by Matt Shaw
John repeated himself again, ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this…’
Chapter Eight
BEFORE
The submarine rested on the ocean’s floor after diving down for a little over five hours. Their first moment in the Challenger Deep and everyone had gathered in the viewing room to get a glimpse of what lay beneath. They stood in silence, looking into the near-darkness; a sight that hardly anyone had seen before. It was eerie. More so because they knew there to be life out there and yet - they could see nothing other than these faint orange glows from the sea-bed.
‘What is that?’ John asked. With so many scientists onboard, he hoped that one of them might have the answer to his question but, no one said anything. Despite the brightness of the orange crack, it didn’t seem to be distributing light above it as one might have expected. Instead, above the cracks themselves, the waters seemed almost blacker in colour.
‘Ready to turn the lights on?’ Chris asked.
‘Can we?’ Becca asked. Whilst she was happy to see the trench like this, in its natural light, she was desperate to light it up to see if they could see anything else down there. Perhaps, she hoped, weird looking fish swimming away from the sudden burst of unexpected light.
It was John’s expedition. He gave the nod to Chris who radioed through to Billy in the control room. A second later and, beyond the viewing window, the bottom of the trench was illuminated with a strong, bright light. Still, just above the orange cracks, there was a blackness there which they now saw as liquid.
John asked again, ‘What is that?’ Still no answers given.
Whilst Becca was disappointed by the lack of life in their immediate proximity, with nothing even showing on the highly sensitive radars, she couldn’t help but feel a little thrill of excitement towards the black liquid coming from the hole. ‘We can get a sample of that, right?’
John nodded. ‘Yes. Yes we can.’
Nate asked, ‘Are we going to move from this spot at all? Like patrol up and down the trench, or something?’
Chris shook his head and said, ‘No. We’re going to play possum. You want to see what’s down here, the best thing we can do is play dead. We move around too much and we’ll just scare anything away. Don’t forget we’re a lot bigger than whatever’s down here and most things will try and hide from us incase we’re predators.’
The disappointment was obvious on Nate’s face but he understood the reasonings behind it. Even if he didn’t, it wasn’t his trip to command. He turned his attention back to the screen attached to his seat and started flicking through the various viewing options. He settled on thermal. Weirdly, the orange glow out there wasn’t showing itself as a much of a heat source at all. Given the look of it, Nate had expected it to be red hot with the black liquid of a similar temperature.
Chris asked John, ‘You want us to grab a sample?’ It was a rhetorical question; he knew that was exactly what was wanted but, even so, he waited for the command given this was all running on John’s dime and knowing how much he liked to “be in charge”. John nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’ll get it sorted.’ Chris left the viewing area and headed back to the control room to give his crew further instructions.
‘So how’s everyone feeling?’ John asked. He himself was buzzing with excitement. There might not have been much to see (yet) but that didn’t detract anything away from him. He was still sitting on the lowest point on earth and, to him, that was something special. As he scanned the room, he could tell most looked suitably happy. Only Nate looked a little disappointed. He told him, ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be another earthquake soon enough.’
Nate smiled. That was why he had come down; to see the earthquakes and try and understand why they were coming more frequently now. Also, he wanted to see the impact these quakes were having on the trench itself. So as not to appear rude, Nate said, ‘I’m just grateful to be here…’ He added, ‘Thank you for this.’
John’s ego was swelling with each passing moment they sat down there. He laughed and said, ‘You’re welcome.’
*
NOW
‘What the fuck have you got us involved in?’ Nate shouted.
John and Victoria had hurried back to where everyone was still gathered to report on what was happening in the canteen. At first the others thought it nothing more than a sick joke to answer Nate’s earlier question of what else could possibly go wrong. Only when they heard the banging themselves did they realise that Yolanda was “up” and moving around in there.
‘Well if she is alive, why aren’t you letting her out?’ Jennifer asked.
‘Because…’ Victoria didn’t even know how to say what was on her mind. Mainly because she realised how ridiculous it sounded. ‘That’s not her. Whatever that is, it is not her…’
‘What do you mean?’ Jennifer continued with panic very evident in her voice.
‘I think one of those things that was inside of her is using her body as a host,’ Victoria continued. Her statement was enough to hush everyone up, if only for a moment.
‘What are you fucking talking about?’ Nate asked.
‘I’m not the marine biologist,’ Victoria said, ‘but even I’ve heard of The Feline Parasite as just one example of what I think could be happening.’
‘The Feline Parasite? What the fuck…’
Before Nate could finish his sentence, Victoria continued, ‘A tiny protozoan. Nothing more than a blob but once it makes its way to the brain, it can alter the behaviour of hosts like rats, cats….’
‘People?’
‘Yes, even humans apparently. Now we have no idea what that thing was which was inside Becca but for all we know it is acting in a similar fashion to The Feline Parasite. When it was inside of her, it was trying to make its way up to her brain to take control…’
‘Then what?’ Jennifer asked, terrified at the prospect of something being able to take control of another being. ‘Then what happens?’
