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While in his final months of study at Caltech Sam was approached by a man he would later find out was from DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where the government developed and tested the latest and greatest toys for both the military and intelligence communities. The offered salary had been far below what he could have earned in the civilian world, but the lure of pure creative engineering combined with serving his country made Sam’s choice an easy one.
After seven years at DARPA Sam retired with the vague notion of bringing some of his own wild ideas to reality, and moved back to California. It was there, two weeks later, that Sam and Remi met at the Lighthouse, a jazz club on Hermosa Beach. Sam had wandered into the club for a cold beer and Remi was there celebrating a successful research trip looking into rumors of a sunken Spanish ship off Abalone Cove.
Though neither of them had ever called their first meeting a case of “love at first sight,” they’d both agreed it had certainly been a case of “pretty damned sure at first hour.” Six months later they were married where they’d first met, in a small ceremony at the Lighthouse.
At Remi’s encouragement Sam dove headfirst into his own business and they struck pay dirt within a year with an argon laser scanner that could detect and identify at a distance mixed metals and alloys, from gold and silver to platinum and palladium. Treasure hunters, universities, corporations, and mining outfits scrambled to license Sam’s invention and within two years the Fargo Group was seeing an annual net profit of three million dollars, and within four years the deep-pocketed corporations came calling. Sam and Remi took the highest bid, sold the company for enough money to see themselves comfortably through the rest of their lives, and never looked back.
“I did a little research while you were in the shower,” Sam said. “From what I can gather, I think we may have a real find on our hands.”
The waiter came, deposited a basket of warm ciabatta and a saucer of Pasolivo olive oil, and then took their orders. To start they ordered calamari with red sauce and porcini mushrooms. For entrées, Sam selected a seafood pasta with pesto-sautéed bay scallops and lobster, while Remi chose a stuffed shrimp-and-crab ravioli in basil white cream sauce.
“What do you mean?” Remi asked. “Isn’t a
submarine a submarine?”
“Good Lord, woman, bite your tongue,” Sam said, feigning shock.
Where Remi’s forte was anthropology and ancient history, Sam loved World War II history, another passion he’d inherited from his father, who’d been a marine during the United States’ island-hopping campaign in the Pacific. The fact that Remi had little interest in who exactly sank the Bismarck or why the Battle of the Bulge was so important was something that never ceased to amaze Sam.
Remi was an anthropologist and historian without peer, but she tended to take an analytical approach to things, while for Sam history had always been stories about real people doing real things. Remi dissected; Sam dreamed.
“Apologies for the gaffe,” Remi said.
“Forgiven. Here’s the thing: Given the size of the inlet, there’s no way it can be a full-sized submarine. Plus, that periscope looked way too small.”
“A mini sub, then.”
“Right. But there was a lot of growth on the periscope. A few decades’ worth, at least. And one more thing: As far as I know, commercial subs—for surveys or mapping or whatever—don’t have periscopes.”
“So it’s military,” Remi said.
“Has to be.”
“So, a military mini submarine, twenty-some miles up the Pocomoke R iver . . . ” Remi murmured. “Okay, I admit it. You got me. I’m officially intrigued.”
Sam smiled back at her. “That’s my girl. So, what do you say? After dinner, we drive over to Princess Anne and see what Ted has to say. He’s forgotten more legends about this area than most people will ever know. If anyone might have some hunches about what this thing is, it’s going to be him.”
“I don’t know. . . . It’s getting late and you know how Ted hates visitors.”
Ted Frobisher, for all his genius and well-hidden softheartedness, wasn’t exactly people-oriented. His shop thrived not on his interpersonal skills, but on his breadth of knowledge and business acumen.
Sam said, smiling, “A little surprise will do him good.”
CHAPTER 4
After dessert, a tiramisu so good it left them temporarily speechless, they walked back to the B&B, grabbed the BMW’s keys from the room, and set off for Princess Anne, heading northwest up Highway 12 to the outskirts of Salisbury before turning southwest onto Highway 13. The evening’s earlier clear skies had given way to low rain clouds and a fine, steady mist fell on the BMW’s windshield.
Remi frowned. “It feels like you’re going too fast.” She enjoyed the BMW, but not the latent race-car-driver urge it brought out in her husband.
“Dead on the speed limit. Don’t worry, Remi. Have I ever crashed?”
“Well, there was that time in Mumbai—”
“Oh, no. If you’ll recall, the tires were almost bald and we were being chased by a very angry man in a very big dump truck. Plus, I didn’t crash. I just got . . . sidetracked.”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“An accurate description, I’d say.”