Deception Point Page 34

Tolland looked only partially comforted, his succor apparently clouded by a deeper mystery. I cant be for positive(predicate) with place a microscope, Tolland said, but it looks to me like this is a bioluminescent plankton from the phylum Pyrrophyta. Its name way of life fire plant. The cold Ocean is fil conduct with it.Corky shrugged. So whyd you learn if they were from space?Because, Tolland said, the meteorite was buried in glacial rubbish-fresh water from snowfalls. The water in that jumble is glacial melt and has been frozen for three centuries. How could ocean creatures complicate in there?Tollands point brought a long silence.Rachel stood at the butt on of the pool and tried to get her mind around what she was looking at. bioluminescent plankton in the extraction make love. What does it mean?Theres got to be a crack someplace down there, Tolland said. Its the only explanation. The plankton essential have entered the shaft through and through a fissure in the ice th at allowed ocean water to seep in.Rachel didnt understand. flow in? From where? She recalled her long IceR all over ride in from the ocean. The coast is a broad(a) two miles from here.Both Corky and Tolland gave Rachel an odd look. Actually, Corky said, the ocean is promptly underneath us. This slab of ice is undirected.Rachel stared at the two men, feeling utterly perplexed. directionless? But were on a glacier.Yes, were on a glacier, Tolland said, but were non over land. Glaciers sometimes flow off a landmass and sports fan out over water. Because ice is lighter than water, the glacier simply continues to flow, floating out over the ocean like an enormous ice raft. Thats the definition of an ice shelf the floating section of a glacier. He paused. Were actually closely a mile out to sea at the moment.Shocked, Rachel instantly became wary. As she adjusted her mental picture of her surroundings, the thought of standing over the Arctic Ocean brought with it a sense of fear.Tol land seemed to sense her uneasiness. He stamped his foot reassuringly on the ice. Dont worry. This ice is three hundred feet thick, with two hundred of those feet floating below the water like an ice cube in a glass. Makes the shelf rattling stable. You could build a skyscraper on this thing.Rachel gave a queasy nod, not entirely convinced. The misgivings aside, she now understood Tollands theory about the origins of the plankton. He thinks theres a crack that goes all the way down to the ocean, allowing plankton to come up through it into the hole. It was feasible, Rachel decided, and yet it involved a paradox that bothered her. Norah Mangor had been very clear about the integrity of the glacier, having drilled dozens of stress cores to nurture its solidity.Rachel looked at Tolland. I thought the glaciers perfection was the cornerstone of all the strata-dating records. Didnt Dr. Mangor utter the glacier had no cracks or fissures?Corky frowned. Looks like the ice queen muffed i t.Dont swan that too loudly, Rachel thought, or youll get an ice pick in the back.Tolland stroked his mentum as he watched the phosphorescing creatures. Theres literally no other explanation. There must be a crack. The weight of the ice shelf on summit of the ocean must be pushing plankton-rich sea-water up into the hole.One hell on earth of a crack, Rachel thought. If the ice here was three hundred feet thick and the hole was two hundred feet deep, then this hypothetical crack had to pass through a hundred feet of solid ice. Norah Mangors test cores showed no cracks.Do me a favor, Tolland said to Corky. Go find Norah. Lets hope to God she knows something about this glacier that shes not telling us. And find Ming, too, maybe he can tell us what these little glow-beasties are.Corky headed off.Better hurry, Tolland called after him, glancing back into the hole. I could commit this bioluminescence is fading.Rachel looked at the hole. Sure enough, the green was not so brilliant now. Tolland remove his parka and lay down on the ice next to the hole.Rachel watched, confused. mike?I want to find out if theres any saltwater silky in.By lying on the ice without a coat?Yup. Tolland crawled on his belly to the edge of the hole. Holding one sleeve of the coat over the edge, he let the other sleeve dangle down the shaft until the cuff skimmed the water. This is a highly accurate salinity test used by world-class oceanographers. Its called licking a wet jacket. tabu on the ice shelf, Delta-One struggled with the controls, seek to keep the damaged microbot in evasion over the group now assembled around the excavation pit. From the sounds of the conversation beneath, he knew things were unraveling fast.Call the controller, he said. Weve got a serious problem.40Gabrielle Ashe had interpreted the black-and-blue business firm public tour many times in her youth, on the QT dreaming of someday working inside the presidential mansion and seemly part of the elite team th at charted the countrys future. At the moment, however, she would have preferred to be anywhere else in the world.As the Secret gentleman from the East opening led Gabrielle into an ornate foyer, she wondered what in the world her anonymous informant was trying to prove. Inviting Gabrielle into the White raise was insane. What if Im seen? Gabrielle had become quite visible lately in the media as Senator Sextons right-hand aide. Certainly someone would recognize her.Ms. Ashe?Gabrielle looked up. A kind-faced pathfinder in the foyer gave her a welcoming smile. Look over there, please. He pointed.Gabrielle looked where he was pointing and was blinded by a flashbulb.Thank you, maam. The pathfinder led her to a desk and handed her a pen. Please sign the entry log. He pushed a heavy leather binder in front of her.Gabrielle looked at the log. The page before her was blank. She recalled hearing at a time that all White House visitors sign on their own blank page to preserve the hidin g of their visit. She signed her name.So much for a secret meeting.Gabrielle walked through a metal detector, and was then given a cursory pat down.The sentry smiled. Enjoy your visit, Ms. Ashe.Gabrielle followed the Secret gentleman fifty feet down a tile hallway to a second security desk. Here, another(prenominal) sentry was set up a guest pass that was just rolling out of a lamination machine. He punched a hole in it, affixed a grapple cord, and slipped it over Gabrielles head. The plastic was still warm. The photo on the ID was the snapshot they had taken fifteen seconds earlier down the hall.Gabrielle was impressed. Who says government is inefficient?They continued, the Secret Serviceman leading her deeper into the White House complex. Gabrielle was feeling more uneasy with each step. Whoever had extended the mysterious invitation certainly was not concerned about tutelage the meeting private. Gabrielle had been issued an official pass, signed the guest log, and was now be ing marched in plain view through the first floor of the White House where public tours were gathered.And this is the China Room, a tour guide was saying to a group of tourists, home of Nancy Reagans $952 per setting red-rimmed china that sparked a fight over conspicuous consumption back in 1981.The Secret Serviceman led Gabrielle past the tour toward a huge marble staircase, where another tour was ascending. You are about to enter the thirty-two-hundred-square-foot East Room, the guide was narrating, where Abigail Adams once hung John Adamss laundry. Then we will pass to the Red Room, where Dolley Madison liquored up visiting heads of state before James Madison negotiated with them.