Arctic Fire by Paul Byers Page A

Hollywood had to
offer. In the center of the case was a huge oblong man-made
iceberg. Buried deep within the block of ice were the hulls of four
ships, equally spaced and connected together by steel beams.
Running throughout the entire length and breadth of the block were
a myriad of pipes, flowing from the ships like wires running out of
an old fashion switchboard. There were also mazes of tunnels carved
out in the interior, making it look like a giant, elaborate ant
farm.
    The top of the iceberg was crowded with building
of various sizes and shapes, all adorned with flashing neon lights.
It looked like Cain had scooped up a city block from downtown Las
Vegas and put it on top of the iceberg. One large ocean going tug
was in the front towing it, with two more in the stern pushing.
    When the initial buzz of excitement and
conversation died down, Cain continued.
    “I’ll not bore you by throwing more facts and
figures at you but I do need to touch on just a few of the
highlights here. You’ll find all the complete details and specific
information inside your press binders.” Cain walked around the
display, gesturing passionately as he spoke. He wasn’t just
reciting facts, he was introducing his “baby” to the world, and
spoke with almost the same fervor as a new father does while
passing out cigars in the waiting room.
    “The ice block is a thousand feet long, one
hundred feet high, and one hundred feet deep. As you can see,
buried within the ice are four support vessels. Each ship is four
hundred and forty feet long, and in this day of reduce, reuse,
recycle, all four ship are recycled WWII mothballed merchant ships,
cleaned up and brought back to service.
    “The elaborate piping system throughout the
block has a two-fold purpose; one, during transport the pipes will
circulate coolant to keep the block intact. And two, once it
arrives at its destination, they will be used to help melt the ice.
The entire system is self-contained. Once the ice starts to melt,
it will be gathered and filtered in one of the ships which has a
built-in processing station, making it safe to drink, then pumping
it to shore. As the ice melts and the pipes become exposed, they
will be dismantled and loaded back into another of the ships to be
reused again and again.
    “Once the tops of the ships are exposed,
remaining chucks of ice will be loaded directly into the ship’s
melters and processed, giving us a 60-70% usage rate. And what does
that 60-70% get you…? About 42 million gallons of water. To break
that down into more practical terms, at least for now and for our
thirsty friend in the back there, that’s enough to make 28,000
barrels of beer, and that’s the whole plan in a nutshell.”
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
Seven
     
     
     
    …and here are several more reasons the Apollo
moon landings in the 60’s and 70’s were a hoax. If debris from the
Apollo missions was left on the Moon, then it would be visible
today through powerful telescopes. However, no such debris can be
seen. The Clementine probe that recently mapped the Moon’s surface
failed to show any Apollo artifacts left by Man during the
missions. Where did the Moon Buggy and base of the LM go? And for
that matter, why were blueprints and plans for the Lunar Module and
Moon Buggy destroyed if this was one of history's greatest
accomplishments?
     
    Gabriel Pike pushed himself back from the small
desk that was situated in the corner of his hotel room. He’d been
reading for the past hour on his computer and he needed a break. He
stood and stretched his muscles, which he could feel starting to
tighten up, protesting his aerobatics earlier in the day. He wasn’t
looking forward to feeling their full wrath in the morning. As he
stretched, he took a moment to look out at the view.
    He was on the 28 th floor of the
Treasure Island. The night was clear and the dazzling lights of the
casinos along the strip blazed brightly, beckoning all to come
visit Lady Luck and win their