An amused look broke out on Tenzin's face. "Oh, yes. I can read the thoughts of most people if they're within 20 to 30 feet of me. But Whatsit has a much more powerful ability to project and receive thoughts. I was able to detect his presence when you were about half a mile away. It was almost as if my mind's eye could see a glow off in the distance. My mind is not as powerful as his so he was not able to detect my mental calls to him until the truck was about a quarter of a mile away. When I did finally contact him, he became very excited and focused on communicating with me. He really misses being able to talk with others."
He continued, "You see, he can only talk, as we are right now, by mentally linking with others. He has not encountered a single human he can talk to until he met me. It would be like you having your voice box cut out of your throat and only being able to communicate with other people by drawing stick figures. Can you imagine the frustration and loneliness?"
Neither Jim nor Diane had considered Whatsit from that point of view. They each made a mental note to spend more time trying to 'talk' with the young lizard.
The Lama looked at them both and eerily said, "Good for you. He will appreciate that."
Jim and Diane just stared at each other in utter disbelief.
"Now," he said, looking at them quizzically, "What do you require from me?"
His demeanor was direct, to the point. Diane decided she would be just as direct. "Tenzin, all I need from you is a swab from the inside of your cheek. The swab will be soaked with a sample of your genetic code, your DNA. At my lab, I will be able to test your DNA against what I will call normal DNA. I will be searching for any differences in brain design from normal. I must know and understand those differences."
Tenzin looked up at her, an inscrutable look in his almond shaped eyes. He quickly smiled, ran over to his cushion on the floor, and plopped down, setting his legs in the familiar lotus position. Whatsit stopped his doodling with the beetle and cocked his head as if he was listening to a radio. Shortly, Whatsit looked over at Diane and Jim, and in a very human gesture, gave a thumbs up. Then he pointed a finger at Blunt, looked back at Tenzin, shook his head and circled his ear with his finger. Tenzin rocked on his cushion with laughter. Diane thought the red blush brightening Jim Blunt’s cheeks was priceless, and she put her hand over her mouth in a pointless attempt to hide her own smirk.
Climbing back to his feet, the Lama walked back over the Diane and said, "Whatsit thinks your idea is great! He desperately wants to be able to talk with someone. So how do we do this?"
Hoffman reached into the small leather bag hanging from her shoulder and produced a test tube closed with a rubber stopper. Inside the tube as a small amount of clear, viscous liquid. She then produced a cotton swab on a thin stick completely wrapped in cellophane. She removed the rubber stopper and tore away the cellophane.
"If you will please open your mouth, I'll take the sample I need from you," and with Tenzin's full cooperation, she ran the cotton swab against the inside of his cheek, dropped the swab stick into the tube and pressed the stopper back into place.
The Lama stepped back and said, "I believe our meeting can now come to an end." He looked over at Whatsit and then back to Blunt. "I have told Whatsit to get back into the cage where you will cover him for the trip back to the plane. I think it would be in everyone's best interest he not be seen by the general public.
"It was a 'unique' pleasure," and he smiled at his turn of phrase, "to have met both of you and contribute to your efforts to protect the humans on planet Earth."
He then leaned forward closely and whispered, "You both have a wonderful future to share, and I hope you enjoy it!"
And with those enigmatic parting words, he turned on his heel and strode from the room.
Jim and Diane stared as he left the room and then looked at each other. "Now what do you suppose he meant by that?" Blunt asked.
Chapter 5 – Hot Dog
Dr. John Heinbaum's laboratory was a 3,000 square foot underground space located adjacent to the warehouse at the Nevada facility where the Chrysallaman saucer was hidden. Per his specifications, the lab had been filled with various kinds and sizes of work tables and specialized equipment. Cases filled with scientific apparatus were everywhere. Every piece of equipment was of the most modern design. Any Harvard or MIT professor would have gazed in dumbfounded admiration at the variety and quality of laboratory equipment if they had been permitted inside the building. However, top secret military installations buried in the Nevada desert over 135 miles outside of Las Vegas do not allow third party inspections.
