The Dive

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re officially 36,000 feet below sea level, and the sub integrity is still holding.”

Captain Jones adjusted the collar of his navy-blue uniform and surveyed the room before him: more circular than a typical twenty-first century sub, but not large enough to make you feel like you were on the bridge of a spaceship. However, the large viewport at the front of the room did give that feeling all the same. Still, though, it’s very impressive how sonar, missile control, and many other functions could be fitted into this one room instead of multiple different ones. Humans really have come a long way, at least technologically.

Jones watched as the five scientists assigned to the mission cheered and celebrated at their respective stations, including the woman who first made the announcement. He tried resisting the urge to join in, but quickly found himself unable to resist a smile. 

“Alright, alright,” he chuckled. “Let’s reign it in, everyone.”

“Aw, come on, Cap,” smirked one of the scientists, “this is the first anyone’s gone this deep in, like, a hundred years or so!”

“Yeah, I mean we’re lucky enough that the eggheads in tech were able to make this thing, otherwise the government wouldn’t have approved this expedition,” added a woman. 

“And that’s exactly why we need to stay focused,” said Jones. “Look, I’m pretty excited myself. But remember that we’ve been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to increase the explored parts of the ocean from five percent to maybe ten! So, if we’re gonna celebrate, let’s do it when we find a good story to tell the guys back home.”

“Wow, didn’t think you were one for speeches, Captain,” a scientist remarked.

“But he still makes a point.”

Jones turned around to see a blond woman walk through the automatic doors to the hallway, hair all bunched up in a bun and arms crossed behind her back.

“So there you are, Taylor,” said Jones. “I was wondering what happened to my first mate.”

Taylor rolled her eyes and said, “Please don’t call me that, this isn’t Pirates of the Caribbean.” 

A few snickers echoed throughout the room, but a glare from Taylor cut them off. 

“Anyway,” Jones continued, “Glad you’re here, ‘cause I planned to examine the engine room again.”

“Sir, it’s already been checked at least three times in the past couple hours,” said Taylor.

“Well, a fourth time never hurt anyone.” Jones turned back to face the crew and said, “Alright, everyone. I’ll be back in an hour or so, please at least try to focus, and let me know the minute you find anything.”

“You got it, Cap,” said one of the scientists. 

Jones nodded before leading Taylor back through the doors, and into the hallway.

“You know, you tell everyone to reel themselves in, when you’re the one who needs the most work,” Taylor remarked. 

“What do you mean? I thought I handled myself pretty good back there.” 

“‘A fourth time never hurt anyone?’ Come on, admit it, you just can’t stand still and wait, can you?”

“You know me that well, huh?” Jones warmly smiled. 

“I should hope so,” Taylor replied as she rubbed her hand, sporting a dazzling diamond ring. 

Jones stopped and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Taylor. It’s just . . . you know how long I’ve been waiting for a chance to explore more of the ocean!”

“How could I forget? Our first date you wouldn’t stop rambling about how unfair it was that most of the ocean is still a mystery.”

“In my defense, I was a little drunk.”

The pair chuckled for a minute, before stopping to gaze into each other’s eyes. 

“Look, just please promise me you’ll keep a clear head. At least until we can say our vows, then you can be as crazy as you want,” said Taylor. 

“Deal,” chuckled Jones. 

After a quick peck, the two walked down toward the engine room. 

———————————————————————————————————————

The engine room shook, causing Jones to topple as he struggled to balance himself. Once the shaking stopped, he checked to see if Taylor was okay before also making sure the room around them was still intact. Thankfully, no visible damage to either. 

“Man, that’s like the third shake in the past hour!” A man declared as he walked out from some machinery. Approaching Jones with an iPad secured in one arm, he asked, “What on Earth’s going on?”

“Not sure, Larry,” replied Jones. “I’ll look into it, but for now, can I see the diagnostics?”

“Oh yeah, sure!” 

Larry handed him the iPad, which Jones briefly examined before handing it back to him.

“Well, everything looks in order,” he said. “Keep up the good work!”

“Believe me, sir, this tub won’t sink on my watch!”

Jones nodded, then walked out of the room with Taylor in tow. 

Lifting his wrist watch close to his face, Jones pressed a button and asked, “Hey, what’s going on up there?”

“We’re not sure, sir,” replied a voice. “If it’s a tremor, it’s not coming up on our instruments. It could be currents or even the pressure.”

“I thought this thing was built for that, though?”

“Well, this is the first time this sub is making a dive like this, so maybe it’s adjusting. Again, we can’t really say.”

“Okay, just keep monitoring the sub and notify me if the slightest thing is off.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jones lowered his arm and released a hefty sigh. 

