Chapter 37: The Contents of Steven Payne's Journal

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The professor paid Clark handsomely for his little journal and Clark was satisfied to know it would be appreciated forever and maybe even help our U.S. researchers with an advantage in knowing of the hydrothermal vent sites recorded by Sir Steven Payne.

And now, Stef  would be able to share with MYKA, the true early beginnings of investigations of undersea hydrothermal vents, just as they would continue their own investigations.   As new adventures await, old hidden tales of the past centuries would be revealed.  Technologies of the past were destined to be repeated.

When Clark S. Edwards, found the old journal and began to peruse the entries, he discovered that along with the beginning braggart autobiographical sketch of Sir Steven Payne, there followed vague jottings telling how he purloined the equipment allowing for him to do scientific research.  (He was careful to not mention names or specifics.)  The middle section listed records of longitude and latitude accompanied with cryptic codes.

The recordings were listed by dates of discovery and covered a time period from December 1904 until a last entry on December 20, 1919.  In the last entry, he mentioned being part of a winning flight crew that had traveled from England to Darwin, arriving late the night before.   It had been a harrowing plane trip and he was traveling under an assumed name.  His log mentioned his plans to meet up with old friends in Perth and then travel on to Melbourne.  He must have stayed at the Palace Hotel, where the little journal and its valuable entries remained hidden for many decades.

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