Return to Atlantis - By Andy McDermott Page 0,105

And if you’re worried about having your boss looking over your shoulder, don’t be. Until we uncover the last of the Atlantean text I’ll only be there as an observer, and even then it’s still your dig.”

That mollified him, however slightly. “Well, I suppose that if Matt’s happy to have you as passengers …”

Matt shrugged. “No problem for me.”

“Excellent,” said Nina. She got to her feet. “In that case, let’s go and find out the fate of Atlantis.”

It took more than the predicted hour, the safety procedures being slowed by the Gant’s wallowing, but eventually both submersibles were descending toward the ruins of Atlantis.

Even though she knew there would be nothing to see until they reached the ocean floor eight hundred feet below, Nina nevertheless leaned around Matt in the central pilot’s position to watch their descent through the large acrylic bubble window. The light from the surface faded surprisingly quickly, the cold blue of the ocean outside becoming darker and more ominous before ultimately turning to darkness.

Matt switched on the sub’s spotlights. Nina experienced an oddly vertiginous feeling; the intense beams picked out particles in the water as the submersible dropped past them, the effect making it seem as though they were plunging like a falling elevator.

But she knew they were perfectly safe. Nothing might be visible through the viewport, but Matt’s sub was equipped with a LIDAR laser scanning system that swept the ocean around them far beyond the range of the human eye. The engineer had used similar systems in his previous craft, but this went a step farther by covering a full 360 degrees. Sharkdozer II was an odd-looking vessel: Its main hull was a fairly standard cigar shape, but protruding from each side like the steroidal limbs of a bodybuilder were huge mechanical arms, almost comically out of proportion with the rest of the sub. Making them even stranger were the tool-equipped secondary arms sprouting from behind their wrists, designed for more delicate work than the brute-force claws of their parents. The whole submersible was mounted upon four helicopter-like skids, each of which could be independently adjusted hydraulically to give it as much lifting leverage as possible against the ocean floor. The LIDAR scanner, allied with the cameras on each of the four “hands,” meant the arms could be operated even if they were out of direct sight of a viewport.

The only thing currently on the LIDAR display was the expedition’s other sub. Gypsy was some thirty yards to their right, the spears of its own spotlights visible through a small secondary porthole. It was a much more conventional vessel, equipped with a single, far smaller manipulator arm and numerous camera mounts and sample racks. Hayter’s voice crackled over the radio. “Passing three hundred feet, confirm.”

“Confirm,” Matt replied. Radio communications were possible underwater, but only at very limited ranges, and the message was already distorted.

Eddie examined the controls for the arms. Rather than being simple joysticks, they were also able to bend and twist. “How much can these things lift?”

“If the sub’s properly braced on the seabed, up to three tons,” Matt told him. “If I’m free-floating and holding it on the thrusters, about half that.” He activated the autopilot to hold Sharkdozer on its descent and took one of the arm controls. “Here, check this out.”

The submersible tipped slightly on its port side as he moved the left stick to swing the corresponding arm outward. A turn and twist, and its claw came into view through the forward viewport, steel glinting in the spotlights. He worked a smaller videogame-like thumbstick. “Wave hello to Nina and Eddie!” The claw obediently waggled up and down.

“Cute,” said Nina.

“Wait till you see this.” A flick of a switch, and he worked the smaller control again. The secondary arm unfolded and reached out to tap gently on the thick bubble with a rubber-tipped “finger.” A computer graphic superimposed over the LIDAR display showed exactly where both arms were positioned relative to the sub. “That’s some real precision engineering there. I could sign my name at a thousand feet down with that.”

“I think it’d ruin your pen, though,” said Eddie. The Australian grinned and returned the arms to their original places.

“Typical guys,” Nina scoffed. “We’re on our way to one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, and all you care about are your big-boys’ toys.”

Matt laughed, then took back the main controls. Both submersibles continued their long fall into the cold, dark void.

After some time, an electronic

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