While the system was starting up, Captain De Bont began to shoot his eyes around, assessing the damage. Traces of torn panels and broken light bulbs were visible everywhere. In places there was a slightly deformed frame. The Amphibia lay on the ocean floor, tilting slightly to starboard.

– Henry? – the captain asked when the engineer suddenly moved towards the stern.

– Yes?

– Are you going to the reactor?

– Yes, captain.

– Go ahead. And quickly.

Then Captain De Bont looked at his mate and said:

– Morgan, look at the bow.

– Yes – the senior mate responded, sighing heavily.

Kayla went around the cabin to inspect the mayhem that the ancient predator had caused. With timid steps she entered the galley. The food, left over from the last dinner, was scattered on the floor. Half a meter away, Kayla saw sausages stained in tomato sauce and remembered Tucker’s meter-long tongue. She vomited.

Hector rushed around the central compartment, waiting for the image from the night vision cameras to start coming in. But as soon as the sonar, which did not record anything within a radius of one thousand three hundred meters, began to work, the ichthyologist stopped showing any interest in the monitors.

The trembling in her knees did not let her go, but her curiosity and scientific interest were stronger. Kayla stepped over the threshold of the infirmary and timidly crept up to the door of the isolation ward, but only seeing it with her own eyes, she remembered that the window in the door was welded shut. Then she went to Dr. Moore’s work computer, which was connected to video cameras installed in both isolation rooms.

The process has not stopped yet. The transformation progressed. Pieces of torn clothes that Tucker was wearing were scattered on the floor. There was nothing left of human skin either. On the skeleton of the legs, which already looked more like animal paws, in addition to the usual knee bend, another joint was formed in the mid-thigh area. Another limb began to grow from the tailbone, similar to a tail with a forked end. The skin on the abdominal cavity was so retracted inward that the distinct outline of the lower ribs could be seen from the front. The spine also underwent serious changes. It began to bend so that the half-animal, half-man was almost down on all fours. The fingers with huge claws on the hands underwent another deformation and became fused – the index finger with the middle finger, and the ring finger with the little finger. There are still membranes between them. The forelimbs already almost entirely resembled the clawed paws of a bird of prey. Pointed bare bones protruded from the elbows.

In appearance, it seemed that the creature was not just stretching its long, spiked tongue from its mouth, but was emitting some sounds. The tightly battened hatch prevented anything from being heard. Then Kayla clicked on the megaphone icon, removing the red line, after which truly animalistic moans began to be heard from the speakers.

Kayla thought that all the painstaking work in her home laboratory was nothing compared to this. All those samples that she managed to grow in a homemade incubator were not worth even an insignificant part of such a priceless specimen. She inserted the flash drive into the connector and started the process of copying video recordings from the camera in the isolation ward, which recorded the entire process of transformation: from the disintegration of all traces of the human body to the emergence of anatomy unknown to modern science. After the copying started, Kayla minimized the work window and left the infirmary.

Hector adjusted his head position as soon as the picture on the display changed. Images from night vision cameras have emerged. Wanting to take a closer look, Hector went to the large screen and clicked on the section with the image that came from the ninth camera. The image enlarged to fill the entire display. For the ichthyologist it was not exactly a mystery, but it clearly aroused interest. Too much…

– What do we have here? – said Captain De Bont, who quietly crept up from behind, as it seemed to Hector. In fact, he was unable to hear the captain’s footsteps due to the fact that his attention was too much occupied by the image on the screen.

– Good question – responded the ichthyologist. – Apparently, another stop on our route.

– We were very lucky. If we had plopped down somewhere twenty or thirty meters further, we would have been free like a bird in the sky.

– No, what is it? – Hector Cage wondered indignantly. – Too perfect shape. Don’t you think so, captain? Just look at these contours.

– I would say a geometrically correct figure. It’s hard for me to imagine that it was of natural origin. But also man-made. What kind of technology is capable of this?

While the captain and the ichthyologist continued to evaluate the image on the display, the first mate and the biologist returned to the central compartment. But they had hardly arrived when a simultaneous alarming groan was heard in the compartment. The entire crew experienced a trembling that ran through their entire body from their heels to the back of their heads. The display was almost completely enveloped in the dark tones of something moving. Something between a killer whale and a sperm whale in appearance, but five times the size of a blue whale rising from the depths. It floated up from a bottomless hole, no less than a hundred meters in diameter. As Captain De Bont noted, this hole had the shape of a geometrically regular circle with perfectly clear edges. The monster that rose from the very depths created a strong impression, as if an entire planet was emerging from some abyss at the bottom of the Atlantic. The voice of an animal could be heard inside the submarine. The size of the deep-sea whale was so gigantic that its leisurely movement from bottom to top caused a kind of wave, from which the bottom of the Amphibia’s hull scraped along the bottom and the submarine shifted several meters.

