Dive III: The Danger

CHAPTER FIVE

Menasce Gérard watched Kaz's receding form disappear in the surging current. He had no doubt that he could catch up to the boy. But then the two of them would be lost, with no way to call for rescue. No, the only course of action was to remain here; to remain calm. He wuold complete his decompression, return to the Pizarro, and then go after the boy.

Mon dieu, those teenagers were trouble. Yet he had to admit that without Kaz, they never would have recovered the captain's body. Oui, he owed the boy that. His stubborn insistence on joining this expedition was as courageous as it was foolhardy.

English regarded his watch. He still had more than forty minutes to go, but he could cut that time in half. It was risky, but necessary to rescue the boy.

Twenty nervous minutes later, he broke the surface. Not wanting to risk even a short swim in the powerful current, he hauled himself and his equipment straight up the anchor line, and swung a long leg over the gunwale of the Pizzaro.

Vanover's remains had already been placed inside a grey body bag on the deck. Perhaps that was best — to remember Braden as he was, not in this state.

But this was a time for action, not reflection.

"That was fast," commented Captain Torrington. "Where's Kaz?"

English kicked away his flippers and flung off his equipment. "The Zodiac! Vite!"

Torrington did not ask questions. In the few seconds it took for the guide to scramble out of his dripping wet suit, she had the inflatable raft on the dive platform, ready for launch. She suggested one change of plan. "You must be exhausted. Let me look for him."

English shook his head. "I let him dive, me. He is on my conscience." He tossed the Zodiac into the water and stepped inside. As the outboard motor roared to life, he looked around helplessly. Kaz had been drifting for almost half an hour.

Who could guess how far away the boy might be?