“Just to the west of us,” David said. “Right in the middle of the Arabian Sea.”
Upon hearing where the incident happened, Chloe instantly felt a lump in her throat. “I… I’m sorry. We didn’t get the chance to look at any news yet. Could… could you give us more details?”
The professor shook his head slowly. “Not much else is certain, I’m afraid. Lots of talking heads, but it’s all speculation so far. The American Navy hasn’t really said much, other than admitting that one of her submarines went missing, but that’s all.”
David nodded. “We have one news program saying the lost sub carried nuclear missiles, while their competitor says it was an attack submarine. Everyone’s still waiting on updates.”
Professor James noticed Chloe’s slight distress. “Are you alright, my dear?”
Chloe looked away, biting her lip. “I… I’m fine. It’s just… my brother. He’s a sat diver and he’s in that area too.”
Professor James moved closer and patted her forearm reassuringly. “Well, the Arabian Sea is a big place, so I’m sure he’s fine.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I just tend to fuss over him a little too much.”
Ethan figured it was better to change the subject so he pointed towards the ship’s aft section. “Well, since we’re all here, why don’t we take a look at the little baby we brought over for you to see.”
Professor James walked closer and stood just above the top of the submersible, which had already been lowered into the water behind the stern deck of the Wanderer. “So that’s the Sedna, is it? She looks very sleek.”
Chloe quickly pushed her worries out of her mind as she mentally shifted gears, transforming her thoughts and attitude into sales mode while standing beside the professor. “Yes, she’s our prototype, and we figured the best way to make her different from the other competing submersibles out there was to make sure she’s got a better underwater cruising speed.”
Orestes looked impressed. “How fast does she go?”
Chloe gestured towards the submarine’s open canopy. “Why not hop inside and let me show you?”
Professor James waddled forward, like a duck pushing itself ahead of the flock. “Me first!”
16
NAMED AFTER THE INUIT goddess of the sea, the Sedna’s arrowhead-shaped hull glided effortlessly a few meters below the surface of Sydney Harbour. The numerous speeding watercraft churning the swells above completely failed to notice the submersible as she suddenly stopped, suspended in the liquid expanse, like an insect trapped in turquoise colored amber.
The two-person cockpit had a forward and rear seat for her crew. Chloe sat in the backseat, her hands and feet firmly on the controls. “As you just noticed, this particular model can stop on a dime and hover in place regardless of the currents.”
Professor James remained giddy with excitement as he sat in the forward chair, looking out into the watery depths. “She feels like an underwater jet fighter! How fast did we go?”
“We hit about ten knots, Mick,” Chloe said. “The top of the line submersibles that our competitors offer can only manage six. By making the hull as sleek as possible to eliminate drag, we were able to eke out a little bit more speed.”
“Can she strafe just as quickly?”
Chloe giggled. “Sorry, no. The Sedna has a good forward and turning speed, but she’ll slow down a little if we move sideways. Three to four knots side to side and on full reverse. Anyway, doing these delicate maneuvers doesn’t require speed but touch, and our computer-assisted controls are very much like the fly-by-wire systems on military aircraft.”
“Right. The other submersibles I’ve taken rides in can make full vertical ascents and descents. Could this baby do that?”
“Of course. She can do it even faster if you point the nose up or down.”
“Very impressive,” Professor James said.
“We designed this particular model to be a high-performance, multirole submersible that could be adapted to a variety of specializations,” Chloe explained. “Some of our clients are in the millionaire yacht club scene, so if they want to impress their friends with a personal undersea craft that’s got speed, then this is what we’re going to give them.”
The professor chuckled. “Well, I’m not in that sort of field, though I wish I was.”
“Not a problem,” Chloe said. “The Sedna is modular. A variety of different mission pods can be mated to the hardpoints at the bottom of her hull. Everything from grappling arms like the ones used on ROVs to pick up material underwater, to sonar pods, and even arc welders can be attached. You can purchase each pod separately, and it’s very easy to attach them to the submersible—just plug and play.”
“Very nice. How deep can she go?”
“Maximum depth is around a thousand meters. The automatic safety systems will force the submersible to ascend even if the pilot mistakenly dives too deep past the hull’s tolerance limits,” Chloe said.
“How long can we stay under?”
“Twelve hours,” Chloe said. “We also offer external battery pods to extend her bottom time and range.”
Professor James continued to stare out into the murky depths as the Sedna’s variable thrusters started again, making a leisurely turn near the sea bottom. “This is all just amazing. I would probably get so distracted just swimming around like this and forget about the time, then run out of air.”
Chloe laughed again. “That won’t happen, Mick. There’s tons of safety features built into this craft. If the air supply should ever get critically low, then the Sedna will sound an alarm and immediately ascend back to the surface and extend her snorkel, bringing fresh air into the cockpit.”
“What if we lose power while deep underwater?”
“The ballast tanks will automatically blow, and she’ll still rise up to the surface.”
“I am very impressed.”
“Also, the control stick has a safety grip,” Chloe said. “If I let go for more than a minute, then the submersible will again go back to the surface automatically and activate her snorkel. This is in case any of her crew gets incapacitated and is unable to use the controls.”
“Looks like you’ve thought of everything.”
Chloe leaned forward and patted the old man’s right shoulder. “I’ll let you in on a secret. There’s some interest in the military with our models, and they’ve asked if we could install some specialized pods on the submersible.”
Professor James twisted his head to make eye contact with her. “Oh? Like what?”
“We’ve come up with something called the turbo boost,” Chloe said. “But we still need to do a lot of testing with it.”
“Turbo boost? What’s that?”
“They’re a set of pods we place at the lower aft part of the Sedna’s hull,” Chloe said. “These attachments are essentially underwater rockets that enable the submersible to achieve speeds of close to thirty knots, for a limited time.”
“How would that work? These things aren’t part of your sub’s electric drive engine, right?”
“No, they’re a completely separate system,” Chloe said. “The attached turbo pods have their own fuel—a monopropellant and an exhaust tube. We tried to experiment with air independent propulsion, but we just couldn’t get it right. Ethan’s military contacts provided us with the idea and we’ll be testing it on this trip.”
“Which is?”
“The turbo pods use Otto Fuel II.”
Professor James’s mouth hung open in surprise. “That’s… that’s the same fuel that torpedoes use!”