“It looks just like it has for the past five days.” Perez said. “Black”.
“Turn on the floods” Duncan said to White, who turned around and flipped a switch on the wall console. Four bright lights slung under the hab’s weight stacks came on. Duncan had expected the back-scatter from the particles in the water to obscure anything they might see, but to his surprise he found that the water was crystal clear and they could easily see the bottom below them. The wall curved gently out for what looked like it must be a hundred feet to what looked like a patch of sand. He went back to the intercom on the wall.
“Yes, we can see what I assume is the bottom. Viz is excellent. The wall curves out some and ends in what looks like sand. I can’t tell if this is really the bottom or if it’s a very big ledge. We don’t have enough field of view. We should put in one of the ROVs to be sure. Over”.
In the operations room, Martin looked across to Newell.
“Are you sure it’s the bottom below us?”
“Yes” Newell replied. We have done a wide angle scan with the downward facing sonar and we can see the wall curve out and become horizontal to the extent of our scan which is about 500 feet wide at that depth. I’m inclined to agree with Duncan though. We should drop the ROV to be sure.”
Martin pressed the intercom again. “Duncan, get the ROV ready. We’ll hover here until you have a chance to look at the bottom. I don’t want to anchor in the wrong place.”
“Roger. In work,” came Duncan’s voice over the intercom.
Martin turned to face the crew.
“OK, we are likely where we need to be but we’re going to drop in the ROV to be sure. Once that’s confirmed our position, we’ll do the anchoring.”
Nobody moved. They all just turned to look at the big monitor above the control console that was used to display the video from the ROV’s cameras. It was currently showing the image of Perez’s lower legs and feet. Then his face appeared inverted and he waved a hand.
Martin hit the intercom button. “We have good video up here.”
Kate turned to look at Chas. “They will be a while. Breakfast?”
Chas nodded.
“I also will have breakfast.” Boris replied.
Kate opened the tunnel door and the three of them walked back through the connecting tunnel to the galley area. Inside the galley, Boris closed the tunnel door behind them and spun the wheel. The indicator light next to the door showed a good seal.
“I make pancakes,” he announced.
“Really?” Kate asked. “I could go and get Kayla. She’s only watching the ROV video and we can put it on in here.”
“I make excellent pancakes,” Boris replied and turned his attention to the galley storage cabinets.
“I’ll make coffee then,” Chas said.
Kate thought this was Chas not wishing to be outdone by Boris. It was cute and also a little tedious to be constantly in the middle of this pointless competition. From her point of view neither of them was going to win. At least they were not going to win her if that’s what either of them imagined.
“I’m getting my Kindle,” she announced and went up the ladder to the crew room.
Boris got the stove fired up and started making batter. Chas finished getting the coffee maker primed and reached up and turned on the monitor above the galley counter. An image of the wall came up.
“Looks like the ROV is in the water he said.”
The image was rotating slowly and the wall drifted up as the ROV drove itself down. The rate of descent much faster than the hab had been making. The ROV didn’t need time to adjust to the increasing pressure like the humans did. The image changed suddenly to a view of the bottom below. Chas could see sand, a few rocks and not much else.
The view changed again to the ROV’s forward camera which was now pointing away from the wall. The sandy bottom stretched out into the distance where a rock outcropping could be seen.
Then the view changed again to the bottom of the hab which started to get closer.
“I guess they are done with that then.” Kate said.
Chas had not heard her come back down the ladder. He had been too absorbed by the video.
“I think I saw some large tube worms way out in the distance he said. I really hope we can get out there soon and look for ourselves.”
“Ready when you are she said,” smiling. “I smell pancakes. I’m ready for those too Boris.”
In the operations center all eyes were on the portal. Two of the twelve anchoring arms could be seen. Each cylinder of the hab had three arms at the top and three at the bottom which together formed a set of four tripods. The arms were extended out about ten feet.
“Hold the arms there please” Martin said. “Let’s get the hab closer to the wall. I want to be about fifteen feet out when we anchor”
“OK”, Newell replied and typed the new distance into the hab’s autopilot which was holding them steady in the water with the hab’s large collection of electronic thrusters.
The image of the wall started to get closer very slowly as the hab moved into its new position.
“We’re at fifteen feet now,” Newell announced. “Extend the arms?”
“Yes, please.” Martin responded. “Let’s get them all into light contact.”
Newell selected the first contact setting on the arm control screen.
Through the portal, the arms could be seen extending out towards the wall. As each one made contact it stopped. Pressure sensors in the arms allowed each arm to make very light contact so that all the arms could be positioned without overcoming the force from the hab’s thrusters which were keeping the big structure in place.
“How’s that look?” Newell asked.
“Looks OK to me. What are the contact readings?”
“All twelve show contact at the light setting. One is a little heavy but not unduly so.”
Martin turned to face the crew. “Anyone not think we should anchor here?” he asked. He wasn’t really asking for opinions. He just wanted to gauge the mood. All the faces seemed calm to him. He noticed that even George Carver was watching the portal not the crew, which was unusual for him. Whenever there was some key activity being conducted, Carver liked to keep an eye on the crew to look for signs of stress.
They had originally planned to anchor closer to the bottom, but the curve in the wall lower down would have made it difficult to get the Pheia’s arms all in contact with the hab still upright. Being further from the bottom meant a longer swim down for the divers but they had told him it was no big deal. When the expedition was still in the planning stages, Martin had wanted to be able to set the Pheia on the bottom, but the survey that had found the hydrothermal vents showed areas that were very fissured and unstable. The whole team had agreed that it was too risky and had come up with the idea of anchoring to the wall. Martin was more concerned now with getting the Pheia set in a solid position for the next week than he was with the exact location.
“OK, then.” Martin continued, “Let’s set up camp. Set the arms to the high pressure setting please”.
Newell tapped the setting on the control screen and there was a slight movement in the hab as its thrusters increased power to counteract the force the arms were now exerting.
Newell looked carefully at the display. “Good pressure on all arms. Ready to anchor.”
“Anchor.” Martin said.
Newell tapped the anchor control and entered a confirmation code.
Immediately all twelve explosive tips fired. There was a slight thud heard through the wall of the hab accompanied by flashes of light from the tips of the arms and clouds of bubbles which quickly rose out of view.
“Status?” Martin asked as he looked out of the portal trying to see all twelve contact points.