He dropped fast. ​The swiftly passing air hitting his skin was now almost like riding on the back of a jet plane. He found he could no longer breathe he dropped so fast. And yet he had to focus, to concentrate. He had to keep his body straight. No bending. Hitting the water would be like slamming into concrete unless he slipped in just right. His body would come apart like stew in a thin, plastic bag. Most of all, he had to stay relaxed. In spite of the absolutely intense situation he found himself in, Adam had to keep his body, especially his muscles, loose. Tense up at all, and his limbs and muscles would just smash to pieces when he hit the water. Still, it was hard to...it just felt so natural to...stay focused! He felt himself start to pass out. He was just moving too damned fast. Adam held forward his arms, his fingers outstretched. Like an Olympic athlete, he planned on going into the ocean without making a single...

​     and in he went. 

     After falling, literally, thousands of feet through the air. 

     And when he hit the water...

​     he didn't even make a blip of a splash.

     But, still, he hit the water hard.  

     And he went deep. 

​     Very, very deep. 

​     And it took him a long, long time to go that deep. 

​     The water slowed his descent, but it still took a long, long time. 

​     It was dark where Adam finally wound up.

     But he finally did stop moving.

     He got a look around. He found that some huge, jellyfish-looking, crazy-looking creature stared right at him.

     Adam swam slowly towards the surface.  

     And then he swam a little more quickly.

     He needed to fill his lungs with air again, and soon.

     Back to focusing. Back to concentrating. There were only two things left in life for him now. One was to keep from taking in water; the other was to swim as fast as he could upwards. Swim. Swim. Again, he felt himself start to pass out. No! Swim! He saw blinking lights off to the right. No! Don't look at that! That's not real. That's a distraction. That's a hallucination. Keep focused! But it didn't stop. It was like this constantly blinking light that wouldn't...

     Adam turned towards the illumination. Yes! It was Claudia! It was one of his own submarines! He was saved! Yes!

     He swam into the transition chamber that waited for him. Once inside, he felt himself start to pass out again as the seawater got drained out of the now resealed chamber to be replaced by sweet, fresh breathable air.

     "Welcome back, boss. Have a nice visit?" 

​     "Ducky. How am I doing physically? Am I going to get the bends or..."

​     "You will if you don't stand still. I'm cleaning your system even as we speak." 

     "And where's Goldbody right now? What's going on?"

     "He's ransoming the Fortune 500 for half a trillion dollars." 

​     "I love this guy's ego. He reminds me of me."

END OF CHAPTER SIX                                                             ​                          HOME