ATLANTIS STORY MAP & OPERATION HOMEPAGE

RADIATION POISONING - CH.7

Atlantis has been the subject of countless films, as has Nazi gold and oil polluting our oceans, but never have all these elements come together under one roof as a submarine movie. Aiming for a screenplay 90-110 pages max.

RADIOACTIVE URANIUM CONTAMINATION OF THE NORTH SEA 

Unknown to the Terramental crew of the nuclear powered submarine, cost cutting shortcuts by the MOD's builder and service contractors, meant that the Astute class vessel was not able to withstand shock waves in the water from the torpedo attacks on the North Sea oil rigs. Not so much a design flaw, as a product untested in wartime situations, hampered by faulty assembly and lacklustre, or almost non-existent servicing, such as reactor bolt heads, glued in place, so as to pass inspection.

Radioactive contaminated coolant water was seeping into the sea, as a plume of lethal pollution, leaving behind a signature trail that few military or civilian detectors would trace.

The Admiralty had dispatched destroyers to hunt down their own weapon of war, fully anticipated by Redan Simdo and his crew, who were well aware from the onboard sonar that they were being chased. But the extreme activists also knew that the acoustic tiles and shrouded drive of the Astute class subs, made them an extremely difficult target to acquire.

In the Elizabeth Swann, John Storm was passing through the Dover strait, heading for Great Yarmouth. Hal had calculated a wide sweep pattern, as a first series of passes, from ocean current patterns provided by the National Oceanography Centres, borne out by satellite observations of wave irregularities. Where oil slick are not directly detectable from space, but the pattern of waves is altered when contaminated by oil or plastics.

FALLOUT

The Elizabeth Swann surged northeast through the bottleneck of the Dover Strait, her hydrofoil struts slicing the surf like scalpel blades at 20 knots fast cruising speed. The dawn horizon shimmered with haze—soft gold on steel water—but inside the vessel, the mood had turned leaden.

In the operations bay, a digital constellation pulsed across the main monitor: wave vectors, satellite overlays, and particle trace anomalies. Dan hovered over the interface, forehead creased, eyes flicking between readouts. Across from him, John Storm leaned in, his hand resting on the edge of the table.

HAL’s voice cut through the cabin, taut and clinical.

“Captain. We’re registering radioactive contamination.”

Both men straightened instantly.

“Source?” John asked.

“Alpha and beta emissions consistent with compact naval reactors. Origin not Dounreay—vector indicates southward drift, shallow thermocline. Readings intensify to our stern.”

Dan’s mouth went dry. “Meaning we passed the source hours ago…”

John’s eyes narrowed. “Backtrack. Could it be HMS Neptune?”

“Highly probable, Captain. I’m logging isotopic ratios used in Astute-class propulsion units. The leakage pattern is diffuse—likely a ruptured coolant circuit. And accelerating.”

Dan turned to John, alarm rising. “That means they’re leaking more the faster they go. If they punch it into the open Atlantic…”

“They’ll leave a ribbon of fallout from Norfolk to Newfoundland,” John muttered.

Cleopatra appeared in the doorway, her voice quiet but certain. “It’s a silent detonation. No blast. Just poison, curling through the tide.”

John turned sharply. “HAL, plot the trail and initiate contact with UNEP emergency protocol. Loop in Roberta Treadstone. We need a nuclear hazard alert now.”

“Confirmed. Initiating.”

The Swann wheeled midstream, hydrofoils shuddering as HAL adjusted their heading. Within seconds they were racing back through the channel, slicing across shipping lanes, sensors peering into the abyss. John stood with Cleopatra on the aft deck, the wind battering their coats.

“John,” she said, eyes fixed on the sea. “If that sub isn’t warned...”

He nodded grimly. “Then the North Sea becomes a sarcophagus.”

HMS Neptune – Southbound, Submerged

Beneath the roiling gray, HMS Neptune powered south at full thrust. Redan Simdo watched the sonar display with cold intensity, fingers drumming on the console housing. He knew they were being hunted, could feel the chop of interference as sonar pings snapped at their wake.

But they didn’t know they were bleeding.

In the reactor compartment, the problem had started days earlier—a cascade fault no one noticed. Reactor bolts, once glued in place by rogue contractors to pass inspection, had fractured. Now, superheated coolant—heavy with enriched uranium microtracers—was spilling into the surrounding seawater.

Each turn of the turbine, each increase in thrust, accelerated the leak.

And still, they dived deeper.

Aboard the Swann – Pursuit

HAL’s voice echoed through the bridge like a conscience in the storm.

“Captain, radiation levels rising. Plume increasing in size. Trajectory confirmed—Neptune is heading for the open Atlantic.”

“Jesus,” Dan whispered. “This is a full-blown naval Chernobyl.”

John gripped the side rail, eyes blazing. “Cleopatra—get me a clean channel to the sub. If they won’t respond, we’ll go acoustic. Ping them until they have no choice but to listen.”

“And if they don’t?” she asked.

“Then we chase them down.”

The Swann surged past Deal, her carbon fins flexing as her hull skimmed the chop. At nearly 50 knots, her engines screamed with strain—fuel cells guzzling methanol as hydrogen crackled through the plasma stacks.

In the open air, Cleopatra stood firm at the stern, her coat snapping behind her like a banner. The breeze swept through her hair, which danced like flame behind her face—calm, radiant, and utterly unafraid.

John joined her, and for a breath, they watched the sea together.

“It’s like riding a bird,” she said, voice carried in the wind. “Not a boat.”

