“A rather unsubtle form of industrial sabotage,” Dr. Victor Corvo remarked, stepping back onto the vibrating catwalk.
“That ain’t sabotage, Doc,” Mac Cole shouted over the shriek of the derrick.
“That’s high-speed artillery,” Mac added, his newly reinforced brass left arm gleaming under the emergency red floodlights.
THUD-CLANG.
The impact hammered through the steel floor plates, jarring the dental implants in Corvo’s jaw.
The twenty-four-inch vertical riser pipe bucked two inches inside its hydraulic guide collars.
“The acoustic velocity is tremendous,” Corvo observed, pressing his gloved fingers against the lower flange.
“Forty feet per second,” Lin Mei called out, her stopwatch clicking in rhythm with the shockwaves.
