All Chapters of The Last Descent: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Maren, are you out of your mind?"My partner, Brody Gentry, snatched the folder back and spread it open in front of me again."$10 million. Do you have any idea how many jobs we'd have to risk our necks for to earn that kind of money? If you're turning this down, you've got to at least give us a reason."I pulled my gloves back on and went back to running the daily equipment checks."I said no.""Look at this." Brody flipped to the back of the file."The hull deformation on that submersible is severe. She's got less than 24 hours of oxygen left. A 23-year-old girl is trapped inside there."My fingers stopped on the dial. My son, Robb Lattimer, had also been 23 the year he died."Maren, you're the only person in this entire region who can pull off a docking rescue at that depth."Brody leaned in and lowered his voice. "If you don't go, she's dead."I tightened the valve and turned to face him. "Brody, you've been with me for seven years. When have I ever turned down a job?"

Chapter 2

"Hello, am I speaking with the lead technician for the deep-sea rescue?"The voice on the other end was steady and arrogant. It had been ten years, but I still recognized it."That's me. Go ahead."My own voice was nothing like it used to be. A decade of deep-sea work, between the breathing equipment and the harsh conditions, had done irreversible damage to it."Good. This is Griffin Lattimer, from Lattimer Maritime Group. I assume you've already reviewed the situation." He paused briefly. "Name your price.""I'm not taking the job."The line went quiet for a moment, then he laughed. "I'm sorry. Did I not make myself clear? I said, name your price. Whatever you want.""I said no.""$50 million." There was not a trace of hesitation in his voice, as though he had just tossed out a number at random."$50 million in cash. You’ll get half when you go down, and the other half when you bring her up. This is a once-in-a-lifetime offer.”I said nothing. He took my silence for delibera

Chapter 3

Brody broke down my door in the early hours of the morning."Maren, something's happened."I sat up in bed and saw that his face was white."My daughter..." His voice cracked. "Her company transferred her out of the admin department and reassigned her to the inspection crew on a deep-sea drilling platform."My stomach dropped. "When?""Just now. She messaged me saying she got a call from HR this afternoon, out of nowhere, telling her to take a helicopter to the platform tonight."She doesn't know the first thing about any of this, Maren. She studied financial management. She doesn't even have an offshore operations license.""Did you try calling her?""I did. It won't go through."Brody's eyes had gone red."Her last message said she made it to the platform and told me not to worry. After that, nothing."I took his phone and looked at the screen. The last message had come in half an hour ago, along with a blurry photo of iron-gray deck railings with nothing but black ocean s

Chapter 4

Brody lunged forward instantly, but I threw my arm out and held him back."Don't."Griffin watched me restrain Brody and smiled, wider and more brazen than before."I told you I'd give you two hours to think it over. You didn't take the chance, so here I am."Elise stepped out from behind him in her heels, her face a portrait of anguish and grief."I know you probably think we're terrible, but that's my daughter down there. My Cora is only 23, and she's already been trapped for fourteen hours."Her eyes reddened, and she turned to loop her arm through Griffin's. Griffin patted her on the back, then looked at me with cold eyes."$50 million. I'll wire it immediately. Put your gear on and go down. Now!""I already told you. I cannot take this job.""Are you trying to negotiate with me?" He tilted his head."Fine. Name your number. $100 million? $200 million? I've dealt with people like you before. All you're doing is driving up the price while you've got leverage. Go ahead. I'l

Chapter 5

Griffin stood frozen."You know my daughter? Do you have some kind of vendetta against her, and that's why you never planned to save her?"Elise's eyes went wide. She rushed forward and grabbed me."Who are you? Why are you trying to get my daughter killed?"I glanced down at Brody on the ground. He said nothing and just stared at me. His eyes were filled with nothing but dread, as every passing second was another threat to Hallie's life.I pried Elise's hands off me. "I never said I was trying to get anyone killed. I just said I cannot save her.""You just said you'd end her life with your own hands!" The look on Griffin's face was murderous."Are you threatening me?""It’s not a threat. It’s the truth." I took a step back and leaned against the tool rack."Even if you force me to go down, all it would take is one tremor of my hand while lining up the docking bolts. What do you think happens then?"Griffin's expression changed in an instant.He built deep-sea equipment for

