CHAPTER 2: So It Begins
The railing was a comfort, a way to steady himself. Indeed, it moved with everything else, but at least it was consistent with that, unlike the treacherous waves. Milo closed his eyes a moment.
“Are you all right? You seem a little pale.”
He took a deep breath, the feeling passing. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little sea sick, I guess.”
“…The sea makes you sick?!”
The scholar smiled, for the look on Kida’s face was memorable. “It’s a type of motion sickness. It happens when your surroundings move in a way you’re not used to. Well, to some people anyway. I used to be worse with this. It’s doesn’t affect me as badly anymore.”
“The sea can make you sick…” he hear her repeat, not completely believing. She shook her head before her expression changed, returning to her standard look of wonder to a new set of surroundings
Kida's eyes were wide, sparkling with curiosity. The day was bright and the ocean glittered contentedly in tranquil blue. An occasional soft-looking cloud blanketed the sun for a short moment before it would gloriously reveal its radiance once more. The woman looked around, and Milo sighed, marveling at the way she looked in the morning sun.
They entered a doorway that led into the interior of the ship, the Atlantean. It was not as large as the Louis and Clark, but it was none the less impressive. A sub hung above the water with all the magnificence of its predecessor. The Sea Hawk was much smaller than the Ulysses was, but it had a similar build. Its riveted hide was the color of rusted iron and steel until it reached the nose where large, orange-tinted windows allowed the bridge to look outward. Unlike the Ulysses, there was no rotating bathysphere for the bridge. The stout ship's "tail" was a cross, looking as if it had taken some inspiration from the tail of the Leviathan. Stabilizing "wings" streaked across the sides, and hinges where they would be controlled were clearly visible. There were only a few gun ports when compared to its forerunner.
Milo put his hand on Kida's shoulder. She had never seen the Ulysses, and she was in awe of the Sea Hawk. It was a feeling he knew well, and he cherished the fact she could feel it too. Her feelings must have been much like his were on the 1914 expedition, he thought.
"Milo! Kida!" They turned to see Mr. Whitmore in nautical garb, a young man by his side, and the scholar smiled. He noted the lack of Whitmore’s cane, something the millionaire had put aside. The power of the crystal Milo knew was hidden beneath his shirt was been a powerful healing force. He decay of old age had been repaired, and the man's health had returned.
"Mr. Whitmore! It's great to see you again!"
"The same to you both, my boy. I have someone for you to meet. This is Brian Elias. He’s going to be my ‘heir’ when I mysteriously die in a few weeks."
“Die?” Milo was confused.
“Well, the world can’t go thinking I’ll live forever, now, can we? In a few weeks, the obituaries will say I passed away from natural causes. Young Brian here will act as my go-between. While most people will think I’ve passed on, I’ll still be there, behind the scenes.”
“That’s brilliant! Mr. Elias, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same here, Milo. Please, call me Brian.” They shook hands, and Kida bowed in greeting.
“So, you two have a smooth journey past the Leviathan?”
“Oh, yes. From what I heard from Audrey, the Leviathan still grabbed them last time, though it didn’t really attack. When it does its job, it does its job! Still, a part of me wishes we hadn’t had to close up the volcano route. It would have been easier, but it was safer for the Atlanteans.”
Whitmore lifted a scraggily brow at the queen, who was quickly taken in by the whole scene once again. Her eyes were elsewhere. "Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?"
"Oh, I certainly would say that!" She watched as a few altered Atlantean vehicles, made waterproof, and modified subpods were being loaded.
"Aside from the subpods you used when dealing with the Kraken, you've never seen the depths, have you?"
"No, Mr. Whitmore," she smiled, finally looking at him. "It will be wonderful to enjoy it. And it is thanks to you, both for that and the opportunity to unlock the secrets claimed by the ancient floodwaters so long ago."
"And thanks from me too! I mean, it feels like the 1914 expedition all over again! Well, though no one will be trying to take a power source from a civilization that dearly needs it… But it's an honor to be a part of this again!" he added quickly, but honestly.
Whitmore chuckled at Milo. "The honor's mine. Not everyday you get to help a queen and a cartographer-turned-would-be-king learn about their empire's past. Oh, by the way, before I forget, remember that snowstorm in Iceland you encountered?"
“Yeah, the strangest weather.”
“Not only did the snowstorms stop after you stopped Helstrom, reports say the snow has finally melted.”
“That’s good to hear. I hope the ecosystem will recover.”
