The Dragon in the Sea Read Free Page B

hard.”
    â€œAnswer the question.”
    â€œOh, all right. It’s forward in the bulb nose; first thirty-two feet.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause of the teardrop shape of this class, and for balance. The nose gives the most room for shielding.”
    â€œHow thick is the radiation wall behind the pile room?”
    â€œI missed that.”
    â€œTwelve feet. Remember it. Twelve feet.”
    â€œWell, I can tell you what it’s made of: hafnium, lead, graphite, and poroucene.”
    â€œWhat’s on the aft face of the radiation wall?”
    â€œDirect-reading gauges for the reactor. Repeaters are in
the control room, forward bulkhead to the right of the first-level catwalk. Then there are lockers for ABG suits, tool lockers, doors to the tunnels leading into the pile room.”
    â€œYou’re getting it. How many tunnels into the pile room?”
    â€œFour. Two top; two bottom. Not to be entered for more than twelve minutes at a time unless wearing an ABG suit.”
    â€œFine. What’s the rated horsepower?”
    â€œTwo hundred and seventy-three thousand, reduced to about two hundred and sixty thousand by the silencer planes behind the screw.”
    â€œExcellent! How long is the engine room?”
    â€œUh … nope. That one’s gone, too.”
    â€œLook, Ramsey, these are important. You have to remember these distances. You have to get a feeling for them. What if you don’t have any lights?”
    â€œOkay. Okay. How long is the damned thing?”
    â€œTwenty-two feet. It fills the whole midship section. The four electric engines are set two to a level with the gearbox for the drive below center aft.”
    â€œGotcha. Here, let me take a flash of the aft section. Okay. Now try me.”
    â€œHow many catwalks in the engine room and where located?”
    â€œLook, I just flashed the aft section.”
    â€œHow many catwalks and—”
    â€œOkaaaay. Let’s see: one center of the control deck going forward. One off center into machine stores on the second level below. One called A level into top stores. Same for bottom level: called B level. Short bridging catwalks
from A and B levels to the engines and oxy tanks. And one very short to the conning-tower-retracted which lifts into a section of steps when the tower is extended.”
    â€œGood. You see, you can do this if you set your mind to it. Now, tell me how the four staterooms are placed.”
    â€œStaterooms yet.”
    â€œStop dodging the question.”
    â€œWise guy! Let’s see: captain is top-level starboard behind the electronics shack. First officer portside behind the recreation room-sick bay. Engineering officer starboard below the captain’s quarters and behind the machine shop. Electronics officer portside below the first officer and aft of galley stores. That’s the place for me. Gonna cut me a private door into galley stores.”
    â€œWhere’s the galley?”
    â€œThat one I can answer. It’s far port, top level, entered through the wardroom. Selector controls for the prepackaged meals are against the bulkhead separating galley and wardroom. The galley-wardroom unit is between control deck and rec room.”
    â€œWhat’s behind the staterooms?”
    â€œMachinery of the Palmer induction drive.”
    â€œWhy an induction drive?”
    â€œBecause at the dive limit for Hell Divers, there can be no weak points in the hull, therefore no shaft through the hull.”
    â€œYou’re getting the drive on the hypnophone tonight. Every man blindfolded. There’ll be a model for you to work on day after tomorrow.”
    â€œOh goody!”
    â€œWhat’s the pressure hull limit for Hell Divers?”
    â€œThree thousand and ten pounds to the square inch or 7000 feet.”

    â€œStick to your first answer. Pressure varies with different water conditions. You’d be okay at 7100 feet in one place, dead at