Читать книгу Beyond the Barrier Reef - Christopher Cummings - Страница 9

Chapter 2

STUNNED

As he swam quickly towards where Carmen and Tristan were Andrew puzzled over what it could be that they were looking at. From his study of the chart he did not remember any isolated rock or coral outcrop being marked in the middle of the Boat Passage.

And why has this steel wire rope and anchor point and pulley been put here? he wondered.

The whole group of reefs was in a restricted research conservation zone so there should not be anything artificial there. It wasn’t even one of the anchor buoys that had been placed at selected places by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Andrew noted that the wire rope ran directly to the dark mound.

It only took a couple of minutes for Andrew and Ella to swim the hundred metres to where Carmen and Tristan were pulling at something on the dark lump. As they were swimming with the current they were able to skim along. The only thing they had to do was keep watching their depth so they did not come up too fast. Twice Ella caught Andrew’s eye and tapped the dive computer on her wrist to remind him of both the depth and the time. He nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

Another quick check of remaining air showed that Ella had sixty-five and Andrew fifty. That was now becoming serious and he nodded to show he understood. But they were now only a short distance from where Carmen and Tristan were pulling at what looked like a net. So Andrew continued swimming, confident he could safely surface and reassured by the sight of the rubber boat bobbing only ten metres overhead.

But even as he looked up the rubber boat began moving, the propeller on its outboard motor becoming a sudden whirring blur and its engine noise very obvious. It sped away westwards.

Where is Dan going? Andrew wondered. Must be back to the dive boat for something, he decided as it was anchored in the direction the rubber boat was going.

Still curious about the net covered mound on the seabed Andrew switched his attention back to the dark mound which he now saw was the size of a large vehicle.

That is a net, he noted, seeing Carmen tug a section free. But how did it get there? This whole group of reefs has been closed to all fishing for ten years or more, Andrew thought. His first idea after that was that the net had come off an illegal fishing boat, Taiwanese or Indonesian perhaps.

But what is the net caught on? he wondered, seeing Tristan crouching right on the bottom at what looked like a piece of machinery. Winches? Andrew wondered, noting what looked like cable drums and several hand wheels. Definitely man made anyway, he decided.

Andrew was just about to swim down to look when his attention was distracted by cavitation and engine sounds and he looked back over his shoulder and saw the rubber boat returning from the west. Seeing it come to stop reassured Andrew. That was good as it meant he would not have to swim another half a kilometre if he had to surface.

A small anchor splashed into the water and fell to the seabed twenty-five metres away, the nylon rope slithering out behind it. The rubber boat came to a stop about fifty metres to the west, tugging at its anchor against the current.

That was a bit dangerous! Andrew thought irritably. One of us might have been underneath that.

Assuming that Dan had made sure they were safe before he threw the anchor, so Andrew turned his attention back to the net and the machinery it was tangled in.

Or is it? Those look like some sort of straps, he thought.

To add to the puzzle, he saw that a steel rod about three metres high was sticking up out of the seabed in the lee of the mound. Even more puzzling other sets of wires could be seen stretching off across the seabed, one directly under Andrew towards Yule Reef and another opposite it going south across Boat Passage.

What are these wires for? Andrew wondered.

He began swimming over to join Tristan and Carmen. This was hard to do as the current had carried him past the mound and he had to swim hard against it. He knew he had only a few more minutes of safe diving left before he must surface but he wanted to see for himself what this man-made object was.

Splashes back behind him made Andrew glance quickly over his shoulder. He saw it was two more divers entering the water but they did not interest him. Dan and Mr Craig must be coming to have a look, he surmised.

Andrew joined Carmen at the net and she held it up and he saw the query in her eyes. He reached out and felt it. It was nylon and both strong and new, the mesh about fifteen centimetres in size. What on earth would they be trying to catch with a net with a mesh this big? Andrew wondered.

Tristan waved his hand and then pointed down. Andrew turned to look, very aware that he must soon surface.

Whoosh! Bahwhoompf!

Andrew stared in uncomprehending shock as something struck the back of Tristan’s head, resulting in a fizz and sudden eruption of bubbles.

Oh my God! His air tank has exploded! Andrew thought. And then he saw the steel rod and the dark streamers of blood.

It took a few more seconds before the impact of the horror he had just watched sank in. A powerhead, he thought in disbelieving amazement. Powerheads were special explosive tipped spears fired from a speargun. Usually the tip of the spear contained a large calibre rifle bullet: a .308, or a 7.62mm or even larger. They were used against sharks and other large and dangerous marine creatures. And it was obvious from the way Tristan’s arms just flopped and his whole body sagged and began to drift back on the current that he was dead.

An accident? Andrew wondered as sickening emotion began to boil in him.

He knew there were a couple of old spearguns on the dive boat, but he had not seen any powerheads. Half-stunned with shock Andrew noted the look of horror on Carmen’s face and then saw Carmen reach out and grab Tristan by the arm. Then she looked up to where the powerhead had come from and Andrew saw the whites of her eyes as they widened in terror.

