by Andrew Gates
She glanced down at her instruments. They were nearing the object. Only 70 meters away now. It appeared massive through the glass in front of them but it was hard to tell what was solid and what was simply light.
While she focused on steering the craft, she quickly turned back and looked at her co-pilot.
“Run a scan on the object while I get us close. See how big it is,” she said.
Sara pulled back on the yoke, raising the nose of the craft. The scanner was on the bottom of the sub. If they wanted any intel on the object, they needed to be right on top of it. The sudden change in angle caused her to become a bit dizzy at first but she shook it off and stared straight forward, using the window’s visibility to guide her.
“I’ve got it,” Damien responded. “Didn’t take long. The object is surprisingly small. Only two meters across in all directions. It’s a perfect sphere. Honestly this is pretty fucking weird.” He quickly caught himself. “Oh, sorry about the expletive, Captain.”
“No, don’t worry about it, Damien. You’re right. It is pretty weird,” she answered. At last they could agree on something.
The black surface of the yoke began to get warm. Sara let go for a few seconds and placed her hands back on the controls again. When she placed them back on, she noticed the controls had already grown significantly warmer, almost burning her hand.
“It’s going to get really hot in here,” she warned. “Better put some gloves on.”
She turned back to her jacket again and pulled the gloves out of her pocket, quickly putting them on one by one.
“Already on it,” Damien answered from behind her. She could hear him doing the same.
They were quickly closing in on the object. As they looked out the window, it appeared as if they were already on top of it now. A vast sea of light lit up underneath them like nothing any of them had ever seen before.
“How close are we to the center of this light?” she asked.
“The object is still a few meters ahead. We’re almost there.”
Sara checked the altimeter. 220 meters below sea level. They were so close to reaching the assigned altitude. They might be able to accomplish both tasks at the same time.
Whatever this object was, it was odd that it was so high up and close to the surface. As far as Sara was aware, no one had journeyed this far up in years.
And why is it heating the water? It must be used for steam, she told herself again. But she tried to put these thoughts out of her mind. These were merely suppositions. She was part of the Navy, not a scientist. It was her job to act, not to question.
“Focus, Sara,” she told herself out loud.
“What was that?” asked Damien.
Sara did not realize she had spoken aloud. She quickly put her hand over her mouth, embarrassed.
“Nothing. How close are we?” she replied.
The vessel continued forward. It seemed like an eternity.
“Almost there… almost there… and… now. Okay, full stop. We’ve reached the object. We are directly above it,” Damien responded as he monitored the data in front of him.
Sara brought the sub to a full stop and wiped the sweat from her face as it poured down into her dark eyes.
“Okay. Begin the scan.”
There were a few seconds of silence followed by the sounds of button pressing. As Damien began the scan, Sara waited and stared out into the vast light below them. Now that it was safe to look at through the light shield, she studied it closely.
Growing up, she had heard stories of a world of light filling an endless ocean where each step brought you closer and closer to a great fiery ball of whiteness. There, one could go up forever and never come down. One could stand in a great field of green, staring up into the colorless void above them. And if you stood for too long, the light of the sea above the water would darken your skin with colors of brown or red.
She did not know if these stories were true. Many people had debated the topic for years. Every scientist and historian had their own opinion on the matter. But she chose to believe the stories. The idea always pleased her. She liked knowing that there was another sea out there, one with no top. She liked knowing that the world above was bigger than the one she had known. If this small orb below her was just a taste of the great orb in the sea above the water, then she could not imagine the beauty of what lied above.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
“What’s that?” Damien asked.
She felt transfixed by the light. She wondered if Damien felt the same.
“The light,” she said. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”
“I haven’t,” Damien replied. “That’s the point. That’s why we’re scanning this thing. Speaking of which, it’s scanning now. Results should be coming in shortly.”
Apparently he did not share her enthusiasm.
Suddenly there was a great noise below them. So far the object had remained relatively soundless, but now it was like a powerful engine starting up.
“Do you hear that?” she asked.
“No life signs detected. It’s definitely artificial though. It’s just a big battery producing heat. That’s all it’s doing. The heat seems to be moving directly upward in some sort of artificial channel or current. Our sub must be off to the side, just barely out of the path of the channel. The real heat seems to be relatively contained to the surface of the object and to the channel. At its hottest points, it’s coming in at 800 degrees Celsius,” he replied, reading the data and ignoring her question. Suddenly he leaned forward in his chair and his tone of voice changed. He sounded more rushed now, more urgent. “But it’s moving now. I think the scan must’ve woken it up,” Damien said.
“What’s moving? The current?” she asked.
“No Captain. The orb! It’s changing.”
The sound grew louder.
Sara looked down at the readings. Sure enough the orb was changing shape. A small hole or cavern seemed to be opening on its surface. Whatever it was, it was hollow.
