Cracks in the Glass

The minutes passed as the acid in the Grouper's stomach ate away at the outer skin of the BeefSub. Little patches were beginning to appear where the skin was peeling and bubbling. Captain Ingleman was beging to worry that his plan wasnt working, and he nervously wiped the drops of sweat forming on his brow away quickly before the crew noticed. Ingleman was not a beef chunk to crack underpressure, but he wanted to look confident to boost morale for the crew.

The tanks of the cheese drive motors had almost completely emptied all of the radioactive cheese onto the stomach floor. Even if the plan worked at this point, the burrito submarines motors would be unable to function properly.

Suddenly, there was a slight tremor in the floor of the sub. The crew looked up startled for several seconds and then looked back down doubting that they had felt anything. Then, without warning, a great ripple passed through the stomach of the Grouper. The crew lept to their feet as the sub lurched upward again. "Its working!" they cried. By Now, the groupers stomach was roiling like great earthquake. The submarine tossed back and forth as the waves pass through the floor of the stomach.

There was a ferocious heave as the Grouper began pushing the beefsub and the rest of the contents of the Groupers gut up and out of its throat. With a disgusting gurgle the submarine rocketed back out the mouth of the Grouper. "Hooray! We're out!" the crew shouted. They could see a few of the tapeworms who were caught in the upheaval floating out into the Maw. "Freedom, freedom, we have freedom!" they chanted. Looking back out the aft windows they could see the Great Grouper writhing and twisting with radioactive cheese streaming out of its mouth. It bellowed a deep moan as it began to sink out of sight.

The initial joy of their escape began to fade as the crew of the BeefSub realized that they too were sinking. With no power to the ships motors or pumps, there was no way to raise the sub. The sub slowed and began sliding downward tail first. The crew could see the last glimpses of light trickle down through the water through the windows as they sank deeper and deeper. To make matters worse, they were now deeper than any previously know burrito submarine had ever traveled. Surely, the pressure of the sauce at such great depths would soon crush the sub like a tin can. The crew waited in silence. Everyone was sweating now including the captain, and it was obvious they were in big trouble. Then the crew heard a noise that confirmed their worst fears: a crack. They looked in horror as a crack slowly spread its way across one of the forward windows like a spider web. There was another loud crack as the middle window on the starboard side began to crack as well. The crew sat motionless, with their eyes transfixed on the spreading cracks in the subs glass as they slid further into darkness.