Sunday, July 31, 2016

Summer Camp Stories 2016 - Operation Dark Waters Part 3

The continuing tales of a dad with too much free time writing stories for his kids at sleep-away camp. Start with part 1 and then part 2. Without them, this won't make much sense.


July 9, 2016

Undisclosed Location North of the Arctic Circle

USGC Polar Night

Dear Kids,

We had a real breakthrough. I can really talk to Artie. He’s about 400 years old (young for a sea monster). He said there are two great and horrible sea monsters, they have only been in the North for a little while and they have enslaved the lesser monsters. One he said has a hard, hard shell – like our ships – and knows about us (that is humans). The other he couldn’t describe except to say it was more terrible. Even being near it could hurt your mind.

I reported this to the Captain, she looked right at me and said one word, “Nemo.”

“Huh?” I answered.

“Did you ever read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mr. Mannes?”

“Sure, Jules Verne, the Nautilus, Captain Nemo. What does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s real. The novel was a leaked intelligence report, Mycroft Holmes had the brilliant idea to label it fiction so no one would believe it.”

“Mycroft Holmes?” I muttered quizzically.

“Sherlock Holmes’ brother, head of MI-5, yes that’s all real too. Later! Nemo is still out there. We haven’t heard much from Nemo for about 50 years, but that psychotic genius is still out there.”

“Wouldn’t he be like 200 years old?” I asked.

“He’s an evil genius who hates humanity and invented stuff 150 years ago that we still haven’t figured out. Or maybe it’s his son. Who knows? But your description fits him perfectly.”

She turned to the intelligence officer, “Get on the growler and find out what the polar bears know.”

“Is that a communications network,” I asked.

“No, we can talk to the polar bears. They know everything going on up here,” she turned to the XO, “Get the Canadians on the horn. If we are fighting the Nautiilus, we are going to need some help.”

Things were silent for a moment and the Captain looked at us and spoke gravely, “Commence Operation Finding Nemo!”

-------

July 11, 2016

Undisclosed Location North of the Arctic Circle

USGC Polar Night

“All hands, this is Captain Mastronati. For the past several days we have been tracking the Nautilus. We have found her. With our Canadian allies we will bring her to battle. Captain Nemo has terrorized the world's oceans for over a century. But now, he has suborned the sea monsters we monitor and is not merely threatening maritime traffic, but humanity itself. This will be a hard fight. Nemo is a deadly foe with unknown technologies. Nonetheless, having served with you for two years in these dark waters, I will say that there is no crew I would rather have under my command for this mission. We may pay a heavy price, but we will be victorious. We are the Coast Guard, our mission is to keep the waters safe and our motto is semper paratus - always ready! If that means sailing into a storm to save drowning sailors: we are always ready. If that means charting unknown waters, we are always ready. And if it means a fight, we are always ready! SEMPER PARATUS!”

The ship's bridge and corridors echoed the Captain's call. Then the Polar Night sat quietly in the ice, waiting.

“Sir, it’s the growler! The polar bears have a precise sector,” the bridge intelligence officer said.

“Go silent, still engines, direct max passive sonars in his direction! Get the Inspector MacKenzie on the horn.”

“Sir, the polar bears have a message for Mr. Mannes.”

She gestured and I took the handset, I deep soft voice, with a hint of growl said, “Los osos blancos, son cremosos!”

“You gave the polar bears my background file?” I said in surprise. The barest hint of a grin passed over the Captain’s face.

“Inspector MacKenzie here. We are tracking him and will engage momentarily! Squadron aboot!” A voice came over the speaker.

“Excellent,” the Captain replied. “Remember the plan. You force him to surface. He can break through the ice, but he’ll be stuck. Then we will neutralize the Nautilus with our main guns.”

“Don’t worry! The Mounties always get their man!” MacKenzie said politely.

