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“Thank God.” Alex’s dive watch said it was just past noon. He evaluated the debris, already scattering in the current. “I have to get my group and bring them up.” He patted Tommy’s shoulders. “Stay put, Tommy.”
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere, man.”
Alex descended again. Six divers clustered in a tight group, clinging to anything they could to keep stationary in the rising current, while the other two were off to the side looking at a coral head. At least six of them are together, and this is not the time to lecture them about damaging the coral.
He banged his tank for attention and gave them a thumbs up, signaling they were all ascending to the surface. He had to bang several times before the two strays noticed, and he wasn’t surprised to see it was Turtle Guy and his wife.
Very irritated now, Alex swam over and grasped the arms of the two strays and brought them into the main group. There were six pairs of wide, scared eyes behind masks. They knew the boat had sunk and were looking to him for help. The other two pairs were a different story. Turtle Guy looked like he was about to punch Alex, and his wife only seemed confused, looking around vaguely.
They totally missed the boat sinking! Did they even realize I was gone for a while?
After they surfaced, Alex called out, “Everyone! Inflate your BCDs fully. All the way! I want everyone to gather around in a circle and link arms with the person next to you. You too, Tommy.”
As the group moved together, Turtle Guy glowered at Alex, his wild, frizzy brown hair spilling around his head. “What is your problem, man? You have been a dick since we stepped on the boat.”
Alex glared back and kept a tight rein on his temper. “My problem? Notice. Anything. Missing?”
The guy’s wife, Teresa, looked around, a frown forming. “Guys, where’s the boat?”
One of the other divers barked out a laugh at Turtle Guy. Annual guests, his name was Ben and his wife was Mary. “You seriously didn’t see the boat sink right in front of us? Are you kidding me?”
“Enough!” Alex yelled.
That got everyone’s attention. In a lower tone, but still authoritative, he continued, “I want everyone in a circle with full BCDs and linked arms. NOW.”
He waited for them to circle up, himself in the middle, slowly spinning as he addressed the group. “As most of you saw—” he shot a hard look at Turtle Guy, “—the dive boat experienced some major malfunction and sank, but Tommy is ok. He was able to get off a distress call to the Coast Guard before he had to abandon ship at twelve hundred hours. We will be just fine, but we have to stay in a group.” He raised his voice, effortlessly slipping back into his familiar role. “I repeat, we will be fine as long as we stay together!”
Alex descended a few feet and swam to the outside of the circle, surfacing behind the group to ensure their tanks were tight. He tapped Mary on the shoulder. “Add more air to your BCD. You’re not fully inflated.”
He descended again, swimming hard to the center of the group as the sandy bottom flew by beneath. This current has to be three knots at least, and it’s taking us into deep water—away from the GPS coordinates the Coast Guard has.
Alex surfaced again in the middle and surveyed the shore, determining how far away they were when Tommy said from behind him, “Can you swim to shore and get help?”
Alex shook his head. “This current would carry you guys too far away, and I’m not leaving you.” He turned to Tommy. “Did the Coast Guard give you an ETA?”
“Yeah. They’ve got a ship nearby. They said ‘bout thirty to sixty minutes.”
This announcement resulted in loud cheering, and several people broke their arm holds with their neighbors to applaud and high five.
Alex boomed, “Negative! You will NOT break formation!”
The guilty ones quickly linked up again and regarded him with wide-eyed, shocked expressions.
Good. If they’re scared, they’ll listen to me.
Turtle Guy had linked up, so Alex continued rotating when his voice came from behind. “God, knock it off. You’re scaring my wife. We’re thirty minutes from rescue, so stop acting like a goddamn drill sergeant. Enjoy the sunshine or something, you prick.”
Alex whirled around and glowered at him.
Oh, do not test me today.
His face must have scared Turtle Guy because he visibly gulped, eyes wide now.
Alex took a deep breath. “Everyone listen up! Here is the situation.”
He met every pair of eyes as he turned in a circle, using his most commanding tone of voice. “We are adrift in the ocean and moving away from land in a strong and increasing current. I’d estimate we’ve already drifted at least one klick from where the boat went down. That means for every minute after Tommy got off the SOS, we’re further from rescue.”
He paused for a moment. “Listen. My responsibility is to keep you safe, and I take that damn seriously. We can enjoy the sunshine when we get back to the resort.” He returned his attention to Turtle Guy. “Until that time occurs, you will do what I say. Copy that?”
