Deep Storm by Lincoln Child Page B

arm. Some people, Asher knew, had minor skin reactions from the RFID chip implantation process.
    â€œIt’s the vulcanism,” Easton said abruptly.
    â€œThe vulcanism.”
    â€œAt the burial site. I’ve been working with several samples of basalt from the sea floor, trying to get a firm date for when the burial event occurred.”
    Asher nodded in encouragement.
    â€œYou know how it is.” Easton seemed to grow flustered, or maybe defensive. “Because the undersea currents in this region are so strong, the sedimentation of the ocean floor is all messed up.”
    â€œIs that the technical term for it?” Asher said, trying to lighten the tone.
    Easton didn’t notice. “There’s no layering, no stratification. Core sampling is virtually useless. And you can’t get any kind of clear dating from visual examination, either. There isn’t the kind of weathering or erosion you’d find on land. So I’ve been trying to date the basalt formation by cross-comparison with known samples in our geological database. But I couldn’t get any definitive match. So then I decided to date the sample from the decay of radioactive isotopes within the basalt.”
    â€œGo on,” Asher said.
    â€œWell.” Easton seemed to grow even more nervous. “You know how we’ve always put a rough estimate on when the burial event took place. It’s just that…” He faltered, started again. “I made the same assumption in my tests. I never checked for magnetic field reversal.”
    Now Asher realized why Easton seemed so flustered. The man had made the one mistake a scientist should never make: he’d made an assumption, and as a result skipped a basic test. Something inside Asher relaxed.
    Time to play the frowning paterfamilias.
“I’m glad you told me, Paul. It’s always embarrassing when we realize we haven’t followed the scientific method. And the dumber the mistake, the dumber we feel. The good news here is that no vital work was compromised as a result. So my advice to you? Feel bad, but don’t feel broken.”
    The worried look had not left Easton’s face. “No, Dr. Asher, you don’t understand. You see, just today, I performed that test, measured the magnetism. And
there was no magnetic reversal in the sample.
”
    Abruptly, Asher sat up in his chair. Then he settled back slowly, trying to keep surprise from blossoming over his face. “What did you say?”
    â€œThe samples. There’s no evidence of magnetic reversal.”
    â€œAre you sure the orientation of the samples was correct?”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    â€œAnd you made sure there was no anomaly? That you weren’t using a bad sample?”
    â€œI checked all my samples. The results were the same in each case.”
    â€œBut that can’t be. Magnetic reversal is a fail-safe method of dating rock samples.” Asher exhaled slowly. “This must mean the entombment happened even longer ago than we thought. Dating back
two
reversals, rather than just one. North to south, then south to north again. I’m sure your examination of the isotopes will confirm that.”
    â€œNo, sir,” Easton said.
    Asher looked at him sharply. “What do you mean, no?”
    â€œI’ve already checked the radioactive isotopes. There’s hardly any decay. Hardly any at all.”
    Asher said simply, “Impossible.”
    â€œI’ve spent the last four hours in Radiography. I ran the tests three times. Here are the results.” And Easton removed a DVD from his lab coat pocket and laid it on Asher’s worktable.
    Asher stared at it but did not touch it. “So all our conclusions were wrong. The burial event is much more
recent
than we expected. Have you got a new date, based on the tests?”
    â€œJust a rough one, sir, for now.”
    â€œAnd that is?”
    â€œApproximately six hundred years