,Dude come help me load up the scuba equipment,” Cody smiled as he tossed Brian a handful of wetsuits.
“scuba stuff for what? Are we gonna clean barnacles off the ship?”
“No dude. We’re making a stop today.”
“A stop? Aren’t we kind of in the middle of the ocean?” Brian asked incredulously.
“Yeah. We’re gonna be at an island in the middle of the ocean soon. Well, a lagoon in the middle of the ocean. It’s AWESOME dude. We stop here to scuba dive EVERY time we have a delivery in the Marquesas,” Cody retorted with animation.
“A lagoon, huh? I’ll tell the truth, I’m from the midwestern United States. I don’t know what a lagoon is.”
“Well, I don’t know what the dictionary definition is, but its like a ring of coral with a shallow bottom. I think it’s the top of a volcano that is just underneath the surface of the water. It’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I saw the britest colors of my life down there, man.”
“Am I gonna get to go with you guys? I’ve never dived before.”
“Heck yeah you’re comin’! Unless there’s something I don’t know about, did you piss off Raul?” Cody inquired.
“No, not recently. Besides, from what I hear I would be dead if I did, right?” Brian smiled.
“Right,” Cody smiled back.
Later that afternoon the ship engines cut off and the anchor chains rumbled through their holes into the black water below. The ship slowed down and the boat loaded up with scuba gear swung on the crane over to the side of the ship.
Cody whistled loudly and a voice came over the loud speaker, ”First shift dive team, meet at the boat.”
People started rolling in from all over the ship. Brian and Cody were already aboard, woofing down some sandwiches and water after stowing all the gear. Off to the starboard side of the ship a beautiful aquamarine oasis of water had emerged only about a half mile away. A few moments later the boat was in the water and everybody was helping each other suite up. The little boat was more heavily armed than most military battalions. Raul let Mo take over driving the boat while she suited up. When the time came for someone to zip up her wetsuit she came over to Brian, turned around and waited. Silence fell on the little boat. It seemed this must be an unusual event. Brian’s cheeks got slightly reddened. The crowd stayed silent while he gripped her suit and zipped it up. He slid his left hand around the front of her throat and up onto the right side of her jaw while his right hand crept to her belly. He pulled her head toward him and kissed the left side of her cheek. Now HER cheeks got red. Brian chuckled and let her go. Normal crowd noise didn’t return to the group for at least another ten minutes.
Brian sat down while Cody gave him some last minute instructions and hooked up their tanks and BCDs. “Alright. Never stop breathing, this button increases your buoyancy, and that one let’s air out of your BCD. And never go anywhere alone. Always stay with the group or a partner. Got it?”
Brian nodded.
“What did I say?” Cody asked with a smile.
“Um, never stop breathing, blah blah blah buoyancy, blah blah blah go it alone.” Brian quipped in return.
“Right, you know if you screw that stuff up you can die, right?” Cody said on a more serious note.
