The Last Odyssey (Sigma Force #15) - James Rollins Page 0,12
ape-sized hole in his heart. So, he had to hide his disappointment when Painter had called about some discovery in Iceland and wanted Maria’s input. Maria had dual degrees in genomics and behavioral sciences, with a specialty in all things prehistoric. It seemed an ancient ship with a priceless treasure had been found deep within the ice of Greenland. Maria was immediately intrigued and suggested they recruit a former colleague of hers from Columbia University, a friend who specialized in nautical archaeology.
They were due to meet up with her in Greenland as soon as they landed. He almost checked the time again, then remembered the third warning about this place. The geothermal seawater was rich in caustic silica and risked damaging anything metallic. That meant any chains, rings, watches would have to be left in the changing room. Which included his cheap Timex.
But that wasn’t the most disappointing item he had to abandon.
He sulked deeper into the water.
He had thought the reunion with Baako might have made for the perfect moment. Then that got screwed up. So, when Maria suggested a romantic detour to these hot springs, it sounded like a great fallback position. He had pictured palm trees, bubbling baths, glasses of champagne. He scowled at the reality: an interconnected series of concrete swimming pools filled with sulfurous waters, all surrounded by severe cliffs of black volcanic rock.
He shook his head.
Maybe it’s not meant to be.
Maria was certainly out of his league.
He was just a navy seaman who had stumbled his way into an elite covert group tied to DARPA. His fellow Sigma teammates had been pulled from various special forces groups and retrained in scientific fields. He only had a GED and an innate skill at blowing things up, which cast him as the unit’s demolitions expert. Though he was proud of his role, he could also not escape a deep vein of insecurity—of being a fraud. Sigma’s symbol was the Greek letter ∑, which represented the “sum of the best,” the merging of brain and brawn, of soldier and scientist. But Kowalski knew Sigma counted far more on the thickness of his bicep than on the sharpness of his mind.
And I can accept that.
But he feared someone else would not.
A sharp whistle drew his attention to Maria’s slim figure as she swam on her back, scissor-kicking her legs to propel her toward him. She impressively held aloft a drink in each raised arm.
“How about giving a girl a hand, big guy?”
He smirked and gave her a slow clap. “You know you ought to throw away your lab coat and start waitressing. Especially in that bikini. You’ll make a fortune.”
She slid up beside him and sat on the submerged bench, not spilling a drop from either glass. “Take this.”
He accepted the tall glass filled with some sickly green concoction. “I’m guessing this is not beer.”
“Sorry. It’s all healthy living here.”
“So, you got me a mug of algae.”
“It’s fresh. They scraped it off the bottom of the pool this morning.”
He glanced at her to see if she was serious.
She rolled her eyes and leaned against him. “It’s a smoothie, jackass. Kale, spinach, I think . . .”
He held his glass away. “I think I’d rather have the pool algae.”
“There might be some in there actually. But they blended it with bananas. Which only seemed appropriate, considering . . .” She lifted her glass and tapped it against his. “To Baako.”
He sniffed the contents with a grimace. “Ugh. I don’t think even a starving gorilla would drink this.”
“Not even when I bribed the bartender into adding three shots of rum to yours?”
“Really . . . ?” He reconsidered his drink and took a sip. He tasted the banana—then the sweet burn of rum on his tongue and up his nose. He nodded his approval.
Not half bad.
She took a deep swig from hers and turned those deep blue eyes toward him. “Of course, I had them put four shots in mine.”
He gave her a wounded look.
Her hand slid up his bare legs and under the edge of his trunks. “I can’t let you get too intoxicated. I have plans for you when we get back to that shower. And I know you can’t hold your liquor for sh—”
“Excuse me,” a voice said behind them.
Kowalski hadn’t even heard the slim man in a Blue Lagoon polo approach behind them. He hated being caught off guard, especially now.