Insider

Atlantis II

Next morning at 6:30 am, Axel was ready and was waiting to leave for the airport. Yesterday's wave of anger had passed and Axel was able to control himself.

Mr. Alexander came walking around the corner. "Well Mr. Smithson, it's good that you are ready. The car just came and it's waiting to take you to the Charles de Gaulle Airport. Please follow me."

Turning around, Mr. Cook walked with hasty steps as Axel followed him, winding in the corridors. After a great deal of turning and twisting they reached the gate.

Stepping out into the cold, Mr. Cook motioned Axel to the car. It was a slick black, chrome plated Bentley Continental. Axel boarded the car and as he shut the door, it zoomed off.

The Paris roads were empty early in the morning and Axel reached the plane hangar within 10 minutes.

They had entered the airport through some back gate and the hangar was just next to it.

Inside it waiting for Axel was a Lear jet but what surprised Axel was the streamlined shape shiny stainless steel capsule attached to the bottom. The capsule was pointed at one end at flat at the other. The flat end had some kind of magnet attached to its base. Axel kept shush as he knew that he would come to know of the capsule's use.

During the flight Axel caught a few winks. The PA announcer suddenly blared startling Axel awake, "We have reached our destination. Kindly step through the hatch into the capsule." Axel was surprised. The plane was hovering mid-air above open sea. Startled, Axel did as he was told. The capsule from inside was well cushion and padded. The seat inside the capsule had a number of seatbelts. Without being further instructed, Axel strapped himself on to the seat. A voice came from a small speaker located somewhere in the capsule, "Well then, you are safely strapped to your seat. Here we go! Bon Voyage!"

Wait what!?

There was a hissing sound as the capsule detached itself from the plane. It rotated slightly and it started to fall pointed end first.

Axel started to scream and shouted out random curse words. Slowly and slowly it gained velocity and suddenly it plunged into the ocean.

Even though the streamlined body of the capsule and the cushioning reduced most of the impact, still Axel felt an impact which could have snapped his head if it had not been strapped to the headrest

Slowly the capsule rotated underwater and started to sink base first. Axel felt the capsule getting tugged towards something.

After 5 minutes of deathly silence the capsule abruptly docked somewhere and the hatch opened. Strangely, instead of crushing cold water, cool fresh air gushed in. Axel stepped out through the hatch on to a platform, dazed and dizzy.

A man standing in front of Axel laughed at his condition and spoke, "Quite an experience wasn't it? Don't worry, this is only a once in a lifetime experience, reserved for newcomers. Normally we use a particle displacer to transport to our nearest on ground base at Accra, the capital at Ghana. Anyways, welcome to Atlantis II Mr. Smithson!"

Axel took a moment to regain his balance and then said, "While drifting underwater I felt a tug. Mechanical arm?"

"No, something way more cost effective. It's a magnetic dock. There is a sensor too which senses when the capsule is coming in. When the capsule catches it on the radar the electromagnet behind you starts working and the capsule's magnetic base gets attracted towards it."

 Axel thought about it and then spoke, "But won't it attract other magnetic metals too?" The other replied, "Everything here is non-magnetic stainless steel or chrome and other stuff. Anyways, my name is Eoin Grace. I'll be your guide for today. Follow me."

As Eoin led the way, Axel followed him. He was led through a tunnel to a long corridor, which the former told was the main connecting corridor of the Atlantis II.

When Axel entered the corridor, he saw a woman disappear around a corner. Axel stopped in his tracks

Could that be...? No it can't be so

Eoin say him stopping. He asked, "Any problem Mr. Smithson?" Axel shook his head, still looking at the corner around which the woman disappeared. Deep in thought, Axel continued following his guide.

Tapping on the glass Eoin explained, "This glass you see actually is of two layers. Both the layers are made of tempered glass, built to withstand the immense pressure. The special thing is that between the two layers, there is vacuum to prevent heat loss. You might think vacuum would not be handle this immense under water pressure and you're right. To maintain the pressure there is a set of hydraulic machines which actually use the pressure applied by the ocean to balance the force from inside."

Already amazed by this base, Axel asked, "Exactly how much did this cost?" 

"7 billion dollars excluding the particle displacer. The particle displacer itself cost us 13 billion dollars. No wonder we could only set up only two stations. We almost reached bankruptcy after these two mega projects. Just a million dollars were left. We have managed to make some great gains after that though. Our financial capability now is again at 8 billion dollars.", Eoin replied.

The huge numbers blew Axel away. Dazed, he said, "That's a freaking lot!" 

The other laughed and said, "You haven't come to know of all the facilities have you? Ah, we have reached your room. Make yourself at home, get some rest. Call me when you're ready, just dial 1611 from the telephone which is lying on your bedside table . Also you won't get any connection to the usual mobile service providers, even though you wouldn't need it anyways. After all we are 5km below the sea level."

Saying this Eoin left Axel in silence, allowing him to dive into his thoughts, which were now running wild.