The Caribbean Affair by Nick Thacker

Author:Nick Thacker [Thacker, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Conundrum Publishing
Published: 2022-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

CARLOS

Carlos pulled the regulator around, fitting it more comfortably inside his mouth. He kicked smoothly, rhythmically, as he propelled himself through the water. He had gone without the extra weight belt, wanting to remain somewhat buoyant but also not have trouble fighting with the natural tendency to float to the surface. Graves had ordered him to stay underwater the entire time, adamant that he not so much as risk even a single bubble catching someone’s attention. It should not be a problem if he stayed deep enough. It was in the middle of the day, so if anyone were directly above him, they would easily see his lithe shape working its way toward the massive cruise ship out in The Shallows.

He still did not know why Graves had sent him here, what his boss wanted him to do when he got there. The man’s only instruction had seemed purposefully vague: “just check things out.”

It was unhelpful, but he didn’t argue — he would take any excuse to get into the water again. Far better than driving around and babysitting crates and boxes, he thought.

Plus, the weather today was phenomenal. A few clouds pockmarked the blue sky, and plenty of sunlight lit the shallow bay. He saw many schools of fish happily darting back and forth, looking for a meal, and larger versions of the same looking for the pool itself. It was a constant game between them, and though it was beautiful to human eyes, he knew everything in the water was at risk of being eaten by something larger.

Sharks were not common here, nor were dolphins, as there was usually too much boat traffic this close to shore. Farther out was where they typically would frolic and play and where the sharks would hang out by the reefs, looking for a snack.

But today, he would not be that snack. There were very few dangers to Jamaican divers, and sharks were not among them. Today, there was nothing to worry about — he could simply enjoy the weather, and appreciate the strange request from his boss.

He pulled his arms up and put them into action now, letting them add power and control to his speed.

He swam like this for about twenty minutes, not even growing tired. Though he drove the lift most days, he had stayed in decent shape.

He saw the partially submerged hull of the cruise ship up ahead. Even from here, he could see that it was situated at a slight tilt. The bottom was not quite touching the sand, which meant the ship was still buoyant. It had taken on a lot of water, but its compartments had held thus far. The sandy ocean bed was about ten or fifteen feet below the hull’s pointed bottom.

He slowed as he drew near the forward section of the southward-facing cruise ship. He didn’t know what he was looking for exactly, but he figured he would know it when he saw it. Perhaps Graves had just sent him out here to examine why the ship had started taking on water.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.