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Monk glanced at Adam. They both knew the crash likely happened in that timeframe.
“This forest has been here for millennia on end.” Phoebe waved a hand at the dark swath. “This blight is new. Something about that wreckage is to blame. I’m sure of it.”
“But we can’t get any closer to investigate,” Datuk reminded them.
“What about the ROV attached to the underside of theCormorant?” Adam asked.
Phoebe shook her head. “Its tether only stretches eighty meters. We’re still a quarter mile off. To utilize the ROV, we’d still have to bring theCormorantin close.”
“We mustn’t,” Datuk warned. “If the radiation level continues to rise at the same rate as I’ve recorded, it’ll be deadly within that range.”
“But notimmediatelyfatal,” Phoebe added.
Bryan concurred, but he didn’t look happy about it. “The titanium and the leaded glass of the sphere will offer some protection. Up to a limit.”
Phoebe nodded. “Which means we could live long enough to investigate, to find out the reason for the quakes and maybe discover a way to stop them.”
“Only to die of radiation sickness afterward,” Adam added.
Phoebe shrugged. “If it meant saving millions.”
Monk lifted a hand. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s first confirmwherethe submarine came from. Whoever lost it might have answers that won’t require us sacrificing ourselves.”
Bryan pointed ahead. “We’re close enough that we can use our 4K cameras to zoom in on the site and try to identify the sub from here.”
“Let’s do it,” Monk said.
Phoebe and Bryan quickly set to work, shifting through theCormorant’s eight cameras. They also raised an eight-foot light tower.
“The SeaCam looks like it’s our best bet,” Bryan concluded. “It has the greatest zoom capability, especially in low light.”
“I agree.”
On the monitor above the pilot station, a blurry image appeared. With some final adjustments, it grew clearer, revealing a close-up of the black stain spreading across the bright landscape ahead.
“Zooming in now,” Phoebe said.
The view ratcheted forward, pushing out into the darkness, to the farthest reach of the light array’s twenty thousand lumens.
Nothing came into view.
Phoebe huffed and toggled the camera right and left.
“Wait!” Monk called. “Swing the other way.”
The image stuttered as it swept back.
“There!” Monk leaned forward and pointed to a duller blot against the blackness. “Zoom on that.”
Phoebe nodded. “Hang on.”
The view leaped forward again. The blot swelled into a grainy view of a gray tower sticking out of the black coral. The rest of the submarine remained buried, but what was in view was enough. Both Monk and Adam had reviewed the surveillance footage from the Huludao Shipyard. The Chinese Type 096 SSBN had a very distinct sail.
He shared a look with Adam.
A sail just like that one.
Adam gave him a small nod of confirmation, while continuing to stare at Datuk. The biochemist showed no reaction.
