Intertwined

by Cooper Eaton

  The lifting was a little bit harder with just me, but I managed. Up he went, leaving me alone in my suffocating, dark surroundings.

  Just as I’d started to panic, a small rope was lowered. After ascending the rope I too reached the above space where my team was located.

  To my surprise, the small circular door didn’t lead to the outside world as I had hoped. Instead, we’d emerged into a place completely foreign to me. Are we in a submarine?

  Outside the small windows was water. Miles and miles of it in every direction! Judging by the small amount of light that reached us it looked as though we were submerged considerably deep underwater.

  The subs small windows near us and expansive ones near the front looked as though they would crack under the water pressure any moment. “Are we safe? Will the windows hold?”

  “Sure they will, I’m guessing they're coated in graphene which will make them ten times stronger and able to resist the pressure from the millions of gallons of water.” Rasben answered with sudden knowledge of underwater adventure.

  After Rasben’s reassurance, I momentarily became fixated on the marine life swimming around our motionless sub. Fish swam in all directions in great schools of color that transformed our surrounding with their every move. It was quite mesmerizing!

  “William, William.” Jessica waved her hand getting my attention. “Do you know what we’re supposed to do?”

  “No, I don’t have a clue. I too, am completely in the dark on this one. I have no idea what our mission is, or how we’re supposed to accomplish it.”

  “Well, that’s great. I can’t believe they wouldn’t tell us. Why are they doing this?” Jessica said exasperated.

  “My guess is that they wanted to see our reaction when put in a perilous situation. If we are left clueless, then, they might be able to more accurately judge our performances. And speaking of performances, I may have found a solution to our problem.” We all turned intently to hear Rasben’s idea.

  “It seems as though the navigation system is already set up and is ready to take us somewhere on autopilot.” Rasben answered as he studied a hollow panel that popped up with the flick of a switch. “That has to be it. I think we need to let the sub take us where it's programed. Are you guys ready for an adventure?”¶“Rasben, maybe we should think about this.” I questioned. “Are you sure this is right?”

  “No, but there’s only one way to find out, so, if you would all take your seats, Captain Rasben is going to lead us to the promise land!” He commanded with a sudden thrill before jumping into the pilot's chair and starting the propeller engines.

  Reluctantly, I sat, following Rasben’s instructions. Jessica complied as well taking the seat next to mine. Rachel sat next to her, and the sub jolted forward at Rasben’s command.

  The submarine moved silently, propelled by thin metal blades that spun the water into millions of bubbles as we gradually descended.

  We moved further and further into the black pit, that was by the looks of it an ocean. With every few feet of dissension, the sub’s walls complained more and more. Creaking and moaning, the solid metal sent shivers running up and down my back. This won’t end well.

  Sensing my discomfort, Jess took my hand in hers and held it. Looking at her was all of the comfort I needed. Her soft green eyes seemed to invite me into their pits of warmth.

  An understanding passed between us and we continued to sit with our hands intertwined. We sat like this for around 15 minutes when suddenly, the sub stopped.

  Rasben unbuckled himself from the pilot's chair and made his way back to the three of us huddled in fear. “You guys are gonna want to see this!”

  We followed him back towards the front window that wrapped around to provide more visibility to the captain. My eyes followed the sub light all the way to the ocean floor. Lying there was a wrecked ship! Whoa!

  “I think whatever we’re supposed to do has something to with the wreckage.” Rasben oozed enthusiasm. “Let's look below and see if we have any scuba gear!” Rasben once again lead the way back to the trap door we had entered through. He jumped, and after declaring it was safe we all followed. “Ping!” I landed on the subs bottom in my much lighter avatar, which, by all estimates seemed to be asian.

  Rasben was already rummaging through a bin of lockers, pulling out weird looking suits and fins! NO, no, no, this can’t be happening! Why does crazy stuff always happen to me? I’m going to go out there and get instantly crushed by the ocean’s monstrous weight!

