read. And you've seen the results. The anchor pattern was appropriate, and it was certainly capable of withstanding much higher current and wind forces than were being exerted at the time of the breakdown."
Whittenfeld glanced at the equations again. "Agreed."
Scotty looked at another document. "The divers carefully inspected the anchor hole and its cement plug. There was no sign of disintegration or decomposition. The plug itself was intact, and the anchor hole did not fail. We're certain something grabbed the anchor line and pulled the plug from the wall!"
Whittenfeld was shocked. "Are you sure the Columbus 's own movements couldn't have done it?"
"Absolutely. The driller noticed the position display panel just before the disruption and the drill ship was right over the wellhead."
"Were there any marks on the line?"
"No. We ran microinspections. The line's clean."
Whittenfeld turned to Reddington. "Do you agree, Red?"
"Yes," Reddington said. "We're also convinced the jolts we felt on board were caused by the anchor wire being yanked against the weight of the ship."
"Could there be another explanation?"
"Not really," Reddington replied. "The direction of the ship's movements after the initial pullout jerk back were toward the anchor pile, and one member of the crew said he saw the shipboard end of the broken anchor line pull taut several times after it had certainly been ripped from its foundation."
"What about the broken guide wires?" Whittenfeld asked.
Scotty pulled a cloth off the center of the table. Beneath were four pieces of wire line, set in two parallel rows. "The points where the ends meet is where each wire was cut."
"Cut? Not broken or tipped?"
"No. Something cut the guide wires at approximately two hundred and ten feet. Fortunately, whatever it was came in from the side because if it was cutting indiscriminately, it might have axed the two blowout prevention control hoses."
"What cut the wires?" Whittenfeld asked after placing two of the cut wire ends together.
"A scissorlike tool," Scotty said.
Whittenfeld thoughtfully tugged the cuff ends of his sleeves into alignment. He was relatively calm; he had not shown real anger since the day of the incident. "What about the riser?"
Scotty placed the cloth back over the guide wires. "I said at the height of the confusion that I thought something was pushing the riser. Well, we're convinced of it now!"
"Is there any firm evidence?"
"No. Certainly nothing at the point of attack. We had the divers inspect the riser sections. There were no dents of any kind on the riser's steel shell, no remnants—paint, oil,
grease—nothing."
"Then how did you reach your conclusion?"
"By carefully reviewing the facts. By questioning the crew, analyzing movement, the ship's momentum, direction, eliminating possibilities."
"Did the riser come close to failing?"
"No, but it was severely stressed. I had the divers inspect most of the joints. The joints were given a good jostling. The divers also did a magnetic-particle inspection for cracks. None were found. The drill pipe is okay, too. All in all, I think we got away lucky." He looked around the table. "Whatever pulled out the plug and moved the marine riser had tremendous power. Whatever cut the guide wires had a very sharp tool face. We have to make the assumption that all three events were initiated by the same culprit."
"There were no unknown vessels on the loch surface at the time of the attack," Reddington added, joining. "No one on the ship saw anything other than our seismic boats, two of our tugs, and a transglen navigational barge. Since the guide wires were cut at over two hundred feet beneath the surface, we have to eliminate anyone breathing air because you just can't effectively use air diving systems at that depth. Scuba is out. Diver lockouts are out. So are wet vehicles."
"No," Scotty said. "We've analyzed the information ad nauseam. The only culprit that makes sense is a manned
Whittenfeld glanced at the equations again. "Agreed."
Scotty looked at another document. "The divers carefully inspected the anchor hole and its cement plug. There was no sign of disintegration or decomposition. The plug itself was intact, and the anchor hole did not fail. We're certain something grabbed the anchor line and pulled the plug from the wall!"
Whittenfeld was shocked. "Are you sure the Columbus 's own movements couldn't have done it?"
"Absolutely. The driller noticed the position display panel just before the disruption and the drill ship was right over the wellhead."
"Were there any marks on the line?"
"No. We ran microinspections. The line's clean."
Whittenfeld turned to Reddington. "Do you agree, Red?"
"Yes," Reddington said. "We're also convinced the jolts we felt on board were caused by the anchor wire being yanked against the weight of the ship."
"Could there be another explanation?"
"Not really," Reddington replied. "The direction of the ship's movements after the initial pullout jerk back were toward the anchor pile, and one member of the crew said he saw the shipboard end of the broken anchor line pull taut several times after it had certainly been ripped from its foundation."
"What about the broken guide wires?" Whittenfeld asked.
Scotty pulled a cloth off the center of the table. Beneath were four pieces of wire line, set in two parallel rows. "The points where the ends meet is where each wire was cut."
"Cut? Not broken or tipped?"
"No. Something cut the guide wires at approximately two hundred and ten feet. Fortunately, whatever it was came in from the side because if it was cutting indiscriminately, it might have axed the two blowout prevention control hoses."
"What cut the wires?" Whittenfeld asked after placing two of the cut wire ends together.
"A scissorlike tool," Scotty said.
Whittenfeld thoughtfully tugged the cuff ends of his sleeves into alignment. He was relatively calm; he had not shown real anger since the day of the incident. "What about the riser?"
Scotty placed the cloth back over the guide wires. "I said at the height of the confusion that I thought something was pushing the riser. Well, we're convinced of it now!"
"Is there any firm evidence?"
"No. Certainly nothing at the point of attack. We had the divers inspect the riser sections. There were no dents of any kind on the riser's steel shell, no remnants—paint, oil,
grease—nothing."
"Then how did you reach your conclusion?"
"By carefully reviewing the facts. By questioning the crew, analyzing movement, the ship's momentum, direction, eliminating possibilities."
"Did the riser come close to failing?"
"No, but it was severely stressed. I had the divers inspect most of the joints. The joints were given a good jostling. The divers also did a magnetic-particle inspection for cracks. None were found. The drill pipe is okay, too. All in all, I think we got away lucky." He looked around the table. "Whatever pulled out the plug and moved the marine riser had tremendous power. Whatever cut the guide wires had a very sharp tool face. We have to make the assumption that all three events were initiated by the same culprit."
"There were no unknown vessels on the loch surface at the time of the attack," Reddington added, joining. "No one on the ship saw anything other than our seismic boats, two of our tugs, and a transglen navigational barge. Since the guide wires were cut at over two hundred feet beneath the surface, we have to eliminate anyone breathing air because you just can't effectively use air diving systems at that depth. Scuba is out. Diver lockouts are out. So are wet vehicles."
"No," Scotty said. "We've analyzed the information ad nauseam. The only culprit that makes sense is a manned
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