~

Chapter Ten

Virgil Is Launched

~

Marianas Trench-South Pacific

The helicopter was soon clear of all ocean, landing safely upon a tiny launch pad in the middle of the South Pacific ocean. Iverson leapt off first, followed closely by Beck. Josh then stepped off, Serge behind him, Braz, and then finally Zimsky. He looked scornfully up at the sky and tasting the bitter rain.

"Ah, summer in the Pacific." he whined as he caught up to Josh. The team walked somberly toward the ship, as a prisoner sometimes does on death row. Stoic faced but every ounce of muscle trembling.

"Yeah, the world is inside out." Josh stated, keeping his eyes in front of him at all times. His eyes were diverted however once they reached the ship. For the first time, Josh saw her for what she truly was. Magnificent. A seemingly unbreakable piece of work. Suddenly, despite the rain, lightening, and overly tensed nerves in his body, he believed that everything would be okay for them.

"I was saving this for later," Serge stated, turning to the small circle they had unintentionally formed amongst themselves. "But this is the time for..." he trailed off and displayed a bottle of wine. Josh laughed briskly. Yeah, that was Serge for you. "Josh, do you mind?" he asked, handing it over.

"No not at all. Yeah." he took the bottle, twisted the cork, and held it up for all who were ready. "We should have a name for this baby."

"Oh, she's called Virgil, actually." Braz stated as he held out his paper cup and adjusted his bag on his shoulder.

"Virgil--the poet that lead our man into the depths of hell?"

"That's it." Braz nodded.

"That's appropriate I guess." Josh frowned sternly, continuing the pouring of drinks. "Well, here's to Virgil." he raised his cup.

"For the planet." Serge raised his own cup. They all raised there's in turn.

"To Virgil."

"To Virgil."

They each drank, taking another long look at the ships. Iverson finished off his drink and shook his head.

"No flashbulbs, no press, no cheering. It's...weird." He shook his head. The others eyed him uncomfortably. "Let's go."

As a unit they moved toward their ship and what they inwardly believed was their doom.

~

Rat chewed idly on a Hot Pocket, listening to the radio conference between Virgil and Deep Earth Control. With five screens before him, he felt mighty powerful. Or at least he would have if he weren't so worried about the six people now heading into the depths of the world, with the probability of returning or even achieving their goal very unlikely.

"Cabin Pressure, TSI, three point five." Iverson's voice was heard over the Com.

"Check." Beck responded.

"ECS cabin repress open."

~

"And repress VLV close."

"Check." Beck stated.

They were inside Virgil now, seated and belted, if not completely ready to go through with what they were doing. The order went as such, Commander Iverson in the driver's seat with Beck at his right hand. In the row behind them was Serge, and at his right hand was none other than Josh. Despite their field differences Deep Earth Control had been considerate enough to put the two closest team members side by side. However, that left a problem in the last row. Zimsky sat behind Serge, with Braz on his right. The trouble at least was behind the others, but there was some debate that leaving the side by side could cause a problem. Nothing the others couldn't handle for sure.

Josh swallowed hard. He suddenly realized that he really, really didn't want to be here doing this.

"Fluid dump valve."

"Check."

"We are about to begin our journey into the heart of the cosmos, into the very core of our own planet." Zimsky whispered into a tiny recorder.

"Close."

"Check."

"Forward dump valve open."

"Where we find therein..."

"Check."

"the secrets of the universe."

"Three point five PSI,"

"...the mysteries of time..."

"Check."

"LM circuit lock up."

"Check."

"...hope for the future."

"And signal."

"Deep Earth Control, this is Virgil. Signal check."

~

"This is Deep Earth Control." Came Stickley over the com. "I have thumbs-up across the board. You are clear to initiate power up."

~

Iverson reached up, flicked an assorted number of switches, and waited. The humming told them that the drills on Virgil's sides were powered up, spinning, and eager to start working.

"Reactor power confirmed." Iverson reported.

"At one thousand RPM, we will countdown to launch. On your mark." Stickley announced.

Serge sat rigid in his seat. Josh at his side was praying in his.

~

"Pad leader, stand by for launch." Stickley announced.

~

Braz reached up and pat his ship.

"All right, Virgil." he encouraged more himself than the piece of metal they were diving down to the core in.

