stratosphere in vaporized orbit.'
'A hydrogen bomb, Dr Wickram,' Talbot said. 'Let's call it that. Is there any way it can spontaneously detonate?'
'In itself, impossible. The President of the United States has to press one button, the man on the spot another: the radio frequencies are so wildly different that the chances of anyone happening on the right combination are billions to one.'
'Is there a chance -- say a billion to one -- that the Soviets might have this combination?'
'None.'
'You say it's impossible to detonate in itself. Is there any other way, some external means, whereby it could be detonated?'
'I don't know.'
'Does that mean you're not saying or that you're not sure? I don't think, Dr Wickram, that this is the time to dwell on such verbal niceties.'
'I'm not sure. If there were a sufficiently powerful explosion close by it might go up by sympathetic detonation. We simply don't know.'
'The possibility has never been explored? I mean, no experiments?'
'I should hope not,' Lieutenant Denholm said. 'If such an experiment were successful, I wouldn't care to be within thirty or forty miles at the time.'
'That is one point.' For the first time, Dr Wickram essayed a smile, but it was a pretty wintry one. 'In the second place, quite frankly, we have never envisaged a situation where such a possibility might arise. We could, I suppose, have carried out such an experiment without the drastic consequences the Lieutenant has suggested. We could detonate a very small atom bomb in the vicinity of another. Even a charge of conventional explosive in the vicinity of a small atom bomb would suffice. If the small atom bomb went up, so then would the hydrogen bomb. Everybody knows that it's the fissioning of an atom bomb that triggers off the fusion of a hydrogen bomb.'
Talbot said: 'Is there any timing device, specifically a delayed one, fitted in a hydrogen bomb?'
'None.' The flat finality in the voice left no room for argument.
'According to Vice-Admiral Hawkins, there may be a couple of conventional atom bombs aboard the sunken plane. Could they be fitted with timing devices?'
'Again, I don't know. Not my field. But I see no reason why they couldn't be.'
'For what purpose?'
'Search me. Realms of speculation, Captain, where your guess is as good as mine. The only thing that occurs to me is a mine, a marine mine. Neatly dispose of any passing aircraft carrier, I should think.'
That's thinking small,' Van Gelder said. 'A hydrogen mine would neatly dispose of any passing battle fleet.'
'Whose passing fleet? One of ours? In wartime as in peacetime, the seas are open to all.'
'Not the Black Sea. Not in wartime. But a bit far-fetched. How would this mine be activated?'
'My continued ignorance must be a great disappointment. I know nothing about mines.'
'Well, time was when mines were either magnetic or acoustic. Degaussing has made magnetic mines passe. So, acoustic. Triggered by a passing ship's engines. Interesting, isn't it? I mean, we've passed over it several times since we first heard the ticking and we've triggered nothing. So far. So maybe that ticking doesn't mean that the mine is set to go off any time. Maybe it's not activated -- by which I mean ready to go off when a vessel passes over it -- until the ticking stops. Or maybe it's just set to go up whenever the ticking stops. Trouble is, we've no idea what started the ticking in the first place. I can't see any way it could have been deliberate. Must have been caused by the explosion that brought down the plane or by the impact of striking the water.'
'You're a source of great comfort, Van Gelder,' Hawkins said heavily.
'I admit, sir, that the alternatives aren't all that attractive. My own conclusions, which in this case are probably completely worthless, are that this ticking represents a period of grace -- I mean that it cannot explode -- as long as the ticking lasts and that it's not designed to
'A hydrogen bomb, Dr Wickram,' Talbot said. 'Let's call it that. Is there any way it can spontaneously detonate?'
'In itself, impossible. The President of the United States has to press one button, the man on the spot another: the radio frequencies are so wildly different that the chances of anyone happening on the right combination are billions to one.'
'Is there a chance -- say a billion to one -- that the Soviets might have this combination?'
'None.'
'You say it's impossible to detonate in itself. Is there any other way, some external means, whereby it could be detonated?'
'I don't know.'
'Does that mean you're not saying or that you're not sure? I don't think, Dr Wickram, that this is the time to dwell on such verbal niceties.'
'I'm not sure. If there were a sufficiently powerful explosion close by it might go up by sympathetic detonation. We simply don't know.'
'The possibility has never been explored? I mean, no experiments?'
'I should hope not,' Lieutenant Denholm said. 'If such an experiment were successful, I wouldn't care to be within thirty or forty miles at the time.'
'That is one point.' For the first time, Dr Wickram essayed a smile, but it was a pretty wintry one. 'In the second place, quite frankly, we have never envisaged a situation where such a possibility might arise. We could, I suppose, have carried out such an experiment without the drastic consequences the Lieutenant has suggested. We could detonate a very small atom bomb in the vicinity of another. Even a charge of conventional explosive in the vicinity of a small atom bomb would suffice. If the small atom bomb went up, so then would the hydrogen bomb. Everybody knows that it's the fissioning of an atom bomb that triggers off the fusion of a hydrogen bomb.'
Talbot said: 'Is there any timing device, specifically a delayed one, fitted in a hydrogen bomb?'
'None.' The flat finality in the voice left no room for argument.
'According to Vice-Admiral Hawkins, there may be a couple of conventional atom bombs aboard the sunken plane. Could they be fitted with timing devices?'
'Again, I don't know. Not my field. But I see no reason why they couldn't be.'
'For what purpose?'
'Search me. Realms of speculation, Captain, where your guess is as good as mine. The only thing that occurs to me is a mine, a marine mine. Neatly dispose of any passing aircraft carrier, I should think.'
That's thinking small,' Van Gelder said. 'A hydrogen mine would neatly dispose of any passing battle fleet.'
'Whose passing fleet? One of ours? In wartime as in peacetime, the seas are open to all.'
'Not the Black Sea. Not in wartime. But a bit far-fetched. How would this mine be activated?'
'My continued ignorance must be a great disappointment. I know nothing about mines.'
'Well, time was when mines were either magnetic or acoustic. Degaussing has made magnetic mines passe. So, acoustic. Triggered by a passing ship's engines. Interesting, isn't it? I mean, we've passed over it several times since we first heard the ticking and we've triggered nothing. So far. So maybe that ticking doesn't mean that the mine is set to go off any time. Maybe it's not activated -- by which I mean ready to go off when a vessel passes over it -- until the ticking stops. Or maybe it's just set to go up whenever the ticking stops. Trouble is, we've no idea what started the ticking in the first place. I can't see any way it could have been deliberate. Must have been caused by the explosion that brought down the plane or by the impact of striking the water.'
'You're a source of great comfort, Van Gelder,' Hawkins said heavily.
'I admit, sir, that the alternatives aren't all that attractive. My own conclusions, which in this case are probably completely worthless, are that this ticking represents a period of grace -- I mean that it cannot explode -- as long as the ticking lasts and that it's not designed to
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