“Sorry, old man,” Perry said between chokes of laughter. “Pardon our appearance and our behavior. But we’ve had one hell of a night.”
“Too much grog, I suspect,” the fisherman said.
The fisherman’s response sent them off on another laughing jag. But eventually they recovered enough to convince the man that they were not dangerous and that he would be generously compensated if he gave them a ride into Boston proper. With that decided, the men climbed into the boat.
It was a pleasant ride especially in comparison with the tense hours in the tight, claustrophobic submersible. Between the warm sun, the soft whisper of the wind in the sail, and the gentle roll of the boat, all but the fisherman were fast asleep before the skiff rounded the island.
With a steady breeze the fisherman expertly brought the boat into the harbor in good time. Unsure of where his passengers wanted to be dropped off, he gave the nearest person’s shoulder a shake. Perry responded groggily to the prodding and for a moment had trouble opening his eyes. When he did, the fisherman posed his question.
“I guess it doesn’t matter where,” Perry said. With supreme effort he sat up. His mouth was dry and cottony. Blinking in the bright sunlight, he glanced around the harbor. Then he rubbed his eyes, blinked again, and stared at the surroundings.
“Where the hell are we?” he demanded. He was confused. “I thought we were supposed to be in Boston.”
“ ’Tis Boston,” the fisherman said. He pointed to the right. “Them there is Long Wharf.”
Perry rubbed his eyes again. For a moment he wondered if he were hallucinating. He was looking at a harbor scene of square-rigged sailing ships, schooners, and horse drays along a granite quay. The tallest buildings were wood frame and a mere four or five stories.
Fighting off a wave of disbelief that bordered on terror, Perry shook Donald awake in a panic, crying that something was terribly wrong. The commotion awoke the others as well. When they took in the scene, they were equally dumbfounded.
Perry turned back to the fisherman, who was lowering the sail. “What year is this?” he asked hesitantly.
“Year of our Lord seventeen hundred ninety-one,” the fisherman said.
Perry’s mouth dropped open. He looked back at the square-rigged sailing ships. “Good God! They put us back in time.”
“Come on!” Richard complained. “This has got to be some kind of joke.”
“Maybe they’re making a movie,” Michael suggested.
“I don’t think so,” Donald said slowly. “That’s what Arak meant when he said they were going to take us back. He meant back in time not back to Interterra.”
“The intergalactic ships must involve time technology,” Perry said. “I guess that’s the only way travel to another galaxy is possible.”
“My god,” Donald muttered. “We’re marooned. Nobody is going to believe our story about Interterra, and the technology doesn’t exist to prove it or for us to get back there.”
Perry nodded as he stared ahead with unseeing eyes. “People are going to think we’re mad.”
“What about the submersible?” Richard cried. “Let’s go back!”
“And do what?” Donald asked. “We’d never find it, much less salvage it.”
“I’m not going to see my family after all,” Perry cried. “We gave up paradise for colonial America? I don’t believe it.”
“You know, I’ve finally figured out where you lubbers are from,” the fisherman said as he readied the oars.
“Really,” Perry said, without interest.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind,” the fisherman continued. “You’ve got to be from that college up the Charles River. You Harvard fellows are always making fools of yourselves.”
GLOSSARY
Asthenosphere A zone within the earth ranging in depth from 50 to 200 km; it is the upper part of the mantle (see below), situated directly below the lithosphere (see below). This area is theorized to be molten and yielding to plastic flow.
Basalt A dark, almost black rock formed from the cooling and solidification of molten silicate minerals. It forms a large part of the oceanic crust.
Bathypelagic An adjective relating to moderately deep ocean depths (2,000- 12,000 ft).
Caldera A crater formed by the collapse of a volcano’s summit.
Circadian An adjective relating to a twenty-four-hour cycle.
Dike A tabular rock formation arising from molten rock forced up a cleft or fissure and then solidifying.
Dinoflagellates A type of plankton (see below) that includes many bioluminescent varieties. Dinoflagellates also cause red tide.
Ectogenesis Embryonic development outside the womb.
Epipelagic An adjective relating to the part of the surface ocean in which enough light penetrates to support photosynthesis.
Foraminifera Tiny marine protozoans whose calcerous shells form chalk and the most widely distributed limestone.
Gabbro A dark, sometimes green rock that makes up a significant part of the lowest part of the oceanic crust.
Gamete A male or female germ cell.
globigerina ooze A cream-colored muck that covers a good portion of the deep ocean floor and is composed mainly of the minute skeletons of foraminifera (see above).
Graben A fault block that has dropped below the height of the surrounding rock.
Guyot A seamount (see below) with a flat top.
Lithosphere The rigid crust of the earth; it includes the sea floor as well as the continents.
Mantle An inner layer of the earth, between the lithosphere (see above) and the central core.
Microsome Any of the various minute subcellular structures.
Mohorovicic discontinuity An area within the earth where there is a large change in the transmission of seismic waves. It is between 5 and 10 km below the ocean floor and about 35 km below the continents.
Pangaea A single continent that began breaking up in the Mesozoic era by the action of plate tectonics to form the present-day continents.
Peridotite A dark rock deep within the mantle.
Plankton Microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and animals (zooplankton) that exist in such prodigious numbers that they form the base of the oceanic food chain.
Richter scale A method of expressing the magnitude of earthquakes.
Seamount An underwater mountain usually formed by volcanic activity.
Thermocline A relatively stable, abrupt temperature change in a body of water.
Zygote A cell formed by the union of two gametes (see above) which has the potential to form a new individual.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ballard, Robert, Explorations: A Life of Underwater Adventure. New York: Hyperion, 1995.
Ellis, Richard, Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss. New York: Knopf, 1996. The illustrations alone make this a joy!
Ellis, Richard, Imaging Atlantis. New York: Knopf, 1998.
Kunzig, Robert, The Restless Sea. New York: Norton, 1999. An extremely well-written, enjoyable book that gives one a sense of the importance and breadth of oceanography.
Verne, Jules, Voyage au Centre de la Terre. Paris: 1864. (English translation: Voyage to the Center of the Earth. New York: Kensington, 1999.)