“This is the ocean,” Rafe yelled.
“Sharks are in the ocean.
There’s always the chance that one might be around. But relax!
The cage is just a precaution, especially on the outer reef where I’m taking you two lucky ladies. The outer reef’s where all the fish are as well as the best coral. Even the visibility is the best out there.”
“I don’t want to see any sharks,” Marissa yelled.
“Probably won’”” Rafe yelled in reply, “It’s Wynn who wants the cage. Just to be safe. It’s like a seat belt.”
Marissa led Wendy down into the saloon and closed the door behind them. The throbbing noise of the engines abruptly decreased.
“I don’t like the sound of this,” Marissa said urgently.
“Shark cage! What are we getting ourselves into?”
“Marissa, calm down!” Wendy said.
“Everything the captain said is right. Even in Hawaii I saw sharks on occasion. But they don’t bother divers. I think we should be impressed that these guys even have a shark cage. It just means they’re very careful.”
“You’re not concerned?” Marissa asked.
“Not in the slightest,” Wendy said.
“Come on, don’t get yourself all worked up. You’re going to love this, believe me.”
Marissa studied her friend’s face. She obviously believed what she was saying.
“Okay,” Marissa said.
“If you can honestly tell me it will be safe, I’ll try and relax. I just don’t like the idea of sharks. I’ve always had a mild phobia for the ocean that hasn’t kept me out of it, but it certainly has made me aware when I’m in it. And as I said before, I don’t like slippery, slimy creatures.”
“I can personally guarantee you will not have to touch one slippery, slimy creature,” Wendy said.
Marissa and Wendy felt the boat shudder as it was pushed up to full throttle.
“Come on,” Wendy urged.
“Let’s go up on deck and enjoy this.”
Buoyed by her friend’s enthusiasm, Marissa followed her on deck.
The boat headed almost due east, directly into the rising sun.
At first they were cruising through clear turquoise water, but soon they began to pass over the reef itself. Then the water became a deeper blue.
Wendy got Wynn to break out the scuba gear so she could check it out. She went over all the technical aspects with Marissa to refresh her memory.
Once all the diving gear had been checked, Marissa and Wendy sat in the sport-fishing chairs and enjoyed the spectacular view.
“I’m surprised that we’re the only ones on such a large boat,” Wendy said to Wynn when he joined them.
“It’s our offseason,” Wynn explained.
“If you came back in September or October, we’d be full to the gunwales,” “Is it better then?” Wendy asked.
“You can count on the weather more,” Wynn said.
“Plus there never are any waves. It’s always calm.”
Almost the moment Wynn mentioned waves, Marissa felt the boat start to shudder against a building chop.
“Can’t get much better weather than this,” Wendy said.
“We’ve been lucky lately,” Wynn agreed.
“But we’ll hit some surf on the outer reef. It shouldn’t be too bad though.”
“How much further do we have to go?” Marissa asked. The Whitsunday Islands were now mere specks on the western horizon.
It seemed to her they were heading to the center of the Coral Sea. Being this far from land revived her misgivings.
“Another half hour,” Wynn said in answer to her question.
“The outer reef’s about fifty miles from Hamilton Island.”
Marissa nodded. She was beginning to think she was about as fond of boating as Wendy was of gross anatomy lessons. She would just as soon have gone snorkeling. Then they could have stayed within sight of shore.
At just after ten o’clock the captain slowed the engines and sent Wynn forward to the bow. He told the women he was searching for a particular channel to anchor in.
“Best goddamn diving in the world,” he told them.
After a half hour of searching, Rafe yelled for Wynn to drop anchor. Marissa noticed they were between two enormous heads of coral. Over their tops the waves were cresting. The surf had increased to approximately three feet.
“Anchor’s on the bottom,” Wynn shouted.
Rafe cut the engines and the boat quickly drifted until it faced northwest, heading into the wind. From the stern Marissa could see that they were moored about thirty feet from the outer wall of the reef. The color of the water abruptly changed from emerald green over the reef to the deep sapphire of the ocean beyond.
Now that the boat was no longer moving ahead, it was more susceptible to the waves. The boat began to pitch from the waves ing into the channel at the same time it rocked back and forth from the wash of the waves cresting on the coral heads. Marissa began to feel queasy from the rough, irregular motion. Steadying herself with one hand, she turned around and made her way back to Wendy, clutching the rail with every step.
“Is this where we’re diving?” Wendy asked Rafe.
“This is it,” Rafe said.
“You ladies have a good time. But stay with -Wynn here, understand? I got some work down in the engine room, so it will be just the three of you. Don’t go swimming off on your own.”
“Lower that cage before you go below,” Wynn called.
“Oh, yeah,” Rafe said.
“I almost forgot.”
“Let’s get our suits on,” Wendy said to Marissa. She tossed Marissa’s shoulder bag to her, then went below.
Marissa was impressed how at ease Wendy seemed at sea. She negotiated the deck as calmly as if they were still back at the dock.
After passing through the saloon, Wendy entered one of the cabins. Marissa went to the one opposite and tried the door.
Finding it was locked, she tried another. It was open and she went in.
Within the confines of the narrow space, Marissa had some difficulty changing out of her clothes and into her bathing suit.
By the time she emerged, she was feeling even more nauseated than she had before she went belowdecks. The faint smell of diesel fuel no doubt contributed. When she got back on deck she felt better but still not great. She hoped that once she got into the water, the feeling would pass.
