"Trojan Odyssey" by Clive Cussler, Prologue/Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"

Although Cussler often uses a tale of a long-ago shipwreck as the basis for his prologues, in "Trojan Odyssey" he chose to recount events from both Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey".

Answer: Lizzie, after Lizzie Borden

In real life, hurricanes are named based on an alphabetic system. However, in "Trojan Odyssey", the storm is named by Heidi Lisherness, the NUMA staffer who initially discovered the system. She chose the name "Lizzie" because the storm promised to be brutal, like the historic Lizzie Borden.

Answer: Pisces

Dirk and Summer lived in the Pisces. The Sea Sprite was Captain Barnum's vessel; he eventually helped rescue the twins. Galloping Gertie was the name of the storm-tracking plane piloted by Jeff Barrett. Neptune was the Roman god of the sea.

Answer: A floating luxury hotel

The Ocean Wanderer was a floating luxury hotel. It rose over 200 feet above the surface in addition to its 410 underwater suites. Amenities included goumet dining, celebrity entertainers, a ballroom with orchestra, a movie theater, and a spa.

Answer: Dirk and Summer had been underwater for so long that they wouldn't have time to safely decompress and board his ship before the storm hit.

Dirk and Summer had been stationed underwater in the Pisces for four days. It would have taken fifteen hours of decompression for the twins to be able to safely surface and board the Sea Sprite, and the storm would arrive much more quickly. Dirk and Summer did, in fact, have adequate food and oxygen to survive for the duration of the storm, but would have been evacuated anyway if the lack of time for proper decompression had not been an issue.

Answer: A series of underwater chambers

While diving, Summer saw the wreck of the steamship Vandalia, but it had previously been discovered. She also saw lots of coral, as she was diving the Navidad Bank reef system. However, no mention was made of any new coral species. Her big discovery was the series of underwater chambers.

Answer: Dirk and Al

Admiral Sandecker had instructed Captain Barnum of the Sea Sprite to try to help the Ocean Wanderer if he felt able to do so. Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino were transported to the Ocean Wanderer by helicopter to help in arranging for the hotel to be towed to safety by the Sea Sprite.

Answer: It was towed to safety by Captain Barnum and the Sea Sprite.

Dirk and Al were able to help Captain Barnum prepare for and successfully effect a rescue operation that allowed them to tow the Ocean Wanderer to safety. Had they not been successful, the Ocean Wanderer and her 1000+ passengers would have been forced onto the rocky coast of the Dominican Republic by Hurricane Lizzie.

Answer: They used a drill to bore a hole through a view port of the habitat.

Dirk and Al found Summer and Dirk, Jr. in the Pisces, which had been wedged into an underwater canyon, making it impossible for them to open the door and swim to safety. Dirk and Al used a powerful Morphon underwater drill to bore a hole through the view port. Al immediately pushed an air tank and regulator through the hole so that Dirk, Jr. and Summer could breathe.

Then the men continued using the drill until they had made a hole large enough for the twins to escape the Pisces.

Answer: Decompressed in the ship's hyperbaric chamber.

Before the twins and their rescue party even reached the Sea Sprite, Dirk contacted Captain Barnum to make sure the hyperbaric chamber was ready for Summer and Dirk, Jr. The twins had been underwater for three days and fourteen hours, and would need fifteen hours of decompression to insure their safety.