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“And what help would that be?”
I slide him a glance, slightly irritated he sounds so skeptical.
Not that I can blame him when so much conservation work feels like an impossible battle.
“Well, we just don’t know enough. 'Knowledge is power' isn’t just a cheesy catchphrase with animal research. It’s everything. If this drone tracking helps with the otters, underwater drones could be huge for the whales.” I hold my breath, waiting for him to call me an idiot.
Honestly, I don’t even know how technically feasible it is.
“That’s a big ask. Unmanned submersibles are the most expensive experimental drone technology around,” he says. But he doesn’t instantly swat me down. “I’ll admit, I don’t know much about sei whales except for the fact that they’ve been hunted extensively.”
“Yeah. They’re protected now, but very little is known about them, and that’s the problem. Especially their social dynamics. We need something capable of keeping up that can track their movements and study them without being as intrusive as research boats.”
“Meaning, the drones would have to follow a pod over a long distance,” he muses. “It could be done—but I assure you, the cost would make this otter tracking adaptation look like a church fish fry.”
“Right.”
“With that in mind, I’m not sure a conventional drone would be your best option. Even the best submersibles adapted for civilian usage still run on batteries, and any hint of adding more lithium to the ocean if something goes wrong is a net loss for everything down there.”
He frowns, thinking.
I’ll be honest, it’s weirdly adorable.
I mean, if you can call a man who’s built like a mountaincute.
“Well, what would you suggest?” I prompt.
“I saidconventional.What you need is something that can work around the energy problem. A submersible that draws its power from the ocean itself,” he says slowly as if he’s magically pulling the idea from the ether. “The current motions might provide a small device with enough kinetic energy to power itself indefinitely. We’d still need a data link, too, but that would be easy enough to establish with an environmentally friendly power source.”
“Careful, Shepherd. It sounds like you’re really getting into this,” I tease, then freeze up.
He made it perfectly plain that we don’t have this sort of relationship.
He doesn’t dojokes, or even fun.
Although geeking out like this is pretty entertaining.
Not that I would ever admit it to his grumpy face.
He probably thinks this whole conversation is borderline insubordination, what with me low-key asking for spendy miracle technologies when I haven’t even passed the first big test today.
Or maybe he’s already planning on firing me because I kissed him back.
In his uptight world spinning with scandal, that’s a high crime for sure.
A breeze comes blowing off the water, tossing my hair.
I rub my eyes and finger comb it back into place.
I really must be dead exhausted if I can’t keep my thoughts straight, let alone focused on the animals we’re out here to save.
Being horny and sleep-deprived does awful things to a woman’s mind.
I’m three seconds away from insanity.
Then Shepherd abruptly ducks under a low branch, and he doesn’t look like he’s on the verge of firing me.
I haven’t noticed him rifling through his large bag until now. He pulls out a smaller hardshell case with a handle, sets it down gently, and opens it.
