Once A Spy, Always A Spy

Chapter 9: Underwater Difficulties

"As a diver you are weightless and can move in all directions. You approach the freedom of a bird as you move in three dimensions in a fluid environment."--Dennis Graver

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~Zach~

As we swam for about 10 minutes, I could feel the water's cool water even through my scuba suit. I glanced behind me and saw nothing but darkness, except for the slight light above us.

"Zach," Ian's voice sounded mechanic through the waterproof speaker of his earpiece.

"What?" I asked, hearing my own mechanic voice.

"You okay? You keep turning back every few seconds."

"Yeah," I answered. "Just making sure no submarines are coming." I decided not to tell him. It would just freak everyone out.  And having them panic is the last thing we need right now. Ian nodded and turned forward again, but I could see he didn't believe me. Suddenly the group stopped swimming and glanced ahead to see Rose checking her waterproof watch.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked.

"We need to split up," she replied, looking up. "We don't have much time, and this river isn't exactly small."

Matt nodded, "We could just use our earpieces to communicate if one of us finds the remote."

"I'll go with Rose!" I blurted out. Everyone was instantly silent, and I could hear my mechanical voice echo through the water. "I know this river cause I had a mission here and Rose knows how to disable the remote faster. We're gonna team up," I stammered on the last part, knowing full well that this is the first time since Rose retired that we're gonna be working on our own. Just like old times.

"Uhm, okay?" Jessica said and her voice sounded robotic as she laughed. Rose was avoiding my gaze, but behind her goggles/mask I could see her red face. I just hope the cool waters would cool down my own warm face.

"Okay," Ian said. "Rose and Zach goes up north of the river; Eddie and Claire go east; and Matt, Jessica, and I go south. We don't need to worry about west cause we just swam past that and it was all clear."

"We gotta meet up here an hour before the oxygen tank runs out, okay?" Rose asked, regaining her leadership skills. "Use that big rock over there as a landmark. Or watermark. You know what I mean," she said and pointed towards a big boulder nearby. Everyone nodded and swam off in the different directions they were assigned to go to.

"So," I said awkwardly. "Let's go?"

She nodded, still avoiding my gaze, and we swam off, searching around us for any suspicious hiding places. Rose swam slightly ahead of me, and from behind her I could see how she's grown. Even under the scuba suit her body appeared more slimmer and toner than the last time I've seen her. Has she been working out? I would ask her, but I don't want to sound like a creeper. Besides, the Zach that she probably knows is still the one who didn't care much bout anything except for his missions.

Suddenly, Rose stopped swimming, causing me to almost swim on her.

"What the heck?" I asked.

"There's a fork," she said and I looked ahead of us. She was right. In front of us were three large underwater boulders. I don't even know why there are boulders in this river, but maybe we're getting close to the ocean or something. I shook my head. If we're nearing the ocean then that means the remote wasn't in the area where we swam at. I clenched my teeth as I saw two paths between the boulders, each looking dark and gloomy.