The characters have reached the mighty Marianas Trench...
Sometime later, they reached the mighty Marianas Trench. Peter thought back to the deep trenches on Mars - how deep were they? - and gulped as he contemplated the task ahead. As photographer he had been chosen to go down in a mini-sub to the deep, deep depths of this Trench. At its deepest, it was thought to be 11 km deep, nearly double that of the Valles Marineris at only 7 km deep. He knew he had the latest technology to help him and the lifeline was to be carefully monitored by Lucy. There were to be no games or jokes or mucking around this time, he had been warned! He knew the risks and was going to take great care; and much as he wanted to, he would not be going all the way to the bottom. He wanted his photographs to be the best he had taken and he wanted to live long enough to see them! The depth of the Trench was mind boggling: if Everest (the highest mountain on Earth at 8,850 metres) was placed in the Trench the top of it would be covered by no less than two thousand metres of water! And there was the immense pressure; it would almost be as bad as being on Venus with no protection.
Peter took a deep breath and went through the linking tunnel (just like on the spacecraft) into the mini-sub, specially adapted to withstand very high pressures, with the oxygen tank strapped firmly to his back. He would have to descend very carefully in order not to experience the nasty effects of so much pressure. In a way it was like going for a trip into space he thought. As the craft went lower and lower into the Trench he wondered how his photographs would come out. It was all so very dark. He peered out into the water. Nothing could be seen. He remembered the special flashlight fixed to the front of the sub and switched it on optimistically. He looked out through the window through the murkiness of the water. He gave a jolt of surprise at the range of creatures that met his eye. It surprised him to see so many. Even though there was a long way to go to the bottom he had managed to descend to quite a considerable depth. The sights he had seen on other planets were nothing compared to this other-worldly region. Indeed it was harder to reach the bottom of this piece of this planet than to land on another planet.
Back on board the boat, Lucy clutched a steaming mug of tea in her hands as she watched and waited patiently while she and Danny monitored Peter’s breathing and oxygen levels. It was intense work for all of them. Danny was on alert to physically winch Peter and the special mini sub up to the surface should the need arise.
“What’s up,” cried Lucy. The silence on the communication cord was too long. Had anything happened to Peter?
Back on board the boat, Lucy clutched a steaming mug of tea in her hands as she watched and waited patiently while she and Danny monitored Peter’s breathing and oxygen levels. It was intense work for all of them. Danny was on alert to physically winch Peter and the special mini sub up to the surface should the need arise.
“What’s up,” cried Lucy. The silence on the communication cord was too long. Had anything happened to Peter?
Thank you for all your comments. Now that I am back at home following an operation I will work hard at the writing. Best wishes, Karen
Thank you for all your comments. Now that I am out of hospital and at home I will study the text in detail. Best wishes. Karen
Intrigued, I've gone onto wikipedia for you:
A bathyscaphe is autonomous, has floatation [aka flotation] tanks but no cables to "the mother ship", so winching it back up would be impossible. Also, monitoring Peter's breathing and oxygen would be impossible.
(Incidentally, the only person who has travelled solo to the very bottom of the Marianas Trench is James Cameron, the director of "Titanic", "Terminator", and "Avatar". Also only the 3rd person to reach the bottom solo OR accompanied.)
The bathysphere was connected by cable to a ship (often 2 ships were used in the operation), but the cable required to lower it to a depth of even just 923m weighed 1.35 tons.
"After the initial version of the sphere had been cast in June 1929, it was discovered that it was too heavy to be lifted by the winch which would be used to lower it into the ocean, requiring Barton to have the sphere melted and re-cast.[4] The final, lighter design consisted of a hollow sphere of 1-inch-thick (25 mm) cast steel which was 4.75 ft (1.5 m) in diameter.[5] Its weight was 2.25 tons above the water, although its buoyancy reduced this by 1.4 tons when it was submerged, and the 3000 feet of steel cable weighed an additional 1.35 tons."
Hardly a weight to be dealt with by 2 people on board the ship.
Unless, of course, your story is set in the future, when super-light-super-strong alloys are being used. Since Peter has already travelled to Mars and Venus (from all I've read, the very devil of a planet for which to get "landing permission" i.e. conditions there are so harsh that even un-manned spacecraft have not reached the surface), I assume this to be the case,
When can we see the next installment [aka instalment]?