Free Deeper by Moore-JamesA Page A

quickly.

     

7

     
    I learned
something important the next morning.   I learned
that science really can be a religion.   The weather was crappy, with high winds, dark clouds and choppy
waters.   Anyone with half a brain would
have called it a done deal and stayed off the waters.   My employers failed to heed my advice and
because they were paying for the privilege, we went out to the same spot as the
day before.
    I don't think
the temperature broke forty degrees, but Ward insisted on having his team dive
and Charlie, being a man of strong ethics, went along with them into waters guaranteed
to make joints ache.
    Me?   I sat in my cabin and brewed up coffee by the
gallon while the divers went into the water and then deep below the
surface.   They'd need something warm when
they came back up.   I've been in that
sort of cold before; there's nothing but pain involved when you come out of it.
    I used to
dive, a long time ago.   It was a passion
of mine for a few years in   the Navy and afterward.   People change and sometimes experiences change them.   I got over my love of diving around the same time
I almost bled to death in the ocean.   I
got myself caught in a bad turn of events, starting with a vicious sting from a
man-o’-war.   Being hit by a jellyfish is
bad news, the sting leaves ugly red marks and even though it's seldom fatal,
the pain from the sting is enough to leave you in poor shape for a day or
so.   The Portuguese Man-o’-war is a nasty
little surprise that can do a lot worse to you.   It's not one jellyfish, but a colony of them bottled into a lethal
package.   I managed to run into one while
diving, and got the life half stung out of me.
    That would
have been bad enough, but I was stupid that day and diving alone.   I remembered seeing the rocks, but not being
able to stop myself from hitting them hard.   I spent about half an hour getting knocked around and beaten by the
waves.   I probably would have died there,
but someone on the shore must have seen me.   Any way you look at it, I got lucky.   The Coast Guard pulled me out of the water before I could bleed to
death, but it was a close thing.   I spent
two weeks in a hospital room recovering from the lacerations and blood loss,
plus complications from infection.
    Funny thing
about the accident:   it took all the fun
out of diving for me.   Ever since then
I've thought about diving a lot, and then decided against it.   Maybe I have an overdeveloped sense of
self-preservation.
    We got out to
the reef a little after nine in the morning.   By ten, all of the divers were in the water and going down again.   For a change of pace, Ward relaxed a little
and stopped pacing like an expectant father.
    Just because I
was a little bored and not ready to go fishing yet, I asked him why he wasn't
going along on the dive.
    He smiled at me, a little embarrassed to be caught in the act of not
boldly facing any possible threats, and shrugged his narrow shoulders.   "I'm not much good at it, I'm
afraid.   I'll be going down later, but
felt it best to wait until they've mapped out a part of the caves before I
tried."
    I looked at
him for a few seconds and read between the lines.   "Hate the water that much?"
    "Absolutely terrified of it."
    "And yet
here you are, ready to go swimming through underwater caves."
    "There
are some things a man can let others do, and some things he has to take care of
himself.   I want to see those caves, and
my desire for knowledge — along with a good stiff drink when we get back up —
will outweigh the fear."   He
shrugged again and looked down at his feet.   "At least that's the plan."
    "Sounds
like a good one to me."
    "I've
seen you looking.   Granted it's not a
part of what you were hired for, but I'm rather surprised you haven't decided
to go along."
    "Well,
I'm not a spring chicken these days, but also, I don't dive anymore."
    I guess it was
my tone, but he didn't ask the reasons.
    I didn't
volunteer,