we get first looks. last diving trip. Jade figures if she doesn't know for sure she can dive... she'll be okay.
Twenty Nine
Tori turned the page of the book she was reading, enjoying the cool breeze off the water as she swung idly back and forth in the swing chair. It was just past six and they'd left work early after a long, long week.
Fortunately, after the party Quest had left them all alone, and neither she nor Jade had heard anything more about the project all week long which had turned out to be a damn good thing.
Disasters tended to come in spurts. This week she'd had to deal with six of them, one for each day and two on Monday that had almost resulted in her being on an airplane to someplace boring and unpleasant.
But she'd worked it out in the end, and now she was blissfully enjoying the quiet decompression of sitting on the deck watching the sun's light slowly fade.
Behind her, the glass door slid open, releasing a puff of chilled, garlic scented air along with Jade's tanned and mostly bare body. "Hey." Tori lazily rolled her head to one side as Jade joined her on the swing chair, dressed in only a pair of soft cotton shorts and a colorful scarlet sports bra. "What are you up to?"
"About six and a quarter." Jade put her feet up on the stone porch balustrade, flexing her toes against the warm surface. "Busy week."
"Uh huh." Tori laid her book down and let her head rest against Jade's shoulder. "I'm glad it's over. Between my fubars and your hackers, I wanted to call CAPL and have them take the power out again." She leaned closer and sniffed Jade's skin curiously. "Why do you smell like bubble gum?"
"I was playing ball with Chino and her new toy." Jade displayed a clump of cream colored hair dusting her shorts. "It's a giggle ball, and it smells weird."
"A giggle ball?"
"Uh huh." Jade said. "Like you." She reached over and tickled her partner who obliged her by giggling and smacking her hand.
"Jade!" Tori tried to tickle her back, but found her hands caught and gently held. "You punk."
Jade released her, as she chuckled. "Yeah, I've been a punk all week. I'm driving the ops crew nuts. I think they wish I'd go back to yelling at people in meetings."
"That's not true. They love it." Tori said. "I heard them in the break room. You were the entire subject of conversation the last six times I went through there." She added. "At least until they spotted me. Then it switched to soccer."
"Soccer?" Jade sounded pleased nonetheless. "Yeah, I've been giving them some pointers as long as I'm taking over the console." She wiggled her toes contentedly. "Been sort of fun."
"They're in awe of you, you know that, right?" Tori smiled, rocking them both a little. "Hey, I've got an idea… you up for a night dive tonight?"
"Oo." Jade's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"
Ah. Tori felt the stress of the week slip away from her. Warm air, warm water, the stars… "You'll protect me from cuttlefish, right?"
"With my life." Jade promised.
"I"ll grab dinner, you grab the towels. Let's go get deep."
"C'mon, Chino." Tori herded their pet onto the back of the boat, watching her frisk around the space and busy herself smelling every square inch of it. After watching the dog for an indulgent minute, Tori continued on into the boat's cabin and put down her armful of supplies.
The potful of spaghetti and meatballs she set on the small stove, putting the locking arm in place to keep the contents from becoming interior decorating when Jade started the boat moving. The wine she put in the small fridge to chill, along with the dessert, a six pack of yogurt, and some baby chocolate chugs.
The boat rocked lightly, announcing Jade's presence and a second later her partner joined her in the cabin. She dropped a mesh bag containing Tori's gear on the deck, and tossed her own nearby. "We're outta here."
"Go go Gadget." Tori went to stow the diving gear. "I'll get us loose."
Jade ducked outside and headed up to the controls while Tori dodged the curious Chino and hopped onto the dock to untie the lines. The sun had just gone down, and the breeze had picked up, tossing her hair back as she jumped back on board. "Okay!"
The low rumble of the diesels started up, vibrating the deck beneath her feet. Chino barked in surprise, and backed up as the water churned behind them. Normally, Tori would go up and join her partner as they motored out, but she knew if she did their pet would stand at the bottom of the ladder and bark, so she parked herself in one of the wood and fabric deck chairs instead. She was barefoot, and wearing a sleeveless muscle tshirt, and now she completed her outfit by snagging one of Jade's baseball caps and putting it on backwards to keep her hair out of her eyes once the wind came up.
