©️GeraldineBanks2024
What had happened to her parents and all their money? Susan was devastated,there had been a tacit agreement that her mum and dad would spend their retirement income doing what they loved, extreme sports, but that their house and various investments would be Susan’s inheritance.
She loved her parents and thought that they loved her.Now they’d left her with a missing person’s enquiry and an increasing glut of debts and legal wranglings that she had no resources to deal with.The house had gone remortgaged to the hilt,repossessed and all she had was a letter from her parents Roger and Carrie saying that they had passed their professional “Saturation Diver ” course and were booked into El Hotel de Profund for six months and not to worry.
Roger and Carrie were both early retirement adrenalin junkies. Together, they reached their mid-fifties and were able to retire comfortably with their government index-linked pensions and follow their passion for participating in extreme sports.
They travelled the World Bungee Jumping,Downhill Mountain Biking,Heli-Skiing,Snow-Boarding, Flow boarding,White Water Rafting and Kayaking.The potential for travel and adventure was endless and Roger and Carrie made the most of their opportunities.
They researched and practised until they had mastered their chosen field and were confident of achieving the ultimate “high” for whatever activity they were doing without endangering themselves or each other.
It was on their trip to Mexico, Deep Diving in Fresh Water Caves,that they heard out about “El Hotel de Profund.”
Over the dinner held for those participants who had successfully passed their Deep Diving Course ,the “Hotel” had been hotly discussed.Some had thought it a mythical place invented by specialist divers in a frenzy of one up man ship. No one had actually been there,but the story went that the hotel had been built on foundations leading down to an extremely deep cleft underground.To all intent and purposes, it was , in effect, bottomless. The real depth was unknown, and the only way of diving it was to enter through the gateway of the Hotel,by invitation only.
The Hotel had been bought in the Nineteen Sixties by a loose conglomerate of hippy divers who had made their money in the oil industry.
The Hotel was in continous need of investment for the development of the “big hole” as the excavations were called.So the group of owner divers changed regularly to keep the money flowing and also to replace divers “lost” while surveying the latest dig into uncharted territory.
There had been no shortage of fresh investors,everyone wanted a piece of the action.Everyone, that was ,who was an expert diver. It was an exclusive club,it had to be,the exploratory dives were made to unimaginable depths.It took great skill to survive.The divers were entering uncharted water. Only shareholders were allowed to take that risk.
The word was that El Hotel de Profund was developing into the best deep diving location in the world. There were fatalities during the exploration and excavation .These people were used to the odds being stacked against them. To be asked to invest was an honour because it also meant that you got to dive the hole. In the early days,it was only the shareholders who could dive. It was a very exclusive; and, a dangerous club to be a member of.
Now ,in the year two thousand and twelve and having been in business for over sixty years ,the Hotel’s excavations had ceased. El profund welcomed guests with deep diving qualifications and had an excellent record for safety. Still, very few people knew where el Profund was or indeed how to get to it.There was no such thing as “booking a room” online. The guest list was still by invitation only, and there were a select few of regular visitors. All the staff in the hotel were knowledgeable and qualified divers.
Roger and Carrie listened intently to the talk of the hotel at the dinner.They had loved their deep diving experience and had proved themselves as “divers” passing,”Bell Diver Lead”,with ease and making inroads into the next step of “Saturation Diving” where gases and decompression were a science that had to be mastered to ensure safety when diving at extreme depths. A science but also an art,Roger and Carrie excelled,they were taking courses and doing work experience where allowed,despite the fact they were now in their early Sixties.
They were known now in the industry ,as exceptional divers, word had got around that Roger and Carrie could dive anywhere,they were to be trusted,they had earned their deep diving saturation spurs and in truth,if they had been thirty years younger and insurable,they would have had very successful diving careers.
They were ,however ,forced to finance themselves, and diving became their joint obsession. They would join projects and be part of a team of divers,but all at their own expense. In the back of their minds , there was always the chance that through working on these projects that they would finally get the invitation to El Hotel de Profund they desired.
The invitation came on Roger’s birthday,it was a letter direct from el Hotel.Roger and Carrie were invited and the costs of their stay were outlined on the invitation.They were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement and the letter stated that the travel arrangements would be made and covered by the hotel once Roger and Carrie had confirmed they were available and completed the necessary paperwork.
“Well ,at least we don’t have to fork out for that! The other expenses, my…it’s a lot, Roger. ” Carrie said.
