Alex Archer - The Oracle's Message

The catamaran bobbed in place and Annja sat on the edge of the far side of the boat, away from the anchor. Looking around, she could see a boat in the distance, but it was too far away to be of any concern to her.

Other than that, she was alone.

Here we go, she thought.

And with that, she leaned back and pitched over into the water.

She’d decided not to wear a diving suit, opting instead for just her one-piece bathing suit. She figured the water wouldn’t be too cold, and she was right. As the sea enveloped her, she felt its cooling effect on her body. But it was still at least seventy-five degrees, if not closer to eighty. She suspected there would be cooler currents and warmer currents, given the proximity of the island to three different bodies of water.

She blew out and tested all her seals. All good. She descended slowly. In this area, the water depth was only about fifty feet.

Immediately, she saw schools of brilliantly colored fish dart away from her. Pilot fish swam closer and in the distance she spotted clown fish zipping through the water.

About twenty feet below her, Annja made out a brilliant array of bright pink coral. Her eyes widened when she saw the lush life swirling around the structure. A moray eel seemed to sense her approach and ducked back inside after opening its mouth and showing her a wide array of needle-sharp teeth.

I wouldn’t want to get a hand caught on any of those, she thought.

She allowed the weight belt to pull her down, only occasionally kicking her flippers. The tug of the current moved her gradually to the side and Annja had to right herself to keep on the level heading she wanted.

Unlike a lot of coral reefs, the one Annja now approached was classified as a small table reef, meaning it was mostly isolated and didn’t have a lagoon nearby. As she descended farther, Annja could see the incredible biodiversity present. Starfish littered one side of the reef, while saddleback butterfly fish with their distinctive black markings on their backs wove and dodged nearby.

A school of triggerfish passed close by, each one seeming to inspect Annja as if she was some unknown intruder.

Annja spotted more clown fish and marveled at the brilliant orange of their scales.

A dark shape passed in the periphery of her vision and Annja’s heart beat faster for a moment until she turned.

She spotted a grouper.

Annja considered them to be an ugly fish, the way they floated through the darker waters, with their mouths opening and closing and their dead eyes locked on to whatever they happened to be swimming toward.

If she hadn’t known better, she might have felt a twinge of fear. But groupers, for all their horrid appearance, presented no threat. And Annja had a sharp diver’s knife strapped low on her right leg, just in case.

She almost laughed. And if that didn’t work, she thought, she could simply bring her sword out. She felt sure that would take care of pretty much any threat the sea could throw at her.

Her breathing had settled down nicely, her inhalations coming slow and steady as she felt the last of her cares slip away for the moment. This was what she’d wanted for so long and to think that she was finally there, drinking it all in. Annja had left the rest of the world above and behind her.

She felt great.

She drifted deeper and could see the powder-white sand on the floor of the ocean where it met the edge of the coral reef. As she suspected, the water was a little cooler there, and she moved back toward the warmer waters, aware that she’d have to make sure she didn’t stay too long. She knew she’d risk hypothermia if her core temperature came down too much.

This dive was about reconnaissance, anyway. She had just wanted to get out and find the reef, take note of some of its features and then prepare to come back over the next few days for more investigative work. Documenting this reef and its life would make for a fun project and it would totally take her mind off the work she’d left back in New York City.

She blew out a stream of bubbles that floated skyward. She glanced up and saw the bright sunlight filtering down toward where she bobbed close by the edge of the coral.

A school of powder-blue surgeonfish seemed to be buzzing close by a section of coral and Annja could see they were dining on the algae that had encrusted one portion of the reef.

The levels of life here were simply amazing. Annja could see how coral reefs accounted for so many of the ocean’s species cohabitating in close proximity to one another. The reefs themselves supplied a level of food that brought small fish. And the small fish attracted larger fish that dined on them.

And so it went up the food chain.

Right to the apex predators.

Annja steered herself left and saw the sharp spikes of a crimson-colored crown of thorns starfish atop an outcropping of coral. The notoriously voracious starfish dined on the coral and Annja wondered how long it would take to reduce the outcropping until it was level with the rest of the reef.

She heard the faint sound of a motor and glanced up toward the water’s surface. Perhaps the boat she’d spotted in the distance earlier had moved closer. She thought she spotted a dark shape closer to the surface, but dismissed it as a shadow.

It was probably caused by a cloud, she thought.

She turned her attention back to the reef.

Long spindly tendrils of sea grass waved to and fro as the current moved it about. Annja spotted smaller clown fish threading their way through the stalks, no doubt trying to use it to hide themselves from predators.

I wish I’d brought my camera, she thought then. The images in front of her face were truly incredible.

Still, there’d be time enough for that. She had a week at the Club Noah resort before she’d be forced to return to the hustle and bustle of her daily existence.

That was seven days away, though. And she didn’t want to spend her time thinking of what the return to her world would do to her outlook on life.

No, she was here now and that was what was most important.

She turned back toward where she’d been watching the clown fish. But the little guys were gone.

She drew closer to the sea grass and peered inside.

She spotted a clown fish huddled farther back, closer to the wall of coral that was behind it.

Annja frowned. Is it me that’s got him spooked?

The answer to her question came a moment later as a jackfish shot past her face mask, through the sea grass and gobbled up the poor clown fish. Annja saw the blur of movement, but had hardly enough time to register the effect.

One second, the clown fish was there; the next, it was simply gone.

The jackfish didn’t hang around, either.

Life on the reef, she thought. Everyone’s got to eat.

Annja looked around again. She realized the motor noise had stopped, but she didn’t see any other anchors leading down to the bottom. Just hers. So there was no one else in the area.

She felt a sense of unease she couldn’t explain. She checked her oxygen gauge and saw she still had plenty left.

A moment later she felt herself torpedoed from behind and thrust into the sharp coral face itself.

The impact of the blow from behind sent Annja into the coral face-first. Her mask came loose and slipped off.

Annja slammed her eyes shut and took a breath.

What the hell hit me?

She flailed about in the water, feeling around for her mask. Calm down, she told herself, it’s here somewhere. She felt to the right and found the mask.

Bringing it over her head, she started purging the water from it by sucking in air through her regulator and then blowing out through her nose, hoping she could get the water level down so she could at least open her eyes.