Stealing Asia by David Clarkson Page A

whether they are dangerous is
relative.’
    Being new to
diving, I did not take the news that I had been sharing the water with a potential
killer quite so calmly as the others. My reaction had more in common with that
of Izzie who was now vowing never to go back in the water.
    ‘What do you
mean - relative?’ I asked. ‘Either they eat you or they don’t.’
    Manu laughed off
my concern.
    ‘Sharks rarely
attack humans,’ he said. ‘They are nocturnal feeders and coming across one at
this time is like stumbling upon a human sleep walking. The odds of one
attacking a diver without provocation are pretty much non-existent.’
    I glanced over
the side of the boat, but could see nothing. The shark could have been directly
under our hull or a hundred metres away; there was simply no way of telling.
    ‘For argument’s
sake, what are the options if one did attack?’ I asked.
    ‘I can answer
that,’ interrupted Barrett.
    The American
reached down to his shin and unclipped a six inch blade that he had previously
kept concealed from us all. I knew it had to be part of his own personal kit as
there was no way Manu would have given it to him. He turned the blade over in his
hand for us all to see.
    ‘All you gotta
do is to take your knife,’ he began and whilst thrusting the knife outwards in
a stabbing motion, continued; ‘then cut your dive buddy. Whilst the shark feeds
on him you can make a quick swim to safety.’
    ‘Fuck you,’ said
Clay.
    Being Barrett’s
dive buddy, he was obviously not amused. He went on to initiate a short mock
boxing bout where the two of them punched one another in the arm. It was cringe
worthy stuff and more akin to schoolboy behaviour than that of two full grown
men. The rest of us tried our best to ignore it.
    ‘Like I told
you,’ said Manu. ‘Sharks do not attack divers, so nobody needs to go stabbing
their buddy. If you ever do feel threatened by a shark the best course of
action is to hit their gills. This will be sufficient to deter them from
getting too close.’
    The debate about
the shark continued as we moved onto the next dive sight. It was not far away
from the first and given the direction of the current, Manu thought there was a
good chance we would spot the shark again. Despite Asia enthusing about how
great the encounter had been, I thought I could live without experiencing it
myself. Fortunately, we had to allow a half hour interval between the two dives
to give the nitrogen in our systems time to dissipate, so we all chilled below
deck for a while. Manu had biscuits and hot chocolate to restore our energy
levels and it worked a treat. Esteban remained on the deck and I went up to see
what kept him.
    ‘What’s up?’ I
asked. ‘We have hot chocolate downstairs, you know.’
    He was gazing
out to sea and did not reply. In the distance, maybe about one and a half to
two miles away there was a small frigate.
    ‘You thinking
that we need a bigger boat too,’ I said.
    He glanced over
at me, but still seemed distracted.
    ‘What?’ he
asked.
    ‘That boat,’ I
said, nodding to the vessel that skirted the horizon. ‘You look transfixed.’
    ‘It’s nothing,’
he replied. ‘It’s just that I could swear I saw that same boat in exactly the
same spot yesterday.’
    ‘What’s unusual
about that?’
    ‘It’s not a
fishing boat and it’s too small to be a cargo ship. Why would it stay moored so
close to the island like that?’
    I shook my head.
    ‘Like I said;
it’s probably nothing,’ he told me. ‘Let’s go and get some of that hot
chocolate.’
    On the way down
we passed Barrett, who told us he was going up for some fresh air. I thought he
was deliberately avoiding Izzie, which was particularly cold as after seeing
the shark she needed comforting more than anyone. Both she and Dee decided to
sit out the second dive. I would have liked to have stayed on the boat as well,
but Asia would never have forgiven me if I had backed out too.
    After arriving
at the