Taken By The Shark

Chapter 2

“Good afternoon,” said Mark to the twenty assembled people who had been chosen over the three days in San Diego. “Welcome to dock-point seven. As many of you know already, I am the primary instructor for this training group. My name is Mark Caerulus, but you may all call me Mark. We’re going to be working very closely together and living on this island, so maintaining the distance of last names hardly seems necessary. Now I know that there are twelve guys and eight girls in this year’s group, so as compensation some of you men will be sharing a boat instead of a cabin. But since we’ll be in the water more often than not anyway, that shouldn’t really be a problem. Also, there is to be no leaving camp to visit the village except when we go as a group to obtain more supplies. What we are doing here is considered top secret, so if anybody asks simply tell them to buzz off. We’re not doing anything illegal, we simply aren’t ready to share.”

“Sir, I’d like to volunteer to sleep in a boat,” said Erik as he raised his hand. Chelsea was certain it was just for the attention and she rolled her eyes.

“Thank you, Stotz,” he said. “Now all we need to do is find three guys willing to put up with your ego for six months and convince them to bunk with you there.”

“Hey!” he grumbled. “You could always put me in my own boat if it’s a problem.”

Everybody laughed, including Chelsea. She may not like the guy much, but she had to admit he knew how to work a crowd. She was also quite amused that Mark had come to the same conclusion about the guy that she had. Pure ego and a powerful self-serving urge going on there.

“Okay, it’s much easier dividing up you ladies,” Mark said then. “Two in one cabin, three in each of the other two. Jillian will take you there now. Jill?”

“Sure thing, Mark,” replied a woman who stepped forward. “This way, ladies. Our cabins are in a more private area with a big fence to keep these ravening males from trying to get a better look. And they’re off-limits to the lot of you, so don’t let me catch you trying to sneak in, either. I know that relationships can tend to form in situations like this, but you boys will just have to keep your hormones in check.”

“Damn!” said Erik as he cast an eye in Chelsea’s direction. “I hate it here already.”

Seeing his leer, Chelsea shuddered with disgust and quickly stepped up next to Jillian. “Let’s go, girls,” she said. “It looks like the ravening has already begun.”

Her eyes met Mark’s briefly after she said it, and he looked speculatively from her to Erik and back again. She wrinkled her nose slightly and shook her head, and Mark smirked in understanding. His expression looked as though he couldn’t blame her, and Chelsea chuckled as she waved good-bye and followed the other women out.

“Sir, why are you allowed to look if we can’t?” Erik wanted to know.

“Mind your own business, Erik Stotz,” he replied. “Okay, then, who else is going on the boat. Let’s get you situated first. Oh yes, and one of you will need to keep in touch with me so we can all coordinate our efforts and such. There’s a radio on the boat itself, and I’ll be staying on my own boat as well. I much prefer the feel of the tides to help me get to sleep.”

“I’ll do that as well,” Erik said then. “I’m a bit edgy when I’m not the one who is right on top of things.”

“Now that, I do not doubt,” Mark replied. Three other men and Erik soon gathered their belongings and headed for the designated boat at the end of the long row of boats along the dock. The other eight men followed Mark as he led them to the two small cabins in the opposite direction from the one the women had taken. There was no fence to protect them from being ogled as well.

*****

“Gather around, everyone, the boats have just docked,” Mark called out to two teams of ten who were waiting on the shore. “Team A, you guys will get on my boat, and Jill will be taking Team B to their destination. Now, the pilots of these boats, Steve and Gayle, are a couple who live in the village during the six months here for obvious reasons. Each of them will be ferrying out two of the submersibles we’ll be using to train today.”

“Sir, will you be dividing us by specialty on these submersibles?” Erik wanted to know.

“Well, sometimes I would want to do so. However, for the purposes of this first dive, it’s mostly just about getting everyone used to the idea of going so deep. Some people get down there and discover that it’s a lot different than they expected. The pressure on your ears makes it difficult to hear until you get used to it, for one thing, so that’s why we’ll all be rigged with these.”

Mark tossed Erik a device that attached at the wrist. It had a small keyboard and read-out display, and was also equipped with a microphone. “Is this what it looks like?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Mark. “But you don’t necessarily have to type on it, just speak into it and the thing will broadcast what you said onto the readout display of either the entire team or the individuals of your choice. It comes in handy for having conversations on the side. Each of you will be given a designation on the grid. If you come to me one at a time, I’ll set that up for you.”

“Yes, sir” everyone responded collectively. Each of them stepped forward to get a unit and wait their turns, except for Chelsea. She hung back waiting for them to all get out of the way instead.

“Last one,” said Mark, casting her an amused look. Smiling, Chelsea stepped up to him as he held her unit in his hands. “What do you want your designation to be, Chelsea?”

“I have no idea,” she admitted.

“Let’s call you Amphitrite,” he said, finding it difficult not to twinkle at her as he did so.