The Last Descent
I locked the cables in place and checked the load-bearing points.
"Brody, both targets are secured. Ready to lift."
"Copy. Beginning ascent."
I piloted the submersible upward alongside the two hulls as they rose. Light gradually returned, degree by degree.
I watched the two silhouettes hanging from the cables the entire way up, one on each side.
One had been down there for ten years, and the other for three days. One was my son, and the other was his father.
When we broke the surface, the sunlight hit so hard that I had to close my eyes.