Chapter 6 — Reef Keeper

Chiem Bao Nguyen returned to Hon Vong Ngu on a calm sea morning, on a cargo ship carrying supplies for the marine conservation station. He stood at the bow of the ship, his backpack strapped to his back, in one hand carrying a personal diving bag that was worn out from many years of use, looking towards the island that was gradually appearing through the morning mist. It has been five years since he left the island to study oceanography, and although he has visited home many times for short vacations, this is the first time he has returned as someone who will stay permanently, carrying with him the responsibility of managing the very sea where he grew up.

He vividly remembers the feeling of the first time he left the island to go to school, his father's proud and worried eyes as he saw him off to the wharf, and the words he told him before saying goodbye: "Study well, come home after school to help the sea, don't be like other people, finish school and forget all about your roots." Nguyen has kept that promise in his heart all these years away from home, and now, as he stands on the threshold of fulfilling that promise, he feels another worry - whether his job as a fishery controller, with the responsibility of supervising and sometimes having to punish the fishermen in his neighborhood, including his close childhood friends, will make him a stranger in his own homeland.

The ship docked, Nguyen stepped down and took a deep breath of the familiar sea smell. His father, Uncle Suu, was already waiting at the wharf, his sun-tanned face showing a rare smile when he saw his son.

"Are you home yet?" Uncle Suu patted his son's shoulder, his eyes full of pride mixed with something hard to put into words.

"Yes, I'm home, dad." Nguyen hugged his father, feeling clearly that he was thinner than before through his thin shirt. "Dad, how are you these days? I see you've gotten sicker."

"Dad is fine, it's just that the weather has changed recently and his joints hurt a bit." Uncle Suu waved his hand and changed the subject. "Okay, let's go home and rest, it's not too late to go to work tomorrow."

On the way home, Mr. Suu told his son about the situation in the fishing village during his absence: the story of the failed fish season, the story of the resort being built on the southern tip of the island, and the story of a girl named Khue who had just returned to carry out a coral reef restoration project.

"Mr. Dam's daughter?" Nguyen asked again, a bit surprised. The name Pho Van Dam evoked in him vague memories of a gentle, smiling man, a close friend of his father, who disappeared at sea when he was an eighteen-year-old boy.

"Yes, his daughter." Uncle Suu nodded, his voice suddenly lowered, his eyes flashed with something complicated that Nguyen could not clearly recognize. "He comes back to work on the coral project. He's also very decent and kind. I'm sure you'll see him often if you work in the fishery control department."

Nguyen nodded, not paying much attention to the change in his father's voice, his mind was still busy with a series of thoughts about the upcoming work. He knows his responsibility won't be easy — having to balance enforcing marine conservation regulations and maintaining relationships with the fishing community he grew up with, and with whom he has been through rough seas.

That afternoon, after packing his things and resting a bit, Nguyen went to the marine conservation station to present himself to Uncle Tam, who would be his direct colleague in fishery control work. When he entered the small office, Uncle Tam was sitting with two young women diligently reviewing a stack of underwater photos spread on the table.

"Ah, Nguyen is back already!" Uncle Tam stood up and shook his hand warmly. "Come in, introduce yourself, this is Ms. Khue, the coral reef restoration project leader, and this is Thao, her field assistant."

Khue looked up, her eyes met Nguyen's for a brief moment but enough for both of them to feel something different, even though no one could name that feeling at that time. She stood up, reached out her hand to shake.

"Hello Mr. Nguyen, I'm Khue." She spoke, her voice polite but somewhat reserved, still keeping her distance after everything she had heard from Uncle Suu and the vague doubts in her mind.

"Hello Miss Khue." Nguyen shook her hand, a friendly smile on his lips. "I heard my father mention you, and the three of you too. Mr. Dam was my father's close friend in the past."

"I heard it too." Khue replied, her voice softer. She wanted to say something more, but didn't know where to start in this work atmosphere.

