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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
IT TOOK KATE AND Big Al only a couple of minutes to access the files that Cole Ransom had created for the Obelisk. Several files contained engineering models simulating a range of scenarios involving the passive damping system. The models were complex, and Kate was unfamiliar with the programs Ransom had used.
Because they ran slowly, Kate decided to leave one of the programs ru
She sca
Then a small CAD model of the Obelisk appeared on-screen. Force vectors and loads carried by various structural sections of the rig were also shown, with colors corresponding to the amount of stress carried by each structural element. Green indicated the lightest load, followed by blue, yellow, and then orange. Some of the heaviest loads were carried by the tops of the concrete piers supporting the rig. It was the reason Kate had thought the storage room on D Deck was the most destructive place for the bomb to be detonated.
But the brightest oranges, the heaviest loads, were well below the water’s surface, along the seam of the cradle that held the passive damping system.
Suddenly the model on the screen began to move. Hypothetical waves and other vectors caused the skeletal rendering of the Obelisk to sway from side to side, just as the massive waves outside were doing to the real rig. As the rig flexed, the struts supporting its passive damping system changed colors, going back and forth from green to orange. The weight and stress on the various component parts of the rig shifted and redistributed, but the rig remained intact. Even at thirty-five feet, the highest predicted wave height, the Obelisk remained standing.
“If this is right,” Prejean said, “if Ransom’s numbers are accurate, the Obelisk will get through the storm. It’ll get rough, but the rig will still be standing.”
“As long as Gideon disarms the bomb,” Kate said. Her relief at the rig’s structural integrity under typhoon conditions was tempered by her persistent awareness of what still had to be done to save her crew. She had seen Garth and Eddie killed, and Big Al had told her about some of the others who’d been shot trying to resist. And as much as she didn’t like Stearns and Tina, their deaths had shaken her. Their safety had been her responsibility, and she had failed them. She would do whatever she needed to do to save the rest of her crew. Even if it meant sacrificing her own life.
Her somber resolution was interrupted by the sound of voices in the corridor outside the cabin. “Quick, chérie, put that away.” She closed the computer just as the door opened. Kate expected Earl Parker, but her face fell when she saw Gideon being shoved through the doorway, his wrists and ankles bound. Timken appeared behind him, shoving him again, harder this time. He tumbled to the ground, barely able to catch his fall with his cuffed hands.
Timken closed the door, ignoring Prejean’s glare. Kate went to help Gideon to his feet. Despite the ugliness of the moment, Gideon felt an unaccountable wave of happiness at seeing Kate, who asked him what happened.
“It’s Parker . . .” He trailed off and shook his head.
“I don’t understand,” Kate said.
“He’s been playing us the whole time. He’s behind this.” Kate and Prejean were visibly stu
“Then you were right . . . about your brother,” Kate said.
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too,” Gideon said, comforted by her sincere sympathy.
Prejean couldn’t help but notice the co
“Not to make it more difficult than it already is,” Gideon said, “but there was no bomb in D-4. All I saw were some fairly elaborate electronics which looked like wireless triggers. Which means it could be anywhere.”
“Not anywhere,” Kate said, exhaling her frustration. “Before, when I identified the weakest structural point on the rig, I only considered the section above the water. But the most vulnerable points are actually under the surface. The cradle that holds the passive damping system is more than fifty feet underwater. The piers that stabilize the rig each have vibratory nodes that sway at a certain frequency and—” Kate saw that she was losing them. “Sorry. Bottom line is this221±€†: the cradle is anchored by three big steel braces that co
“The components I saw had wires leading out of the cabin,” Gideon said. “Could they feed into the ocean from D Deck?”
Kate nodded. “There’s a conduit outside the cabin that runs power down to a bunch of work lights under the rig.” Kate opened Ransom’s computer, turned it around, hit a key, and said, “Here. Look at this.”
The animation of the Obelisk appeared, wobbling back and forth. Kate hit a button that paused the simulation. “Right there. See these orange sections? They’re the most vulnerable points, the link co
Gideon studied the image, then said, “Here’s what I don’t get, though. I counted twenty-four wires leading out of the detonation control unit. Why so many? I could understand a few extra wires—monitor circuits, dummy circuits, redundant circuits, whatever. But twenty-four?”
“It makes sense,” Kate said. “When a building is demolished, they use multiple sequenced charges to take out the most important structural members. It’s almost surgical. A few small explosions properly placed can create a very dramatic structural failure. Blow out a couple of bolts and beams, and let the weight of the structure do the rest. It implodes.”
Kate zoomed in on the rig, tighter and tighter. The view closed in on the cradle. Kate touched the seam between the cradle and the pier, twelve dots spaced equidistantly. “See that? Twelve bolts. Two sets of wires for each bolt. It would have been easy enough to set the charges, probably took a two-man dive team an hour, tops.”
“And it would be a two-man job to disarm them,” Gideon said.
“Except we can’t do anything as long as we’re stuck in here,” Prejean said.
CLUNK!
The floor and the walls shook again. Gideon looked at Kate for an explanation. “That’s the damping system I mentioned . . . the one Ransom was supposed to repair.”
“How long do we have before it fails?”