Breakthrough (Breakthrough, #1)

by Michael C. Grumley

The silver doors opened, and John Clay stepped out of the oversized elevator. With a sharp right, he made his way down the long white hallway of the Pentagon’s D ring. From the far end of the hall, Admiral Langford spotted Clay and broke off his conversation with another officer. He walked to meet him and handed Clay a thick folder. “Sorry, Clay.” The admiral was shorter by a couple inches but moved erect and with a sharpness that always made Clay feel he was looking up. They met several years prior when Admiral Langford took over the department. He’d been under Langford ever since. Clay fell into step with Langford as he opened the folder and scanned the first page. “A computer glitch, sir?” “Apparently there’s more to it,” Langford responded calmly. “It was originally filed as a glitch, but we can’t replicate it.” He nodded to a woman walking past them. “Navigation system was working perfectly since the sub left port and then, all of the sudden, they’re fifteen miles off course.” Clay tried to keep up while flipping through several pages of what most would consider random computer code. “Any changes in direction?”