Exner Ethnobomb

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-64268-345-5
Verlag: novum publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 354 Seiten

A cruise ship full of scientists set about a delicate task: unraveling a mysterious, deadly virus. The problem: It kills fast and it kills everyone. Heading up the operation, which soon finds itself dealing with multiple attacks: UN Secretary General Anna Kampa. She pulls out all her connections. She is shrewd and effective. One comes to the conclusion relatively quickly that internationally operating secret services are the masterminds ...

Autoren/Hrsg.

Exner, Michael

Leseproben

Attempts were then made to dissolve the methane hydrate beneath the ocean surface and to capture the rising methane gas with giant bells. One just could not persuade the methane ice to split nicely evenly into methane and water. Either it happened much too slowly, or uncontrollable violent reactions occurred, releasing thousands of cubic meters of gas within a very short time, which could not be captured and dissipated so quickly. The problem was that the methane ice expanded its volume 160 times during the fracturing process. Ultimately, they worked with huge, cascading containment bells. These systems required platforms at sea that made the oil platforms of the turn of the millennium look like toys. But the whole thing was still easier to market than, for example, the exploitation of Canada's oil sand deposits, which meant devastating thousands of square kilometers of untouched nature. The methane platforms that stood above the continental slopes seemed harmless by comparison.

Initially, the focus was on the Arctic, because there were already deposits here from a depth of about 350 meters, but it was difficult to get the hydrate to split. The temperatures were simply too low. It was easier in the temperate latitudes and tropics, but here there were only productive deposits from about 600 meters.

Despite all the difficulties, the companies that entered the methane hydrate business in good time were now in the driver's seat. Companies like GeoMarin. For years, they had been sending their experts around the world in search of deposits that were productive and easy to mine. And GeoMarin had also been out in the Caribbean Sea in recent years to map methane ice deposits.

The engineer willingly showed the deposits he had found. Delgado had pretended to want to invest massively in the company and was just pushing production in the Caribbean. His questions about some of the Antilles islands confused the man from GeoMarin. He refused to see that it would be advantageous to mine there. The deposits there were not productive enough.

"If you're going to mine in this area, it's going to be on the edge of the Puerto Rico Rift. We have found deposits there that are so productive that they would have decades to do there. However, there is a huge risk because the slopes of the trench are too steep." Paolo Morta immediately saw that his counterparts didn't have the faintest clue what he was talking about. But he was used to that. These arrogant moneybags in particular were only interested in the dividends the company was yielding and not in his work and that of his employees. At least this Delgado at least showed enough interest to want to have the basics explained to him.

"The only process that is being used in the world right now is this: You anchor the methane platform to a continental slope above a hydrate deposit. Based on the nature of the slope and its inclination, a series of controlled blasts are triggered on the seabed. Ideally, this results in a landslide of a few hectares. A few hundred thousand cubic meters of gas are released, which are collected by gigantic bells. Now this gas is diverted, liquefied or processed into pellets and shipped all over the world. So much for the theory. This only works in two out of three cases. The other blasts croak, meaning the slide doesn't expose enough methane hydrate. About one in a hundred and fifty blasts gets out of control. Then a chain reaction of sorts can be set off, and a few planned acres become several hundred square miles of mudslides. That, in turn, results in a blowout that puts even the platforms, which can be as large as two hundred hectares, at risk. So far, none has been destroyed, but in several cases they have been so damaged that they have been down for months. And it is precisely this danger that is infinitely greater on the Puerto Rico Trench than on most continental slopes. The seafloor slopes far too steeply, making it almost impossible to calculate the effects of blasting. And if a slide there gets out of control, there could be a catastrophe that affects the entire region. Not only is there the problem of steep slopes, but there is also the fact that the area is tectonically active. The Puerto Rico Trench forms the northern part of the deeply incised junction of the North American Plate in the north and the Caribbean Plate in the south, and is over 9000 meters deep in places. There are always seaquakes there that trigger natural landslides, so to speak. This has been happening there for millions of years, but it is only in recent decades that the danger has been added of exposing large-scale methane hydrate deposits and thus also endangering shipping. The rise in temperatures of the world's oceans has made the methane ice so unstable. This fact alone is likely to prevent getting permission to extract methane in this area using known methods. We have mapped the area very carefully. When we are further along in developing new, safer mining methods, we will also mine in this area. But for now, I can only strongly advise against working near the Puerto Rico Trench with area blasting."

