Jack switched on his microphone. “Confirm systems check, confirm hatch seal, confirm crew readiness; we’re all good to go here, Base Control.” Jack turned in his seat. “Hang on everyone; the first step is a big one.”

“Always is.” Cate picked up the seat belt and pulled it over her shoulder, buckling it at her waist. Greg and Abby did the same. She noticed Dmitry didn’t, and she leant across.

“Buckle up.”

He nodded. “Soon, I need to make some adjustments. Besides, I trust your ground crew to lower us safely.” He shrugged. “And if they drop us a thousand feet, a seatbelt is not going to make much difference, Da?”

“Da,” Cate said slowly.

Cate heard the clank of steel on the hull and she clasped the edge of the desk-like console before her. Beside her, Greg’s face might have been drained of color, but it was hard to tell as small green flaring screens and the overhead red light gave him a ghoulish appearance. She looked over her shoulder, behind them, Abby’s eyes moved from screen to dial, and then back, her face wide-eyed with excitement. At the rear Mironov smiled, his legs still crossed. He nodded to her, relaxed, confident, and she wished she could borrow some of his nerve.

Dmitry still unbuckled, hovered over differing pieces of equipment, making adjustments and tweaking controls. He finally eased back, and then swiveled in his seat.

“Up, up and away.” He finally strapped himself in.

The craft groaned, shuddered, metal strained, and then it lifted.

“If seals break, I think happen now.” Dmitry held up a finger, his eyes on the roof of the ship, as he listened for several seconds. “Wait, wait…” he dropped his hand. “I think we okay.”

They could hear the rumbling of the enormous tractor-like sled even through the reinforced hull of Prusalka, and there was only the slightest sensation of movement inside as they were conveyed to the edge of the hole. Cate held on tight, knowing this should only take a few minutes, and then they could expect the drop to the water below would take at least sixty more nerve-racking minutes.

Dmitry turned in his seat. “Dr Granger, all my life I have loved the ocean. But this is new for me. Please tell me more about this body of water we are about to enter.” He shrugged. “It was all hush-hush, so our superiors tell us little. Now we are all locked in, and all friends, you can share some more please?”

Still clinging to the console top, Cate leaned back and turned to Mironov. The Russian billionaire just shrugged, and she guessed he thought like her; there was no reason to keep this a secret now they were all about to plunge into this mission together.  Besides, it’d be a useful distraction for her, for all of them, during the drop.