“She will,” Jelbart said. “But I want to emphasize that whatever we do will not be a part of the official ASEAN or ANZUS logs. This is an entirely independent action.”

ASEAN was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Established by the Bangkok Declaration of 1967, ASEAN was a socioeconomic as well as de facto security arrangement between Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Brunei. Signed in 1951, ANZUS was a similar arrangement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

“Why do you want to hide what we’re doing?” Herbert asked. “Lowell, didn’t you say that earlier, Ellsworth couldn’t wait to have the U.S. officially committed to this investigation?”

“I did,” Coffey said.

“That was pre-Darling,” Jelbart said. “Any activities undertaken by those groups are part of the public record. If this proves to be a dead end, Mr. Darling must not know that he was being investigated.”

“Makes sense,” Herbert said. “Darling’s got the clout to hammer careers flat and eviscerate budgets. He could probably bring down a sitting government if he set his mind and resources to it.”

“Without question,” Jelbart agreed. “FNO Loh agrees. Frankly, I’m uneasy even using his name in public.”

“Then we won’t use it,” Herbert told him. “How does Captain Hook strike you?”

Jelbart smiled. “That appeals.”

“Good.” Herbert looked at Coffey as they reached the terminal. The automatic door swung in. “You’ve been pretty quiet, Lowell.”

“Yes.”

“You’re also straw yellow,” Herbert added.

“That, too,” Coffey admitted. “Mr. Jelbart, you said I’d miss the swaying of the boat. I don’t. I still feel as if I’m moving.”

“That’s because you were sitting and lying down on the boat instead of standing,” Jelbart said. He seemed relieved to be talking about something other than Jervis Darling.

“Now you tell me.”

“I once went to a seminar on homeostasis,” Jelbart said. “It was mandatory for personnel who serve on the land, sea, and air. We learned that the body hastens to adapt to new stimuli, like ocean roll or weightlessness for astronauts. It’s akin to the survival instinct or antibodies rallying against a disease. But acclimation works best if the individual is doing what he always does in both environments: walking, talking, eating, that sort of thing.”

“What you’re feeling, Lowell, is not the sway but the body’s countersway,” Herbert said.

“I don’t understand,” Coffey said quietly.

“What happens in a new environment is that the fight-or-flight mechanism is triggered, and adrenaline floods the bloodstream,” Herbert told him. “When you went to sea, resources were pumped into all of your equilibrium centers. Your heart rate jumped, along with muscle strength and metabolism. It takes a while for that to return to normal. Over time, the on-off switch becomes much easier to control. Experienced seamen like Mr. Jelbart go from one to the other with no lapse at all.”