Beyond South Pole (ON INDEFINITE HIATUS)

Chapter 4: The Palaoa

Jacques had never seen anything quite like the Palaoa. He had seen ships, but this one was something else. It looked like a giant, copper whale. It had many lights on it, all now turned off, but it would look amazing underwater. The front of the submarine was covered in glass. They would stand behind that glass, Jacques thought to himself. They would stand there and look at the sea as they travelled. Everything about it seemed fascinatingly unreal.

"You made that?" Kamala asked. Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper like she couldn't raise her voice in the presence of The Palaoa.

"Yes," Kekoa answered.

"It's amazing," Jacques said. "Like a whale."

Kekoa laughed. "That's what I was going for, so thanks," he said. "'Palaoa' is a sperm whale. Do you see the front? The windows? The shape of it?"

"Yeah," Jacques said.

"It was inspired by the... nose? Snout? I don't know what it is called, but the nose of the whale..."

"I think it's just called their head," Talon said. "I have never heard of anyone mention a snout when they talk about whales."

"Alright. So the front of the submarine was inspired by the head of a sperm whale. It's angular and large, almost weird," Kekoa explained. "I've always liked whales. I've wanted to travel and swim as they do. I wanted to see what they see, so they inspired my design."

"It is incredible," Talon said.

"I hope you like the interior of the submarine as well," Kekoa said. "I want everything to be as beautiful as it can be." He was quiet for a moment before he laughed a little. "Of course other people didn't agree with me. Newton wasn't trying to rush me with the design at first. I guess he wanted to make sure everything was going well, that I was making the ship the safest one possible. But then he heard I had already done everything else, and I was focusing on the interior design." He laughed again.

"But you did make everything safe, right?" Talon asked.

"Of course I did. That was my priority. My priorities were safety first, then aesthetic, then efficiency."

"Why was efficiency the third one?" Talon asked, narrowing his eyes a little.

"Do you trust me, Talon?"

"I..."

Kekoa raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. Of course I trust you," Talon said. "You're the expert and you knew what you were doing."

"Exactly. And you will thank me for making the ship pleasing. If it was ugly, you would feel horrible during this trip."

"Right," Talon said and nodded.

"But it is safe. I made sure of that. I wouldn't let my team members drown. We will have no problems with the ship," Kekoa said.

"Don't say that," Jacques said.

"Why not?" Kekoa asked.

"You're cursing us. If you say we will have no problems, we will run into so many problems," Jacques explained. "We could die because of you, Kekoa. Don't jinx it."

"Oh. Okay. We will sink. I promise."

"I sure hope so," Jacques said. "Isn't that the whole point of a submarine, Kekoa?"

Kekoa smirked.

"Good morning, everyone," they heard a familiar voice behind them. They turned around to see Newton Prescott. He was walking towards them. He was followed by Ylva Gunnersen, Burke Dustin, and Annalise Hext.