Fairy Dust

Chapter Four: Atlantica

    Almost three hours into their journey, the group was gathered in the luxurious open lounge area of the ship, telling stories of their life before the Basinite invasion. Parts of the cabin were made of some kind of see through high density material which gave them a good view of the ocean around them. The room was set up like one of Elon Musk's passenger shuttles in the Space X program. Soft plush seats lined up in three double rows of ten, leaving enough space between the isles for a hover car to pass by. Each seat was equipped with it's own computer and holoscreen in which some of the soldiers sat off to themselves, using them to communicate back home to loved ones.

    "Yes, before the Basinites came, our society was pretty much the same. Except we didn't have what you call a government. We utilized our own and traded or bought from others. Also, the male species carry the young..." June bug said as he told his story."...Anyway,  the Basinites came right at the end of a...small skirmish, we had with a neighboring race called the Pherium. We thought we had won when they all turned and left, but then soon after, the Basinites came. Assuming it was a retaliation, we took the fight to the Pherium home planet. Only to find out it too had been destroyed. Turns out they didn't run from us, but returned home because of the Basinites. Our planet just happened to be next, and now they've moved on to your planet. We didn't  know how they were traveling from planet to planet, let alone a carrier ship, until now. I came to warn Earth but unfortunately I was a bit too late, and I ran into these guys first anyway." June bug finished, the last as he pointed at Andro and A'Nika.

   "I'm still going off of a race of pregnant men." One female soldier said jokingly.

    "Has anyone else noticed that we haven't leveled off since we cleared the seawall?..." Another soldier said, just as June bug was about to respond to the previous comment. "...I mean, it's been a slow descent for the most part,but, we have yet to meet the horizontal axis since we started diving." He finished.

    Those within earshot gathered around his seat as they stared at his window. A multitude of small black marks indicated the different degree angles of small trails the air bubbles left, as they flowed along the glass like surface. None of which flowing horizontally. Small numbers were written on the ends of a few.

   "If my guess is right, in the time frame that we've been traveling at these different angles...we're a little  over six miles below sea level. That's less than a mile above the ocean floor. That's FOUR MILES below normal diving depths. " The soldier said, admiring his new found ability, but nervous at the same time. He turned and looked at everyone gathered behind him.

   "That is correct Mr. Williams..." Marcus's voice cut in on the intercom. "...six point seven miles to be exact, but my lab is actually about another three miles down on the oven's true floor."

   "Has anyone ever seen the movie 'The Meg'?" Another soldier asked.

   "There isn't anything down here that we can't handle..." Marcus said as he laughed lightly. "...Even though there are giant sharks and squids, the dominant species are the rays. That's why the ship looks like a giant manta ray. And in case you're wondering, the Basinites can't come this far down. They  can't stand this much pressure which is why we're here." He finished.

   As if on cue, a school of Ray's swam past the window catching everyone's attention. Looking past them, they began to see a purplish blue glow over the ridge of the horizon. The ship angled towards the mountain like landscape, but instead of going over it, it took a steep dive towards it. It went into a narrow valley like crevasse, rolling and banking around the sharp turns, until it entered a cavernous like tunnel. The ship made it's way through the cave towards the opening on the other side, whipping around stalagmites as it sped past them. The tunnel began to narrow down to almost the size of the ship just before it opened up to a sand pit with a large domed futuristic looking city in the middle. The sand around the dome was littered  with crushed Basinites scattered around.