Breakthrough(9)

Emerson frowned and nodded. “So what is it that has us racing across the whole damn Atlantic to meet you fellas?”

Clay smiled. Like Caesare, Emerson was another old Navy friend. And though he took great pleasure maintaining his gruff exterior, much like the old sea dogs, he was never able to fully pull it off. Nevertheless, Emerson had fun playing the part. He was a good friend to have, being skipper of one of the leading research vessels in the Navy’s Military Sealift Command. A large part of the MSC’s primary mission was to provide a wide range of support operations including fueling, vehicles, ammunition, and supplies. Being part of the support system for the entire U.S Navy gave Emerson a deep insight into many things which the military arm was involved.

Clay shrugged. “Just some signal interference. We need to put it to bed so the Alabama can go back out. We lucked out that you were closest and have the new ROV on board.”

“Well, we’re certainly one of the more comfortable ships.” He signaled to a subordinate to take over the bridge. “You’ll like the rover called Triton II; no tether and uses ultra-low frequency which gives it a damn impressive range.”

“How deep have you taken her?” asked Caesare.

“Four thousand feet, maybe more. We’ll have to ask Tay; he’s the lead engineer.”

Clay and Caesare were impressed. Almost a mile without a tether was nothing short of astounding.

Emerson led the men outside and back down the way they came. At the bottom of the stairs, a female officer stopped and saluted. The captain returned it quickly without slowing. He saw the men exchange looks from the corner of his eye and replied without being asked. “We have six female officers on board. Bit of a pain to set up separate quarters and all, but it’s worth it. Having them aboard raises the level of professionalism, contrary to popular belief.” He ducked and stepped through a doorway and after a left turn stepped into the galley. “Coffee?” he asked, picking up a pot and selecting a mug from a neatly stacked pile.

Nodding, they both accepted a cup in turn.

“So, what kind of interference you guys having down here?”

Clay shrugged. “Not entirely sure. Nothing too serious, probably just interference based on high iron in the soil. We need to get some samples for analysis.” He sipped from his mug. “We may have to come back out with an old sub and spot check if we don’t find something obvious.”

Caesare looked at Emerson. “Incidentally Captain, we’d like to get some system logs from the Pathfinder too and compare them with the sub’s. It’s likely an issue with depth or proximity to pockets of mineral concentrations, so we should eliminate surface ships from the list while we’re here.”

“Of course,” Emerson nodded. He looked at his watch. “We should head aft. Tay and the team should be about ready to launch the Triton. We’ll be at your coordinates within a few minutes.”

Reaching the stern of the ship, Clay and Caesare found several of the team slowly lifting the Triton II up and off the deck. The craft was a noticeable change from most of the Navy’s previous remote operated vehicles. Unlike the older tubular designs, the Triton was closer to U-shaped with most of the craft built around a clear, giant sphere. A number of motors and fins were attached to what was considered the back, though the entire craft was still more round than anything else. Unlike the traditional designs of submarines, a sphere or globe maintained perfect pressure on all sides as it descended, in essence making the craft stronger the deeper it went. By designing the Triton around such a shape, it was able to reach deeper depths without special efforts to increase body strength required in older tube shapes. The tradeoff, of course, was speed. With more surface area meeting the water while it moved, Clay guessed that the Triton was likely twenty-five percent slower than older models. Nevertheless, with the benefit of a deeper limit without a ship having to carry thousands of feet of thick cable to use as an umbilical cord, he could see why the Triton II was so popular.

Edwin Tay was of Chinese descent and looked to be in his late thirties. He was shorter than the rest of the team but was clearly in charge. He was giving a steady stream of instructions as they smoothly moved the rover out and over the water, suspended by a long, thick articulating arm. He finally turned and motioned for one of his team to lock it in place just moments before the drone of the engines disappeared and the ship began slowing to a stop. Emerson caught his attention and waved him over.

“Mr. Tay, meet lieutenants John Clay and Steve Caesare. Our friends from the E&S team in D.C.”