"Well this is gonna be one chaotic, cowboy operation." I thought to myself as I watched other people load cargo and all sorts of other equipment onto our ship. The ship we are on is a converted container ship, modified to carry 200 to 300 men on board and all their equipment. She is quite a beautiful ship with quite the amount of space. She is the U.S.S. Duke of Glasgow. However, she is only one of four ships that is apart of our exploration. The other three ships are the H.M.S. Duchess of Cumberland, FS Arc-en-Ciel, and the U.S.S. Sapphire.
Sadly, I ate something I probably shouldn't have ate right before getting on board the ship. Let's just say, I had to puke. I don't know why I got sick on board.
"Why did I have to eat watermelon? I don't even like watermelon." I said to myself as I watched from the deck of the Duke of Glasgow. Suddenly, I heard a voice on the intercom.
"Attention! All hands prepare to launch!" I hurried to grab my bags and the journal. I soon ran into Miss Amanda Kidd.
"Oh hello again." She said to me.
"Why hello as well. I had no clue you were coming along on this trip as well."
"BLONDIE!" I heard a voice shout.
"Hold that thought Howlin' Mad." She replied to me as I watched her walk over to a man in his mid-30's, with long black hair and sideburns, he was also short, and dressed in clothes from the time of the California Gold Rush; well, it looked like he was.
"What have you packed into my wagon here?!" I saw him look through his stuff.
"What is the problem Porky?" I saw him open up the wagon to reveal what she had stored in Porkchop's wagon.
"What is this? Tomatoes? We ain't gonna be cookin' no Spaghetti! Lettuce? Why we be needin' this?"
"Why they are all the basic food groups of course Porky."
"Why I can give ya four basic food groups and much for faster than you can say,' callawhosica'. beef, ham, beans, and gumbo." I laughed at that when I heard those words.
"Hey!" I shouted. "Actually those are food types not food groups ya half a meatball."
"Alright ya Southern gits! Let's pack it up and get gone before the sun sets."
"Hey Howlin' Mad!" BMW shouted at me. "Where have you been? I would like you to meet Captain Jerome "Bradshaw" Larson. He had family who served in the 1914 expedition and has served in the Gulf War on board the U.S.S. Missouri." I then shook hands with the Captain and smiled at him.
"It is an honor to meet you Captain Larson."
"Please," he replied. "Call me JBL."
"If ya say so." Just then, my brother Morris showed up beside me.
"Is this the captain of the submarine Independence?"
"why yes it is Morry. This is Captain JBL. By the way Captain."
"Yes Howlin' Mad?"
"How many other submarines will be with us."
"Two others. Doncaster and Falkland Eagle."
"And we are on the Independence?"
"Yes we are."
Attention! All hands prepare for launch.
"Let's get going all." I finally said. Suddenly, I saw someone drop a stick.
"Hey! You dropped you dynamite." Just then, a middle aged man looked back. He was dressed in a mix of purple and khaki; he also has curly dirty blond hair. He has sideburns and blue-green eyes.
"Thank ya for the help. The name is Justinian." I shook his hand.
"Howlin' Mad McCullough. I am gonna help read the journal to lead us the way."
"Proud to have you here."
I grabbed my bags and any other things I feel like I will have to have and climbed onto the Independence. I gotta say, BMW did a very good job of paying these workers, and he must have a very fat wallet. This is quite a massive sub, even for today's standards. I had a feeling though that me and my friends might be in for it sooner or later. I walked around the place and meet up with this rather sweet looking girl. She is about my height, with black hair, beautiful blue eyes, a sweet smile, rather elegant curves *coughs* (Sorry for getting a bit out of hands with describing her. You basically get the idea that she is beautiful.)
"Hello Ma'am." I said nervously.
"Ciao Yank." she responded back in a cute voice.
"Scusate. Il mio italiano è molto arrugginito." I replied back in Italian the best I could
"That is okay Cicognone." She smiled at me. My she looks super cute I thought to myself, but I regained my sanity.
"So you are the Chief Engineer Stella?" I asked making her blush some.
"No Gallinello. I am actually the assistant of the Chief Engineer. Catalina is actually the Chief Engineer."
"Sorry for the misunderstanding." I blushed in humiliation.
"That is alright Gigino. You are actually kind of Carcina." I was surprised that she said that.
"Anyway..." I said, trying to calm myself. "I am afraid that I must go and check on my friends. sorry Gina."
"That is alright. I guess I will see you later Gallinello?"
"Of course!" I replied.
I walked around the sub and then I stumbled into a sleeping quarters. I looked around and noticed that there was a French flag on my bed. I reached down to pick one up but then I was stopped in my tracks. I was stopped by a early 30s; he has horizon blue eyes with blond hair, like mine, but his was a lot longer. He seemed to be wearing a sailor's uniform but with the French tricolor on his sleeve.
"Excusez-moi monsieur." He replied to me.
"Oh dear did I do something wrong?" I asked him.
"Non, but you almost messed with my prized flag. This is the flag flown by the former battleship Dunkerque and belonged to my great uncle who died while on board her when it was ordered to help out during the Invasion of Norway in 1940."
