Page 45 of Tides of Fire

“We don’t know. But what we did detect—and it took us years to even recognize the significance—was a faint radio burst at the same time. It was picked up and recorded by our WEM sensory array in the Dabie Mountains of Huazhong. At the time, the operators judged the incoming signal to be insignificant, especially as it only lasted seconds. They had attributed it to radio interference.”

Daiyu frowned. She knew of the WEM installation. She had toured the highly guarded facility back in 2019, shortly after the project—the Wireless Electromagnetic Method—had become fully operational. Its purpose was to produce ELF transmissions, extremely low-frequency signals that were capable of traveling through water and rock. The array allowed the military to maintain communication with Chinese submarines, even when they were deeply submerged.

“It was Xue, my son,” Aigua continued, “who noted the correlation between the radio signal and the issue with the lunar lander. He’s currently involved with the Chang’e-6 and 7 projects. He had been studying all the events surrounding that moment when we lost contact with the Chang’e-5’s lander and when the drill malfunctioned. He hoped to discover the cause of the failure, to protect those future missions.”

“Why does your son think the signal was significant and not coincidental, especially when the WEM operators had already dismissed it?”

“Two reasons. First, because ofwhereit originated. Other radio telescopes and antennas had also picked up the signal. Their recordsallowed us to triangulate its origin. The signal came from a location north of New Zealand, along the Tonga-Kermadec Trench. In the middle of the ocean. And it couldn’t have come from any ship passing through the area.”

“Why not?”

“Because of the second reason. The signal received was in the ELF range—which as you know takes a massive transmitter to generate. It’s nothing that could be carried on a ship.”

She nodded. The WEM mountain array covered four thousand square kilometers. It took something that large to be able to produce ELF transmissions.

“It’s why we sent out theChangzheng 24,” Aigua explained. “To search for the source of the signal. It would take somethinghugeto generate that ELF signal.” He pointed to the large shadow lurking under the region. “Something the size of a continent.”

“You’re saying the signal came from the LLSVP.”

“That’s what we were trying to determine when we dispatched theChangzheng 24. It could be a natural phenomenon. We know lightning strikes and earthquakes can also generate ELF waves. Over the past year, geologists have been testing the WEM array as a means of early quake detection.”

“And what did you find in that trench?”

Aigua shrugged. “That’s just it. We don’t know. When theChangzheng 24was over the trench, I had the WEM array transmit an ELF signal, an exact mirror to the one recorded in 2020. The submarine verified it had received it—then we lost all communication.”

“Like with the Chang’e-5.”

Aigua nodded. “Minutes later, a large seaquake was detected. With the epicenter near where the submarine had last been reported.”

Daiyu frowned, beginning to understand theweaponthat Aigua had mentioned. “Are you suggesting the ELF signal somehow triggered the quake at that location?”

“We did something. Because since then, the trench has been swarming with quakes, all localized at that one spot. They’ve been growing worse and spreading wider, threatening to destabilize the entire area.Projections and modeling suggest the region may be headed toward an unprecedented apocalyptic event.”

Daiyu wanted to belittle such a claim, but the man’s earnestness was hard to dismiss.

“That’s why we must leave no stone unturned, and why I’ve come here. The inexplicable state of the submariners could be important. My son is convinced of it. Especially as there is a possibility this is not thefirsttime that such bodies have been found in this region.”

“What are you talking about?”

“After learning of the fate of the submariners, Xue did a deep search for anything that corresponded to such a strange affliction—much like he did when he uncovered a signal that everyone else had ignored. Two days ago, he discovered a historical record. An account of another near-apocalyptic event, when Mount Tambora erupted back in 1815. It was written by Chinese traders living in Singapore during that time.”

“What was in those records?”

“It was a sketchy account, but it told of bodies turned to stone during the Tambora eruption.”

She sat straighter. “What?”

“It also told of a cure discovered and kept secret by a former lieutenant-governor of Java, Sir Stamford Raffles. In addition, it hinted at a means of appeasing quakes and eruptions. The knowledge was said to be locked in a steel box, along with a sheaf of papers, and secured in a museum he had founded.”

“Surely that account must be some opium-induced fantasy,” Daiyu said.

“Many must have believed the same over the centuries. And I might have, too, except for one detail that my son dug up.”

“Which was what?”

“The current incarnation of the same museumdoeslist among its inventory of historical artifacts ametal box and private papers belonging to Sir Stamford Raffles.The entry is dated 1825, shortly after the museum was founded.”

Daiyu pictured the state of the submariners, the agony of the petty officer. Beyond any cure, she recognized the desire in Aigua’s eyes.

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