Miller waved his apology off with a laugh, “Heard much much worse in my time!”

“But what did you see?”

“Here, have a look,” he said, offering the binoculars to Miller.  “Must be your friend because I have never seen that boat in these waters before.  You said he was taking delivery of it, right?”

Miller nodded as she slipped the binoculars over her eyes.

She let out a curse under her breath as well.

“I have never seen a boat in any water like that either,” she exclaimed.

“Dope, right?”

Miller laughed.  “Yeah, dope.”

“I hope it moves as well as it looks, though.  I just want to be able to get back without having to swim back, you know what I mean?” she joked, to mask her anxiety.

They shared a laugh.

“Well, in case something happens, you should just press the emergency beacon that should be located near the radio area,” the young man advised her.

“Um… do you have some kind of communication or other device I could take with me, just in case?” Miller asked, hesitatingly.

The young man eyed her with furrowed eyebrows.  And then he opened a cabinet underneath the bench seating that ran along one side of the boat.

He pulled out a life vest.

“Well, even though you told me that you’re a strong swimmer, doesn’t hurt to wear a vest.  And this isn’t a normal vest either.  It’s got a built-in pouch that has an emergency kit that includes a flashing beacon and an emergency long-range waterproof two-way radio.  It’s supposed to be good for 50 miles, I wouldn’t bank on it because the last time we tested it we were only 36 miles out.  It’s fully charged, though.  You can raise the coast guard in one channel, and our base in the other channel.  There are other channels, so in a pinch you’ll probably be able to reach other boats in the area using those channels.”

He handed the vest to her after explaining other things of the walky-talkie to her.  Miller was highly familiar with the operation of two-way radios, having used these throughout her professional life, but she pretended to listen politely.

She started to inspect the vest and felt around the pouch area.  The pouch had other things in it, one of which was some sort of sheathed knife, based on the unmistakable edge that Miller could feel out.

“Well, you’re supposed to put the vest on, ma’am, not just admire it,” the young man observed with a slight laugh.

Miller smiled at him again and slipped it on, handing him her beach bag to hold while she did so.

After he handed the bag back and she re-slung the beach bag on her shoulder, he looked out into the horizon.  Miller could barely pick out the shapes of boats that were evidently returning to the marina, but he had no such problem.  He announced with an excited voice, “I think your friend should be getting here in about 5-10 minutes, ma’am.”

Miller nodded and forced a smile.

Ready when you are, Mr. Green.