"What about the slopes of the trench that runs east-west near the Virgin Islands and meets the Puerto Rico Trench at a 30o angle?" Ulan proved he was prepared with this question.

"There we find similar conditions. I can only advise against that as well." Morta could be wrong, but he suddenly had the feeling that his answer seemed to satisfy Delgado's security chief. He had expected the opposite.

'Maaru'

Suddenly, one sense of achievement followed the next. Whereas for weeks they had to struggle for every little bit of progress, now the successes just flew at them. The virus had been completely analyzed, the treatment of the sick had been perfected, and the development of the vaccine was making good progress. At the end of the month, the first series of tests were carried out on volunteers, with good results.

Only Anna Kampa seemed to get grumpier and grumpier the further they got in fighting the pandemic.

At one of the smaller meetings they had, Mauters asked why the UN chief was so upset when everything seemed to be going in an orderly fashion.

"That's because for all the success we've had in fighting the disease, we're still no closer to finding out why or who. Olmaz and Karregeen have not made any progress in finding the scientists and engineers, nor the people pulling the strings. I have scheduled a meeting for tomorrow that they must attend."

Of course, everyone had long since noticed that the two gentlemen had been constantly excusing themselves in recent weeks.

Sara was looking forward to the evening. Alva and she had taken half a day off. And Sara already knew what she wanted to spend it on. They opened a good bottle of Bordeaux, and after the second glass, Sara went to take a shower. She brushed off the water only superficially, wrapped a towel around her hips, and stood in front of Alva. Then, with slow, lascivious movements, she began to unwind the towel and dry herself off. Alva almost dropped the wine glass from her hand.

"You can drive any guy on this planet crazy with that show," he snapped.

"But I just want to drive a guy crazy," Sara managed to say before he pulled her to him on the couch. Then the wild making out and groping started, which Sara had longed for so much. And Alva could have been asked at that moment who was the most beautiful and desirable woman in the visible universe. He would have known the answer immediately.

"It's like jinxed!" Olmaz had a number of printouts spread out in front of him. "We have identified quite a number of scientists who have disappeared for months. But whether we ask colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors or family members, no one knows anything. Some left saying they were away on business for an extended period of time, others just disappeared overnight. We have tried to find them; via credit card usage, account transactions, hotel bookings, cell phone tracking, via 'silent SMS' and everything else we do in such cases. Nothing, absolutely nothing. The same goes for a number of Lab Solutions employees. Accordingly, the tip you gave us was correct, Professor. This engineer Harold Leither is also gone, and has been for three quarters of a year."

"Could this be an indication that they are in the process of building a new plant somewhere?" Kampa did not seem surprised.

"We're assuming in the meantime. We tried to find out what was going on through Lab Solutions' material orders, but an ominous fire destroyed the company's computer center. Inquiries with their other suppliers have turned up nothing special. There are certainly professionals at work. And they seem to have been preparing for this for years."

"What about the backers, do you at least have success there?" Kampa continued to probe.

"Even less so. The initial suspicion that there was a group behind the 'League' has not been confirmed. People have only laid down false leads in rows. On closer examination, these have vanished into thin air one by one."

"So it goes on." Kampa was unable to hide her disappointment. "And all you offer me is: we don't know, we can't find, we can't! - Like the three monkeys!"

Neither Olmaz nor Karregeen responded. Olmaz pushed together the printouts that lay on the table. "Professor Mauters and da Sibo, I am sending you the names and resumes of the scientists we have determined to be missing. I am convinced that you will know some of them. Also, question your collaborators. Try to find out the specialties of those who have disappeared. Maybe we can find out what they are up to now."

"I thought we knew that. They're building a new station."...