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"I'oodbye to anyone who takes the plunge in that contraption," Stewart h the door

"I like hi in savoir faire, but I like him"

"You two have so

Gunn froze an i and studied it thoughtfully He slid his glasses over his forehead and refocused his eyes "The hull looks intact No sign of breakup Why in hell did she sink?"

"Better yet," mused Giordino, "why no flotsam?"

Pitt stared at the blurred ie too "Remember the Cyclops? She was lost without a trace too"

"How can we forget her?" Giordino groaned "We still carry the scars"

Gunn looked up at him "In all fairness, you can't compare a poorly laden ship built around the turn of the century with aa thousand built-in safety features

"No storm put her down there," said Pitt

"Maybe a rogue wave?"

"Or maybe some sand kicker blew her bottom out," said Giordino

"We'll know soon enough," Pitt said quietly "In another two hours we'll be sitting on her main deck"

The Deep Rover looked like she'd bethe depths of the ocean She had a shape only a Martian could love The 240-centiular pods that held the 120-volt batteries All sorts of strange appendages sprouted froen cylinders, carbon dioxide re sonar unit But it was the manipulators that extended in the front that would have reen with envy Simply de bed, Vaey wereflesh and bone could do, and then some A sensory feedback system made it possible to control the hand and arm movements to within thousandths of a centimeter, while force feedback allowed the hands to delicately hold a cup and saucer or grab and lift an iron stove

Pitt and Giordino patiently circled the Deep Rover while she was fussed over by a pair of engineers She sat on a cradle inside a cavernous cha her cradle was part of the Sounder's hull and could be lowered twenty feet into the sea

One of the engineers finally nodded "She's ready when you are"