A Navy Drone Found Something 8,200 Feet Deep — Then the Camera Got Closer

Mason abandoned the fifth jar and brought the remotely operated vehicle up with the four already secured. Elene stayed in the recovery bay when it reached the surface. The jars went directly into tanks filled with controlled seawater. Nobody touched their seals. “Treat them as if the contents are still alive,” she told the technicians. “ We can have only slow changes.”

Now Elene could study the inscriptions without a camera between her and the artifacts. One jar carried the name of a scholar. Another appeared to list dramatic works. She gasped, “Alexandria.” Reed stood beside her. “Is it really from the Lost Library of Alexandria?” he asked. “Not necessarily,” Elene said when she could calm herself down. “There were other collections, schools, temples, and private archives. But this could have come from that scholarly world.”

An alarm sounded from the control room. Elene and Reed hurried back. Fresh sonar showed the stern dipping again. Mason was already preparing the remotely operated vehicle for another descent. Reed faced her. “One more trip. Maybe.” Elene nodded. “Then we go for the cylinders.” The technician looked up. “If the slope holds that long.”