Delphine received a phone call from an old friend of hers from the Navy that knew she had transitioned. She invited Delphine out for lunch, since the two of them haven't seen each other.

“Mom, I’m going to be gone a while.”

“Alright dear, have fun.” Nicole was happy her daughter was going out.

Delphine hops onto her motorcycle and head to the restaurant they had agreed to meet at. She pulls into the parking lot and parks her motorcycle. She takes her helmet with her as she heads inside the restaurant. The restaurant itself specialized in southwestern cuisine.
When Delphine walks in, she is stopped by the hostess “can I help you, ma’am?”

“Yes, I’m with the Coleman party.”

Jenny checks the reservation and noticed that there was a Coleman one and that they were already here, “if you’ll follow me, please?”
Jenny escorts Delphine to a nearby booth. When they get closer, Delphine spots her friend Coleman sitting at the table.

A smile appears on Kinsley's face when Delphine sits down across from her. She had to admit that Delphine looks just as she thought she would.

“Here you go, ladies. Your server will be with you in a minute.” Jenny hands both ladies a menu.

“Thank you.”

Delphine looks through the selections. They had a nice selection of dishes. Once she makes her selection, she closes the menu and looks at her old friend. They both served on the same ship when they were in the Navy.

“You look nice, Delphine. I always thought you would make a beautiful woman.” Kinsley was smiling at Delphine.

“Thanks, Kinsley. I’m happier now that I can be, who I’m truly am.” Delphine found it hard living two lives when she was in the military.

“So, what have you been up too, since you have been out?”

“Not much, I’ve been doing some diving and sailing and helping my father and brother with the family boat business.”

“That must be fun. Have you decided what you are going to do, now that you are out?”

“Not really. I’ve been thinking lately about traveling the world ocean’s and seeing how things are.” Delphine figures it would give Stingray a
good test of all his systems.

“How would you like to do that and get paid for it?”

“That would be nice. What do you have in mind?” Delphine curiosity peeked now.

“Well, I’m working for NOAA now and I remembered you have degree’s in Oceanography and Marine Geology. I also know how good of a swimmer you are. How would you like to travel the oceans and put the education you have to work?”

“What exactly would you have me do?” Delphine wouldn’t mind working for NOAA.

“Well, we would send you out to gather data along the coast and check underwater earthquakes and such. Things that you have already been
trained for.”

“Will I be working with a team or by myself?”

“With a team and you’ll have a boat assigned to you.”

“I won’t need a boat. I already have one, it’s submersible.”

“Oh? What type of vessel is it?” Kinsley was curious.

“It’s a submersible hydrofoil. I started building it when I was in the service and finished it up when I got out. It’s designed for exploration.”
Delphine was proud of Stingray.

“I would love to see it. How deep can you go?”

“About 6,000 feet. Stingray is fast in his hydrofoil mode. He can reach speeds up too, 200 knots.”

“How many people can you carry?”

“He’s set up to carry four. He has a dive chamber and can remain underwater for a long time.”

“What does he look like?” Kinsley was curious.

“Like a giant Stingray.”

“Would you mind if I inspect the vessel before I give the okay for you to use it?” Kinsley would like to see it.

“Sure, if you have nothing planned for the rest of the day. I can take you out. I have a spare wetsuit you can wear and tanks.” Delphine was
proud of Stingray.

“Cool, how about after lunch?”

“Deal.”

Their waitress comes over and takes their drink order. She also takes Kinsley and Delphine’s lunch order. After their waitress leaves.

“So, where will I be working out of?”

“Here in San Francisco, California. At the old coast guard station. That is when you’re in port. How long can you last out on the sea, before you
need refueling?”

“A long time. I really don’t need to pull into port. I pull my power from the ocean to power Stingray. I use a fuel cell to start the converter to power Stingray. Stingray is all-electric, but he does have battery backup. The converter uses hydrogen and provides breathable oxygen to breathe.”

“Wow! How long did it take you to design that technology?”

“Not long. We already have the technology, I just had to modify it to work for Stingray.” Delphine finishes her lunch.

Kinsley pays for their lunch and follows Delphine back to her place. Once they arrive, Delphine takes her down to the private pier that Delphine’s family owns.

“You keep it tied up here?”

“Yep, I keep it tied up here. The security system on it is pretty good.” Delphine steps onboard the hull.

She helps Kinsley down to the hull. It was a little slippery.

“The hull feels weird.”

“It’s a special skin covering. It acts just like a normal stingray and manta ray skin does.”

Delphine opens the hatch and walks inside. The lights automatically turn on when she steps inside.

“Wow!” Kinsley follows behind Delphine.

Kinsley looks around at the controls and the way Stingray is setup. The controls she noticed were laid out so the pilot and co-pilot could control everything without a problem.

“You don’t have any weapons on here, do you?”

“Stingray doesn’t have any weapons. He has defensive capability, just in case a giant squad or something grabs us. I can electrify the hull like
an electric eel.”

“Cool, so are you going to show me what he can do?” Kinsley looks at Delphine.

“Take a seat. I have to go out and release the lines.” Delphine goes back out and unties Stingray.

“Okay.” Kinsley watches as Delphine unties the lines.

Delphine unties Stingray and heads back inside. She sits down in the pilot’s seat and glances over towards Kinsley.

“Let’s go and have some fun.” Delphine backs Stingray away from the pier and turns him around, so he was facing outward.

They leave where she normally docked and head out into the ocean.