Polaris (34 page)
Authors: Todd Tucker
Degaussing, the process of reducing a submarine's (or a surface ship's) magnetic signature, is a very real thing. I have been through it myself while serving onboard the USS
Alabama,
a Trident submarine. The degaussing range I went through, however, was very much above the surface of the water. And the Soviets really did build a fleet of titanium submarines to avoid this problem.
Submarines really do manufacture their own oxygen, and their own water, from the sea that surrounds them. Ocean water is boiled and the vapor collected to desalinate it. And in the oxygen generators, high-voltage electricity is used to pry the H
2
O molecules apart, giving the crew its oxygen. When I reported to my submarine, these processes, along with nuclear power, seemed to me to be the most magical, the most Nemo-esque part of submarine engineering, and they still do. Which is probably why I find a way to work them into every book.
Escape trunks are very real. There are three of them on a Trident submarine, and Trident sailors spend a day or so learning how to operate them. They then spend the rest of their sea tours learning how to prevent accidents and fight casualties that might ever require such an escape. This training has a sense of urgency because no one expects the escape trunks to really workâthe depths that modern submarines operate in are simply too great for this kind of egress. I once heard a chief say there was a secret procedure somewhere for using the escape trunk as a jail cellâsubmarines have no brig. I never saw the procedure myself, but if we had ever needed to lock someone up, this probably would have worked as well as anything.
There really is a surface-to-air missile designed for submarines to use against their nemesis, the helicopter. It is made by a German company, Diehl Defense, and was originally designed to work aboard the German Type 212 submarine. It doesn't appear to actually be deployed aboard any operational submarines, but videos are available on the company's website. The MOSS is real, too. The acronym stands for “Mobile Submarine Simulator.”
The Dyce Laboratory for Honeybee Studies at Cornell is very real, and looks much like I've described it here. And while it may sound like one of the most far-fetched things in the book, the “waggle dance” is also real, and is an amazing, wondrous method of communication between bees that scientists are still deciphering.
Eris Island is, alas, entirely imaginary.
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Thanks as always to my most dedicated editors: my parents, Ken and Laura Tucker.
Also thanks to Pete Wolverton, editor of my first novel, who remembered me and sent this project my way.
Finally, thank you to Brendan Deneen, a great editor and a great storyteller himself. This was the most fun I've ever had writing a bookâlet's do it again soon.
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ALSO BY
TODD TUCKER
Zulu Five Oscar
Collapse Depth
Ghost Sub
Shooting a Mammoth
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T
ODD
T
UCKER
attended the University of Notre Dame on a full scholarship, graduating with a degree in history in 1990. He then volunteered for the U.S. Navy's demanding nuclear power program, eventually making six patrols on board a Trident submarine. In 1995, Tucker left the navy to return with his family to Indiana to pursue a career in writing. You can sign up for email updates
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CONTENTS
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
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THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin's Press.
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POLARIS
. Copyright © 2016 by St. Martin's Press, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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Based on a concept by Todd Tucker and Jay Piscopo.
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Cover design by James Iawbelli
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Cover photographs: submarine © Getty Images; graphic elements © Shutterstock
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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
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ISBN 978-1-250-06978-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7842-6 (e-book)
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e-ISBN 9781466878426
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Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at
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First Edition: June 2016
