“Mica Briscoe entering. Access authorized.”
As he entered the room I noticed the same video-screen-covering activity that followed our entry and wondered why all the secrecy for already cleared individuals. I later learned that the compartmented Umbra clearance had many facets and our clearances although Z did not cover them all.
His voice rang out through the room as he approached.
“Hey, Marker, it’s about time you showed up, you slacker.” Grinning he rushed up ignored my extended hand and hugged me; something I didn’t expect but didn’t mind either. He was my lifelong mentor my surrogate father and most importantly the only other person in my life besides my wife who I considered family.
“Hey Chief,” I smiled to him, “Damn you look good. How do you feel?” I wasn’t lying either. He looked much healthier than the last time I saw him ailing from that tumor.
“Well, Marker, I feel great even though my wife and I are supposed to be relaxing by Big Bear Lake with you and Lindy right now sipping on fancy cocktails.”
I looked down wanting to die. I had promised him that I would treat them to a weeklong vacation in Big Bear. Sadly, I realized that I had just been too preoccupied to make the reservations before the Admiral snagged me into his intricate web of brewing mysteries.
“Well, Chief, look on the bright side,” I said. “At least we’ll be able to work together on this operation and be an awesome team as usual. Right? What could be better?”
Straight-faced he looked at me and answered, “A week in Big Bear sipping on fancy cocktails.” The sly smile that punctuated his comment told me that he was as eager as I was to join forces again.
Looming behind us, the Admiral put a hand on our shoulders and interrupted.
“Gentlemen, I hate to break up this reunion but if I could have a moment of your time I’d like you to join me at the reading table. I need to brief you on your mission and be off back to Florida. I’ve got a plane waiting.”
He led us to a small four-seat table in a corner of the room by a large document vault. As the Chief and I sat, I looked around and noticed that several wall-mounted cameras surrounded us with signs below them warning DO NOT WRITE — MEMORIZE.
“Give me a moment to pull some documents,” he said walking to the vault. Covering with his left hand, he twisted with his right a combination lock various ways then pulled a handle freeing a massive door. His finger traveled over stacks of files until he found for what he searched. Quickly he pulled a folder and sat with us at the table laying it out before us. Then reading from it, he began the briefing.
Chapter 8. Briefing for Z
“This briefing is classified Top Secret Umbra Z. You have both been granted special clearance after an extensive background investigation as we delved into your pasts assuring your allegiance to your country and its allies. We found no improprieties in either of your cases. Now you will not disclose or discuss what I am about to tell you with any person not authorized for Umbra Z access.
“Extending beyond Umbra are two compartmented accesses: A and Z. You are among only thirty-seven individuals in existence today that have access to both. Seventy-five other individuals only have access to Umbra-A material and information but are unaware that a higher level exists. You may not divulge to them anything higher that their access level A.”
He cleared his throat looked at us and continued without reference to the folder.
“Now guys while that may seem rather abstract without further details let me put it in more concrete terms for you. There exists off the coast of California, halfway to Hawaii, a thousand meters down, a manned undersea laboratory named Sea Station Umbra. Twelve researchers and divers with eight support crew are stationed there on revolving six-month tours of duty. Seven of them have Umbra-A clearances, five have Umbra-Z, and the support crew has just basic Umbra. Its disclosed mission under codeword A is to monitor encroaching radiation in the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor disaster in 2011. The knowledge of that mission requires either the A or Z compartment access.
“Now listen very closely,” he said leaning in toward us, “There is a second covert codeword Z mission of the Sea Station which requires the Z-compartmented access. That’s happening is this upper room surrounding us. We support the Z-arm of the station while the room below supports the A-arm. Simple but complicated. The Z compartment is all-inclusive while the A compartment is limited to radiation collection. You may walk freely through this room and the one below us but they are not allowed up here. The radiation-collection mission is a deceptive cover for the station so that we have a respectable reason for being there.
From my left Briscoe interrupted, “Does this have anything to do with Poseidon’s Palace? That place existed when I was instructing my SeaCrawler classes. We were always told to avoid the area around it.”
“Yes. Poseidon’s Palace was the originator: the creator of Sea Station Umbra. It was a huge deep-sea construction site where they assembled the station from modules dropped to the depths from giant ships, floating above, disguised as cable repair ships. Six years and six-hundred-thousand man hours later Discovery One was commissioned late last year.”
“Wait,” I interrupted trying to keep all the information straight in my mind, “Is Discovery One really Sea Station Umbra?”
“Yes, Matt, that’s its unclassified nickname so dubbed by its architect David Bowman a name you may remember from the past that once commanded another, fictional, Discovery One.”
“Kubrick’s brainchild in 2001: A Space Odyssey?” Briscoe added.
“Exactly. And it’s a pretty fair analogy too. The original ship was sent forward to Jupiter to explore the depths of space and discover its secrets. The new Discovery One was created to crawl the depths of the ocean reporting back secrets passing through the transcontinental cables between the U.S. and Asia specifically those from China and Japan.”
“The station crawls?” I asked not expecting that word; it was too incredulous for me to believe.
The Chief obviously also confused at this point added, “Is this the culmination of the SeaCrawler program?”
Greenfield paused and then continued.
“Yes and no. It’s an offshoot of that program: the SeaCrawler divers with their DSVs are still searching for missing missiles their warheads and downed aircraft but they are not enough. We needed a permanent presence on the ocean floor that could collect more than a few hours’ worth of data at a time. Thus arose Sea Station Umbra.”
“What’s it like? Briscoe asked, “I just can’t comprehend what I’m hearing: a crawling sea station.”
He pulled a spec sheet from the folder titled Sea Station Umbra (TOP SECRET SCI UMBRA-Z (NOFORN)) and held it up for us to see. [You too can view it by touching the link.]
“This sheet classified Umbra-Z describes the Discovery One in great detail. Visually it looks like a monstrous sea urchin without spines or a giant basalt boulder. But it’s really a spherical dome camouflaged to resemble the benthic region beneath and around it. A hundred feet in diameter at its widest circumference it rests on a massive tractor base one-hundred feet long by one-hundred feet across. Twenty large geared electric motors, each powering one of twenty wheels, provide propulsion up to a half-mile per hour. It rides on the ocean floor like a car. Independent suspension of each wheel ensures a smooth level ride. Drives like a dream too. The technology came from the lunar rovers and Saturn-rocket crawler transporters of past space programs. Its estimated total weight is one-hundred and ninety-two tons. For power a Westinghouse AP100 nuclear reactor tucked safely away in the tractor base provides a hundred megawatts for the crawler motors and the station’s needs.”