The system, all too soon for those inside, reached one hundred percent.

~

"Gantry count." Stickley said as confidently as possible. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

~

Josh gulped hard in his seat.

"...six,"

Serge eyed him nervously, then adjusted himself in his own seat.

"...five,"

Zimsky closed his eyes, bracing himself.

"...four,"

Braz closed his eyes.

~

Rat's eyes lit up in concern.

"...three,"

Purcell swallowed hard, though his mouth was already dry.

"...two,"

Stickley faced the screen before her unflinchingly.

"...one. Launch."

~

The bolts opened, and Virgil was released into the roaring, vengeful sea. Everyone inside braced themselves for the roller-coaster ride ahead.

BAM! Virgil hit the sea.

No one moved as they felt the rapid descent through not only matter and Earth, but time itself. This was nothing like any of them had ever experienced before, and they doubted it would be again.

"Five hundred feet." Beck announced stoically.

"Leveling out." came Iverson.

They continued diving. Downward, downward, spiraling toward an undefined abyss.

"Okay guys, lets swing forward." Iverson announced. Everyone did so, slightly grudgingly as they all realized this was a big mistake.

"Eight hundred feet." Beck smiled.

"Light 'em up, Beck." Iverson grinned. She smiled wider and turned on their guide lights.

"Gyro leveling operational." Braz reported.

"Hull integrity holding." Serge announced.

They continued to fall down. The ship wasn't at full power yet, so they were really gliding through the ocean. The decent was fast and even for some moments.

"I'm going to keep her nose down about fifteen degrees and...oh, my goodness." Iverson looked up to see a pod of whales swimming in their path. Low, mournful sounds could be heard from them as they descended deeper and deeper into the ocean.

Rat, from DEC listened intently to the song, mystified, and yet saddened at the sullen note they carried in their harmonization.

"They're singing to us." Beck smiled.

Braz looked up, smiling. "Virgil's resonance tubes are powered up, so they're vibrating sub sonically. Actually, we're singing to them." he smiled, moved by the sight. Perhaps this was a good omen for their team.

Yet almost as quickly as it began, it ended, and the entire ship quivered with them inside. The pods of whales shifted and disappeared from view, their moving song leaving with them.

"What's our depth?" Josh asked hurriedly.

"Sixteen hundred feet." Beck answered. "Plenty of room on both sides."

"Hull integrity is good." Serge announced.

"You sure?" Josh inquired, sifting through feedback on his computer screen.

"Let's increase impeller speed." Braz suggested. "I think we'll be needing additional control." Iverson did as he commanded.

~

"Stick, I'm getting a seismic reading." announced John from the lower computing level of DEC.

"What's happening?" Purcell demanded as calmly as possible.

"T-phase." Stickley answered. "Underwater Earthquake."

~

"Still think the water launch was a good idea?" Braz inquired mockingly toward Zimsky.

"Yes." the man responded vehemently. "Yes I chose this location because the crust is thin here. "The downside is...there's lots of seismic activity."

"Four thousand feet." Beck announced.

Josh looked up on the screens. The underwater cliffs that they had been gliding through before were now coming to pieces above their head. He swallowed hard. They were in trouble.

"You see that rock?" he warned, his eyes never leaving his computer screen. "That is not good."

THUD. THUD. Two rocks hit the surface of Virgil's exterior, causing Josh and Serge to shift uncomfortably in their seats. But things got worse when Iverson began to talk.

"We are losing steering here. There's some kind of crosscurrent."

"Oh..." Josh sighed from his seat.

"Fourteen thousand feet." Beck announced stiffly.

~

Virgil worked fast against what seemed to be some sort of underwater suction. Unfortunately it was throwing them in the direction opposite their path. Virgil fought hard, but the current was too fast.

"Okay guys, fasten your seatbelts." Iverson warned. "We're turning into the skid." he changed direction. Everyone within Virgil felt the effect.

~

"Eighteen thousand." said an older man beside Stickley. "Eighteen five."

"They're going way too fast."

~

"Twenty one thousand feet." Beck announced. Serge turned to face Josh.

"We hit the wall we're rabbits on the highway."

"Pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure." Braz chanted in his seat.

"What do you mean, pressure?" Zimsky spat. "I thought you said this thing was indestructible!"

