“As you begin to travel inner towards the planet’s core, you shall experience a gradual rise in temperatures around you.” The professor seemed jubilant as he commented on another remark to the duo of travellers now constantly flanking his sides.
“But professor, I am experiencing extreme cold.!” the burly man exclaimed. His voice went unheard for the verbal converter immediately transcribed all vocal sounds into binary code, which were then immediately reconverted into the English script. Binary code was the medium, and sole method, of computer language by which commands, computers “understood” and accepted basic functionary elements.
A slim strip coloured blue with white fonts indicating words and sentences appeared immediately within visual distance of approximately six inches in front of their eyes, at the mid-junction length of their noses.
They were wearing individual deep-submerging underwater suits which neatly clung to their physiques like a second skin, and they had also donned one transparent, circular plastic globe each around their heads. It contained complex mechanisms capable of converting latent oxygen embedded into the atomic structure of water — precious air being thus produced constantly within — which afforded them adequate amounts of pure and fresh breathing space. These globes encircled their heads, commencing just under the neck region.
“We have travelled nearly one mile under and inside.” The professor stated, interrupting temporary lulls of silence. Immediately as he spoke, his verbal utterances went through the usual transformation and conversion processes, and about one microsecond later the slim blue-coloured transparent band appeared in front of their eyes at mid nose-length level: the white-coloured see-through letters instantly formed an intended sentence, now visible clearly. The slim band remained thus for about fifteen seconds before computer controls allowed it to slide away from sight range, in a semicircular direction to a pre selected space just under their left ears.
“Remember, slower now. Be sure to come at a complete halt at the next curve.”
Both of the professor’s companions, now alertly flanking him at his left and right sides and separated by minimum manoeuvrable feet, brought their right fingers into contact with directional codes located at hip level, and which also controlled forward thrust of booster mechanisms embedded into their individual deep water navigational boots.
The burly man made a mental calculation of approaching distance to the next curve at approximately 65 feet, while gently pressurising his fore and index fingers into a slot on the directional code. A further downward pressure and the booster mechanism shut operations of forward thrusts.
His companion complied his actions, allowing the force of previously forward thrust pressure, to cover the distance of few remaining feet between themselves and that curve.
“You shall follow my actions as soon as we are under water from a depth of fifteen feet.” the professor had advised his companions for the day. He stood at the edge of a gigantic pool, a lake which nearly resembled a mammoth swimming pool.
The burly man looked around gently once again, before adjusting one transparent, circular plastic globe around his head. The tall walls of space lab five seemed to tower above him up to ceiling height. Every colour was either white or a conceivable colour of white, including the wall paints. Advanced earth forward laboratories were also commonly termed as “space labs Earth.” These labs were primarily designed to delve into further details and investigate into higher scientific ventures, and were thus conveniently constructed and located at rather difficult and unapproachable routes throughout the land routes of Earth.
All personnel stationed at various such forward laboratories crisscrossing the earth, were offered adequate living space in individual and collective flats. Existence of rich and sprawling gardens was a must.
This portion of space lab neatly encircled the mystery lake, though in a square formation.
The burly man’s companion had adjusted his halo suit, a formal nomenclature for those transparent and circular spheres.
“And we shall gauge our reflexes at about one and a quarter of a mile down,” the professor ended, adjusting directional codes at a depth of twenty-five feet under water.
They thus continued upon the process of controlled sinking, offering wise comments to each other at every planned and given interval. Such an exercise reduced their chances of feeling totally forlorn and depressive.
“I apologise! The mistake is mine.” The professor was intimately involved in the exercise they now participated..
“If you follow land routes, wherein underground water routes do not exist, I mean, er... you shall experience a gradual change in temperatures. You shall tend to feel warmer than usual and even body temperature, correlated with air and Earth temperatures inside land and tunnel routes, increase as you proceed further towards the Earth’s core.”
“Such an occurrence happens only when we resort to land routes,” the burly man added, more for the sake of his companion’s knowledge rather than for the sole purpose of making small talk.
“Yes.” The professor agreed.
They had come to a halt at the edge of a gradual sloping, semicircular tunnel, in excess of a hundred feet wide.Those clear, pleasant and transparent Earth waters seemed to offer a gentle sort of chill which was an eerie experience. The entire tunnel commencing from the very top, at ground opening level, measured wider than a hundred feet at any two directional opposite sides. Yet, the tunnel was not circular in shape. Only at certain points along the entire route down into bowels of the earth did the tunnel closely resemble circular patterns. Most of the time during the watery descent, one would have been unable to determine any given, fixed pattern of tunnel structure,
“From where we started back in space lab, till about this level here where we now stand, the tunnel forms a gentle, regular slope downward deep into the earth.
