Sam Fisher- Degaussing

  As he reached the next intersection and started down a ladder, the OPSAT's screen flickered. The Trego's blueprint began to pixelize before his eyes. He pressed himself against the bulkhead and got on the radio: "Who forgot to pay the cable bill? My OPSAT's losing signal."

  "Grim was afraid of that," Lambert replied. "The NEST people are degaussing."

  Degaussing was a fancy term for demagnetization. Over time, steel-hulled ships pick up a magnetic charge that can interfere with radio and navigation systems. In this case, the charge was making it hard for the NEST inspectors to nail down the signature of whatever material was hidden in the Trego's ballast tanks, so they were using degaussing emitters.

  "Switch to internal," Grimsdottir said. "You'll still have the blueprint, but no overlay."

  "No problem," Fisher said. "I'll improvise."

- Checkmate, Chapter 8