Breakthrough

by Michael C. Grumley

  Next he pointed to her cell phone. “I’ve turned on the GPS navigation on your cell phone and plugged in the coordinates for Bimini. You shouldn’t have any problem finding it. Basically it’s about 70 miles due east. I also disabled your cellular signal so they can’t track you. You also have,” he looked at the gauge, “about half of tank of fuel which should be more than enough to get you there and back. Any questions?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Okay-” Lee suddenly stopped and looked around. Where’s Chris?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Outside they heard someone hop onboard, and a few seconds later the door opened with Chris panting. His arms were filled with junk food from the vending machine inside. “Here take this,” he said dropping everything into a seat next to them. “Wait!” he shouted and quickly pulled an orange life vest from under the same seat. He wrapped it around Alison and clipped it in front.

  She smiled at him reassuringly and gave him a tight hug. She then turned and hugged Lee.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said wondering if that sounded more like a question than a statement. She looked at Chris. “Chris, take Lee and find your mom’s police friend. It won’t be long before the cleaning crew comes in and then all hell is going to break loose. We need to make sure we’re in front of this and already explaining things to somebody.”

  “And what if they ask where you are?” he said.

  She shrugged. “Tell them you don’t know. Tell them we got separated after the shooting. By the time they start to suspect anything, I should already be back with Dirk and Sally.”

  They both nodded sullenly. They opened the door and backed out.

  “Find them Alison.” were Lee’s last words before they shut the door and stepped off back onto the dock. Together they untied the dock lines and threw them aboard, waiting for her to pull away. She peered through the side window and waved. She then pushed forward on the throttle and the engines revved louder, pushing the boat forward through the small waves.

  When Alison was close to a mile out, she opened the engines up and sped forward. The sea was relatively calm as the boat’s bow cut smoothly through the waves. She reached down and typed a simple message as a test; Sally Dirk Stop Danger. She hit the return key and the screen read “Translating…”

  Satisfied, she looked back up and gripped the wheel with both hands. She stared intently through the glass as she could see very little in the dark ocean in front of her.

  Alison thought about the one potential problem with her plan, something she was hoping neither Chris nor Lee would bring up. If by some miracle she did find and stop them, what on earth was she going to do with a nuclear bomb?

  39

  “What?!” Stevas screamed into his phone. He was in disbelief. “All of them?! Every single one?” He listened in anger and his face turned dark red.

  “God Dammit!” He turned and looked across the table to Mason who was watching apprehensively. Stevas closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “They did it!’ he said. “By god they did it! They hit us first! I knew we should have moved faster.”

  He ended the call and looked at Mason. “The bastards destroyed every one of our subs. Every one.” He looked at the wall still shaking his head. “This is Miller’s fault. He kept dragging his damn feet.”

  Mason sighed from across the table. “It didn’t help having to bring the Trident’s in slowly. They could see that coming from a mile away.”

  Stevas turned and pointed at him. “That’s right!” He started pacing. “If they had done things like I wanted to do, like we wanted to do, that ring would be a giant pile of junk right now. Goddam bureaucracy! And those damn panty waists Miller and Langford. We had the President thinking straight before they turned everything around.” He put his hands on his hips. “Dammit!”

  “They’re not going to listen you know.” Mason said. “Miller and Langford are just going to see this attack as them being provoked.”

  “I know.” Stevas said continuing to pace. “And if we think this is bad just wait until all of these U.N. idiots get involved.”

  “Game over.”

  “Not if I can help it.” Stevas held up his phone and began dialing.

  The tank was smaller than their old tank and the building was dark, making it hard to see. Dirk and Sally hovered near the glass wall watching all the men walk back and forth quickly piecing the last of the giant servers together. One man, tall and lanky with dark hair, was sitting in front of the tank typing on a computer. His face reflected an eerie glow from the monitor in front of him. They both wondered where Alison and the others were.

  After what seemed like a long time the man finished typing and looked up at them. A short pause later the words Hello Dirk and Sally came through the underwater speakers.

  Dirk swam past the speaker excited. Hello, he answered.

  Sally swam close to the microphone. Where Alison? Where Chris? Where Lee?

  The man forced a smile and typed back. They will come soon. We are friends. IMIS translated, and Dirk swam excitedly again. The man noticed that Sally continued to watch him very carefully. We need help. He typed.

  Dirk answered quickly. Yes help. Dirk like help.

  We want to give gift to people. He said. People in the city.

  Dirk rolled to the top of the tank and came back down. Dirk take gift. People nice.

  Thank you Dirk. The man at the computer replied. Must go fast.

  Two scuba divers descended from the top of the tank holding a large thick harness. In the middle of the harness was a giant lump hiding a compact nuclear warhead. It was preprogrammed for the ring’s depth and location. As soon as it got within a quarter mile of any part of the ring it would instantly detonate.

