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Deception Point (2001) is a scientific thriller novel by Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Digital Fortress.
[edit] Plot summary
Intelligence Analyst Rachel Sexton is in her mid-thirties, is single, and works for the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office). Her father, Senator Sedgewick Sexton, is a popular presidential candidate surpassing the incumbent President of the United States Zachary Herney. The President sends her to the Arctic as part of a team of experts to confirm and authenticate findings made by NASA deep within the Milne Ice Shelf. NASA's new Earth Observation System (EOS,) a collection of satellites constantly monitoring the globe for signs of large-scale change, has found an extremely dense spot in the Milne Ice Shelf. NASA discovers a very dense meteorite. In it are fossils of bugs very similar to--but not the same as--species on earth. NASA claims this as proof of extraterrestrial life. This find is something NASA needs desperately, as the agency’s success rate on other fronts has put it in a bad light. Senator Sexton uses this as an example of government overspending and failure to further his campaign. Meanwhile, a Delta Force team is observing the discovery, monitoring the NASA staff for an unknown commander. When one of the four civilian scientists observes an irregularity with the pit the meterorite was found in, the Delta Force team 'takes him out' using their miniature spy bot, leaving his body in the pit far below the water where he will not be discovered. When another civilian scientist sees the irregularity, he shares it with his friends Corky and Rachel. They report it to Norah, who confirms that there is sea water in what should be a closed area with only freshwater. The four go outside to scan the ice from a distance. The scan shows Ming's body and a frozen section of ice where the meteorite was drilled up into the shaft, and sea water sealed the gap. Upon discovering this, the four are attacked by the Delta Force team. Norah is killed, shown as an accident. Rachel, Mike and Corky escape and are picked up by the Navy submarine USS Charlotte. The Delta Force team believes them to be dead, leaving them a chance to tell the President's advisor and Rachel's boss at the NRO about their discovery, Ming and Norah's deaths and about the attempt on their lives. Rachel's boss, William Pickering, has them airlifted from the sub to a chopper which escorts them away from the meterorite discovery site. A group of four civilian scientists have already been studying the find and have confirmed NASA's claims. It is only hours before the President and NASA plan to go public with the discovery. 
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[edit] Code solutionThe code that appears at the end of the book, after the main plot 1-V-116-44-11-89-44-46-L-51-130-19-118-L-32-118-116-130-28-116-32-44-133-U-130 is decrypted by looking at the first letter of the first paragraph on the chapter decided by the number. For example, the first letter of the first paragraph of chapter 116 is "C". The resulting text is TVCIRHIOLFENDLADCESCAIWUE Decryption is performed using a columnar transposition cipher, termed a "Caesar Square" cipher in the book (this is unrelated to the Caesar cipher). The letters are arranged into a five-by-five square: TVCIR HIOLF ENDLA DCESC AIWUE and read each column from the top down. THEDAVINCICODEWILLSURFACE Add spaces and correct capitalization, and you get the plaintext, The Da Vinci Code will surface a reference to the book The Da Vinci Code, also by Dan Brown. [edit] Artistic licenseAs is customary with his novels, Brown opens with a statement asserting the veracity of all information in his work. Specifically for Deception Point, it is claimed that "All technologies described in this novel exist." While the author claims no artistic license in regards to fact and technology. [edit] Canadian sovereigntyMuch of the novel takes place on Ellesmere Island "in the high Arctic", within the base set up by the US military and NASA there. The base includes a habisphere and landing strip. In reality, Ellesmere Island is part of the Nunavut Territory of Canada. It is highly unlikely that Canada, which has a military base on the island (Alert), would allow the US to build a base on the island, or be unaware of it having done so. The Canadian Space Agency would also likely be involved in any such operation since it is a close partner of NASA and a member of the International Space Station. If Canada was not alerted due to the secret nature of the operation, then the president's international address in the book outlining the discovery would likely result in a diplomatic crisis, as the entire exercise would be a violation of international law. [edit] Marianas TrenchBrown says that the "meteorite" is actually a rock taken from the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the deepest underwater trench in the world. He says that the trench is so deep that no manned craft has ever explored it, and most probes sent to the bottom have been crushed by the pressure. In fact, the trench was explored by man as early as 1960.[1] [edit] Incorrect attribution of "Chaff"Half-way through chapter 107, Delta Two jokes that their Radar jammer "Sure beats bales of tinfoil!". This is subsequently explained: "Radar jamming had been invented in WWII when a savvy British airman began throwing bales of hay wrapped in tinfoil out of his plane while on bombing runs. The Germans' radar spotted so many reflective contacts they had no idea what to shoot.". Although the event is true, it was not the savvy British airman's own inspiration, but that of Lady Joan Curran (knighted for this achievement), as related in R.V. Jones history of the development of radar countermeasures "Most Secret War". Its also worth noting that strips of foil were used rather than being wrapped around bales of hay. [edit] More Incorrect StatementsThule Air Force Base is actually Thule AIR BASE. All overseas U.S. Air Force installations are referred to as "air bases." The author mentions Rachel and company "enroute to Bolling AFB (by aircraft)". Bolling AFB has not had a runway since the 1960s (the last aircraft departed Bolling in 1962 with all aircraft transferred to nearby Andrews AFB). In the novel, Delta Force members are referred to as "agents". This is an incorrect statement. When the unit was forming in the late 1970s, the term decided on to describe members of Delta Force, was (and still is) "operators". The reason "agents" was not use was due in part to its legal bounds. Brown refers to "Lockheed engines" on an F-14, "Grumman engines" on a G4, and "Aerospatial" engines on a USCG HH-65. Airframes and engines have separate manufacturers - two of these three attribute the engine to a different company that the one that manufactured the airframe. Brown also writes that the F-14 used thrust reversers to stop itself. This option is not available on the F-14. The US Coast Guard does not operate the V-22 Osprey as mentioned in the book. NRO Director Pickering addresses Rachel as "Agent Sexton". Intelligence analysts are not law enforcement officers and the NRO does not have clandestine field operatives. [edit] Translations
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