“I don’t know,” she said with an inquisitive look at Carr. “It depends on what kind of resources we are given.”
“Fair enough.” He looked around the room. “Okay, thank you Ms. Lokke. I would like to ask that you stay on base as we all figure this out.”
“Fine.” She nodded. “But what happens to my team?”
Miller leaned forward. “At the moment they should be quite comfortable on base in the Falklands. I think we would all agree that we need to keep things quiet until we figure out exactly what our game plan is. Unfortunately, bringing your team back too soon could severely compromise things. Ms. Lokke, is there information or data to be compiled from your expedition?”
“Yes. A lot of data.”
Miller looked at the President. “I suggest keeping them where they are and giving them an interim project. Compiling their data seems logical and then Ms. Lokke can bring them into the next phase as needed.”
Carr looked at Kathryn. “Any objections, Ms. Lokke?”
“No. As long as they are safe.”
“They should have access to anything they need.” Miller said. “Of course you do understand that we will need to apply some level of lockdown when it comes to communications, for example to family and friends.”
“I understand.” She replied. “But I want to be honest with them. They deserve that. They’re responsible adults and after what we just went through, they can appreciate the danger and risk involved with how this is handled.”
“Fine.” Carr nodded. “Let’s just make sure that we’re in agreement with what you communicate to them. In the meantime, you deserve some rest. We have accommodations arranged for you, and the sergeant outside will provide anything you need. Including a good meal which I’m guessing is probably long overdue.”
Kathryn adjusted her shirt and brushed some hair behind her ear. “It is.”
Clay noticed that Lokke seemed to visibly relax. She also suddenly looked very tired.
As she walked toward the door, everyone in the room stood up.
“Thank you.” was all she said before opening the door and stepping through.
They remained standing quietly as the door clicked shut. President Carr sighed and leaned forward onto the table. “I haven’t been dressed down like that in a long time.” Some of the men let a small grin slip out. The President motioned to the others and sat back down. “As you were.”
As everyone sat back down, Caesare leaned toward Clay. “I like her,” he whispered.
“So do I.”
“Thoughts?” asked the President.
Langford cleared his throat. “Well, I think we may know where all of her water has disappeared to.”
Carr raised his eyebrows and frowned. “Indeed.” He leaned slightly back in his chair. “Let’s hear from our science experts. Mr. Borger?”
“Yes sir?”
“So tell us, is this in fact, some kind of portal?”
“I believe so.” He looked across the table to Harding. “From everything we can measure, the direction of water flow is one way, into the ring. What happens to it from there we don’t know, but the most logical conclusion is off planet.”
“Mr. Harding? Do you concur?”
Harding looked at the President. “Yes sir.”
Bill Mason, Carr’s Chief of Staff, who had been noticeably silent throughout spoke up. “We’re going to have to stop the water flow one way or another.”
“I agree.” Stevas quickly added.
There were several nods around the room.
“So what happens if we destroy this thing?” Carr asked. “Is there any danger of collateral damage here?”
Doctor Lawrence from the Department of Energy shook his head and adjusted his glasses. “Not that we can see. If we destroy the ring or damage it enough, we shut it down.”
Borger looked at Lawrence and then gave a worried glance to Clay. “Um..how exactly do we know that?”
Lawrence looked condescendingly at Borger. “Energy is our business, son.” He turned back to Carr. “Mr. President, we’ve already run several scenarios based on the data. There does not appear to be energy emanating outward which means the system, whatever it is, is self-contained. Furthermore, the depth provides a heavy blanket of protection through oceanic pressure which means that even should the ring break apart the density and weight of the sea water around it would contain any explosive action. In fact, given the inward direction of the water flow, any major damage would more likely be inward than outward. We’ve looked at this from all angles.”
Clay looked back at Borger. He wondered if these were the ‘experts’ that Stevas referred to before.
Langford spoke up. “It sounds like we’re making decisions on some pretty large assumptions here.”
Lawrence glared at Langford. His large frame and posture indicated that intimidation seemed to be a specialty. “Our assumptions are based on your data. Unless your data is bad, we are confident in our findings. Are you saying that you have given us bad data?”
Langford took the insult in stride but did not look away. “Given the holes in what we have had time to find out, our data is as sound as we’re going to get.”
Lawrence frowned and looked back at the President.
“If we don’t destroy the ring,” Miller said, “then we risk a glacial collapse that creates a tsunami capable of destroying everything and everyone within driving distance of the Atlantic Ocean. And if we do destroy the ring, we risk a war with an enemy that we know nothing about, how many they number, or where they are.”
“He said there were 1,200 in their settlement.” Clay reminded.
“That’s right,” said Miller, “but we obviously can’t take that as gospel now can we?”
The President sighed. “We need more options. The two we have are not good.”
“There’s always diplomacy.” replied Clay.
Carr thought about it and nodded. “Talk them out of it?”
Clay shrugged. “Maybe. We still don’t know why they’re after the water. I think we should find out as much as we can before deciding what options we have.”
“I agree.” said Carr.
Miller looked at him. “I trust you found Keister.”
Clay nodded. “Yes sir.”
“Then go talk to him again.”
Stevas held up a hand. “Before we go in there waving a white flag and trying to negotiate, I think we might want to consider another possibility that they say no.” He shrugged. “Say whatever they are doing, they simply don’t stop, can’t stop, or refuse to. Then what? If it comes to us having to destroy that thing, then we need to be ready.”
“You’re suggesting the subs?” asked the President.
“Yes. We send out the Tridents.” He looked around the room. “We get our subs either in place or damn close. If nothing else, it shows them we are serious.”
Clay thought about his meeting with Stevas at the White House. Stevas had wanted to destroy the ring, before they even knew what it was. Now that they did know, he was even more eager.
“Admiral Bishop?” Carr said, turning to the Naval Chairman. “You said previously that we had a couple dozen Trident submarines that could be in the Caribbean within twenty four hours. Is that correct?”
Bishop folded his hands on the table when he answered. “Yes sir. Of course, the element of surprise will be lost, but we would be in position to act swiftly.”
“And it will give us more leverage.” added Stevas.
“Perhaps. Or we incite something even worse.” Carr thought it over. What were the risks of actually starting an incident by parking some nuclear submarines nearby? If they did need to destroy the ring, what would be the catalyst? Waiting for something else to happen first in the Antarctic would be like closing the barn doors after the animals had fled. They could not wait until a tsunami was already headed north.