‘But we’re in the middle of our own project,’ Kate said.
‘I understand that. We wouldn’t be bothering you if we knew anybody better qualified; and time is of the essence.’
‘I’m listening,’ Lou said. ‘But we’re —’ he glanced at Kate ‘— close to a breakthrough here. What exactly do you want us to do?’
‘We’re zeroing in on the precise location of the radioactive source.’
‘But then what?’
‘We have to get people into the ship to find out for ourselves what it is.’
Kate and Lou both burst out laughing and turned to the naval officer in unison. ‘Get people into the wreck! The Titanic is on the ocean floor… What, 13,000 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic?’
‘12,600 feet to be precise,’ Derham replied calmly. ‘That won’t present a problem.’
3
‘Let’s just say for the moment,’ Derham said, ‘that we do have the technology.’
Lou turned to face Kate. ‘You’ll catch flies.’
She closed her mouth. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘That, I did not expect! For a start, how can you overcome the pressure at a depth of 12,600 feet?’
‘I’m afraid I can’t talk about it right now. If you decide to join us, you’ll each need to sign a Defense Department non-disclosure agreement. He nodded towards his briefcase. ‘I have them here. We’ve already done security checks on you…’
‘Hang on,’ Kate interrupted. ‘Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit? She looked over to Lou who was studying the captain’s face.
Derham had his hands up. ‘Apologies. Of course you need some time to think about it.’
‘I don’t,’ Lou said avoiding Kate’s eyes. ‘How long would we have to delay our work here?’
‘Two days. Three, max.’
Lou gave Kate a questioning look.
She shook her head slowly and sighed. ‘Three days?’
‘Absolute tops.’
‘OK, well I guess you can count us both in.’
The VTOL aircraft ascended into the clear blue morning sky, roared over the group of white buildings with their tin roofs, swung round and headed out over the ocean.
From a pair of seats behind Derham and the pilot, Kate and Lou had an amazing view. When they were in level flight, Derham unbuckled and came back to the two researchers. He gave them each a folder containing everything NATO had ascertained about the radiation leak, along with facts, figures, schematics and maps relevant to the wreck of the Titanic.
They already knew most of the basics from Lesson 101 of their training as marine archaeologists. The Titanic had set sail for New York from Southampton on its maiden voyage on 10 April 1912. Four days into its journey, she struck an iceberg and sank. This resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 passengers and crew. It was the greatest peacetime disaster in maritime history.
The report contained a map of the ocean floor and described the current state of the wreck scattered over two square miles. The vessel had broken into two sections as it sank. The larger, bow section, was located at precisely 41°43′57″ N, 49° 56' 49" W; about seven hundred yards away lay the stern, which was now in far worse condition than the bow section. According to the report, no trace of any soft furnishings, carpets, wooden objects or indeed human bones remained, as these were long ago consumed by marine life. What remained was frail. Parts of the deck of the stern section had collapsed and many of its metal structures were heavily corroded. The final page of the document covered what little was known about the radiation leak itself, reiterating the phenomenal radiation levels measured by the probe that had filmed the footage of the wreck.
An hour later, the US Navy aircraft touched down on a pad a hundred yards from the nearest buildings. Derham led them from the aircraft. A grey Pontiac was waiting for them, a guard at each of the rear doors. The servicemen saluted briskly and snapped to attention as the captain approached. Kate and Lou were shown into the back seats of the vehicle and Derham sat in the front. A silent driver in naval uniform drove the car across the tarmac to a squat building at the edge of a cluster of ugly concrete and steel hangars. A fighter jet screamed low overhead as they stepped out.
The car park beside the squat building had been built on high ground a quarter of a mile from the Atlantic Ocean. From here, Kate and Lou could see part of the military base spread out before them — the dry docks and the harbour, and a long line of piers. Lou counted sixteen massive warships, great grey lumps of jagged metal, stark against the blue. The naval base was one of the largest in the world. At any one time, seventy-five ships and over one hundred and thirty aircraft were stationed here.
The two scientists followed Jerry Derham towards the squat building. He flashed his ID at a guard close to the main door. Inside, they crossed a wide reception and entered a lift. It dropped quickly. Lou and Kate noticed a digital display counting off the floors in rapid succession. It slowed and stopped at B17.
‘It’s a bit of an iceberg — if you’ll pardon the terrible pun,’ Derham said, turning first to Kate then to Lou. ‘There are nineteen levels below ground. This building is the main research hub for the station — and indeed for the entire United States Navy.’
The lift opened onto an administration area. They could see uniformed staff busy at computer terminals and consoles. In one corner, a small group of officers sat in comfy chairs going over some notes, iPads and clipboards in hand. There were at least a dozen naval personnel in the room; all of them seemed oblivious to the new arrivals.
Derham led the way to a large steel door on the far side of the room. He placed his palm on a pad to the left of the door. A light strip over the pad turned green and a computer voice said, ‘ID confirmed.’ The door slid sideways into a recess and opened onto a long, brightly lit, white-walled corridor that curved to the right. Ahead was another door and a second sensor pad at head height. Derham stood in front of it. A narrow horizontal light beam moved slowly from the top of the rectangle to the bottom like a flat bed scanner. ‘A retinal reader,’ he said without moving his head as the light followed its course. ‘ID confirmed,’ the computer voice said.
They were in a room the size of an aircraft hangar. In the centre stood two metal cylinders the colour of aged pewter. At the rear of each cylinder was a large jet nozzle. Two fins, one each side of the tubes about a third of the way from the front, made the machines look like very strange aircraft, but it only took a few seconds for Kate and Lou to realize they were looking at some form of submarine.
They could see a small maintenance crew working on the sub furthest away. One of the men was wearing a protective mask and held a welding tool blazing in his gloved right hand.
‘Jules Verne 1 and Jules Verne 2,’ Derham said. ‘These subs each carry four people and a half-ton payload at speeds up to thirty knots. They can comfortably go to 15,000 feet beneath the surface, and if the crew are really great friends, JV1 and JV2 can stay submerged for up to a year. They’re completely pressurized, so the crew don’t need to decompress. The guys are attaching additional anti-radiation shielding to the hulls.’
Neither scientist knew quite what to say. Lou took a couple of steps towards the nearest sub and ran a hand along the smooth hull. It felt like silk. ‘How?’ he said, shaking his head slightly.
‘How what?’
‘How did you build this? I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Kate walked over to the end of the jet nozzle and peered inside. A pair of technicians approached and she stepped back, rejoining Lou and Derham.