  After finding four suits, Rasben gave us each one. There were two for the girls and two for the boys judging by the colors of purple and green. All of the suits were quite small, seemingly too small to fit in, but my new body’s smaller dimensions granted me access to the suit that would most likely lead me to my death.

  I slipped on the feet, and then the arms. Despite my eyes unwillingness, I managed to look away from the girls as they changed.

  The suits were a simple mesh material that would do nothing to protect us from the bone crushing effects of the millions of pounds of water pushing down on us.

  “Rasben I think we should hold off for a minute. If we leave this sub we’ll all be killed! There is no way we’ll survive this! There is too much water pressure out there for the human body to survive. We will die if we do this, maybe the real mission is to not do anything at all?” I asked hopefully.

  “I’ve read about these types of suits. They’re built for extreme pressure. Before we leave you’ll need to hit the small button on your chest. Hit that and the suit will expand into what feels like a bullet proof vest. The suit consists of multiple layers of graphene with a small layer of air in the middle that together create a bubble of protection. However, keep in mind that if your suit is in anyway punctured you will be instantly crushed. So, whatever we do, we must take the utmost precautions.” Rasben finished his lecture, put on his own suit and then handed out helmets and fins.

  The helmets were very weird looking. They had been made out of clear, reinforced plastic all the way around, and had a respirator type thing over the mouth.

  “Where are our tanks?” I asked confused.

  “You don’t need one. These respirators break the water down giving you the oxygen and releasing the hydrogen back into the water.” ¶“How do you know all of this?”

  “I do a lot of research. Also, my grandpa used to be a marine biologist before the new laws, so, he would tell me stories about his dives and the adventures he had. His stories inspired me to research and luckily I did, or this mission would have been close to impossible.”

  “Well, if we die, we’re holding you accountable then.” Rachel half joked.

  “Haha. Well, at least it’s just a simulator; otherwise I would never do this.” Rasben laughed as he went to pull a lever.

  “Wait, what!” I shouted, but it was too late.

  The floor dropped out from beneath us releasing us into a swirling tirade of water! I pushed the button on my chest as I was sucked into the water! “AHH!” I yelled for a moment before realizing that I was perfectly fine, sinking slowly downward.

  “If you're done freaking out, we can get on with the mission.” Came Rasben’s voice crackled through some sort of speaker in my helmet.

  “Haha!” The girls laughed at my scaredy cat moment.

  “I’m so glad we have such a brave leader.” Jessica prodded through the com system.

  “Whatever, it wasn’t that bad.” I fired back. “I thought we were about to die.”

  Jessica swam past me in her newly expanded suit. “Follow me fearless leader, unless you’re afraid the water might attack you? Haha!” The three of them all laughed at my expense.

  “Alright, whatever, haha.”

  Rasben interfered with the joking. “Alright guys, I think we should get back to the mission at hand. If you tap the button next to your temple a light will turn on.”

  We all followed Rasben’s lead and switched on
our helmet lights which only slightly illuminated the darkness we now swam in.

  “Alright guys, remember; stay sharp and whatever you do don’t let your suit get compromised.” And with that he began to kick in the direction of the wreckage.

  As we approached, Rasben’s voice once more cracked across the coms. “Alright guys, look for anything odd, we might have to get a lot of stuff and just hope we get the right thing. Also, be careful, we don’t know what sea creatures might have taken over this wreckage as their home. If anything attacks, get away as quickly as possible.

  “Let’s split up and search the wreckage separately.” I added.

  Rasben veered off first to look at the front of the boat. Rachel and Jessica took the middle leaving me with the back. The front had a lot of holes that I’m assuming Rasben would be checking out. The middle had a couple of cargo containers that lay everywhere and the back had the captain's tower.

  The ship looked like it had been a cargo ship of some kind and the wreck looked fairly recent judging by the lack of residue.

