more. The special alarm message code indicated that there was also a foreign object in or near to the same field of view as the desultory whales. Carol could not contain her excitement. She clapped her hands. 'Anchor, please,' she shouted, and then she laughed. She saw that Troy had already thrown the anchor overboard.
A few minutes later Carol was hurriedly putting on her buoyancy vest in the aft portion of the boat behind the canopy. Her mask and her flippers had already been adjusted and were beside her on the deck. Troy was helping her by holding up the air bottle that was built into the back of the bulky vest. 'Don't worry about Nick,' Troy said. 'He may be grumpy today for some reason, maybe because Harvard lost the basketball game, but he's a fabulous diver. And he has the reputation of being the best dive teacher in the Keys.' He grinned. 'After all, he taught me a couple of months ago and we're not even supposed to be able to swim.'
Carol smiled and shook her head at Troy. 'Don't you ever stop joking?' she said. She slid her free arm through the second opening and the vest fell into place. 'By the way,' she continued softly, 'for an expert diver your friend certainly uses antiquated equipment.' At this moment she regretted her decision to leave her customized diving vest in the station wagon. She always used it when she dove with Dale and it had all the latest advances, such as ABC (Automatic Buoyancy Compensation) and a perfect pocket for her underwater camera. But after all the brouhaha when she came through the marina headquarters with her footlocker of electronic equipment, Carol had decided not to attract further attention by bringing in a state-of-the-art diving vest.
'Nick thinks the new vests make it too easy for the diver. He wants them to have to adjust their buoyancy manually — so that they are more conscious of how far down they are.' Troy looked Carol over. 'You're pretty light. This belt may be enough by itself. Do you normally use any weights?'
Carol shook her head and pulled the belt around her waist. Nick came around the canopy carrying his mask and flippers. He had already put on his diving vest with air bottle and his weighted belt. 'Those whales of yours are still in the same spot down there,' he said. 'I've never seen whales hang around like that. 'He handed her a piece of chewing tobacco. She rubbed the tobacco on the inside of her mask (to prevent fogging) while Nick walked around behind her. He looked at her air gauge and checked both her regulator and the secondary mouthpiece that he might have to use to share her air in the event of an emergency.
Nick talked to Carol while he was making her final equipment checks. 'This is your charter,' he began in what sounded like a friendly tone, 'so we can go almost anywhere you want while we are down there. The dive will not be too difficult, since it's only forty-five feet or so to the floor. However,' Nick moved around in front of Carol and looked directly in her eyes, 'I want one thing thoroughly understood. This is my boat and I am responsible for the safety of the people on it. Including you, whether you like it or not. Before we dive, I want to make certain that you will follow my lead under the water.'
Carol recognized that Nick was trying to be diplomatic. It even flashed through her mind that he looked sort of cute standing there in front of her in his diving gear. She decided to be gracious. 'Agreed,' she said. 'But one thing before we descend. Remember that I'm a reporter. I will have a camera with me and may want you to move from time to time. So don't get angry if I motion you out of the way.'
Nick smiled. 'Okay,' he said, 'I'll try to remember.'
Carol put on her flippers and mask. Then she picked up her underwater camera by the strap and threw it over her neck and shoulder. Troy helped her tighten the strap in the back. Nick was sitting on the side of the boat at a break in the railing, right next to a crude ladder that Troy had just dropped overboard. 'I've checked the water already,' Nick said, 'and there's quite a current up here. Let's go down the anchor rope until