CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Accident or Incident?

On the 22nd of March, at six in the morning, we began to prepare for our departure. We soon began sinking to escape the thick ice. That night, however, I was awoken by a great shock when a nearby iceberg turned over, throwing the Nautilus deeper into the ocean before it rose again only to crash into the iceberg again. During these violent crashes, I was thrown into the middle of my room, trying to find something in the room to hold onto.

I immediately went into the sitting room where Conseil and Ned looking around at the paintings and collections that had been thrown all over the room during the violent movements of the Nautilus.

"What is the matter?" I asked.

"I came to ask you, sir," replied Conseil.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the Canadian. "I know what is happening! The Nautilus has been hit, and I do not believe it can escape from this."

"But," I asked, "has it come to the surface of the sea?"

"We do not know," said Conseil.

I soon discovered that the Nautilus was still at a depth of 180 fathoms below the surface. "What does that mean?" I exclaimed.

"We must ask Captain Nemo," said Conseil.

"But where shall we find him?" said Ned Land.

"Follow me," I said to my companions. I then took them to the center staircase to wait, as I thought the captain must be in the pilot's room directing the submarine. I then decided we should wait there for the captain to return. We waited there for twenty minutes. He finally walked down the staircase, but did not see us. His face, usually so calm, looked quite anxious now. Finally, he turned towards me.

"An incident, Captain?"

"No, sir, an accident this time."

"Serious?"

"Perhaps. The Nautilus is trapped. Not by our own mistakes, but by nature. We may challenge human laws, but we cannot resist nature's laws."

I did not understand Captain Nemo's reason for making this speech.

"What is the cause of this accident, sir?" I asked.

"A mountain of ice has turned over," he replied. "The water at the bottom of the mountain became warmer than the top, as the Nautilus' electricity warmed the water at the bottom, forcing the center point in the iceberg to rise, therefore allowing it to turn over. As the ice turned, it hit the Nautilus, then throwing it onto another island of ice, where it is lying on its side. The Nautilus is unable to move."

The captain then decided to empty the storage rooms of water, allowing the submarine to rise. This was done, and ten minutes later, we were rising to the surface. Soon enough, we realized that we were trapped on both sides by sheets of ice nearly twenty feet thick, and our passageway going either up or down was blocked, as well, from thick ice.

"We must go back again, through the southern opening, as that wall of ice is the thinnest," I told my companions, hoping to appear more confident than I felt.

I then went from the sitting room to the library, and sat down on the sofa, attempting to read to calm myself. After I began reading a book nearby, Conseil came in to join me.

"Is what you are reading very interesting, sir?" he asked.

"Very interesting!" I replied.

"It should be, it is your own book."

"My book?"

I looked at the cover and saw the words, Great Submarine Depths; I was so nervous about our situation that I had not realized my own writing.

"Stay here, my friends," said I. "Let us stay here together until we are out of this situation."

Many hours passed, but we were still more than nine hundred feet below the surface. The Nautilus was attempting to return to the south, hoping to break through the ice in that direction. The captain came to speak to us after some time.

"Our path is blocked southward, as well. The iceberg has moved, and now all openings are closed."

(end of section)