“Something is opening up,” she said as she watched the data on the screen.
“We should get out of here,” Damien responded. “To hell with the scan.”
Sara turned and glared at him. She had been glad that he had focused for a moment but it seemed his paranoia had returned. This was the last thing she needed right now. They were Navy, not cautious scientists. They had their orders.
“We stay and finish the job, Damien. Hold it together for a few more seconds. The scan is almost done. We can do this and reach 200 meters. We can complete both assignments and be out,” she replied, keeping him in his place.
But this time, he did not submit.
“Sara, are you mad? This thing is changing. What is in that door? What is coming out?” he asked.
Right as the words left Damien’s lips, Sara looked down into the sea of light and made out an object emerging from the hole. It was dark, whatever it was, and the contrast made it easy to see the shape of the object as it emerged. It was an object she had seen before, and one that she did not wish to see right now.
“It’s a muzzle!” she screamed. “The orb has activated a weapon!”
“Energy readings are picking up,” Damien responded. “I mean, more than they already were. I think our scan activated its defense systems.”
Sara grabbed the yoke firmly with two hands and increased speed, propelling the vessel forward.
“Evasive maneuvers!” she hollered. “We’re getting out of here!”
“Temperature increase!” Damien yelled. “The orb is getting hotter.”
Sara looked down through the glass. A bright shade of orange emerged from the inside of the cannon. Not the orb, she thought, the weapon.
For a moment all sound stopped, save for the deep breathing of the crew members. Sara had heard of the calm before the storm. She used to hear old hardened captains speak of it, a feeling of calmness and quiet rushing over you before diving into terror. Was this that prove
rbial calm? If so, she had always expected it to feel differently. This was no calm. It was suspense.
Before any of them expected it, a fiery orange orb of plasma erupted out of the cannon’s barrel and smashed into the bottom of the sub, shaking it fiercely. Sara held onto the arms of her chair as her uniform jacket slid off.
The sub’s monitors and artificial lights flickered off and then on again. Sara glanced back, making sure Damien was okay. To her surprise, he was more composed than ever. His eyes were locked on the readings, carefully monitoring everything that was happening. She quickly turned forward again, looking at her own controls.
“Systems still nominal,” she said.
“The blast from that plasma knocked us up another six meters. We have severe hull damage, Captain, and the bottom sensor is completely fried. I am getting no readings.”
“We have to get out of here,” Sara replied. “That thing is going to hit us again. We need to go down and get back to base.”
Suddenly another salvo. This time neither of them even saw the plasma before it smashed into them. The hull shook and Sara’s head banged against the yoke, accidentally moving the sub’s nose down into a steep dive for a moment before she pulled it back up.
“The hull can’t take much more of this!” Damien hollered. “We should bring weapons systems online!”
Sara knew that fighting was not an option. This may have been a Navy vessel, but it was a prototype. They had been briefed extensively on the piloting systems of the craft but had been given only a small overview of the weapons systems, not enough information to defend themselves.
“We can’t risk it. We have to go back to base! We have to get out of here!” she said.
Her eyes glanced to the altimeter once again. 198.
“Sara, why don’t you listen? I’m right. Listen to me, Sara,” Damien cried.
Sara pressed down on the yoke. She was taking this ship down. She did not need any more of Damien’s advice. But as she thought on his words, it slowly occurred to her that Damien’s advice might not be the worst option. After all, he had been right about everything so far. He had been right about the sonar, right about the object being hostile, even right about this fucking heat.
Sara leveled out the ship and took a deep breath. She knew it in her heart. He was right. They had to stop and fight. There was no way they could last much longer.
Suddenly another hit rocked the hull and the interior lights went out, this time for good. A large crack began to form on the glass wall before her. The first to go, just as I thought, she thought to herself.
“Fuck!” Damien cried.
“What is it? Are you hurt?” Sara asked.
“No. That last damn blast took out our weapons systems. Look!” he replied.
Sara glanced down at the monitor. Although the lights were out, the control screens were still running. Sure enough Damien was right. All weapons were offline.
“Fuck,” she said. “That’s it. We have to go down. Get as deep as we can.”
She brushed her dark hair back, clearing the view for her eyes.
“We can’t go down!” Damien debated. “With all the damage we’ve sustained, the depth will crack the ship.”
“So what do you suggest? Just continue forward? We’ll get torn apart by the gun!” she said.
“No,” Damien responded with a certain cleverness to his voice. It was as if he had saved the perfect solution until the end. “We go up.”
Sara froze for a second. Her eyes quickly darted to the altimeter and then back to the window. They were 193 meters below sea level. As far as she was aware, this was it. This was the highest anyone had ever been.
“Think about it, Sara. We are closer to the surface than we are to the bottom. Much closer,” he explained, convincingly.
Sara knew it. He was right. Going down was suicide. They had no other choice. They had to go up.
