Free The Seventh Angel by jeff edwards Page A

light seemed to strobe and pulse rapidly. Then it was gone, leaving behind only the blackness of the ocean bottom.
    “ I think I’m having another hallucination,” Charlie said.
    Gabriella was almost asleep now. “I already told you,” she muttered. “Dinner first.”

CHAPTER 8
     
    ICBM: A COLD WAR SAILOR’S MUSINGS ON THE ULTIMATE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
    (Reprinted by permission of the author, Retired Master Chief Sonar Technician David M. Hardy, USN)
     
    In tracing the roots of modern rocketry, some historians prefer to begin with the ancient Greeks. According to the writings of Roman author and grammarian Aulus Gellius, a Greek philosopher named Archytas built a steam-powered rocket device in approximately 400 B.C. Cast from clay and shaped like a pigeon, this device reportedly flew about 200 yards. The pigeon was attached to a guide wire during its flight, which may have supported the device’s weight, so there is some dispute as to whether or not it was powerful enough to fly without external assistance. Very few details of the flight are known, so it’s difficult to gauge the significance of the Archytas pigeon, beyond the basic fact of its existence.
    About three centuries later, a Greek mathematician and engineer named Hero (or Heron ) of Alexandria invented another steam-propelled device with rocket-like characteristics. Known as an aeolipile , Hero’s invention consisted of a rotating sphere, driven by steam from a heated kettle of water.
    History generally remembers Hero’s aeolipile as the first operational steam engine, but it can (arguably) be classified as a rocket-type reaction engine.
    Like the work of Archytas, the direct impact of Hero’s invention on the history of rocketry is difficult to assess. It’s therefore understandable that many historians have opted to discount the earliest attempts of the Greeks, and begin the timeline of rocketry with the Chinese.
    Some time prior to the 10th century A.D., alchemists in China stumbled across the formula for gunpowder, possibly while attempting to create the legendary elixir of immortality. Although the combination of sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal dust did not have mystical life-extending properties, the unknown alchemists quickly discovered that their new compound would flare and burn vigorously when exposed to flame.
    The timing of this momentous discovery is a matter of contention, with some historians fixing the date as early as the 1st century, and others arguing that it may have occurred as recently as the 9th century. Regardless of the precise date, there is no doubt that the invention of gunpowder transformed the nature of warfare, and ultimately altered the path of human history.
    The first people to utilize the mysterious new compound may have been religious Mandarins, who filled bamboo tubes with the volatile mixture, and threw them into fires to frighten away demons during religious festivals. The results were predictably loud and impressive, and it was probably only a matter of time until one of the bamboo tubes failed to explode, and shot out of the fire on a trail of burning gas.
    These crude bamboo rockets were almost certainly the product of accident rather than design, but it was an accident that many Chinese experimenters were eager to repeat. Some resourceful soldier, whose name has been lost to history, began attaching bamboo rockets to arrows. When lit and fired from a bow, these fire arrows streaked through the air, to drop like flaming meteors on the armies of China’s enemies.
    Eventually, as Chinese rockets became more powerful and more reliable, the arrows became an unnecessary component. The rockets became viable weapons without arrows attached. By the mid 11th century, gunpowder rockets were one of the deadliest weapons in China’s military arsenal.
    In 1232 A.D., the armies of the Sung Dynasty used rockets to repel Mongol invaders at the battle of Kai-Keng. The Mongol hoards, which were legendary for their