"I don't think so, I don't know, I didn't think this thing could close up. I can't go anywhere." Eliot searched in vain for some place to move the craft for safety.
As the Oceana came closer to the now completely closed entrance of the massive underwater bay, a scraping sound and the feeling of the sub scratching the bottom could be heard. Then the sub suddenly stopped with a violent motion and Sophie and Troy fell forward with the sudden stop.
"Oh my god... What are we going to do?" Sophie was almost in tears now as the water outside the sub could be seen disappearing around the tiny view ports.
Troy continued to move around trying to get a view outside. He then went back to the radio. "Pacifica, do you copy? Pacifica..."
Now the propeller began to whir loudly as the Oceana sat on a solid floor and the remainder of water completely disappeared as if draining out from underneath them.
"Oh god, oh god, I can't believe this. This can't be happening." Sophie continued to move about in an effort to relive the tension growing inside her.
"Shut the motor off Eliot, before we burn it up." After Troy said this Eliot nodded and switched the electric motor off. Now the silence became ominous as the sub sat motionless and the strange feeling of being over four miles under the ocean, yet sitting in a dry zone began to take hold.
They waited motionless and silent for several seconds. There was an overwhelming feeling that something else would happen at anytime. Sophie moved to a view port and looked out. Eliot also looked out of the ports in front of him as he lay in his piloting position.
After a minute passed by and nothing happened Troy broke the silence. "Pacifica do you read me, Pacifica, this is the Oceana do you copy?" His voice now took on a lower tone as the crew members sat in the tension filled sub.
Sophie calmed down some as everything continued to remain quiet. "Turn the lights off Eliot, so the batteries don't run down." Her voice was hushed.
Eliot nodded to Sophie and began switching the lights off. As he did this, the three could see outside the sub much better due to the large bay area lights that loomed all around. They began searching through the view ports.
"What is this place? It must be an American or Russian base." As Troy asked and answered his own question, Eliot and Sophie continued to gaze out the small portals, also searching for clues.
A span of lights overhead exposed the massive area and from what they could see out the rear portals, doors with lights around them stood behind the sub and farther back into the bay.
Then, suddenly a loud hissing sound of air rushing into the bay could be heard. They could see a mist like substance rushing in. Soon the entire bay was filled with the mist and the hissing sound continued for several minutes.
"It sounds like the outside is being pressurized, or something." Troy spoke as he scanned the outside with the other two.
"Yeah, that's what it sounds like. But it's hard to believe the Americans or anyone for that matter has the ability to build something like this. I mean we're over four miles deep. This must be a top secret military base of some type." Eliot also continued to peer out a tiny portal.
After a few minutes, the hissing sound and the blowing mist outside the Oceana stopped. Again silence overtook the interior of the small submersible as all three waited for something to happen. Then, that something happened in a frightful instant. Everything inside the Oceana went out. The small lights turned off. The slight airflow stopped. Darkness and a feeling of low oxygen suddenly became prevalent. Again the three became very frightened.
"Everything is down! We'll be out of oxygen in a matter of minutes!" Troy continued to switch levers and move small knobs in an effort to regain power.
"How can that be? The oxygen should free flow even without power!" Sophie's French accent became stronger in her excitement. However, it didn’t affect Troy and Eliot in the usual way. All three tried desperately to regain any sort of control over the sub.
"It's the regulator. The oxygen should free flow without power but the regulator is somehow completely locked up. Everything has just shut down and locked up. We'll start losing consciousness soon. We're going to have to get out."
Sophie and Eliot looked at Troy in shock. "Get out? No, we can't just get out! We're four miles below the surface of the ocean! We can't get out! What about the pressure and oxygen! This is crazy we don't know what's going to happen if we open the hatch! The temperature can't be suitable!" Sophie became animated by fear now, but all three could feel the oxygen content becoming depleted in the tiny submersible.
"Look, this must be a secret military base. The water is gone and there are lights everywhere. The sounds we heard earlier must have been pressure and temperature equalization; I don't think it could have been anything else. If we stay in here we'll start passing out one by one, and then we'll have to get out anyway. But then we'll have to try and get the others out."
Now the other two appeared to realize Troy was right. Slowly and without saying anything, Eliot reached up and began turning the wheel to unlock the hatch. Sophie's face winced as if in slight pain.
"Even if this is a secret base, we may be in trouble."
Troy again glanced out the portal after Eliot said this. He then turned to the other two and replied with some reservation. "I think we're already in trouble, no matter what."
Finally Eliot had the hatch completely unlocked and as they all began to feel light headed and it became harder to breathe Troy nodded for Eliot to open the hatch, he then glanced at Sophie and noticed an expression of fear. He felt it also and had the same panic inside. He wanted to be back on the surface where it was safe. He held these things inside though as Eliot pushed upwards.
The three seemed to be holding their collective breath when Eliot opened the hatch. As a rush of moist air entered the small sub they all relaxed again.
