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Page 376
concerned for the Russian's safety. Keep it quiet, they had decided, for now. Afterwardswell, who knew?
Karmann's primitive prosthesis lay in his lap. Like the mark of Cain, Morgan thought, unforgivable and unforgiving. Even if he should survive this deadly errand, Karmann would carry that mark until the end of his days.
Commander Hebert stopped the tape. "If you will look at the upper right area of the frame, you'll see a damaged metal protrusion. Academician Karmann confirms it as a component of the erecting system, which has failed catastrophically. There are two others like it, buried in the bottom silt. In other words, the missile was initially deployed in a horizontal position, and after a programmed time interval, it began its move into an erect firing position. It is difficult to say if it ever achieved erection"
The tension had grown to the point that several people laughed uncomfortably, and one gross wag in the press corps made a vulgar comment. Amalie Hebert looked at him coldly and continued. "If it ever reached an upright position, which is doubtful, at some later time the lifting mechanism collapsed. Very likely internal power to the gyroscopes fell below the required limits and the device toppled, causing it to roll and slide into deeper water. It now rests at a depth of sixty-one meters."
Hebert nodded in the direction of the Americans and said, "For our American press colleagues, that is about 120 feet, or sixty fathoms. Not a dangerous depth, as such things are ordinarily measured." The smile faded. "But then, we do not find ourselves in an ordinary situation, do we?"
Her audience was quiet, recognizing the difficulties in defusing the device the divers would encounter. She restarted the tape, only to stop it again two dozen frames on. The airlift had cleared away much of the silt at this point, and the curving flank of the missile was exposed, revealing obvious damage. A long opening in the metal skin curved around and down into the muddy bottom. The hull was badly breached, the in-

 
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