Against all odds (Reg Slivko - Thomas Mann Fic)

Scientific instruments

"Hi," a young man approached. "I'm Brooks; this is my partner San and this is..."

"Randa," Megan said in a thin voice as she saw the big, white-bearded man.

"So Fox," Randa said shaking her hand with a smirk.

"Did you know each other?" Asked Brooks.

"No," said Megan letting go of him. "I mean yes... from a talk at the University..." she lied.

Randa looked at her but did not comment.

"Megan!" Nieves called from the meeting room "Could you bring me a coffee please?"

"Whit permission," said Meg and took the opportunity to sneak away feeling a little dizzy.

The meet with Randa had taken her a lot by surprise. She took several deeps breath, trying to clear her mind, as she walked the hallways looking for a coffee pot. It was obvious that no one knew about the link that bound them, if that could be define as a link. The man in question was her absent father. He and his mother had separated when she was a baby. According to her mother, Randa was obsessed with mythological creatures or something like that. He had spent the family's savings on investigations that only led to their bankruptcy. Megan had seen him only once; or twice if the current meeting counts. On that occasion, she saw him at a conference at the University. There, she corroborated that the man had lost his mind. He had some crazy theories about passages under the earth. The conference was short and doesn't have a happy ending. The students of the prestigious university had zero tolerance for nonsense. She began to regret having agreed to join the expedition. Anyone who worked with Randa must be just as crazy.

"Sorry miss," a man dressed in moss-green apologize for hit her.

Megan shook her head, still a little lost, and looked around: was surrounded by men dressed in that monochromatic uniform. Soldiers board the ship and head to the meeting room. «The only thing I lacked,» she thought, stepped aside and watched the men pass her by. A light chestnut hair reminded Slivko and made her heart skip a beat. Whit her stomach churning and sweating cold, she made her way through and went downstairs in a hurry. She stopped when she hit the rail.

"Are you ok?" asked a woman passing by.

"Yes..." Megan said holding her breath. "Sailing is not my thing."

"We are not sailing yet."

"My body knows what's coming."

The woman smiled gently. "I'm Mason Weber, photographer", said.

"Megan Fox, assistant" she shook her hand.

"Do you know where the meeting room is?"

"For that stairway," she said pointing to the hallway she had traveled. "In the back."

"Thanks. Are you sure you're okay? I could get you a pill for dizziness."

"That would be awesome."

Megan took her time to get the coffee. She came and went considering jumping out of the boat. Finally, she decided that was not a very good idea. She preferred to deal with Randa and the soldiers and not face the certain death that involved throwing herself overboard. «Very reasonable,» she thought.

When she returned to the meeting room, it was already quite advanced. Nieves was in a corner while Brooks explained how they would proceed.

"We'll fly in over the south shore and then strategically drop seismic charges to better help us to understand the density of the earth," he said.

"You're dropping bombs?" Asked a man who Megan had not noticed. He did not dress as a soldier but not as one of the LANDSAT scientists.

To tell the truth, she had entered the room with the aim of not looking up from the floor. The number of soldiers that were there made his hair stand on end and she was afraid to don't be able to get her nausea under control.