Crossover Earth '98
THE CALL OF THE DEEP
MICHAEL SURBROOK
"Avalon..."
The voice was distant and ignore able.
"Avalon!"
A bit louder this time. Perhaps he should wake up? No, better to sleep, he was still drained from yesterday's spell casting.
"AVALON!"
"Whaa...!" Avalon sat upright, tossing the bedcovers aside, "I'm awake, I..." Pausing he glanced around the small guest room. "Katsumi," he grumbled, "why are you waking me up this early in the morning?"
Shaking her head, Katsumi handed the sorcerer a newspaper. "It's one in the afternoon, Avalon. Were you planning on sleeping all day?"
"Oh..." Picking up the paper, he glanced at the headlines. Monica and Bill... - again - and women's hockey wins gold. And Katsumi's point is?
"What is this?"
"Page A3, science section, you might find it interesting." Katsumi turned and headed for the door. "Oh, and lunch will be ready, so get dressed."
"You would think we were married..." Avalon mumbled as he got out of bed.
"I heard that!"
Avalon glanced at the door to his room for a moment. "Sure you did," he muttered under his breath... just to make sure.
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Taking his seat at the small dining table, Avalon promptly helped himself to the sandwich fixings. "Thank you, Katsumi," he said between bites.
"You're welcome." Katsumi nodded in return. "Now, did you read the article?"
"Yes."
"What do you think?"
"I think I should talk to Dr. Bourne."
"And do you think he will listen?"
"No."
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Once again he sat in Katsumi's workroom. This time he was alone, and the pattern that had graced the floor had been carefully cleaned away hours ago. Now, he simply floated a few feet of the floor, eyes closed, his breathing shallow. With a slight mental push he floated free from his physical form and entered the astral realm.
Hawaii was, as usual, a riot of power. It came from having an active volcano on your doorstep. But that was of no concern right now. Avalon need to be in San Diego, at the Scripps Institute, where Dr. Bourne was finishing up his preparations to explore several abyssal trenches in the South Pacific. Turning to the southeast, Avalon took to the air, flashing across the Pacific at the speed of thought.
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Dr. Heinrich Bourne's office was a small cramped affair, over flowing with books, papers, charts and photos. Several models of exploratory submersibles, including Alvin and the Cousteau Saucer, lined the window, while his desk was buried under piles of reports and research data. A computer perched perilously close to the edge of the desk, the monitor decorated with coffee stains and yellowed Far Side cartoons.
Stepping through the door, Avalon paused inside the scientist's office. Hopefully, manifesting in his astral form would lend sufficient weight to his words. It would, at least, make it hard for the doctor to ignore him.
"Dr. Bourne?" Avalon asked, his voice scarcely above a whisper.
"Eh?" Bourne's head rose from amid the stacks that crowded his desk, "Who's there?"
"Avalon du Lac... perhaps you've heard of me?"
"Avalon... yes I've.. ahhh!!!" Finally catching sight of Avalon's translucent pale-blue figure, Bourne jumped up and away from his desk, sending papers flurry towards the floor. "Who the devil are you?"
Well, Avalon thought, at least I have his attention.
"I am Avalon du Lac, Dr. Bourne, and I have come to speak to about your planned voyage into the abyss.
Shaking his head, Dr. Bourne stepped around his desk and shook his finger at Avalon. "Avalon du Lac is, as far as I know, a human being, *not* a ghost. What are*you*?"
"I am he, Dr. Bourne. What you see is my astral form, sent to you while I am visiting Hawaii."
"Really?" Bourne didn't sound convinced as he stepped forward and waved his hand through Avalon's chest. "Fascinating..." he whispered.
Stepping back, he looked the wizard up and down. "Well Avalon, your name is familiar to me, as is your reputation, so I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. So, what did you wish to speak to me about?"
"As I said, your planned expedition to the abyssal trenches." Avalon moved further into the room, gesturing at the charts on a far wall. "I have come to warn you that within some of the trenches dwell creatures that are beyond our full understanding. They, as the saying goes, were old when our world was young, and have lived on this Earth for uncounted millennia. At this time, they dwell far beneath the ocean's surface and resent greatly any intrusion into their domain."
"I... I see..." Bourne chuckled slightly. "Avalon, you sound like something out of a Stephen King book.. or H.P. Lovecraft for that matter. You want me to believe that there are a race of monsters living at the bottom of the Pacific?"
"Yes," Avalon said flatly. "Lovecraft was more right then he knew... or we think he knew. There is a race of... how shall I say this... 'elder beings' living under the Pacific and disturbing them will most certainly mean your doom."
"So what you're saying is that there are things man was not meant to know?" Bourne said with a shake of his head. "That is a cliche older than science itself, and if we'd paid attention to it we'd still be in caves huddled around a fire. I appreciate that there may be dangers, and even something totally unknown down there, but *that's the point*. To go, and discover."
"I..." Avalon began.
"Thank you for the warning, Avalon," Bourne said, cutting of Avalon before he could finish his replay, "but this expedition will continue."
"I... I see, Dr. Bourne." Avalon nodded to the scientist. "Then allow me this. Your expedition will place you far beyond the reach of most metahumans. Let me place a spell lock within your vehicle, that you can use to bring yourself and your crew to safety in case of any... accidents."
Bourne shrugged, "If it will make you happy, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a little extra safety insurance."
"Thank you, Dr. Bourne."