Common Ground

Chapter 6- Dive

Dedicated to WeAreAHurricane for the awesome cover she made

I pull the string over my shoulder to zip up the navy blue, shorty wetsuit. Jason is crouching in the dusty ship yard, getting the dingy that will hold my air supply ready. When we went to the dive shop, they didn’t have any SCUBA gear, only SNUBA, so I’ll only be able to go down 50 feet, the length of my air hose. A knot forms in my stomach as I look out to sea. With all those ships floating close to shore, 50 feet isn’t going to be enough to get me to the bottom. The water that I’ll be entering is at least double that, any shallower and the ships risk running aground.

I pull my hair into a single braid so that it’s not in my face while I’m under water or doesn’t get caught in any of the gear.

“You ready?” Jason asks, standing up and holding the the face mask out to me.

I take a deep breath and walk over to him, “Yah,” I take the mask and put it in the dingy,

“Can you help me bring the boat into the water?”

Jason nods and picks up the left side of the boat and I take the right. Together we carry it to shore and when I start to enter the water Jason even walks in with me, shoes and all. He doesn’t leave my side as I sit on the edge of the rubber dingy to put on my flippers. I can tell by the look on his face that he’s thinking about something important.

“What’s on your mind?” I ask.

“I was just thinking, what if it’s not JUST Keith’s phone that you find?”

“What to you mean?” I ask, lowering my feet into the cool ocean feeling the rocks brush against the tips of the flippers.

“I mean,” Jason stirs some of the water on the surface with his finger, “What if you find Keith too?”

My eyes go wide when I realize that he has a point. What if the drug dealers killed him when they found out he was a traitor. What if they disposed of his body here? It would be a good place to dump someone being that it’s a port and not a tourist destination. No snorkeler would find him there.

“No,” I refuse to admit my fear but Jason doesn’t catch the hint to drop the subject.

“Aria, yes. It’s possible.”

“Well then,” I stand up and yank the boat from his hand, “I’ll just have to find out for myself, WON’T I?”

Jason crosses his arms and watches me wade into deeper water until I can’t touch the bottom anymore and I’m forced to tread water. Resting my left elbow on the edge of the boat, I pull the mouthpiece out of it. I exhale then put it in my mouth, allowing myself to breath the dry air in through the tube. Next, my googles are in place and I’m holding my waterproof tracking device. I’m ready.

Letting my self sink, I feel myself being enveloped by the sea. My pupils dilate as the rush of cold passes over my head. Through the water my gadget seems to echo louder than I remember but I know that’s just an effect of being underwater.

BEEP..........BEEP.........BEEP..........

The long delay between the high pitched sound tells me that I’m still a ways away from my destination. I check the screen, a red dot in the far right corner represents Keith’s phone and the green circle in the center represents myself. I start to swim in the direction of the red dot on my screen, keeping my head up most of the time but every once in a while I glance down to make sure I’m going the right way.

I swim slowly and steadily, taking in the peaceful sounds around me. Everything is natural except for the hum of boats starting up and the handheld gadget that keeps beeping. As I continue I go over the diving safety rules in my brain.