Dr. Heinbaum sat on a stool near the center of the lab. He looked like a deranged, eccentric scientist hunched over a complicated looking electron microscope. Moving his head away from the eyepieces on the microscope, Heinbaum raised his fingers to his face and massaged his eyes to soothe away the strain. The habit of not blinking for long periods of time while closely studying the molecular structure of exotic materials made his eyes feel dry and strained.
Taking a short break, he rose from the stool and looked around the big room. His engineering assistant and machinist, Walter Cunningham, was at his work bench across the room, preparing the modules necessary for testing the projection of the alien heat ray. Lt. Jerome McPherson was being his normally aggravating self, either cleaning one of his firearms or racking the slide of his 45 calibre pistol. The smell of gun oil was driving John Heinbaum crazy. Grudgingly, Dr. Heinbaum had to admit that the flame-haired Scotsman was not such an oaf as he pretended to be. McPherson had demonstrated a few days ago that he was absolutely cunning in his ability to weaponize the hardware of the Chrysallamans.
The operating principles behind the Chrysallaman heat ray had been the first technology Heinbaum had tried to reverse engineer when he arrived at the Nevada lab a couple of weeks earlier. The autopsy of the dead Navajo at the crash site had revealed that death had occurred as the result of the man's brain cooking inside his skull. The horse he was riding had similarly died. The medical examiner's report stated the brain appeared to have been cooked in an oven at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Eyewitnesses to the attack indicated the Indian and his horse had died in less than one minute. Heinbaum had surmised a focused beam of energy directed towards the horseman would accelerate the vibration of molecules inside a space enclosed by bone. With no ready opening to let the heat escape, the brain cooked. To confirm his theory, Heinbaum had the medical examiner run an analysis of the bone marrow in the femur of both the Indian and the horse. Results showed the marrow in both instances had been heated in the same way as the brains.
A close inspection of the alien saucer had revealed a series of black glass emitters along its outer edge. Black, glass-like filaments coated with a silver paint ran from the apertures to a central box structure located near the top of the main power source. Opening the box had revealed what looked like, for all intents and purposes, a light bulb similar in size to the standard 100 watt bulb found in all American homes. The logical deduction was the source of the heat ray was the light bulb. Nestled inside the box, the bulb was surrounded by shutter mechanisms. The shutters allowed selective control of light from the bulb to enter the glassine filaments. Controlling the shutters would enable the heat ray to be fired either from one emitter, a selected series of emitters, or all of the emitters. Equipped with these omni-directional heat rays, a saucer would be a formidable weapon capable of killing in a 360-degree circle.
There was an added bonus they discovered during the inventory of the spare equipment stored aboard the alien craft. Two extra heat ray bulbs matching the one installed in the emitter box had been found along with 8 power modules for the ray pistol. Cunningham, under the strict supervision of Dr. Heinbaum, had drilled into the mechanism of one of the spare bulbs and successfully duplicated its Molybdenum/Magnesium/Mercury alloy coil configuration. Heinbaum theorized that the Magnesium atoms in the coil alloy produced the high heat output, but he was at first amazed the highly volatile metal didn't im
mediately flash disintegrate when powered up. After using a mass spectrometer to analyze the trace gases filling the bulb, he learned the bulb was sealed to a nearly complete vacuum while maintaining just a trace of the rare gases, Krypton and Xenon. He theorized the rare gas combination allowed the magnesium in the alloy to release its atoms without disintegration. After carefully shielding the copy bulb within a 4 inch thick lead box, trial and error experimentation found that 600 volts of direct current activated the coil in the bulb. Using 4 inch lead shielding as a standard, Cunningham had built a specialized emitter box around the bulb to test its heating effectiveness on various materials.
Thinking back to the day he demonstrated his mock-up of the heat ray, John Heinbaum's eyes narrowed with a mixture of anger and frustration. General Matt Collier, Lt. Mike Jenson and Lt Jerome McPherson had been present along with Cunningham.
"Gentlemen," Heinbaum had begun graciously. "Please direct your attention to the apparatus on the workbench."