Taylor gripped his hand and said, “Hey, it’s okay.”

“I just don’t get it,” Jones replied. “They told me they ran multiple simulations on this thing, applied enough pressure that would crush any other sub, and the results always come back positive.”

“Okay, so trust them, then. A few shakes don’t mean that we’re gonna drown.”

“I, um, I don’t know, I should go on the bridge and check in with everyone.”

Taylor latched onto his arm before he could escape, and said, “David, stop.”

Jones stopped cold in his tracks. She always called him Dave or Davy, at least whenever she didn’t use those couple pet names, but never said David unless she meant business. 

“I know you want this mission to go smoothly, but you’re freaking out over nothing.”

“But . . .”

“No more ‘buts!’ I want you to go to your quarters and take a nice, long nap.”

“No way! I’m not even tired, and besides, I still have a sub to run. I need to be there in case . . .”

“I will come get you the split second that they find something, and I promise I’ll keep everyone in line until then, but for now, go rest.”

Jones pursed his lips, desperately fighting to keep himself from snapping at her. Except, the emotions vanished in an instant. His lips relaxed, as his mind now focused on a new feeling. Something wasn’t right.

“Davy? Are you okay?” Asked Taylor. 

Jones held up a hand to quiet her, looking around as he tried to determine the cause of his suspicions. There it is again, a strange tingling feeling in his head. No, not in his head, on his head. And it didn’t feel like a tingle either, it was more like a . . . raindrop?

The captain looked up at the ceiling and, to his utter horror, saw water dripping down from it. Eyes widened with terror, he looked back at Taylor, who was also looking up. She must’ve noticed the same thing, because she returned the same gaze as him. The two sprinted back to the bridge, barging through the doors to see everyone frantically typing on their computers and looking over their screens. Drops of water fell from inside here as well, each one was slow but just as intimidating as the next, almost as if the ocean itself were taunting the crew.

“We have a breach!” Jones shouted. 

“We’re trying to determine the source of the leak, but integrity has dropped to 90%!” Replied one of the scientists. 

“No way the pressure would be strong enough to match the durability of this sub,” remarked another. 

“Should we resurface?” Asked one more. 

“Just find out where the leak is coming from, and we’ll go from there,” replied Jones. 

“You can’t be serious!” Hissed Taylor. “You know just as well as I do that a few leaks in a sub are always bad, no matter how small they are.”

“I don’t know, maybe it can be fixed.”

“David!” 

“Hey! You don’t think I’m worried about this? I’m doing everything I can to keep myself together! But we can’t let a few drops stop us from the discovery of a lifetime.”

Before Taylor could even reply, the sub shook once again, more violently this time. As she and Jones collapsed to the floor, their blood ran cold as a long, almost mournful cry bellowed around the room. It almost sounded like a whale, but it sounded way deeper and it had enough force to continue shaking the vessel. 

Jones gripped onto the railing and helped Taylor up before shouting, “What the heck was that?”

“I . . . I don’t know, sir!” Stammered another scientist. “Sonar’s coming up empty!”

Another cry resonated, its mournful tone slowly being replaced by one of anger. The sub shook twice as violently, even knocking everyone off of their seats as the angry call continued.

“Someone tell me what’s going on, for goodness’ sake!” Shouted Jones. 

A scientist struggled to get back into his seat, but frantically went through his computer. 

“Instruments are still coming up empty, Captain! There’s nothing out there! Not even a tremor!”

“Well, what’s doing this, then?”

The sub jerked to the side, but the room now felt like the vehicle was spinning at an incredibly fast rate. The droplets from the leaks now turned into gushing streams, spilling their contents all over the crew. Before Jones could yell for an answer, the sub finally stopped spinning as the lights quickly went out, and all the computers soon after. Everyone either screamed in fright or yelled for a flare, splashing as they scrambled to recover. 

Jones crawled on his hands and knees, ignoring the constant shakes and aggressive calls as he felt along the floor until he reached a wall. Moving alongside it, he patted the wall until he could feel a box imbued on the outside, which he thrust open and pulled out a flare. Snapping the end off, the flare roared to life with red sparks. 

As soon as the current quake stopped, he slowly got to his feet and held it high above his head. Upon seeing the light, the scientists slowly got to their feet and back to their stations. As soon as he was sure the crew were recovering, he hurried to help Taylor up to her feet as well. 

“It’s no use, everything’s dead!” One groaned. 

“Have you tried rerouting emergency power?”

“Sorry, sir, we can’t connect to anything!” Said another. 

Jones slammed his free hand onto the railing in frustration, gritting his teeth so tightly that they might crack. 

