It lived in the primordial slime of the young Earth, far, far from where it had been spawned by a nightmare across the sea of stars. It existed, indeed fed, off the emotions of fear and terror in the creatures around it. On Earth it found none. Yet the thing knew that some day life would crawl forth from the warm mineral laden waters and begin the long, painful climb towards intelligence. Time meant nothing to it, so it built a tomb and lay down to sleep while it waited. In the fullness of time, it would awaken and lead that still unborn race on an everlasting orgy of unholy terror and screaming madness.
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Some personal thoughts on this mission. I think it is all a hoax. I can't believe the company fell for such an incredible sea tale. We will of course expend every effort to find anything that may be down there, but I don't see the slightest possibility of success. We are in the middle of the Sargasso Sea and there is nothing below us but 3,000 fathoms of dark green water. This area must have been a frightening place in the days of wooden ships and wind and sail. The stories of doomed, becalmed vessels, floating on forever with a crew of dead men, were legend back then. But this is 1997, and we are one of the most modern treasure-hunting vessels afloat. We have the best electronics and detection gear available. But I feel we should be searching the shallow pirate waters of the Caribbean. How can we find anything here? There may well be something on the ocean floor, the Great Abysmal Plain, but how could we see it? We do not have ultra deep diving bells and such equipment here. And absolutely no light penetrates to eighteen thousand feet beneath the sea. This spot is not as deep the Puerto Rico Trench further to the south, but still deep enough. Even if we dive down well below a thousand feet what could we possibly find? It is still a very long, long way to the bottom.
So we will spend a few pleasant days splashing around and taking some soundings here. Then we will go home, and go on to a real assignment. This is a waste of time and money.
IN THE UTTER BLACKNESS of an ancient tomb there lies a rotting, hideous thing. It lives not, yet it dies not. Within its inhuman breast abides an evil malevolence so monstrous that it may never truly die. From before time immemorial, the thing has been. Before the bloody virgin priestesses of the god-horror Baal offered up human sacrifices to grotesque images of hewn stone, before the mighty pharaohs buried their entire courts alive within the great pyramids of the Valley of the Kings, before Cro-Magnon Man slaughtered the last pitiful Neanderthal Man, before even the time when the giant behemoths ruled newly formed continents with tooth and claw, the thing has existed.
The following are excerpts from the log of the ship "Lucky Lady," F8933017, lost at sea with all hands 7 May, 1997, approximately 68 degrees 40" W. 28 degrees 30" N.; Captain David Emmanuel Jones ( U.S.N., Ret. ) commanding and crew of seven. Owners, Treasure Hunt, Inc., Miami, Florida, USA. Insurer: Lloyds of London.
5/1 After an uneventful trip out, we have cut engines at designated location. We are maintaining radio silence, as per instructions. Seas calm. Weather excellent. Forecast good. Crew is in fine spirits. Hiring Sharlene as extra diver has improved morale greatly. Please note that even Ramon shaved this morning. No problems. We will begin sounding and diving in the morning using standard deep search patterns.