  The harness was gently fitted onto Dirk’s back and fastened underneath. When they were done he wagged his tail eagerly and swam around the small tank. Sally stayed close, swimming next to him.

  The man behind the computer was now standing at the end of the tank watching when someone walked up behind him. “We ready Jared?” The young man turned to see Naval Chairman Bruce Bishop.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Any problems?” asked Bishop.

  “None at all sir, they seem to be adjusting quickly.”

  Bishop shrugged. “Good, though it’s not going to matter much longer.” He peered at Dirk and Sally through the glass alongside Jared. “If they’re ready, let’s send them out.”

  Jared nodded and picked up a phone on his desk. “Open the doors.” He put the phone down and typed a message out. Please take gift fast Dirk. Hurry.

  Dirk swim fast. Dirk replied. A few minutes later, behind the dolphins, two large doors began to slowly open. The ocean water on the other side rushed through and mixed with the tank water creating a tiny vortex. Using their powerful tails, both dolphins waited for the surge to subside, then quickly darted into the open ocean and were gone.

  40

  For the second time in less than two weeks, an exhausted Kathryn Lokke saw the McMurdo base station in Antarctica appear on the horizon. Her plane was much larger this time but only slightly more comfortable. Even so, she was really going to miss it when they had to transfer to the smaller and much colder C130s.

  She turned and looked at the rows of people behind her. The effort had come together faster than she could have hoped, and true to his word, President Carr delivered everyone and everything she needed. International experts were brought in almost overnight, and when she explained to her own team what they were up against, almost all of them volunteered to go back. She had never felt so proud and humbled at the same time.

  There was also no question in her mind that telling them the whole truth was the right thing to do. When they learned how grave the situation was, partly after compiling their own results, they were ready to get to work immediately. Nearly all of the remaining members became part of the project planning effort to ‘blow up’ the Ronne Ice
Shelf and prevent a modern catastrophe. Her team worked relentlessly, and by the time the demolition teams had landed, many of the largest logistical problems and details had been worked out. Now the entire group, along with their equipment, was back.

  At over 500 feet thick, the Ronne Ice Shelf presented a number of challenges. First and foremost was the depth of the wells required to ensure the greatest level of explosive effect. And the required mobile drill rigs were huge. They were also slow. In fact, as she found out, it was not the size of the drilling vehicle that was the challenge, it was the amount of the drill string piping needed for each of the vehicles. With at least three hundred feet of piping per drill, they took up most of the storage capacity on the plane.

  Next was the food and supplies. Anderson’s New Zealand team would again serve as guides, but the project was expected to last for months which meant the food and supplies were substantial. The compact snow plow would be essential in creating airstrips smooth enough to land on in order for the planes to safely drop off more supplies. Satellite pictures and deep level scans would help identify the best areas, but in the end it would be up to those on the ground to decide where to plow.

  Due to the urgency involved in getting the project underway, it was decided that it would be carried out in a staggered approach. This meant that with the essentials addressed, Kathryn would then be onsite to continue the planning from their base on the ice. Thanks to some innovative inflatable building structures from Norway, they were able to bring a relatively permanent form of shelter with them. Made out of an expandable material that strengthened as it was exposed to oxygen, the small outbuildings would be fully insulated and capable of housing up to five people each. Best of all, they were heavy but still mobile, so as the drills moved, so could the camp.

  The explosives were expected to be approximately a mile apart, just enough according to their computer simulations to create the vibration and stress needed on the inner shelf to effectively allow it to break itself off and relieve stress at the core. Finally, due to the energy required for the mobile drills, explosives and fuel would be delivered on an almost constant basis. And while her team would be measuring and assessing the surface for the drills, the best news Kathryn could give her team would be that they would sleep warmly at night. That fact alone made them smile.

  It only took four hours to land and transfer their equipment to the waiting C130 planes. They were the best aircraft for transport to the ice shelf as they were more durable and had a much better strength and carrying capacity when factoring in the length required for a landing field. Kathryn had hoped her body had adjusted at least a little to the extreme cold, but the deep chill on board her C130 told her otherwise.

  The planes finally landed and began unloading. The long sunlit nights allowed them to begin setting up immediately and within just a few hours, they had most of the inflatable houses up and operational. The inside temperatures were increasing and expected to reach a balmy sixty degrees Fahrenheit. The drill teams prepped their three mobile drillers and readied them for the next morning. They estimated that each mobile drill could create one two-hundred foot hole per day which meant that they were expecting a rate of progress of two or three miles a day for a total of 60 to 70 miles per month. Therefore their best case scenario would allow them to detonate in six to eight weeks.

  Kathryn hoped they had enough time.