  I approached the tower that had almost no glass left due to the water pressure that I was feeling pushing at me from all sides. I kicked my way into what looked like the captain's deck. The room was quite large but had no dead bodies inside. I glided in with my sleek fins making my way cautiously around the room, just in case anything was lurking.

  When I found nothing, I began to search for clues as to what might have happened or what I might be looking for. I made my way slowly around the room scanning with my headlight, looking for anything out of the ordinary. The captain's chair still stood intact and so I swam over and floated atop it for a moment. As I sat, I replayed what might have happened in my head but could think of nothing special. What happened to this ship? What was special about it?

  I pushed off the chair moving slowly towards the back wall. There, in the center of the wall a safe was located. However, it’s been crushed by the immense water pressure.

  I side stroked away from the unbreakable safe and began to move back towards the captain's chair, but something felt off. Why do I feel like something’s watching me? My hair stood on end as the prying eyes continued to study me. Where are they?

  I scanned around me before gradually looking up only to be greeted by horror!

  There, looking back at me, were cold dead eyes! Sailors’ eyes! Their bodies floated above, shredded as if by animals. Their eyes were so bloodshot they looked ready to burst! Their skin was beyond white, where they still had it, and from what I could make out from their clothing they were military members. I finally ripped my eyes from the gruesome sight no longer able to bear the looks of horror on their faces, but was unable to shake the sight of their mouths, still open, screaming for air. Now, forever silent.

  Maybe these men have something to do with why I’m here? No that can’t be, I refused to believe that. Thoughts began racing through my mind of the bodies waking for revenge, and so I hurriedly headed for the exit window.

  I reached the window and was just about to swim through it when I saw it! A giant shadow passed over the window covering me entirely!

  With speed I didn’t know I had, I hurriedly kicked my way back and out of view of the window! It’s big! Is it a shark? Either way, I have no weapon, and if it comes in here to eat these dead guys it will kill me too! Why didn’t I listen to Rasben, now I’m gonna get eaten alive!

  The shadow circled back, getting larger and larger as the predator moved in! I couldn’t see what it was because the light of the submarine was shining directly in my eyes! This is it, I’m gonna die!

  “AHHH!” I squealed!

  “Hahahaha!” Jessica’s voice began sputtering laughter across the comms system.

  “It’s just me, you big goof ball. Did you think I was a monster coming for a snack?”

  “What the heck is your problem? You could have given me a heart attack!”

  “Haha!” She continued laughing and I could hear muffled laughter from the other two over the comms.

  I pushed off of the ground where I’d been in a fetal position ready to die. “You freaking suck! What’s wrong with you! Who does that? You're insane!” I shouted at her over the comms and all I heard was more laughter from the three of them! ¶“Come on Mr. Defensive, we think we found it, and we wanted your help getting it out.” Jessica muffled her laughter as she swam forward grabbing my hand and pulling me after her.

  “Wait, you really found it?”

  “Maybe.”

  We swam down to what was left of a blue cargo container that was missing its doors. Rasben and Rachel were waiting outside for me and Jess to arrive.

  “Nice of you to join us.” Rasben said with a new air of authority.

  “What is it?” I asked hesitantly.

  “We don’t know; we were waiting for you to lead us by going in there and getting it.”

  I couldn’t very well back down since I’d already been humiliated twice. If I didn’t go and investigate the three of them would continue to make jokes, so I cautiously kicked myself inside.

  “Fine.”

  Inside lay a small black box no bigger than my hand in either direction. The black cube lying before me shimmered with the light from my helmet. The sides were partially see through and by the looks of it the cube contained some sort of liquid.

  Ducking down I reached out and slowly removed it from its motionless state. Luckily, I didn’t trigger anything, and when I brought the cube up to my face I saw that it did in fact contain a liquid.

  “Phew!” I let out an audible sigh of relief when the box didn’t blow me to smithereens. “I think this is it.” I slowly kicked my way back outside of the container making sure not to make any sudden moves for fear of setting off a possibly highly explosive material.

