Kerry stretched her legs out and leaned back as the island slowly receded, the lingering bands of sunset still painting the sky to the west.
It was warm, but with the breeze, very comfortable. Kerry allowed herself a few more lazy moments until they reached the buoy and Dar kicked the engines into higher gear. Then she pushed herself to her feet and got to work preparing their gear for the dive.
"Hey, Dar?"
"Yeap?"
"Did you wash these wetsuits?"
"Yeap." Dar answered promptly. "Found some new stuff in the dive shop last time I went. You like the smell?"
Kerry sniffed cautiously. "Smells like tangerines!" She yelled up. "I like it!" She set the neoprene suits down with a grunt of satisfaction. Then she went to the built in lockers and removed their BC's and regulators, laying them out on the counter and going over them with a careful eye.
They were only doing a reef, and a somewhat shallow one at that, but Kerry had never bought into taking chances with their favorite sport.
Satisfied, she opened the bottom cabinet and removed two tanks, lifting them with some effort onto the low bench on the side and bungee tying them in place as the boat shifted in the waves.
Tanks falling on your toes sucked. Kerry had two formerly broken ones to attest to that. She picked up Dar's BC first and untied one tank, slipping the rig over the top and sliding it down by wiggling the straps against the snug fit. She re-looped the bungee while she positioned the rig, tightening the tank clasp with a firm hand.
The boat shifted and rocked, making Chino bark in surprise. The dog scrambled back next to Kerry and pressed against her legs, eyeing the spray coming over the bow with dubious eyes.
"It's okay, Cheebles." Kerry patted her on the head. "Mommy Dar just wants to get us where we're going fast." She reached over and picked up Dar's regulator, then went back to her task.
So far, so good. Kerry secured Dar's instrument console to the D-clip on the right hand side and prepared to repeat the entire process with her own gear.
Once finished, she took their masks and sat down with a tube of no fog, applying it as Chino curled up at her feet on the deck. It was a comforting and familiar task, and the smell of the sweet, salt air and the feel of the spray against her put her heart at ease as they headed into their own private world.
DAR POPPED UP out of the water, reaching for the steps with one hand as she cleared the surface. She removed her regulator and gave Kerry a nod. "Okay, we're tied off," she said, licking her lips. "Nice down there, no current."
Kerry was standing by in her gear, or more to the point, sitting by, since she was on the back deck with her flippers resting on the wooden diving platform next to the ladder. Chino was standing up on the inside of the wall, peering over at Dar as she wagged her tail.
"Cool." Kerry prepared to stand up, readying her balance as she lifted herself plus forty pounds of assorted gear onto her fins. She put her regulator in her mouth and took a breath, then put her hand over her mask and stepped out into the sea.
The water was pleasantly cool, and it quickly penetrated her short wetsuit and reduced some of the heat built up inside it. Kerry got her equilibrium and looked around spotting Dar immediately nearby.
This was her favorite kind of night dive when they descended while it was still a little light out. She could see shadows under her, and the outline of the reef more comforting than going down in total darkness.
Dar pointed downward. Kerry nodded and let the air out of her vest, feeling her body settle deeper in the water as she changed from vertical to horizontal and headed down to the bottom.
Dar had picked one of their favorite reefs with lots of undercuts and coral for critters to hide in. Kerry settled on her knees in the sand just clear of the coral and got her camera gear arranged watching as ghostly schools of fish whisked around her and started to dissipate.
A big sea bass appeared swimming idly through the reef pretending not to notice all the potential dinner candidates heading away from him. He swam closer to Kerry and she simply kept still and waited, her camera raised so she could look through the offset crosshair.
The bass seemed as curious about her as she was about him. He finned closer, tiny bits of iridescence reflecting the last of the light from the surface as he came within her easy reach.
Kerry cautiously closed the shutter button, wincing right along with the fish as the strobe went off and sent a brief silver flash of light everywhere. The bass gave her an insulted look and swam off, flicking his tail at her as he disappeared into the gloom.
Kerry felt pleased with the shot however, and she turned to find something else to take a picture of. As though in total cooperation with her effort, Dar swam into view a little above Kerry's head outlined against the pale surface of the water.
Another flash of silver secured the portrait.
Kerry pushed up off the bottom and finned toward the reef. It was getting darker, and now if she peeked under the coral ledges she could see the beginnings of the eerie phosphorescence the night brings.
It was like a magic world that hid itself from the night. Kerry decided to just experience the change. So she settled carefully down on the bottom again, folding her fins under her and getting herself cross legged somehow.
She focused the lens on the darkness of the overhang aware, from the corners of her eyes, of Dar's nearby floating presence.
In the shadows, several little bioluminescent fish suddenly appeared nibbling at the pale scarlet polyps. Kerry captured it, then nearly lost her mind as the occupant of the dark hole, a green moray eel, came rushing out to confront her with open jaws.
Seated as she was, there was no way for her to get out of the way in time. However, just as she had started to unwind her body, she felt herself lifted up and away by a powerful yank on her gear. The next thing she knew she was twenty feet away over another part of the reef.
In the gloom, she saw the eel retreat, but not without giving her a vicious glare.
She let out her breath in a stream of bubbles and looked over her shoulder into Dar's watching eyes. Kerry wiped the back of her hand over her mask, and nodded as her partner gave her a pat on the butt.
Dar held up two fingers, then indicated her own eyes, then indicated Kerry's. She shook one of the fingers at her in semi-mock remonstrance.
Yeah, she was right. Kerry nodded at her, accepting the scold. I'm in the ocean, not in an aquarium. These are wild animals. She got her composure back, and floated for a moment. She spotted more glowing coral and started toward it, more cautiously this time.
"OOOHGH." Dar finished putting their gear up and dropped down into a deck chair. "Nice dive."
A perfect canopy of stars now covered the sky over them, obscured only in spots by drifting clouds. Kerry continued out from the cabin and put two plates down, taking her seat across from Dar with an equally contented grunt. "Killer."
Dar leaned over and got hold of a strand of spaghetti between her teeth, slurping it in until it broke and left her with a smattering of sauce across her nose. "Whoops."
Kerry lifted a glass of chilled wine and took a sip of it, swirling its tangy sweetness around in her mouth to cleanse it of the last of the saltiness. "Thanks again for saving me from Captain Eel, Dardar. Man, that scared the poop out of me."
Dar chuckled, picking up her plate and propping it against her knees. "Me too." She attacked the pasta with a fork, swirling a big mouthful and consuming it, her body demanding something to replenish the energy she'd just expended.
Kerry took another sip of wine instead, gazing out over the dark waves she'd recently been beneath. Looking at it from above, like this, it seemed almost insane to think about diving into it. It represented, in a way, the totality of the unknown. She now felt a connection to the sea she'd never had before she'd met Dar.