Chino went over to stand near the edge of the deck as they backed out into the quiet marina waterway, her tail wagging idly as she watched the other boats go past.
Tori 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. Tori allowed herself a few more lazy moments, until they reached the buoy and Jade kicked the engines into higher gear. Then she pushed herself to her feet and got to work preparing their gear for the dive.
First, she got their bags out onto the deck without tripping over Chino, and pulled out the two sets of masks, folding snorkels, and fins. Those she set aside for last. Next, she pulled out their shortie wetsuits, since it was a night dive and they both tended to be chilled after a while without the warm sun around. "Hey, Jade?"
"Yeap?"
"Did you wash these?"
"Yeap." The answer came back promptly. "Found some new stuff in the dive shop last time I went. You like the smell?"
Tori 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 Tori had never bought into taking chances with their favorite sport. She checked all the o-rings and the clips that held their hoses down, and made sure the fittings didn't have salt corrosion on them.
Satisfied, she opened the bottom cabinet and removed two tanks, lifting them with some effort onto the low bench on the side and bungy tying them in place as the boat shifted in the waves.
Tanks falling on your toes sucked. Tori had two formerly broken ones to attest to that. She picked up Jade'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 relooped the bungy while she positioned the rig, tightening the tank clasp with a firm hand.
The boat shifted and rocked, making Chino bark in surprise again. The dog scrambled back next to Tori and pressed against her legs, eyeing the spray coming over the bow with dubious eyes.
"It's okay, Cheebles." Tori patted her on the head. "Mommy Jade just wants to get us where we're going fast." She reached over and picked up Jade's regulator, then went back to her task.
She'd done it numerous times before, of course, but each time she went through the steps with meticulous care, always mindful that was Jade's and their maybe baby's life she held in her hands as she made sure nothing was wrong.
Unlooping the bungy, she positioned the first stage over the tank valve and carefully seated it, checking the seal for salt crystals again before she tightened the bolt that held the two together.
Once that was done, she connected the low pressure hose to Jade's PC inflator, cracked the tank value open, and inflated the vest. She stopped the air and listened, leaning close to hear over the roar of the engines. No hiss greeted her, and she released the air with a nod of approval. She picked up Jade's regulator and fit the mouthpiece into her mouth, sucking a lungful of the compressed air before she clipped the hose to the vest and rebungy tied the tank.
So far, so good. Tori secured Jade'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.
Jade popped up out of the water, reaching for the steps with one hand as she cleared the surface. She removed her regulator and gave Tori a nod. "Okay, we're tied off." She said, licking her lips. "Nice down there. No current."
Tori 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 deck next to the ladder. Chino was standing up on the inside of the wall, peering over at Jade as she wagged her tail.
"Cool." Tori 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 she put her hand over her mask and stepped out into the sea.
The water was pleasantly cool, and it quickly penetrated her shortie wetsuit and reduced some of the heat built up inside it. Tori got her equilibrium settled and looked around, spotting Jade 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.
Jade pointed downward. Tori 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.
Jade had picked one of their favorite reefs, with lots of undercuts and coral for critters to hide in. Tori 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 Tori 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.
Tori 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.
Tori 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, Jade swam into view a little above Tori's head, outline against the pale surface of the water.
Another flash of silver secured the portrait.
Tori pushed up off the bottom and finned towards 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 would bring out.
It was like a magic world, which hid itself from the night. Tori 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 Jade's nearby floating presence.
In the shadows, several bioluminescent fishlets suddenly appeared, nibbling at the pale scarlet polyps. Tori 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, and the next thing she knew she was twenty feet away over another part of the reef.
In the gloom, she saw the eel retreat, not without giving her a vicious glare.
She let out her breath in a stream of bubbles, and looked over her shoulder into Jade's watching eyes. Tori wiped the back of her hand over her mask, and nodded as her partner gave her a pat on the butt.
