Thursday, March 24, 2016

Chapter 9: Wreck Diving and Problems

     During the next two weeks or so, Tony kept himself busy learning what he could about scuba diving skills, and practicing he newly learned skills in diving.  Cindy, still on her summer vacation, made traditional handicrafts and danced at the Kanifay Living History Museum every Thursday.  Each Tuesday and Saturday, she made traditional handicrafts and stick danced at the Kanifay Traditional Village. 
     When Tony and Cindy were not busy with those activities, they often found time to spend with each other.  When they did so, they usually enjoyed Kanifay Island’s attractions, events, other recreation, and food and drink.  Tony looked for chances to talk with Cindy about whether she was a fox fairy; but the more he thought about what he might say, the crazier the thought seemed to him.
     Then the time came for him to take a plane to Abba Tuda Island and stay there for a few days for a few wreck dives.  Abba Tuda was around 930 miles from Kanifay Island, but there was no direct flight from Kanifay to there.  Tony would have to fly 525 miles to Guam, then another 625 miles to Abba Tuda.  Since only one flight a week went from Guam to Kanifay, Tony would be away from Kanifay Island for a week.  If any fox-related problems came up, Tony would not be able to help Cindy; he probably wouldn’t even know about the problem until he returned to Kanifay Island.
     Abba Tuda Island was one of the best wreck diving sites on Earth.  During the Battle of Abba Tuda Island from February 17-19, 1944, very many ships and airplanes had been sunk.  Over sixty Japanese ships and dozens of planes were lying on the bottom of Abba Tuda Bay.  Tony looked forward to putting on his diving gear and taking a look at a few of them.

     After Tony and the other divers had landed at Abba Tuda International Airport, they rode a shuttlebus to the bay.  For the next few days, their home would be a small ship called the SS Lori Price.  On the Lori Price, they would eat all their meals, sleep, get to know each other better, and follow orders from the ship’s captain.  The Lori Price would also be their dive ship.
     The captain of the Lori Price told the divers that there were no aircraft carriers or battleships sunk in Abba Tuda Bay.  The captain explained why.  A week before the famous battle, the Japanese learned that the Americans would attack.  For that reason, when the attack came, all the larger ships were at sea.
     Tony and the others dived many times over the next few days, but I’ll describe a few of their dives.
     One of the ships was lying on its side.  Since the water in that place was not very deep, the divers didn’t have to swim more than a few feet to get to it.  Also, because the water wasn’t very deep there, the ship was covered with coral.  After seventy years under the waters of the bay, the warship had become a beautiful garden of undersea plants and animals.
     One of the places on this ship the divers saw was room number five.  There they found shells for their very large guns.  The shells weighed almost as much as a small shuttlebus and could be fired more than fifty miles.  They were some of the biggest shells in the world.
     Another ship was in water 140 feet deep.  Because it was that deep, the ship wasn’t covered with coral; not much coral grows that deep.  On that ship, the divers saw a small machine—the kind that farmers drive when they work on their land.  Inside the ship, they saw many bombs that weighed 100 pounds each.  When the divers swam from the ship, they were glad to get away from the bombs.
      Another ship was in 150 feet of water.  During the war, that ship had been used to carry water to Japanese-held islands that didn’t have any fresh water.  On that ship, the divers saw a small, two-person tank.  That ship didn’t have much coral on it either.
     Still another ship was very close to the top of the water.  That ship was like a forest, with coral and many other animals and plants all over the side of the ship.  Large and small, colorful fish swam in and out of the ship, and all over it. Inside the ship, they found airplanes, extra parts for airplanes, and many other things.  Near the front of the ship, on the inside, they found a Zero fighter plane.    
     One of the last ships the divers visited was a large ship called the Montevideo.  The Montevideo wasn’t a warship; it was a ship from the nation of Uruguay, and it had carried tourists.  The Montevideo was sunk because it happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
     While Tony was enjoying a few days of wreck diving, Cindy was going about her life, enjoying her final summer vacation before starting her first year at Ponape Island State College, far from Kanifay Island. Cindy decided to go boating with friends.
     For thousands of years, Carolinians and their Pacific Island relatives had been some of the best sailors in the world.  With their sailboats, they traveled long distances even as far east as Panama and Colombia. 
     The Carolinians have continued their tradition of making sailboats.  It takes several Kanifay natives—usually young men—several months to make a sailboat.  When it’s finished, it belongs to everyone who built it; they can enjoy it together. 
     One of Cindy’s friends, who had helped build a sailboat, invited her to join him and his friends in sailing.  On the afternoon that Tony was getting ready to return to Kanifay Island, Cindy went sailing near the island.
     No one was sure just how the accident happened.  All anyone knew was that a careless person on another boat got too close to the boat on which Cindy was sailing.  When they tried to keep from hitting the boat, the hit a rock that they didn’t see because it was underwater.  Cindy fell against something and hurt her head and caused it to bleed.  Cindy’s friends returned to the land and took her to a hospital as quickly as possible.  They tried to call her father, but her father was on a fishing trip near another island.
     It was late in the afternoon.  Cindy kept asking what time it was, and saying that she had to leave to go home.  The doctor refused to let her leave because he said that he needed to keep her in the hospital for a few days to make sure she would be all right.  Cindy kept saying that she had to leave to go home.  Finally, a nurse gave Cindy a shot to make her sleep.
     In another hour or so, the sun went down, and it began to get dark. While a nurse was in Cindy’s hospital room caring for Cindy, the nurse saw a change come over Cindy.  The nurse quickly pressed a button to call for a doctor.  Then she turned on a light to make sure that she saw what she thought she was seeing.  A moment later, the nurse and the doctor watched as Cindy, still sleeping, turned into a fox.
     “Doctor,” the nurse said, “shall I call the Department of Safety?”
     “No,” the doctor said.  “Call the chief of police.”  As the nurse turned to leave, the doctor called her back and said, “And don’t tell anyone else about this.  We should let the chief of police decide what to do.”
     “Are you saying that you don’t even want the Department of Safety to know about this?”
     “Especially not the Department of Safety.”
     After making many calls over the next few hours, the hospital finally reached Cindy’s father.  Cindy’s father quickly went to the hospital and talked with the doctor and the chief of police.  Then he made an emergency call to Tony aboard the SS Lori Price.  After explaining the problem to Tony, Cindy’s father said, “Get back here as soon as possible; and don’t say anything to anybody about this.”

     Tony had no idea how he could be of any help, but he was willing to do whatever he could.

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