“However, now...” The professor’s verbal conversation in white coloured words and sentences were shaping up neatly amidst a slim background. “The tunnel takes a plunge down. Almost straight. Perpendicular.”
They spent a while peering amidst totally clear waters which were fed by millions of underground streams, through permeable and soft earth routes not really forming streamways underneath the earth. Soft earth water routes thus constantly filtered in pure water in the natural processes of nature: earth waters in their most natural state.
“As I was saying, and therefore as one descends lower into the Earth’s bowels, into deep waters, one tends to feel colder. At a depth of approximately two furlongs down, you perhaps did note a strange chill amidst those waters!
“Reaching down about one mile further below. I wouldn’t care to comment upon your physical processes. I however did feel a strong urge to call it a day and relax upon the space lab roof, under the warm sunshine.”
The burly man added finally. “Now, at a mile and one quarter underneath surface level of earth, I feel as if I’ve just missed pneumonia!
* * *
Two weeks later into the experimental waterway journey they stood upon a similar formation. trying to maintain an outward calm, yet decidedly appearing unsettled and tense. All except the professor, who was not escorted by two men on this occasion. The number of personnel including him, were five.
“Fish do not swim in Jupiter’s waters.” One of the men had exclaimed.
They were standing in close formation at a similar tunnel edge, wearing identical under water gear favouring deep water travel.
“And I do not feel chilly!” The burly man added.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t even feel closer enough to pneumonia.”The burly man’s companion added in utter seriousness,
“Well gentlemen, do we take that chance?” The professor stood at the very edge of a similar curve inside an underground water tunnel, deep inside Jupiter’s soils. He was feeling rather comfortable. The water temperature at about a mile and one quarter depth inside and under Jupiter’s surface level, required no confirmation in terms of measurement for its pleasant and radiating warmth was adequate proof of differences: vast deviations in water temperature between Earth and Jupiter.
One amongst the space personnel, now allotted space time in company with the professor — a rare event indeed — spoke up at length, and his speech followed due conversion procedures.
“Back upon Earth, the tunnel takes a sharp drop from this point approximately. The path remains on a downward trajectile and forms a rather semicircular path as it nears the Earth’s core, neatly then, correctly describing a semicircle all along the Earth’s core, and immediately afterwards the path abruptly takes a tangent, nearly a ninety degree path, continuing on downward.”
“Or upwards, you might say.”The fourth companion ventured confidently. They had been briefed in toto, and advanced space labs both on Earth and Jupiter, not to mention Mars, preferred senior space lab personnel to be updated on every bit of information they could gather.
“Upward?”
“Yes.”
“How in heaven?”
“Well, when viewed from the other end of Earth, the opposite end where our tunnel-lake commences, one finds the ocean.”
The professor took up the matter. “Do you mean that the lake opens out to the ocean at its other end?”
“Well, not exactly.”
“But professor, you just commented”...
“You shall certainly find the ocean instead of land structures, but my dear man, our lake-tunnel in question opens up to yet another similar lake: a water resort which is under complete protection by one of our advanced Earth labs, inside that mountain.”
“Uh, pardon me?”
“At certain defined parameters of the ocean bed, we find foothills of a mountain. This particular undersea mountain commencing from the ocean bed measures taller than the highest visible mountain on the surface. I would be referring to a land mountain, commencing from sea level height.”
“I am beginning to understand now, professor.”
“The uppermost peak of this mountain stands at approximately fifteen hundred feet above sea level. The remaining portion rests below sea level and, well... is not visible and lies buried under the ocean.”
* * *
Approximately half an hour later, the five member advanced scientific expedition team made a final decision to take that jump, from their vantage point deep inside Jupiter’s soils and unchartered waters.
The routes seemed similar. The waters were different, however.
Five hours later, the professor’s voice was neatly transcribed into white and blue background of words and sentences. “We have reached Jupiter’s core at the upper level.”
“And I simply feel warm enough,”the burly man added almost immediately. It seemed to them that he perhaps, was waiting for the professor to make that remark.
To be concluded...
Copyright © 2003 by Deep Bora