Roger smiled at Carrie . “Carrie, we’ve come this far,we’ve got to do it.What are you going to tell Susan”
“What we always say,we’re off on an adventure.”
They both laughed and smiled together.
Carrie wrote in the note she sent Susan the name of the hotel and that it was a unique extreme diving experience and they would be away for up to six months.Carrie posted the note before she signed the non-disclosure document,so she didn’t feel she had broken any agreement with El Hotel and she felt Susan would have enough information in case she needed to contact them in an emergency.
Unfortunately ,as events unfolded,despite searching for details of el Hotel de Profund everywhere , Susan found nothing.So the note from her mother only added more layers to the mystery of her parents disappearance.The local police had involved Interpol and it turned out that Hotel Profund was quite a common name and there was no registration documents anywhere for the missing couple.They had vanished into thin air.
The chauffeur driven car had collected Roger and Carrie and their luggage on a cold Autum morning a couple of months after they had received their invite.They did not need diving equipment it would all be supplied and they could relax on their journey as all the travel arrangements were in place.
Roger and Carrie arrived fresh from their journey at El Hotel de Profund after their chauffeur driven,private jet, and first class table service trip with the best food and drink they had ever tasted .Their arrival was no less classy,the entrance to the hotel was grand,they arrived in darkness,their watches said it was 9.00pm so they couldn’t fully appreciate it’s beauty.
The front of house staff were attentive but not intrusive.Roger and Carrie were tired after their journey, and arrangements were made for a morning call.
The next morning in the warm sunshine, they were breakfasting in the gardens when a stranger asked if he could join them at their table. The gentleman’s name was Raymond Crete,he was a co-owner of the hotel and as they talked,they discovered that Raymond was an extremely well qualified diver and had been to every dive site that Roger and Carrie had visited.
During their conversation over breakfast,it became apparent that their invite had come by way of many recommendations, and Roger and Carrie basked in their mutual feeling of success.
Raymond delicately ate some yoghurt with honey and almonds that he ordered and bluntly asked
“Had they brought the money?”
“Indeed ,two million dollars ,small bills as requested,it’s upstairs in the room safe.”
“That’s wonderful,I will arrange for it to be collected,so you will no longer have to worry about it.There will be no further expenses.Now it is up to you to decide what floor in the hotel you wish to reach?”
Roger and Carrie looked at Raymond with puzzled faces.
“Our little joke,the hotel has 14 floors, the ground floor or 13 where the lobby is , your room is on the 14th floor. Floor 12 is your first dive….and so on.You can sleep on the floor you dive,depending on your saturation levels.
Really ,after Floor 8 ,it is best to spend time adjusting to the pressure,we have decompression chambers on each floor starting on floor 8. That is why we suggest a 6 month stay, there is so much to see and experience.”
“Sounds amazing. Are there trainers or guides or anything?” Carrie asked.
“Oh yes, on all floors,it is very necessary,the floors are all labyrinths,you would get lost without help. Also, on the lower floors,we have two restaurants, for the deep divers,they are quite an experience.In essence you can stay down as long as you like.”
Raymond continued.”Your first safety talk will be tomorrow , and you will meet Javier, who will be coordinating your stay. You can ask Javier anything, and he will be happy to accompany you on any of the dives.”
“That’s wonderful!”Carrie said.
“In the meantime, enjoy the gardens and the warmth of the sun. Everything is so different under the water.” Raymond smiled and excused himself.
Carrie was beside herself with excitement.
“Good, Grief Roger,this is amazing. Everything is below us,it’s below our feet, and we are going to explore it.”
“Yes,let’s just enjoy today, we can meet Javier tomorrow and find out what’s next.I must say so far, I’m not disappointed.”
The next day Javier was already waiting for them in the hotel briefing room, which doubled as a small cinema for guests when Roger and Carrie entered at the agreed timeThey were used to these initial project meetings ,discussing depths,their state of health, depression gases.Javier was obviously an expert in his field. Javier took measurements for wet suits,dry suits and diving helmets,he checked their preference for tanks and explained some of the equipment had been especially designed for the conditions in the “big hole” and they would not have seen it’s like before.
The personalised suits and equipment would not be ready for about two weeks,in the meantime, they could enjoy their leisure time,a car would always be available should they wish to visit some of the local sites of interest and Javier would be here for them to ask any questions. He gave them the maps of all the floors and dives they would make and recommended they study them.