They sat breathing the air for a minute as if just gaining a second life. Then Eliot slowly climbed out, followed by Troy and then Sophie. The air smelled of salt water and had a heavy moistness too it, yet it was filled with oxygen and they could breath much easier than in the thin air of the Oceana.
Chapter Two:
Enigma
The soft lights gleamed on top of the large docking bay, as well as being strategically placed by doorways and in some areas along the flooring.
Where they had entered, the three now saw two massive metallic doors closed together. Below their feet were grate like panels that must have allowed the water to drain out of this chamber as well as flooding it for leaving the facility.
"This is an entry chamber. But whatever it was built for has to be massive. It must be a military submarine of some sort. But where is it now?" As Eliot said this, they examined the size of the docking bay area.
The area was around one hundred feet in length and sixty feet wide. Overhead, around twenty feet, the lights were soft and though they illuminated the area, the appearance of the light wasn't familiar to the three.
"This doesn't look American." They moved cautiously towards the doors as Sophie said this.
"It doesn't look Russian either." Troy added.
When they reached the doorway Sophie glanced back at the Oceana. The submersible appeared small inside the massive open bay area.
"How can the Americans or Russians either one build something like this? The pressure on those doors must be incredible."
Now Troy and Eliot turned their attention from the smaller doors and also glanced back at the huge doors in front of the now insignificant appearing Oceana.
"I don't know, but what else can it be? It must be a secret military base." After Eliot said this the other two nodded slightly and turned their attention back to the smaller door at the front of the bay area.
The doorway appeared to be oversized double doors; there were two foot square windows in each door. Once in front of the doors, they examined the windows trying to see inside. Only darkness could be seen.
Along the side of the door Troy noticed what resemble
d a bump about four inches high and five inches in diameter. There was nothing else anywhere around the doors or on the doors that might provide a means of opening them.
After searching all around for a doorknob or access point Troy pushed the bump in desperation. Although the doors didn't open Sophie noticed the bump glowed slightly when Troy pushed it.
"Push it again!"
Troy looked at Sophie with a puzzled expression as he had been looking around the door rather than the bump he'd pushed on. He pushed the bump and watched the door again rather than the bump. This time Eliot noticed what Sophie saw.
"Hey what is that?"
He glanced to where Eliot pointed. When he pushed the bump a glowing effect occurred. He pushed the bump again with his fingers and all three studied the strange effect. Then Troy put his entire hand on the bump. As he did this the bump began to glow an odd orange color. He pulled his hand back as if fearing there may be a shock or something. The bump slowly returned to the drab color of before.
Seeing this, Eliot stepped over and put his hand on the bump. Troy suddenly realized Eliot had spotted an opportunity to appear brave in front of Sophie. He grimaced a little at the misstep of removing his hand in apparent fear.
Now that Eliot had his hand on the strange bump, he moved over in front of it causing Troy to move back.
He allowed the bump to glow the orange color and waited, but nothing else happened. It glowed, but at a certain point did nothing else, it simply glowed a steady color of the off orange.
Sophie glanced at Troy nervously and he could see she was worried. He also felt fear but tried to appear brave. If they couldn't get past this point there seemed little hope of escape.
All three stood watching Eliot as he pulled his hand away and the glow began to fade. He put it back and the glow slowly returned. Then he turned his hand a little as if turning a doorknob. The glow began to change color.
"That's doing something!" Sophie noted with excitement.
As he moved his hand the color began to change to a yellow color. Then he turned his hand some more and the color began to change to an emerald green color. Then, as they stood watching this a chiming sound could be heard from somewhere inside the doors.
About the same time the three turned to look towards this sound, they heard several loud clicking sounds as if the doors were being unlatched. Suddenly the doors began sliding into the walls and opening up. Immediately after opening, lights began to light up inside the large room past the doors. The lights were dim at first, but similar to florescent lighting warming up as the lights slowly became brighter.
They moved cautiously in front of the doorway and stared inside the opening. The brightening lights revealed a large room that appeared to be made entirely of stainless steel or a similar type of polished metal.
As they slowly moved into the large room Sophie noticed that along the walls water streamed down behind a clear glass type structure. The lights continued to brighten the large room as she moved over to the wall, seeming anxious to inspect the strange sight.
Troy and Eliot followed along behind her watching carefully for any sign of trouble. As Sophie stepped closer to the walls of water, lights began to turn on automatically all along the wall.
"I can't believe this." She said with astonishment as she stood and then sniffed the air while examining the wall.
The sight she and the two men examined was similar to a small waterfall all along the walls. Air came from vents along the top and blew out past the three submariners as a gentle breeze.
"This is some sort of, oxygen filtration system if I'm not mistaken."
Now the two men studied the cascading water closer. Finally Troy spoke.
"You really think this thing, what ever it is, is extracting oxygen from the sea water?"
"That's exactly what I believe this is. But this system would be more advanced than anything I was aware of existing."
