Base to Doctors. Are you two ready?
“Ready..”
We said it in unison, though he sounded more worried than I did. The voices of the scientists back at the base came out loud and clear through speakers that connected to the built in radio. We responded by pushing in a button and talking into a long, thin microphone.
This was supposed to be a dream come true, but I admit, I was just as nervous as my colleague. It was around a four hour trip, and I spent a lot of it reminiscing on everything that had got me to this point in my life. Descending down into one of the earth’s deepest points. A vast abyss of secrets. A trench that held so many unknown species of life. A place only very few had seen with their own two eyes. I was excited and panicked on the inside, but seemed unbothered on the outside. My colleague was quiet as well. I assumed he was doing the same thing as we drifted down into the water. We both looked out of the front window of the submersible we helped build. Our faces were expressionless.
Descending…
1,000 meters..
2,000 meters..
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with water. Pools, oceans, lakes, rivers, and seas. You name a body of water, and I bet I loved it. At first, I only had an interest in swimming. As I got older though, I started to take a fascination in marine life. That fascination turned into a career, and I went on to become a marine biologist. A successful one at that. I had my bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and PhD. I never really dated because I was so focused on school. My biggest supporters were always my parents.
When I was in my late 30’s, I was working in a research lab in Europe. Back then I was at the top of my game. I was well known in my profession and had chances to work with some of the world’s smartest scientists. My one colleague and I had been discussing an exploration with other scientists and engineers. A private one, but a big and costly one.
My colleague was the only other biologist I worked with that had the same PhD as I did. If this idea we had were to happen, he would be going with me. At first we talked about doing a deep exploratory dive about 200 meters down in the Pacific Ocean. This fun and interesting idea turned into taking an exploratory expedition into the Mariana Trench. At one point, my colleague even suggested that we see if we could get all the way down to Challenger Deep. An even deeper point of the ocean lying at the southern end of the Mariana Trench. For an entire year, it was nothing but talk. Until one of the engineers started to make it into reality.
The engineer gathered all of us inside of the conference room. There was a huge diagram on the whiteboard located at the the front of the room. It was a blueprint of some submersible device. He handed out copies of the blueprint for us to examine while he went through the process. He had designed a submarine that was able to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure. He explained how it would work, and it’s safe to say everyone in the room was completely on board. Once the project was approved, everyone got to work.
We spent 8 months preparing for our expedition. We had everything down to a perfect science. The current, the weather, the day, the submersible, our suits, the coordinates. Everything was planned down to the last nitty gritty detail. We had spent so much time preparing physically, I think I forgot to prepare emotionally. Though, even if I did, I don’t think it would make what happened any easier.
This was what people like me lived for. This experience we were about to do. Engineers and scientists spent over an hour getting on our suits the morning of the expedition. They weren’t meant to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure, but we still needed to be safe. Oxygen levels were checked. The submersible was triple checked. Everything was tight and completely sealed off. I thought about the last time I told my parents I loved them. I thought about my dog, my friends, my fellow biologists. I thought my couch and my TV. Lastly, I thought about mankind. I was submerging thousands of meters down. The thought of discovering the unknown made all those years of school worth it. What if I got to name a new species of fish? I thought about what I would name it.
I thought about what my colleague was thinking, but we both just sat there. We stared in silence. Listening to the water whoosh by us as we descended further and further away from the surface.
8,000 meters..
The pit in my stomach widened. Everything was so dark. We had seen an occasional shark and plenty of well documented species of fish. We documented an interesting looking angler fish and a black jellyfish. Other than that, just darkness.
9,000 meters..
My colleague finally said something. He’s the one who really pushed for this. It was something I completely unexpected though.
“When we land, I’m going to take the side submersible to explore Challenger Deep.” He said. His voice was eerily calm.
10,000 meters
Can you hear us, doctors? You’re currently at 10,549 meters. You should be approaching the bottom momentarily.
“We hear you loud and clear. We’ve made it to the bottom. Turning on the lights and activating video cameras now”
My voice was shaky but confident. The adrenaline had kicked in, and I was beyond belief. There were purple and orange plants that littered the trench’s floor. It looked like a swaying field of flowers. Tiny fish swam by the video camera. Fish that I had only ever seen in books. I looked over at my colleague. He was smiling as I watched a tear fall from his eye.
“We did it.” My colleague’s voice cracked. He sounded happy, but off. We were 10,600 meters underwater. I figured that had to be it. That would make anybody sound off.
“Yeah, we did.” I responded lightheartedly. I smiled, trying to lighten up the mood.
We moved around the ocean floor for about five hours documenting, taking photos, and making calculations. Every thing looked remarkable. It looked like something straight out of a movie. We were only supposed to be down here for six to seven hours before ascending. About five and a half hours into our expedition, I saw my colleague putting on a rebreather.
“Why are you putting that on? You know we can’t leave. There’s way too much pressure. You know that.” I tried to sound calm.
“I know. I’m not stepping out into the water, idiot. You think I don’t know that 16,000 pounds of pressure per square inch will kill me?” He was laughing.
“Well, why are you putting on a rebreather then?” I said calmly, but slightly more irritated.
“I’m going into the side sub. I’m going to descend further. We didn’t come all this way and descend towards the southern end for nothing.” He wasn’t laughing anymore, but his voice was still cheerful.
“That’s for emergencies only. You know once it detaches that you can’t come back onto the ship. You’ll have to try and hook yourself back on. Who’s the real idiot?!” My voice was now overflowing with irritation.
He didn’t say anything else. He geared up, opened the compartment that led to the side submersible, let it close behind him, and started it up. The headlights were bright beside me. I watched him drift away, and then start to descend.
