“And so on,” she said, laying the marker down.
“Oh sure. Now why didn’t I think of that,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Sorry, I’m not really trying to show off. You have to remember that almost everyone I work with already understands this stuff,” she said and smiled.
“So the next step is making it actually work,” he said.
That’s correct. And that is what I am here to do.”
“And have you?”
“Do you see it taking off? No, we haven’t got it quite right yet. We have made significant progress but we are having trouble controlling the reaction. The reactor that creates the antigravity flux field comes online but it is unstable and we can’t control the action. We have tried to reconfigure the controls and have had only limited success. The maximum power we have been able to produce is sixty-five percent. I think it is the way the core fits that is causing the trouble,” she said.
“Maybe it’s too tight. Maybe it needs more space. You know, to float instead of just fitting,” he said, having no idea what he was really taking about.
She looked at him in disbelief. She shook her head slightly, started to say something, then stopped.
“What? I said something stupid again didn’t I?” he asked.
“No. No. My God. You may be right. That could be why it is unstable. It touches the side at various points and causes it to become unstable. We have been trying to make the core fit tighter. That could be our whole problem,” she said and rushed forward and gave him a big hug.
“You’re blushing,” she said as she stepped back.
“I just wasn’t expecting such a treat,” Raymond stammered.
“This is so exciting. This could be the breakthrough we have been searching for. I swear, sometimes you get so close to a project that you can’t even see it. It takes someone to come along and move you back so you can see it from a fresh perspective,” she said. She was like a little kid opening a present.
“Well, I don’t know if that’s the problem. I was just tossing out an idea. I don’t know beans from butternuts about any of this stuff,” Raymond said.
“It’s one hell of an idea, Mr. Eller,” she said.
“Raymond, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. You be Raymond and I’ll be plain old Lynn,” she said holding out her hand.
Her handshake was like everything else about her, strong and assertive. She certainly wasn’t like anyone else he had met around this place. He wondered what had attracted to her to such a desolate place. Why would an attractive intelligent woman like her be in an isolated facility like this?
“Listen, if you would ask around and see if anyone knows where the extra Uup-115 went, or is stored, I would be grateful,” he said.
“I can ask but I doubt if anyone in the upper levels knows anything about it. It’s probably down in the secret place,” she said.
“Secret place? What the hell is that?”
“Well, rumor has it that it’s being used for some supper-duper-double-special secret project. Something that Doctor Gimbel is working on in Level–10.”
“Wait. I thought this place just had nine levels.”
“That’s the official line and I’ll deny it if you say you heard it from me. I don’t really know for sure. This place is a big rumor mill anyway and Gimbel has an ego bigger than this mountain. He actually tried to hit on me when I first got here,” she said.
“Did he get anywhere?”
“Shame on you. It’s not polite to ask those kinds of questions when you first meet,” she said, as she turned to walk off.
She turned back once and waved. He stood there like a jerk, waving his hand like a pansy. Wow, he thought, that is one feisty woman. He watched until she rounded a corner and was gone from sight.
Level–10 and Doctor Gimbel. Who was this Dr. Gimbel? He could ask General Devin about Level-10 but he was sure that he would deny its existence. He walked to the elevator and got inside. The buttons were labeled Level–1 through Level–9. So if there was a Level–10 how did you access it? Was there some secret passage from Level–9 down to this rumored secret level? He had spent some time in Level-9 but there wasn’t much down there except some equipment and wood and carpentry tools. He was sure he had pretty much covered the entire lab. Maybe he had missed something. He decided to go back down and have another look.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
“Excuse me general, sir, but you said you wanted to be notified if anyone other than a member of Dr. Gimbel’s team went to Level–9,” the MP said.
“Spit it out son. I assume you’re trying to tell me someone just went down there.”
“Yes sir. Just a few minutes ago,” he said.
“Who was it?”
“The new guy, Mr. Eller.”
“Fine. Thank you. I’ll see to it,” the general said and headed for the security office.
“Right there,” a guard said, pointing to one of the monitors in the bank of twenty-five.
“What the hell has he been doing?” the General asked?
“Nothing much. Just kind of looking around. He has been in every room except two so far.”
“Looks like he is headed for one of those right now,” the general said.
The security guard flipped a switch and a monitor flickered for a second before they could see Eller sticking his head in the room.
“Nosey guy isn’t he?” the guard said.
“Kind of looks that way.”
They watched as Eller went over the entire room picking up things and poking around in drawers. The general smiled. He had made sure that everything connected with the BlackStar had been removed. He had personally gone through Level-9 just to make sure nothing was inadvertently left behind.
The general's smile ended just as suddenly as it had begun. Eller had gotten down on the floor and was reaching up under a workbench. He watched as Raymond pulled out a sheet of paper. Goddamn it. He had checked that room inside and out. What the hell had this son-of-a-bitch stumbled on to? This is exactly why he didn’t want some outsider in his playground.
“Can you zoom in on that?” he asked.
The guard moved a dial and brought the camera into focus as it zoomed in.
“Can you see what it says?” he asked, squinting his eyes, trying to read what Eller had in his hand.
“No sir. I can only read the first line. Ultra Top Secret.”
“All right. I’m going to go down there. Keep an eye on him,” the general told him and headed to the elevator.
He swiped his card and waited for the elevator. Once he was inside he pressed the Level–9 button and waited for his stomach to hit his throat. When the elevator stopped he headed down the hall to the lab and opened the door. Eller was standing by one of the workbenches looking at various parts.
“Mr. Eller,” the general said.
Raymond jumped and turned around, “You made me jump. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be down here. It's been so quiet,” he said.
“Sorry. I was just checking to see if everything was all right.”
“Oh, yes. Everything is fine. Just fine. I was just looking around. The place seems abandoned,” Eller said.
“Abandoned? No, we still use it occasionally, although not for some time. It’s sort of an all-purpose lab and work facility,” the general said, walking over to Eller. Is there something in particular I can help you with?”
“No, not really. I was just checking out what goes on in the different levels. This is one level I hadn’t gotten to really explore so it seemed like as good a time as any,” Eller said.
“Well, as you can see, not much is going on down here now. I’m sure it will be used again at some point. You’re sure there is nothing I could show you?” the general asked.