A.I. Spies

Phantom Down

Dad touched Mom's arm gently. "We're fine, nothing to worry about. Even if there was, and there isn't, he's in communication with another boat near us. Sit, rest."

She nodded but was literally on the edge of her seat. His words had not settled her.

"Flipper to Ayers, fish spotted. Phantom radar sighted and detected fish. Azimut Atlantis 43. Heading southeast. Over."

"Ayers," the voice repeated quickly, "second vessel approaching. Unclear. Repeat, second vessel approaching."

"Flipper, confirmation. Azimut image on tracker. Redirect Phantom to second vessel," Arnold answered.

"Roger. Let's find who this is. Redirecting Phantom."

I turned to Dad, figuring Arnold was not listening to anyone but Flipper.

"He's not searching for fish, is he?"

Dad slowly shook his head. "No, not fish."

Arnold put on his helmet and flipped down the four night-vision lenses.

The three of us watched. We were silent. We were stunned. We were frozen.

Arnold continued to chat with Flipper. They tracked Azimut and followed what the Phantom was seeing over the water.

We couldn't see anything. The sun had already set. The emerald waters were now black waters.

I heard a soft murmur overhead. Pausing to listen, it grew to a whir, then a buzz. Then a single, blinking red light flew over us. I watched the light as far as I could. It wasn't far before I lost it.

"The Phantom?" I asked.

"I think so," Dad whispered. "A drone."

"Oh my goodness!" Mom shouted, having burst from her stunned state. "What am I doing out to sea in a boat with a guy who's using four-eyed night-vision goggles and satellites to follow a fish named 'Azimut!' How far are we from shore? How deep is this water?"

Dad hugged her. "You're fine, we're fine. He's just an intense fisherman. A man who takes fishing very, very seriously. He'll take us home soon."

"And as fast as he drove us out, we'll be on shore in no time at all," I added.

Mom glared at me. She was not pleased with either of us. She calmly closed her eyes, straightened her arms as if squashing any pressure, and exhaled. Then she sat gently, on the edge of her seat.

Dad touched her shoulder and she swatted it away. He walked to the other side of the boat with me.

"Ayers, Phantom approaching second boat."

Arnold adjusted the goggles looking in the direction that the drone had flown.

Flipper added, "ID is alpha, alpha, oscar, 3, 7, 3, 1, 6, hotel, 9er. Vessel ID'd. Returning Phantom to home. Over."

"Roger."

Arnold flipped up the goggles and turned back to us. He saw Mom upset, Dad confused, and me, intrigued. He gave an apologetic look. "I'll explain."

"Please do," Mom answered sharply.

"A boat has been conducting operations here for a while and we're trying to track what's going on. Simple as that."

"Simple as that!" Mom responded again. "You take us to sea on scouting mission when you told us it was to see the sun set?"

To say the least, she was livid.

"What if that boat had guns, if they had seen us? What if they had blown up our boat? Then what would we have done, Mr. Ayers? You expect us to swim to shore?"