She opened the tailgate. In the back was a faded mesh duffel full of diving gear. He walked over to give her a hand. “Thathi told me about Ian. That’s rough. We’ve had a handful of guys get slightly bent on the Hermes, but it sounds like he’s got it bad.” She shouldered the duffel and handed a pair of fins to Tusker.

“We dove a similar profile, but he really got hit hard,” Tusker said. He mentally debated how to tell her he was going to dive the Vampire.

“Well, let’s be careful today, yeah?” Sam said. She had on a pair of cutoff denim jeans and a faded t-shirt from the University of New South Wales. He could see the tied strap of a bikini top poking out of the neckline.

They walked through the workshop, where Tusker picked up his gear, then down the sandy path through the screw pine to the beach where the skiff was pulled up. There, they heaped the gear into the boat and turned back. Tusker was already sweating profusely. Stay hydrated, he told himself, remembering that one of the contributing factors of decompression sickness is dehydration.

“I assume we’re diving air at the bottom and 50 percent nitrox for deco?” Sam asked as they walked back to the workshop.

“I’m thinking of breathing something a little more… exotic,” Tusker said.

“Why?” Sam shot back. “This wreck is what, 55, 60 meters?”

“I might want to explore something a little deeper and a helium blend might be a nice cushion,” Tusker said casually. He was going to have to tell her. She stopped walking and put her hands on her hips.

“Look, man, I’m up for anything, but you have to give me a little more detail. None of this cowboy diving shit.” Her accent got more clipped and the Australian came through.

Tusker lowered his voice and glanced around for Sebastian. He caught sight of him talking to the Russians in the dining area. “Mind if we go back to my room?”

“Well, you don’t waste time, do you?” she smirked. “I said I was up for anything, but we only just met.”

Tusker laughed. “I just want to show you something. Then you can decide what you’re up for.”

They walked back to Room 4 and slipped in, hoping Sebastian wouldn’t see them. Tusker felt like a guilty teenager. The room was still dark and cool and he didn’t switch on the light. He pulled out Upali’s laptop and Sam sat down next to him on the bed and leaned in close to the screen. Her hair brushed his arm. She smelled of sandalwood.

Tusker showed her the video clips from the Vampire, from the very beginning right up to the yellow diving helmet. She drew in her breath when it came onto the screen, then sat back and looked at him.