disappeared, and he was now taking in the wonders of the environment in which he now found himself. Cocooned in this glass box, little bigger than himself , he was, in effect, travelling upwards in a bubble. He could see virtually nothing except what was highlighted in the beam of his torch light, an occasional fish or some vegetation would pass in and out of view. He felt a little trepidatious as to what he might see or what might see him; after all he was effectively alone in a strange environment, who knew what was lurking in these depths.
T he journey seemed to take for ever but in reality it was little more than a few minutes, and as the pod neared its destination and broke the water line, Marius watched as the clear saltwater ran down the outside of the glass in rivulets leaving the unit standing on the surface of the sea. He then reached for the control pad located on his left arm and opened a communication channel to the shuttle,
“I have reached the surface and am ready to commence environment testing, over”
In his earpiece he could hear the captain’s voice, “Roger Mr Hatch, carry on”
With that he looked down at his feet and located the pedal to open the escape pod. He found himself feeling a little apprehensive as the glass panel above his head slid backwards and folded down against the back wall of the pod , and as the sides sank into and below the surface of the water he felt a little disorientated as he stood in the night air alone in the dark. He was a single, solitary figure, standing on a vast sea, alone and vulnerable. He once again reached for the control panel on his left arm and started about confirming the status of the atmosphere. Systematically he checked the air content to verify that it was indeed suitable to sustain their needs, having done that he reported back to the captain.
“Confirming the status of the atmosphere sir, I am now going to remove my breathing apparatus” With this he proceeded to remove the small mask that had covered his nose and mouth. Slowly, he closed his eyes and took one long, deep breath in. At the apex of his breath he opened his eyes and allowed the feeling of total relief to consume him. Now breathing freely and deeply he started to take in his surroundings.
To all intent and purpose, he was now standing freely on the surface of the ocean looking around, he could see nothing save for the vast emptiness of the night, the only thing visible was the feint outline of land which was picked out by small, almost barely visible orange flecks of light that he could see spaced sporadically along the shoreline. In his estimation they were about one to one and a half miles away from his present position. It was impossible to ascertain any more information about this place without more technical equipment, but that would have to wait. He looked up to the sky and could see all of the stars twinkling against a black velvety backdrop. Knowing that he would soon be back up there heading for home, he could not wait to start the mission investigations, finish the job and return to normal life. He was aware of the warm night air on his skin and although he was aware that there was much work to be done over the next few days, he wished that he could savour this quiet solitude for a little time longer. He took one more, large sigh of resignation and looked down, located the pedal and pressed it. As he did the glass walls silently slid back into place and the roof repositioned itself. The pod then sank silently back into the water and started the fifty meter journey back to the shuttle.
The cable dragged the pod back to the release room and as it entered, the outer doors swung back into place and sealed him back inside the shuttle. Once the water had been evacuated from the room Hatch stepped out of the pod and back into the inner room.
“I was monitoring your ascent and I can tell you that we detected no major undercurrents, the natural swell of this ocean is well within
T he journey seemed to take for ever but in reality it was little more than a few minutes, and as the pod neared its destination and broke the water line, Marius watched as the clear saltwater ran down the outside of the glass in rivulets leaving the unit standing on the surface of the sea. He then reached for the control pad located on his left arm and opened a communication channel to the shuttle,
“I have reached the surface and am ready to commence environment testing, over”
In his earpiece he could hear the captain’s voice, “Roger Mr Hatch, carry on”
With that he looked down at his feet and located the pedal to open the escape pod. He found himself feeling a little apprehensive as the glass panel above his head slid backwards and folded down against the back wall of the pod , and as the sides sank into and below the surface of the water he felt a little disorientated as he stood in the night air alone in the dark. He was a single, solitary figure, standing on a vast sea, alone and vulnerable. He once again reached for the control panel on his left arm and started about confirming the status of the atmosphere. Systematically he checked the air content to verify that it was indeed suitable to sustain their needs, having done that he reported back to the captain.
“Confirming the status of the atmosphere sir, I am now going to remove my breathing apparatus” With this he proceeded to remove the small mask that had covered his nose and mouth. Slowly, he closed his eyes and took one long, deep breath in. At the apex of his breath he opened his eyes and allowed the feeling of total relief to consume him. Now breathing freely and deeply he started to take in his surroundings.
To all intent and purpose, he was now standing freely on the surface of the ocean looking around, he could see nothing save for the vast emptiness of the night, the only thing visible was the feint outline of land which was picked out by small, almost barely visible orange flecks of light that he could see spaced sporadically along the shoreline. In his estimation they were about one to one and a half miles away from his present position. It was impossible to ascertain any more information about this place without more technical equipment, but that would have to wait. He looked up to the sky and could see all of the stars twinkling against a black velvety backdrop. Knowing that he would soon be back up there heading for home, he could not wait to start the mission investigations, finish the job and return to normal life. He was aware of the warm night air on his skin and although he was aware that there was much work to be done over the next few days, he wished that he could savour this quiet solitude for a little time longer. He took one more, large sigh of resignation and looked down, located the pedal and pressed it. As he did the glass walls silently slid back into place and the roof repositioned itself. The pod then sank silently back into the water and started the fifty meter journey back to the shuttle.
The cable dragged the pod back to the release room and as it entered, the outer doors swung back into place and sealed him back inside the shuttle. Once the water had been evacuated from the room Hatch stepped out of the pod and back into the inner room.
“I was monitoring your ascent and I can tell you that we detected no major undercurrents, the natural swell of this ocean is well within
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