– Everyone stay calm! – Captain De Bont boldly insisted, trying to stay on his feet after the push. The rest hugged the floor, having lost support from under their feet for a while. The submarine’s hull vibrated briefly. – Nothing critical. Everything is fine.

– Well, well – Hector said with his mouth open. He was unable to contain his delight. How many other living beings are hidden under the cover of the abyssal? All of them were unlike any of the species that live in the upper layers of the world’s oceans. It was beyond fantasy. Who could have known that on the same planet there could be two separate worlds with completely different living beings. But no matter how enchanting their appearance seemed, this roundness looked just as alarming, behind which anything could be hidden.

– What happened here! – Henry shouted in panic, rushing to the central compartment. – We haven’t gotten our ass off yet, and this creature has already smelled us?

– Everything is fine – the captain urged the engineer to remain calm.

Still in the grip of fear, taking a deep breath, Henry asked:

– Captain, what was that?

– You’ll find out. Then, sometime you’ll check out the video. In the meantime, tell me, what’s wrong with our swallow?

Kayla began to knead the engineer’s shoulders in an attempt to extinguish the surge of adrenaline, saying in a soft voice:

– Breathe evenly. Do not rush.

Henry tried to breathe several times as slowly as possible, and when his pulse returned to normal, he began to speak in a ragged tone with echoes of subsiding panic:

– I have two news – good and bad.

– Classic – Morgan blurted out displeasedly.

– Just super – Hector supported.

– It’s not so great at heart. Let’s have a good one? – the captain ordered.

– The reactor is intact.

– Now «make me happy».

– This creature severely dented our body. In several places the dent reached the insides.

– What exactly was damaged?

– A lot of everything. The propeller motor is slightly damaged. But the most critical thing is the ballast purging system. The second valve is broken. The ninth one is out of order. Six compressed air cylinders exploded. For the stern ballast tanks, nine percent of the air remains. Air reserves designed for the average group remained at less than six percent. This volume is only enough for maneuvers, but only for the time being.

– What’s the risk?

– Well, we won’t be able to surface.

Involuntarily, Kayla burst out in panic:

– What do you mean we won’t be able to surface!?

Morgan, even in his worst nightmare, could not imagine that he would meet his death at a depth of eight kilometers and supported the biologist:

– Are we going to die in the ocean?

Captain De Bont began to call for order:

– Everyone stay calm. Henry, be more specific.

– No, we can kind of rise to the surface, but not everything is so simple. To be able to blow the ballast evenly throughout the hull, I could redistribute the air in the cylinders. But this means that the pressure in them will be very weak and the ballast will be blown out very slowly, and, consequently, the boat will also float up slowly. Plus, in this situation, there can be no talk of any maneuvers. Therefore, this option does not suit us. I will have to remove all the remaining air that is intended for the central part of the ballast and connect hoses to the stern and bow tanks. This way we will at least have the opportunity to play with trim. But even if we completely blow out the bow and stern groups of tanks, this will still not be enough to ascend at normal speed. The process will be greatly slowed down.

– Stop – the captain interrupted. Luther briefly fell into thought, and when he was visited by light sketches of a plan for salvation, he continued: – So it is. Do as you just said. Reconnect the air cylinders for the central tanks to the stern and bow tanks. Let’s leave the central ballast without air for now.

– Captain, what are you planning?

– Will we be able to surface with a trim of twenty-five degrees aft?

– Yes. But do you understand that you will have to store some water in the stern? And this will further reduce the ascent speed and…

– I need an answer: yes or no? – the captain snapped.

– Yes. We can. – After a short pause, Henry asked: – And what do you want to do?

After taking a few seconds to think, Captain De Bont asked the engineer:

– If we start both engines and maintain the maximum ascent speed that the stern and bow tanks allow us with a trim of twenty-five degrees, then how long will it take us to reach the surface?

– Let’s see. – Henry went to the touch display and began to make mathematical calculations. – So. We are at a depth of eight thousand one hundred five meters. If we sail at an angle of twenty-five degrees, then the distance of our journey will be… hmm-hmm-hmm, a little over twenty thousand. One propeller is damaged, so at a maximum speed of twenty-two knots with a trim of twenty-five, taking into account the error for maneuvers… our journey will last eleven and a half to twelve hours.

– Why can’t we ascend vertically at higher speed? – Kayla was puzzled.

– Yes captain? I don’t either… but although – Henry suddenly fell silent, and in the end he began to think seriously.

