Free Falling Star by Philip Chen

were made to try to determine if similar objects existed in other parts of the world, none were ever found.
    Given the geo-political climate of that period, a nation could not simply fly over territorial waters of another and conduct the types of surveillance that was needed to detect such objects.  Even the intelligence services of the United States were unable to gather any information that could help CSAC in discerning the existence of other similar objects in other parts of the world.  If they existed, the countries that knew they had them did not share such knowledge.
    Initially, funds were established to only deploy remote sensing devices on the ocean floor.  The information they gathered was transmitted through cables to surface vessels, some disguised as ocean tugs or, even, lighthouses such as the Ambrose vessels. 
    Because of the enormity of what the objects or "Sentinels" as they came to be called could signify, this system of remote sensing was eventually replaced with manned stations located adjacent to the objects on the bottom.  Called "Watch Stations," the manned, pressurized habitats were commissioned by the Navy and staffed with its personnel.
    Under the guise of exploring "inner space," the government mounted a substantial monitoring program when initial efforts to identify their origin had proven fruitless.  Construction of these ocean-bottom monitoring stations was facilitated by a secret fleet of ocean vessels outfitted with clandestine launching bays.  The public disclosure of one of these vessels, the Glomar Explorer , had been unfortunate, but was put to rest as an attempt to raise sunken Soviet submarines.  The ruse was quickly accepted in the era of U.S.-Soviet confrontation called the Cold War.
    The need for continued monitoring of the four objects did not result from scientific curiosity.  The implication of four objects apparently guarding the waters of the United States was staggering.  Theories ran from super secret surveillance installations of foreign governments intent on spying on the United States to even more mind-boggling scenarios.
    Over the years, the objects remained mysteriously silent despite the immense attention that the United States government paid them.  The enigmatic silence of the objects caused some officials in the government to question the vast expenditure of funds necessary to maintain surveillance.  However, it was a cost that was grudgingly given each year because not to do so was unspeakable.  The most puzzling aspect of the four objects was their mute presence.  They just sat there, giving no indication of any activity except for the anomalous magnetic signature that had first occasioned their discovery.
    The secret was well-kept and the Morrow Affair eventually became old news.  The vast population of people, in and out of government, never had a clue why so much of the nation's gross national product was spent year to year on such research.  In fact, the sensitivity of the objects was such that, as far as the public was concerned, governmental funds intended for oceanographic research simply disappeared overnight.
    The operational phase of monitoring these objects was eventually taken over by CSAC, an acronym whose meaning remains classified to this day.  A multi-agency operation created in the early days of the Cold War, CSAC was the most secretive of all such agencies and continued to sponsor missions that other agencies could not or would not do.
    In 1972, Mike Liu left active duty; eventually moving on to other things.  However, Bob McHugh kept him on his personal radar screen.  Occasionally, Mike would be called back to take care of short-term matters, whenever Bob McHugh felt he could add to the solution of some matter.  Some of Mike's assignments did not have to do with the objects, but he was not in a position to refuse any request made by Bob McHugh, his superior in the agency.  Once an agent of CSAC, you simply could not