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Page 373
about ten centimeters in diameter through which water was pumped at high pressure, had cleared mud and sediment from around the hull of the missile, which lay on its side in sixty meters of water. A hum arose from the audience in the hut at the sight. The five Russian men clustered together, arguing angrily among themselves.
Commander Hebert asked, "Any other questions, sir?"
The Izvestia man said sullenly, "No," and ruffled the pages of his notebook. After a few moments of silence, a television director standing at the rear of the hut amid the massed TV cameras asked if copies of the tape they were watching would be made available to the world networks.
Commander Hebert assured him that the tape was being processed for general distribution. Someone in the back of the hut said loudly, "Who the hell d'you think's going to be around to watch it?"
The hum in the room became a loud buzz, as the video continued. Its murky pictures were illuminated by underwater floodlights. At the head of the airlift could be seen a dark, sediment laden swirl of disturbed water.
"Ordinarily we would not use so gross a method of uncovering an artifact of value under water. But we are not constrained by archaeological standards here. Our intention is to present the divers with a clear area in which they can work tomorrow," Commander Hebert said, raising her voice.
"Question?" One of the American reporters was on his feet, waving his notebook. "Ron Blair, of the Washington Post," he said. "The whole thing is very confusing to me. I've done a little research on Mrs. Neville's accident, and she apparently told the Canadian authorities about her plane being shot down while she was in the hospital. That was a year ago. Didn't you believe her? Didn't you even try to check her story out? And why didn't you start to deal with this missile sooner? One day seems to be very little time for the diving teams to prepare for so hazardous a mission."
The buzz became individual voices, agreeing with Blair,

 
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