"I said the pressure makes us stronger. We just don't have enough of it yet."

"We're at twenty one thousand feet, pull out, sir." Beck ordered.

"Can't." Iverson confirmed.

Beck focused her gaze on Iverson.

"What?"

"We're locked in."

"Go to full throttle!" Braz commanded. The ship seemed to tense. "Standby to engage front and lateral lasers, please."

Serge turned his head as far as he could. "But what if we hit bottom in ten seconds here?"

Josh looked up and around. He suddenly didn't like the idea of Virgil being his tomb.

"Just give it a couple more seconds." Braz encouraged. "The lasers will fire."

The lasers started to spin, but no effect.

"No, there's not enough time for power up." Iverson commented.

"Twenty seven thousand feet." Beck warned.

Josh looked angrily around.

"The lasers will deploy." Braz continued.

Serge never looked more frightened in his life. The lasers started to spin faster and faster, but still nothing.

"Twenty nine thousand feet." Beck tensed visibly in her seat.

"Do it!" Zimsky shouted.

"And..." Braz went on.

"Do it!" Josh yelled.

"Now!"

The lasers deployed. The rock before them disintegrated and carved a perfect path just as they dove headlong into the crust of the Earth. Virgil passed through without trouble. She slipped through, and the crust hardened once more behind her.

~

Waiting was hell. Stickley, Purcell, Rat, and all others waited stiffly for the signal to reach through to them.

"And we've got a signal!" John called.

"Yeah!"

"All right!"

A great roar of applause broke through. Stickley smiled.

~

Serge and Josh broke out into nerve lessening chuckles.

"All right." Josh sighed afterward. "Switching on electron spin burst transmitters."

"Plotting through lowest density material, reconfiguring every five minutes."

"Hull integrity one hundred percent." Braz announced. "Reactor power one hundred percent."

"All green on the bomb compartment." Serge sighed in satisfaction.

"Speed is sixty knots." Josh confirmed.

"Hot damn." Beck laughed.

"All right," Zimsky stated. "We'll be through the crust in fifteen minutes into the mantle. Twenty four hours to the core, and then assuming we survive-"

"Assuming?" Josh turned his head.

"Yes, assuming." Zimsky commented. Josh pulled his head back with his overly used Oh great look on his face. "Another fifteen hours to the inner-outer core border."

~

"They're doing well." Purcell commented.

"The crust is just rock." Stickley commented. "Now it gets interesting."

~

"Virgil, can we get a status check?" Stick came in over the com.

"We're about to make the transition into the mantle." Beck confirmed.

With the most painful and suspenseful part of the mission now finished, all eyes were on the visuals screens. An amazing labyrinth of molten rock and liquids swam past their eyes in a plethora of different colors. Crystal formations, deep caverns and amazing sights the likes none had ever seen before. It was heaven below the surface, and they were the first to experience it.

~

"Come on, come on." Iverson encouraged the ship forward.

Within moments they made it. The only confirmation was their own eyes, the computer readings, and Serge's relieved sigh.

"Well, exterior pressure is eight hundred thousand pounds per square inch." he announced, looking at his computer. He then aimed a confident smile at Josh. "And hull integrity is one hundred percent." Josh smiled, saluted, and began to analyze his own readings.

"It is as if we're diving through the memories of the planet." Zimsky was again speaking into his little recorder. "But we are about to pass from memory into madness."

Braz took a sharp breath.

"Are you going to be doing that Carl Sagan narration all the way to the core?" he asked, pushing his glasses onto the bridge of his nose.

"I beg your pardon?" Zimsky asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"I said..."

"I-I have an obligation to my students, to my readers..."

"Obligation to make a book deal, perhaps." Braz commented.

"Two book deals, if you'd like to know the truth."

Serge rolled his eyes in his seat, smiling. Beck and Iverson exchanged entertained expressions.

"I read that last book. It wasn't very good."

"Oh really? Really?" Zimsky asked. Josh grinned as Beck turned her head to send a smile his way. "And when did you learn how to read?"

The argument went on, but no one really listened.

Author's Note: Holy hell was that long. But it was fun. ^_^ Only one more original chapter left, then I get to mutate this story the way it should have been. (Evil laughter)

(Hugs Serge)

Serge: Joshua!!!!

^_^