TW05 The Nautilus Sanction NEW Read Online Free PDF

sub’s exact position at any given time.
    Consequently, there was never any need to aim the missiles. If an order for launch was received, it would take only moments, if not seconds, to go through the procedure necessary to fire the missiles. One such MIRV missile could be fired every minute. No input into the ballistic computers was needed. The missiles would already know where they had to go.”
    Finn expelled the breath he had been holding in a soft
whoosh.
He raised his hand. “Delaney?” said Forrester. “How deep could these things go, sir?”
    “The Typhoon sub could dive to a depth of over four thousand feet,” said Forrester. “However, that is a conservative figure. We don’t know what the crush depth of the Soviet subs was and there’s every reason to believe they were capable of going deeper. Also, due to the fact the Soviets were always classification-happy, and due to the fact no one had ever succeeded in actually capturing a Soviet nuclear sub—”
    “Until now,” Andre said, softly.
    “—there is very little known about their actual capabilities. Without a pipeline into the KGB, we would have known even less.”
    There was a profoundly uneasy silence in the room. Forrester glanced about grimly at all the tense faces.
    “If there are no further questions for the moment, I’ll continue. I’ve received an order for complete mobilization of the First Division. Both Temporal Intelligence and the Referee Corps are proceeding on the assumption the object of the hijacking is blackmail, on a nuclear scale. It’s the only scenario that makes any sort of sense. We—”
    Andre raised her hand. “Yes, Corporal Cross?” said Forrester.
    “Excuse me, sir, but it occurs to me that we should have the means of dealing with a threat of this nature. Satellite detection, combined with BPW technology would—”
    “If I may anticipate you,” Forrester interrupted, “there’s a basic flaw in your reasoning. It’s essentially good reasoning and it would certainly solve the problem if it were not for the submarine now being capable of temporal translocation. We can’t exactly put satellites in orbit in every conceivable period of time where the submarine might show up. It simply isn’t practical. Moreover, even if we had the logistics to accomplish such a task, there exist certain insurmountable problems. While Beam Particle Weaponry might well neutralize a ballistic missile threat, there are certain scenarios in which we would not be able to employ BPWs. For example, suppose the submarine was clocked into the 20th century. Its advanced design would still enable it to avoid detection by the world powers of that time. However, keep in mind the technological capabilities of the governments of the 20th century. It’s extremely doubtful we’d be able to deploy surveillance satellites and BPWs without their being alerted. The United States had their space shuttle already operational by the early 1980’s. The Soviets also had orbital vehicles of their own. If we put up so much as one orbital satellite, chances are it would be discovered fairly quickly and orbital missions would be launched to investigate. Do you really want either the 20th-century Americans or Russians to find a Beam Particle Weapon in orbit?”
    Andre grimaced and nodded. “Yes, sir. I see your point. I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t be. What we need now are ideas. If anyone has a brainstorm, fire away. The worst that will happen is your idea will be shot down. Meanwhile, we will proceed with the only other option currently available to us. Several teams are going to be held in reserve, in case any temporal adjustment missions come up that require immediate action while all this is going on. The rest of you are going to be clocked to various locales in Minus Time to investigate reports of sightings that could be the submarine. It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack, people, but there isn’t much else we can do at the moment. We have