The absolute calm of the waves facilitated this operation.
The Nautilus lay motionless, neither rolling nor pitching.
I was on the platform just then.
After determining our position, the captain pronounced only these words:
"It's right here!"
He went down the hatch.
Had he seen that vessel change course and seemingly head toward us?
I'm unable to say.
I returned to the lounge.
The hatch closed, and I heard water hissing in the ballast tanks.
The Nautilus began to sink on a vertical line, because its propeller was in check and no longer furnished any forward motion.
Some minutes later it stopped at a depth of 833 meters and came to rest on the seafloor.
The ceiling lights in the lounge then went out, the panels opened, and through the windows I saw, for a half–mile radius, the sea brightly lit by the beacon's rays.