The Deep (One)

The Deep

John Nolan leaned forward slightly on the controls of the submersible, he did not have to, but it felt good to do so. the controls were so fine-tuned it was like using a joystick on some modern video game system.

He turned his attention from the controls and sat back in his seat, the urge to look back to where his two scientist passengers sat in the other two seats inside the cockpit of this craft.

Looking up at the video monitor he could barely see anything in the darkness of the water, even the powerful lights of the submersible could not break through the darkness at the depth they currently were descending into.

With another turn of his head and he looked over the systems and let his eyes rest on the sonar controls and saw that all seemed to be clear, the other screen showing that they were following the exact they had been set to make their way into the passageway that people had been affectionally calling the deep.

Satisfied that all was going according to the plan, he let his hands slide from the controls of the ship and used his legs to turn his seat around to where his two passengers were sitting.

"Ok, gentleman we are flying on course and should be making me making our way into the opening in about 42 minutes"

The scientist on his left, Heinrich Meuller, a scientist from the nation of Germany, if anything had been quite the pain in the rear on this whole project, questioning everything and constantly trying to get things moving forward, never in a good way, but in the constant fashion of hurry up and get it done.

On the other hand, his compatriot on the right of the cabin was Andrew Taylor, an American scientist in his early 40s and a good ten years younger than his German companion, he had been the epitome of a sweetheart, never pushing and always willing to lend a hand or kind word when needed.

The American opened his mouth to speak, but if he had something to say, it was quickly cut off by the strong Germanic tones of the older man as he spoke loudly, even though he had no reason to, the mic's built into the pressure suits they wore allowed them to hear each other.

"Are, we following the correct path, we must stay within the exact perimeters of the course set, even the slightest deviation could cause us to be crushed like a tin can"

The last part of his snapped-out words sent into a long drawn-out word before he stopped talking and gave the sort of stern look that a father would give a misbehaving child.

"I am sure Captain Nolan, knows that and is following it to the letter"

Andrew Taylor said finally saying something after being cut off by the German before, Heinrich Meuller shifting his gaze from the pilot and to the other scientist and offering no words, but giving the sort of withering stare that could make even the most rambunctious teenager step back.

"I can assure you, we are perfectly on course, But if it makes you feel better, I will triple-check the figures again?"

This was enough to make the German turn his attention back to where John Nolan sat in the pilot's chair and offer the same withering stare that he had offered to Andrew a moment earlier.

"Yes, you should do that, we lost many probes before we found the correct path, it is most important that we do not stray off course, Captain"

The image on the scientist's face softening for a moment and he offered a smile that might have scared even the worst parents to make them drag their children away from him,

"You got it"

John offered and brought his hand up to give a salute to the scientist with his two fingers touching the side of his head before he used his feet once more to shift himself back around to face the controls and the various monitors and readouts before him.

He could just imagine the scowl that was most likely on the face of the scientist, he had to resist the urge to turn his head back to take a look, but it did not look good on job performance reviews when you pissed off the office's head boy.

He tried to suppress a smile as he looked over the instruments and monitors once more, he blinked for a moment and saw that they were still perfectly on course, with not a single deviation and were not about 39 minutes, give or take from their target and the unknown.

Seeing everything was running on the set course, he made an effort to touch a few buttons and switches, attempting to look like he was doing something, even if this puppy had been pretty much on autopilot since they dropped below a certain depth and now he was just here in case the on-board computer through a chipset and he needed to take control.

He resisted the urge to sit back in the chair and looked to the sonar once more and saw nothing but clear space, no killer whales, no mutant fish or no prehistoric sharks for Jason Statham to come and take care of.

Sharing his shoulders he pushed himself back into the chair and sat as rigid as he could, he had to put on a show for the boss he thought to himself as he let his eyes close for a few seconds.

Nothing had changed when he opened them again, save for the depth reading had gotten a little deeper and the vessel's path was now a little closer to the strange opening that had been recently discovered in the ocean floor and was now the subject of a lot of hushed talk between people in the know.

Behind him he could hear the start of another heated conversation between the scientists, he had learned to block them out by now, most of it went over his head and it always seemed civil from Dr Taylor's side of the conversation and not from Dr Meuller.

With the ensuing chaos of scientific conversation behind him, he made sure his attention was now focused in front of him, now was getting close to the time, he would either sit back and do nothing or would be wrestling with the controls and hoping the alarms klaxons going off in the cockpit would stop.

A light came flicking into life on the console to show that they were within the point of no return, he had to make the final choice whether to descend into the strange hole in the ground or break off and head back to the surface.

The first one was a bit of an adventure with some serious potential worries and the latter would most likely have him strangled from behind by Dr Meuller as he utilised the safety belt that kept John Nolan in his chair.

"Buckle up, gentlemen, we are making final checks before we head in"

He offered to the pair and this seemed to be enough to make the two men's discussion come to an abrupt stop, who had won was most likely down to either man's ego to concede the point and he could have imagined the German allowing that to happen.

"And everything is within the desired specifications? Captain"

Dr Meuller asked and John Nolan could hear the man straining in his safety restraints to come forward and check the controls for himself, but either common sense or the strength of a good safety system was enough to keep him secure and in place.

"All set and good to go, Doc"

The last part was added because deep down, John knew it annoyed the man and he did not tell him how to do his job, so why the hell did the German insist on constantly questioning John on his?

"Good, Captain, you may proceed"

Mueller offered and John could hear the man stop straining against his safety harness and sit back in his chair once more, obviously satisfied that things were going his way.

"We're going in"
John offered as he reached out and placed his hands on the aircraft-style controls of the submersible and could hear the pressure of the ocean around him press down on their hull as they began to drift downwards and into the unknown.

To be continued