Uncle Tam, unaware of the layers of meaning behind that short conversation, quickly switched to the topic of work, spreading the photos on the table in front of Nguyen. "Please take a look, these are some photos Ms. Khue took in the Da Bac reef area a few days ago, there are traces of a mine explosion."

Nguyen picked up the photos and examined them carefully. His face gradually became serious, his eyes glued to every detail of the explosion hole and broken pieces of coral. This was exactly the type of destruction he had learned about in books and researched through dozens of scientific reports, but the first time he saw it happening right in his own home waters, his feeling was completely different — both indignant and painful.

"This location..." Nguyen pointed to the coordinates recorded on the photo, "very close to the construction area of Kinh Duong Bay resort. Has anyone carefully checked the surrounding area?"

"The fishery investigation team went out to check but could not find any further evidence." Uncle Tam replied, his voice a bit helpless. "There were no witnesses, no arrest in the act."

"So we have to do something different." Nguyen said, his eyes determined. "We can't just wait for a report and then check after the incident has happened. There must be a more proactive patrol and surveillance plan, especially at night, when these types of activities often take place."

Khue looked at Nguyen and felt the seriousness and true determination in his words, completely different from the somewhat resigned attitude she had felt from Uncle Tam and even Mr. Cuong at the recent people's meeting. This was the first time since returning to the island that she felt like she had an ally who truly understood and valued the issue she was pursuing.

"I think so, too." Khue commented. "If the Reserve Management Board plans to patrol at night, Thao and I are ready to coordinate and share our survey data and coordinates."

Nguyen nodded, his eyes stopped on Khue's face for a moment, as if reevaluating the woman in front of him - not a strange scientist from the mainland as he initially imagined, but someone who truly understood and cared deeply about her homeland's waters, the same way her father, Mr. Dam, had cared.

"So let's make a plan." Nguyen spoke, his voice less cautious than before. "Tomorrow can I go to Da Bac Reef with you to re-survey the scene? I want to look carefully for myself before planning a patrol."

"Okay, Thao and I are also preparing to lower the first coral nursery frame into the nursery tomorrow. You can come along and survey and see our process." Khue replied, an indescribable feeling of excitement arose in her heart at the prospect of having another knowledgeable companion in her inherently lonely job.

That evening, when Nguyen returned home, Mr. Suu was sitting alone on the porch, looking distantly at the night sea. Nguyen sat down next to his father and recounted the meeting with Khue and the survey plan for tomorrow.

"I see that Ms. Khue is a kind person who works seriously, dad." Nguyen said. "She discovered traces of blasting on the reef. We plan to go out and investigate more closely tomorrow."

Mr. Suu was silent for a long time, his hands tightening on the chair's armrests, a look of anxiety flashed across his face that Nguyen couldn't help but recognize this time.

"Listen carefully, Nguyen." Uncle Suu said, his voice unusually low. "That dynamite thing, that resort thing... it's not as simple as you think."

"What do you mean by that?" Nguyen asked, his vigilance gradually rising at his father's strange attitude.

Uncle Suu looked at his son, seemingly struggling fiercely inside between telling the truth and keeping silent like he had done for the past twelve years. Finally, he just shook his head, stood up and walked into the house.

"Okay, just do what you have to do, but remember to be careful. There are some things, knowing it will only make you suffer more." He said, then closed the door, leaving Nguyen sitting alone in the middle of the night with a series of unanswered questions.

Nguyen sat quietly for a long time on the front porch, looking out at the dark night sea, listening to the steady sound of waves hitting the shore. He didn't fully understand the meaning of his father's words, but a vague premonition told him that something was wrong, some secret was buried deep in the heart of his father, who was always calm and steadfast. And perhaps, the journey to survey Da Bac reef with Khue tomorrow will not simply be a professional job, but also the first step that will bring him closer to the secrets that his father has kept hidden for more than a decade.