| Chapter Sixteen - Deep Blue |
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We arose early the next morning, hovering in roughly the same place we had been the night before following the battle over the seas. I was glad to see we had avoided any undue attention and so my day could continue on its course unheeded. I called William to the charts table for a confab over coffee. After a little while I had explained to William the thoughts that had occupied my over excited mind the as I lay abed the previous night. "The only way to beat an enemy Will" I said pacing the length of one side of the table "is to understand them". Will nodded quietly and I pointed to a location on the chart between us. "This is where their craft crashed. Today I wish to mount an expedition in order to recover from their craft any material, technology, information that I can". Will looked at me with a grin "and who will aid you in this Cap? A passing friendly school of dolphins perhaps?". I grinned back and approached one of the wall lockers "no, this!". I tugged open the door to reveal a rudimentary subaquatic exploration suit made of rubber and canvas, complete with a spherical brass helmet with thick glass forming a trio of portholes to allow vision from the front and sides. "Good lord Cap, a navy diving suit," exclaimed Will
After further conversation, it was agreed that I would first teach Will the use of some tools I had designed to allow him to repair the ship. I would then embark on my planned dive. So, after a brief training session showing Will the tools necessary for him to effect repairs, I donned my suit, checking my linkages to both my airline and lowering line and stepped onto the drop hatch that would be my exit. I looked to Will and gave the all fine sign, to which he opened the hatch and I felt the tension wire suspend me above the hundred foot drop into the water below. My heart leapt as I experienced the feeling of weightlessness and I was suddenly glad that my bulky suit made it impossible to look down. I felt a jerk and the lowering began. Finally, after what seemed an age, I crashed through the surface of the water and began to sink. The suit stayed watertight as I went lower and I gave Will the two tugs on the line, which we had agreed as a signal that all was well. My mind had originally been totally focused on the task at hand but as I sank into that twilight world and lit the two chemical lanterns I had mounted on the helmet, I gasped in fascination at this strange world, which had previously been foreign to me. Now it majestically opened up its treasures to my avid gaze. I looked in wonder upon all manner of fish, some of which seemed to have been forgotten by time, strange throwbacks to an age before humans. Finally reaching the seabed I looked upon bizarre rock formations, corals and creatures scuttling along the crags before me. I realised that this was another world, of which we knew so little. My light caught something in its beam and there, looming out of the darkness before me, was the wreck of the enemy ship. I approached the craft and managed to gain entry through what I assumed to be the hole our projectile had ripped in the ship. I knew I had to work quickly for our journey had to continue. I took samples of the inner and outer walls before approaching the cockpit. I met a grizzly sight; as for the first time I saw two of our invaders close up, dead at the controls. I tried to remove their helmets so I could behold some part of the anatomy of those we faced, but there seemed to be no movement in them. Conceding defeat I tried instead to cut some of the materials from their suits but this too I found impossible. I was ready to leave when I noticed one of the lockers in the cockpit was open showing uniform armour as worn by the other two. I quickly loaded it into a bag and was surprised to find how light such a durable armoured suit could be. I took a final look around and picked up a few pieces of equipment that were loose around the cabin, loading them into a bag. Turning to leave I paused once more at the door and looked upon the scene before me. There was something horrifying yet serene about the view, these creatures so far from home and entombed down here where perhaps no one would ever look upon them again. Then I remembered the men that we too had left behind dead on the cold surface of the moon and my resolve strengthened once more, this was proof that they could be stopped and I now had the materials to find out how best to do just that. |
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