D is for Depth

I'm taking part in a blogging challenge where each post is themed off the letters of the alphabet. Today is a tale from the depths of the ocean...


"Command, we have just reached a depth of 35,810 feet and are still diving," said the captain into the radio. "We are now partaking in the deepest manned submarine dive in history."



The captain set the radio back on its hook and congratulated the crew in the red-lit control room of the U.S.S. Alexander.

"Well done, men," he said in his salty voice, "I'm very proud of you all. Now keep us on a steady course downward and keep in mind that everything we see from here on out has never been seen before."

The captain left the room and shut the door behind him. The room was silent, save for the steady pinging of the sonar and the omnipresent hum of the engines. Each of the crew members were focused on their own instruments, ready to face the unknown.

"Slow speed," said the navigator after a few minutes. "We're coming up on something large, probably a large out cropping from the side of the trench. Proceed with caution."

Without a word, the submarine's engines eased their whirring by a bit, and the room was silent once more. The captain soon returned to the control room, curious as to the situation.

"What's going on? Why'd you slow down?" he growled impatiently.

"Navigation reads an outcropping ahead sir, and we're slowing down to adjust," said one of the crew members.

"Well, navigation, how do we look now?"

"We..." the navigator paused. "That's odd."

"What is it?" asked the captain.

"It's gone. I don't know how, but it's gone now. How can something that big just disappear?"

"Probably a minor instrument malfunction," the captain answered. "We can't be sure how they'll hold up at these depths."

Suddenly, the noise of the engines ceased.

"Why'd you turn off engines? Full speed ahead!" the captain demanded.

"That wasn't us, sir."

"Then what the hell was it?" the captain yelled.

"I'm not su--"

The crewman's sentence was cutoff by a subdued metallic banging reverberating throughout the ship.

"What is going on, dammit? I want some fucking answers, and I want them now!" The captain was in a frenzy of confused fear and rage.

"We're not picking up anything on the instruments, sir."

Just as the captain was about to continue his tantrum, the lights went out in the control room. It was pitch black and silent, except for a tiny sound of dripping water.

The lights flickered on and off feebly, never quite making it completely back to full brightness. The captain walked over to the radio communicator and pulled it off of its hook and held it in his hand. The pounding from outside became a groaning of bending metal. The water dripped faster inside the control room. Then, the groaning became screeching and tearing. Water began rushing into the room, and the power flickered on one last time for a few seconds.

"Command," the captain said into the radio, "I think we woke something up."