“Who knows,” said Tay. “You guys might just solve the old triangle mystery.”
And litter the Caribbean with thousands of mining rigs, thought Clay.
“Passing one hundred meters.”
The video feed now showed nothing but the white light in front of the Triton’s window, surrounded by a ring of black water. The specks in the water zipped by now, looking more like strings than dots. It reminded Clay a little of the special effects of stars speeding past in the old science fiction movies.
“How much physical range does the Triton have in those batteries?” Caesare asked.
“Depends on our speed,” replied Tay. “With our planned speed and depth we should be able cover a few square miles and still have enough to get her back to the ship.”
“Passing two hundred meters.”
“You guys realize that we’ll only be able to scoop the soil down to six or seven inches deep right? We only have-” Tay stopped speaking as he noticed some interference in the video monitor. “That’s strange, we’ve never seen interference at this depth before.” He turned his head slightly without taking his eyes away. “Let’s record this,” he called. Behind him a crew member typed a few strokes on his keyboard and another monitor began displaying a copy of the Triton’s video feed. A red circle appeared in the upper right hand corner indicating a recording in progress.
“Passing three hundred meters.”
The interference was getting noticeably worse now, reminiscent of the old TV antennae reception that Clay had used as a boy. The snow was quickly taking over the screen.
“Alright, let’s slow her down,” Tay cautioned.
Lightfoot pulled back slowly on the joystick.
“Passing four hundred meters.”
“Slow her down, slow her down,” barked Tay.
“I’m trying,” replied Lightfoot. He pulled back harder on the stick. There was no noticeable change in speed. The specks were still flying past and becoming very hard to see with so much interference. They were almost invisible now.
“Turn us out!”
Lightfoot twisted the joystick trying to bank the Triton out of its steep dive. The picture shifted only slightly.
“We’re losing her!” Lightfoot shouted.
He gave it everything and pushed the stick hard to the right. The rover continued its path downward. He jammed it left. “I’m getting no response!”
Tay jumped past Lightfoot and slammed his hand down on one of the buttons on the control panel. “Blow the tanks before we lose signal!”
A moment later the video screen faded to black. The interference was gone along with the signal.
There was a long silence before Tay spoke. “Shit.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Let’s try and track it with sonar and see where it lands. With any luck it emptied its tanks and will float to the top.” He backed up and leaned against a metal desk along the opposite wall, thinking a moment before turning to Clay. “If it doesn’t come up, we’re going to have to call in another ship with a tethered rover.”
“How long will that take?”
“Depends on how far away they are. Probably a few days. We have more than enough room for you two if you’d like to stay.”
“Thanks.” Clay looked around the room. “Do you have a phone I can use for a ship to shore?”
“Yeah,” replied Lightfoot, standing up. “I’ll show you.”
Caesare frowned and watched them leave. Three more days. That was one call Admiral Langford would not be happy to get.
Tay turned back to Caesare. “Well you sure have something down there.” He looked back at the blank monitor. “Triton uses ultra-low frequency at 3 hertz, which should be immune from damn near everything. Whatever your problem is, it’s not mineral deposits.”
7
Alison walked down the darkened hall with a cold Coke in her hand. She didn’t care for sodas but she needed the caffeine. She looked at her watch; it was almost midnight and she was thinking about home, especially after sleeping in her office the last few nights. As Alison entered the lab, she saw Lee still sitting at this desk, looking at the racks of servers and their countless green lights flashing and illuminating the dark walls with a soft glow.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” she said, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to him.
He smiled without looking over. “I really should go home, I’m beat.”
“Why don’t you?”
He looked at her now with a smirk. “Why don’t you?”
“I guess I just want to see what your servers can do,” she said playfully.