I called up to the base to tell them that my colleague had basically just went rogue. The side submersible had a tracker on it as well. After awhile with still no sign of him, I asked for his location.
11,017 meters. The side submersible can’t handle all of that pressure for long. I don’t know if anyone has even descended that far before. We’re not getting a signal from him either, doctor.
I remember thinking why. Just why? Why did he have to do this? We’ve already made a remarkable journey. Of course he always had to push the limits. I steered the main submersible over to where I last saw him. Once I reached his point of descent, I looked down. It was black. It looked like a whole other trench. If I wouldn’t have known any better, I would have thought it was a whole trench of its own. I would think it was definitely not part of the Mariana Trench.
I wasn’t going down there. So I waited. And waited. And then waited some more. After about two more hours we became absolutely frantic. I told the base I wasn’t going down, but I couldn’t leave without him. I just couldn’t. That’s when I saw headlights coming up from the darkness. I let out a sigh of relief. He was finally coming back, and he was okay. I thanked whatever higher power there was.
Until the side submersible came up the whole way. Empty.
Any relief I had been feeling quickly dissipated. I frantically called to base that the side submersible was empty. No answer. Communication was only meant to be for seven hours at most. We were close to ten and a half.
Worried I had lost all communication, I tried to steer the submersible back to the starting point. On my way there I saw something floating in front of me. As I drew closer, something made a wave big enough to push me back at least 40 feet. Looking around me, I couldn’t see anything. Only about three feet in front of me. It was sandy and hard to see now. Whatever made the wave stirred up the ocean floor. I was pushing my way back when I was hit was another underwater wave. This time the submersible spun around a like high speed record player.
When I finally stopped spinning, I steadied myself to try to steer once more. This time I couldn’t even see a foot in front of me. It was like a tornado just swept across the trench’s floor. That’s when I heard something smack against the side of the sub. It rattled me again, but it didn’t knock me over. I looked but couldn’t see anything at all.
That’s when I saw him. He smacked against the windshield so hard that my entire body involuntarily flinched. His body lied against the glass like a squashed fly. His eyes were fully popped out of his head. His eyes, nose, and ears were all profusely bleeding. His dangling eyes were completely bloodshot. His body was bloated everywhere. He looked like an over-inflated balloon, ready to pop at any second. His suit was expelling blood from every opening.
I let out a blood-curdling scream. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just as quickly as he was slapped on the windshield, he was washed away. I looked, but his body was gone. I waited for the ocean floor to settle a bit, and made my way back to the starting point.
I was able to reach base and have them start ascending me back to the surface. When they asked about my colleague, all I could do was cry. They reassured me everything would be fine, but I knew it wasn’t. I just saw my inflated, dead friend smack against the submersible’s window. I thought about his family. I thought about how no one would ever retrieve his body, and how his final resting place is at the deepest part of the ocean. I was shaking. I couldn’t think of what could have happened. He would have never gone out there on his own free will.
About 2,000 meters into ascending, the submersible was hit again. It stopped the ascension. It was pitch black and dead silent. I listened, and heard scratching from the roof of the sub. I heard base say something, but it went in one ear and out the other. I was listening to something crawl all the way around the submersible. I crouched down behind the control panel and peaked over slightly.
Long, spindly legs and arms wrapped around the window. It’s body contorted and stretched in ways a human could never. It’s like it’s bones were able to bend. It had the body of a human, but it’s legs and arms were so absurdly long. The creature was so skinny, it looked like it’s ribs could poke threw at any moment. It had four rows of razor sharp teeth. I watched it’s bulging eyes dart around, inspecting the inside of the submersible. Once it didn’t see anything, it let out a shriek that I’ve never heard in my entire life. It left my ears ringing. I thought that my eardrums had burst and expected blood, but luckily the ringing and pain faded quickly.
That’s when I heard my colleague’s voice. His laugh. I looked around, and then peaked over the control panel again. The creature was still latched onto the windshield, but this time it’s face was that of my dead colleague. I watched it mimic his voice perfectly. It was calling out for me. I just wanted to jump out and scream “I’M RIGHT HERE. PLEASE COME BACK. PLEASE.”
I knew, it might’ve had his face and his voice, but it sure as hell was not him. I covered my mouth as the creature recited conversations we’d had throughout the years. I held back tears and vomit as it rocked the submersible and screamed in frustration. Once I felt it flee, I slowly pulled myself back up into one of the control seats. I whispered into the microphone.
“Ascend. As fast as you can. Now.” My voice was quiet and frantic.
Once I reached the shore, I was inconsolable. I tried to explain what happened, but I could barely talk. I was taken back to land and immediately sent to the hospital for any wounds or contusions I may have had. Physically, I was fine. Emotionally, I was terrified.
There was so much blood around the submersible that they didn’t even bring it back. They scrapped it. They never went to look for my colleague, and they never used any of our documentation or findings. The research facility wanted it to be swept under the rug. The expedition was never documented either. They figured it would be a bad look if one of their employees died on a private research expedition. I was then fired and moved back to the United States.
The nightmares still stay with me. All of these years, and the image of that creature and my dead friend are stuck in my brain like a parasite. The gruesome scene replaying over and over every night. I can still hear the creature’s nails dragging along the metal. I can still hear it tapping on the windshield. I can still hear the ear-piercing shriek that thing let out.
There’s something down there. At the very, very bottom of the ocean. Lying dormant at the very bottom of the world’s deepest trench. I don’t know what it is, but that’s not the part that scares me the most.
The fact that no matter what it is, it can turn into anybody or anything. It can use your traumas against you. It can play your mind like a fiddle. You are nothing but prey. The fact that it was using my colleague’s rebreather. The fact that it can also breathe air.
That’s what scares me the most.