Alpha held me, an arm bracing my chest and his own bare chest warm against my back. Beneath the water our legs touched. I was unnerved. I'd been blinded by water and then blindsided by this sudden embrace of rescue. I knew-- of course I did --that this contact signified nothing but one man guarding the well-being of another, yet it felt exceptionally intimate.
His voice was right at my ear, "You are safe. Reach forward. The platform is there."
I reached and found the platform. I did not try to climb from the water, but only to anchor myself with the Hippocampus as I carefully wiped my eyes. Alpha released me and distanced himself with a powerful backstroke. I watched him, only from the corners of my eyes. The heat of guilt and embarrassment flooded through me, for Alpha was handsome, strong, educated, and seemingly skilled at everything, and I did not want to be a man that took any pleasure in being in need of rescue...yet the touch of so much bare skin was wickedly tempting and not something to which I was accustomed.
"All right?" Alpha asked.
I nodded. "I'm just disappointed in myself. I'll do better."
"Jade," Dolores called from the stern of the boat, "try these." She leaned forward, offering a pair of goggles. They were not her own, which were still in her sun-streaked hair, but a similar pair.
I took the goggles; they were parts rubber, metal, and glass. Leaning on the platform, I fit the lenses to my face.
"Throw us a float," Alpha said. I looked up through my goggles and saw Dolores, as she made a nod to Alpha. "We'll play a game," he said, "Dolly will throw a line with a float on one end and we'll see which of us can reach it faster."
"I'll do my best, Captain."
"Ready?" Dolores called. She had a flotation ring held between her hands. I saw her twist at her waist then rapidly twist back and release the float so that it flew out over the water. I lost sight of it momentarily in the reduced periphery of my vision where the frame of the water-tight goggles extended about my eyes. I turned my head and saw the float fall.
Alpha was already swimming for the float.
I pulled myself through the water. I did not think about the breaths or strokes. I just swam.
Alpha reached the float before me. I then grasped the ring with my right hand. It was by no means large enough to support two men in the water, but it linked us in the breadth of the ocean and provided a link back to the boat. I trod water as I held it.
I heard a faint tone of argument from the boat. Dolores was gesturing for Prim to keep away from the line. She pointed to the crank of the winch. I believed their debate was in Catalan, but the words were indistinct over the wind, sea, and birds. Prim finally raised his hands in surrender.
Dolores waved to us. I waved back and then saw Alpha do the same. When Dolores cranked the winch, the line on the float went taut and then the float began to move towards the Hippocampus, pulling us with it.
We played our game a few more times. Dolores let Prim throw the float. Alpha and I watched for it to land. We swam for it. Then Dolores would use the winch to draw us back.
"I think you're ready for a dive," Alpha said as we returned again to the platform at the stern of the yacht.
I was yet uncertain. "How is it done?"
"Climb up," Alpha suggested. I went first onto the platform, and he pulled himself up after me to sit at my side. He spoke over his shoulder, "We need a petra on the line, two of the drop lines, two nose clips and another pair of goggles."
Prim left to collect the equipment.
"Petra means 'rock', yes?" I asked.
"A skandalopetra is a diving stone. You ride it down and up through the water. It's not so different from the game with the float, only we're moving vertically beneath the water."
We prepared for the dive. Prim brought the equipment. Alpha and I each wore goggles as well as nose clips made of wood and rubber. Dolores showed me the skandalopetra; it was like a marble tablet with a hole dripped at one end through which a rope passed, and a sea horse emblem carved on each side. A secondary line of rope looped around my wrist, passed through a small ball-float, then clipped to the main line, so that I would not be separated from my stone.
Alpha showed me the form he recommended for diving with the stone and explained how we would signal Dolores and Prim.
It came time for the dive. I stood on the platform, holding the stone between my hands. I took my breaths, then leaned forward and let the stone carry me down into the water. Wet. Cool. I noticed these physical sensations first. Blue. And then along the seabed before me there were greens and browns. I wanted to breathe, but I knew it had not been long since my last. The water grew colder and heavier. The sloping seabed drew closer.
Alpha fell slowly past me, kicking his legs. I wanted to breathe.
I shifted my hands from stone to rope. I then righted my body, slowing my descent. I straightened my legs and climbed the rope until my feet were able to perch on the stone. Above me I saw the silhouette of the Hippocampus hull in the rippling daylight.
I wanted to breathe. The water flowed over me and the diving stone lifted my feet. Alpha rose beside me. I released my line. I broke the surface and drew in a fresh breath. "Jade! All good?" Dolores called.
I smiled.