Fear then overrode shock and Andrew swivelled to look back up as well. There were three divers there. Close to him was Ella, also staring up at the other two. Both of the other divers were about ten metres above and behind—and both held spearguns.

What the hell? Andrew thought.

His mind raced, trying to work out what Dan and Mr Craig might be up to. Then he realized that both of the other divers were fully clad in black and wore some sort of fully enclosed helmet. And they were not wearing the bright yellow BCDs of the university group. Nor did either have the build of Mr Craig.

What the? Who are these people? Andrew wondered.

Then he saw the closest of the two divers point his speargun at Carmen. As though in a dream Andrew noted that the speargun was of the compressed air type and that it had a double mount. One of the spears was gone but one remained—and it was a powerhead!

He’s going to shoot Carmen! Andrew thought. He could not imagine why but a surge of sheer desperation set him moving rapidly. I must save her, he thought.

He whipped out his diving knife even as his fins began to bite at the water. All he could think to do was swim between Carmen and the man so that is what he tried to do.

Zzzut!

Andrew saw the bubbles spurt and the spear flashed down. It seemed to arrow straight towards him at an appalling speed but at the last moment his mind registered the fact that it would pass just in front of him. He made a desperate lunge with both arms and swept them downwards. The knife in his right hand just clipped the butt of the spear but his left hand actually struck it as it passed.

Did it get her? Andrew thought, anxiety pulsing through him along with the adrenalin.

He turned his head to look and to his intense relief he saw that the spear had just missed. A trail of bubbles led close past Carmen and down to the seabed. There was a distinct whumpf’ and a puff of bubbles and sand on the seabed to mark the spear’s impact. For a moment his eyes locked with hers and he saw the shock, disbelief and horror he was experiencing being mirrored in hers.

Then anger surged as the shock took hold. Bastard! Andrew thought. He has killed Tristan and tried to kill Carmen!

And the man had fired both his spears. Andrew reacted, partly from the surging fury and partly from a coldly rational notion that he must fight to survive. He turned and began swimming towards the man, knife now held at the ready.

Thunk!

Andrew felt the blow and knew instantly that he had been hit. But there was no explosion and even as he turned to look he noted that the second diver had a speargun which used conventional spears.

I’ve been hit! Andrew thought, disbelief and terror both swamping his thoughts and emotions. Fear of death and rising panic at dying underwater, by drowning if not from being impaled, gripped him so strongly that for a few seconds he was quite paralysed.

As he regained thought and movement Andrew groped at his back and found the steel shaft. It had driven in just below his air tank and then angled downwards through his right buttock and across through his right leg to press against his left. Terrified of dying he found his heart racing and realized that he was gulping great lung fulls of air.

Slow down! You will run out of air, he told himself. But new fears were still swamping his consciousness and he had trouble acting on his own advice. I must be bleeding, he thought, groping to find the wounds.

But he could only feel where the spear went into his wetsuit and was unable to reach around to feel the exit. The whole time his eyes were on the man who had shot him, noting that there was a second spear still in the speargun and that it was aimed at him.

I am done for! he thought.

But he wasn’t ready to just give up and ideas of making a last desperate lunge with his knife flashed through his mind. It was only then that he realized that he no longer had the knife. Stupidly he stared at his open right hand.

I must have dropped it, he thought.

Angrily he berated himself for not looping the thong on the knife’s handle over his wrist to prevent that happening. Part of his mind told him not to be ridiculous as there had been no time, but the other part tried to come up with a plan.

Then Andrew noticed a third diver in black had appeared from the direction of the rubber boat. This diver also had a twin spear speargun.

We are all dead! Andrew thought bitterly. He turned to gesture to Carmen to swim. Get away! Swim for your life! his mind screamed.

To his dismay she had let go of Tristan’s body and had swum over to grab hold of him. Frantic for her safety Andrew tried to push her away and then he gestured furiously for her to get going.

To his annoyance he saw that she was shaking her head and holding on to him. Groaning with defeat and despair Andrew saw that the third diver had arrived and was looking around and making furious signals with his left arm and hands.

No chance now, Andrew thought. He began to brace himself for death—regret and terror becoming the dominant emotions.

Then he saw that the third diver was making angry gestures and pointing towards the rubber boat. Both the other divers began indicating to them to start swimming that way.

Not yet then, Andrew decided.

But the dread was tight in his chest and he was still gulping air too fast. And now the pain was starting. Up till then the wound had felt numb, but streaks of agony began to shoot up his spine and down along his right leg. The steel shaft of the spear felt as though it was grinding against the back of his thigh bone.

But there was no doubt that the divers wanted them to go towards the rubber boat. Andrew made a few feeble strokes, but Carmen gripped him tight and looked close into his eyes, face mask to face mask. Andrew saw the mingled fear and concern in her eyes and then she began towing him, holding him close as she did.

Andrew found he could hardly move and at last managed to slow his breathing. As he was dragged along he saw that Ella was swimming beside them, her head moving from side to side and her eyes wide with terror. Behind them came the three divers, their weapons aimed at them. The diver who had killed Tristan was towing his body, gripping it by the gauges on his air tank. A swirl of blood still seeped from Tristan’s head but was almost immediately dispersed in the water.