‘I don’t know!’ Victoria admitted.
‘And what does it want?’
‘Given how it attacked the moment we revealed it, I’m guessing it doesn’t want to make friends,’ John said solemnly. ‘We need to keep her in that room…’
‘I feel sick,’ Jennifer said. She wasn’t the only one. With the stress of all that was happening, none of those left standing were feeling particularly wonderful right about now.
Nate turned his attention back to John and asked again, ‘What the fuck have you got us involved in?’
John said nothing. There was nothing he could say. He looked to the floor, too embarrassed and guilty to even keep Nate’s eye contact.
Chris stepped in and told Nate, ‘That’s enough. It’s not helping anyone.’
‘Yeah? How do you know it’s not helping me?’ Nate asked.
‘Back off,’ Chris warned him. ‘I won’t tell you again.’
‘Sorry but the moment shit hit the fan, you’re no longer in charge of diddly-squat so how’s about you shut the fuck up?’
‘I can’t do this,’ Jennifer said as she raised her hands to her ears. She hurried away from the group and headed back towards her cabin, desperate for some peace and quiet, if only for a moment. She got a few steps away from the group before she stumbled and fell against the wall as the whole submarine shook. Everyone fell quiet as the rumbling continued for a few seconds before stopping just as abruptly as it had started.
John asked Nate, ‘Another earthquake?’
Nate shook his head. The earthquakes caused vibrations throughout the vessel which varied in their strength depending on how bad the earthquake was. This was something else. It was shifting its weight against the submarine. No one spoke. They just stood there, holding the walls and wondering whether it was about to crush them.
A couple of minutes passed. Nate asked, ‘At what point did you start regretting the decision not to have torpedos?’
John didn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer.
Chap
ter Nine
BEFORE
‘I could just look out there forever,’ Becca said as she continued staring out of the viewing window. Her mind was picturing all the creatures out there, waiting to be discovered.
‘One thing I don’t understand,’ Nate said to her, ‘is how do things live down here? I mean look out there - there’s no plant life for them to feed on.’ He was right. The ocean floor was nothing but grains of sand as far as their artificial light could see. ‘I mean I know they could eat each other but they found a sea-snail down here. Call me crazy but I can’t see a sea-snail being much of an apex predator, you know?’
Becca said, ‘They rely on decaying matter.’
‘Decaying matter?’
‘Sure. From dead creatures from the upper parts of the ocean. Bits sink. Bits get eaten. It’s a little more complex than that, for sure, but it gives you an idea without having to go into too much detail.’
‘That is insane.’
Becca added, ‘And of course some of the things down here will most definitely eat the other things too. Can’t rule that out.’
Nate was staring out of the viewing window to the nothingness before him. He shook his head and laughed. ‘And we’re supposed to believe there was a massive prehistoric shark living down here? I guess that author just relied on people not actually knowing that much about the trench, huh?’
‘Hey, it was a fun book. I’m willing to suspend disbelief for giant sharks any day of the week,’ Becca said.
‘I guess I prefer my horror to have a little more reality to it,’ Nate said.
Becca added, ‘Not sure a horror book about a sea-snail found in the trench would really sell.’
Nate laughed. ‘Depends on the author. I bet Stephen King could do it.’
‘Here we go,’ John said from the other side of the room, breaking up their conversation. He pointed to outside of the viewing window where a small, purpose-built miniature submersible had suddenly appeared in the light offered by the main sub. Operated by remote, this small submersible had been built specifically for collecting any samples of interest. It was, by all standards, unimpressive to look at but the technology behind it was as impressive as what powered the main submarine.
Becca watched with excitement as a small titanium arm stretched out towards the black liquid coming from the crack in the sea-bed. In its robotic grip, it had a beaker which had also been purposefully built to withstand the immense pressure. ‘This is amazing,’ Becca said. ‘I never thought this would be possible.’
‘Given the amount of failed attempts we had at getting this right,’ John said, ‘neither did I. Yet here we are…’
Along with pretty much everything else you could wish for on such a submarine, John had also installed a small laboratory. Whilst it might have lacked space, it certainly didn’t lack in what it offered within though and - once the samples were back onboard - Becca would have pretty much all she needed to really investigate what they were dealing with.
‘If it’s a new substance, do I get to name it?’ Becca asked, only half-joking.
John laughed. ‘What would you call it?’
‘Depends what it is. If it’s toxic, I’d call it Steve.’
‘Steve?’
‘My ex.’
‘Ah.’
Becca was like a little girl come Christmas morning, buzzing with excitement at the prospect of “discovering” something new. ‘I wonder what it is,’ she said.
‘Well, you won’t be wondering much longer…’ John pointed beyond the window again. The little submersible was already making its way back to the submarine.
No longer content with just looking out of the window, Becca jumped up and hurried from the room. As she left she shouted, ‘I’ve got to go see what it is.’
