Page 67 of False Flag

He nodded. “Finally.”

She ignored the jibe and turned to Jake, her gaze raking his body. He was also covered from ankle to wrist to neck in a wetsuit. “You’re not bad either.”

They both wore high-end wetsuits that were rated for Pacific Northwest water temperatures, necessary because Staci wasn’t certified for drysuit dives, while Jake preferred the freedom of movement.

That she looked amazing in the suit was a definite bonus for the documentary.

“Eye candy for everyone,” Gerard said. “Now that we’re all here, we can finally get started.”

“Before we do, I need to grab a new set of fins.” Staci held up the pair she’d brought on deck. “The strap broke on this one.”

“That can wait until we’re done here.” Gerard faced his audience, which was the entire expedition team. He used his podcaster voice, even though, to the best of Jake’s knowledge, this wasn’t being recorded. “This is a shakedown cruise for the dive team. We don’t have all the scuba equipment we’ll be using for the research dives, including full-face masks that allow talking, nor do we have the full documentary team. But we do have one member of the documentary crew, who arrived with me last night on this boat.” He nodded toward the drysuited man by his side. “Felix will dive today as part of this test run. He’ll film Jake and Staci so he can calibrate his equipment and get familiar with you both in the water.”

Jake nodded to the cameraman, whom he’d met while they all waited for Staci. She shook Felix’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Gerard resumed speaking. “Felix is a professional documentarian. You’ll meet the rest of his team when they arrive on Tuesday.”

Jake had to wonder if this was just a paid gig for Felix, or if he was a believer. So far, except for Staci, everyone involved was a believer, but a documentarian required a specific set of skills, especially with scuba involved. The man and his team could be allies, but Jake couldn’t count on it.

“For today’s dive, Jake is dive master,” Gerard said. “He has the most experience by far, which is why I’m taking advantage of his expertise while I have him here. As dive master, he has complete control and final say over every element of the dive. He and I met with the captain earlier and selected the area where we’ll drop anchor.”

“Based on my data,” Lloyd said.

Jake couldn’t blame him for the bitterness in his tone. He had done all the groundwork. As far as he knew, there was no reason Lloyd wasn’t diving with them today.

Was he on the outs with Gerard? How had that happened when Gerard hadn’t been on the island at all in the last two weeks?

“Because of recent runoff, we can expect visibility to be three to five meters,” Jake said, ignoring his brother’s comment and launching into the dive plan. “Felix will need to stick close, unless you have a remote camera?”

“Remotes are arriving with the rest of my team on Tuesday.”

Jake nodded. That could be a reason to limit the team to two people. Only one person filming, and no remote cameras.

He resumed. “We’re heading into Haro Strait, staying on the Canadian side. The captain is going to drop anchor as close as he can to a sunken barge from the sixties. The wreck is fifteen to twenty meters deep, which is right at the limit for needing a decompression stop if we’re down for an hour. This dive should only be about forty-five minutes. I’ll be tracking depth and bottom time and will call for early ascension if I think it’s warranted. We’ll do a standard three-minute safety stop at five meters. We’re not taking chances with safety, especially when using unfamiliar equipment.

“To that end, no swimming in caves, under sharp overhangs, or entering the wreck should there be an opening. There won’t be, but still, it has to be said. Each of us needs to keep one person in sight at all times. No exceptions. If any one of us has an issue—it doesn’t matter how small—all three will abort the dive. Understand?”

Staci and Felix nodded.

Next, they each checked their equipment. Felix filmed as Staci held up her regulator and explained how it worked as she cleared the valves. She stumbled over words a few times, but it was just a practice run for everything. Felix would probably film the sequence again if Gerard wanted to include it in the documentary.

Jake double-checked everyone’s equipment, and Staci checked his in return. After that, they went over hand signals to ensure they were all on the same page.

Most of the team had dispersed as they went through the safety protocol. None of them had a role to play in the dive today. They just got to enjoy a sunny day on the water.

They were near the anchor point by the time they’d finished going over the safety checklist. Felix, Dahlia, and Lloyd moved the tanks and regulators to the dive platform, while Staci searched the equipment locker for fins that fit over her booties. Jake studied the strap of the broken fin. “This is fixable.”

“Yeah. It’s just the buckle. I figured if Gerard didn’t have a bunch of different sizes, we could improvise. But these should work for today.”

He grabbed a weight belt. “How much weight do you need?”

“What are the tanks?”

“Aluminum.”

“Probably fifteen pounds, then.”

Felix returned and grabbed his camera apparatus.