The Iron Man [Serial]

Treading Water

I walked with Alpha down to the pier where the Hippocampus was moored. I could feel the sun on me. The air was warm. The sound of waves lapping and breaking was as loud as the construction tools as we passed the dry docks where the submaris were housed. Prim had already gone down to the small yacht to prepare to take us swimming. I stepped out onto the wooden pier, carrying a crate of supplies.

"I'm here!" Dolores called from behind.

I turned to see her bounding down the hillside and Alpha walked past me. Dolores ran over the planks until she caught up with me. "Ready to have some fun?" she asked.

"Well, as ready as I'll be." I made myself smile.

We reached the yacht. "I invited her," Prim was saying, "Quim's quite busy, and you'll want two spotters with two divers."

"We could have shared a line," Alpha said.

"Captain," Dolores said. Both looked to her. "I mean Athené," she said, using Alpha's given name, which I'd rarely heard her do. "I can go, if you don't need me."

Alpha smiled and then touched her shoulder. "I was only surprised. It is good." He withdrew his hand. "Prim can take his eyes from us if the Hippocampus needs tending, and otherwise you can watch over Jade." Alpha turned towards me, "Dolly really is one of our best swimmers and  already an accomplished diver. She knows what to do."

It was just dawning on me what they were saying, "I'm going to dive?"

"Not for depth, not right away, but you'll practice going underwater."

Prim extended his hands toward me and I passed the crate to him so that I was free to adjust my balance as I boarded the Hippocampus. Once we were all aboard we set sail rather quickly. The boat did not go far, only so far to be well clear of the dry docks, and rocky jetties, yet within sight of our private cove.

"We're sounding at five fathoms," Prim reported. That would have been nothing for the Narcís, but it was deeper water than I'd ever knowingly swam.

"I'll have a look with the hydroscope," Alpha told him. He and Dolores took a cylindrical device  aftward and then lifted it past the stern of the yacht onto the diving platform. Dolores looped a rope about Alpha to tether him, while he leaned down to view the waters beneath the surface with the scope. "Looks good. Can you anchor here?" It was a request, not a command, considering we were aboard Prim's boat.

Alpha sent me into the yacht's cabin to dress in my swimming costume. It was the latest fashion and reg proper for sports and leisure activities in water, made of a knit fabric so that it had some give, and comprised of short pants, tank top, and skirt portions. Mine was black with white edging and side-panels.

When I emerged from the cabin, Alpha appeared already stripped down to a bathing suit which consisted solely of short pants-- and they didn't come close to reaching his knees. He gave me a once over before smiling and shaking his head. "You're as bad as Murphy, you know?"

I suspected Alpha meant "as modest", but I only said, "He approved of this one."

"And you?"

"Well, it feels quite flexible."

Alpha nodded, smiling. "It's fine for running about playing beach tennis, but if you want to really swim, it's going to hold water and add drag." I did not think beach tennis was an actual sport, but the imagery was clear enough.

"Some parts detach. I could take them off when I'm in the water."

Alpha gestured for me to follow. He then climbed over the rear of the yacht and sat on the diving platform. I did the same, and found metal hand rails along each side. As the Hippocampus rode up and down on the waves, my lower limbs dangled into the cool water.

"Show me how you hold your breath," Alpha told me.

I sucked in air and closed my mouth.

Alpha shook his head. "Take some good deep breaths first. Imagine you fill your stomach with air, and then when you exhale, it is as if your navel touches your spine."

I'd seen something like this before. "Ha, like a yogi." I made my deep breaths and focused on the passage of air and rising and falling within my abdomen and chest.

"Now, this time," Alpha said, and I felt he was watching me, "when you have a good deep breath, slip out into the water."

I nodded, fumbling a bit to detach the sections of my bathing costume so that I could better swim. Once it was managed, I took a few calm breaths followed by rapid ones, then pushed away from the diving platform and out into the water.

I was ready this time, and began to fan my arms and scissor my legs to tread water. Alpha was quick to drop into the sea after me. I now felt my body rise with the crests of the waves and drop with the troughs. Perhaps I expressed some discomfort. "Keep a sense of calm as if you are meditating, but with awareness of your surroundings. Take a breath in when you are highest above the water. You will float. It takes effort to dive. So, you only need to be certain to keep your face above the water when you need a fresh breath."

We practiced this for a time. I watched how Alpha used his arms to pull himself beneath the waves, then came up, dark hair slicked back and sucking for air. I tried this, and though I held my breath below the water, when I came up, feeling blind with seawater in my eyes, I turned right into a swell and nearly inhaled water.

I felt Alpha's left arm cross my chest. "I have you," he said, drawing my back toward his body.

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The media, which I hope readers remain able to view, is a clip from the incredibly cheesy 1980s movie The Pirate Movie, a musical I watched repeatedly in my youth such that I had it memorized. It being a horrible bomb hardcopies were hard to find if your copy eventually became obsolete media. One might be able to find it online somewhere.

I had to search for and view a lot of photos Men's Vintage Swimwear for research in order to write this. You're welcome.