*trigger warning: none
*not my picture
Part two
The decent
The excitement of seeing a place nobody has ever seen, or been to, was a personal dream of her’s. She could still when her father first reading Journey to the center of the earth, by Jules Verne for the first time when she was five years old. Her father had said it was one of his favorite books as a kid and if he ever got the chance. He would love to go on an adventure like the characters in this story went on. She re how her father’s eyes lit up, when he said softly to her. There are cracks in this world Josie, my dear, that nobody has found that could lead a few brave adventurers. To wonder’s that nobody has ever seen, or dreamed of, real wonders waiting for someone to find them.
“Thats right Sally. Your dad said that he found a sliver, as small crack in what people thought was the bottom of the challenger deep. A crack at the farthest edge of challenger deep. An opening just wide enough for our newest submersible to squeeze into. At least that’s what he believes. And thats why that knucklehead has you and me standing here watching his goofy butt right now.” Joe said as she couldn’t help but smile at her goddaughter’s face. It was glowing with pride in her father and the excitement of her first real adventure.
Everyone in the operations room stood on pins and needles, as the Archimedes slipped into the darkness. Venturing into the unknown with Dr. Zain McGaffery at the helm, as David held his sweaty hands together. It was David’s first time descending into the absolute darkness, to where few have gone. David had already been to the ten thousand foot mark, he was an accomplished gold medal swimmer. A man who in his thirty years of life, attained a double doctorate in physics and biology. Why he even found a new single cell species on his first trip to Antarctica. Earning Jim the respect and the right to name it… he named it Bob.
David was one of those adrenaline junkies, in his short life he’d tasted danger multiple times. He thought of himself, as fearless. It was that fearlessness and his achievements at his young age. That brought David, to Dr. McGaffery’s attention. So when Zain had turned his head, inquiring how David was doing. As he slowed the submersible down to a gentle idle, just a few feet shy in reaching their destination. The sliver, now forever lovingly designation by the crew… as the crack. The very same one that had peaked Dr. Zain McGaffery’s curiosity two years ago.
Zain couldn’t believe what he was seeing. David’s skin had turned ghost white, as a shiver unlike anything David had ever experienced took hold of his immortal soul and would let go.
“David. David are you alright my boy?” Inquired Zain.
Zain was worried that maybe his young adventure might have experienced some kind of psychological or emotional or even worse, a medical problem. Dr. Zain couldn’t tell whether David was having any of those issues. David had gone completely catatonic. Zain was just about to inform the surface that there had been an unforeseeable complication and they would be heading back up to the surface immediately.
Just as Zain was about to flip the communication button to the on position. Informing the topside the problem, he saw movement coming from his young aquanaut. David couldn’t speak, could move anything but his head and only slightly at that. Zain watched David slowly move his head up and down. Even though he moved his head in answering his mentor’s question, his bloodshot eyes wouldn’t stop staring at the crack. Dr. Zain took a few deep breaths, letting his growing discomfort in having to leave without advancing beyond the crack subside.
Before asking, “Then are you ready to see what’s beyond that sliver in the rock bed?”
David’s mental faculties were offline, his body had repeated its last function, not knowing what else to do. Zain watched David once again, slowly raise his head up and down. Taking that as a yes. Dr. Zain McGaffery smiled and spun his chair around, started flipping switches and gave a quick little giggle. As the submersible, Archimedes. Started moving deeper, silently making its way across the floor of the challenger deep. Quickly devouring the remaining fifty feet to the entrance, the crack. To marvel’s unseen and a permanent place in the history books thought Zain. Another soft giggle slipped past his dry chapped, slightly cracked lips.
David had no such thoughts, there was only one thing that was spinning around and around in his mind. That being a warning bell, ringing out desperately to be heard. Saying, fear what lurks beyond that innocent looking crack. For there’s no fame, no fortune and no place in the history books. Only pain lays beyond. Only horrible death shall be your rewards. David desperately wanted to scream all these warnings to Dr. Zain. Telling him what he felt, but his ability to do simple motor functions no longer existed for him. David wanted to knock his mentor aside, and to grab those directional sticks. Pointing this submersible upwards, instead of pointing downwards.
“We’re going in Joe, will probably…” the rest of Dr. Zain’s message was lost to static, as the Archimedes entered the crack. Zain felt a bit nervous and a little hurt, he figured Joe or someone would of wished them a safe trip. But no, nothing. Not even a, far thee well and come back soon, brave adventurer and may the gods bless your travels.
The transmission from the Archimedes as she entered the crack went to static. The captain knew this was a possibility, so as communication started to break up, relaying more static than human communication. Joe had the sudden sense that this was a bad idea, she couldn’t say that to her lifelong best friend. This was his lifelong dream. Joe looked down at her goddaughter and ruffled Sally’s hair on the top of her head. Not wanting to alarm the little girl.
“What do you say we go and raid the cooks walk in fridge and see where that old rascal has hidden our favorite ice cream.” Pipped Joe in a fun and festive way, bopping up and down on her toes as she said it.
Joe knew the only thing that could ever get Sally’s eyes from the monitor, was the promise of ice cream. Not just any ice cream at that… natural vanilla bean ice cream. Sally’s and Joe’s absolute favorite thing in all of the world to eat. Her mom’s and dad’s favorite ice cream flavor was pistachio nut. Sally and Joe thought they were looney, nothing is better than natural vanilla bean ice cream.
At hearing ice cream, Sally has turned abruptly around, then took off at top speed. Wanting to get to the galley and the giant tub of ice cream the cook always kept on board just for her and Joe. The rest of the crew disliking their taste in ice cream as well. Joe said they were all philistine and unsophisticated urchins that had been raised by people who wouldn’t know class if it bit them on their buttocks. Sally wasn’t sure what a philistine or unsophisticated was, but her godmother was never wrong. So Sally just agreed and went with it.
“Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy.” Could be heard echoing all over the ship, as the pitter patter of tiny feet raced down the hallway. Joe couldn’t help herself, even though she had this dreadful feeling. A big warm smile spread across her face as those little legs gave it all they had at getting to the galley before her auntie did.
“Oh, it’s on little miss. No way in hell are you getting to that ice cream before me little miss.” For there’s next thirty minutes, joyful laughter and melting natural vanilla bean ice cream. Was all captain Joe and Sally thought of, as the Archimedes, went deeper and deeper into the jaws of destiny.
It was a few hour’s after they slipped into the unknown darkness beyond the crack, when Zain and David came across something that shouldn’t have been there. Most of David’s motor and physical functions had fully recovered, there was still this little warning bell going off. But it was mostly muted at the moment. At seeing what looked to be an ancient ruined civilization. That warning bell went supernova.
Zain and David could only see the faintest outline and shape of what looked to be buildings through the murky waters. But there was some kind of green illumination giving off a blurry effect that was nearly impossible to make sense of what they were seeing. Zain looked at his control board, it said they were a little more than a thousand meters deeper than the already established bottom of the challenger deep. He guesstimated there was still another thousand meters, or so, to the objects they were looking at.
Those so called experts, will be eating their words and beg for him to give a private lecture about what he and David had discovered. Another tiny giggle ed his now cracked dry lips. Zain had a bad habit of munching on his lips when he was focusing on something. Not Joe and his loving wife had gotten onto him about his bad habit. More times than not, Emily had to play doctor and ister ointment to his cracked and bleeding lips.
Dr. Zain McGaffery’s mind was imagining those stuffy know it alls, begging to be the first ones to see the photos and David and Zain’s 8k recording’s of what they’ve discovered. Thought Zain. The very same people who had mocked Zain’s theory over the last ten years. Especially after he posted his findings and his personal beliefs that there was still more to be discovered beyond that small insignificant tiny crack.
But there it slept, thought Zain as their craft got closer and closer, quietly sleeping in slightly murky waters, a city lost to time. In what looked like a restful repose, Zain thought. Almost like one of those snow globes he always wanted as a kid. A city patiently sleeping in a globe of slightly greenish murky water. Frozen in time. Zain wasn’t sure with his difficulty clearly seeing the ancient city. But it looked to be made of pure green crystal with a strange pale light emanating from parts of it.
Dr. McGaffery wasn’t sure but he got the impression that this city was asleep more than it was in ruins, one that time was fearful to waken. It was still at least another three or four hundred feet away, but Dr. Zain McGaffery couldn’t help but smile to himself, as he said out loud.
“Nothing this far under the surface of the ocean should be here, David my boy. This is unprecedented. Let’s get a smidge closer and do a full circle, to establish just how big this thing is. And don’t forget to take a ton of pictures and make sure the 8k recorder was on. Does that sound good to you David? David…?”
Most of David’s moatery functions had returned, once again after this latest bought with his raging fear, but his skin was still a sickly pale white color. Which Dr. Zain McGaffery was very happy to see for the most part. But the pale color and the tinge of green around the edges of David’s eyes, mouth and running up and down his neck. Had him stop in place and give David’s condition a second to think about.
David no longer had that deer in the lights look, instead at seeing the green lit city below. His lower jaw, practically drop to the floor of the Archimedes. Even though David’s jaw was giving its best impression of an earth mover machine, he turned his head and timidly said, “yes Dr. McGaffery. The recorder’s been on for the last ten minutes and the computer has been taking photos since we entered the crack.”
It sounded more of a question and a warning than anything resembling an actual answer. But Zain couldn’t hold back his enthusiasm and excitement anymore. After a full three hundred and sixty degree circle around what he now thought of as a mega city or possibly a metropolitan on a megalithic scale. Dr. Zain didn’t wait after he finished their first full circle, he pointed the nose of the Archimedes downwards and began his journey closer to what he believed to be his greatest accomplishment and discovery.
On their second ing, now only one hundred feet away, they found what looked to be small houses on the outskirts of this megalithic city. Strangely enough, as they got closer the waters got more and more cloudy. As if the city itself was trying to hide itself from these would be adventurers.
“We can barely see through the murky waters, Dr. Zain, maybe if we get a little closer. All this junk that’s hazing up our view will disappear.” Said David. His fears finally abating, giving his mind a chance to fully grasp what they had just found.
Dr. Zain was glad his younger college seemed to be coming out whatever stooper he had been in. He needed his expertise and his help in recording their find.
Out of nowhere the waters around the megalithic city started to move in a circular motion. At first the two of them barely noticed the pull of the ocean water, or that the density of the water had changed slightly. To a more thicker state. It didn’t take long for the two of them to become aware of the dire predicament they were in.
“Um… Dr. McGaffery, is it just me or does it feel like we’re being pushed in one direction and that the water feels more like sludge that ocean water?”
Zain had come to the same conclusion at the same time David had asked his question. “I believe you’re right David. I definitely feel a pull on the Archimedes that wasn’t there a second before. Let see if I can…”
Zain was cut off mid sentence, as he tried to correct the slight right pushing drift that was slowly moving them and the Archimedes closer to the emerald green crystal city. Dr. Zain McGaffery went into motion, his hands flying desperately over switches and buttons while his feet bounced back and forth on the six, foot pedals. Trying everything he knew to keep the small experimental craft from crashing into the dead city. That was aggressively reaching out to them. Dr. Zain was a blur, of movement. David had ed out in rear seat.
“David, are you ok back there? David…?” There was no reply from David, only an eerie silence.
Then, all hell broke loose.
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