Stealth Journeys with the Steam Mapper

A 2019 Wattys entry deeply into climate change, global warming, and environmental destruction, especially the nuclear kind! A lot of true facts are embedded in this story which has both true and fictional characters. Who is to be believed is for you to decide. The chapters are many but many are short. Still, it is a full-sized novel with promise for future adventures. Plot: An international crew of scientists board a large state-of -the art oceanographic vessel privately funded by an anonymous source. The itinerary is to travel down the west coast of the Americas and travel the South Pacific to Antarctica. The team plans to visit many known sites of hydrothermal vents using a device called the MAPR, searching vents for a bacterium that seems promising in use as a way to fight carbon dioxide emissions. But one of the two junior scientists on the team soon realizes that secrets are being kept, and makes promises to keep some, while learning that some onboard have entirely different agendas. To complicate matters, this junior scientist's desire for a special friendship grows in intensity, just as mysterious murmurings and strange sightings intensify. And then, the ship experiences a sequence of events that will draw world attention and leave all of us with more questions than answers.

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."
"The Immense Journey" by Loren Eiseley

"No other place, always this
Your earthly landfall, and no ship exists
To take you from yourself."
By Lawrence Durrell