John smiled faintly. “She can fly when she needs to, my Queen.”

OUT OF THE NORTH SEA

As HMS Neptune powered south, toxic radioactive waste was leaking into the sea at an increasing rate, commensurate with the speed of the underwater ship, and the energy needed to produce the additional thrust for propulsion. They passed Great Yarmouth, Broadstairs, and Deal, hugging the coast, then into the Dover strait.

John and Dan twig the radiation must be from the Terramentals submarine, and that HMS Neptune may have serious reactor damage. They scramble the Swann to chase the source, turning back down towards and through the Straits of Dover at maximum speed on foils. They must warn the extremists of the danger they are in and the nuclear submarine poses.

MI6 Nick Johnson Sir Rodney Dunbar Dirty Harry
Scotland Yard HMS Neptune Sir Rodney Dunbar First Sealord

PROPOSED STORY MAP BY CHAPTER (90-110 pages) - ORDER CAN BE CHANGED: DRAFT SCREENPLAY

ACT 1.

CHAPTER 1.   PROTESTS - Peaceful North Sea oil pollution protestors are framed and imprisoned, by a corrupt judicial system. 

CHAPTER 2.   PREDATOR - On release the Terramentals & smuggler Jorges Dicaprio, complete a mini-sub capable of sinking submarines.

CHAPTER 3.   PHOENIX - Terramentals locate & hijack HMS Neptune in Irish Sea, Cumbria, using the Predator mini-sub - knocking out the crew.

CHAPTER 4.   BRITISH PETROLEUM - Terramentals warn North Sea rig operators to stop. Claymore rig is torpedoed, Royal Navy respond.

CHAPTER 5.   BBC WORLD SERVICE - Jill Bird reports Terramentals rig attacks, world shocked at pollution cover up. Charley Temple investigates.

CHAPTER 6.   UNEP SOS - The UNEP ask John Storm to survey North Sea for oil pollution. Elizabeth Swann detects HMS Neptune radiation leaks.

CHAPTER 7.   RADIATION ALERT - John & Dan twig radiation from HMS Neptune possible serious reactor damage. Must warn Terramentals.

ACT 2.

CHAPTER 8.   STEALTH MODE - Storm spots Astute sub, Swann in stealth mode, detected as John warns extremists of sub radiation leakage.

CHAPTER 9.   CHANGE OF COURSE - Terramentals change course, heading for the Straits of Gibraltar. Not believing radiation warning.

CHAPTER 10. U-BOAT 986 - Evading Swann, HMS Neptune navigates off transport lanes. Swann picks up magnetic signature of U-Boat 986.

CHAPTER 11. SENATE, UK & EU DEBATE - Sub hijacking & rig destruction, alarm bells around world. Deepwater Horizon shivers down spines.

CHAPTER 12. REACTOR LEAK - Terramentals realise John telling truth, as radiation rector damage detection system HMS Neptune triggers.

CHAPTER 13. RESCUE TOW - John rescues Terramentals. MI6 order Neptune sinking. MOD knew reactor dangerous, want evidence gone.

CHAPTER 14. LISBON PORT - Terramentals & Storm, shut Neptune's reactor. Tow, stricken submarine to Lisbon, prevent MI6 sinking evidence.

ACT 3.

CHAPTER 15. ROV ATLANTIS - Swann returns U-Boat stealth mode at night, to avoid tracking. Surveys site, discovers Atlantis & Nazi gold.

CHAPTER 16. TREASURE TROVE - John reveals gold find & threatened. US Linc Truman support. PM, Ed Thomas, & Sealord, royal support.

CHAPTER 17. BLUE SHIELD - Cleopatra alerts Blue Shield, Newcastle University, potential Atlantis find, suggests UNESCO world heritage site.

CHAPTER 18. GOLDEN OFFER - Claimants reward John U-Boat gold find. Agrees 1% cover costs 9% to Blue Shield surveys. UNESCO grateful.

CHAPTER 19. GREEN MOBILITY - Galvanized to action UK hit green H2 button, John gets grants low income families, Jill Bird, news item.

CHAPTER 20. IMO IS GO - The International Maritime Org green H2 & methanol, certification. USA in. China India stay with coal, gas & oil.

CHAPTER 21. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - John & George amnesty, pirate caselaw & video proof set up. Harry & Johnson charged treason.

Disillusioned eco activists are imprisoned by the British, for peacefully protesting in London about unrealistically low fines for oil spills in the North Sea, demonstrating strictly in accordance with their Article 9 and 10 Human Rights. They are targeted by fossil fuel industry fraudsters, who bribe police officials and court judges to secure a conviction, with the backing of corrupt ministers of state who have undeclared personal investments in oil drilling companies: Amoco, BP, Shell, Total. That sets in motion a train of events, where, having been framed, the ever more determined environmentalists build a mini-sub, fast enough and especially equipped, to sink or capture Astute, Aukus and US Seawolf class submarines. Having captured HMS Neptune, the Terramentals torpedo a BP owned rig, also destroying two others (Shell), with the looming threat to target all 150 plus, operating in the North Sea. The oil producers are temporarily forced to shut down production, as a result of the significant media coverage and public outrage on realization of the pollution. The UN asks John Storm to provide a geodata survey on the environmental damage. 

O P E R A T I O N  N E P T U N E™

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In this fictional story, the characters and events are the product of the author's imagination, save for real life character who it would not be appropriate to give fictitious names.

But even so, their actions are not those of the real characters, they portray in this original story.