The Lotus Eaters

D 466 Portzmoguer, Gallic Navy, Shimmering Sea, Terra Nova

"Ops," said Captain Casabianca, "review for me what we know and don't know about these subs. There's something I'm missing and it could be important."

Lieutenant of the Line Mortain thought for a moment, summing up his knowledge of the Meg Class before saying, "About thirty-six to forty meters long, captain. Teardrop shaped, X-form tail. Jet propulsors. Fuel cell powered. Crew of seventeen or eighteen, we think. We know now that it's armed, well armed. Dual hulled, with a thinner hydrodynamic hull over a much thicker pressure hull. We think—"

"Stop there for a minute," the captain said. "Sonar, the torpedoes launched by Diamant used active sonar. Why couldn't they see the sub."

The frigate's sonar man, a warrant officer, or "major," in the system of the Gallic Navy, rubbed his face for a moment and said, "We know the hull's plastic, captain. Maybe it's some new plastic, or an old one with better than normal anechoic tiles."

Casabianca looked a question at Mortain. "No tiles, sir," the latter answered. "Not unless they're putting them on at sea and that—"

"Right. Unlikely." The captain turned his attention back to sonar. "Keep thinking," he said.

The sonar major rubbed at his face for a few moments, then shook his head and whispered, "No, that's a silly thought."

"Tell me this silly thought, major," the captain said.

"Well, sir . . . I read once that it would be possible to build an outer hull that was facetted, like some of those airplanes the Federated States uses. I read that this could cut return sonar down by a factor of one thousand."

"No good, major," Mortain objected. "The same way we know there are no anechoic tiles we know there's no facetted fairing."

"Yes, sir," the major agreed. "But what if that outer hull is really transparent to sonar, and the facets, or something like them, are between the inner and the outer. Maybe they're what hold the two together."

"Tres elegant," Mortain said, almost grudgingly. "And it would account for their invisibility to sonar, from some angles, at least."

"Okay, then, I'll buy that as a possibility," the captain said. "Keep going, Mortain. What else do we know?"

"Sir. We know they have an amazingly quiet method of pumping ballast. I can't imagine what it is."

"Yesss . . . yes," Casabianca agreed. "And that is how they're gliding, correct?"

"I think so, sir," Mortain answered.

"How's your math, lieutenant?" the captain asked.

Mortain looked both puzzled and somewhat pleased. "Very good, sir. I took prizes in school."

"Excellent," the captain said, rubbing his hands together. "Now take the dimensions of the sub as we know them, and the shape. Plot back to and from known positions. Then figure out for me how big those dive planes are for it to be gliding as much as we know it is. From that, tell me how thick they are."

"Sir?"

"Because if they're big enough, Mortain, I think we might get a sonar return if we were positioned just right . . . or if somebody was. I just might risk an active ping from up here, from all of us if I can talk the admiral into it, to get a lock and fire."