During swimming the screen lit up not really often. Mischa saw the deck of Perseus, the captain’s cabin of Sergo, a cabin of the big motor ship.
The ships headed for twenty degrees of the western longitude and thirty seven degrees of northern latitude – exactly here, on the great ocean way from Buenos Aires to London and Hamburg, “Leviathan” died. Moscow shone electric fires for a long time, and on the TV screen Makovsky’s face with the English profile was still filled in with the evening sun. And what tone! This golden light of the sun, an ocean blue, yellow with black strips of a pipe of the steamship, white shirts of seamen – what clearness! Yes, it is better, than on the screen of cinema.
Captains of three ships reported on Barkovsky. Weather favored to an expedition. The ocean was quiet. Mischa himself could observe a rhythmical kolykhaniye of a surface of the water, and sometimes it seemed to it that he inhales “aroma of the ocean”. But, perhaps, this aroma was brought by ep-ronovets Kirillov if only aroma of strong “kepsten” [57] could remind a sea smell.
Sometimes on the edge of the screen steamships with overseas flags were seen. Passed them on a great way between Europe and America much. The Soviet flotilla from three vessels could draw, of course, attention. But as the Soviet vessels often crossed at this time the ocean, a talk on a flotilla was carried on meanwhile only among teams of foreign vessels. Some more days, and a flotilla will come to the place.
IN ATLANTIC
Makovsky sat in a captain’s cabin, having inclined over the card.
– So – he told and put a pencil the end to a skreshcheniye of the twenty ninth degree of the western longitude and the thirty seventh northern latitude.
– Profits? – Azores asked, releasing dense puffs of the Manila cigar from a mouth.
– As if – the captain answered. – The place of death of “Leviathan” is designated quite precisely. We, probably, should probe a bottom on the square about a quarter of square mile, no more. It is necessary to report to the headquarters that we arrived to the place. – Makovsky gave a hand to phone.
– A billeting – Azores stopped it – I will pass in a radio cabin.
Mischa Borin re-read history of ice campaigns.
– Hallo! – he heard Azores’s voice. – Who is on duty in the headquarters?
Mischa jumped up on a bed. He could already sit, but did not allow go to him yet.
– Ya. Mischa. It you, Azores? What new? You arrived to the place?
– Yes. Tell about it by phone to the father and companion Barkovsky. The captain Makovsky waits for orders of the headquarters.
– Now! – Azores heard an uneasy voice of Mischa and grinned. Azores knew with what impatience the inquisitive teenager expected when the flotilla arrives to the place. While Mischa called by telephone to members of the headquarters, Azores came back to a cabin of the captain and told:
– One is not absolutely clear to me: you, Makovsky, say that the place of death of “Leviathan” is known quite precisely; depths of the Atlantic Ocean are precisely known too why our scientists and technicians, designing the underwater TV, counted on depth about one thousand meters? Perhaps, such depth is also not necessary.
– Yes. Depths of the Atlantic Ocean are rather known – Makovsky answered. – Measurements of ocean depths established existence of the greatest underwater plateau which begins to the south of the British Isles, lasts on the West along the African coast and at an angle approaches South America. However this underwater plateau not flat. In 1898 laid the cable line from Europe to North America. For nine hundred kilometers to the north from the Azores the cable broke and fell to a bottom. To lift the end, it was necessary to look for several days it on a bottom steel cats. And that’s when it became clear that the bottom in this place reminded a mountain chain: everywhere high rocky tops, steep slopes, gorges, deep valleys met. Sami Azorskiye and the Canary Islands – only tops of these underwater mountains. The sunk “Leviathan” could lay down on top of the underwater mountain, and then to us, perhaps, it will be possible to lower to him even the diver. But it could dive also into the deep gorge, and into the underwater valley. Then who knows whether we will be able to lower even the television transmitter. Should we redesign it counting upon a deep water, so, and bigger pressure. We are over very uneven underwater relief now. Calculations were conducted on average depths of these places.
– What we will begin with? – Azores asked.
– As the headquarters will order – the captain answered. – I think, from a measurement of depths.
Makovsky was not mistaken. The headquarters ordered to begin careful measurements of depths on the radius of five hundred meters from that point where died as assumed, “Leviathan”.
“The reconnoitered circle” as it was called on the card, was divided into three sectors. In each of them one of expedition steamships had to conduct works. All data were marked on the map of big scale and broadcast to the headquarters.
For Mischa interesting days and hours came: it also got the card and designated on it depths, character of soil and so forth. Soon the piece of a bottom of the Atlantic Ocean became known to it, probably, better, than topography of streets of Moscow. What it was the marvelous underwater country! Around death of “Leviathan” from a bottom of the sea the mountain peak which hollow fell by the southwest rose. In the northwest there passed the deepest gorge of one thousand four hundred meters in depth. Now all question was in where “Leviathan” fell.
But the most interesting was ahead. People will lower “an underwater eye” in ocean depth, and Mischa will see hiding places of the underwater world. Oh, as slowly there is time!
Sergo, Perseus and Martie worked several days until finished measurements.
The radio communication worked almost continuously. The difficult question was considered: how to give to steamships perhaps big stability in the open ocean. The extended anchor chains hardly reached tops of the underwater mountain. One steamship still could drop an anchor, but for three over peak there was no place. Waves and wind could lead to collision of steamships and accident. And “Leviathan” could lie on a considerable distance from underwater peak. The floating anchor only slowed down drift of the steamships carried by a sea current and wind. Meanwhile almost full immovability of vessels was necessary for work with a TV eye. It was necessary to lower a teleeye on the bottom, and it extremely uneven. The device will trudge on a bottom and can crash against ledges of sharp rocks. It was necessary to hold cars under steam and to maneuver the screw.
– And unless it is impossible to extend an anchor chain? – Azores asked.
– Of course, it is possible – Makovsky answered. – But you represent what weight of a one and a half kilometer long chain will be?
– Means, it is impossible?
– Up to the certain depth it is possible. For big depths we should build special steamships, special winches, arrows, special decks or pontoon bridges for folding of a chain. Depth is a stronghold which is not so easy for overcoming.
At that time when steamships prepared for descent of a teleeye, in Moscow, at institute of telemechanics, three new offices of underwater television were prepared. With the first there could be an accident. Besides and searches will be quicker conducted if each steamship has the TV. TVs will be delivered to the ships gidrostratoplany which creation is just finished by the new plant of jet superhigh-rise transport.
UNDERWATER TRAVEL
Mischa