Читать книгу Forbidden Area онлайн

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They watched, motionless, until they saw it join the mother ship. There was a soundless merger, almost as if the smaller boat had been swallowed. Then the whole mass sank straight into the sea. "It was a submarine, all right," Henry said. He was startled by the sound of his own voice. He realized that these were the first words either had spoken since the landing, which seemed so long ago. He looked at his watch. Since he first sighted the hump in the sea, not more than fifteen minutes had passed. He rose to his feet, his knees stiff, his legs cramped.

Nina got up, too, and held on to his arm and leaned her head against his chest. "My stomach hurts," she said. "I think I'm going to be sick." She retched, but she wasn't sick. He supported her as they started back for the car. When they reached the top of the dunes, both of them began to run.

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This incident occurred on the day Russia announced that it had achieved equality with the United States in the production of thermonuclear weapons, a condition thereafter known as H-Parity. Had it been reported immediately, no doubt the car would have been traced, the men captured, and the country alerted.