Man-In-Sea

CLAY

When the USS Thresher went down with all 129 hands in the North Atlantic, that's when Dad got interested in submersibles. He and Mom were in Monaco when they heard about it, visiting Caroline, the goat they tested with before Dad went down in the Man-in-Sea dives. They were supposed to be squeezing in a vacation before he was laid out with surgery for his ‘upside-down stomach.’ Mom said he went right into work mode, sketching blue-prints, making calculations, talking about the ways he could make a safer sub.

MARION

Clayton! Oh my God, what are you doing home? Why didn’t you call? Your father is going to be so happy to see you!

CLAY

I thought you guys were in Florida.

MARION

Your father had a meeting at Woods Hole yesterday, so we decided to spend a few nights in our own beds before we headed back to Harbor Branch.

CLAY

Do they want to buy the sub?

MARION

They're interested. Your Dad has them convinced his new toy will take them places no human has ever seen before.

CLAY

That’s amazing! Why didn’t you tell me?

MARION

He’s been talking to them for a while, but it was only in the last couple weeks they had any interest. They asked us to come up and talk about his plans in person. Probably couldn’t understand what he sent without him being there to explain.

CLAY

They have to know he can build this thing.

MARION

They think it might work. Did you know about these trenches under the ocean? They are miles deep! He's going to make an acrylic sphere that can withstand the pressure of the water.

CLAY

What does Cousteau have to say?

MARION

Bid us good luck. He’s trying to find the bottom of Fontaine again.

CLAY

He’s going back to the spring?

MARION

He said as much as he wishes he could help your Dad, this project is consuming much more of his time than he thought he had. He wishes us good luck on our endeavors.

CLAY

And he gets the TV show? At least our sub has a person in it!

MARION

The lockout chamber is passing all the tests with flying colors.

CLAY

That’s great! That’s great! Where is he?

MARION

I think he’s up in the bedroom. Let me see if I can find him.

ED

Clayton! What are you doing here? Does your mother know you're home?

CLAY

She just went to find you. She told me Cousteau is going to the bottom of Fontaine.

ED

That hole probably goes to the center of the Earth! Cousteau is only going 350 feet, and he's not even going himself! He's sending a robot! He thinks he can just swim down there like it’s nothing and all the world is going to throw their money at him. Have you seen his show?

CLAY

A few minutes.

ED

He’s as pompous as ever, strutting around the deck like Ahab. It’s unbearable, I can rarely make it through the opening credits. So what brings you into town?

CLAY

Who cares, tell me about Woods Hole.

ED

They want to use the sub. I had those guys crawling on their hands and knees when I told them what that thing is going to be able to do!

CLAY

Will it really be able to go into the trenches?

ED

Twenty-five hundred feet at least. When I’m done, I’ll go down a mile.

CLAY

How far have you gone now?

ED

Not far. So far just simulations, measuring pressures, multiplying numbers, occasional near miss on a shark attack. Boring stuff.

CLAY

But the sub is gonna hold?

ED

An atom bomb will just make this thing a little dusty. I’m telling you, Clayton, I’ve done it. The Johnson Sea-Link is going to let us see where life began!

CLAY

Do you have a pilot yet?

ED

I’ve been thinking about a couple people, sending them down, seeing how they handle it. I’m sure I can have someone ready by the time Woods Hole says go.

CLAY

Let me do it.

ED

You?

CLAY

We can go down together. We’ll be the first men to walk on the very bottom of the ocean!

ED

Clayton, it’s going to take a lot of training to pilot a craft at this depth, there are a lot of factors you have to consider...

CLAY

I can do it, you know I can. I can see if the Navy will transfer me from Hawaii. If not, I’ll be done by this time next year. Woods Hole won’t be able to organize an expedition that fast.

ED

It’s too dangerous. If anything goes wrong down there, there’s not going to be any way to correct it. There might as well be a thousand of feet of rock between you and the surface.

MARION

I couldn’t find him, but I brought you something to... oh, Ed, there you are. Clayton, I brought you an iced tea.

CLAY

Long Island?

MARION

Binghamton.

ED

I was wondering around, and I stumbled into a Clayton!

MARION

Take my drink. I’ll make another.

ED

She’s mad at me.

CLAY

What did you do?

ED

Nothing! Well... I guess she’s right, but... well... She says I’m spending too much time on the sub. Which... I mean, I suppose it has been taking up quite a bit of my time, but I know I can make it if she just gives me a chance!

CLAY

She believes in you, Dad. We all know you can do it.

ED

Yeah. I mean, it’s got to. I’ve figured this thing out to the Nth degree! If it doesn’t work...

CLAY

It’ll work if I’m at the controls. You know that. Come on, Dad, give me a chance!

LINK

I hesitated. Clayton knew he’d won.

ED

Seward has final say on who goes down. You gotta get him to say yes before you start talking to me.

CLAY

So tell him...

ED

The best I can do is recommend, and he hasn’t even considered anybody yet that hasn’t been in the water as long as you’ve been alive. When you’re done with the Navy, we can talk to him about it, but if he says no...

CLAY

Sure, Dad. Sure. I’ll knock him dead.

ED

It isn’t going to make your mother any happier with me when she hears that, you know?

CLAY

Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her after you leave.

ED

You were always a good son.

MAN-IN-SEA

Cast of Characters:

LINK

An inventor. Also, Ed’s father.

ED

As Link remembers himself.

MARION

Ed’s wife.

CLAY

Ed and Marion’s second son.