Rapture Revisited
In the North Atlantic somewhere between Greenland and Iceland the scientific research vessel "Triton's Favor" prepares to launch a manned mission into the depths of the Atlantic. The mission is led by a man who goes by the name Dr. James Enwood. The doctor paces on the deck with a satellite phone in hand while crew members rush past him checking lines and running equipment. "But you can't cut our budget now! The sub is literally about to touch the water!" Dr. Enwood paused to hear the man on the other end, "I understand it seems crazy but there's… Eleanor Lamb might be a little senile but she seems pretty… Look in 1950 a man named Andrew… mm-hmm… Five days aren't even close to enough if the first dive doesn't pan out!" The voice on the other end cut out with a click. Dr. Enwood responded with a fit of rage befitting a child who just had their TV privileges revoked.
As James corrected his glasses the ship's captain approached, "What'd NURP have to say there Jim?" James' head dropped with a heavy sigh, "Their budgets been cut again so they're taking it out of our pockets… We have to come up with something conclusive." James put his hands on the railing and watched as the five man submersible was lowered into the water. "I think we'll only have enough for this one trip out here. We're to return to Reykjavik in five days." The captain toyed with his beard as he pondered, "You know we have enough fuel for a sixth dive, maybe two in one day?" James put on a weak smile as he turned and patted his friend on the shoulder, "Thanks for the optimism, but we both know that won't happen, but," he turned back out towards the ocean, "if my research is right we'll find it on the first go." "You really think it's down there? You really think you'll be the man to find Atlantis?" James shook his head, "Rapture, the old lady kept calling it Rapture."
Chapter 1
Dr. Enwood stood at the top of the rope ladder with a checklist as the supplies were loaded into the sub. The crew, under the captain's orders, was doing their best to load as quickly as possible, but James would wish that they would just be thorough. "We can't have anything missing if we find this place, so please be careful and double-check everything." One of the crew members just grumbled something about where he might want to shove that clipboard. James was starting to get anxious as he had accounted for most of his team with one exception, Jordan, the sub's pilot. Dr. Blair Swanson, a marine biologist in her mid fifties, and her young assistant Keira, were on the deck looking over equipment. The middle-aged maritime engineer, Arlow Gunne, was already familiarizing himself with the sub. Jordan on the other hand was yet to be seen.
Jordan was a young man with enough naval experience to put a much older man to shame. He was experienced in almost any vessel out there but he was not so experienced with rum. That didn't stop him from drinking like an old seadog the night before. Half of Jordan's body hung off his bed, while the other half; including his head, were buried under the sheets when someone started banging on his cabin's door. The banging was like dynamite in his hung over mind. He tried to speak, but the words failed to escape his parched mouth. BANG! BANG! BANG! The captain was furiously knocking, "Jordan! Get your ass on the deck now! You're due to pilot that sardine can to the floor!" Jordan's head popped out from under the sheets, "Are we there already!?"
James breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the captain on Jordan's heels bringing the young pilot onto the deck. James glanced over his checklist, "Looks like it's all there. Jordan, get in there and check out the systems. If it checks out we're good to go." Jordan was in the midst of pulling on a naval sweater when he muttered some kind of reply.
The whole team was waiting in the sub as Jordan performed the last of his checks. He leaned back to Dr. Enwood, "Looks like this is happenin' there doc. All systems green." Despite his excitement James' palm made its way to his face, "I told you to never call me that. Blair's a doctor too. We can't have two 'docs' around here. It'll just get confusing." Jordan flipped a few switches which opened the ballasts, and paid no attention to Dr. Enwood, "Whatever you say doc."
Keira rubbed her ears repeatedly as she was the only one not really used to the pressurized nature of a submarine. The rest of the team had a great deal of experience in diving but this would be Keira's first time going beyond 1000 meters. James saw Keira's discomfort and tried to take her mind off it, "Right so the plan is to reach the floor at around 2500 to 3000 meters. From there we'll crawl till we reach the ridge…" James was cut off by Jordan making an intentional cough, "How about we follow that big dark tower sticking up over there?" James' eye's rolled at the absurd possibility, but came up to the front window just to humor Jordan. His jaw dropped at what was before him.
It looked like a tower of concrete rising towards the surface of the ocean but it stopped almost 1000 meters down. It appeared as though the top had broken off the structure. "Yeah, maybe follow that down." James' excitement was contained in pure disbelief. "Well that was easy." Arlow came to the window and patted James on the shoulder, "Don't suppose we could get that funding now?" James put on a grin but he was not the most optimistic of individuals, "Yeah, but I don't think a tall rock is…" Once again James' astonishment took the words from his mouth.
The sub had reached around 2500 meters below and just climbed over a ridge when the base of the tall structure came into view. This time it was Arlow's jaw that dropped. Surrounding the towering structure was a city skyline more impressive than New York's. There were a few dome like structures all lit up from the inside and massive skyscrapers towered off the ocean's floor. The buildings were all connected by glass tubes, some running on the ground others half way up the towers. A large part of the city appeared dead; some buildings had even fallen, while other parts appeared to have running power. The more distant towers in the city were lit up, and there appeared to be flickering neon lights scattered about.
Everyone stood with their mouths agape at the sight. James was the first to break the silence, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Rapture."