I changed the premise from outerspace to Atlantis, the lost continent.
There's a water sport called Underwater Rugby where the team plays entirely underwater with only snorkels, no oxygen tanks. So let's say that someone discovers Atlantis deep in the Atlantic and a business venture wants to put a base of operations down there. Wouldn't it be nice to have men who can live down there?
An excerpt is in the SCI FI folder:
THE DEVILS IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA
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Set 50 years in the future. We follow the letters to home from one of the young men. He starts out as swimmer in GS and HS, then college, swam most New Years Day with Polar Bears thanks to his Uncle. Military recruited him with for a mission to outer space.
He describes meeting two dozen teammates. They are training for a special mission. He’s never heard or played (maybe, maybe not) underwater rugby and that gives us the chance to introduce the game and the equipment. They have four practice sessions a day, meals and naps in between. They spend forty-five minutes in the water with fifteen-minute breaks. They can sleep in the same room as the pool and most begin training by floating on air mattresses to sleep and then later, merely sleep in the water.
They get weekly shots of HGH, steroids and alien vitamins …
The tank is part of a space station. He can talk about space.
The first week they get accustomed to working underwater (like how to build oxygen and lung capacity, and how to hold their breath). Their bodies become more efficient and use less and less oxygen.
The tank is maintained at 80 degrees. The second week, the XO lowers the temperature to 79. This will go on – 1 degree per week. For the first 20 weeks and every other week for the next 40. That means it takes 60 weeks for them to reach 40 degrees. They spend three months swimming at 39 degrees to let their bodies adjust to the cold. At the end of the first 60 weeks when the water reaches 40 degrees, the XO introduces a series of emitters into the pool. They swim better than before. they seem to have broken through a plateau of resistance to staying underwater.
Over the months, their skin takes on pale blue sheen from the cold and they all develop a thin layer of fat over rock hard muscles. Also, they lose body hair. The scientists find a few benefits – first, they discover how to bond silicone to skin and give the men gloves and boots. As for the cold, shrinkage is shrinkage. The team members don’t care; in fact, it makes them more streamline in the water. A number of the men get silicone cups permanently attached. The benefits of the cup are that they don’t have to wear swim trunks and they can just dock at section devices and eliminate waste.
They spend another 12 weeks at 40 degrees, improving in the cold water. At some point, the XO closes the lid and forces the men to exist without snorkels – their bodies absorb oxygen from the water and if they need more oxygen, there are mouthpieces. One by one, they forsake breathing water as their lungs change and adapt.
(maybe this happens: After a week or two completely submerged, they are sealed in ice, then loaded only the alien spaceship and sent out as Earth’s ambassadors to an alien planet, a watery one.)
Hmmm I like it caary on :o)
Scratch the military. This is just a business venture.
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