with help from vice-admiral crawford, admiral nelson collates observations and carries out calculations whose answers tell him what he needs to do. he determines that the inner van allen radiation belt has caught fire, pulling air up from the overheating atmosphere. to stop the fire, to save all life on earth, "seaview" must launch a missile at a precise moment from a point nw of guam and have the missile spew electrically-charged lampblack into the outer radiation belt. but first the admiral must attend the meeting in new york.