Jade held up two fingers, then indicated her own eyes, then indicated Tori's. She shook one of the fingers at her in semi-mock remonstrance.
Yeah, she was right. Tori 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, then spotted more glowing coral and started towards it, more cautiously this time, as the last of the light faded and the darkness closed in around them.
"Ooohgh." Jade 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. Tori continued out from the cabin and put two plates down, taking her seat across from Jade with an equally contented grunt. "Killer."
Jade 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."
Tori lifted a glass of chilled wine and took a sip of it, swirling it's tangy sweetness around in her mouth to cleanse it of the last of the saltiness. "Thanks again for saving me from Captain Eel, Gigi. Man, that scared the poop out of me."
Jade 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 felt a little more tired than usual, but not in a bad way. Grant it the dive had been shot, but it was dark. Night dives so close to home weren't as fun.
Tori 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 and yet she now always felt a connection to the sea she'd never had before she'd met Jade.
Far off, near the horizon, she spotted a darker shadow against the clouds. She watched it idly, then she squinted a little as it seemed to elongate. "Hey, sweetie? What is that?" She pointed.
Jade looked up from biting a meatball in half. "Uh?" Her eyes focused on where her partner was pointing. "Um.." She swallowed hastily and put her plate down, getting up and walking to the back of the boat. "Hah."
"What's funny?"
"What do you suppose the odds are of you and I happening to be out on our boat the very same time as Quest's ships are making the turn for the cut?" Jade asked, in a very wry tone.
"Is that what they are?" Tori joined her at the back of the boat, peering out into the darkness. "Really?"
"Four big ships being pulled by eight little ones." Jade confirmed. "I don't think it can be anything else."
Tori turned and regarded the opening to the cut, which was just to their south. "We're going to get a good look at them, that's for sure."
Jade returned to the table, only just barely saving her spaghetti from a Labrador tongue. "Yep, we sure are." She settled back down and put her feet up. "Front row seats."
The line of ships crept slowly closer, their superstructures only sparsely lit, rolling slightly in the almost calm seas.
Jade kept the Dixie idling just past the turnoff into the port's pier area, getting as close to the last ship as she could without incurring the wrath of the circling pilot boats. There was a customs fast boat cruising around too, but Jade figured she'd be pegged as a bored rich boater with nothing better to do than sightsee rather than a potential threat or smuggler. "Which one, Tor?"
"I think it's that one." Tori pointed at the ship aligned on the northeast side of the port. "Yeesh, they're big."
"That they are." Jade studied the vessels. They were all roughly the same size, but all four had different configurations. Two seemed to be taller and squatter, the remainder were longer and lower. Even in the dark, they all bore signs of having better times behind them, and she could see patches on patches of metal on the sides if the light from the streetlamps lining the harbor hit at a certain angle.
The one on the northeast, which Tori had pegged as 'theirs' – that was one of the longer, lower ones. Jade steered a little closer, keeping a wary eye out for the authorities, her eyes measuring the length and breadth with automatic accuracy. "Damn thing must be a thousand feet long!"
"Lot of portholes." Tori noted. "We're going to have to go distributed with fiber."
"Oh yeah." Jade agreed softly. The Dixieland Yankee slid a little sideways in the tide, and a stripe of moonlight splashed between her and the boat. It hit the water, and Jade leaned forward, her eyes catching a ripple on the surface that didn't look quite right. "Hey, Tor?"
"Yeah?"
"Check the bilge real quick, huh? Are we leaking something?"
Tori scrambled across the deck and hopped over the back wall, leaning over and peering at the back of the boat. She held on with one hand and fished her mini flashlight off her belt with the other, keying it on and studying the spot where the engines were churning the water. "Can't tell." She yelled up at her partner. "You're breaking up the water too much."
Jade cut the engines, after looking around to make sure they weren't going to drift into anything immediately. "Look quick."
Tori studied the water, then leaned way over and stuck her hand in, bringing it up and sniffing. Her nose wrinkled. "This stinks, but not of diesel."
