It doesn't take long to realise what has happened.
Brianna had been all tangled up in Arthur's string.
In fact it had somehow threaded its way through her drill hole.
Which means she is in the water halfway between Arthur and the ship's captain, safely attached to the string.
But Baby Pierre is not to know that.
Brianna! he cries.
He leans over the railing and falls into the water.
He drops like a pebble, past a helpless Brianna and the slowly descending Arthur to the soft waving seagrasses on the benthic sea floor.
......
Brianna, watching him dropping, knows she won't see him again.
She remembers Taylor Swift's song:
we are never ever getting
back together, like ever, la la la.
Sadly she can't even sing it, with her hole so full of string.
.......
Arthur too is descending to dangerous levels.
Down down deep dark and dangerous levels.
Down, past Didier and his cohorts.
Down, past the giggly ruby sea dragon.
Past two hundred and sixty three species of fish and three hundred and forty seven species of molluscs.
Past four hundred and fifty types of sponge and soft coral.
Down to the rhodoliths (coral-like algae) where marine spiders, snails and worms share a bed with baby scallops.
And now, also with Baby Pierre and the net from the fishing tackle box of the vessel Georgette.
Yes, Baby Pierre has landed next to the net that he dropped yesterday.
Baby Pierre wonders how long it will be before he is rescued.
He can't see Arthur above him, but he knows he is there.
.........
Arthur's head is exploding in fearsome red and black flashings.
His rebreather is useless.
He is at the far end of his string.
Just before he passes out he feels himself being pulled slowly upwards.
........
Now Arthur is back on board the Georgette, along with Brianna.
Are you all right? says Mary-Emily, patting his face.
Arthur knows that he can't be. He should have the bends.
But he is all right.
Individual susceptibility to decompression sickness can vary from day to day, and today is a good day for Arthur.
Did you see a ruby sea dragon? asks Andrew Dempster.
No, says Arthur.
Did you see poor Baby Pierre? asks Brianna.
No, says Arthur. What happened?
He fell in, says Brianna. I'm so sad. I'll never see him again.
Was he special? asks Mary-Emily.
Yes, says Brianna.
Yes, he was, says Arthur. He was a courageous pebble. He bore the Mark of the Claw, and believed he was the son of Ageless lobster. He was good at paintball and cycling. He had his own bicycle with green o-ring tyres, and he could do tricks on it. He was an atheist and a free thinker.
Andrew Dempster, Mary-Emily, and Brianna are crying for Baby Pierre, lost at sea, drowned tragically.
The sky has turned dark.
Their tears fall into the water and mingle with the stormy waters of the Recherche Archipelago which boast the most extreme wave energy in Australia.
Thruuuum! Thruuuum! Thruuuum!
(This could turn out to be a good thing).
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