“That’s a wild one, Admiral,” observed Moore.
“And I expect any minute now that you’ll be telling me that it’s a UFO that could be responsible, or even the Bermuda Triangle for that matter.”
“I understand your skepticism, Thomas. And I’ve got to admit that the Black Hole theory is even a little too much for me to swallow. And in an effort to bring this whole thing back to earth, I’ve been working all morning on my very own hypothesis, that I believe is substantially more plausible. If you’ll just bear with me, I’d like to show you a portion of a presentation that I’m preparing for a National Security Council meeting to be held later this afternoon.”
Proctor utilized a remote-control switch to dim the lights and lower a white screen on the wall facing them. From a wall-mounted slide projector, the screen filled with a picture of a sleek, oceangoing ship, with a streamlined prow and a single funnel located amidships. It was Proctor who provided the commentary.
“This ship is the Soviet oceanographic vessel, Academician Petrovsky. It was originally launched in 1990, to provide the fleet with acoustic and hydrographic information. To accomplish this task, it’s been outfitted with a first-class suite of sensors, and even has an interior moon pool capable of launching a variety of small manned mini subs and ROV’s. Four and a half weeks ago, it left its home port on the Baltic sea, and after brief stops in Scandinavia and the U.K.” set sail for New York, where it picked up a team of United Nations observers for its current mission as primary support ship for the Mir underwater habitat program.”
Proctor readdressed the remote control switch, and the screen filled with an artist’s rendering of the Mir habitat.
“I’m certain that you’ve read all the press accounts of the habitat program, Thomas. You’re also aware that it was placed in its current location, off the northeastern coast of Andros island regardless of our most strenuous objections. As far as the U.S. Navy was concerned, it was just too close to our Tongue of the Ocean underwater test facility, where Lewis and Clark was bound to when we originally lost contact with her.”
The next slide showed a tall, square-shouldered Soviet naval officer, with a distinctive patch covering his left eye. Again it was Proctor who identified him.
“This is Admiral Igor Valerian, CO of the Academician Petrovsky. At sixty-seven years of age. Valerian is a decorated veteran of World War II. He’s also an outspoken hard liner with strong Party ties.
Of course, my suspicions were immediately aroused when I learned that the Soviets had made Valerian the ship’s commanding officer. Having skippered everything from a helicopter cruiser to a nuclear submarine, a mere oceanographic vessel seemed a bit out of his league.”
The next picture on the screen showed a whitehaired old man. He was dressed in the clothes of a civilian, and was captured from a distance chopping wood.
“This is a rare shot of Dr. Andrei Petrov, the famed Soviet physicist, who five years ago was fired from his position at the Kirov Polytechnic Institute, and forcefully sent into exile in the Ural foothills.
Petrov is known as a brilliant theoretician, in the vein of Albert Einstein. Like Einstein’s, his main body of work concerned the basic properties of matter.
Most of Petrov’s early experiments revolved around the relation of electromagnetism to gravity.
And he was said to be working on a device that could influence the basic composition of matter through magnetic resonance. In other words, make material objects invisible.”
“Hold on a minute, Admiral,” interrupted Moore.
“This is starting to sound like science fiction once again.”
Proctor was anticipating such a remark and quickly responded to it.
“Don’t forget that less than forty years ago, the mere idea of putting a man on the moon, or having him live on the sea floor would have been greeted with equal skepticism. So just hang in there, Thomas, and try to keep an open mind — because, as you’re about to learn, the U.S. Navy has conducted its own experiments in the so-called field of antimatter, that began over five decades ago.”
The next slide showed Albert Einstein seated in his study, with two uniformed U.S. Navy officers close beside him. Proctor cleared his throat and continued.
“In 1940 Einstein and Rudolph Ladenberg first proposed using strong electromagnetic fields to counter mines and torpedoes. The Navy officially put Einstein to work on May 31, 1943. He was employed as a scientific consultant for the Bureau of Ordnance and the Navy office of Scientific Research and Development.
“Given the exclusive use of a destroyer to conduct his initial experiments on, Einstein was attempting to utilize pulsating energy fields to produce electromagnetic camouflage. Yet the famed scientist was to get much more than he bargained for.”
The slide of Einstein was replaced by one showing a single. World War II era destroyer, and Proctor went on: “This is the USS Eldridge. While at port in the Philadelphia naval yard, Einstein and his team installed a series of pulsating and non pulsating magnetic generators aboard the ship. Much like modern day degaussers, which we use to neutralize a ship’s magnetic signature, these generators were pulsed at specific resonant frequencies to create a powerful magnetic field around the Eldridge. And much to everyone’s surprise, the destroyer seemed momentarily to vanish in a light green mist. A later experiment with a more powerful magnetic field produced even more drastic results. And it was rumored, though never officially verified, that the Eldridge disappeared from its berth in Philadelphia, and was instantaneously transferred to Norfolk, where a sister device had been positioned.”
“I’ve heard of the so-called Philadelphia Experiment, Admiral,” revealed Moore.
“But I always considered it the product of someone’s overactive imagination. Are you saying that the Eldridge was actually rendered invisible, and then tele ported to Norfolk?”
“That I am, Thomas,” returned Proctor curtly.
“But what does this have to do with the Lewis and Clark?” asked Moore, his patience all but exhausted.
Proctor readdressed the remote control switch, and the screen once more filled with the photo of Dr. Andrei Petrov.
“I believe that the answer to your question lies with this man, Thomas. Since Einstein’s death, he’s become the world’s foremost expert in the fields of electromagnetism and gravity. Much like Einstein, he feared that his revolutionary work would be misused by mankind, and he dared to speak out to warn the public. The Soviet government responded by forcing Petrov and his wife into exile.
“They have been living in forced seclusion for over five years now, with extremely restricted contact with the outside world. That was, until yesterday, when we learned that Andrei Petrov had been flown by helicopter to Kirov. There, a Soviet transport plane was waiting to fly him to Havana, where he was subsequently transferred via helicopter, to the deck of the Academician Petrovsky.”
This surprising revelation hit home, and Moore alertly sat forward, as Proctor added:
“So now not only do we have a hard-line Russian fleet admiral as the CO of one of their most capable oceanographic research vessels, but one of their most brilliant physicists as well, all aboard the same ship.
And to make matters even more interesting, is the fact that Petrov’s daughter, Ivana, is currently living in the Mir underwater habitat, on the upper slopes of the Andros Trench. I don’t have to remind you that this is almost precisely where the Lewis and Clark was supposed to be when we lost her, Thomas.