“How is it going Gimbel?” he heard General Devin say.
He bumped his head at the sudden voice. He hated to stop; he was just about ready to tighten the final bolts in place.
“Gimbel,” the general yelled again.
“General, I can’t talk right now. I’m trying to install this damn separator,” he finally said.
“I see, then I’ll check back with you later,” Devin said.
Thank God. It had taken him a great deal of time to just be able to get into the right position to work on the installation. Doctor Gimbel was never happier than when he was working alone. He hated to be interrupted and his social skills left a great deal to be desired. He found the demeanor of General Devin to be abusive and offensive. Frankly, he didn’t care much for the man but he did love working on advanced technology. This would be his crowning achievement. A totally new kind of weapon unlike anything ever developed before. His name would become more famous than Oppenheimer.
While a brilliant scientist, one of Gimbel’s biggest faults was his bragging. He loved to tell anyone who would listen how advanced his work was. It was because of this that many other scientists working in S-4 knew about the development of the BlackStar project. It was during one of Gimbel’s bragging sessions that Dr. Barnett learned of the weapon being developed.
Intrigued, he goaded Gimbel on until he had divulged much of the scope of the project. At that time, it was still in the developmental stages and work had only just begun.
Nevertheless, Barnett could see the potential of such a weapon. When General Devin learned of his bragging, his first thought was to get rid of Gimbel but he soon realized that he had no one else to turn to if it was going to be developed.
It was at that point that Devin decided to add Level-10 and move the BlackStar from Level–9. He also separated the living quarters for the team working on the project. While all of the others ate, relaxed, and even slept on Level–5, Gimbel’s people were confined to Level–9 and the new Level–10 complex.
They still worked the same as before, but now they had almost no contact with the other scientists. For someone like Gimbel it was a devastating blow to this ego. It took Devin many heated discussions with Gimbel to placate him with the understanding that when the BlackStar went operational, all the credit would be given to him. Devin assured him that everyone would know his name and he would be recognized for his brilliance. While they lost about a month of progress due to Gimbel’s wounded ego, eventually he came around and they were able to get back on track.
While all of this was going on, several key scientists left due to the persistent rumors of the weapon being built. They did not want to be associated with another Manhattan project.
Dr. Barnett had approached General Devin head on and asked if there was any truth to the rumors. Unfortunately, Devin treated the questions in his usual gruff and threatening manner. He went so far as to warn Dr. Barnett that if he ever repeated what he had heard he would be finished as a scientist.
Several arguments took place and soon Devin started looking over Barnett’s shoulder constantly. Several more confrontations followed and Devin’s lack of skills in handling intellectuals made matters worse. Finally, when Devin called into question Barnett’s abilities and dedication, it was the final straw. Dr. Barnett simply walked away from the program.
Devin was furious and immediately set into motion a plan to both discredit him and to have his background disappear. It soon became Devin’s standard procedure for anyone who left the program. They would soon find themselves in a situation where they couldn’t prove their past accomplishments. Their history vanished as if they had never existed. It was no surprise to Dr. Barnett when he learned that a similar thing had happened to Dr. Lake.
By now Devin had become very adept at making people vanish. Rumors once again circulated, this time about what would happen to anyone who left the program without permission from Devin. Devin did nothing to stop these rumors, however.
What the scientists didn’t know was that Devin had decided that there was a better and more permanent way of making problems disappear. The desert was a very large place.
Gimbel had heard the rumors like everyone else and the last thing he could handle was the possibility of having the glory taken away from him. He may not like Devin but he wasn’t going to let the same thing happen to him.
General Devin sat in the back of his plane trying to figure out his next move. The crash of the Su–11 was a huge blow to his plans. It was meant to be the platform for the deployment of the BlackStar. With both projects under his command, he would be able to deploy the weapon and no one would know about it until he was ready to unveil it.
The investigation of the crash had not yet revealed the cause and the painstaking task of trying to determine the failure was going to take time. The second Su, Su–12, was only partially built but even that had come to a halt until they found out why the first one crashed.
Now he was being told to fly back to Washington for another discussion with the President. He knew that the crash was going to be the center of discussion. His report to the President had helped smooth things over some but plenty of ripples were still in the water. Now the President wanted him to bring a detailed accounting of where the money was dispersed.
He had been working on a bogus accounting detail for most of the week and knew that while it would probably fool the President, if it was scrutinized carefully, he would be in trouble.
“Five minutes,” an airman said, sticking his head out from the pilot’s compartment.
“Thank you.”
It was just about show time. Fooling the President wasn’t his main concern. Hell, the man didn’t even know what MJ–12 was all about. His big worry was that the President might insist that someone with more knowledge of military accounting take a hard look at his books. He would just have to see that it didn’t happen.
An hour later he was sitting in the Oval Office with the President.
“General, I am very concerned with the current protocol. I am uncomfortable with you reporting only to this office. I am considering a change,” the President said.
“Sir. This is the way it has been done from the beginning. It was considered far too sensitive then and it still is today. The last thing we need is to add another layer of bureaucracy. It is difficult enough to keep what we are doing from the prying eyes of the world. Adding another level would make it all the more difficult. You saw with your own eyes what was out there,” Devin said, trying to keep his voice level.
“I understand all of that, but I have no time or desire to try to sneak out to Groom Lake and see what is going on. I feel that someone with a good deal more knowledge and time than I have should be overseeing the projects,” he said.
“Mr. President. I strongly disagree. I oversee the projects. We spend huge amounts of time and money on ensuring that what we do out there does not get out. You know yourself sir, no one in Washington can keep their mouth shut. Sorry, I didn’t mean that like it sounded, but the point is someone else with this information just creates another potential leak,” Devin said.
“I appreciate your concern. Honestly, I do, but I have a bigger fear that we have no real checks and balances in place. This is not a reflection on you General. I think it should have been incorporated back in the beginning,” the President said.
“It wasn’t included because it wasn’t necessary then and it isn’t necessary now.”
“I have to disagree with you general. I would feel a lot more comfortable with some sort of accountability system in place. Need I remind you that you were 'too busy' to speak to me after the crash."