Chapter 16 — Reef Keeper

A week after the truth about her father's death was revealed, Khue tried to return to her normal work routine, focusing on taking care of the coral nursery as a way to calm the chaotic emotions still swirling in her heart. Early that morning, she and Thao went to the wharf to prepare their tools as usual to periodically check the coral nurseries.

But as soon as the boat approached the nursery area, Khue sensed something was wrong from afar. Instead of the calm water surface with coral frames hidden under the clear blue water as usual, she saw a turbid area of water, mixed with debris floating on the sea surface.

"Miss Khue, look!" Thao shouted, her voice filled with panic, her hand pointing forward.

Khue accelerated the boat, her heart pounding with a bad premonition. As she approached, the scene before her eyes made her dumbfounded. All three of the first coral nursery frames, the result of many weeks of hard work, have now capsized, the fishing lines have been cut, young coral branches have been torn from the frames, lying scattered on the seabed, some have begun to turn white because of being exposed to their necessary habitat for too long.

"No..." Khue whispered, her voice choked, unable to believe what she was seeing before her eyes. She quickly put on a diving suit and rushed into the water to check the situation closer, hoping something could still be salvaged.

Underwater, the scene was worse than she imagined. Not only were the nurseries vandalized, but the mother coral area on the east side of the reef — which she had diligently protected and sampled for weeks — also showed signs of being brutally cut down, with cuts as sharp as from a sharp blade, unlike any natural damage.

Khue swam around the scene, trying to record everything with an underwater camera with her hands shaking with anger and pain. This was not random or spontaneous behavior, but a calculated attack, aimed straight at the very heart of the coral reef restoration project that she had devoted all her energy to over the past few months.

She dived deeper, closer to one of the overturned nurseries, and saw that the young coral branches - which she had personally trimmed, tied to each wire, monitored every millimeter of growth for weeks - were now scattered on the sandy floor, some had begun to be nibbled by fish, others were covered in mud and sand, with no hope of survival. She picked up a small branch and held it tightly in her gloved hand, feeling like she was hugging a small life that had died before it could grow up. Her tears mixed with the sea water inside the diving goggles. No one could see them, but she clearly felt each salty drop falling.

When she rose to the surface, Khue saw Thao standing on the boat, sobbing, holding one of the badly damaged nursery frames she had just picked up.

"Who did this? Why are people so cruel?" Thao asked, her voice filled with resentment.

"I don't know for sure, but I can guess." Khue said, her voice shaking with anger but also full of determination. "I will call Nguyen right away."

Nguyen arrived at the scene less than half an hour after the call, bringing along Uncle Tam and some equipment to officially record the scene. When he saw the scene of destruction of the nursery, Nguyen's face darkened, his jaw tightened in barely contained anger.

"This was clearly intentional sabotage." Nguyen said, after diving down to carefully check the scene. "The cut on the fishing line was very neat, definitely used with a specialized knife, not caused by an accidental collision or sea creature. Someone intentionally dived here to sabotage, possibly at night when no one was guarding."

Uncle Tam shook his head, his face full of dissatisfaction. "This is a clear warning, Ms. Khue. After we started to collect a lot of evidence, maybe they felt threatened, so they decided to act first."

Khue stood silently looking down at the water, where what she had worked so hard to build for many months was now just ruins. She felt the same pain as when she learned the truth about her father's death—a feeling of being violated, of having trampled on the very things she cherished most.

"I'm not afraid." Khue said, her voice was tough even though her eyes were still filled with tears. "If they think destroying the nursery will make you give up, they are sorely mistaken. I will rebuild, from scratch if necessary, and I will find who did this."

News of the sabotage quickly spread throughout the fishing village. In the afternoon, many people came to the wharf to inquire about the situation, including Vu, the young man who strongly opposed Khue's project in the early days.

"I heard that the nursery was destroyed, is that true?" Vu asked, his voice filled with genuine concern, completely different from his initial skeptical attitude.

"Really, I've almost lost all my efforts these past few months." Khue replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though her heart was still aching.

Vu was silent for a moment, clenching his hands into fists. "This is definitely not something people in our neighborhood did. Although we have opinions about the forbidden zone, no one dares to do such evil things to someone else's project, let alone this is our project to save the sea."

"I know, Vu. I don't doubt the people in the neighborhood." Khue said, touched by the sincerity in his words.

"If you need someone to help rebuild the nursery, just let me know." Vu said, his voice determined. "My friends and I in the neighborhood are willing to help, without taking any credit."

This unexpected proposal made Khue deeply touched. This was the first time since she returned to the island that one of the people who protested the most fiercely proactively offered to help, not out of obligation or pressure, but out of sympathy and indignation at this cruel act of sabotage.

Phan Bao Duy was also present at the station as soon as he heard the news, his camera dangling on his chest, his face full of professional tension mixed with the indignation of someone who had accompanied the investigation for many weeks. He photographed the entire scene on the shore, quickly interviewed a few witnesses, then pulled Khue to a private corner to discuss.

"This is a good sign, in a way." Bao Duy said, his voice cautious. "No one sabotages the evidence of a harmless investigation. The fact that they are acting now shows that we are touching on something that makes them really scared. I will write an article about this incident, post it on my personal page first, with everything we have collected so far, to create public pressure while waiting for enough evidence for an official investigation."

"Do you think it's safe to do that?" Khue asked, worried about the safety of the group.

"It's not completely safe, but staying silent right now is more dangerous." Bao Duy replied. "When the light of public opinion shines, bad guys often have to falter, at least temporarily. We need to make it public step by step, cautiously but without delay."

"Thank you, Vu." Khue said, her voice choked. "Your and everyone's help means so much to me, more than you can imagine."

That evening, after everyone had gone home, Khue stayed with Nguyen by the wharf, looking out at the nursery area, which was now just a dark area of water, no longer sparkling light reflecting from the coral frames like the previous days.

"I'm worried about you." Nguyen said, standing next to Khue, his eyes full of sincere concern. "Whoever is behind this is definitely watching our every move closely. We need to be more careful, especially you."

"I get it." Khue nodded, but her eyes still shone with unwavering determination. "But I won't back down, Nguyen. The more I'm threatened, the more I feel like I'm on the right track, the closer I get to the truth they're trying to hide."

Nguyen looked at her, in his eyes there was both worry and deep admiration for the resilient bravery of the woman standing in front of him. He reached out and gently held Khue's hand, without saying another word, just letting his presence be a silent promise that he would always be by her side, no matter how dangerous the road ahead was.

That night, when returning home, Khue sat on the porch, looking up at the starry sky, her heart both painful at the loss and full of new determination. She thought of the young coral branches that had been destroyed, of the efforts of many days, but she also thought of Vu's sincere offer of help, of Nguyen's steadfast eyes, and she knew that no matter how cruel the enemy was, she was no longer alone in the fight to protect the coral reef and seek justice for her father.