“Um, Captain,” something was bothering me. “There is another sea monster out there. Something that Artie was even more afraid of than the Nautilus. We need to get intelligence on this. If you just destroy the Nautilus…”

“Mr. Mannes,” she turned to me, I was ready to get chewed out. “You are correct. We’ll disable the Nautilus and then board. Prepare two assault teams and a team of divers. Full armament!”

We watched the SonScape.

“Kind of neat that you use maple leafs to identify the Canadian ships. They are really fast,” I observed.

“Those aren’t visualizations,” Lopez explained. “The maple leaf is a special super-hydrodynamic design. They are the fastest thing underwater. But they don’t have much firepower. The can harass the Nautilus. They’ll do some superficial damage that forces her to the surface. Then, the fireworks start!”


Lopez was pulling on arctic assault gear and examining her assault rifle. Suddenly, I was very, very scared.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Summer Camp Stories 2016 - Operation Dark Waters Part 2

While the little Goofs are away at camp, I write them stories. Last year I traveled to Japan to save the world by eating sushi. This year, the nautical theme continues, but is way, way different. Part 1 is here.


USGC Polar Night


Operation Dark Waters 

Dear Kids, 

Sorry I haven't written to you. I've been so busy up here. 

Now that I'm fully briefed, I've been reading up on all the different phenomenon up here in the Arctic. There is stuff that goes back centuries. Eskimo lore is in the database. We've been doing all kinds of analytics on the monsters and I made a discovery.

There was a distinct change in the sea monster behavior about fifty years ago. They began acting with coordination, like a network. Then about 25 years ago they began acting against human operations in a coordinated way. They'd always attacked people, but in the early 1990s they began to consistently attack ships and stations that were important strategically. To me that means they have some access to information about the human world. Where are they getting it? 

That, in my mind is the critical question. If we find it, we can cut it off or feed them false information - or maybe even negotiate. 

I'm presenting this to the Captain soon. Don't know if she'll like it - she thinks I'm a doofus.

Another amazing thing, they have deep-sea Arctic divers. They take some pills and they can swim underwater indefinitely and see! Anyone can do it! I took it (I kept calling ti Gillyweed which annoyed the Captain). I haven't been in the ocean yet, but I've been swimming around the giant tank. 

One last thing, because of operational security, not even mommy knows I'm here. They made a clone of me to stay at home! They'll download the clones memories into mine when I get home. 

Love, 
Diver Dad

--------

July 8, 2016

Undisclosed Location North of the Arctic Circle

USGC Polar Night

Dear Kids,

My presentation to Captain Mastronati went well. She didn't say anything complimentary. But when I finished, she nodded and said, "OK."

High praise from her! The way you break up a terrorist group is to infiltrate it, get someone inside who can tell you what they are up to. My idea is to do the same thing with the sea monsters.

We are pretty sure the sea monster we just captured is pretty intelligent. We gave it different objects and the way it manipulated them was systematic and analytical. It also tried to use them to break out of the holding tank and escape. Given some tires and chains it fashioned a tool to smash out of its tank. The tank was too strong (we aren't dumb) but clearly this thing can think.

We've named it Artie, the Arctic Monster although we have no idea if it is male or female.

We've developed a plan to communicate with it and I am part of the team. We have several different strategies. We know it can see and hear. It communicates at low frequencies, we have a modulator that allows us to pick up its sounds and move our sounds to a frequency it can understand. It can hear sounds at our hearing range but probably wouldn't understand them as communication.

I’ve been playing a lead role in this: going into the tank and trying to communicate with Artie. I seem to be a natural. We played catch and fetch. It threw a tire with its weird T-Rex hands and I’d go get it. I “talk” to it with the modulator device. One time though it grabbed me and held me. I waited to see what it would do. It didn’t try to eat me. I think it was going to hold me hostage in order to be released. I know this thing is smart. But I set the modulator on stun and pulsed it. It let me go, but I’ve been more careful since.

I’m really getting somewhere with this and can stay in the tank for over an hour.

