Undersea Fleet

This is an undersea science fiction novel co-written by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson. In the story, humanity has developed the oceans on a massive scale, building undersea cities beneath great arched domes in the dark deep sea. The domes are covered with a special metal film called "ideal matter" that can withstand terrible water pressure and keep the cities safe—but a single mistaken turn of a valve or knob can let the sea burst through the film in an instant and crush the citizens to pulp. Midshipmen Eden and Pope of the submarine officers' school, together with Harley Danthorpe, transferred from a deep-sea base, receive an urgent military order over the weekend and are sent to the undersea city of Krakatoa, five thousand meters down in the Indian Ocean, for special training—and are drawn into a series of strange undersea eruptions and earthquakes. Japanese seismologist Dr. Koizumi proposes a theory of releasing the energy stored underground through artificial earthquakes: when signs of a major quake appear, several smaller artificial quakes could release the pressure in advance and avert disaster. When the undersea city faces annihilation, Dr. Koizumi defuses the crisis underground with five hydrogen bomb explosions, proving that earthquakes can not only be predicted but also manipulated and suppressed by humans. The book revolves around the undersea base crisis and the ethics of technology, combining a sense of adventure with reflection on the limits of technological power.