The HMS Anson ploughed through the dark ocean like a silent black shark, displacing the water in its path. The admiral sat at his desk, scribbling down some notes, when the telephone suddenly rang. He picked it up instantly and placed it to his ear. “Hello?”

  “I trust that you are fully functioning and operational?” The chief asked.

  “Indeed sir. We are just waiting for anything to pop up. All is clear for now.”

  “I shall be sending you some coordinates. They are the location of an illegal organisation and it has to be destroyed. No questions asked. It is heavily fortified. I hereby give you permission to use a nuclear torpedo as a last resort.”

  “It shall be done.” The admiral put the phone down, there being nothing more for him to hear. The radar suddenly flashed, a new target in its sight. The two helmsmen looked at the radar, seeing the same thing. One of them moved his wheel forward, causing the submarine to descend deeper into the ocean, and the other turned his wheel, changing their course. What they did not realise was that they were heading straight into the fire. Some klicks away, was another submarine, also on patrol. The captain sat at his desk. He was clad in a black naval uniform. Inscribed into the uniform was the word Pulvis. The radar and sonar operator stared at his screen, trying to find anything of interest, trying to listen to anything moving through the water. At almost one thousand feet below sea level, even the tiniest sound was a cause for concern. He suddenly sat up and pressed his headphones closer to his eardrums.

  “Captain!” He called out. The captain instantly got up from his desk and made his way over to him.

  “Report.”

  “We have another submarine coming towards us.” He explained.

  “Do you think that it could be just a coincidence?”

  “I'm almost certain that it is not. The turn was much too sharp. This isn’t some deep sea creature that we are dealing with here.”

  The captain suddenly laughed, overjoyed. “Battle stations everyone! MI5 wants to play a game!”

  Suddenly, an alarm blared and every single man instantly jumped to their stations. They jumped through the circular vertical hatches, running down the narrow pathways and to their posts. Torpedoes were loaded into their chutes. One of the helmsmen pulled the wheel towards himself, raising the submarine upwards to meet their enemy. The radar operator suddenly held his hand up and the commotion immediately stopped.

  “Report.” The captain ordered.

  “They're gone.”

  “That could only mean one thing. Crazy Ivan!”

  “Shit, I hope this works.” One of the helmsmen mumbled under his breath. He turned the wheel, changing the submarine’s course. The MI5 admiral stared at the radar. The small blip seemed to be going nowhere, frozen in place, whilst they moved closer to it. His eyes widened in shock when he understood.

  “Right full rudder!” He screamed. The helmsman immediately turned the wheel as far as it would go. A small moment went by and the submarine was filled with the sound of screeching metal as both submarines scraped against each other. The sailors on both sides clapped their hands over their ears, trying not to become deaf. The Pulvis captain stepped up to the two helmsmen and pushed one of them away. He grabbed the wheel and turned it, changing the submarine's course. The sonar operator held his hand up and then quickly closed it into a fist, signalling when to stop the turn.

  “Fire!” He shouted. The torpedo shot out, swimming straight for its target. The sonar operator listened in and then suddenly shot into panic mode, realising much too late.

  “Brace!”

  The torpedo hit the submarine's armour, rocking everyone inside it.

  “Load! Load!” The Pulvis captain roared. Another torpedo was quickly loaded in and the door latch locked. “Fire!”

  The torpedo flew for its target. It went to make contact, but only just managed to scrape the armour, swimming somewhere else. Suddenly, a gleam appeared in the Pulvis captain's eyes. A crewmate turned his head.

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  “We missed!”

  “Full speed ahead!”

  “But captain–!”

  “That's an order!”

  The propellers spun furiously as the submarine unleashed its full speed. One of the henchmen looked at his colleague. “What the hell is he up to?”

  “He's going to ram them.” He replied, a slight fear in his eyes.

  “What?!” He cursed repeatedly, not knowing any other words. The henchman snapped his head towards the rest of the crew.

  “Brace for impact!”

  Everyone grabbed hold of what they could and clenched their teeth. The enemy submarine sonar operator listened in to the increasingly loudening boom that echoed through the ocean. He frowned. “What the hell is he up to?” Then his eyes widened when he understood. He snapped his head round. “Brace for impa–!” Was all he had time to scream before there was a deafening crash. Everyone was thrown around like marbles in a shaken jar. A sailor collapsed to the floor, screaming in abject agony, his bones broken beyond repair. Another slumped down to the floor, his skull cracked by a rivet. One sailor posted next to the reactor screamed, his ears ringing like a deafening alarm. His colleague blinked hard and went to grab his head, but stopped himself. He looked around, delirious, his shaken mind trying to make sense of what had just happened. The metal beneath the submarine cracked and splintered, filling the hold with seawater. The sailors ran about in panic, trying to plug in any gaps, trying to stop the submarine from sinking. The Pulvis helmsman flipped a switch, going into full reverse, away from their enemy. A moment later, another torpedo was let loose and detonated itself against its target, tearing a hole in the side. The nuclear missiles exploded in a fireball, instantly incinerating any sailor within a seventy foot range, turning them into dust. The submarine suddenly cracked in half, drowning everyone on board. The sonar operator held up a thumb. The victorious sailors cheered, having won the battle. The captain laughed in triumph.

  “Drinks are on me, men!” He announced ecstatically. The crew cheered once more. Suddenly, a telephone rang. The captain walked up to it and picked it up. “Yes? What is it?”

  Suddenly, there was the sound of retching and vomiting.

  “Come on, pull yourself together, man.” He told him in a disappointed voice.

  “The reactor is damaged.”

  Suddenly, the captain's eyes widened and his face slackened. “What?”

  “We have a radiation leak. What should we do?”

  The captain quickly strode over to a button and smacked his fist against it. An alarm blared. “Dive! Dive! Dive!” He screamed. One of the helmsmen pushed the wheel forward as far as it would go, causing the submarine to dive at a frightening pace. The captain slid his way over to a computer and frantically typed something in. The nose of the ship hit a rocky platform on the seabed and everyone was thrown about with a deafening crash. There was another bang as the tail hit the other end of the platform. The submarine swayed slightly, rocking back and forth, creaking. The captain picked up the phone and pressed a button. “Activate the SCRAM immediately! That's an order!”

  The henchman ran over to the button and undid the cover. He smacked his palm against it and everything immediately powered down. The only thing that remained working was the red lights. The submarine stopped swaying and stood motionless, still creaking, trying not to collapse in on itself under the immense pressure. The crew sat there, stranded on the ocean mountain, three thousand feet below sea level. The numerous dials juddered, trying not to crack under the insane depth. Everyone stood in place, not moving an inch. The henchman that deactivated the submarine turned to the captain. “How did you know that there was a platform there?”

  “I didn't.”

  “What do we do?” He asked.

  “We wait. We cannot do anything. Turning the reactor back on will surely spell death for us.”

  “So will dying of dehydration.”

  “I sent out an SOS signal. Pulvis should get it any moment now. All we can do is wait and pray that they rescue us.”

  Silence flooded the submarine. Suddenly, a voice began to sing.

  Deep down below the ocean’s surface

  There is a land of darkness

  Coldness and despair is all there is

  Our journey through the dark

  Will take us through the depths of Hell

  But still we go on strong

  Slicing through the cold current

  The rest of the crew joined in, singing their song of sorrow.

  This abyss and darkness is all there is

  This darkness is all there is

  No one to save us

  No one to hear our cry

  Our dark journey will soon be at its end

  Where we shall meet again

  Beneath Davy Jones’ Locker