Vol 3. Chapter 12: Supersonic High-Altitude Recon Aircraft
“Oooooohhhh!! Oil!!”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. That is an oil slick.”
Displayed on the monitor was a pale film of oil spreading across the ocean’s surface.
“Crude oil...! Is it crude oil!?”
“It is ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) believed to be crude oil. It appears white because it’s spread thinly, but spectral analysis indicates an 88% probability that it is indeed crude oil.”
The solar-powered reconnaissance drone Swift, which had been patrolling the sea, discovered the oil slick.
Since it wasn’t equipped with analysis instruments, Ringo immediately loaded a spectral analyzer and component detector onto the SR-1 Albatross seaplane and dispatched it.
“It will be landing shortly to collect a sample. The slick covers a fairly wide area, so identifying its source immediately may be difficult.”
“We’ll have to measure ocean currents, too. If it’s leaking from the seafloor, there should be a point of origin—but who knows.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. It’s right after a tropical typhoon passed through. We must also consider the possibility that it washed in from the land.”
“...I see. So it might’ve gotten swept in by the storm. Let’s see, where exactly is the slick...”
Ringo immediately displayed a map along with the oil slick’s location. Thanks to aerial imagery from Swift, they had already pinpointed the slick’s position and scale. All that remained was to survey the ocean currents and backtrack to the source.