小说园

第41部分（第2页）

＇＇276＇＇　Norman　and　Beth　waited　for　him　to　figure　it　out。　Norman　thought：　How　can　we　ever　get　along　without　Harry？　We　need　him。　He　is　both　the　most　important　intelligence　down　here；　and　the　most　dangerous。　But　we　need　him。

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〃Interesting；〃　Harry　said。　〃The　letters　are　ing　about　every　five　seconds。　So　I　think　its　safe　to　say　that　we　know　where　its　ing　from。　Wisconsin。〃

Norman　could　not　have　been　more　surprised。　〃Wisconsin？〃

〃Yeah。　This　is　a　Navy　transmission。　It　may　or　may　not　be　directed　to　us；　but　it　is　ing　from　Wisconsin。〃

〃How　do　you　know　that？〃

〃Because　thats　the　only　place　in　the　world　it　could　be　ing　from；〃　Harry　said。　〃You　know　about　ELF？　No？　Well；　its　like　this。　You　can　send　radio　waves　through　the　air；　and；　as　you　know；　they　travel　pretty　well。　But　you　cant　send　radio　far　through　water。　Water　is　a　bad　medium；　so　you　need　an　incredibly　powerful　signal　to　go　even　a　short　distance。〃

〃Yes　。。。〃

〃But　the　ability　to　penetrate　is　a　function　of　wavelength。　An　ordinary　radio　wave　is　short…shortwave　radio；　all　of　that。　The　length　of　the　waves　are　tiny；　thousands　or　millions　of　little　waves　to　an　inch。　But　you　can　also　make　ELF；　extremely　low…frequency　waves；　which　are　long…each　individual　wave　is　maybe　twenty　feet　long。　And　those　waves；　once　generated；　will　go　a　very　great　distance；　thousands　of　miles；　through　water；　no　problem。　The　only　trouble　is　that；　since　the　waves　are　long；　theyre　also　slow。　Thats　why　were　getting　one　character　every　five　seconds。　The　Navy　needed　a　way　to　municate　with　their　submarines　underwater；　so　they　built　a　big　ELF　antenna　in　Wisconsin　to　send　these　long　waves。　And　thats　what　were　getting。〃

〃And　the　code？〃

〃It　must　be　a　pression　code…three…letter　groupings　which　stand　for　a　long　section　of　predefined　message。　So　it　wont　take　so　long　to　send　a　message。　Because　if　you　sent　a　plain　text　message；　it　would　literally　take　hours。〃

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＇＇277＇＇　EEQ　FVC　ZNB　TMK　EXE　MMN　OPW　GEW

The　letters　stopped。

〃Looks　like　thats　it；〃　Harry　said。

〃How　do　we　translate　it？〃　Beth　said。

〃Assuming　its　a　Navy　transmission；〃　Harry　said；　〃we　dont。〃

〃Maybe　theres　a　codebook　here　somewhere；〃　Beth　said。

〃Just　hold　on；〃　Harry　said。

The　screen　shifted；　translating　groups　one　after　another。

2340　HOURS　7…07　CHIEF　CINCPAC　TO　BARNES　DEEPHAB…8

〃Its　a　message　to　Barnes；〃　Harry　said。　They　watched　as　the　other　letter　groups　were　translated。

SURFACE　SUPPORT　VESSELS　STEAMING　NANDI　AND　VIPATI　TO　YOUR　LOCATION　ETA　1600　HOURS　7…08　DEEP　WITHDRAW　AUTOSET　ACKNOWLEDGE　GOOD　LUCK　SPAULDING　END

〃Does　that　mean　what　I　think　it　means？〃　Beth　said。

〃Yeah；〃　Harry　said。　〃The　cavalry　is　on　the　way。〃

〃Hot　damn！〃　Beth　clapped　her　hands。

〃The　storm　must　be　calming　down。　Theyve　sent　the　surface　ships　and　theyll　be　here　in　a　little　more　than　sixteen　hours。〃

〃And　autoset？〃

They　had　the　answer　immediately。　Every　screen　in　the　habitat　flickered。　In　the　upper　right　corner　of　each　appeared　a　small　box　with　numbers：　16：20：00。　The　numbers　ran　backward。

〃Its　automatically　counting　down　for　us。〃

〃Is　there　some　kind　of　countdown　were　supposed　to　follow　for　leaving　the　habitat？〃　Beth　said。

Norman　watched　the　numbers。　They　were　rolling　backward；　just　as　they　had　on　the　submarine。　Then　he　said；　〃What　about　the　submarine？〃

〃Who　cares　about　the　submarine；〃　Harry　said。

〃I　think　we　should　keep　it　with　us；〃　Beth　said。　She　checked　her　watch。　〃We　have　another　four　hours　before　it　has　to　be　reset。〃

〃Plenty　of　time。〃

＇＇278＇＇　〃Yes。〃

Privately；　Norman　was　trying　to　gauge　whether　they　could　survive　for　sixteen　more　hours。

Harry　said；　〃Well；　this　is　great　news！　Why　are　you　two　so　hangdog？〃

〃Just　wondering　if　well　make　it；〃　Norman　said。