Gordon leaned back on the couch, his senses now transfixed on the TV in front of him.
The newscaster continued. “There were also many witnesses that stated the head of the company, Kazimir Morgenstern, was also present during the attack, but escaped via helicopter while abandoning the other guests. None of the resort employees who survived would come on the record, and in fact, many of them were apparently relocated to more remote parts of India. Representatives of the Morgenstern Group admit he was there for the initial opening ceremonies but insist he had already left when the supposed tiger got loose and started killing the guests and employees.”
Gordon bit his lip as Chloe came back with a plate and more espresso. “God, I hope the stock doesn’t take any more hits.”
This time his sister sat on the easy chair a meter away from him. “Morgenstern may take a few financial blows, but they’re big enough to rebound from this.”
“I hope so,” Gordon said. “I know a few of my dive mates are worried about our jobs ever since this crap hit the fan.”
The TV now started showing recorded footage of the company chairman shaking hands with various world leaders, including the president of the United States. “The biggest question of all is Kazimir Morgenstern himself. He has not been seen in public since the tragedy at Lemuria and the announced death of his brother Emeric. With lawsuits being prepared by the relatives of the Dirkse family and others, Morgenstern’s personal hold over his own company may be in jeopardy.”
Chloe leaned forward, took the remote control from the coffee table, and turned the TV off before shifting her focus over to her brother. “Gordy, I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Gordon continued to munch on his sandwich. “I know what you’re going to talk to me about. I have a deep dive job to do next week, and I’m going.”
She gave him a worried look. “Are you sure about this? You’re still getting those nightmares. Did you talk to the company’s shrinks about it?”
He placed the remaining piece of the sandwich back onto the plate and shook his head. “I couldn’t. They would have ruled me out for the dive crew if I said anything.”
“You gotta heal those mental wounds first, Gordy. The last thing you want to happen is to panic while you’re out doing some bottom time.”
Gordon looked down towards the floor. “Don’t say that. I’m not gonna panic. I’m over it.”
“No, you’re not,” Chloe said. “You’ve barely gotten any sleep since it happened, and when you do, you wake up screaming just a few hours later. You and I know that you shouldn’t take the job unless you’re a hundred percent good to go.”
Gordon didn’t answer her.
Chloe leaned sideways and placed a hand on his forearm. “Why not just take a break? Wait till you really get over it, then get back into it slowly.”
He shook his head violently. “No, I can’t. You know the industry. There’s a waiting list of over a hundred other divers that want my spot. If I step aside they’ll never hire me again.”
“Look,” Chloe said. “You can go do something else, Gordy. I was a sat diver like you, but I went on to other things.”
He looked at her with sad eyes. “You’re the smart one, sis. You always were. Me, I had to struggle just to get through dive school. This is my life. I can’t think of doing anything else.”
Chloe’s frustration started to rise. “Gordy, I just don’t think you’re fit mentally. If any of your partners in the sat chamber sees you like this, they’re going to abort the whole dive.”
Gordon’s voice turned pleading. “Sis, please don’t say anything to them. I’ll get better once I get back inside the chamber. I’m sure of it. I just need to go back out there and throw the monkey off my back, then I’ll be back to normal. I swear.”
For a long time they continued to stare into each other’s eyes. Chloe was torn. She knew that saturation diving was an extremely dangerous profession. Many had already died, and they wouldn’t be the last. But she also loved her brother, and she could tell he was determined to get back to normal.
In the end, she knew she would give in. “Alright. Just keep resting for now. I’m sure you’ll be in good shape when they bring you over to the work boat next week.”
For the first time in days, Gordon smiled. “Thanks for believing in me, sis.”
“I always did. Now you just have to believe in yourself.”
4
AFTER HEARING A SERIES of bumps coming from near the bow of the fishing boat’s wooden hull, Shri Koya blinked his eyes open and sat up. Dawn had yet to break over the calm, dark waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea. The others lying beside him on the boat’s aft deck remained asleep, but his youthful physiology was more alert than the rest of the older crewmen. Shri threw off the thin cloth blanket from his body, put on his faded blue shirt and made his way towards the vessel’s bow.
Even though his father had told Shri not to become a fisherman, for he felt there was no future in such a career, the young man did it anyway. Shri had been particularly slow at school, and his classmates would often make fun of how dumb and inattentive he was. As his studies became more advanced to the point where he could no longer keep up, Shri decided to stop going to school and joined up with the fishing crews instead.
He had been at it for a few months now. Shri was fortunate since one of the other crewmen happened to retire, and he took his place. The young man was put in charge of tossing out the bait, while the older fishermen would use the traditional pole and line to snag the churning tuna coming up to the surface, throwing the struggling fish onto the deck. It was hard but honest work, and Shri hoped that the fish would keep biting for years to come.
But the schools of tuna, mackerel, and grouper had become less and less abundant whenever they went out to fish, and the crew was forced to venture out ever further, well past their home islands of Lakshadweep, and into the vast ocean to the west. The crew would spend days, even weeks, at sea, fishing in the daytime while letting their boat drift at night as they slept. It was imperative they come back with a hold full of fish, for their families depended on it.
Making his way to the starboard side of the ship’s bow, Shri gave a pained yawn before leaning out and stared at the dark surface of the water a meter below him. The moonlit sky above was clear, and the single kerosene lantern that had been suspended by the side of the wheelhouse cast a distant, small orb of yellowish light along the sides of the boat’s ten meter long hull.
Squinting his eyes, Shri could see what looked like a pair of long glass tubes jutting out from the surface of the water a few meters in front of him. He wasn’t quite sure what it was since he had never seen such a sight before.
Without warning, a slight puff of steam seemed to erupt from the open tips of the twin transparent pipes before the objects slid back into the sea. Shri hadn’t expected it, and he uttered a surprised yelp before his bare feet slipped on the moist wooden deck and he fell backwards, landing squarely on his buttocks.
Wincing in pain, Shri got back up and stared out into black waters once more in an effort to try and spot it again, but he failed to see anything now. A foul, fishy smell seemed to permeate the air.