After some further examination of the oxygen extraction system, they turned and began looking over the large room. The lights had become bright now and everything could be seen clearly.
Around the room were metal tables equipped with chairs that appeared to be comfortable, even though they were made of the same shiny metal. The tables and chairs sprouted from the floor like mushrooms. The tables appeared as if the tops had been sliced off to make a flat smooth eating surface.
"This place looks like some sort of, pre made facility that's been inserted into the side of the trench." When Eliot said this Troy and Sophie nodded but said nothing. They began to slowly walk again.
"Where is everyone? Why would there be something like this here and no one around?" Though Sophie asked this, the other two also wondered the same thing.
They moved past the tables and stools of the dinning area. When they came to the far wall opposite of the doors they had entered from the bay area, there stood a multitude of instrument panels with no actual switches or buttons. From the pictures and diagrams that could be seen, this was the area one would get their food from, though none of the food appeared familiar.
"Do you think this is a Chinese base?"
The two men continued to examine the odd self serve food panels. Then Troy finally commented.
"This doesn't look Chinese. But I'm not familiar with Chinese food, so maybe it is. The Chinese must be more advanced than we thought though, if this is their base."
Another doorway presented itself to them as the three came to the end of the wall. Again, as they moved into it, lights began to glow and then became brighter as time went by. The submersible crew moved cautiously down the hallway.
Over Four miles above them the crew of the Pacifica was now working feverishly to locate the small sub.
"Oceana, Oceana, do you copy, Oceana." A radio operator repeatedly attempted to contact the small sub as the captain approached him. He turned to the captain.
"Nothing Sir, they've completely vanished."
The captain grimaced at this and his face almost expressed pain. He patted the radio operator on the shoulder.
"Alright, keep trying."
The captain turned to his chief petty officer who stood behind him.
"Contact Washington; I think we're going to need help."
The Petty Officer appeared distraught as the situation now took on a desperate tone.
"Yes Sir."
The captain ventured out to the deck. The sun was high in the sky now and splashed off the water. He gazed out over the rail.
"Where are you Oceana?" He asked this softly to himself as he searched the open waters in vain.
Far below the surface the three crew members of the Oceana carefully continued down the hall. Eliot led the other two with Sophie in the rear.
As they moved forward, lights above and on the walls continued to slowly brighten.
"It's as if the lights know someone is here." Sophie noted with astonishment.
"I would have never thought any country had the ability to construct something like this. This structure must be under an unbelievable amount of pressure."
Eliot and Sophie just sort of grunted after Troy said this. Although they both agreed with his assessment, neither one of them spoke as they carefully searched the area ahead of them.
Not far from the open area of the cafeteria, two doors stood in front of them, as they came closer, the doors automatically opened by sliding silently into the walls. Sophie jumped and all three froze in place as they thought someone may be coming from the other direction.
They waited and watched as the lights in another large bay area began to slowly turn on.
"This is spooky. I don't like this at all. Who would abandon a place like this and leave everything turned on? It's as if everyone left but no one turned the lights off."
Sophie pulled up closer to Troy while she said this. The warmth of her body could be felt and he had difficulty focusing for a few seconds.
As they moved into the massive open area they passed by large cylindrical objects
. Some were twenty feet around and others looked to be thirty feet or more in diameter. The outside resembled a glass material, but on the inside of these strange container like devices, there was a foggy substance. Troy noticed the fog inside the cylindrical containers as it began to move around. Then the other two also noticed this.
"What on earth are these things?" Eliot asked aloud when they cautiously moved passed one.
As the lights became brighter and they reached what appeared to be the halfway point of this room, everyone slowed down to examine one of the cylindrical structures.
Sophie watched with curiosity as the fog like substance inside the structure swirled around in the upper part, as if being blown by a slight breeze. The substance appeared to be a liquid fog, or at least this is what Sophie determined it looked like. As she watched the top of the structure, it began to lower as if it were being slowly drained out.
Eliot walked around one of the larger structures and guessed this one to be about twenty feet in diameter. He also noticed at the top the liquid fog was dissipating. At one place by this larger structure Eliot found a strange control panel. It was as nothing he'd ever seen before. The strange configuration of buttons and switches were unfamiliar in appearance and the symbols were of nothing familiar. Also by this were two odd round areas that looked out of place and Eliot wondered what they might be for.
"Hey, is there some sort of control panels by those other things?" He moved over to Sophie and then walked around the large cylindrical structure in search of a similar control panel.
"Yeah, look at this. All of these things have one of these."
As Eliot said this Troy and Sophie moved over close to him and examined the strange looking control panel.
Then, as they stood watching it, the round areas that resembled metal plates began to glow. Now, all three watched with renewed interest. As they observed this, the fog substance continued to disappear from the massive round structures. The three submariners didn't notice this however as the round areas gradually began to display pictures resembling holographic images.
Where the Strangers Live Page 2