Chapter Two Summary - Into the Deep End.

Sam's Story

• As we wait for Sam to arrive at the Christiane 1, he sends out an e-mail to his friend Tracey to ask if she can find any information on “Black Rock” and how it may relate to the Christiane 1.

• Sam arrives at the Christiane 1 and tries to convince the captain (Mr. Ockham) to let him ride aboard. His chances appear slim until an opportunity presents itself in the form of a broken plotter, which he fixes to demonstrate his usefulness.

• Sam comes across Mr. Oscar Talbot, whose company appears to be paying for the expedition. Mr. Talbot appears to take a dislike to Sam and treats him with distrust. He also seems to hint that he knows something about Sam.

• Sam sets up a temporary office on the boat in a room that includes such features as a picture of black smoke pillowing away from what appears to be a temple in the middle of a forest and Penny Widmore's phone number (02079460893). He sets to work on his laptop.

• Sam receives a mystery e-mail, which he believe to be from The Maxwell Group once again. The e-mail is just a string of numbers, although the following numbers appear in gray rather then black “-1 1. 1 7 8 4”

• Sam sends an e-mail to Sean Downling at Oceanic claiming he has indeed returned all their property and sees no reason for them not to release his final pay check. He also receives a reply to his query about employment with Austral Air. They say they have no positions at the moment but will keep his file on record.

• Sam researches a website with information about various planes and boats that have gone missing in the region of the Sunda Trench. Most notable in this is someone that was searching for Amelia Earhart. The page also mentions that there have been reports of unexplained electronics failure and magnetic interference (effecting compasses).

• Sam e-mails Tracey to see if she can find any information on Mr Talbot and mentions that the camera she lent him seems to be playing up.

• While waiting for replies Sam hears what appears to be a radio broadcast from the past about the loss of Amelia Earhart. Wondering if he was hearing a documentary he e-mails the Broadcasting Authority to see if any were broadcast that day. They reply that there was no documentary and cite amateur radio enthusiasts as a possible explanation for the broadcast.

• Tracey replies to Sam's e-mail with information on Oscar Talbot (see below) and later, The Black Rock. She believes that The Christiane 1 is indeed looking for the wreckage of the slave ship. She also tells Sam that the Camera was working fine when last she had it.

• Sam researches websites on The Black Rock and Amelia Earhart (see below).

• Sam's mum leaves another voice mail. She hasn't spoken to him, she doesn't know where he is, and is still worried.

• We leave Sam 300KM off the Indonesian coast at the Sunda Trench. He is having second thoughts and wondering if he has made a big mistake in going there on the strength of a mystery e-mail. He wonders if he has been played for the fool. He can't make sense of the mystery numbers in the e-mail and can't see what The Black Rock has to do with Oceanic Flight 815. He is thinking about getting off at the next port.

Clues

• Graffiti advertising find815.com has appeared on all of the Oceanic Air Billboards.
• Live commercials from Oceanic Airlines have appeared on VH1 and The Sci-Fi Channel (Thanks to barbarajay, dedjezter, and takes a village for having an eagle eyes on those.)
• The Clue words for this weeks clue hunt were: 423 Cheyne Walk and Daniel Faraday.
  
• The expedition has “special requirements”
• Electronics Malfunctions are common in the area.
• Sam claims he has returned all property to Oceanic.
• “-1 1. 1 7 8 4” The numbers in gray in the mystery email Sam believe to be from The Maxwell Group.
• Amelia Earhart (see below)
• The Black Rock (see below)
• Video Flashes – We saw this last week with a flash of Mr.Talbot in Sam's video diary. This week there are flashes of Oceanic's advertising and text relating to The Black Rock along with the word “salvage”.
• The Name Talbot – Speculation in comments has linked this name with a character killed by Locke's father. It has also been noted by myself that Talbot is the name of a character in Anne Rice novels who involved in a cult that studies supernatural activity.
• Missing Images on the Websites – This is probably just to show the poor internet connection Sam has at sea. However it is worth mentioning just in case these pictures are revealed later (when back on dry land) and have relevance.

The Black Rock

• A 19^th century slave ship thought to be owned by “The New Word Sea Traders”. A company that is now under the wing of the Allied Copenhagen Marine Merchants (which itself is owned by The Hanso Group)
• Usually sailed from Portsmouth, England (where it was docked in slip 23) to Africa, the Americans and the Pacific.
• On it's last voyage (in 1881) it was due to leave Indonesia and Papua New Guinea with a shipment of gold which it would exchange in Africa for slaves. However on leaving the area it unexpectedly headed east away from Africa and was never seen again.
• The web site www.slaveshipsearch.com was confirmed as in-game by Dark UFO.
  

Amelia Earhart

• 1937 Amelia Earhart attempted a mission to be the first woman to fly around the world.
• Communication was lost with her on July 2^nd 1937 while she was flying (along with navigator Fred Noonan) from New Guinea to Howling Island in the Pacific.
• Her plane was low on fuel and there are reports from across the pacific of intercepted communication with her. 8:43am was the last communication.
• Her body and plane were never recovered.
• Another pilot involved in searching for Earhart is known to have gone missing near Sumatra.
• Often speculated about or hinted at in relation to Lost.

Other Characters

• Oscar Talbot –From a highly reclusive and very rich east coast New England family with a sketchy history in the diamond trade. They arrived in New England in 1908 from Somerset (England).
• Mr. Ockham – captain of the Christiane 1 salvage boat
• Tracy R - Continues to aid Sam by finding information for him. She has now researched Christiane 1, The Black Rock and Oscar Talbot.
• Mystery Maxwell Contact – Provided Sam with another cryptic e-mail that he is yet to decipher.
• Owen – Crewman aboard the Christiane 1.
• Mr. Sukanaro – The man Mr. Ockham usually goes to for technical support.
• Isaac Chapman – HR for Austral Air. Turned Sam down for a job.
• Sam's Mum – Sam still hasn't contacted her and she is still worried.
• Sean Dowling – Oceanic HR. Sam told him he had returned their property