Excerpt: The Sapphire Stones of Raziel

“It has been two, agonizingly long days… or has it been weeks. Never-the-less, I grow weary of this underwater tomb. I long to see my daughter once again and to walk under the trees of Leninbrog…”
“Excuse me sir.”
The captain, never looking up from his ledger, closed his eyes and sighed. “What is it Cadet?”
“There’s been a development sir.” The boy stood at attention. His stiffly pressed jacket was naked of any awards that could prove the experience he exuded.
“Development?!” The captain quickly set his writing instrument down, splaying droplets of ink across the parchment. He grabbed his trusty cane. The agate floated inside a network of various metal weavings, displaying an ancient bug, trapped inside the frozen honey sphere. “Ha!” The captain gave the cadet a hearty slap on the back. “Well very good then! As you were.”
“Aye, aye sir… thank you, sir.”
The titanium reinforcements and mile long brass pipes were singing under the watery pressure the sub had been enduring without a break. It reminded the captain of the towering deluge of techno-rules Donavinci had handed him… the tome he never bothered to read but was now wishing he had. A few flickering gas lamps down the tight corridor was the Comm Room that opened up to a majestic view of Dragon’s trench. The captain sat down in his velvety, high-backed chair, it’s arms embracing his aging body with comfort. The box was up, as the cadet had left it, but its charge was too low to break anything but a fuzzy garble. A few cranks later and the emerald button glowed ready. The captain felt alone as he searched the oceans beyond the viewing window, seeing nothing in the soft glow of the underbelly lights. Frustrated by his blindness, he grabbed at his coat. “Where are those damn…”
“Come in Captain… over.” Electrostatic pulses lit up the device in a purple display as a transmission came through.
The captain leaned in, holding the button down, and spoke. “Ugh… this is your Captain… go ahead.”
“Aye sir. We have th…” the transmission trailed off among the bubbles.
“Damn it.” The captain turned the power shaft faster and pressed the button once more. “Say again… over.”
“…I repeat…” the voice came through loud and clear, “…we have them sir… we have the stones.”
“I knew it!” The captain exclaimed as the optics, he thought he had put into his pocket, slid down from his head onto his nose in a faithful reminder that his memory still needs some work.