Out of the Deeps by John Wyndham

Author:John Wyndham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 1952-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Phase Three

Even though Bocker had been unaware of it when he gave his warning, the new method of attack and already begun, but it took six months more before it became apparent.

Had the ocean vessels been keeping their usual courses, it would have aroused general comment earlier, but with transatlantic crossings taking place only by air, the pilots’ reports of unusually dense and widespread fog in the west Atlantic were simply noted. With the increased range of aircraft, too, Gander had declined in importance so that its frequently fogbound state caused little inconvenience.

Checking reports of that time in the light of later knowledge I discovered that there were reports about the same time of unusually widespread fogs in the northwestern Pacific, too. Conditions were bad off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, and said to be still worse off the Kurils, further north. But since it was now some time since ships had dared to cross the Deeps in those parts, information was scanty, and few were interested. Nor did the abnormally foggy conditions on the South American coast, northward from Montevideo attract public attention.

The chilling mistiness of the summer in England was, indeed, frequently remarked, though more with resignation than surprise.

Fog, in fact, was scarcely noticed by the wider world-consciousness until the Russians mentioned it. A note from Moscow proclaimed the existence of an area of dense fog having its center on the meridian 130 degrees East of Greenwich, at or about, the 85th parallel. Soviet scientists, after research, had declared that nothing of the kind was on previous record, nor was it possible to see how the known conditions in those parts could generate such as state, let alone maintain it virtually unchanged for three months after its existence had first been observed. The Soviet Government had on several former occasions pointed out that the Arctic activities of the hirelings of capitalist warmongers might well be a menace to Peace.

The territorial rights of the U.S.S.R. in that area of the Arctic lying between the meridians 32 degrees East, and 168 degrees West of Greenwich were recognized by International Law. Any unauthorized incursion into that area constituted an aggression. The Soviet Government, therefore, considered itself at liberty to take any action necessary for the preservation of Peace in that region.

The note, delivered simultaneously to several countries, received its most rapid and downright reply from Washington.

The Peoples of the West, the State Department observed, would be interested by the Soviet Note. As, however, they had now had considerable experience of that technique of propaganda which has been called the prenatal tu quoque, they were able to recognize its implications. The Government of the United States was well aware of the territorial divisions in the Arctic – it would, indeed, remind the Soviet Government, in the interests of accuracy, that the segment mentioned in the Note was only approximate, the true figures being: 32 degrees 04 minutes 35 seconds East of Greenwich, and 168 degrees 49 minutes 30 seconds West of

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