Chapter 1

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"Comms check?" A voice echoed through the submersible.

"Check," Stockton said into his radio, "Crew is ready for descent."

"Copy. All clear. Enjoy your dive gentlemen." The radio talked back.

"Copy." Stockton replied as the sub started leaning head-first into the water.

The blue ocean water filled the porthole, and everyone grabbed onto the handrails at the top of the sub.

Shahzada and Suleman were jittery with excitement. The radio talk made Suleman even more nervous. It sounded so professional. He knew he'd be okay, but he still couldn't believe that this was actually happening.

Stockton looked up at the two and gave them a smile. He was happy to offer these people a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To make their dreams of seeing the Titanic come true, and to contribute to science along the way.

The overhead lights in the sub were off to conserve power, and the only light source was the luminescence of the computer monitors. As they descended deeper into the ocean, the sub got darker inside.

It was particularly quiet in the submersible, as Stockton was trying to focus on getting them to the right location. Paul-Henri couldn't wait to be the tour guide, and inform everyone on board about the wreckage. He'd visited this famous wreck site 37 times, and this one will be his 38th.

The submersible had lost comms about an hour in, as expected. Radios couldn't stay in touch this deep in the ocean, and the comms were only needed incase something went wrong at the beginning or end of the dive. But luckily, the sub could still communicate with the mothership via pings and texts from the monitor.

Hamish, who had been quiet and unnoticeable the entire descent, apologized to Paul-Henri as he scooted up behind Stockton.

He gazed over at the monitors, suddenly appearing interested in them. He had shown great excitement the days before this trip, but today he just seemed uninterested.

He'd been asked quite a few times by many of the crew if he was alright, and he assured everyone that he was.

Stockton noticed him staring, and he scooted over a little to give Hamish a better view of the screens.

"Is there anything you're confused about?" Stockton asked.

"Haha, I don't understand anything. I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm assuming we're doing well with the descent, though?" Hamish replied.

"Uh, yep. Everything is a'okay. Looks like we'll be at the Titanic on time with no disturbances."

Hamish nodded in understanding, and leaned back.

"Would I be able to use the controller?" Hamish asked.

"Uh, not right now. If we were in shallower water, I'd be happy to hand it to you. But the pilots need to maintain control at the moment. Me and PH need to make sure that we actually reach the Titanic." Stockton said apologetically.

No response came from Hamish.

A few seconds later, Stockton felt cold metal press against his neck. He froze, mind switching between racing thoughts and blank thoughts repeatedly. He put his arms up slowly, dropping the controller.

Hamish grabbed Stockton and pulled him closer. This caught the attention of everybody else on the sub. All of their eyes widened and they were all thinking the same thing: If a bullet escapes this sub, they're all going to die.

Stockton's mouth was left agape as he realized what was being pressed against his chin. It was a revolver. How did this make it past the multiple security checks they had? They even had one before they boarded!

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