Mironov sat back. “Dmitry, I know this man, a thousand, thousand times better than you do. You have served your purpose, played your role, and I can tell you, that he has already forgotten about you. And he will certainly have forgotten about your family, or whoever it is you think you are saving.”

Dmitry shrugged. “It is a chance I have to take.”

“No, it isn’t.” Mironov sat forward again. “I can guarantee your family’s safety. I have many contacts around the world. I can get your family out, and get them somewhere safe within an hour. And there’s something far more important you should heed – I always keep my word.”

Dmitry stared for a moment or two before his mouth began to curve into a smile again. “They said you would be clever, and they were right.” He lifted the gun.

Mironov sighed and sat back, his gaze unwavering. “I think you are not a bad man. If you were, I’d be dead already, and you would never have let the others go. You are torn.” He knew Dmitry was listening now. “If we make it to the surface again, your reward will be a bullet in the head. Not safety.”

Mironov sat forward. “Listen to me. I give you my word that I will see to it personally you are never found by Yusoff. You would be safe; they would be safe, and happy, forever. Dmitry, you owe it to your family to at least think about it.”

The scream of the proximity alarm made both men cringe, and Dmitry cursed. “The roof of the cavern is dropping down again. We’ll need to dive, deep.” He growled under his breath. “Sonar should have picked this up.”

“You need more hands, and eyes,” Mironov responded.

Dmitry eased the submersible down to just a few knots, and then swiveled in his seat to stare for a moment. “Yes, I do.” He turned back to his own panel, and returned Mironov’s access to his screens. He pointed. “That screen opening for you is the peripheral sonar. I need you to keep watch. Look out for hanging crags.”

“Understood.” Mironov switched on his other bank of screens. Leaving the thermal gradient, ppi pressure, battery life, fuel, and oxygen level stats to the side, he enlarged the single sonar matrix. He saw the problem immediately.

“A new lip of the ceiling; drops down another thousand feet – you will need to take us to twenty-two hundred.”

“Okay, then down we go – hard dive.” Dmitry pushed the u-shaped wheel forward and the Prusalka angled downwards into the inky depths.

The minutes ticked over, seeming ever slower as they maintained their downward descent. Mironov’s computer analyzed the terrain, advising him to maintain their current trajectory to undershoot the huge stone lip, and move ever deeper in amongst the canyons of the abyss.