“From what I understand, it’s on its way. Helstrom really made a mess of that place with his idea of Iceland and its gods.”
“Hey! Milo! Kida!” The linguist turned to see Sweet waving, as well as other familiar faces greeting them.
“Deh-GEEM TEH-wan-toap! (Greetings, everyone!)” Kida gave Audrey a tight hug.
“Guys! Boy are you a sight for sore eyes!”
“Y’know, I could do something about that,” Sweet chuckled, holding up his bag.
Whitmore simply smiled and moved to the side as five fellow crew members rushed up.
“Milo, eef we do find zee remains of ancient Atlantees, I would highly suggest we take a sample of rock eendeegenous to zee area to see what zee bedrock of zee conteenent was like, and to deecern eef it was uneeform throughout. I steel have samples from zee leeving Atlantees for compareeson.”
The scholar laughed at the rodent-like geologist. “Okay, Mole, okay, we’ll get a sample or two.”
Audrey groaned, then mumbled something about the little Frenchman talking about a new sample for his collection since they met up earlier.
Vinny took the match out of his mouth, a habit it seemed he had re-acquired, and grabbed Milo by a shoulder. “‘Ey, ‘ow’s it been?”
“Oh, all right, how about you?”
“Eh, kinda strange, actually. Seems the moment I ah say I won’t start another flower shop, my Aunt Rosa insists on starting one ‘erself. I’ve been ah usin’ some ah my pay from Whitmore Industries to ‘elp fund ‘er. So there is ah family flower shop after all.”
Milo chuckled shaking his head. “No Chinese laundry next door this time?”
“No, we made ah sure ah that.”
“‘Speakin’ of makin’ sure,” Cookie interrupted, serving spoon in hand, “Did y’folks make sure ta git yur breakfast?”
Kida grimaced and Milo answered quickly. “Yes, actually, ‘ROY-soh-bah EH-tal-eh-ten.’ Very good.”
“Ah, shucks, had some eggs I fried up on top of the injun room boiler. Ah, well, they’ll keep.”
Packard's voice came thought the speakers. "Attention: Sea Hawk crew members. Launch will begin in ten minutes."
"Oh, gosh! That's us already!" Bye Mr. Whitmore!" Milo and the others rushed toward the ramp to board.
"Farewell!" Kida called.
"We'll make you proud!" the linguist waved.
"I have no doubt of that!" he heard from the millionaire before the doors closed.
The interior of the sub was made intricate with dials, valves and panels. Labyrinthine twistings of pipes snaked their way along the ceilings. Commands and comments echoed through the halls like whispers. Milo looked to his wife, her eyes conveying she was marveling. As was typical of her wonder, her arms and fingers were spread. Curiously she ran thin fingers over the tubing as she walked. Grinning, the representative king followed as she darted from one thing to the next, peeping into open doorways and new corridors.
At last the bridge opened up before them, the two tiers busting with activity as time counted down to launch. The linguist looked around, inhaling deeply in contentment.
As the countdown neared its finish, Milo found his wrist snatched and pulled. Up the stairs the ecstatic Kida pulled him. They could see through the bridge windows the interior of the Atlantean, areas being cleared quickly.
Commands were thrown skillfully across the bridge, and the submarine jolted as it was released, hitting the water. The two steadied themselves on the railings as the Sea Hawk was fully submerged.
Milo watched Kida turn, her lips parted in amazement at the vast blue depths, something she could now fully take in. Her very breathing supported this. Awe-struck, the queen put her hands up on the glass, and Milo stood beside her, gently taking her waist.
He knew the feeling going through her, as it in fact surged through him. The thrill of impending discovery, the grandeur of the vessel and the sheer power of it made their spirits soar far beyond the limits of the waves above.
"This is it," Milo thought, "It's happening again. And this time, it's not all about money!" And he felt it. The feeling he relished crackled inside him with exuberance, and his crooked grin gave away every volt of it. He knew this is where he belonged, not just in Atlantis, but alongside his wife, a part of his biggest dream, and always on the verge of incredible discovery. That was what burned inside of him, and he loved. It was the flames licking at his soul, leaving it to drift effortlessly on the thermals toward heaven.
He felt Kida’s hand grab his, and he saw her face turn back to his, aglow in delight. She said nothing, but pointed to sleek shapes in the water. “Ketaken,” Milo said. “Whales.” They neared, their enormous bodies dwarfing the submarine. The pod harmlessly went around, but passed close, as if to inspect the strange object with a hide of metal. As their powerful tails churned the water they vocalized, and the couple’s lips were parted in wonder. “Not even whalers have such brilliant views,” Milo thought.
