with.'
'With any luck, just one,' Talbot said. 'Sonar picks up only one. Extremely unlikely that all three would be ticking in perfect unison. Point's academic, anyway. One or a hundred, the big boys would still go up.'
'Identified by size, they say,' Hawkins went on. 'Sixty inches by six. Pretty small for an atom bomb, I would have thought. 4000 kilotons. That's a lot, Dr Wickram?'
'By today's standards, peanuts. Less than half the size of the Hiroshima bomb. If the bomb is the dimensions they say, then it's very large for such a small explosive value.'
'It goes on to say that they're designated for marine use. I suppose that's a fancy way of saying that they are mines. So your guess was right, Dr Wickram.'
'Also explains the size of the bomb. Quite a bit of space will be taken up by the timing mechanism and, of course, it will have to be weighted to give it negative buoyancy.'
The real sting comes in the tail,' Hawkins said. '"When the ticking stops the timing clock has run out and the firing mechanism is activated and ready to be triggered by mechanical stimulation", by which I take it they mean ship's engines. So it looks as if you were right about that one, Van Gelder. Then, by way of cheerful farewell, they say that enquiries so far confirm that the timing mechanism, once in operation, cannot be neutralized and appears to be irreversible.'
The last words were met with silence. No one had any comment to make for the excellent reason that everyone had already been convinced of the fact.
'A message to the Pentagon, Myers. "Urgently require to know state of development of the EG & G krytron" -- that's k-r-y-t-r-o-n, isn't it, Lieutenant? -- "nuclear detonation device."' Talbot paused. 'Add: "If operating model exists essential dispatch immediately with instructions." That do, Admiral?' Hawkins nodded. 'Sign it Admiral Hawkins.'
'We must be giving them quite some headaches in the Pentagon,' Hawkins said in some satisfaction. 'This should call for still more aspirin.'
'Aspirins are not enough,' Van Gelder said. 'Sleepless nights are what are called for.'
'You have something in mind, Van Gelder?'
'Yes, sir. They can have no idea of the really horrendous potential of the situation here in Santorini - the combination of all those megatons of hydrogen bombs, thermal plumes and volcanoes and earthquakes along the tectonic plate boundaries and the possibly cataclysmic results. If Professor Benson here were to make a very brief précis of the lecture he gave us in the wardroom this evening it might give them something more to think about.'
'You have an evil mind, Van Gelder. What a perfectly splendid suggestion. Uneasy will lie the heads along the Potomac this night. What do you think, Professor?'
'It will be a pleasure.'
When Sub-Lieutenant Cousteau, together with the two divers and their equipment, returned from Santoriai, they found the Ariadne in virtual darkness. With the thought of the malevolent listening bug on the sea-floor dominating every other in his mind, Talbot had sought Lieutenant Denholm's advice on the question of noise suppression: Denholm had not been half-hearted in his recommendations, with the result that the use of all mechanical devices on the ship, from generators to electric shavers, had been banned. Only essential lighting, radar, sonar and radio were functioning normally: all these could function equally well, as they had been designed to do, on battery power. The sonar watch on the ticking device in the crashed bomber was now continuous.
The two divers, Chief Petty Officer Carrington and Petty Officer Grant, were curiously alike, both aged about thirty, of medium height and compact build: both were much given to smiling, a cheerfulness that in no way detracted from their almost daunting aura of competence. They were with Talbot and Van Gelder in the wardroom.
'That's all I know about the situation down there,' Talbot said, 'and heaven knows it's little enough. I
'With any luck, just one,' Talbot said. 'Sonar picks up only one. Extremely unlikely that all three would be ticking in perfect unison. Point's academic, anyway. One or a hundred, the big boys would still go up.'
'Identified by size, they say,' Hawkins went on. 'Sixty inches by six. Pretty small for an atom bomb, I would have thought. 4000 kilotons. That's a lot, Dr Wickram?'
'By today's standards, peanuts. Less than half the size of the Hiroshima bomb. If the bomb is the dimensions they say, then it's very large for such a small explosive value.'
'It goes on to say that they're designated for marine use. I suppose that's a fancy way of saying that they are mines. So your guess was right, Dr Wickram.'
'Also explains the size of the bomb. Quite a bit of space will be taken up by the timing mechanism and, of course, it will have to be weighted to give it negative buoyancy.'
The real sting comes in the tail,' Hawkins said. '"When the ticking stops the timing clock has run out and the firing mechanism is activated and ready to be triggered by mechanical stimulation", by which I take it they mean ship's engines. So it looks as if you were right about that one, Van Gelder. Then, by way of cheerful farewell, they say that enquiries so far confirm that the timing mechanism, once in operation, cannot be neutralized and appears to be irreversible.'
The last words were met with silence. No one had any comment to make for the excellent reason that everyone had already been convinced of the fact.
'A message to the Pentagon, Myers. "Urgently require to know state of development of the EG & G krytron" -- that's k-r-y-t-r-o-n, isn't it, Lieutenant? -- "nuclear detonation device."' Talbot paused. 'Add: "If operating model exists essential dispatch immediately with instructions." That do, Admiral?' Hawkins nodded. 'Sign it Admiral Hawkins.'
'We must be giving them quite some headaches in the Pentagon,' Hawkins said in some satisfaction. 'This should call for still more aspirin.'
'Aspirins are not enough,' Van Gelder said. 'Sleepless nights are what are called for.'
'You have something in mind, Van Gelder?'
'Yes, sir. They can have no idea of the really horrendous potential of the situation here in Santorini - the combination of all those megatons of hydrogen bombs, thermal plumes and volcanoes and earthquakes along the tectonic plate boundaries and the possibly cataclysmic results. If Professor Benson here were to make a very brief précis of the lecture he gave us in the wardroom this evening it might give them something more to think about.'
'You have an evil mind, Van Gelder. What a perfectly splendid suggestion. Uneasy will lie the heads along the Potomac this night. What do you think, Professor?'
'It will be a pleasure.'
When Sub-Lieutenant Cousteau, together with the two divers and their equipment, returned from Santoriai, they found the Ariadne in virtual darkness. With the thought of the malevolent listening bug on the sea-floor dominating every other in his mind, Talbot had sought Lieutenant Denholm's advice on the question of noise suppression: Denholm had not been half-hearted in his recommendations, with the result that the use of all mechanical devices on the ship, from generators to electric shavers, had been banned. Only essential lighting, radar, sonar and radio were functioning normally: all these could function equally well, as they had been designed to do, on battery power. The sonar watch on the ticking device in the crashed bomber was now continuous.
The two divers, Chief Petty Officer Carrington and Petty Officer Grant, were curiously alike, both aged about thirty, of medium height and compact build: both were much given to smiling, a cheerfulness that in no way detracted from their almost daunting aura of competence. They were with Talbot and Van Gelder in the wardroom.
'That's all I know about the situation down there,' Talbot said, 'and heaven knows it's little enough. I
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