The sight of that blood got Andrew thinking. I must be bleeding too, he thought. But he could not turn his head enough to see. He found not knowing was worse. His imagination took over. Blood attracts sharks, he thought.

He remembered reading that even the tiniest amount, parts per million quantities, could be smelt by sharks at incredible distances. Another wave of gut squeezing terror engulfed him and he began looking around in an attempt to spot any attack before it struck him.

By then the combined effect of swimming and of the current had them close to the rubber boat. The third diver now pointed towards where the dive boat was anchored and made signals to the first diver. He dragged Tristan’s body up to the rubber boat and then hauled both himself and it aboard. Andrew watched with fascinated horror as Tristan’s legs and fins vanished up through the rippling silver ceiling that was the surface of the sea.

The third diver angrily gesticulated and pointed and the threat of his speargun got them moving again. Andrew tried to use his limbs but Carmen shook her head and held him so he stopped struggling and left it to her. As they swam they rose slowly and were now only five metres down.

I shouldn’t drown now, Andrew thought, conscious that his air must be just about exhausted.

In the end his air did run out. He sucked and nothing came and a second suck just produced panic. Frantically he gestured to Carmen and pointed to his regulator. She at once unclipped her alternate air source and held it out for him. Andrew spat out his regulator and grabbed the alternate and placed it in his mouth. A quick blast cleared it and he thankfully gulped a breath of air.

Thank heavens for all that training, he thought, remembering how much they had been drilled by the instructor during his Open Water and Advanced Diving courses.

Carmen now angled upwards and a minute later they broke surface. Andrew sobbed with relief as his head broke through into the fresh air and sunlight. But he kept his regulator in his mouth as he knew from experience that if he did not he could easily swallow a mouthful of salt water as he tried to breathe and in his current state that could be disastrous. Once she was on the surface Carmen inflated her BCD to give them both buoyancy.

The rubber boat appeared near them and the man in it, his speargun reloaded, pointed behind Andrew. He screwed his neck around to see how far they were from the dive boat and immediately regretted it as a stabbing pain lanced through him again. The horrible thought that the spear had damaged his spine sent chills of apprehension through Andrew. But he had spotted the dive boat. It was about two hundred metres away.

Maybe Mr Craig can save us, Andrew thought. But it was a feeble hope as Mr Craig was just an unarmed, middle-aged man against three armed and fit younger men. Who are they? And what are they doing? Andrew wondered. And what will they do to us? That was the real worry. Will they kill us too? he worried.

It took Carmen five minutes to swim the distance. Every minute added to the tension and apprehension building in Andrew. The rubber boat circled them continually and Andrew noted that Dan was not in it.

Where is he? he wondered. Is he dead or is he a prisoner like us? It was a terrifying mystery and it took all of Andrew’s courage to face whatever might be ahead.

From time to time as his face mask dipped under Andrew got glimpses of the other divers. They were swimming towards the dive boat as well, shepherding Ella. To make things worse other fears continued to nag at Andrew. Chief among these was the worry about sharks and he kept glancing around as well as he could in the vain hope of spotting any that might be approaching.

They were in the lee of the reef by then and Andrew saw the exposed coral and the small sand cay off to his left as Carmen towed him on his back. The waves subsided to less than fifteen centimetres and the current also eased as it spread in the wider waters beyond the reef.

What is going on? Andrew wondered. And how can we get away?

That and dread over what injuries he might have suffered—and might be facing—kept him mentally occupied as Carmen struggled the last fifty metres. As she did Andrew saw that a large, modern fishing boat of the ‘Game Fishing’ type with three levels of superstructure on its gleaming white hull was tied on the far side of the dive boat. Seeing the other boat explained to Andrew where the three divers had come from but left him shivering with shock and filled with dread.

As they reached the dive boat, Carmen swung Andrew around to bring him in head first to the steel mesh dive platform which was hinged down at the stern so that it was just below water level. She reached it and hung on, gasping for breath and trembling from the exertion and obvious distress. Andrew felt relief tinged by anxiety about what was to happen next but he had the hope that the men had brought them back to question them.

They would have just killed us out there otherwise, he reasoned.

Lying on his back as he was Andrew was able to look up. Squinting against the glare of the sun he made out another strange man, bearded and dressed in black and armed with a submachine gun. The man with the SMG was standing at the stern of the dive launch and had the weapon aimed at Dan and Mr Craig.

At least they are alive, Andrew thought.

Three heads surfaced nearby and the third diver hauled himself up onto the dive platform. As the man hauled himself upright using the port ladder for support he unclipped his helmet and pulled it off. This revealed him to have a thin, hard face with high cheekbones. His hair was cut very short and as he turned to look down at Andrew the hard look in his dark eyes sent chills of apprehension through him. The man pointed the speargun at Andrew.

Staring up at the hard, angry face and the twin steel points of the spears Andrew experienced a rush of pure terror.

Is he going to kill me now? he wondered.