Chapter 9 – Divers Below

Over the next few weeks, Conrad Cartwright teaches Adam to dive. He starts off instructing Adam with the basics. "Never hold your breath." This scares Adam. "If one is nervous, isn't that the first instinct is hold one's breath?"

"Not if you want to survive it's not," Conrad replies.

"How safe is it?"

"As safe as crossing PCH in Downtown San Diego during rush hour."

"That's not very reassuring."

"If you follow the rules, you can go to and fro just fine. "Look both ways and look at the tide of the traffic. Keep your eyes open… you will learn to navigate the less hectic highways of the sea."

This they do in the confined waters of the pool. He teaches him the process of being stationary in a kneeling position so that Adam is at ease. Adam is taught the skills he needs to dive safely. Conrad repeats this over until Adam feels comfortable with it.

Next, Conrad feels that Adam is ready for the ocean water. Conrad arranged the lessons around the tides. On a bad day, he would give Adam theories about scuba diving. "This isn't something to be passed over lightly, so pay attention."

On a good day, they take their mask, fins, and snorkel and head to the water. They walk up to the harbor, step into the water, and Adam stops. "What wrong? Did you forget something?"

"My common sense." Adam just stands there a bit.

"Don't' worry. It's natural to have the jitters on the first day in the ocean."

"I'm not nervous, I'm uh… never mind… it's probably nothing."

Conrad pats his back, "That a boy. Take on your fears head on."

After a while, the pair swim around the corner of the reef. Adam is getting the hang of it.

On a terrific day, they go out deeper in the ocean. Conrad brings the boat out to a shallow part of the water that is not too far away, but deep enough to get the feel for the ocean. The spot is just right.

As they about to enter, it is Conrad that hesitates before going in the water. "What is it?" Adam asks.

Conrad frisks himself. "My Saint Christopher, I cannot go down without it." He goes back inside of the cabin of the boat, checks the drawers, and finds it. He kisses it and puts it around his neck. He looks up and sees Adam staring at him.

"This medallion is a symbol of St. Christopher who was the saint of protection. I know it seems silly, but that medallion has protected me during travels and long voyages." After a pause, Conrad adds, "I know you think it's silly—"

"No," Adam says, "I never question others of their beliefs." He does think it is a bit silly, but he says nothing else further.

They go back up to the boat. They all grab their gear, but Adam's flipper gets entangled in some fishing line. He cannot seem to navigate around all of the different maze of confusion among the nylon string. He looks up at Conrad. "Do you have some sort of solution to this labyrinth?"

"Yeah, actually I do." Conrad takes the Saint Christopher, holds it in his hands. Adam thought he was going to say a prayer or something like that. Attached to the medallion is blade. Conrad pulls it open. Then cuts the line with the knife and frees Adam's flippers.

"That's your solution?" Adam asks.

"Hey, it worked for Alexander the Great."

"Can't argue with that." Adam notices the sharpness of it. "That can't be no normal blade."

"Most Saint Christopher's comes with a blade. I wanted it to be practical, so I had it retrofitted out of German Tungsten steel." Conrad moves it up and down in his hand to show off the weight. "This is known for being extremely strong and durable."

"Ah, that's the real reason you don't go anywhere without it."

"That and also I am Catholic. I'd feel guilt beyond the halls of the Vatican if I didn't."

They both jumped into the water. Conrad has Adam stand up for about a good ten minutes. He wants Adam used to treading water. Of course, there is the natural panicking as this exercise takes place. But, once he does Adam is able to move about the water with ease and solace. Conrad drills Adam on the basics, never let him forget what he needs to survive. Through all of this, they form a bond.

****

Confidence can be a good thing especially when one puts their faith into hard evidence that occurs right before one's very eyes. It can cause one to feel safe and secure. Overconfidence is the enemy to safety. It gives false hope and lets one's guard down. This is when all of us are at our most vulnerable state.

The people of Harbor Shores felt like the threat of a mythological creatures haunting their waters changed the lifestyle of the community. When they saw with their very own eyes the death of the beast, they felt that life was back to normal and they can go back to their usual summer activities.

