"O2 feed is steady and levels are good to go," Willard said. "You may now breath freely."

Connelly glanced at Robert. "You want to go first?"

Robert shook his head. "Beauty before the beast."

Twenty-one…twenty-two…twenty-three…

"Well, Ethan isn't here, so I guess we'll have to go at the same time."

"I can still hear you, you know," Willard said through the headset.

A smile crept onto Robert's face. Connelly always seemed to know when he needed a mood lightener, and taunting Willard always did the trick. He nodded his confirmation and raised his hands to his helmet. Simultaneously, the pair worked through the series of seals and locks that glued their hood-like helmets to the rest of the PMS suit. Two minutes passed before they were ready for the final step. Their eyes met and both removed the hoods, sliding them back over their heads.

Robert sucked in a long breath, letting the cool, dry air flow through his nose and fill his lungs. He held it for ten seconds and let it out quickly. His next breaths were just as deep, but much quicker. With each breath he became more relaxed and more confident that he was breathing good air into his lungs and not just the frozen void of space. He looked up at Connelly. She was already strapping herself into one of the seats. He took his place next to her and buckled himself in tight.

Fifty-eight…fifty-nine…sixty…

After both were settled and comfortable, Connelly switched on the interior com system and spoke, "You there, Ethan?"

"I hear you. How's the old man holding up? He looked pretty freaked when you guys took off the hoods." Willard's voice reverberated all around them, projected from the sphere's speakers, the same speakers that would allow them to hear any sounds flowing through the water below.

"I'm fine," Robert said.

"Air is holding," Connelly added. "All systems green?"

"Green like Kermit."

"Lower us down."

"You got it, boss."

With a quick jerk, the sphere lifted up off the base. Robert strained for a view of the deep hole as they dangled above it, but the seatbelt held him secure. A good thing, too, Robert thought. The sphere warbled back and forth as it stopped above the ice shaft. Seconds later, they were descending.

"Get ready for some steam guys," Willard said. "Looks like we have a few feet of ice to melt again."

The bluish-white walls of the chasm began to pass by all around them. Just as Robert became fascinated, a plume of steam rocketed up around them as the sphere's blazing hot base melted through the ice. Moisture quickly collected on the glass top of the sphere and refroze, obscuring the view in all directions. Robert suddenly felt confined, buried alive in a spherical elevator being lowered into the depths of hell.