A moment later, the Navy chopper took off, returning to its base in Guam.
He turned to his distinguished guests.
One of the passengers was a man he’d never met before. The man greeted him with a firm handshake. “I’m Major James Marazzato, Military Intelligence. And this is…”
Sam smiled and turned to face the woman. “Hello, Dr. Alyssa Smyth. It’s good to see you again.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Sam showed both guests the data.
Dr. Smyth said, “I don’t get it. Are you trying to tell me the radiation isn’t coming from the sphere?”
Sam nodded. “Yeah. At first we thought it was, but as we’ve been able to position submerged Geiger Meters closer to the sphere, it’s become obvious that whatever nuclear material has been dumped down there, it’s in this sunken area to the north of the sphere.”
James said, “Do you have any idea what that sphere is?”
Sam crossed his arms. “I’m sorry. We don’t have a clue.”
Dr. Smyth asked, “Any chance it’s natural?”
Sam thought about that for a moment. “Like a unique giant clam shell or something?”
“Yeah, why not?” the doctor replied.
“It’s always a possibility, although highly unlikely. We know there is a unique array of extremophiles living at that depth that no one would have ever predicted, so it’s not impossible to imagine that a creature like the sphere might have once lived. But there’s one reason that makes me suspect it’s man-made.”
James asked, “And what’s that?”
Sam said, “It’s a perfect sphere.”
“So?”
“You don’t find a lot of perfect spheres in nature. Don’t get me wrong, they do exist, however most of the time, they’re very much spherical, but not perfect.” Sam glanced up toward the sky. “The sun is a perfect sphere. Bubbles have the potential of forming into a perfect sphere. But for the most part, gravity and other competing factors cause a sphere to be slightly heavier on one side or the other.”
James frowned, immediately seeing the implications. “But this one isn’t?”
Sam sighed. “No. This one’s perfect.”
“Which means, this has been built by someone.” James crossed his arms. “If someone else has the technology to build a sphere of this size at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, you know what that means?”
“Yep,” said Sam. “We’ve already lost the technology race.”
Alyssa said, “Why? There’s nothing that suggests it’s a weapon.”
“No.” Major Marazzato met her eye. “But it doesn’t have to be. The fact is any species capable of building such a machine is so much farther advanced than us, it makes any weapons we have obsolete.”
“Why?” Alyssa persisted.
Sam said, “It’s like this. The pressure exerted on anything at the depth at the bottom of the trench is 1,086 bars, or more than a thousand times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. By comparison, the borosilicate dome of the submarine downstairs is one of three capable of reaching that depth without imploding — and it has a diameter of just 7.5 feet. Making something with a 1000-foot diameter, that could withstand the pressure, is practically impossible in terms of human capability.”
The doctor’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Mr. Reilly?”
Major Marazzato set his jaw firm. “He’s saying technology like that didn’t come from Earth.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
There was no doubt, given what was at stake, that they needed to reach the sphere now, before anyone else beat them to it. If it was indeed alien technology, they couldn’t risk anyone else reaching it before them.
The Triton 36,000/3 submersible was fueled and ready to dive. In addition to the submarine’s long list of capabilities, this one had been specifically modified to provide life-support for three occupants, for a total of five days.
Sam briefed his two guests on the plan for the dive, and the submarine’s multiple redundancy systems.
Walking around the submarine he pointed to the locks that held the borosilicate dome to the submersible’s main dual pontoons, which housed the submarine’s battery modules, additional gas supplies, and computers.
Sam said, “In an emergency, we can manually decouple the central dome and the sub’s pontoons, sending us on a fast, one way nonstop trip to the surface.”
“What if the pressure jams the coupling?” Dr. Smyth asked.
“It’s unlikely. The submarine’s been designed to compensate for that.”
Her lips thinned. “Yes, but has it ever been tested at 36,000 feet?”
“No,” Sam admitted. “It’s been down to the Challenger Deep trench, but no one has ever tested the safety release system at that depth before. And we shouldn’t have to, either.”
She nodded, accepting, but unimpressed by his answer.
Sam walked around to the side of the submarine. Getting on his knees, he pointed out two large lead weights at the bottom of each pontoon.
He said, “This is attached to the hull via a sodium crystal anode. Basically, as soon as the anode touches the water, it starts to destabilize. After five days in the water, at the limit of our life-support capabilities, it loses all strength, releasing the weighted ballast, sending us straight back to the surface.”
Dr. Smyth smiled. “A redundancy for the redundancy. I like that. It’s one thing to get crushed in a split second, but quite another to remain trapped at the bottom of the ocean forever, to die a terrible suffocating death.”
“This submarine is extremely capable, and Veyron maintains it to perfection,” Sam said. “Besides, if you’re going to worry about anything, I’d be concerned about the nuclear radiation, and where it’s going.”
“Or that damned sphere,” Major Marazzato said. “Who built it, who owns it, and where the hell is it going?”
Sam finished off his safety checks and said, “All right, if everyone’s ready, let’s go.”
Matthew stepped into the dive locker. The fine creases around his face were somehow deeper, and more defined. “You might have a problem.”
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“I’ve just received a weather warning from Guam about the risk of an incoming cyclone.”
Sam took a breath. “How certain are you it’s going to reach us?”
Matthew placed the synoptic, meteorological, and hydrological charts on the table next to Sam. “There’s no doubt about if it’s going to reach here; it’s a matter of when.”
Sam glanced at the reports. There was a category five cyclone heading their way. It was so large that Sam could not question Veyron’s conclusion. “Have you contacted anyone about this?”
“Yeah, I’ve spoken to our meteorologist in New Zealand. He’s confirmed it will hit our current location in three days.”
“What does that mean for the dive?” Major Marazzato asked, his tone hard and determined, without suppressing his urgency to dive. “Can we still dive?”
Sam turned to Matthew. “It shouldn’t be a problem. It’s a seventy-five minute dive to the bottom, and two hours back up again. Even if we spend another twenty hours down there taking photos, video recordings, and samples, it still leaves another forty-eight hours to get back here. Within that time, the Tahila can have us hundreds of miles away.”
“What if you encounter a problem while you’re down there?” Matthew asked. “Would it be more prudent to wait until after the cyclone?”
“Worst case scenario, we’ll stay at the bottom for five days until the storm passes, and then surface.”
“You’ll be on your own when you get top side. We’ll be bunkered down hundreds of miles away, but we can come back for you as soon as the cyclone passes.”