The Sea Hawk thus descended into the darkness of the vast ocean.
Milo looked at the wires and pipes that covered the ceiling, his mind in other places. The scholar thought of everything from the closing of some “Hollywood Tower Hotel” to the heated events in Europe he had read about in the paper Whitmore gave him. It was rolled up on a small desk in the cabin.
He couldn’t sleep. His heart was too full of anticipation of what they would find. They had thought it best if they had gotten some sleep, but Milo was discovering how unlikely that would be. The scholar sighed and rolled over, looking off the top bunk into the bottom. Kida laid there, hands behind her head and one knee up in the air. Her eyes were closed, half-covered by her bangs that were growing out again, appearing more like when he first met her.
She never slept like that. Unless she was relaxing, Kida curled up when she laid down, and felt ill-at-ease doing otherwise. Milo remembered she said she had acquired the habit due to some bad experience on a hunting trip, but he could not remember exactly what she said. It had been many years since she told the story to him.
“You’re not fooling me. You can’t sleep either.”
“Why would I try to fool you?” Her eyes opened. “If I cannot sleep, it would be good to conserve my energy, at least.”
“True.” Milo rolled over, looking at the ceiling again.
“…Why are my ears snapping so much? They did not so much when I traveled to the surface when Atlantis was submerged.”
“You mean your ears are popping?”
“If that is your phrase for it, yes.”
“Well, the weight of the water makes us have to pressurize the sub. Plus the pathway to Atlantis, though submerged, wasn’t quite this deep. We came up into the ‘grease trap’ at an elevation higher than this.”
“Grease trap? Oh! Yes. But is that why it is taking so long to get there?”
“Yes and no. I mean, all we have to do is follow the pillar Atlantis is sitting on now. My gosh, it’s amazing it doesn’t collapse. Anyway, the Sea Hawk also has to pause briefly to pressurize. Otherwise we could get something called, ‘the bends.’”
“If we did not pause we would be bent?”
“No, well, I meant... A study Whitmore Industries has done indicates it can do structural damage, but what I mean is if pressurization procedures are not done properly, nitrogen bubbles will form in the blood.”
“And… This is bad?”
“OH, YES! It could kill you.”
“Oh…”
There was a long silence.
“Milo and Kida Thatch, please report to the bridge.” Packard’s drone over the Speakers was unmistakable.
“That would be us!” Milo grinned, hopping out of the bunk.
“…At least we will be missing Cookie’s meal,” she jested.
“I can’t believe this. This shouldn’t even be here…! Not this much!” Milo adjusted his glasses as he looked on, the exterior lights of the sub illuminating the sea floor, the very place of Atlantis’s past. Lava lazily crept along the sea bed.
“There are a couple of intact buildings!” Sweet marveled. “Some big ones too!”
“How is this possible?” Audrey slipped on her glove.
“Zee effects of thousands of years of salt water and gentle sheefteeng of zee earth’s crust should have left much less that this.”
“Perhaps something in the technology allowed some buildings to survive?”
“That’s my best guess, Kida.” Milo scratched the back of his head. “That would be some architectural achievement, though!”
“’Ey, take ah look over there.” Vinny pointed with a hand. “Looks ah like some sorta opening we might be able to get into. An’ if not, eh, the subpods would. Definitely the subpods. ‘Course, we’ll need to look for your ‘pet lobster,’ still. Might ah known we were friends last time, but not before givin’ us a hug. A big one.”
“Don’t worry, Vinny, I’ve never come across a record of the Leviathan in these parts. It’s always been the guardian to the gateway to Atlantis. And we haven’t seen it yet.”
“But when Atlantis rose, could it have moved? I would prefer I don’t have to be part of the work crew to put this scrap heap back together.” Audrey crossed her arms.
“Maybe, but I’d be more concerned the architecture doesn’t collapse on us when we take an aqua-evac in. It may seem stable, but we’d better be careful.”
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The Name "Shards of Chaos" is property of Disney. The term "gorlock" is property of Disney Interactive. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Bendoh, Rourke and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company.
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Permission must be granted by the fan authors/artists before their material is to be used. Credit must also be given to the respective author/artist in question. Do so via their e-mail. Questions? Comments? E-mail me at Like_A_Star8800@yahoo.com.