“Can we film our dives?” Roger asked.
“I will video all your dives and at the end of your visit present them to you,it will be our parting gift.You and Carrie will be busy enough adapting to the conditions down there,the lighting can be pretty tricky. I’m used to it and all our guests have loved the videos.”
“That’s great!” Roger smiled,slightly disappointed he was not going to be allowed to film.
When the day arrived for Roger and Carrie’s first dive,Javier met them in the lobby and took the lift down to the wine cellar. Everything they needed was there, and Javier uncovered a barrel shaped hole in the floor and pressed a lever for the underwater lights,which made the freshly uncovered hole glow in the restricted light in the cellar.
They put on their small scuba tanks,checked each others masks and connections, and each gave each other the agreed signal to continue the dive.
Javier entered “the hole ” first, and Roger and Carrie followed. They were under the floor of the cellar and had to swim through the timber supports and infrastructure under the hotel.Without the lights, it would have been impossible.It was narrow and full of obstacles, and their progress was slow.
Javier signalled that he was stopping, and Roger and Carrie waited patiently as Javier opened what looked like a man hole cover, which in the narrow confines was just underneath his chest.
On opening the cover ,Javier beckoned for Roger and Carrie to enter. Roger pulled himself through into an amazing underwater cavern. He kicked his fins and realised he could move downwards through the seawater.Carrie followed it was so much better than it had been underneath the cellar.
Javier followed. It was an enormous cavern ,again, it was lit, and it was a beautiful sight to see. The white rock glistened and shimmered ,the water was crystal clear, and Javier signalled to continue downwards, which they did.
The cavern was like a large warehouse,not like a normal cave dive,where there would be fish,plankton, and seaweed. It was crystal clear, and they swam down and then around the bottom.Once they reached the bottom,they could see a door,Javier turned the metal wheel, which held the door shut and all three of them entered the small sealed chamber.Javier closed the door behind them and signalled to swim upwards out of the chamber along a wall which had a ladder attached . Suddenly, they surfaced and realised they were in a large natural cave ,they could hear the sea.They were outside.They climbed out of the water using the ladder.
This is our private beach,it’s a nice day so we can have lunch at the bar and then we’ll walk back to the hotel.Well done on your first dive!
Roger and Carrie breathed a sigh of relief,it had been so different to normal diving, and not knowing where you were going had been difficult.Still it was an amazing place. As they took off their gear, some people appeared with towels and a hand-held cart to bring their gear back to the hotel .They walked out into the sunshine and saw the bar, which had a wonderful selection of seafood.
Their dives continued each day,sometimes, they would do the same dive for two or three weeks as there was a lot to do and a lot to see.
After three months ,they were using saturation diving all the time and relying on the decompression chambers on floor 8 and below. They weren’t the only ones living at those in depths.The restaurants and accommodation were fully staffed,aswell as technical staff who maintained the diving equipment.
Roger and Carrie knew that they were at depths that were close to the maximum any human could dive. They had seen ancient ruins and bottom dwelling fish and creatures that probably had still to be discovered by naturalists.Javier had filmed all of it for them.
One day after a long dive,Carrie asked Javier when they would start making their way up again. They were having dinner in the restaurant on floor 2.
“Ahhh,Javier said,that is up to you.Do you want to do your final dive to Floor 1 then?”
“Yes,why not? Then maybe we should start heading back up and let our bodies get back to normal gradually.”
“OK ,floor 1, it is tomorrow.”
Floor 1 was Roger and Carrie’s final dive.For some ,it would have been a bit creepy, and indeed, Roger and Carrie were surprised to find that it was a memorial to the men and women who had built the fantastic deep dive facility under El Hotel de Profund.
In fact,the cold had preserved their bodies perfectly. Each body had their own chamber with a glass front, and there must have been at least a hundred chambers in the blue lit cavern all arranged in a circle ,all looking out into the water that Carrie and Roger were swimming in.
Roger and Carrie began to feel disorientated and signalled to Javier,but he was nowhere to be seen.They swam around frantically, but they couldn’t find the exit, and the staring eyes of the dead divers bodies made them panic.Eventually they knew they were running out of gas.
Just before they both lost consciousness,they saw two empty chambers and realised that those two chambers were going to be for them and that they were indeed to be part of the memorial for those who helped build and maintain El Hotel de Profund. Carrie’s last word was “Susan”.
thenotsomightyom 