"It will take some real engineering," Chandler admitted.
"It will take more than engineering." Kotenko looked directly into Chandler's eyes. "Will you listen to a suggestion of mine?"
"That's why I singled you out for the committee."
"Forget a drill of super-dense metal." He leaned forward. "Use a device that will melt anything it comes into contact with, fuse the material into a casing and remove the heat conductivity from it so that it will remain solid. This device would sink toward the center of the Earth on a gravity drive principle. Your pressure traps would be force fields—controlled to allow surplus debris to spew out the top like an oil gusher." Kotenko settled back against the head rest.
"Where would we get the energy to drive this device?" Chandler asked.
"Thermo-nuclear power developing heat and thermo-electricity."
"Then I would be taking a fusion bomb into the core of the Earth."
"Yes, you would. You would have to maintain careful control from the surface."
"And suppose the core is made of compacted hydrogen atoms?" Marta asked.
Kotenko blew a long ribbon of smoke. "I doubt if there would be any danger unless we add the X-factor to the device."