Free Timeless by Teresa Reasor

that.”
     
    *****
    In the ROV control room, Regan fastened her attention on the monitors overhead while Quinn typed a command into the keyboard and moved the joystick that controlled the ROV he called Noggie. The remote control vehicle skimmed just beneath the water at about three knots, filming the condition of the cofferdam.
    After nearly half an hour of silence watching one long blue panel after another go by on the screen Regan could stand it no longer. “Why do you call him that?”
    “It’s short for Crannog which means lake dweller.”
    Her lips quirked. Maybe these Scotsmen had more of a sense of humor than she thought. “Well—that’s certainly appropriate.”
    Quinn’s grin deepened the creases in his cheeks and projected a charm that set off nervous jitters in her stomach. Was she attracted to him because of the vision she had experienced, or because she was truly attracted to him? She shook her head at the thought. If Quinn knew what she was thinking, he’d probably be just as eager to drive her to the nearest psychiatric hospital, as he was the airport.
    Anxiety lanced through her. Had it really been narcosis, or something worse? As fear started a numbing climb up her chest, she dragged her mind back to the present.
    “Does Grannos have some meaning, too?”
    “Aye. He was a God of mineral springs. There’s a small shrine to him close to Edinburgh. I think he was supposed to be a God of healing and harvest, as well.”
    A voice came over the speakers mounted just above the row of camera monitors on the wall. “This is team three. We’ve finished our sweep. Everything looks good.” The diver’s vocal pitch sounded higher than normal due to the Nitrox gas they were breathing. She had finally gotten used to the sound and was able to decipher the words.
    She pushed down the button on the mic and said, “Roger team three, come on home.”
    “We’re testing some new communication devices for a Russian company,” Quinn said. “Andrew Argus, Nicodemus’s assistant, arranged for them to be released to us ahead of schedule just for this job. The sound quality is very good.”
    “Yes, it is.” Her gaze homed in on something picked up by one of the cameras. “Wait a minute Quinn, can you back Noggie up? What is that?” As the silt cleared from the camera lens, a wrench took shape, stuck to the side of a panel. Surprised by the object her brows rose. “How do you suppose that got there?”
    Quinn shook his head. “I’m wondering how it’s hanging there since there’s no screws for it to be hooked to.”
    He maneuvered the ROV into a straightforward position and manipulated the robot’s arm to grasp the tool. The claw-like device shoved it across the panel until it hit a seam and it became stationary enough to grasp. The metal fingers plucked it from the cofferdam.
    How long had he practiced with the manipulator to get that good at it? She’d like to try it but more than likely he’d never let her. “It has to be magnetized for it to stay in position like that.”
    Quinn glanced at her briefly. “There would have to be a strong electric current traveling through it to magnetize it. I don’t think the lightning from last night would do it. It would have to be a continuous flow of current.”
    Regan frowned. “I’ve seen screwdrivers with magnetic tips but not wrenches. So it would have to be magnetized by coming in close proximity to a powerful magnet. But there aren’t any magnets around here.”
    Quinn shook his head, his expression grave. He turned the ROV to continue its sweep and raised his gaze to the monitor above him. “The lightning, the pumps, the generators, and now a magnetic wrench. Nothing about this makes any sense. I don’t like it, not one sodding bit.”
    After another thirty minutes, the first and second team made contact. They had completed their sweep.
    “Go topside and tell the men I’ll be bringing Noggie home. He’ll have to be captured and brought aboard,”