Chapter 6

Elise stood rooted to the spot, her expression shifting from shock to fury."How dare you—""Your daughter is 3,600 feet below the surface with less than 19 hours of oxygen left."Griffin seized Elise's arm and pulled her back. "What do you want from us? We've never wronged you. We've never even met!"If I've done something to offend you, I apologize. Whatever your conditions are, can’t you just lay them on the table?""Conditions?" I smiled faintly. "You can’t afford my conditions.""Try me." Griffin stepped closer. "What can't I afford?""Give my son's life back in exchange for your daughter's. Can you do that?"The words came out before I could stop them. The air went still.Griffin stared at me, and confusion flickered through his eyes. "Your son? What does your son have to do with my daughter?"Elise looked up at me as well, her gaze wary. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"I did not answer. I had already said too much."It doesn't matter." I stepped back and c

Chapter 7

Elise scrambled backward and collapsed to the ground, one of her heels flying off."G-Griffin, she's..."Griffin had recovered from the shock, though not by much. "That's impossible..."His lips moved without sound, and he looked as though every ounce of strength had drained out of him."Maren... You were supposed to be...""Dead?" I finished the sentence for him. "Is that what you were hoping for?""I didn't...""Of course you didn't." My voice was very calm."You just never came looking for me. You never even asked."Griffin's lips were shaking. His gaze traveled from the scars on my face to the grease-stained coveralls I was wearing, and then to my rough, cracked hands."You... Ten years... You've been here this whole time?""Yes. I spend my days saving people.”I looked into his eyes. "Unlike someone who even refused to save his own son."Griffin was silent for a long time before he finally managed to speak. "Maren, I know I failed Robb. But he's already gone. There's

Chapter 8

Word traveled fast. Three hours later, every group chat across the deep-sea industry had exploded.Brody showed me his phone. Griffin had posted a bounty across every channel he could reach. $100 million to whoever brought Cora up alive."He's lost his mind." Brody scrolled through the screen. "$100 million. Who wouldn't be tempted? But at that depth...""Someone will go."Of course, someone did. Within two hours, three teams had accepted the job.The first was a commercial diving group from the Cerulan Coast. The second was a private rescue crew made up of retired military divers. The third was a lone operator, reportedly a former deep-sea welder from the Kaimon Islands.I leaned back in my chair while Brody read the messages aloud, one by one."The first team has already reached the area. They brought three rigs and a semi-submersible support vessel.""What's their max depth?""The specs say 2,600 feet.""They will never make it. The water pressure at 3,000 feet will crush

Chapter 9

The next morning brought news that the first team's signal had gone dead.The crew aboard the support vessel had tried to reel in the cable, but all they pulled up were two severed halves of a fiber-optic line.When the report reached the base, Brody swore in the dispatch room. "Goddamn it! They're treating lives like they're disposable."I said nothing.By 8 AM, the second message came in. The retired military team's titanium diving bell had been knocked off course by an undercurrent at 3,380 feet.The last segment of their comms log was the team leader shouting, "Cabin pressure abnormal... Retract! Retract now!" before it dissolved into static.Brody slammed his phone onto the table. "There's no chance any of them survived.""What about the one from Kaimon?""No word yet. He said he was going to wait for a gap in the undercurrents before descending."By the afternoon, the Kaimon diver's final voice message was in the group chat. Brody had someone translate it."Water pressu

Chapter 10

The weather turned without warning. A storm tore across the surface, and every vessel in the area was forced to evacuate.Griffin's support ship was the last to leave. However, his submersible never came back.The dive log showed that Griffin had pushed his craft past its rated limit of 3,000 feet two hours earlier. The positioning signal had gone dead at 3,480 feet.The final segment of his comms recording was his voice. The static was overwhelming, and the shriek of metal being crushed drowned out nearly everything, but I could still make out his words."Maren... Robb... Dad's here..."Then, the signal cut out.I sat alone in the equipment room, listening to that recording for a long time."That's enough."Brody turned off the phone.Three days later, the sea went calm. I stood on the dock and watched as the dive equipment was hoisted onto the boat, piece by piece."Maren, are you sure you want to go down today?" Brody pointed at the bandage on my arm. "Your wound—""I can

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