A Foot In Both Worlds| JJ Maybank|Topper Thornton

Chapter 9: Diver Down

"This is empty," Kiara said, "You took empty tanks.

"Did no one think this through?" Evelyn asked.

"Okay this one's a quarter full," Kiara said, "That's enough for one of us to go."

"Love it when a plan comes together," Pope said.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kiara asked.

"Anybody?" Evelyn asked.

"It's kind of a Kook sport," JJ said.

"I read about," Pope said.

"Great, Pope read about it," Kiara said.

"Someone's gonna die," Evelyn said.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe," JJ said, "How hard could it be?"

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends," Pope said.

"Bends like, bend over and..." JJ said arching his back to bend over.

"The bends kill you, idiot," Evelyn said.

"Right," JJ said standing back up.

"I can dive," John B said.

"You can dive. I'm cool with that," JJ said.

"Since when can you dive?" Kiara asked.

"I'll do it. It's fine," John B said.

"Let me do some calculations real quick," Pope said standing up.

"Evelyn. Help him," Kiara said.

"That boats about 30 feet down," Evelyn said looking into the water.

"So it will take 25 minutes at that depth," Pope said, "Which means you need to make your safety stop at about..."

"10 feet," Evelyn said.

"For 2 minutes," Pope added.

"Yeah yeah. 10 feet. 2 minutes. Got it," John B said.

Kiara took off her shirt and jumped into the water.

"What was that all about?" Pope asked.

"I don't know, but I like it. A lot," JJ said earning a slap in the back of the head from Evelyn.

"Disgusting," she said.

"Ow," JJ said rubbing the back of his head, "Uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?"

"Stick in, twist, pull," John B said.

"Yeah," JJ said, "My dad moved weight back in the day."

"Who didn't?" Pope asked.

"Hey! I tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain about 10 feet down," Kiara said floating in the water, "It's where you need to do your safety stop."

"Brilliant idea, Kie," Evelyn said.

"Keep an eye on this," Pope said tapping the monitor, "You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress."

"Okay, how much do I need?" John B asked.

Pope looked at Evelyn who looked back at John B.

"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible," Evelyn said.

"Zen. Think zen, you know," JJ said.

"Got it," John B said.

"Hey, if we get caught out here in the marsh, we're basically screwed so you better get a move on," Pope said.