John smiled. With her enthusiasm clearly on show, he knew he had given the job to the right person. He’d give her a little “play-time” and then he’d go down and see what she’d discovered. ‘All we need now is a massive earthquake and then you’ll have happy too,’ he said to Nate.
‘Well not sure I’d wish another tsunami on the nearby islands but, a little earthquake might be nice,’ Nate said.
*
NOW
John had had enough of Nate and how he kept on drilling in that it was all John’s fault, like he wasn’t already aware of that himself. As Nate asked again about the wish to go back in time and have torpedos installed, John changed the subject back to something closer to home for Nate. ‘Didn’t you say you wanted a little earthquake not so long ago? If memory serves correctly you said it would be nice… Well, here you go, I fucking delivered for you…’
Nate lunged for John with fists clenched but was pulled back by Chris before he could do anything, such as swing a punch. Chris knew the tension had been escalating towards physical violence. It was only a matter of time with the pressure mounting within the submarine. With strength, Chris shoved Nate back and blocked his path towards John if he were stupid enough to make another move for him.
‘That’s enough,’ Chris said.
‘Fuck you,’ Nate spat. He looked past Chris to where John was standing. ‘I wanted to know why the trench was having quakes more frequently. I didn’t want to be tossed about like a fucking salt shaker by some… Whatever the fuck it is out there!’
‘None of us wanted this,’ Chris said.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t want to interrupt but what are we going to do about… her?’ Jennifer spoke up from the corner. She was referring to Yolanda who was still banging up against the metal door separating her from the rest of the group. Jennifer’s question calmed them down as they all - once again - became very aware of the banging.
Victoria looked at Chris who, from his face, clearly had no idea how best to handle this situation. She said, ‘We can’t open the door. Those creatures, whatever they were, made it very clear they’re not friendly towards us. If we open that door, we do not know how it will react, or how strong it will be. We also don’t know what else it is capable of.’
Chris sighed. He turned to John and said, ‘Remember that fee you proposed? I’m going to need more. I am not being paid enough for this.’
John quietly said, ‘If you get us out of this, I’ll gladly pay you treble.’
All fell silent. The submarine’s engine continued to quietly hum away as, from the canteen, Yolanda continued banging against the metal door.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Jennifer started to cry once more. ‘Can we please just stop her from banging on the fucking door?’
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Chapter Ten
BEFORE
John woke with a start as - all around him - the bed shook violently and doors banged. In a daze from his disturbed dream and unsure what was going on, he grabbed the wall next to his bed in the hope of steadying himself but all that did was make him realise it wasn’t just his bed shaking but the whole room. Fearful that the top bunk might collapse on him at any moment, John rolled from his bed and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Books, on the narrow shelf along the opposite side of the fall, soon joined him down there as they tumbled from where they’d been balanced.
To save from anything landing on his head, John quickly crawled to the cabin’s doorway and waited there until the vibrations stopped. By the time they had, he was fully awake with a racing heart and fully aware of what had just happened. His first ever earthquake. He smiled to himself, Nate would be happy. Except, Nate wasn’t.
*
The quake had measured a six on the Richter scale which was pretty “average” for what had been happening down there over the last few months where they’d be mostly around that level, with a few going up to a nine.
Nate was standing at the viewing window. His own laptop was open on the seats close to where he had been working; inputting the figures and other bits of data. His eyes were fixed firmly to an orange cr
ack in the sea-bed which had been about ten inches before but, was now more than three times the length.
The door opened behind him and John walked in with a grin on his face. ‘There you go,’ John said, ‘one earthquake as promised.’ To John, it was just a little “shake and go”, he hadn’t stopped to think about the possibilities of another tsunami, the loss of lives or anything else. ‘What was it? Felt like a big one to me.’ He added, ‘Scared the shit out of me if I’m honest…’ John noticed Nate’s concerned look. ‘All good?’
‘That crack down there got bigger. Not just that one either but,’ he pointed to the distance, ‘the one further down there too.’
‘That’s bad?’
Nate shrugged. ‘I mean, it isn’t going to be good. The whole lay of the land down here is shifting down here and the quakes aren’t showing any signs of slowing so… What will all this look like by the time it is finished? Will it finish? How many more tsunamis are we going to be subjected to? Also, if it is happening here, can it happen elsewhere too? Is this the start of something so much bigger?’
John hesitated a moment. He had no answer to all of the questions. He just shrugged and said, ‘Well, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To answer all those questions?’
Nate raised his eyebrows. Seeing it for himself now, he wasn’t sure if he could answer the questions. Certainly not in the time they were down there for. Some people have studied this kind of thing their entire life and never come close to the answers they sought. For all he knew this was going to consume his life and he’d never know what was really happening.
John pointed to the orange substance. He asked, ‘Is that magma?’
Nate nodded.
‘How is that even possible? Surely it would just solidify the moment it broke through to the surface?’