Wendy was already pulling her tank on over her buoyancy vest when Marissa reached her. Wynn was giving her a hand. Marissa slipped on her vest.
A terrible grinding screech resulted from Rafe’s efforts at deploying the shark cage. Marissa watched as the cage was lifted high above the deck, then swung out to starboard. With a high. he’d whir, it was dropped into the water.
PAC
Once Wynn had finished helping Wendy, he came over to Marissa to strap on her tank. He guided her to the stern of the boat.
Wendy was already on the dive platform, ready to go. Her mask was on, as were her heavy work gloves. As the swells hit the boat, she was alternately submerged to her knees and then dry.
After pulling on her own mask and gloves, Marissa struggled over the stern and stood next to Wendy. The water felt cold at first, but Marissa soon got used to it. The water was incredibly clear. Looking directly down, she could see the sandy bottom at about thirty feet. As she looked farther out she saw that the sand abruptly dropped off to incalculable oceanic depths.
Wendy tapped Marissa on the shoulder.
“Do you remember the diving sign language?” Wendy asked. Her voice sounded nasal with her mask covering her nose.
“Sort of,” Marissa said.
Wendy went over all the key signals, demonstrating them with her free hand. She had to hold on firmly with the other so she wasn’t knocked from the platform. Marissa held on with both hands throughout the review.
“Got them?” Wendy asked.
Marissa signaled okay.
“All right!” Wendy said, slapping her on the shoulder.
“You ladies ready?” Wynn asked. He had joined them at the stern of the boat, taking a seat on the gunwale.
Wendy said she was all set. Marissa merely nodded.
“Follow me!” Wynn said. He put in his mouthpiece, then somersaulted backwards into the water. Wendy followed almost immediately.
Marissa put in her mouthpiece and took her first breath of the cool, compressed air. Turning her head, she looked longingly into the boat. She caught sight of Rafe as he disappeared below.
Glancing back into the water, she saw some algae stream past, then some seaweed. The current seemed swift, heading out to sea.
Unable to delay any longer, Marissa grabbed hold of her mask, let go of the boat, and plunged into the water.
The instant the bubbles disappeared, Marissa was astounded.
It was as if she had leaped into another world. The clarity of the water was beyond her expectations. She was surrounded by butterfly and angel fish. Thirty feet ahead, Wendy and Wynn were waiting at the lip of the channel. She could see them as clearly as if they were suspended in the air. Below her the sand sparkled, giving her the impression she could see each and every grain.
Looking to her right and left, she saw walls of coral in fantastic shapes and colors. Behind her she could see the bottom of the boat with the shark cage suspended from its cable.
Without the slightest effort Marissa found herself carried. by the current toward the other two.
After everyone had exchanged okay signs, they started to swim out of the channel, veering to the left. Marissa paused at the channel’s edge and peered uneasily into the eerie abysmal depths.
The sound of her breathing echoed in her ears. Fighting against a primeval terror, she shuddered to think of what creatures were lurking in the cold, black vastness.
Marissa saw that Wendy and Wynn had already left her behind.
She swam hard to catch up to them, scared of being left alone.
Her fears were soon overcome by the sheer beauty of the world around her. All her phobias vanished as she found herself enveloped in a silvery cloud of cardinal fish.
As she followed the others into a coral gorge, she was thrilled by the number and variety of fish. They came in every size and shape and in colors more brilliant than anything on land. The coral was equally dramatic, with colors that rivaled the fish and in shapes that ranged from brain like masses to antler like growths. Diaphanous sea fans waved sinuously in the current.
Distracted by the beauty, Marissa realized the others had disappeared.
She hurried forward, rounding a large coral head.
Wynn was stopped up ahead. She saw him reach into a net secured to his waist. When he pulled out his hand she saw that he held some bait fish In an instant he was surrounded by batfish and parrot fish. He clearly wasn’t interested in these species because he waved them away. Instead he went close to the opening of a large underwater cave and began to wave the bait through the water.
Marissa’s heart leaped into her throat, almost causing her to spit out her mouthpiece. Out of the shadows of the cave swam an enormous six-foot, six-hundred-pound potato cod. Marissa was about to panic when she noticed that Wynn was not only unperturbed but was enticing the fish to come all the way out. Then to Marissa’s amazement, the huge fish took the bait fish directly from Wynn’s hand.
Wendy swam up behind Wynn and signaled that she wanted to try to feed the behemoth. Wynn gave her several bait fish and showed her how to hold them out.
The cod was happy to oblige, opening its huge mouth and sucking in the bait like an enormous underwater vacuum cleaner.
Wynn motioned for Marissa to swim over, but she was happy to stay where she was and indicated as much via hand signals. She watched Wendy feed the fish, but it was not easy to stay in one place. The surge from the wave action on the reef swept her to and fro, forcing her to fend herself off the coral with her gloved hands. The motion reawakened the queasiness she’d felt on the boat.
Once the potato cod had devoured all the bait fish Wynn was willing to offer, it lazily drifted back into its lair. Wendy went to the very lip of the cave and peered in. Then she swam back to Marissa and motioned for her to follow.
Reluctantly, Marissa swam after Wendy. They passed the cave’s mouth and dove close to the sandy bottom. Wendy pointed into a crevice, then backed away so Marissa could take a look.
Marissa hung on to the coral so the current didn’t pull her along as she let her eyes adapt to the shadows. She was glad she was wearing the heavy gloves. Finally Marissa saw what Wendy had pointed to: a large green moray eel with its mouth open and its needlelike teeth bared.
