"WAKE UP! Grab your stuff!" Sgt. Sweet yelled. Tom rolled over to look at Sgt. Sweet. Tom was in the habit of sleeping on his stomach so the rebreather didn't hurt his back.

"Grab your stuff! I'll explain on the way!" Shouted Sgt Sweet again. He was holding what looked like a phone with a big antenna.

"Wah? Ok ok." yawned Tom.

Sgt. Sweet hurried outside, leaving Tom to figure out what "Grab your stuff!" meant. Tom put on the wetsuit shorts over his rubberized dick as best he could. "Darn morning wood." he mumbled under his breath. He strapped the driving knife to his body, put on the camo jacket and pants, put on the rubber boots, and carried the fins under his armpits and went outside to see what the fuss was about.

Sgt. Sweet was finishing backing the van to the edge of the water. He got out of the van, opened a compartment in the back, and pulled out a deflated raft. Sgt. Sweet started spreading it out. "Grab the other stuff!" he yelled. Also in the compartment were life vests, and paddles, and an outboard motor. Tom put the life vests and paddles in the center of the now spread-out raft. Sgt Sweet pulled a cord on the raft and it started quickly inflating itself. Tom carried the outboard motor to its attachment point on the back of the raft and set it in its spot. They pushed the raft into the water, the Sargeant started the motor and they were skipping across the waves toward the ocean.

"There's a civilian underwater research base not far from here," Sargeant Sweet finally started explaining, "Less than 30 minutes ago, they sent a distress signal. No one's received any other transmissions from them since then. The worrisome thing is, that the used a code that they are supposed to use only under duress."

"And we're going there?" Tom asked.

"Yes, we might be the closest ship able to make it there, and likely the only one able to dive that deep." Sgt Sweet looked at the screen of the phone with the big antenna. "Still no contact since the initial signal and no one else there yet. These are the scientists that work there." as he showed the screen of the phone to Tom. Two men and two women.

With the help of the GPS map on the phone, they navigated to the spot. And there was just a bouy; nothing else. "If they evacuated, we might see them in their survival suits or submersible and get some answers, but there's nothing here." Sgt Sweet looked at his phone again. "Still nothing."

"Tom, I can't order you to do this," said Sargeant Sweet, "But my equipment isn't up to diving this deep right now. Would you dive down there, just follow the rope from the bouy straight down, and see if they need any help?"

"But they used a duress code, does that mean there could be enemies there?" as Tom checked that his diving knife was still attached to his belt.

"I don't know; the duress code means it's possible. Take my gun, you can't fire it underwater, but it'll work again once the water drains out." Sgt Sweet held out the holster and handgun to Tom.

Tom wasn't sure what action to take.

a) Take the gun, dive down to see if he can help.

b) Refuse, and wait for someone else.

c) Take the pistol, shoot Sgt Sweet, and run for it.