"Okay, get up ." Jade started the engines up again and backed the boat away from the pier, getting to an angle against the moonlight again. She spotted what had worried her, a silvery film on the surface they'd just passed through that extended across the surface of the water behind them.
Carefully, Jade turned the boat and followed the oily stripe with her eyes. It went right past the boat and headed across the cut, fading out from her view as it reached the ship in the northeast dock. "Figures."
"What is it?" Tori was at the bottom of the ladder, peering up.
"Should have thought of that first. It's one of them, leaking something." Jade pointed.
Tori turned and looked, shading her eyes against the streetlamps. Now that her partner had pointed it out to her, she saw the line on the water, and in fact if she went to the side.. . "I can smell it." She called up. "Smells like kerosene."
Jade moved their boat sideways, out of the stain. One of the customs boats was now heading their way, apparently noting the odd maneuvers she'd been executing. "Shoulda just stayed out on the reef." She commented. "Better go grab the registration just in case, Tor."
The other boat pulled alongside and Jade set the Dixie into idle, keeping her hands on the controls as the customs officers grabbed hold of the railing. "Hi." She called down.
"You having a problem?" The man called up to her, apparently more concerned for her safety than suspicious.
"No.. I saw a slick, and thought I was causing it." Jade pointed. "But it's that tub over there."
The officer, shaded his eyes, then crouched. "Ah! Yeah." He nodded, then looked back up at her. "You just out for a ride?"
Tori emerged, carefully locking Chino inside the cabin. "No, we were diving." She indicated their gear. "We live over there. We saw these big ships coming in, so we were curious."
The customs officer gave her a once over. "Well, don't be too curious. That's our job." He pushed off from the railing. "You folks have a good night."
"Night." Tori replied politely. "You too."
The customs boat backed away, but placed itself conspicuously between the ship and the Dixieland Yankee. The officers on the rear of the boat watched them as Jade idled for a moment more, then swung the bow around and headed off towards the marina on the far side of the island.
Tori climbed up onto the flying bridge and joined her partner. "That was weird."
"Of course it was. Do normal things happen to you and me?" Jade asked, as she glanced behind her. "But in fairness, I don't think oil leaks are their department." She took the right fork around the island instead of the left, coming even with another of the ships as she moved slowly through the no wake area.
This was the first ship that had come in, and it was already tied up. There were several figures standing the deck leaning on the rails, looking at the sights. One waved at them.
Tori waved back.
The figure stepped forward and exposed himself to her, laughing loudly.
Jade picked up the mic clipped to the console and switched on the Dixie's PA system. "Throw it back, buddy. It's too short."
Tori snickered, leaning against her partner and hiding her face in Jade's shirt sleeve.
The man's companions laughed as well, slapping the miscreant on the back and shoving him back against the wall. One of them then advanced to the rail, but backed up again as the Dixieland Yankee turned into the marina channel and started to disappear from view. "Hey girlies! C'mon back, yeah? I got me a big one!"
"You know what?" Tori sniffed reflectively. "I sure hope Shari and Michelle get that one."
Jade chuckled. "I'm sure ours won't be much better. Old salts are old salts."
"Hm. We could bring our own old salt with us." Tori mused. "He's still on the payroll, and I bet he'd probably keep those guys off our backs."
"Hm."
They came around the south side of the island and entered the marina basin, slowing their already slow speed to just above idle. Most of the marina was empty – the owners moving their boats to a more comfortable climate during the summer along with themselves.
Jade angled towards their slip, putting the Dixie neatly into place as Tori scooted down the ladder to jump ashore and tie them off. Her thoughts, however, were on Tori's last suggestion. Not that she really thought they needed Dad around on their ship…
But wouldn't it be interesting if he were hanging around the others?
Jade shut down the diesels and leaned against the console, weighing the conflict of aiding their business goals at the expense of asking her father to be a part of something not quite…
Would he consider it dishonorable? Or just good strategy.
"Jade? You coming down from there or should I bring coffee up?"
Jade shut down the console and pocketed the keys, then started for the ladder, still pondering the question.