forward. "Do you have exact locations where the transmission was sent to?"
"We've triangulated the ones in the U.S. and Africa to within a hundred-and-fifty kilometer circle," Lamb answered. "It's rather difficult because we could only interpolate a best guess off what other tracking stations caught of each down link. The one in South America we've located down to within two hundred kilometers. The one in Europe we're within two hundred kilometers also. The one in Asia is down to within a four-hundred-kilometer circle in Central Siberia, and Russia is not cooperating in giving us any data."
Hawkins pointed. "Can you show us in greater detail where that one in Africa is?"
Lamb graced him with a slight smile, as if he had hit the jackpot. "Major Spurlock, you can leave now."
Lamb waited until the Air Force officer had departed the room before pressing the button on the slide remote. A strange domelike rock structure filled the screen. Hawkins felt a surge of adrenaline as he recognized the object-so this was about the bombs after all!
Lamb spoke. "The circle includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, but the center of the estimate is Vredefort Dome. As some of you know, a nuclear bomb was set off in a mine underneath that structure by terrorists three days ago. This occurred approximately four hours prior to the radio transmission."
Hawkins glanced at the other occupants in the room. He could tell by the expressions on their faces that Tolliver and Volkers had known about the blast, but that Levy and Batson were hearing this for the first time, and their faces showed their surprise. Hawkins wondered why Volkers had been told-as far as he knew, the incident was being kept highly classified and the media had no hint.
"The blast effectively destroyed the most productive mine in South Africa--the Red Streak." He paused briefly as Batson whistled in surprise, then continued. "That mine had produced almost two thousand tons of gold and an unknown amount of uranium over the past three years. The bomb was believed to have been one stolen from a Russian depot two weeks ago and set off by a radical splinter group of the Xantha freedom party opposed to the ANC. How the bomb got from Russia to South Africa we do not yet know. Because the blast was underground, the South African government has been able to keep it out of public scrutiny, although how long they'll be able to maintain that veil of secrecy is unknown. Our sensing stations around the world picked the blast up clearly and easily pinpointed the epicenter."
"How did they get a bomb into the mines?" Batson asked. "I thought security was very tight there."
"The security is designed to keep the workers from bringing gold out," Lamb briefly explained. "From what we can piece together, it was relatively easy for them to bring a bomb into the mine and detonate it once it reached the proper level. That is not the issue here and now, though.
"We do not know the connection between Ayers Rock, Vredefort Dome--if that is where the message in Africa went-and the other four locations. We also do not know if there is any connection between the bomb and the transmission. How Voyager fits into this is also a puzzle."
"Voyager gave them the means of communication with this station," Levy quietly remarked.
"Gave who?" Lamb asked.
Levy shrugged. "Whoever is sending the message."
"But how did they-whoever they are-get a hold of the information on Voyager?" Batson wanted to know.
Lamb held up a hand. "There are many unanswered questions. Let's not go jumping to conclusions. You will be given access to all the data we have, and hopefully we can start coming up with some answers."
"I still want to know why we were picked to be here," Volkers interjected. "I don't see why a physicist, a soldier, a mathematician, and a mining engineer make the best team to handle this. Surely you have people who would be better equipped to deal with it."
Lamb looked at her. "As we told you-the message from Ayers
"We've triangulated the ones in the U.S. and Africa to within a hundred-and-fifty kilometer circle," Lamb answered. "It's rather difficult because we could only interpolate a best guess off what other tracking stations caught of each down link. The one in South America we've located down to within two hundred kilometers. The one in Europe we're within two hundred kilometers also. The one in Asia is down to within a four-hundred-kilometer circle in Central Siberia, and Russia is not cooperating in giving us any data."
Hawkins pointed. "Can you show us in greater detail where that one in Africa is?"
Lamb graced him with a slight smile, as if he had hit the jackpot. "Major Spurlock, you can leave now."
Lamb waited until the Air Force officer had departed the room before pressing the button on the slide remote. A strange domelike rock structure filled the screen. Hawkins felt a surge of adrenaline as he recognized the object-so this was about the bombs after all!
Lamb spoke. "The circle includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, but the center of the estimate is Vredefort Dome. As some of you know, a nuclear bomb was set off in a mine underneath that structure by terrorists three days ago. This occurred approximately four hours prior to the radio transmission."
Hawkins glanced at the other occupants in the room. He could tell by the expressions on their faces that Tolliver and Volkers had known about the blast, but that Levy and Batson were hearing this for the first time, and their faces showed their surprise. Hawkins wondered why Volkers had been told-as far as he knew, the incident was being kept highly classified and the media had no hint.
"The blast effectively destroyed the most productive mine in South Africa--the Red Streak." He paused briefly as Batson whistled in surprise, then continued. "That mine had produced almost two thousand tons of gold and an unknown amount of uranium over the past three years. The bomb was believed to have been one stolen from a Russian depot two weeks ago and set off by a radical splinter group of the Xantha freedom party opposed to the ANC. How the bomb got from Russia to South Africa we do not yet know. Because the blast was underground, the South African government has been able to keep it out of public scrutiny, although how long they'll be able to maintain that veil of secrecy is unknown. Our sensing stations around the world picked the blast up clearly and easily pinpointed the epicenter."
"How did they get a bomb into the mines?" Batson asked. "I thought security was very tight there."
"The security is designed to keep the workers from bringing gold out," Lamb briefly explained. "From what we can piece together, it was relatively easy for them to bring a bomb into the mine and detonate it once it reached the proper level. That is not the issue here and now, though.
"We do not know the connection between Ayers Rock, Vredefort Dome--if that is where the message in Africa went-and the other four locations. We also do not know if there is any connection between the bomb and the transmission. How Voyager fits into this is also a puzzle."
"Voyager gave them the means of communication with this station," Levy quietly remarked.
"Gave who?" Lamb asked.
Levy shrugged. "Whoever is sending the message."
"But how did they-whoever they are-get a hold of the information on Voyager?" Batson wanted to know.
Lamb held up a hand. "There are many unanswered questions. Let's not go jumping to conclusions. You will be given access to all the data we have, and hopefully we can start coming up with some answers."
"I still want to know why we were picked to be here," Volkers interjected. "I don't see why a physicist, a soldier, a mathematician, and a mining engineer make the best team to handle this. Surely you have people who would be better equipped to deal with it."
Lamb looked at her. "As we told you-the message from Ayers
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