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heavy bag as if it were nothing. For all his apparent healthiness, however, the man kept his left arm cradled against his side. These upper levels of the Facility are a warren of offices and dormitories, and they can be disorienting at first, he said. If you ever get lost, refer to the schematic diagrams at major intersections.
     
    Crane was impatient to learn more about the medical issues and the dig itself, but he decided to let Asher set the agenda. Tell me about the Facility, he said.
     
    Twelve decks high, and exactly one hundred eighty meters per side. Its base is embedded into the matrix of the ocean floor, and a protective titanium dome has been placed over it.
     
    I saw the dome on the way down. Thats some piece of engineering.
     
    It is indeed. This Facility were in sits beneath it like a pea under a shell, and the open space between is fully pressurized. With the dome and our own hull, there are two layers of metal between us and the ocean. And its some metal, too: the skin of the Facility is HY250, a new kind of aerospace steel, with a fracture toughness above twenty thousand foot-pounds and a yield strength in the range of three hundred KSI.
     
    I noticed the surface of the dome was punctured by a horizontal tube, running inward, Crane said. Whats the purpose of that?
     
    You must mean the pressure spoke. There are two of them, actually, one on either side of the Facility. Given the water pressure at these depths, the ideal shape would be a perfect sphere. The dome being only one half of an ideal sphere, those two tubes open to the ocean help counterbalance the pressure. They also anchor the Facility to the dome. No doubt the propeller-heads on deck seven could give you more details.
     
    This second hallway they were walking through resembled the first: a ceiling busy with cabling and pipes, lots of closed doors with cryptic labels. I also noticed a strange object attached to the top of the dome, maybe thirty feet across, Crane said.
     
    Thats the emergency escape pod. Just in case someone accidentally pulls the plug. Asher laughed as he said this an easy, infectious laugh.
     
    Sorry, but I have to ask. That dome around us isnt exactly small. Surely certain foreign governments have taken interest?
     
    Naturally. Weve carefully disseminated a disinformation campaign about a secret research sub that went down at this site. They think were involved in reclamation operations. That doesnt stop the occasional Russian or Chinese sub from doing a drive-by, of course, causing our military contingent all sorts of angst.
     
    They passed by a door with a retinal scanner beside it and a complement of two marines, rifles at their sides, standing guard. Asher didnt offer an explanation, and Crane didnt ask.
     
    Were on deck twelve right now, Asher went on. Its mostly support services for the rest of the Facility. Decks eleven and ten are crew quarters, including the sports complex. Youre bunking on deck ten, incidentally. Weve got you sharing a bath with Roger Corbett, the mental health officer. Most rooms share baths as you can imagine, space is at a premium. Weve already got a full complement, and youre an unexpected addition.
     
    He paused before an elevator, pressed the button. Deck nine is crew support. The medical suite where youll be working is there as well. And deck eight holds the administrative offices and research facilities.
     
    There was a quiet chime and the elevator doors whispered open. Asher waved Crane in, then followed.
     
    The elevator was of the same strange material as the corridor. There were six unmarked buttons on the panel: Asher pushed the third from the top and the elevator began to descend.
     
    Where was I? Oh, yes. And deck seven is the science level. Computer center, scientific laboratories of every description.
     
    Crane shook his head. Its unbelievable.
     
    Asher beamed, looking as proud as if the Facility were his own, rather than on loan from the government. Ive left out a