already in space.
“We think, Avery, that it could put out a massive dose of radiation, on an ongoing basis, over a long period of time,” Unruh said. “The navy oceanographer is double-checking the currents, but seems to think that a large area of the Pacific Rim is at risk.”
Hampstead studied the map. One little red dot on a sea of blue. “The subsurface terrain is intimidating in that region. I’m placing it north of the Mid-Pacific Mountains and east-southeast of Mapmaker Seamount, south of the Milwaukee Seamount.”
“Correct, Mr. Hampstead. Do you know the depths?”
The speaker was in naval uniform, with about eighty rows of ribbons and thirty gold bands on his sleeves. Hampstead thought he was the CNO, the Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral…Benjamin Delecourt. He had a smooth, talcum-powdered set of jaws that jutted aggressively. His hair was gray and thin. The green eyes penetrated like arrowheads.
“Yes, Admiral. Though the region is not fully charted, and there will be trenches of greater depth, I believe the mean depth is about seventeen thousand feet. About three-and-a-half miles. There are recorded areas that reach to over nineteen thousand feet.”
“What does it take to get down there?” the President asked.
“For location purposes, or for recovery?” Hampstead asked.
“Weʼve got to find it, first,” Harley Wiggins said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce had twenty-one research and survey vessels at its disposal. Transportation, Interior, and the National Science Foundation had another three, and the academic universities and institutes controlled another sixty vessels. The navy itself had eight ships dedicated to subsurface survey. Hampstead could think of an additional nine research vessels, privately owned, with which he frequently entered into government contracts, as he did with the university vessels.
“There are about a hundred American vessels in the category,” he said. “Of those, very few can operate deep-tow sonar and remotes at the depths we need to penetrate. At this time of year, however, most of the university and institute vessels have been moved to southern waters.”
“The Bartlett and the Kane are in Hawaii,” the CNO said. “I can have them on-site the quickest.”
“The best sonar search apparatus is the SARSCAN,” Hampstead said.
“That’s the navy’s?” the President asked.
“No, sir,” Hampstead responded. “It belongs to Marine Visions Unlimited. It’s a privately owned oceanographic research and development firm.”
“I think the Navy…” Admiral Delecourt started to say.
“Can we get it?” the President asked.
“I’m not sure where they have it located at present,” Hampstead said, “but I can find out.”
“Do that, please.”
“Are we ignoring the Russian effort?” the Chief of Staff asked. “Certainly, they’ll be doing something.”
General Harley Wiggins said, “The DIA has been keeping an eye on their development program, of course. They pioneered the first autonomous undersea robots utilizing acoustical control. They are superior to tethered robots in that the potential risk of damage to cables is nonexistent, and, of course, cable length is not a limiting factor. It’s also cheaper. We believe they may have fifteen or sixteen operating models, but most of them are located at projects in the Barents, Baltic, and Black seas. They’ve been shooting some excellent deep-sea video in the last couple years. The Titanic site, for instance. One of the advanced remotes is aboard the research vessel Baykal , which operates out of Vladivostok. When I checked a couple hours ago, the Baykal was in drydock, being retrofitted over the winter months.”
“So, they have a technological edge on us, General?” Amply asked.
“Perhaps in command and control. We are not certain of their depth capability, but we’re pretty sure that their current remote-controlled vehicles
“We think, Avery, that it could put out a massive dose of radiation, on an ongoing basis, over a long period of time,” Unruh said. “The navy oceanographer is double-checking the currents, but seems to think that a large area of the Pacific Rim is at risk.”
Hampstead studied the map. One little red dot on a sea of blue. “The subsurface terrain is intimidating in that region. I’m placing it north of the Mid-Pacific Mountains and east-southeast of Mapmaker Seamount, south of the Milwaukee Seamount.”
“Correct, Mr. Hampstead. Do you know the depths?”
The speaker was in naval uniform, with about eighty rows of ribbons and thirty gold bands on his sleeves. Hampstead thought he was the CNO, the Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral…Benjamin Delecourt. He had a smooth, talcum-powdered set of jaws that jutted aggressively. His hair was gray and thin. The green eyes penetrated like arrowheads.
“Yes, Admiral. Though the region is not fully charted, and there will be trenches of greater depth, I believe the mean depth is about seventeen thousand feet. About three-and-a-half miles. There are recorded areas that reach to over nineteen thousand feet.”
“What does it take to get down there?” the President asked.
“For location purposes, or for recovery?” Hampstead asked.
“Weʼve got to find it, first,” Harley Wiggins said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce had twenty-one research and survey vessels at its disposal. Transportation, Interior, and the National Science Foundation had another three, and the academic universities and institutes controlled another sixty vessels. The navy itself had eight ships dedicated to subsurface survey. Hampstead could think of an additional nine research vessels, privately owned, with which he frequently entered into government contracts, as he did with the university vessels.
“There are about a hundred American vessels in the category,” he said. “Of those, very few can operate deep-tow sonar and remotes at the depths we need to penetrate. At this time of year, however, most of the university and institute vessels have been moved to southern waters.”
“The Bartlett and the Kane are in Hawaii,” the CNO said. “I can have them on-site the quickest.”
“The best sonar search apparatus is the SARSCAN,” Hampstead said.
“That’s the navy’s?” the President asked.
“No, sir,” Hampstead responded. “It belongs to Marine Visions Unlimited. It’s a privately owned oceanographic research and development firm.”
“I think the Navy…” Admiral Delecourt started to say.
“Can we get it?” the President asked.
“I’m not sure where they have it located at present,” Hampstead said, “but I can find out.”
“Do that, please.”
“Are we ignoring the Russian effort?” the Chief of Staff asked. “Certainly, they’ll be doing something.”
General Harley Wiggins said, “The DIA has been keeping an eye on their development program, of course. They pioneered the first autonomous undersea robots utilizing acoustical control. They are superior to tethered robots in that the potential risk of damage to cables is nonexistent, and, of course, cable length is not a limiting factor. It’s also cheaper. We believe they may have fifteen or sixteen operating models, but most of them are located at projects in the Barents, Baltic, and Black seas. They’ve been shooting some excellent deep-sea video in the last couple years. The Titanic site, for instance. One of the advanced remotes is aboard the research vessel Baykal , which operates out of Vladivostok. When I checked a couple hours ago, the Baykal was in drydock, being retrofitted over the winter months.”
“So, they have a technological edge on us, General?” Amply asked.
“Perhaps in command and control. We are not certain of their depth capability, but we’re pretty sure that their current remote-controlled vehicles
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