  41

  The swells were getting taller the further Alison got from land, and the morning sun was finally beginning to crest over the horizon. The straps that the guys installed were keeping the server relatively stable, but she kept her hand on the equipment when she could to help counter the rocking motion of the boat. The increasing swells and the sensitivity of the server kept her limited to a relatively slow speed, so after more than two hours she was not even half the distance to Bimini. Alison also realized that to transmit a clear signal, she had to stop and turn off the engine. This kept the engine noise from impairing the broadcast from the speakers, something she remembered from their trip on the Pathfinder. Unfortunately, every time she turned off the engine, the battery backup device would sound an audible alarm indicating that it had lost power from its source. She wished Lee would have remembered to disable that. The benefit though was that she had a digital display of exactly how much more time she had left before the battery went dead.

  She throttled down again and let the boat coast to a stop. Most of the boat’s rolling motion disappeared, and she let go of the server to reach over and turn off the ignition. She turned on the monitor and typed the command again; Dirk Sally Stop Danger. A moment later, she heard the sound come out from the speakers under the boat. She waited patiently for a couple minutes and tried again. While she waited, she wondered how far the sound from those speakers could travel in the open ocean. She knew that sound traveled better underwater, but she had not thought to ask Lee what the distance was. It also occurred to her that she didn’t know exactly which direction Dirk and Sally might be coming from. They assumed it would be a similarly straight line from Miami, but if not then the range of those speakers were even more critical. The other unknown was when Dirk and Sally would be coming. John Clay indicated it was going to happen soon but the more she thought about the statement, the less sure she was. Did he mean soon as in now or soon as in a couple of weeks? In the end she didn’t know, she just had to go with her gut.

  Alison was beginning to feel the exhaustion setting in. She sat down and reached for a couple more packs of Oreo cookies. The previous dose had perked her up, and she was hoping they would again as she tore the wrapper open. She slowly chewed the cookies and thought about how much less enjoyable junk food was when it was your only option.

  Alison sent one last message before starting up the engine again. When the engine rumbled to life, the alert on the battery shut off and the system when back to charging. She eased the throttle forward again and verified her location on the GPS as the boat resumed her drive forward through the small waves.

  After the third hour, she began stopping the boat more frequently and sending more broadcasts. Sitting on the seat waiting, she watched the server nervously as it rocked more from side to side under the influence of the swells rolling under the boat. She looked at the digital screen on the backup battery. She had three minutes of power left. At two minutes, she turned the engine back on and continued forward. Alison was getting increasingly nervous.

  After each stop, Alison’s anxiety grew until she was well within sight of Bimini Island’s south cay. She did not know where this underwater city was, but she couldn’t be very far from it. It probably would not be long until she was right on top of it which meant she may not be able to reach Dirk and Sally until it was too late. Her heart began beating faster at the sudden prospect of now being too close to what was about to happen.

  Alison quickly stood up and decided to head back away from the island. She turned the key to start the engine and listened to the battery alert, waiting to hear it go off. In a moment of confusion, she looked down at her hand thinking something did not seem right. The battery alert was still sounding, but she realized the key had already been turned. She was not sure what she did wrong, but she tried it again, twisting it back to its original position and then turning the key again. Again, nothing happened. She looked at the battery and the alarm was still ringing. The display on the battery read five minutes and forty-eight seconds, but what caused Alison to panic was that the display did not indicate that it was charging again.

  She quickly examined the ignition area, thinking she hit something or flipped a switch accidentally turning something off. She could not find anything, every piece seemed firmly in place or downright immovable. She tried to start the engine again, this time a little more forcibly. All she heard was a mechanical “click” somewhere inside. She instantly felt a feeling of dread come over her and stop right in the middle of her stomach as though she was going to be sick. “Oh god,” she said, trying the key one more time. Stil
l nothing.

  “Oh god! Please, please start!” she moaned. She kicked the area beneath the steering wheel, very nearly breaking her foot. She was now in a full panic. She looked at the battery display which read five minutes and twenty one seconds left. Alison suddenly realized that if she could not start the engine this was all she had left on the server. She desperately hit the return key sending out another broadcast. The battery continued to count down. “No No NO!” she screamed. She checked the gas gauge and found the tank still a quarter full. She tried an interior light which showed the electrical was working.

  As the battery kept counting down, a dark realization swept over her like a terrible nightmare. Not only was she about to lose power and the ability to call out to Dirk and Sally…but without the ability to start the engine she couldn’t leave. She was stuck and probably well within range of being killed instantly when the bomb went off. She was trapped.

  “God, please no!’ she screamed again, now hitting the keyboard over and over in desperation. Below her, the sound from the speakers could be heard broadcasting the same familiar clicks in rapid succession. She stood watching helplessly as the battery display counted down past the five minute mark.

  Sally followed close behind an excited Dirk who swam quickly through the emerald blue waters. Both were happy to be in the open ocean again. She stayed close to Dirk easily as the large gift on his back slowed him down. She could now detect the distant hum of the giant ring almost twenty miles away. It was then that she heard something else, a faint sound coming from another direction. Sally slowed, listening as Dirk began to pull away. The sound was familiar. She watched Dirk, intent on helping his friends, slowly fade ahead into the glimmering blue veil of the underwater sunlight.