Can one imagine their horror to wake up to another squid attack? Washed up on the beach was a half-eaten dolphin. The crowd panics and is certain that the monster is back. "How do you know it's a squid?" one utters.

"What else can it be?" said another concerned villager eating a hotdog says.

"It can be a shark."

One man with a cap turned backwards nods his head, "Sharks avoid dolphins like the plaque."

"Get out of here," his friend says to him.

"Dolphins fight off sharks with their nose," says the man.

"What? Where did you hear that?"

"It's true," said the first man. "I read that dolphins can use their snout to land a well-placed hit on a shark's belly to cause internal damage.

"Yeah, Mr. No-it-all." His friends laugh at him. "If you are such an expert, what happened to this dolphin then?"

As a large crowd gathers, the man with the cap turned backwards looks down on the half eaten carcass. Then his face turns white. "I think that dude with the hotdog is right. If you look at the scars on him, it looks like he was grabbed by something with claws."

"Like a crab?" says a frighten villager.

"No, like tentacles," responds the No-it-all.

"Get outta here. Tentacles are like suction cups."

"Not on a squid. This was done by a squid."

A woman covers her little girl's ears. "You are scaring my children."

The guy with the cap turned backwards says, "I only calls 'em likes I sees 'em."

With the anxiety that the beast still lives, the residents around the area go back to living in fear. And fear is never a good thing.

****

Swelling inside of the squid is a rush of adrenaline like never before. Sure she took on the pack of Humboldt's. And yes, she even battled it out with the whale. But, never has she been tagged teamed like when she took on that dolphin.

One little dolphin seemingly swimming by itself. What harm could it do to make it her next meal? What the beast didn't realize… until now… that this was no wondering dolphin. It was part of school of dolphins swimming by. And when they saw one of their own being attached, they went into action.

Using a combination of cunning and speed, they swarmed the beast in a millisecond swimming around her a circular pattern. They were hitting her with their noses. They kept ramming her in great numbers that she didn't know what to do. So she let go of her prey.

Trapped, the beast strikes her tail towards the group. This causes a large wave which gave her the opening she needed to make her escape. With the fear of up above, she moves at great speed away from this new pack of predators. And the worst part is that she cannot remember if she got to eat any of her catch.

****

As they continue their dive, Adam and Conrad venture a bit away from the harbor. Adam is a good swimmer and uses his techniques he learned in high school to show off to Conrad. He turns over and does the backstroke. Then he goes into the breaststroke. Conrad just shakes his head. "Okay Michael Phelps, let's get back to basics."

"I wish I had the hardware Phelps has," Adam says.

Conrad jumps on the edge of the boat and looks out at the horizon. "Why would you want to? You can't beat the lifestyle here."

Adam swim up and climbs onboard. He takes off his mask and puts the scuba tank off to the side. "I just wonder how much longer we have to enjoy it."

Conrad looks at him, "You mean Silicon Reality?" Adam shakes his head. "If you only knew the half of it," Conrad tells him.

"Actually," Adam said, "I would like to hear what you know."

As they put their gear away, Conrad tells Adam important dirt on Silicon Beach Realty. "Silicon wants to convert much of the old property such as the rundown shops into condos of the future."

Adam grabs one of the scuba tanks and helps Conrad put them away. "I heard that. How distressing."

"Tell me about," Conrad said. "Those plans include all of this that we love so much."

Adam replies, "But, at least we can enjoy it for a while. It seems their plans keep getting stuck in legislation."

After they are done unloading, Conrad hands Adam a beer. They sit on the docks with their backs to the boxes that sit on the pier. After taking a big gulp, Conrad continues, "It may be sooner than you think my friend." He wipes his brow and then takes another sip. "So, I have it on good information that Wilcox is going ahead with that plan."

Adam almost chokes on his beer. "How, if he doesn't have approval from the Chamber of Commerce?"

"Ha… the Chamber of Commerce." He leans into Adam and says, "The Estuary Restoration Project is already built."

Adam shakes his head. That cannot be. They need approval. I read the transcripts of the meeting. They can't do it!"

"They can and did." Conrad puts his beer down. His eyes draw in. "That's why he has all of the elected official in his back pocket. And the Chamber of Commerce too. Wilcox did not pay them out of the goodness of his heart. Those paydays are there for action. And action they did."