“Sir, what are we going to do?” A woman asked, panic threatening to break through her voice.

Jones didn’t answer. What could he even say? That everything was gonna be alright, that they could just hold hands and sing “kumbaya?” At best, he could have everyone work to reactivate the sub, but that’s already proven useless. In the end, he decided the best thing to respond with was silence. 

He gazed tearfully down at Taylor. Part of him hoped she’d have the reassuring answer that the crew was looking for, but she looked just as stunned as he did. His eyes dropped towards the ring glittering on her finger from the flare’s light, filling his heart with regret and sorrow as he realized he might not get to say his vow after all. She was right. About turning around, being too excited, everything. All he had to do was listen to her, but now they were all going to die all because he couldn’t let go. 

Jones started to open his mouth, but another bellowing wail echoed around them. 

“Uh . . . C-C-C-C-Captain?” A scientists stuttered.

Jones turned in the direction of the distressed man, only to find his own blood ran cold. Looking out the viewport, a blue light started shining from the pitch blackness of the sea. It was dim at first, but it steadily grew brighter and brighter. However, the light appeared to now split into two, but both of them faded into black before lighting the area up again. 

What was this? A new species of fish, maybe? Perhaps this was a new kind of angler fish, which could turn its light on and off whenever it wanted. Such a discovery would potentially make this all worth it, but when the lights repeated the same action, Jones couldn’t help but notice something peculiar. 

It wasn’t how the lights kept turning off and on again, it was the way they did it. The lights narrowed and stretched horizontally as they dimmed, only to expand again in the same way, almost like . . . eyes? 

Suddenly, millions of bubbles foamed underneath the “eyes,” but they didn’t dissipate like bubbles normally would. Instead, they remained in the same spot, frothing until they formed a pattern that Jones couldn’t help but think it looked like a beard. More bubbles rippled above the lights and also in between them, appearing as a pair of furrowed eyebrows and a nose. 

Jones wasn’t sure what to think at this point. What in the actual world was this? This had to be some kind of mirage, right? Maybe all the water flowing into the sub was cutting off enough oxygen to make them hallucinate. Wait, was that even how oxygen works? 

The face emitted another cry, and the sub shook slightly before abruptly stopping. Did this thing grab the sub? 

The aquatic face stared into the viewport, the blue light outshining the red of the flare. The sub suddenly lurched forward and drew them closer to the face, until one of its eyes was an inch away from the viewport. The red flare completely snuffed out as the oceanic eye looked the entire room up and down, observing everyone’s petrified bodies and horrified expressions. 

The sub quickly started spinning at a pace twice as fast as the first time! From what little Jones could see before toppling to the ground, it looked like the strange face was growing distant with every chance it became visible. With the vessel careening out of control and no sign of slowing down, Jones latched onto Taylor’s hand before passing out. 

———————————————————————————————————————

Jones’ eyes felt like they were held down by massive weights as they struggled to open. He quickly shut them after a bright light began to penetrate them, but as he kept flickering his eyes open, they soon got adjusted to his new surroundings. Jones beheld a hospital room, tubes connecting from his body to an IV bag, and his arm wrapped in bandages and resting on a sling. Then he noticed Taylor laying in a bed beside him, and appearing to regain consciousness as well. 

“Tay . . . lor . . .” he croaked. 

She slowly turned her head to face him and gave him a smile. 

“Hey, Davy,” she croaked back. 

“What . . .?”

Before Jones could finish his question, the door to their room opened and a man in an army general’s uniform strode in. 

“Oh, good, you’re awake!” The man said. “I was just coming in to check on you two. Seemed like one heck of a time y’all went through to get banged up like this.”

“General Davis . . . how did . . . we . . .”

“Hey, don’t talk. Save your strength,” Davis said as he motioned for Jones to calm down. “After hearing no word from you or your team, we were about to head to the dive site, only to find your sub marooned on a beach. Thankfully, we got to y’all just in time, but honestly, I’m surprised y’all survived that crash. We analyzed the sub and found that it traveled—or more like, projected—at the speed of a jet plane. We’re still going through the wreckage to see if we can find more details, but I expect a full report when you and your team recover. Somethin’s goin’ on down there, and I gotta know what.”

With that, the general tipped his hat and exited the room. 

“What . . . are we gonna tell them?” Asked Taylor. “No one will believe us!”

Jones couldn’t think of what to say. He didn’t even know what to think. What on Earth was that, down there? Was it some kind of creature? Maybe an . . . entity? Well, whatever it was, it clearly didn’t want them poking around where they didn’t belong. 

One thing’s for sure, though. Jones felt just fine with the idea of leaving the ocean alone for a while.