Neptune's Massif Read Free Page A

hoping something would come up that would give us the opportunity to contribute on a more active level! Please don't get me wrong, Commander, I don't mean to be happy about the need for underwater combat, but I am simply pleased that our expertise can be of use!" The small Polynesian man replied. "We have been feeling like we have been letting our comrades down by not working on something more directly related to the war effort and protecting the planet."
    "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Doctor? The craft you have been developing are as important to the protection of the planet as a trans-atmospheric fighter is. After all, two-thirds of the planet is water. Those fancy fighter craft and even our most powerful ships would be useless if an enemy got into the oceans. Your research may not be getting the attention of the other programs, but believe me, it’s very much needed," Alan replied.
    "You are being kind, Commander. In all actuality, our goal was to develop the science that would be needed if and when we established underwater colonies for farming as well as mineral extraction. We have come a long way in understanding our world's oceans and what would be needed to allow human beings to live and work in the depths of our own planet. We have even developed a submerged plant that will help to remove the pollution that has been dumped in the world's oceans as well."
    "I think that would be something we need to get built and going as soon as possible. It seems I'm always reading something somewhere about how there is all this garbage in the oceans. It would be good to do something about that, too. However, for the time being, I have to focus on the mission at hand; that is getting the Caldarians out of their base and off our planet. Now here is the data file we have on the base. Will your equipment be able to operate at this depth?" Alan asked.
    "Yes it will. The real question you want to ask is will the Sharks function at this depth without shields giving them away; from the looks of this, the answer is yes. The Shark is designed to operate at depths of up to fifteen thousand feet without the need for external shields to help regulate the pressure. They can go much deeper, but to do so would require the use of shields that could be easily detected by energy sensors.
    You should also understand that as they are now, the armor they are equipped with is a variant of the enigma armor Doctor Benson developed for the Shadow fighter project. This variant uses pressure to generate power to keep the pilot warm as well as to supply power to the engines as a secondary power unit. With enough pressure, the primary reactor could be set to standby, removing the risk of detection completely. However, you might not wish to do that in a combat situation," Dr. Juno explained.
    "I understand that, Doctor. Do you think you could have eight of them built and ready for open water testing in a couple of weeks?" Alan asked.
    "Open water testing? As in the Ocean?" Dr. Juno asked.
    Alan nodded and winked at the doctor. "I would like to take your babies down and drop them in the water to see if we can break them."
    "That would be wonderful, Commander! Will you allow us to come along to record the data? If there is a problem or something you would like changed we could most likely do it on the fly. Where do you have in mind for testing them?" Dr. Juno asked.
    "Well, I don't actually have a place located yet, but I was hoping I'd be able to find a place that wouldn't draw too much attention..." Alan began.
    "My family has an old resort in Hawaii. It's far from most civilization, so we should be able to use it undisturbed. I was considering using it anyway for when we decided to do our tests," Juno replied.
    "That sounds like it would be perfect. However, I also need a place for my team to train together and get ready for the assault on the base. Any place we took over would probably become more of an asset to all of us than anything else,"