Nikki leaned over and touched Nils on his arm and smiled. “I’m sorry, Nils. We haven’t a clue what you’re saying. Sorry.”
“I see. Well, let’s take a look at what it does.”
He switched the screen on. It showed a large building from around 30 degrees above the horizon. “This is building twelve at the Sukhoi factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Siberia. It’s the Russian equivalent of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works or Boeing Phantom works.”
Nils zoomed in on a truck. You could read the licence plate. He zoomed in again. Now you could see a scratch and blemishes on the truck’s hood.
Nathan thought it was obviously a view from a spy satellite; impressive, but no big deal.
“A spy satellite,” said Nikki.
Nils smiled but shook his head. “Now Miss Kaminski,” the Danish scientist said. “Where do you live? Give me the zip code.”
She did. The view changed to her street in Macon Georgia.
“What number?”
“215.”
The view changed to her house. He zoomed into an upstairs window, then further in. A spider crawled across the window ledge. He then zoomed into her bedroom. Her bed was unmade and just as she’d left it.
“I was in a hurry,” she said, a little embarrassed.
Nils picked a drawer against the wall. He gave her a look and then zoomed inside the drawer. There were skimpy panties laid out.
Nikki was wide-eyed. “But that’s inside a closed drawer.” He smiled and nodded.
“Let’s see what else we can see.” The view zoomed in to what she knew was the next pair: the red ones under the first.
She gasped. A look of horror crossed her face. She knew what they’d see next. That was unthinkable. “Get out. Pull back.”
Nils did. She relaxed.
“Ok, let’s try here.” He pulled back to the center of the room and zoomed into the kitchen a floor down below.
“What?” Nikki said.
Nils picked the microwave oven and zoomed in on the digital clock screen. He zoomed in again and they saw the circuitry behind the clock. He zoomed into some text; it was in Korean, and a popup onscreen translated. YRR3044/3 LG electrics, product of Korea.
Then he zoomed into the letter ‘e’ until it filled the screen. He zoomed in and a popup screen displayed chemical symbols. “It’s showing us the chemical composition of the print used here.”
He pressed a switch and the view changed back to the Sukhoi plant. Nils zoomed inside the building and they saw technicians working on an aircraft. He zoomed in further and they saw the innards of the aircraft, its electrical circuits.
“That’s stunning,” said Nathan.
“If we set it to object scan mode we can run through the whole thing and store all the images and detailed metallic, electrical and chemical compositions. We can see it just as though we had one here at Oak Ridge. We keep everything on digital servers for anybody who we think should see them. We can store anything from the innards of the Russian President’s cell phone to the insides of his mistress’s vibrator.” He cast a brief glance at Nikki, who looked as pale as a sheet as she suppressed a look of horror. “Where do you want to go next?”
Nathan directed Nils to a PLAN submarine base. They zoomed into a Chinese SSBN and he let Nathan look around the control room.
“That’s staggering,” said Nathan.
Nils smiled. “We can also change the chemical composition of remote objects. That’s a new capability so far. As an experiment from here, we’ve been able to weld hatches shut inside M1 Abrams tanks in Germany. That was a laugh. We couldn’t say how it’d been done; we blamed the manufacturers.”
After another hour, they left.
“I can’t believe what we just saw,” said Nikki.
He nodded. They were on a 737 on its way to New York and then to Groton USN base where the boat was getting a new prop.
“Nathan.” She pushed up as close as she could; she couldn’t get as close as she wanted. They were USN Officers in uniform. “We have two weeks leave from next week. Where would you like to go on vacation?”
Nathan thought for a while. “You know, Nik, I’d like to start our trip by staying at the Hotel Wisslunfrau, Rome, Italy.”
“What? How?” She was shocked, she’d made the reservations yesterday. “How did you know?”
“I’d seen you putting that blue envelope in your purse.” He grinned. “I knew it was from a travel company. When you went to the restroom at Oak Ridge, I had Nils zoom in and take a look.”
“You what?” she hit him.
Nathan laughed at her. She hit him again, then softened and laughed with him.
Get your free ebook
Nathan and I hope you enjoyed reading Ninety Degrees North, book 6 of the USS Stonewall Jackson Series.
As a buyer, you’re entitled to a free download of the short story Birth of a Boat, about the origins of the USS Stonewall Jackson. Get your copy at dl.bookfunnel.com/c6anggmhkw
Once you’ve got your free ebook, read on for an excerpt from the first book in my other submarine series (The Tom Hilton Series): Beneath Sunless Waves.
Thanks for reading,
Stephen Makk.
About the author
Stephen Makk has written more than a dozen books and is now creating his next. He writes thrillers with heaps of technology, the military and streaks of romance. His protagonists are male and female, playing the imperfect hands they're dealt.
How to write like a Makk… Take the mind of a fish, any fish (he's an experienced diver). Add an engineer, simmer for years. Sprinkle on liberal helpings of strategist, astronomer, historian and anthropologist. Bring to the boil and let loose. You need some Makk on your bookshelf!
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Books by Stephen Makk
Book 1: USS Stonewall Jackson
Book 2: The Spratly Incident
Book 3: The Black Sea Horde
Book 4: The Iranian Blockade
Book 5: The Tiger and the Dragon
Book 6: Ninety Degrees North
USS Stonewall Jackson Series: Books 1–3 (with bonus book HMS Holy Ghost)
USS Stonewall Jackson Series: Books 4–6 (coming soon)
Birth of a Boat (a short story exclusively available at dl.bookfunnel.com/c6anggmhkw)
Book 1: Beneath Sunless Waves
Book 2: A Fall into Darkness
Book 3: Deception Abyss
HMS Holy Ghost (standalone novella)
The Tom Hilton Series: Books 1–3 (with bonus book HMS Holy Ghost) (coming soon) Thrillers
The Kali Option
The Rebel Sci-fi books
Ascension
Forbidden Paranormal books
Grace: Collector of Evil
White Forest Silence
All of Stephen Makk’s books are available to buy on Amazon, and you can read them for free in Kindle Unlimited. For more details and to get your next book, visit stephenmakk.com or search for ‘Stephen Makk’ on Amazon.