Love,
Deep Dark Dad

Sunday, July 10, 2016

SummerCamp Stories 2016 - Dark Waters Part 1

While the little Goofs are away at camp, I write them stories. Last year I traveled to Japan to save the world by eating sushi. This year, the nautical theme continues, but is way, way different.


June 30, 2016

Undisclosed Location North of the Arctic Circle

USCGC Polar Night

I could not tell you this before, but the clearance process means everything reaches you about a week after it happens, so there is no danger of releasing classified operational information.

I have been seconded to a top secret Coast Guard Icebreaker, the Polar Night. This ship is unlisted in the official records, so you can’t see it on the web. It isn’t like the other Coast Guard Icebreakers. This ship is designed to go deep into the Arctic for months at a time. It is actually a combination icebreaker/submarine.

It has on board laboratories for biology, physics, chemistry, you name it! The ship has its own super-computing facilities and can do a full on genome in house.

I don’t know much about why they want me here or what I am supposed to do. We’ve only been at sea for a day. I got here on an emergency jet to Barrow, Alaska. I got on bored the ship and immediately it submerged and headed for the North Pole. I haven’t even had ships orientation.

But here’s the craziest thing about this ship. In the middle, almost as though the ship is built around it, is an enormous water tank – bigger than an Olympic Pool! I asked about doing laps in it, but they said no, they had to keep it at Arctic temperatures. That doesn’t sound right, because I’ve seen people – not in wetsuits – swimming in it (they also didn’t have scuba gear and were really deep in this tank.)


The food is pretty good, but not much variety. Fish-sticks, fish-sticks, fish-sticks.

-------

July 2, 2016

Undisclosed Location North of the Arctic Circle

USCGC Polar Night

This morning (well you don’t really know if it is morning, we are deep under-water and when we surface, it’s Arctic summer so the sun is up constantly, so day and night have no real meaning), the ship sirens woke me. The intercom blared, “Report to battle stations.”

I threw on my clothes and reported to the bridge. I didn’t know what the Captain wanted me to do, but she told that was my battle station.

“Mr. Starrs,” Captain Mastronati ordered, “Best estimates, how big is our encounter and what is it.”

“Predictive engine says a SeaSlug, about 20 tons. Confidence is on 45%,” the data tech answered.

“SeaSlug…” I muttered, “Is that a new kind of Russian mini-sub, I’ve never heard of it.”

Mr. Lopez (who was actually a woman I’d had lunch with – fish-sticks) whispered, “This is not a Russian sub. You’ll see. I’ll answer any questions.”

The Captain ordered the tech crew, “Get us in closer and get it up on SonScape.”

I heard the distant hum of the ships engines get a little louder, still quiet considering the size. A giant hologram appeared in the middle of the bridge.

“That’s SonScape, it’s an in-depth visualization of the space around the ship using sonar,” Lopez whispered.

Something moved through the corner of the hologram, just crossing the corner – fast.

“That is NOT a SeaSlug! Way to fast.” Mr. Starr exclaimed.

“Mr. Trang, I would like to try our new pulse lance. Do you think you can hit this thing?”

“Yes sir!” Trang said with a grin.

Then things were silent. We waited. The blip flitted across the corner of the hologram a few more times. Then it was solidly inside the hologram, swimming around. A weird conic blur went through the hologram towards the “thing” and it stopped moving.

“Nice shot!” someone exclaimed.

“Move in closer for pick-up. Divers ready at 50 meters,” the Captain ordered.

A few minutes later the “thing” on the hologram was close.”

“Let’s show Mr. Mannes what we’ve found. Visual!”

“Dr. Mannes,” I muttered, but stopped talking suddenly. The hologram shifted to a giant projection. Nest to the ship was an enormous sea creature. It didn’t look like a fish, more reptilian, like a giant lizard with bumpy skin and huge eyes. Except it had four little T-Rex arms near its mouth.

“A little one. Only 20 tons,” Lopez whispered. “About the size of a blue whale.”