Lost City

The Dive

After peeling off my wetsuit I jump in the shower. I still can't stay in them long, but it's an improvement from my first boat trip out. My stepmother had left a lasting fear of showers after a harsh punishment so anytime I attempted a shower I would pass out. I hadn't realized there wouldn't be a bath on the boat so I avoided showers the first few times we went out. Dr. Roberts came with us once and noticed something was wrong with me. He told me then I needed to fix my fear or plan on staying in the lab for the rest of the project. I obviously chose to face my fear.

I quickly go over the data I collected today before climbing into bed. If I want tomorrow to be a good dive I need a lot of rest. I close my eyes and pray for dreams of discovery instead of horror. I wake up out of luck though as the last tendrils of a nightmare disappear. At least I slept most of the night this time. It's almost 04:00 so I would be getting up soon anyway. Twisting my hair up, I grab my clean wetsuit and get dressed. After a full year of diving it's the only thing I feel comfortable in.

I walk into the kitchen to make my caramel coffee and reheat chocolate chip pancakes left over from yesterday's breakfast. I always make extra because you never know when you need a quick meal. Jay should be up in about half an hour to test the electrical equipment and double check my gear. It's always perfect, but better safe than sorry.

Carrying my coffee out to the deck I mentally go over the checklist that's been ingrained into my soul. Mask, tank, emergency air, flippers, pack. I do the same for the contents of my pack before physically checking everything. Once I'm content, I sit and finish my coffee while I wait for Jay. The sooner he wakes up the sooner I'll be home.

After another 10 minutes of waiting, Jay finally makes his appearance. I huff a little in annoyance, but I know there's nothing else I can do. He drives us closer to the crevasse before dropping anchor once more. We both can drive the boat, but Jay prefers to do it himself. To be honest I'd rather just be in the water. He finally checks all of the equipment and I gear up before falling backwards off the side of the ship.

I hit the water with a resounding splash and instantly feel at ease. This is where I was meant to be. Man, if mermaids were real I'd beg to become one. The first time Dr. Roberts, or Phil as he prefers to be called, had us train for this I knew. I knew that the water was my home. I love being surrounded by the quiet calm.

"Okay, Sang." Jay's voice crackles though the head piece. "You've got four hours to explore, but don't go to deep. You'll need your other gear for that. Make sure you've got enough air to resurface. I don't want to fill your emergency supply again."

I roll my eyes at his last statement. I'm the one who fixes up my air tanks. He only checks them once it's done. "Roger. Over and out. I'll let you know if I find anything interesting down here."

I get no response as usual, but that's ok. I'm to excited to get down there and explore. Slowly dropping every few feet I sink closer to the top of the chasm. The sonar map showed at least one cave close to the top so I'll have to take another shot when I get further in.

Stopping just before the opening I pull out a tube to take a soil sample. I won't get very deep, but any information is good. I tuck it back into my pack and drop into the hole. It's going to get dark down here.

Next time I'm bringing the big light.

Turning on the headlamp, I sink even deeper. Rock walls jut out at odd angles. A few small fish swim through, but not very many. Most are closer to the top where there's more food.

I pause and pull out the small sonar scanner. It only reaches about 50 feet around me, but that's plenty. I scan the area I'm at before swimming around a little more. Repeating the process a few times I return close to my original spot. Jay should have a pretty good view of the ocean floor surrounding me now. We'll go over it back at base tomorrow with the team. Now it's my turn to explore.

I quickly swim into the opening of the cave, trying to get as far in as possible before needing to return. The cave itself isn't to spectacular. It's pretty deep though. I'll need my deep sea diving gear to reach the bottom.

I continue along trying to catch as much of my surroundings on camera as possible. It's easy to miss things while swimming, but you can always look back at the footage.

"Sa-g. You b---r not b- goi--- to dee- ." A broken voice comes through the speaker.

Oops. Sorry Jay. To late. If he's cutting out, I really need to head back. I move to turn around and my head lamp catches on something shiny. Swimming to inspect it, I pull out a sample bag. I dig into the soil before pulling up a metal object. It's hard to study it closely underwater so I place it in my bag and make my way to the surface.

Breaking the surface of the water, I turn to look at the boat. Oops. Again. I'm a good 50-60 feet away so Jay will just have to wait a little longer before I make it to the ship. I make it there quickly though, because after a year of constant swimming who wouldn't?

Climbing onboard I begin stripping my gear once more. I pass the soil sample to Jay so he can label it, but keep the sample bag to myself. Jay knows I have it. He was watching the video feed. He just doesn't care about the trinkets I find.

I move to sit on the bench and pull out the baggie. Removing the piece of metal, I turn it over in my hand. The currents and sand have worn it down until its almost smooth, but a faint outline is still visible. Although it's slightly green from saltwater buildup, you can easily tell it's a coin. The shape of a head is cast on the side I'm studying. Flipping the coin over I freeze. Almost imperceptible, but clearly there, is written in Latin: Civitatem Atlantis Magni

"The Great City, Atlantis"

*****

Hey!

A tiny bit early for you all!

She found a coin. *wiggles eyebrows at you*

On a quick note. Google translate is my sometimes never correct friend. I'll try not to use it often, but no promises.

Oh! Just so you know, I write on my phone and iPad. That's why there may be a lot of mistakes. So I am sorry about those.

Till next time,
BijinMum.