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The silence in the dense green depths of the St Lawrence River was broken by a strange whirring sound Then a thin shaft of bright bluish light sliced into the cold water, slowly increasing in dile A school of curious fish, attracted by the brilliant gloa of the blurred shadows that wavered above them

Inside the huge center well of the Ocean Venturer a tea suspended by a cable--froht source units for the three cameras while another linked up the battery power supply

The RSV was shaped like an elongated teardrop, only three feet long and ten inches in diameter, and showed no protrusions on its s and propulsion were provided by a small hydrojet pump with variable thrusters

Heidi stood on the edge of the well opening and peered at the fish below

"A strange feeling," she said "Looking at water inside a ship and wondering e not sinking"

"Because you're standing four feet above the surface," Rudi Gunn answered her with a grin "So long as the river can't penetrate below the waterline, we stay afloat"

One of the engineers waved his hand "It's buttoned up"

"No umbilical cable for electronic control?" asked Heidi

"Baby responds by remote sound impulses up to three miles under water," explained Gunn briefly

"You call it Baby?"

"That's because it's usually wet," Pitt laughed

"Men and their juvenile hu her head

Pitt turned to the well "Diver in," he ordered

Asuit adjusted his face uided the RSV as it was lowered into the well and released it when they both had fallen below the Venturer's keel

"Now let'sto the control room and see what's down there," Pitt said