No Atlantis

“Dr. Chase, come look at the satellite,” Captain McHonell says to me, waving me to come over. “What is that?” I ask the Captain. “I don’t know, there must be interference coming from the clouds over Point Nemo, but the satellite should have been able to get thermal imaging through the storm. Maybe it’s ash spewing into the sky, but the report from NOAA says there is no volcanic activity.”

As we look out the helms window and back to the satellite imaging, I think back to the briefing at Randolph Air Force base. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have confirmation that a new landmass has surfaced in the South Pacific, over 1000 miles west of Peru at Point Nemo. For those of you that do not know, Point Nemo is the spot on the map furthest from any civilization, and as such, it has become a graveyard for our space program. Now we wouldn’t have gathered all of you here if we felt it was because of tectonic plate movement or volcanic activity, but…this landmass…..seems to be a floating city about 30 miles wide. This information leads us to believe that this is the mythological city of Atlantis.” The Colonels’ words made me shiver with excitement. What a gold mine of old technology, engineering, and architecture! My superiors at NASA quickly approved my request to join the voyage to the lost city since my degree from MIT was in mechanical engineering and civil engineering.

While daydreaming of the previous days, I am snapped back into the bridge after the boat was hit by a strong wave. “The water is getting choppy. We better make sure everything is tied down on the deck and in the cargo. Go.” Ordered Captain McHonnell. I cautiously made my way to the top deck, as to not be thrown down by the increasingly more powerful waves that were peppering the boat. Even for this 179-foot research vessel, the ocean is making it hard to stay on course. As I crest over the ladder to the top deck, crewmate Donovan and the microbiologist Dr. Palacios are quickly fastening the sample containers to the rails. The roar of the crashing waves is deafening as the maelstrom is intensifying. I yell out to them, “We need to hurry it’s getting bad out here!” They both put up a hand to acknowledge they heard me, and then I looked to the left toward the horizon in the cities direction. In all my years I have felt peace when a storm would come by. Even when a hurricane would run up the coastline of Virginia I would feel serene as the rain fell, but this storm in front of me now gives me so unease and dread. The storm has evilness to it. Some feeling of sentience and malice. The dull green hue of the dark clouds and the churning of the ocean are not natural.

Gazing at the sea and pondering our situation, the speakers onboard the boat screech as the Captain comes over them with a message, “Everyone inside the captain’s quarters immediately.” As the other two voyagers and I make it into the cabin of the boat, I find the other seven crew members are already there waiting for us. “I have an announcement, please be seated.” the Captain spoke. “I have just received word from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that they sent a drone into the storm 20 miles from our location to put eyes on the landmass to conduct aerial reconnaissance. The drone sent over this image of the location before losing all communication.” Captain then turns his tablet around to show the team a beach with a massive, twisted, black spire sitting on a jutting, rocky point roughly 100 ft tall with a blueish light emitting from the top. “Now, we are an hour out from making land and this is going to be our beacon. Also, the water isn’t going to smooth out so eat something hearty so you won’t get sick.”

Fifteen minutes have passed since the meeting and the crew has dispersed to their assigned stations. I returned to the galley to nestle into the corner table near a porthole to go over my notes and settle the nerves. While jotting the experience in my journal, the words on the page begin to move and morph. Mesmerized, I can’t look away. “What the hell. I know I’m not going crazy.” The words settle on the page to form a sentence, ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. I read it out loud to try and sound out the words and then a flash of green light and intense ringing hits me, and then darkness. I arise dazed and confused. “Were we just hit by a bomb?” Still, in darkness, I reach out fearing that I was blinded by an explosion, searching for anything that felt solid enough to allow me to stand, but I realize in that instant, I do not feel the boat moving with the waves. It’s still. “Oh God, am I dead!? What the hell is happening?” As the isolation and terror of death wash over me, I begin thinking of all the experiences I will miss out on, and the lack of devotion to God in my life. “Dear Lord, have mercy on me.”

“What happened!?” exclaims Captain McHonnell. Dr. Palacios looks up from Dr. Chase in his arms to the Captain with startled, fearful eyes, “I don’t know. We came to the galley to eat something, and as we were sitting at the table, we see Allan slump out of his chair and hit the floor. I ran over trying to see what happened, but it seems he just went unconscious unprovoked. Maybe hypoglycemia? I haven’t really seen Dr. Chase eat anything all day.” The crew, standing around staring at the doctor, start murmuring amongst themselves. After a few seconds Brenda, another researcher on the voyage, speaks up, “Guys this may sound strange, but the closer we are getting to the island the weirder I am beginning to feel about this.” Captain McHonnell turns and looks at her and says, “How so?” Brenda drops her head and begins to stammer as she begins to reply, “I don’t know about you all, but I heard a voice call my name a couple of times within this last hour. It was very deep and guttural, but also it was hard to make out because it sounded like someone trying to speak to me underwater.” As soon as the rest of the crew heard the story, Donovan speaks up, “Something has called my name too.” As more of the crew is realizing that they too have heard or seen things that can’t be explained, Captain McHonnell tries to comfort them, “Listen, I have been doing this for over 20 years, and if there is something I learned from being out on the ocean for this long, it’s she will make you a mad man if you let her. Now I know these occurrences may seem like they are linked, but rest assured that we will get there in one piece, and we will be the first to see Atlantis ladies and gents. This discovery will be your life legacy.”

As the existential crisis is setting in, I suddenly see in the distance a dim, pulsing light that is shimmering with a rainbow of colors. “My only chance to figure out what is going on is to head towards the light for better or worse.” I stumble to my feet in the darkness, not being able to see my hands in front of my face and start marching towards the pulsating light. As I walk towards it, the light seems to be going away from me at the same rate, keeping a constant distance from me, and then it is gone after a few paces forward. Left stranded in the dark void standing in place, I hear an almost thunderous voice call to me, “Allan Chase, I heard your prayer.” Paralyzed realizing that some entity greater than myself is speaking to me, I begin to weep. Through the tears I can see the light has returned and is intensifying in brightness, illuminating the environment around me. After wiping my tears, I am greeted by the most grotesque volume of stone structures. I can feel my mind unraveling as I am trying to comprehend the architecture of these buildings. The columns seem to be traveling in every direction, the decrepit stonework crumbling around me, even the ground I am standing on is giving me vertigo trying to understand it. This is a nightmare. I scream out, “Who are you and what is this place!” The echoes of my voice disorient me as it bounces off the spires and columns. “I am the Great Old One. The demise of men. The ruler of this cosmos, and this is my city…R’Lyeh.” The words of this being and its voice are an attack on my psyche. “Come awaken me, mortal. It is your fate.” This experience has me spiraling, and the darkness is beginning to crash back around me. I feel catapulted through the void, screaming towards nothing as I am losing consciousness again.

With a jolt, I am thrust back into my physical form, flailing and gasping for air. Dr. Palacios tries to hold down Dr. Chase as he tries to keep him from hurting himself on the furniture and calm him down. “We need to turn around now,” Dr. Chase screams as he is trying to catch his breath as if he had been drowning the entire time. “Now! We need to turn back now! That is not Atlantis!” Dismayed, the other crewmen and researchers stare at the doctor scrambling back to his feet, with sheer terror in his eyes. Captain McHonnell comes over to Dr. Chase and grabs him, looking in his eyes, Captain McHonnell asks, “If it’s not Atlantis, then what is it?” Now thinking of what he saw, with a solemn voice, Dr. Chase responds, “R’Lyeh.”