“You just need more practice,” Ben told him. “The problems come when instructors don’t give students enough pool time. They throw them in the ocean after a couple of hours of pool work, and it’s a disaster. Especially in water like we have here.”

“What do you mean?” asked Hudson.

“It’s cold, there’s current, and the visibility is low,” Ben explained. “I’ve seen divers with twenty years’ experience in warm water diving come here and completely freak out.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” Hudson told him.

“You’ll be fine,” Ben reassured him. “I always say that divers who are trained in Monterey are the best divers in the world. Now, you ready for the deep end?”

Hudson glanced toward the far end of the pool.

“It’s only nine feet,” said Ben.

Hudson looked at him. “Yeah, but that’s twice as deep as I’ve been,” he said.

Ben laughed. “Put your reg in,” he said. “It’s sink or swim time.”

For the next hour Ben put Hudson through his paces. They’d gone over everything beforehand on the pool deck, but it was different performing the skills in the pool. Several times Hudson thought he wouldn’t be able to get through everything, but with Ben’s patient help he eventually got to the point where he felt, if not completely competent, at least comfortable. When Ben signaled for him to go up, he did so with a twinge of disappointment that their time was over.

“That’s enough for tonight,” Ben said, removing his mask and rubbing his face. “I think another pool session and you’ll be ready for the ocean.”

“Just one?” Hudson said as he swam to the shallow end.

“Trust me, I won’t let you drown,” said Ben, removing his BC and lifting it onto the pool deck. “It would be bad for my reputation.”

“Do people really drown?” asked Hudson as he got out.

Ben nodded. “Every year we have a couple of deaths around here,” he said. “Usually some overweight middle-aged guy who has a heart attack. Something happens underwater, he panics, and boom.”

Hudson turned the valve on his tank, shutting off the air. Then he removed the regulator. “I can’t even imagine that,” he said.

“What’s the number one rule of diving?” Ben asked him.

“Never hold your breath,” Hudson said without thinking.

“So you do pay attention,” said Ben, grinning.

“You only said it about eighteen thousand times,” Hudson teased.

“What’s the number two rule, then?” said Ben, putting his tank in the rack that ran the length of the room.

Hudson had to think for a moment. “There’s nothing that can happen to you underwater that you can’t take care of underwater.”