dr. Nina Gould reclaimed her old self at that moment, and when Purdue stroked her luscious dark tresses she vowed to embrace her innate fury and use her delectable feminine wiles once more.

“Why thank you, Dave,” she smiled in a special way he had not seen in years. “Call me if you need me… for anything.” Nina walked off, flicking her hair back. Where the ends bounced off the small of her back, Purdue watched her curvy hips sway seductively. It provoked a reaction in him, an intangible yet powerful reaction that he dared not act on while planning this important expedition. He had to keep his bearings to get the project off the ground and complete the salvage. But after that was taken care off, he had another excursion to embark on.

He heard Sam talking on the phone about a beach house he wanted to rent. Crystal was filling in her contract templates as the rain began to patter against the study windows. The light grew faint from the darkening weather, and he switched on the hallway lights, still catching sight of Nina's petite frame descending the second story stairs.

Purdue smiled and whispered, “Time for me to get you back, Nina.”