  “This has to be it, what do you guys think?” I asked as the four of us converged.

  “Can I take it?” Rasben asked with the curiosity of a child.

  I gladly handed over the mystery box and watched as he meticulously studied the mysteries within.

  “This has to be it. I think we should get it back to the sub.” Rasben suggested.

  “Sounds good, let's go.”

  And with that we began to kick our way back and up to the submarine. However, we didn’t get far. Within twelve yards, we saw them!

  Sharks! There were circling our sub in a frenzy of at least a dozen! They were in the act of repeatedly approaching the sub’s main light, curious as to the new creature they had found. Rasben reached out and stopped all of us. “Remember to keep your suit protected. They shouldn’t attack us if we don’t provoke them. They won’t attack unless they feel threatened. We just need to slowly swim around them.” But Rasbens words stuck in his throat as the sharks turned! Oh no, this is not good!

  They had to be at least 15 feet long! I felt my heart start to beat uncontrollably fast! Blood started pumping through my veins at a million miles a minute! My fist clenched and my muscles began to stiffen! What is happening?

  I looked down only to have my mind blown! My hands were sparking!

  I had yellow sparks spitting from my fingertips! What is happening to me? What the heck is going on? ¶My brain suddenly felt as if it’d been caught in a fiery inferno! Something is different! I felt capability running through me! I couldn’t hold it back! A yellow bolt burst from my hands and into the sand below!

  Is something wrong? Yes, something is definitely wrong, am I going crazy?

  Jessica was looking at me now. “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

  “Did you see that? Please tell me you saw what just happened.”

  “See what? What happened?”

  I felt another surge coming! I raised my hands towards the sharks slowly approaching and let loose! “Zing!” A bolt shot out of my hands and hit the lead shark directly in the snout! The shark spun around and swam backwards several feet! “Haha! I got him! Did you guys see that?”

  I
looked from one face to another, and they each were looking at me like I was a lunatic! “Can you guys see this yellow stuff coming out of my hands?” I asked hopefully.

  This only seemed to make them more perplexed! “What are you talking about, are you insane?” Rasben voice had become one of total and utter fear. “We need you right now and you're acting like a crazy person! What is wrong with you?”

  “Rasben, you need to trust me right now! Remember what we talked about last night? I can see things other can’t, I need you to trust me right now!” I shook him trying to get my point across.

  “You better not get us killed.” He meekly responded.

  But I didn’t know if I could promise that. Can I trust myself? I guess there's only one way to find out.

  I didn’t have time to think, the sharks began to attack! The one I’d hit looked angry, turning and swimming towards us with frightening speed! I can do this, I know I can. Can I? It looked as though I’d only have one shot! I can’t afford to miss!

  “Guys, when I say go, you all need to swim for the submarine! On my mark.”

  Jessica began to say something but I shut her out and turned to face the oncoming monstrosities. I knew one bolt of the yellow cords wouldn’t subdue them, but I had something else in mind! I’d use one of mother nature's tricks against these natural disasters.

  The stingrays were only 20 yards away! I began swirling my pointer finger! The yellow color cords that emerged blended together making a tornado! This might work! I threw my wrist and then my entire arm into the motion! My tornado grew before my eyes! The stingrays had closed the gap and were practically on top of us!

  I threw my fearsome whirlwind, hoping beyond hope that it would work! The shark’s jaws opened wide revealing deadly rows of razor sharp teeth and then my typhoon smashed into them, discharging them all over the place!

  “Go!” I yelled into my helmet mic!

  Without waiting for a response, I took off! I swam harder than I’d ever swum before! Every kick and pull were ones that might save or end my life! This is it! I reached the submarine throwing open a lever that looked similar to the one that Rasben had pulled inside earlier! Rasben and Jessica both raced past me and into the sub! I quickly followed but where is Rachel?