Captain De Bont explained:

– Because first of all we must get away from that creature, and only then get to the surface. So we will move at an angle. In the meantime, let’s blow out the tanks and raise our beauty. We need to hover over the edge of this abyss. Start the reactor. Prepare for probing. Let’s find out what depth there is, otherwise curiosity is bursting me.

Once twenty meters above the edge of the circular depression, Henry began scanning the depths. And while the probes were doing their job, the engineer said in a puzzled tone:

– Captain, where is the guarantee that during the twelve hours of ascent it will not track us down?

– But this is exactly what I wanted to talk about with our specialist – said the captain, looking at the ichthyologist, who had been hovering in his thoughts until that moment.

– Could you please clarify? – Hector said with a frowning face.

– Remind me, Mr. Cage, what you said about the thermocline. Assuming that this dinosaur is still unable to overcome the thermocline, what should happen if it gets there?

The ichthyologist grimaced, as if he had an epiphany:

– Listen… Completely. It is quite possible that we do not need to drive at the limit all the way to the surface. It is possible that we will be able to break away from it in three or four kilometers.

– So. I want to hear more details.

– The fact is that the ocean floor is dotted with hydrothermal vents. It’s hellishly hot here, so they’re used to living in the warmth. But if it gets into the middle layers of the ocean… The water there is icy.

– And what will happen to this creature in the cold waters? – asked the captain.

– Well, according to the logic of things, cooling of the external tissues should occur, this will entail a deterioration in blood circulation, convulsions, then a decrease in sensitivity will follow, and then a complete or partial failure of the nervous system. Miss Fox, I didn’t miss anything, did I?

– An organism accustomed to a warm environment… yes, will most likely behave this way.

And here once again Hector inserted a word:

– The only thing that can distort our assumptions is the shell. The question is what percentage of the body is covered by it and how well it insulates against temperature changes. But, in any case, I am sure that this fish must have places that are not covered with a shell. In addition to the eyes, these should be the crotches between the legs and belly, genitals, and mouth. Plus, this species has probably lived here for a long time and the body has become accustomed to this environment at the genetic level, having adapted evolutionarily. So this beast should definitely feel the difference in temperature. Therefore, if everything is so, then we can slip through.

With great enthusiasm, Captain De Bont said loudly:

– Well, let’s put the creature in the refrigerator. – Then the captain looked at the engineer: – What about the depth?

– Soon, captain. Two percent left. Already one.

Everyone froze in anticipation. The crew was eager to find out the true dimensions of the abyss over which the Amphibia hovered.

«100%” lit up on the display, after which the message «Data not received» appeared.

– I don’t understand – the engineer said, starting the probing procedure again. But as soon as he pressed the start probing button, the download didn’t even start. The message popped up again: «Data not received».

At the sight of the inscription, Hector suddenly fidgeted. He began to wander around the compartment back and forth and think about something. The captain noticed this immediately:

– Mr. Cage… do you know something that we don’t know?

The ichthyologist continued to silently wander in his own thoughts.

– If so, then share – added Captain De Bont.

Hector, stunned, pointed at the display, where the round abyss was visible, and began to speak with a rapid pulse, since he himself did not suspect that he would ever begin to seriously discuss this:

– It seems to me that I know where the creature that wanted to devour us came from. If… – at this word, Hector almost choked on a lump of saliva that came to his throat. He felt a chill run down his spine. Swallowing, the ichthyologist made a second attempt: – …if the theory of the hollow Earth is correct, then my guesses… – Hector swallowed once again, sighed and continued his thought: – If there is a cavity in the Earth, then it probably has an ideal environment for life. It is quite possible that it is protected on all sides from global cataclysms. For example, the asteroid that fell on Yucatan raised a huge cloud of dust, which covered the entire planet for a long time. The sun’s rays did not reach the surface of the Earth for so long that global icing was not long in coming. Nothing like this can happen in the hollow part of the planet. It is a physically closed and ecologically protected habitat. It is in such a favorable environment that each of these creatures can live and give birth to offspring for a long time, ensuring the survival of their species for millions of years.

Kayla thought about the creature Tucker had turned into. She thought about other possible creatures that could be discovered if the ichthyologist, with whom she had more than just a professional relationship, turned out to be right. She immediately asked:

– So what now?

Addressing the entire crew, Hector continued, but had already begun to speak with much more courage, without the slightest trembling in his voice:

– If you allow me, I will express my opinion. By getting on this boat, I, as a scientist, had a unique opportunity to conduct research that others can only dream of. I have devoted my entire life to ichthyology. My first wife left me because I forgot about my honeymoon and accepted an offer to go to Australia to get acquainted with a mutation of a twelve-meter creature unknown to science. I love my job and have dedicated my whole life to it. I know enough about prehistoric predators, a thousand times more terrible than a white shark. But even I am scared to imagine what creatures could emerge from this abyss.

