Elvis went into the dinner. He sat down on one of the stools and leaned over the counter before speaking. “Excuse me miss, is this heaven? Cause you look like an angel.” A large woman turned around to face the large man. “Hello Elvis, good to see you again. What can I get you?” Elvis paused before saying “Can I get a plate of the usual. I’d also like a date Tina.” Tina smiled before replying “Well sailor, maybe if you were in town for more than a few days I’d think about a date.” Elvis smiled back “oh come on darling, you know I keep my promises. I’d said I’d be back, I’m back.” Tina responds, “well lucky for you my schedule is open, I get off at six.”
Elvis ate his meal and left with the intention of returning to pick up Tina later. Elvis meet Mickey in the hanger to speak about scrapper. “How is my darling doing Mick?” Mickey replied, “She’s holding together, getting the parts we need is going to be a problem.” Mickey looked at Scrapper before speaking again. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to put scrapper in the next contest? Aside from her age we can’t find the parts needed to make her safe to use. You’re taking a huge gamble.” Elvis waved off his concerns “You let me worry about that. As long as she’s functional, she’ll hold together.” Elvis looked at Mickey before continuing. “Are you ready for your lesson?” Mickey smiled “You know it king.”
Off in the distance Suri was watching the interaction between Elvis and Mickey. It was obvious to her that their relationship was not the normal relationship that divers and mechanics have. Suri decided she would get to know them more, if only to satisfy her curiosity.
The Next Day
Suri got up bright and early to find Mickey hard at work on Scrapper in the hangar. Making good on her decision Suri approached. “Mickey right? You look young for a mechanic.” Mickey turned and responded “Yeah, well you look young for a seasoned diver.” Suri backpedaled and stated, “I meant you are very skilled, where did you get your training?” Mickey paused his work and turned to address Suri. “It’s on the job, I’ve been shadowing Elvis for the past seven years.” Suri was surprised to hear that; head mechanics usually have decades of experience before they are hired onto the competitive circuit. The fact Elvis not only has such a young head mechanic but is also actively training him as a mechanic is highly unusual. Suri asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, who was your predecessor?” Mickey responded “Nobody, king was his own mechanic. He built Scrapper and knows her better than I do.”
“King?” asked Suri. “That’s Elvis’ nickname, y’know cause he’s the king.”
“Is Elvis his real name?”
“As far as I know it is.”
Mickey asks, “How long have you been a professional diver?” Suri “I started when I was fourteen. I felt the need to prove myself, so I started diving while I was in school. Natalie was so impressed with my skills she gave me a job.” Mickey asks, “what about River Dancer? High end tech for a school girl.” Suri smiled “Gift from my father. He wanted his daughter diving only in a top-of-the-line vehicle.” As they were talking a siren blares out. It was a storm siren indicating that the Rio Grande was about to be caught in the middle of inclement weather. “C’mon, we better hurry and get everything into lockdown.” Suri said. Mickey only nodded his head in agreement.
Preparing For The Storm
As the Rio Grande went into lockdown for the storm the buildings on top of the vessel changed structure. Towers of glass and steel began to recede into the deck of ship and a giant protective tarp begun enveloping the top of the vessel. When it had finished restructuring itself it resembled a glass dome sitting on top of an aircraft carrier. Anchors were reeled back into the ship and the underside of the vessel fortified itself in slope shaped armor to cut through the currents. The whole of the Rio Grande gave the impression of a water bound fortress ready for war against the elements.
Inside the interior of the ship the computers gave a headcount at the captain’s orders; all passengers were accounted for. The people inside the inner corridors of the Rio Grande made their way to their lower deck domiciles to prepare for the storm ahead. Some played video games while others replaced the scent cartridges on their artificial flowers. The lighting was kept low to conserve power tinting multiple decks in red light. After everyone was situated in their places weather beacons were released to keep updates on the storm. The storm lasted for six hours. Such occurrences were normal since the ocean swallowed up most of the Earth’s landmass. Mobile landmasses like the Rio Grande were fortified for heavy weather and could go up to six weeks in its converted shape.
Once the storm receded, the Rio Grande returned to its original shape and Natnet was approached with a salvage job. Because the storms consume resources it is common practice for salvaging crews to be contracted to dive for materials to replenish Mobile Landmasses. Natnet’s crew were currently meeting to discuss how they were going to carry out this dive.
Natalie speaks, “there’s a salt field 80 meters down, I want Elvis and Suri to excavate and bring up the salt while Jessie and Burt keep an eye out for hostile organisms.” Natalie paused before continuing “This will be a six-hour job so prep for a long haul. Jamal, I want you to keep communications with Suri. Let’s get it done people!”
The Dive
They were some fathoms down when Suri and Elvis reached the salt field. Much of the equipment was still intact. Suri contacted Jamal “Jamal, this is River Dancer. We have found the salt field and are preparing for excavation.” Jamal replied, “Acknowledged River Dancer, we’ll have the lifts ready for you.” Before they could start however the ground began to shake. Sand and salt kicked up in the currents. River Dancer and Scrapper braced themselves for impact. “ggrrh” “aaah” they screamed as Jamal spoke up over the comm. “River Dancer respond! River Dancer do you read, come in River Dancer!” River Dancer stabilized itself before adjusting its position. “This is River Dancer, there was some kind of turbulence coming from the ground” The ground shakes again and then splits open. A large creatures bursts forth from the ground. It is shaped like a sting ray but it has the head of an angler fish. It is a wattbat and is one of many hostile lifeforms that has come to inhabit the ocean depths. The wattbat launched its attack on River Dancer. It gripped River Dancer with its teeth and begun to coil its body around River Dancer. The wattbat begun to discharge electricity as Suri fought to free herself from its grip. River Dancer delivers a jab to the head of the wattbat. Scrapper intervened and grabbed the tail of the animal which responded by shocking Scrapper with an electric current temporarily stunning it. The wattbat then redoubled its attack on River Dancer. Suri said “Damn, this thing is persistent isn’t it.” River Dancer fire some torpedos at the wattbat, but the wattbat dodged before biting into River Dancer’s arm. “ggaahh” Screamed Suri as the wattbat ripped the arm off before going for the head. A barrage of torpedoes slammed into the wattbat’s head. It was Scrapper recovered from the electric shock. Scrapper grabs the wattbat as it begins to coil around scrapper.
Scrapper propels itself up into the shallows. The lower water pressure causes the wattbat to let go. With one final punch from scrapper the wattbat flees back to the depths. Elvis goes and rescues Suri bringing River Dancer back to the surface. The emergency crews get Suri out of River Dancer. The dive continues without any more setbacks. Later Elvis visits Suri in the lounge of Natnet.
“Hey ms champion, how ya doing?” Elvis asked
“Embarrassed, I should have been able to fight off that wattbat.” Suri noted glumly.
Elvis replied “Be grateful you’re still alive. A dive like that when it goes bad even the best divers don’t come back from it.”
Suri replied “Thank you for saving my life. Don’t expect it to be a regular occurrence.”
“Wouldn’t think of it champ. Next time I suspect you’ll be saving me.” Elvis joked
The two laughed at it as the relationship between Suri and Elvis improved dramatically after that.
