The Loch

"Anything else?"

"There's an auld wool sweater in that box. Better put it on. Suit's heated, but the water gets even colder along the bottom."

I grabbed the garment, then noticed a man walking out along Aldourie Pier.

True stared at the Newt Suit, debating. "Zack… whit if I said there might be another means o' gettin' doon there… ye ken, intae the monster's lair?"

"Hey, isn't that your father?" I pointed to where old man MacDonald was standing, watching us.

"Shyte, it's him a' right."

"What's he doing?"

"Keepin' vigil, nae doubt. Damn Templar."

"What were you saying about accessing the lair?"

"Uh… nothin'. Come on, if ye're gonnae dae this, then let's dae it."

I climbed into the lower torso of the Newt Suit while True connected the umbilical cord to the aluminum barrel and backpack.

"Ye ready then?"

I nodded, sliding my arms and head into the upper half of the dive suit as True lifted it over me. With a twist, the waistline clicked down upon the lower torso. True snapped the hinges shut along both sides of the waist.

Sweat poured down my face, my faceplate fogging with steam. Retracting my hand from its sleeve, I wiped my forehead clean, while True opened the tank valves on my back.

A cool stream of air blew into the helmet, lifting the fog.

I raised my arms, amazed at how flexible the appendages were. True fixed the utility belt around my waist, then lowered the bulky pack supporting the underwater lights and air tanks onto my back. I would have toppled over the side had my suit not been attached by cable to its support frame.

"Easy, Zack. Ye'll feel steadier once ye're underwater."

True activated the winch, raising me off of the deck. Looking down, I watched as my boots passed over the rail, and then I was slowly lowered into the water up to my chest.

For a long moment I hung there, my feet in the water, my upper body still tethered to the winch. The thought of what awaited me below sent shivers down my spine.

I focused upon the noise from my own shallow breaths until static crackled in my right ear. "Zack, can ye hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Let's go through yer checklist. Activate yer thrusters by pressin' doon on the ball o' yer right foot. Use it like the accelerator o' a car."

I pressed down, too hard, as the powerful twin thrusters' shot me clear out of the water, smashing my head piece against the winch.

"Easy!"

"Sorry." I eased back, the Newt Suit bobbing like a cork. "That was cool."

"It's no' a carnival ride. The propeller's the pedal in yer left boot, designed tae move ye horizontally. Dinnae use it until ye're close tae the bottom."

"Understood."

"Feel for the toggle switch in yer left glove. That's the master switch tae yer underwater lights."

I flicked the switch, my forward-mounted beam glancing off the dark surface. "Works fine."

"Usin' yer pincers, reach for one o' the G-SHOKs at yer waist. Make sure ye can grip baith the cartridge an' fuse… but dinnae put them together!"

It took a few tries until I could get a feel for the pincer mechanisms in each mitten. "No sweat. I think I'm ready."

"An' I think ye're aff yer heid," True muttered, as he climbed over the rail. He gave me a quick "thumbs-up,' then disconnected my support cable, and down I went.

It was a frightening sensation, falling like an anchor into the darkness, and I panicked, forgetting everything I'd just learned.

"Thrusters, Zack! Right boot!"

I pressed down with my foot, breathing easier as the thrusters slowed my descent.

The beam from my forward light cut through the darkness. I was dropping through a brown tea-colored world, but everything seemed to be spinning. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling sick."

"Speak tae me, Zachary."

"Dizzy, I'm just a little dizzy."

"Ye're spinning. Look inside yer headpiece. Jist below yer lower jaw, ye'll see a set o' gauges."

I opened my eyes, focusing on the digital display.

"Check yer compass, it's in orange. It shows direction an' course, sort o' like a submarine. Press on yer thrusters again an' come tae a complete stop."

I did as told. "Okay."

"Call oot yer depth tae me."

"Two hundred thirty feet."

"Have ye stopped spinnin'?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now ease off the thrusters an' continue descendin' while callin' oot yer depth."

"Two-sixty. Three hundred. Three-thirty …"

"Still droppin' too fast. Press doon on yer thrusters gently, let's slow ye up a bit."

"Three-fifty. Three-seventy."

"That's better. Now, the light on yer waist is tethered. Take a moment an' lock it intae the pincers of yer right glove so it'll be there when ye get closer tae the bottom."

"Got it." Securing the light in my right pincer, I aimed the beam into the darkness, feeling more in control. "Four-sixty. Five hundred feet. Five-forty—"

"Dinnae get cocky, Zack. Keep it slow an' steady. Whit dae ye see?"

"Not much. Even with the light, visibility's still less than fifteen feet. Outside the beam, the water's pitch-black."

"Like swimmin' in ink. I want ye relyin' on yer digital display. Which way are ye pointed?"

"South, at one-five-two degrees."

"Keep an eye on yer position, or ye'll be walkin' in circles. By the way, yer backup system's ower the side, the umbilical cord's feedin' fine. How deep are ye now?"

"Oops, I just passed seven hundred feet."

"Hit yer thrusters, afore ye bury yersel' in the bottom!"

I pressed down again, slowing my descent until I regained neutral buoyancy. "I'm good… I'm good."

"Good? Ye're turnin' my hair good an' grey. Check yer gauges again."

I was in 723 feet of water, the pressure outside of my artificial skin over twenty atmospheres, the temperature a chilly thirty-eight degrees.

Inside, I was dry and cool.

I felt a current at my back and allowed it to push me ahead as I looked down, aiming my handheld beam.

The bottom passed twenty feet below my boots. It was a murky desert of mud, its flat expanse desecrated here and there by petrified clumps of Scots Pine. The massive trees were embedded in the soot, belching tiny streams of gas, their plankton-covered branches reaching out for me like the rotting arms of Loch Ness's dead.

Jesus… what am I doing down here?

"Zack, ye still alive?"

"Sorry. I'm drifting, guess I'm about twenty feet off the bottom."

"Ye see oor friend?"

I'd been so preoccupied with surviving the descent I'd completely forgotten about the monster!

I looked around nervously, my anchored shoulder beams revolving back and forth like a lighthouse. "I don't see anything."

"Whit aboot a cave?"

"Nothing."

"By the direction o' yer umbilical I can see ye're headin' south. Did ye want to head south then?"

I checked the digital compass. One-seven-two… he was right, I was drifting south. "Standby." I pressed down with my left foot, activating my propeller for the first time.

The powerful motor blasted me through the alien underworld, my arms reaching out awkwardly for balance as I soared through the abyss doing eight knots.

Easing back on the propeller, I slowed, then used my thrusters to execute a turn. After a few tries, I was able to steady my heading at zero-nine-zero, moving due east, aiming for the eastern bank and Aldourie Castle.

Through the brown-black darkness I flew, the intensity of my beating heart causing the arteries in my neck to throb. I looked left then right, feeling like a lone antelope on a lion-infested plain.

And then my eyes caught movement, a brief shimmer along the bottom.

I slowed, circling back as I searched the gray-brown void. And then I saw it.