Under Pressure by Frank Herbert

Twenty subtugs had been lost in the attempt to bring back oil from the undersea fields on the enemy's borders. A brilliant psychologist-electronics expert is planted in the crew of the subtug Ram to find out what is happening. And theory becomes terrifying reality when, miles deep under the ocean, the minds of the crew begin to crack.......

Set in a near-future earth, the West and the East have been at war for more than a decade, and resources are running thin. The West is stealing oil from the East with specialized nuclear submarines (subtugs) that sneak into the underwater oil fields of the East to secretly pump out the oil and bring it back. Each manned by a crew of four, these submarines undertake the most hazardous, stressful mission conceivable, and of late, the missions have been failing, with the last twenty submarines simply disappearing.

Printing History

Written by Frank Herbert (1920-1986)

Note

This title was originally published as The Dragon In The Sea in Astounding magazine from 1955 to 1956, then published in book form in 1956.

Cover by Mel Hunter