"I am super sorry for almost ruining it. My deepest apologies."
"Cheer up Monsieur. You had no clue and that is not your fault." Just then, an African American showed up.
"Have you been giving the kid here a tongue lashing?" He asked Jérôme.
"Non! I have not Baldwin. He almost accidently sat on my flag I have here. I just didn't want him to ruin it by accident."
"Anyway my name is Baldwin. Curtis Baldwin; I am the medical officer here." I shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you." I told him. Just then, Miss Louis Coleman, our Intercom lady, announced on the com.
Would Howlin' Mad McCullough please report to the bridge?
"Sorry I can't stay fellas. You are welcome to come if ya like."
"Sure. We would love to see what this is all about."
I soon met up with my friends and realized that Kelly is not with the group.
"Where is Kelly?"
"She decided not to go on the trip and look after BMW." Bryan said.
"I see. Anyways let us all go to the bridge. I have a feeling that this is very important."
We all started walking to the bridge and we arrived. I was gobsmacked by this and was at a loss of word. I was then gestured by one of the naval officers to go to the meeting room which is located just above where we were. We walked up there and it looked like a conference room with a projector and table with seats. JBl and Amanda were seated down and the rest of the people that came with me all sat down in a chair except for me.
"I want everyone here to give Mr. McCullough your undivided attention." JBL said.
"Alright. I guess we should start this off about what I know so far. Is that okay with you JBL?"
"Sure Howlin' Mad."
"Well...There is still some stuff I am still not sure about. However, I can tell you is that there is a frightening creature that guards the entrance of Atlantis. It is said to be one of the most frightening beasts to ever live." I stumbled over to a dry erase board and a chalkboard. "Sorry...My art stills are very bad and so I am gonna do my best to draw this creature."
So, I did my best to draw the creature onto the dry erase board. I gotta say it actually wasn't that bad. My friends looked shocked by this creature, but JBL and everyone else didn't seem so surprised.
"What is that thing Hollis?" Glenn asked.
"This Glenn; This is the Leviathan. It's a mythical sea serpent. He's described in the Book of job. The Bible says, "Out of his mouth go burning lights, sparks of fire shoot out." But more likely it's a carving or, a sculpture to frighten the superstitious."
"Sounds like we have our work cut out for us don't we?" Jérôme retorted.
"Will we have to do any digging or no?" asked one of the geologists that was in the room.
"I am not sure if we have to do any digging. We might have to later, but not with finding the entrance to Atlantis. Ya see, what the journal here says, and I quote, 'the path to Atlantis will take us down a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean, and we'll come up a curve into an air pocket right here, where we'll find the remnants of an ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis.' I can't make any promises that we will be digging, but we might have to should there be any blockages along this highway."
"I see..." said the geologist. "So we might have to drill later on, but not at the start?"
"I'm afraid I do not know yet good sir." I told him. "I guess we will have to wait and see." I then heard Amanda say something to herself.
"Epidemiologist, Historian, Cross Country Runner...I am surprised that he is still single." I choose not to say anything as I thought it would have been super rude.
I walked over to the bridge and looked out the window, but all I could see was darkness. I was examining all the equipment and was surprised that this was all state of the art.
"Independence to Doncaster over?" I heard the radioman say.
"Yes this is Doncaster over?"
"Set course for 2-4-0. 50 degrees down angle."
"Affirmative Independence."
"I hear ya. Independence out." I then looked to the starboard side of our sub and saw the Doncaster. The Captain on board the Doncaster waved at us and we waved back. I was still reading the journal, trying to understand it a little better when I heard the Helmsman shout to JBL.
"Captain?"
"What is it First Officer McFarland?"
"Ya might wanna get a look at this."
"What is it?" I then asked, but soon I got my answer when I saw hundreds of different ships from so many eras destroyed and at the bottom of the sea. Suddenly, something caught my eyes.
"Captain look!" I pointed to a blown up hull. "Is that the..."
"Yes it is Mr. McCullough. That is the Ulysses." I was at a loss of words to see the very ship my granddad was aboard was now a heap of wreckage.
"What happened?" I asked.
"let us have so exterior lights." Just then, these big lights turned on and showed that there was also other ships sunk.
"Look! That is the Cape Nelson!" Jérôme shouted. I looked and saw the broken hull of some old World War II era cargo ships. I knew what they were.
"It is indeed the Cape Nelson and the Kastelholm. It was said that they were sunk by U-Boats, but when they were rescued; they were in shock, saying they were attacked by some strange creature that they have never seen before. I am not sure, but I think the Leviathan destroyed them. There is no other explanation."
I was know trying to imagine what it would be like to be in mortal peril. Little did almost all of us know, we already are. However, That is gonna have to be a story for next time.
Join us next time as we enter the entrance to Atlantis and how we encountered the Leviathan. It is quite scary so be careful and say your prayers tonight. Fair Sailing and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas
So as you can see, I have finally figured out how to do this part to leave behind a message. I hope you all enjoy this story so far and be sure to leave a like and review. Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.
