The Goddess was christened on the 4th of January, 2017. She immediately put to sea for six months of testing.

The bathyscape had submersible capabilities of up to ten thousand feet, and looked more like a spaceship than a sub. The interior was not cluttered and dingy like navy-designed vessels; the Goddess could comfortably accommodate thirty people. Combining the latest technology with luxurious living, she was the ultimate observation and research vessel made to date.

Tory Alexander and her brother Brian had commissioned the design and building of the submersible for a specific project they had in mind. It was entirely funded by their father, whom most of the world saw as the aging Professor Renford Alexander -- Tory and Brian, who knew him better, named the submersible's two smaller reconnaissance subs after him: Merlin I and Merlin II. Each vessel had a separate holding bay that also served as a launch pad. They could disembark from the mothership either above or below the waters' surface. If submersed, the containment bays would be flooded, the hatch doors opened and the probe vehicles launched.

As the bathyscape was privately-owned, their project was beholden to no one. This was all-important because Tory had a map in her possession which identified the exact location of the lost continent of Atlantis, and she claimed that it pinpointed the major cities of this fabled landmass. The richest of these had been Chailidocean, Plato's 'City of the Golden Gates' that, according to Tory, was currently residing under ten thousand feet of water off the coast of Spain.

'Deep Sweep', a project based in the Azores and headed up by Dr John Pearce of the Institute of Oceanography, had for many years used navy-owned submersibles to explore the floor of the Atlantic. They had discovered many galleons and warships, but no evidence to support the theory of Atlantis.

John Pearce was an associate of Tory's husband, Miles Thurlow. Miles, Tory and Brian had joined the project early in 2001, intending to prove Tory's map to be correct, but the project had been put on hold around that time. The navy had recalled all their equipment after the Californian quake of 1999 had virtually destroyed an area stretching from Los Angeles to San Francisco. In the years following, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions kept the Navy occupied with massive rescue and salvage operations, and 'Deep Sweep' was finally cancelled altogether in 2012.

Dr Pearce was somewhat of a sceptic with regard to the lost continent. He'd seen the rocky chasms and miles of vast white sand on the seabed of the Atlantic, but no traces anywhere of a superior culture that might once have existed. Yet Miles Thurlow was a Professor of Archaeology, one of the most highly regarded authorities on antiquity, and also a clever businessman. John knew Miles would never consider going into such a project, that had now been dubbed the Plato Project, if he wasn't at least ninety per cent certain it was a winner. John Pearce and his family were intrigued by the Project and were easily persuaded to join the team in the search for the lost continent.

After running the Goddess and her mini-subs through their paces in the shallow waters around the Azores in the first months of 2017, the hush-hush search for the lost city began on the 30th of June.

That day the weather in the North Atlantic was glorious. The sun was shining and the conditions were calm. There seemed no reason not to take advantage of it.

Most of the crew and the dive team were hovering around Sub Bay One as the hatch doors opened to expose Merlin I still perched in its cradle.

'Merlin One, this is the Goddess.' Teo's voice came through the headsets to Brian and Tory, who were already inside the tiny sub. 'Are we comfy?'

'Roger that.' Brian had to smile; compared to the navy submersibles they'd been diving in with 'Deep Sweep', Merlin I was a Rolls-Royce.

'Opening the Lower Sub Bay doors and lowering you down.'

'Lower away, Goddess.'

Divers followed the sub into the water, checking the vessel's descent weights before it could begin its fall into the deepest depths of the north-eastern Atlantic Basin.

'Goddess, I am releasing the safely line on Merlin One, and my blowers are on.' Brian pulled the lever above his head that detached them from the mother craft, and initiated the start-up sequence.

'Ah, roger that, Merlin... the divers tell me you're looking good. You have permission to dive.'

'Yeah!' Brian had been thinking that this day would never come. 'Tell Jenny and Co I'm flooding the ballast tanks and starting down.'

Tory peered out the small porthole just off to her left to see the divers give them the thumbs-up. 'Okay, we're outta here,' Tory informed base.

'You all come back now, you hear?'

Teo gave them leave to depart.

The journey took on a dreamlike quality as they descended at maximum speed into the silence of the blue-green depths; it would take them nearly two hours to reach the ocean floor, some ten thousand feet below.

'Goddamn it, Merlin, come in!' Teo tried for the twentieth time to get a reply.

They had lost visual and voice contact with the sub. The crew in the support vessel on the surface watched their monitors indicating that Merlin's oxygen tanks had been damaged and were leaking rapidly. It also had numerous electrical difficulties as a result of a collision.

'They're going to run out of air.' Naomi, Brian's wife, was very close to a fit of hysterics. 'Even if they start their ascent now, they won't make it.'

Miles didn't seem as worried; he knew Tory too well. She always had a trick or two up her sleeve.

'They have stabilised.' Teo threw in glimmer of hope.

'Goddess, this is Merlin.' Tory's voice came over the intercom, receiving a round of applause, which quickly subsided when they all heard how grave her tone was. 'I have re-initiated the ascent sequence. Situation bad. I shall maintain radio silence to conserve oxygen.'

Teo was aghast, though his personal feelings did not reflect in his voice. 'Roger that. We'll be waiting.'

Naomi grabbed a headset. 'What about Brian?' When there came no response, tears began to well in her large icy-blue eyes, trickling down the small, pointed features of her face. 'Please Tory, talk to me. I just need to know he's okay.'

As Teo had lost his wife twelve years ago, when the volcano on Pico Alto exploded into life and showered the neighbouring island of Faial with debris, he could relate to how Naomi was feeling. Teo removed Naomi's headset and held her at arm's length. 'Wait here,' he advised. She pulled away, preparing to protest, but he didn't give her the opportunity. 'Chances are we're going to have to revive him. I'll let you know when we have.' Naomi gasped in horror and melted into a chair, the mere suggestion of serious injury being more than she could cope with.

'I'll stay with her.' Miles volunteered. It was easy for him to be calm; Tory was in no danger.

Teo gave a nod and made for the Sub Bay.

When Merlin I re-surfaced, Brian's son, Daniel, was the first diver in the water; he'd popped the hatch before the rest of the team had even finished securing the support lines. He climbed inside the cabin, fully expecting to find two dead bodies. To his great bewilderment, the submersible was empty.

Daniel was so stunned it took a moment for the discovery to sink in. As he stood staring into space a large droplet splashed against his forehead, startling him. He wiped the drop of moisture from his brow to find that it had stained the back of his hand.

'Blood!'

Copyright © 1998 by Traci Harding