Aaron and Carl wasted no time getting back to the Zodiac, and then back out to the buoys. They did not continue to discuss the topic of what was causing the anomalies, but instead just focused on getting the atomic clocks set up.
When they arrived at the buoys, Aaron took measurements with the EMF meter and the Geiger counter while Carl rigged the first Pelican case with mu-metal sheets and copper tape. “I am reading ten or twelve milligauss on the EMF meter away from the buoy. It is peaking up around twenty when I get it over by the power cable inside the box,” Aaron said.
“How about now?” Carl asked as he closed and latched the lid on the Pelican case after sealing up the atomic clock inside with mu-metal.
“Maybe fifteen. Power cable?”
“Yeah, it has to connect to the solar panel. They have batteries but they might have the same problem as the phones keeping charged. How's the radiation?”
“Let me check that now,” Aaron said as he switched on the Geiger counter. It began ticking and within a minute or so he had a reading. “Twenty-two.”
“Well, looks like it's zip on EMF and radiation. Help me rig the other atomic clocks. We can just leave the meters on and check them after we set everything up.”
They trolled up to the next buoy and Aaron assisted to make short work of the mu-metal box for the next atomic clock, and then they moved on to the next after noting that the EMF and radiation readings had not spiked. When they were finished rigging the fourth atomic clock, Carl looked out over the sinkhole. “Hey Aaron, something odd about that?” he said looking over at the dive boats.
Aaron got the hint. They had just put four super accurate atomic clocks on the buoys, and when they latched up the last one it said “19:02”. He knew the GMT time displayed was two minutes after three pm in their local time zone. “Yeah. The boats are full of people. Isn't that a dive tour?”
“It sure is. You wanna go check it out?”
“Might as well.”
They powered the Zodiac towards the dive boats and came up alongside. “Hola, señor!” Carl hailed the captain of the first boat. “Are you guys on a diving tour?”
“Yes,” the boat captain said simply.
“What's up? Equipment trouble? Shark?” Carl asked.
“No, not that. Only three people are diving. The rest don't want to go in.”
“Why not?” Aaron asked.
“Superstición,” the captain replied. “One boy who was diving here yesterday is lost. They think he is down in El Pliegue. Perdido. You know.”
“Everyone here is afraid to dive?” Carl said.
“Yes. All but three. The others pay, they don't have to dive. Easy for us.”
“Was the missing boy on your tour?”
The boat captain shrugged. “Who knows? We are the only diving tour that was here yesterday. Must be us.”
Carl looked at Aaron and raised an eyebrow. They talked to the missing boy's father earlier today. “Thanks for the information,” Carl said as he pushed off. “Watch out for el cuco!” he teased, referring to the local version of “the bogeyman” as they pulled away. The boat captain chuckled and waved back.
“I predict we are about to have a lot of extra visitors out here,” Carl said to Aaron as they approached the dock at Isla Roca.