Adam kind of doubts his story. Oh, not about slimy politicians being paid off. He saw plenty of that as an investigated reporter. But, how could they have built a reservoir overnight? "How do you know that it's finished?"

"I saw it," Conrad said. He finishes off the rest of his beer. "Ah, that's refreshing." He stands up, looks at Adam. "I must show it to you sometime." He walks back to the boat.

Adam is puzzled, "Where are you going?"

"No time like the present."

"You mean now?

Conrad looks up at the sky. "There's still plenty of sunshine. Plus, there is a few things that you did wrong that I need to correct so it doesn't become habit."

"Okay," Adam grabs the scuba gear. "It's your dime."

Conrad laughs. "When did they thaw you out? The sixties?"

As they get close the site of reservoir, Conrad sets anchor. Both of them sit on the edge of the boat with their feet dangling. "I appreciate this Conrad. This would be a great story to add to the Plain Truth."

"Is that site still active?" Conrad says.

"I now rely solely on my blog for our income."

Conrad nods his head. Adam told him all about what happened with the Nest Egg. "How is Ashley taking all of it?"

"She's not. But, that's not the real reason why she is upset with me," Adam said. Conrad reaches behind him to double check that everything is in place. Adam puts the goggles on, then puts it up on top of his head. He sighs. "It goes back to when we were living in Arizona."

"Okay, just because we went over all the safety stuff earlier, it is still important now," Conrad tells Adam. "Now concentrate,"

"Oh, yeah… you are right. I'll tell you later after this lesson is over."

"You are doing well. Repetition is the key to learning anything."

Adam kind of drifts away in his thoughts and didn't hear Conrad. Besides, he knows it all by heart and can set it to music. I can hear Ashley voice in my head now, "Why are you scuba diving when you can be out making money? It's not like you are going to find money in the ocean." It's bad when you can predict what your partner is going to say before she does.

"Adam, did you hear me?"

"Yes, yes… Repetition is the key to learning anything."

"Okay, I wasn't sure. You had that dazed look on your face. I wasn't sure if you were with us. Remember sa-"

"—safety first," Adam says it at the same time as Conrad. "I know. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

As both of them jump feet first into the water, Adam's instinct takes over and he takes a deep breath and holds into the water.

****

By now, Conrad is comfortable with Adam as a student that he does not need to walk hand and hand with him on every step he takes. He knows through experience that it is time to take the training wheels off of Adam.

Just as Conrad was about to jump into the water, he sees Adam take an obvious deep breath. Conrad yells out at him. But, it was too late. Adam is in the water before he could stop him. He knows that if Adam descends far enough, his lungs will expand and will cause it to collapse. Once that happens, Adam will have a stroke.

How could he be so careless?

****

The mysterious beast is venturing out to other parts of her little fish tank that she now considers her home. The encounter with the dolphins shook her up and searches for prey that will not fight back. The crabs do not go down without a skirmish. She is tired of those nasty claws of theirs snapping her as she rips away their flesh.

The scrimp are too small. But, food is food. She soon grows tired of them and wants more. She hears a sound in the distance that has become quite common to her now. A mating call perhaps. It is a low steady hum. Almost without life or soul. And yet, it lives in the water. Curious, she approaches it hoping it will provide her with subsistence.

****

The old saying about practice makes perfect maybe true in theory, but doing something too many times creates complacency. Without realizing it, one skips a step here and a step there. And before you know it, what used to be ten steps, becomes three

When it comes to scuba diving however, one can never skip any step. Ever! Adam's mind drifted and thought about the problem at hand. Finding enough dirt on Edward Wilcox to create a story that would go viral. Once he does that, then Adam and Ashley will be back in the money again.

This was on his mind as he jumped into the water. Even though they have gone over it many times, on this occasion, Adam's mind wondered as he thought about the wrath of Ashley. He did what was natural and he took a deep breath anyway.

As he made his descent into the water, he heard Conrad yell out to him. Immediately he spits the mouthpiece out. While doing so, he takes in a lot of water. Adam flails his arms in panic. When they were in the pool, there was the sides that he could grab on to. But, in the middle of the ocean, there are no such luxuries. It is swim or die.