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Dodge gave the young officer a stern look for unmilitary enthusiasm. "Should have been here eight minutes ago," he grunted.
"My fault, General. I took the liberty of trimming the outer perimeters and enlarging the immediate search area before having it computer-enhanced."
Dodge's stern expression softened and he nodded approvingly.
"Good thinking, Lieutenant."
Jones gave a short sigh and quickly clipped the newest satellite image on a long wallboard under a row of hooded spotlights. An earlier image hung nearby, showing the Lady Flamborough's last known position circled in red, her previous course marked in green, and predicted course in orange.
Jones stepped back as General Dodge and his officers crowded around the image, peering anxiously for the tiny dot indicating the cruise ship.
"The last satellite sighting put the ship about one hundred kilometers south of Cape Horn," said a major, tracing the course from the previous chart. "She should be well out into Drake's Passage by now, approaching the islands off the Antarctic peninsula."
After nearly a full minute of appraisal, General Dodge turned to Jones.
"Did you study the photo, Lieutenant?"
"No, sir. I didn't take the time. I rushed it over as quickly as possible."
"You're certain this is the latest transmission?"
Jones looked puzzled. "Yes, sir."
"No mistake?"
"None," Jones replied unhesitatingly. "The NUMA Seasat satellite recorded the area with digital electronic impulses that were sent to ground stations instantaneously. You're seeing an image no more than six minutes old."
"When will the next photo come in?"
"The Landsat should orbit the region in forty minutes."
"And the Casper?"
Jones glanced at his watch. "If she returns on schedule, we should be looking at film in four hours."
"Get it to me the instant it arrives."
"Yes, sir. "
Dodge turned to his subordinates. "Well, gentlemen, the White House ain't going to like this."
He went over and picked up a phone. "Put me through to Alan Merger."
The National Security Adviser's voice came over the line within twenty seconds. "I hope you've got some good news, Frarik.
"Sorry, no," Dodge answered flatly. "
It appears the cruise ship-"
"She sank?" Mercier cut him off.
"We can't say with any certainty."
"What are you saying?"
Dodge took a breath. "Please inform the President the Lady Flamborough has vanished again."
By the early 1990s equipment for sending photographs or graphics around the world by nucrowave via satellite or across town by fiber optics became as common in business and government offices as copy machines.
