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Finally, after discussions, it was decided to go back to Kaltos to try to regain our lost technology.

The New Kaltons were invited, and they readily accepted, and a boat was built. The fleet that we’d once owned had been completely wiped out. There was no sign of the boats ever existing. Har’chens refused to allow the New Kaltons on their island, and vice versa. Which meant Har’chens, who at least had the sense to take the wood and stonecutters into the caves with them, built the boat.

It took several weeks to build a seaworthy ship, where back on Mora or Kaltos in the past, it would have taken just one. Another example of the technology we had lost.

We had sun-tight coffins loaded on board made out of wood. In the past we wouldn’t have needed them, but we had lost all the solar power sheets and had to rely on sails.Very primitive.

The journey would take weeks, leading to the construction of the coffins.The New Kaltons had sent a small but trustworthy (in their eyes) delegation to sail with us.

Unfortunately, it was the Kaltons who hated us. They were thoroughly searched for weapons, and a Har’chen delegationtwice their size, made mainly of warriors to protect us, sailed too.

We had to sail by the stars as we had lost our navigation charts and compasses. During that time, we were at a disadvantage and heavily relied on guesswork. But we had some sailors who recognised the stars, and that allowed us to sail with some amount of confidence.

When we arrived at Kaltos’s co-ordinates, we got the shock of our life.

Chapter Eleven.

Kaltos was gone. I mean, it was completely missing. The island had disappeared, and we stood there for a whole night wondering as to whether we had travelled in the wrong direction.

Everyone squabbled and fought as the sea rocked us violently underneath. The New Kaltons wanted to send a diving team down, but we didn’t have the equipment. Ridiculously, over the next few weeks, we sailed around in circles, trying to find a trace of our previous home. We consistently found ourselves returning to the same spot.

Finally, we accepted Kaltos might’ve indeed sunk beneath the waves, and then the Vam’pirs intervened.

Vam’pirs don’t need to breathe, allowing us to dive deep to search for any sign of Kaltos.

The New Kaltons decided we might lie to them, and, in disgust, we left them arguing as we dived. We saw many strange sights; fish that had lived to the north or south of us now swam with us. Fortunately, the Kraken failed to make an appearance.

We searched in parties of three or four and kept our eyes open for any signs. It was Ana who found it.

Nestled, on the floor, of the seabed was Kaltos. Ana had been swimming over a deep chasm that must have opened underneath the island, and it had sunk without trace.

It was pure luck she had seen it, and finally, we were over seven miles down. Possibly, even further, and I reckon we were, because the Marianna trench is known as the deepest place on Earth.

There on the valley floor were the tall pyramids and towers of Kaltos.

In horror, we swam towards it, not believing what we were seeing. It felt like Kaltos had been swallowed whole. Many of the buildings were still standing, and it was with a surreal feeling we approached. Looking through empty windows, we saw skeletons with outstretched hands, as if begging us to take them from their watery grave.

The skeletons shone white in the gloom as the fish had eaten all available flesh. Some of us pulled away in disgust as we noticed several more with slivers of flesh still attached. The fish were lazily nibbling.

Inka, Diana, Tobias looked sick as they made circles to show they were going back to the surface.

We let them go. It was unnecessary for them to witness this.

Nathan and I recognised the Medical Centre, which had been ours. We swam over to it and peered through smashed windows that still contained small amounts of glass. There, seated at a desk, was a grotesque, bloated figure with slivers of flesh floating lazily about it.

D’vid pulled away in horror, and I saw what I had first missed. His brother.

Claudias stared into the gloom with a terrible grin. Seti tugged at D’vid, trying to pull him back and up to the surface, but he shook his head. Then D’vid turned away with a smile, and Iguessed he believed justice had been served. Claudias had finally got his comeuppance.

In morbid fascination, I stared at the gold disk hanging around the neck bones. Claudias had received it as a gift for becoming a scientist. Now, it simply identified the skeleton for us.

As we swam through Kaltos, we encountered many more sights, such as those I have told you of. Regrettably, several were skeletons of small children or young teenagers. We couldn’t save them all, and we were thankful that at least a fraction had been rescued.

It was still nasty to see, and finally, we’d had enough. We gathered some items to bring up and then returned.

“At last!” a voice cried in relief, and we realised that we had been down there nearly a whole night. Clambering on board, we showed them our finds and explained what we had seen.

The New Kaltons were silent as they struggled to accept the truth. But what we had retrieved were personal belongings, which were recognised by at least one person on the boat. Other items included radios and cookware commonly found in people’s homes. Items that weren’t disposed of in the sea as waste. This proof confirmed Kaltos’ presence down there.