***** Vol.5 Chap.36 Further exploration *****
“We do not have much time left.”
“Ok, I have two more places to go. I want to go to see the deepest part of the Bermuda Triangle and I want to visit my dolphin friends in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“Please sit back for a configuration change. We have to switch to the high speed mode.”
“Go.”
The TEVE changes back to the bullet shape and sped away along the underground currents of the Atlantic Ocean. She was tired and felt asleep rapidly. The TEVE provided a gentle rocking motion so that she had never slept so well in her whole life.
“It is time to wake up.”
She was woken up from a dreamless sleep.
“Where are we?”
“We are at the Bermuda Triangle.”
“Circle around the sea floor.”
Kristin looked around. There were wrecks all around the sea floor. She saw countless small pleasure boats, big ones and small ones. She saw old fishing boats listing on their sides. She saw many broken planes. Most were small one-seaters and two-seaters. Many of these were military planes. There were also a few large commercial jets. She clinched when she saw the tragedy all around her. It was too depressing. She could not handle the thought of loss with such magnitude.
“Are we at the deepest part?”
“You really want to?”
“Yes.”
“The deepest part is connected directly to the magna core. This TEVE is not built for that, but we can descend partially.”
“Go for it.”
“The TEVE headed for to a nearby crevasse. After the TEVE had traveled along the crevasse for a while, it suddenly took a turn and entered a deep and large cavern. It was similar to the one that she found right before she ran out of air.
The cavern was beaming with life. There were all kinds of vegetation. Many of them, she had no idea what their names were or even if they had ever been found. This was a complete ecosystem with synergism between animals, plants, and planktons. But all are dependent on the rich nutrients brought in by the underwater.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
She recognized many of the fish and crawling creatures like crabs. There were also different species of tubeworms waving in the current. From the light of the TEVE, she could see that there was a plethora of color all around.
It seemed that one cavern led to another and another to another. Kristin could tell that they were descending deeper and deeper into the earth center. Correspondingly, the scenery in each cavern also changed.
First the crawling creatures began to disappear. Then the vegetation began to get sparse and thin. The color likewise became faded. It was not brightly colored as before. There was no need as there was no sunlight in these parts of the world.
There were some strange looking species of fish. Most have large mouths with ferocious looking teeth. They swam around with widely open mouths scooping up whatever scraps of nutrients floating down. Kristin wondered how in such harsh environment, some of the fish could grow to such large size.
After passing through another cavern, all life seemed to disappear. She got depressed when she saw the barrenness. It appeared that nothing could survive in such harsh environments. Although occasionally, she saw a vent with steam coming out. Whenever that happened, a small ecosystem would exist. But the creatures in these ecosystems were simplistic in design.
“This is as far as we can go. We are also running out of time.”
“OK. Then let’s go back.”
The TEVE turned around and began the ascent retracing the steps they had taken just now. To Kristin, it was like traveling back from million years ago along the path of evolution. First, some simple creatures appeared around steam vents deriving their energy and livelihood from the heat and nutrients from the water.
Then more complex creatures mad their debut as vegetation became varied and life covered a larger area. As they near the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, they found myriads of life of all size and shape and color thriving on the ocean floor.
“Were you able to locate my dolphins?”
“Yes. They are just ahead.”
“Good. Can you change to a dolphin shape?”
“Yes.”
She saw dolphins all around her. She recognized some of them still wearing her data acquisition pack. The TEVE had anticipated her request and began to transmit the dolphin songs inside.
Kristin was pleasantly surprised at the quality of what she was hearing and at the same time was totally dismayed at the quality of her own recordings. There were many subtle nuances in the change of intonation and sound pressure level. But there were no time for that now. She resolved to herself to just enjoy the moment.
Inside her dolphin shaped TEVE, she swam with her dolphins. She listened to them although she could not communicate with them. But she felt the kinship and the camaraderie with them. She could pretend to be free like her dolphin friends without aggression, without hostility, and without violence.
Quietly, she admitted to her own belligerence and inferiority.
“OK, I am ready.”
Quietly and without emotions, the TEVE drove her to her submersible. She recognized her diving gear lying on the floor. The TEVE settled down over her driving gear.
“You may now put on your diving gear.”
Kristin did so obediently. As she lay there quietly, she began to recall her life. As a marine biologist, she had no regrets. She had seen things that her colleagues had never seen. And she had seen technology beyond her wildest dreams. Though her time in the TEVE was short, she felt she had seen a whole lifetime of dreams realized. She felt asleep in her dreams.