suspected of having been formed a long time ago by meteor impact. As is the area around Vredefort Dome. I think it's very interesting that four of the five areas the transmissions were sent to are very close to suspected meteor strike spots."
"What about Siberia?" Hawkins asked.
"I don't know about that," Batson admitted. He thought for a few seconds and tapped the map, which was open to Arizona. "But there is someone who might."
"Who?" Lamb inquired.
"Dr. Susan Pencak. She lives by the crater in Arizona. She's the best-known authority on it in the world. If anyone can make a connection between those various sites, it would be her. She makes her living studying strange geological formations and teaching." Batson smiled wryly in remembrance. "But she's also a little bit flaky. She has some weird ways of looking at things."
"I'll bring her here," Lamb decided. "We need every piece of information we can possibly get our hands on."
"Right now"--Lamb pointed to three boxes full of documents stacked on a table--"you have access to all information concerning these events. There are also computers linked into our main data base for your use. If there is anything else you need, please contact me immediately. We'll be moving to the Rock in about twenty-four hours, once everything is set up out there."
Lamb made his way out of the room, followed by Tolliver. Fran glanced around at the other members of the "team." Hawkins was hiding any reaction he might have. Batson looked befuddled after his insight into the transmission reception sites. Levy looked mildly interested in what was probably to her an interesting intellectual problem.
"He's lying to us," Fran announced.
"What?" Batson blinked at her.
"They're going to drill into that Rock the minute they have the equipment there to do it," she replied. "They're scared, and when they're scared, they usually overreact and keep everything a secret."
She'd expected Hawkins to get upset by her comments but instead he nodded slightly. "That's true. I'm sure they will start or probably have already started drilling." He looked at Batson. "You're the mining engineer. How long will it take them?"
Batson shook his head. "I'd have to know what kind of rock it's made of. Where they're starting from. What kind of equipment. What diameter bore they're making. It's impossible to just--"
"Just a SWAG, Mister Batson," Hawkins interrupted. "A simple wild-ass guess. A day? Two days? A week? A month?"
Batson rubbed his chin. "He said center of mass of Ayers Rock. They'd go in from the top. Say five or six hundred feet of tunnel through solid rock." He looked up at the ceiling briefly. "Five days. Give or take two days either way. That's if they only drill and don't blast, and I don't think they'll be blasting here on a national landmark."
"That's all well and good," Fran commented. "So we have a week of sitting around with all this data and no earthly idea where to start and no idea where we're going with it."
Hawkins stood. "Listen up for a second. You all are the scientists. I'm just a dumb soldier, but whenever I get a mission tasking, the first thing I do is organize the information I am given. I do that before I start making my plans." He pointed at the boxes. "I suggest we break down the stuff in there. Mr. Batson-"
"Don," Batson interrupted. "Call me Don. Mister makes me nervous."
"All right, Don." Hawkins nodded. "You can call me Hawkins-I'm used to that from the military and I probably wouldn't respond if you used my first name." He glanced at the other team members and they introduced themselves.
"Fran."
"Debra."
"All right. Don, since it's your area, you become the Rock expert. You find out everything there is to know about Ayers Rock and then brief us on it later today."
Don looked relieved to have something he could handle. "All right." He moved across the room and began digging through the books and folders in them.
Hawkins swung his gaze around. "Fran, I hate to show my
"What about Siberia?" Hawkins asked.
"I don't know about that," Batson admitted. He thought for a few seconds and tapped the map, which was open to Arizona. "But there is someone who might."
"Who?" Lamb inquired.
"Dr. Susan Pencak. She lives by the crater in Arizona. She's the best-known authority on it in the world. If anyone can make a connection between those various sites, it would be her. She makes her living studying strange geological formations and teaching." Batson smiled wryly in remembrance. "But she's also a little bit flaky. She has some weird ways of looking at things."
"I'll bring her here," Lamb decided. "We need every piece of information we can possibly get our hands on."
"Right now"--Lamb pointed to three boxes full of documents stacked on a table--"you have access to all information concerning these events. There are also computers linked into our main data base for your use. If there is anything else you need, please contact me immediately. We'll be moving to the Rock in about twenty-four hours, once everything is set up out there."
Lamb made his way out of the room, followed by Tolliver. Fran glanced around at the other members of the "team." Hawkins was hiding any reaction he might have. Batson looked befuddled after his insight into the transmission reception sites. Levy looked mildly interested in what was probably to her an interesting intellectual problem.
"He's lying to us," Fran announced.
"What?" Batson blinked at her.
"They're going to drill into that Rock the minute they have the equipment there to do it," she replied. "They're scared, and when they're scared, they usually overreact and keep everything a secret."
She'd expected Hawkins to get upset by her comments but instead he nodded slightly. "That's true. I'm sure they will start or probably have already started drilling." He looked at Batson. "You're the mining engineer. How long will it take them?"
Batson shook his head. "I'd have to know what kind of rock it's made of. Where they're starting from. What kind of equipment. What diameter bore they're making. It's impossible to just--"
"Just a SWAG, Mister Batson," Hawkins interrupted. "A simple wild-ass guess. A day? Two days? A week? A month?"
Batson rubbed his chin. "He said center of mass of Ayers Rock. They'd go in from the top. Say five or six hundred feet of tunnel through solid rock." He looked up at the ceiling briefly. "Five days. Give or take two days either way. That's if they only drill and don't blast, and I don't think they'll be blasting here on a national landmark."
"That's all well and good," Fran commented. "So we have a week of sitting around with all this data and no earthly idea where to start and no idea where we're going with it."
Hawkins stood. "Listen up for a second. You all are the scientists. I'm just a dumb soldier, but whenever I get a mission tasking, the first thing I do is organize the information I am given. I do that before I start making my plans." He pointed at the boxes. "I suggest we break down the stuff in there. Mr. Batson-"
"Don," Batson interrupted. "Call me Don. Mister makes me nervous."
"All right, Don." Hawkins nodded. "You can call me Hawkins-I'm used to that from the military and I probably wouldn't respond if you used my first name." He glanced at the other team members and they introduced themselves.
"Fran."
"Debra."
"All right. Don, since it's your area, you become the Rock expert. You find out everything there is to know about Ayers Rock and then brief us on it later today."
Don looked relieved to have something he could handle. "All right." He moved across the room and began digging through the books and folders in them.
Hawkins swung his gaze around. "Fran, I hate to show my
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