The Danger ( PDFDrive.com )

watery grave, but on the surface it would be bloated beyond recognition.
Approaching one hundred feet, they switched back to compressed air. Kaz
was aware of the pleasant drowse of narcosis, but the feeling had faded by the
time English clutched the line and signaled for him to do the same. They had
reached sixty feet — their first decompression stop.
The idea was that a deep diver could avoid the bends by returning to the
surface slowly. This would allow absorbed gases to breathe out naturally rather
than bubbling into the bloodstream and tissues. It was achieved by making five
stops on the ascent.
The sixty-foot stop was short — four minutes of fish watching and thumb
twiddling. But the times quickly grew. The twelve minutes at forty weren’t so
bad, but Kaz found himself staring at his dive watch during the eighteen minutes
at thirty. Another problem: Up here the sea was warm, but their heavy neoprene
suits were designed for much colder ocean. He was sweating profusely.
Finally, it was time for the twenty-foot stop. Here, the current was a factor
once again. Kaz had to cling to the anchor line to maintain his position. It wasn’t
difficult at first, but the effort required to keep it up for the full thirty-two
minutes was physically exhausting.
The depth isn’t what gets you, he reflected. It’s the decomp that drives you
mad!
He was really dreading their final stop. It was right in the teeth of the current
at ten feet. And it was scheduled to last more than an hour.
Plodding up the rope was like mountain climbing — inching hand over hand
through an overpowering wind. When they reached the ten-foot mark, he held on
for dear life, flapping like a flag in the fast-moving water. It was time to switch
to their third and final breathing gas — pure oxygen to speed decompression.
But how can I change tanks in this current? If I let go with even one hand,
I’m lost.
He tried calling into his mouthpiece. “I can’t — ”
English cut him off. “You will.” Curling his right arm into an iron clamp
around the line, he enfolded the boy in a bear hug with the left. Kaz struggled
clumsily with the hoses, fumbling to clip the regulator in place. His first breath
brought in only seawater. The coughing fit followed immediately. To be out of