– Yes, but maybe this abyss simply has a gigantic depth that equipment is not able to measure? – Kayla reasoned out loud.

– You don’t understand, Miss Fox. The pathogen that devoured our colleague may have just floated out from there. The one, who hunts us, can hardly have anything in common with at least one of the species that has ever existed in the surface layers of the ocean. Now I can definitely say that this individual has absolutely nothing in common with the basilosaurus, because the basilosaurus did not have echolocation organs, and this giant senses our presence from kilometers away. There has always been a theory that some forms of life can live at large depths. But we were talking about some simple organisms or, in principle, species that are small in size. Where do you think a predator of this size will get its food? I’m not even talking about the one that just swam in front of our noses. It’s not dense here. Surely there is some fishing spot hidden from our eyes, which contains an incredibly complex and rich ecosystem. That’s their home. There may be some living organisms on the ocean floor that they feed on, but in this case, the local environment should have been depleted long ago. – After a second, Hector remembered and added: – And that disk-shaped object. It looks a lot like a plate. But who said that it flies? I would not rule out the possibility that this is a swimming device. In any case, it has the ideal streamlining for this. Even though I am a scientist, I have to put forward such hypotheses, because all this should have a reasonable explanation, but the problem is that other versions do not come to my mind.

– But we can’t make decisions based on unconfirmed theories – Kayla insisted, directing a pleading look at the captain.

– What do you mean? – Hector said indignantly. – We are talking about the safety of the entire crew. You can accuse me of neglecting scientific discoveries that we risk not making. But if we don’t get the hell out of here, the world won’t even know about the few discoveries we’ve already made. And there can be no dilemma here.

«Captain,» Kayla said, hoping at least for his support. «We could dive in at least a little more.» After all, we still have a reserve to the maximum depth.

Henry and Morgan stood on the sidelines, only watching as the future fate of the entire expedition was decided. Dr. Cage’s theories no longer caused them such a shock after everything they saw during the three weeks spent in the abyss of the Atlantic Ocean.

Captain De Bont scratched his chin, then ran his hand over the back of his head. The crew listened to these words especially carefully.

– I always made decisions and gave orders, demanding blind obedience. Now for the first time I will explain my decision. But I say right away,“ with these words the captain looked first at the biologist, „that I don’t care about anyone’s opinion. I’ve decided, that’s it. Considering the information that we managed to collect, our expedition has already justified the money and effort that was spent on its preparation. We have a choice. We can take the risk and go down with the submarine, or we can return with what we have. I saw the object that looked too much like an alien ship; the unknown infection that turned Mr. Hughes into a zombie; and I also saw with my own eyes the prehistoric dinosaur and the sea mastodon ten times larger than a real one. Any intelligence services will be ready to kill for such information. As a military man, I can say that our submarine is not suitable for the situation in which we find ourselves. We have nothing to defend ourselves with. We can return with what we have, and then perhaps our employers will reconsider their attitude and prepare the submarine properly before the next dive to ensure the survival of both the submarine and the entire crew. So, – said Captain De Bont in a summing tone, – we are surfacing.

– What about the buoy? – Kayla continued to insist.

– This is the last question I will answer for you, Miss Fox. After this, don’t even try to get any more explanations about my decision. It’s final. As for the buoy. According to protocol, I am required to launch a distress buoy. But I am more than sure that we will not get help. This is the only submarine in the world that can handle such depths, and deep-sea rescue vehicles will hardly be able to swim here. That predator will destroy them without much difficulty. But that doesn’t really matter either. Something else is more important. Based on my experience, I dare to admit that if it is impossible to ascend, our employers will not rush to rescue. For them, only information is important; data that was collected during the expedition. If our reserves of oxygen and drinking water are practically inexhaustible, then the same cannot be said about other resources. They will carefully plan the rescue dive. It will take a lot of time to prepare. Even if the rescuers escape the threat and their swimming devices do not attract this… silver carp, it will still not change anything in relation to us. By that time, food supplies will run out. But they will not grieve for us. In the end, the rescuers will sooner or later get to the Amphibia and climb inside. Only by that time they will no longer be saving the crew, but the data that we managed to accumulate. So I could launch the buoy, but this will not save us, because the buoy was installed not out of any caring motives, but in order to simply know in which exact place to look for the submarine with a valuable cargo. We are here on our own and we can only rely on ourselves.