Page 16 of Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier

“He was two hundred and fifty feet down, servicing a rig in the Gulf of Mexico when it partially collapsed. The coroner said he died instantly, but I have my doubts. I was nineteen when it happened.”

“That’s rough for a kid. Anybody, really.”

“At first, I couldn’t make any sense of it. It seemed so…random. He was very methodical, very careful. That’s probably why I became an engineer. I see the world as a function of a balance of forces. If the water pressure is too great for a submarine hull, it collapses, andpeople die. Life is symmetrical. Death is chaotic. And for a while there, I let the chaos get inside of me.”

“So how did you process all of that?”

A smile creased her full mouth.

“I knew Dad would have kicked my butt if I quit. So, I didn’t. Seven years ago, we managed to rescue three demolition divers at a job in the North Sea. There have been others since. That’s when it started to make sense.”

“You balanced his tragic death by building a company that saves lives. I know your dad is smiling down on you for that.”

“I’d like to think so.”

“So you got out of the fins and neoprene part of the business and acquired advanced degrees in Marine and Maritime Intelligent Robotics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.”

“You’ve done your research.”

“Then you started building underwater vehicles.”

“My company can do more work in more places and at greater depths for less risk than a regular operation.”

“And that makes you more profitable.”

“Which allows me to plow more money back into research and development.”

“My people have looked at your work. They were impressed—and trust me, that’s no small accomplishment.”

Callie smiled. “Thank you.”

“My people also tell me you once owned the world record for no-limits free diving.”

“I was twenty-two years old. Unfortunately, I blacked out on the way back up and suffered an aneurysm. Nearly died.”

Now Juan understood what he had been sensing about her appearance all along.

“Is that how you lost your left eye?”

Juan had noticed earlier the way the dining room lights had played in her eyes. She also had the habit of subtly turning her head so thatthe right side of her face was always closest to whomever she was speaking with. The more he searched her face the more he realized that the glass left eye was a near-perfect reproduction of her right eye. In fact, it was almost too perfect.

Callie flushed with embarrassment.

“I suppose it’s my vanity that won’t let me wear an eye patch.”

“Like Linda said, you’d fit in perfectly with this pirate crew. They’d elect you captain of the ship if you wore it.”

“I’m grateful, actually. It could’ve been worse. I haven’t attempted another world record since.”

“Can’t say that I blame you.”

“Ironically, I’ve traveled a hundred times deeper in submersibles since then. Only now, I don’t have to hold my breath.”

“It’s still plenty dangerous.” Juan was thinking of a fatal accident with a commercial submersible that had been in the news recently.

“It’s a calculated risk. But survival is largely a function of good engineering and a clear understanding of hydrostatics.”

“It still takes a lot of guts.”