She pulled back on the yoke, angling the vessel up as another blast hit them. With the combined force of the blast and the direction of the sub’s motion, this one pushed them up even further than any of the rest.
“We’re getting out of range,” he said. “The blasts aren’t as powerful now.”
Suddenly the emergency alarm began to sound, shattering the quietness of the sub.
“Warning, hull breach,” the calm artificial female voice said. “Warning, hull breach.”
The words were repeated over and over.
“Warning, hull breach. Warning, hull breach. Warning, hull breach.”
Sara looked around, searching for the hull breach. She could not see it but she felt warm water filling up around her feet.
“Lord, I wish that bitch would shut up!” stated Sara angrily.
Damien laughed. She imagined a big grin on his face.
“I see you’ve thrown your distaste for expletives right out the window,” he said jokingly.
Sara couldn’t believe it. This was not the time for humor.
“We’ll both soon be thrown out this window if you don’t help me steer this thing,” she replied.
Another hit rattled the hull. The water filled in higher.
150 meters.
They were climbing fast, maybe too fast, but she would rather be too fast than too slow.
This was the closest Sara had ever felt to death. She always knew the day would come, but she never believed it to be now. Funny how death sneaks up on you.
Suddenly it occurred to her that all this might be for nothing. If she and Damien died here today, no one at the station would know about the cannon. She could not let that happen. She had to get the word out.
She turned to her right and moved her hand above the touch screen, but nothing happened. The screen remained black.
She turned and looked forward again. They were very far from the orb now, but light was still shining in the water. It soon occurred to her that the light was not coming from below. It was coming from above.
“The sea above the water,” she said aloud. “The light from above.”
The hull rocked again as another blast hit them. The window cracked again and water began to spill in from the front. There must have been another hole somewhere.
“We’re running out of time, Sara!” Damien shouted.
“I know! I know! I’m taking her up as fast as she can go!”
It was true. The captain pulled back on the yoke as much as she could. It was dangerous, especially now that the hull had been breached. But she wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. She wanted to see the light. She wanted to see the sea above the water.
Years ago someone had taught her the word, but she could not remember it right now. She was too stressed to remember such trivial details. But she yearned for it, whatever it was called. She was so close to reaching it.
Only 128 meters now, she thought.
She still needed to get a message out. Her touchscreen was broken and therefore so was her access to the Meganet. But perhaps there was another way to leave a message.
“Damien, do you know Morse code?” Sara asked.
“Morse code? Of course,” he replied. All Navy sailors were required to learn it in case of emergencies like this.
“I want you to send a message down to the station. Send it now. Tell them where we are. Tell them what happened here. Tell them everything,” she explained.
“Roger,” he replied.
Water was touching her knees now. Slowly she began to urinate, not even thinking. It did not matter anyway. Soon the water level would be up her to waist and the urine would just wash away with the rest of it.
More cracks appeared on the window. It would not last much longer.
“Come on, come on!” She said. How fast can this thing go?
It had been a while since the last blast. Perhaps they were out of range, but Sara did not care. She only cared about one thing now. She wanted to see the light.
The water level rose higher. It came up against her crotch now, mixing with the urin
e in her pants.
The dial on the altimeter spun faster than she had ever seen. 100 meters. 90 meters. 80 meters.
Suddenly the window shattered completely. Shards of glass flew towards them. Her first instinct was to inhale, breathe as much as she could before she got swept away by the current. But the pressure would kill her at this depth.
Exhale, she remembered. You must exhale until you reach the surface or you will die.
Sara undid her seatbelt and leaned forward, pressing her face into the wall of water that approached her. There was no time to stop and wait for her co-pilot. She simply embraced the water head-on, kicking off the back of her foam seat.
Soon she was separated from the sub, floating freely outside it. She exhaled as slowly as she could. Exhale too quickly and I’ll run out of air.
The salt in the water hurt her eyes, but she kept them open. She angled her head up and faced the light coming from above, kicking as hard as she could.
Humans are buoyant. The water will help carry me, she reminded herself.
Sara could feel the weight of the sub behind her, slowly falling back towards the depths. She did not even know if Damien had escaped. But there was no time to look back. She had to look up. She had to keep going.
Her breath was running thin. She had little left. Her head became light. Her kicks grew weaker.
Come on, she said to herself. You have to see the light. You have to! She tried to remember the word but could not remember it. She had known it once. She heard it when she heard the stories of the sea above the water. It was short and beautiful. But what was it?
Fish swarmed around her. For a brief time, that made her smile. She did not know the first thing about fish and could not name a single one. But this was a good sign. These were habitable waters. She could see them in the light from above. She could make out their shapes, their colors.
Almost there, she thought. She could feel the pressure changing in her head. She kept swallowing, re-equalizing as she exhaled. But her breath grew thinner and thinner. She would not last much longer. Go, she told herself. Go! You must go!