An unknown time later, the ship was full of groaning as dazed men and women came to and began to try and stand to their feet. Dr. Quest's first thought was of Race and the kids. He glanced around him and saw they were around him and had apparently awoke about the same time he had.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked.
"I'm okay, Dad," came Jonny's reply, "and so's Bandit." he added as the dog shook off the remaining daze and ran over to him.
Jessie then answered, "Same here, Dr. Quest."
"I am fine, as well," said Hadji.
"I'm good too, Doc," Race answered, "but where are we?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Dr. Quest answered as he realized something surprising: no one had looked around outside, yet, or had noticed they weren't rocking with the waves anymore. As they looked around them, it became evident they were in an enormous room. The ship, along with presumably all the others that were missing, was essentially dry-docked and setting on a plain, metal surface. The room itself seemed well-lit, although he couldn't spot any light sources.
The biggest surprise, however, came when they looked up at the clear dome overhead that was shielding them from a large amount of water. Suddenly, he came to the realization that they were at the bottom of the ocean!
The group then began to walk around the ship to check on the others aboard. Everyone seemed fine, apart from the confusion, and the equipment didn't appear to be damaged. It was time to disembark and try to determine where exactly they were. A handful of crew members, in addition to Dr. Walters, traveled with the Quests, Race, and Jessie to check out some of the nearby ships.
At the first ship the group came to, which was the last one to disappear before theirs, Walters called out, "Helloooo! Is anyone aboard?!"
After a few seconds, everyone on that ship walked out on deck, "Dr. Walters? Don't tell me they caught you, too!" a man who appeared to be the captain shouted.
Dr. Quest then called to the man, "Can you let down the gangplank so we can come aboard to talk?!"
"Of course!" came the answer.
The captain and several other men went to work on it and, after a few seconds, the group was walking up onto the other ship. It was decided that they would talk in a dining room below deck. It turned out, this was the last ship to vanish before Walters contacted Dr. Quest.
Once they were inside, the captain introduced himself as James Reed and began detailing his and his crew's experience. "As you probably know, we were searching for the earlier vessels when we ventured closer to the Sargasso Sea, remaining what we thought was a safe distance away. Then, without warning, the waters started getting rough and a bright light began to shine under us. The next thing we knew, there was a blinding flash and we woke up here."
"That's what happened to us, too," Jonny piped up.
Race then commented, "At least everyone seems to be making it okay, here."
The first officer responded, "Only because we carried extra supplies with us." His expression sobered as he added, "We have explored the other nearby ships. Most of the other crews do not appear to have been as successful."
"So how many crews are left?" Dr. Quest asked.
"Only ourselves and the crews of the last two ships before us, although they recently began raiding the others for any supplies we may have missed," Captain Reed told him.
"I was wondering," Hadji began curiously, "has anyone found a possible way out of here?"
Reed shook his head. "We've looked, but we can't seem to find a door. The only object of interest we came across is what appears to be a small electrical panel on the far northeastern wall, which is the only one that's solid, but we can't get it open."
"Can you show us?" Race asked, "Maybe we can take a crack at it."
Captain Reed stood and motioned to a few of his men, before saying, "Follow us."
Everyone was on their guard, not knowing for certain what to expect as they wandered through the eerie graveyard of ships, noticing some that probably dated back at least 200 years.
A short while later, they were at the northeastern wall, looking at the panel the captain had told them about.
"Interesting," commented Dr. Quest as he examined it.
Race took a close look at the panel, before pulling out a pocket knife and flipping the blade open, "Too small to get my fingers in, but maybe this will work."
He tried with all his might to pop it open, only for the blade on his knife to bend almost 90 degrees. The panel, on the other hand, didn't even have a scratch.
Everyone except for the ship crewmen looked at the blade with surprise. "What now?" one of the crewmen asked.
"Maybe we could try shorting it out," Jessie offered.
Dr. Quest examined the panel as best as he could and agreed. "That could work."
"And I know where to get just what we need," Jonny announced, "C'mon Jess, Hadj."
As they approached the ship, the trio was shocked to find a group of rough-looking men, likely some of those from the other ships they had been told about, rummaging through everything. The men wore torn, faded clothes and bore intense expressions under their wild hair. Even a quick look at them showed they were starting to become malnurished.
"Hey! Stop!" Jonny shouted as he, Jessie, and Hadji ran up the gangplank.
They were immediately met by three of the scavengers, who tried to block their way. Each of the teens took a man, quickly dispatching them and moving further toward the main group. A fight ensued on the main deck, with Jonny and Hadji finally lunging at some of the men and knocking them over the side, onto the ground, and Jessie taking down another two with a flurry of kicks. Bandit had grabbed onto the leg of another man and held on, distracting him, until Jonny finally brought the man down. Eventually, the leader and remaining men surrendered.
"Why were you trying to take our things?" Jessie asked.
The leader, Captain Newman, replied, "Look, we all know none of us are getting out of here. We've been here for a few months and know the only way to survive is for it to be every man for himself."
"Well we're gonna make it," Jonny replied defiantly.
The leader scoffed at this. "That's what everyone who gets stuck here says at some point. Then, they finally get smart and give up."
"Never!" Hadji answered him.
"And now, it would be a good idea for you to leave this ship and I suggest you don't come back," Jessie said in a somewhat-threatening tone.
Captain Newman and the others grumbled as they walked back to the ground and left, apparently for their own vessel. Finally, Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji could walk to the area where Dr. Quest's equipment was still set up, thankfully unharmed. The crew members from the ship had failed to fight off the other men, but were also unharmed, except for a few bruises and some being knocked out.
Once they reached the improvised lab, the teens grabbed some wire, a pair of relatively-large batteries, and some other items, before they took off for the door, again.
After the teens arrived and quickly pieced together their improvised device, Dr. Quest went to work carefully moving the portion of bare wire around the opening in the panel until there was a pop of electricity, which caused a large door hidden in the wall to slide open.
Once they finally walked through the exit of the massive room in which they had been trapped, everyone was surprised to find they were at one end of a large underwater city. They stepped out and stared to look around, until a noise that was unmistakably an alarm began to sound, prompting Bandit to begin wildly barking as he sensed danger. In the distance, the group could see some sort of armored guards rushing toward them.
"Out of the frying pan, into the fire," Race muttered, mostly to himself.