On the glistening tabletop sat a silver metal box about 3 feet wide, 2 feet high and 2 feet deep. A heavy, hinged lid gave entry to a 1 foot square open area in the left hand end of the box.
Heinbaum continued, "After careful examination of the Chrysallaman heat ray emitter, I have managed to duplicate its function."
Adjusting his gold rimmed glasses, Heinbaum gestured towards Walter Cunningham with a magnanimous wave of his arm and ordered, "Mr. Cunningham, let our guests inspect the test material and then place it into the receiver."
Walter Cunningham was a stocky 45 year old with dark brown hair cut somewhat longer than military style. His hands were those of a skilled machinist, strong, capable of tightening steam boiler stay bolts with an open end wrench but sensitive enough to calibrate a milling machine to a tolerance of .002 inches. Sitting hunched over complicated machinery had bowed his neck and upper back into a permanent curve. As a result, his normal height of 5 feet 10 inches was reduced to 5 feet 6 inches.
Cunningham passed the large cup around to Collier, Jenson and McPherson. The test material turned out to be a hotdog placed in a 16 ounce glass measuring cup filled with water.
The last man in line, McPherson took the cup and picked up the hotdog, put it in his mouth and sucked the water off it. Smirking pointedly at Heinbaum, he put the dog back into the cup, noisily licked his fingers and sang, "I wish I had an Oscar Meyer wiener. Everyone would be in love with me!"
John Heinbaum, visibly irritated, shot back, "I thought a wiener might get your attention, McPherson."
To which the Scotsman replied, "Only the tasty ones, Heiny. Only the tasty ones."
"Cut the horseplay and get on with it," ordered General Collier, trying his best to keep a grin off his face.
Cunningham, chuckling slightly, lifted the heavy lid of the emitter box, placed the wiener cup in the open space and gently closed the lid.
Now, Gentlemen, observe," Heinbaum said, and he dramatically put his finger down on an electrical switch and closed the toggle.
A low humming sound emanated from the cabinet. Peering at his wristwatch, Heinbaum opened the toggle switch at the end of 30 seconds and ordered Cunningham to remove the test materials from the box. Putting on some oven mitts, Cunningham opened the heavy lid, reached in and removed the glass cup. The water in the cup was vigorously boiling and the hotdog had heated to the point it bulged and cracked. Dr. Heinbaum looked at Collier, Jenson and McPherson with a triumphant look and wide smile on his face.
"There you are, Gentlemen," he purred graciously. "I have successfully duplicated the heat ray!"
McPherson burst out laughing. "Great, Doc. Now all we have to do is build a gigantic metal box, stuff the Chrysallamans inside it, close the lid and bake 'em like a Thanksgiving turkey. Brilliant!"
Sputtering with anger and clinching his fists, Heinbaum spat back, "You cretinous lout! You don't have the intelligence to realize you're standing in the presence of genius!"
The grin on the Scot's face got so big it looked like his face was going to split open. Lifting his right hand and slightly bowing his head so that his red curls bounced a little, McPherson replied, "You know, Heiny, you're right! Sorry for my confusion."
His grin was replaced with a smirk as his eyes twinkled. "For a moment there I forgot I was in the presence of genius and thought I was listening to an appliance salesman at Sears."
General Collier could see a fight was brewing between the two. He also realized Heinbaum and McPherson would have to work closely together to build the weapons needed to battle the Chrysallamans. Looking severely at McPherson, he said, "Lt. McPherson. I ordered the horseplay to stop. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Sir."
Staring directly at Jerome McPherson as only a superior officer can do, he continued, "Let me remind you that your duties require you to assist and partner with Dr. Heinbaum in the development of weapons based on the Chrysallaman tech. He has made progress, and I now deem it necessary for you to share bunk and laboratory space with him starting today."
"Sir, I'm sure that won't be necessary," McPherson responded with a salute, the look on his face a comical mixture of dread and despondency. It hadn't occurred to him he would have to spend large amounts of time with Dr. Heinbaum.
John Heinbaum was equally comical. His close set eyes narrowed and the furrows in his brow became even more pronounced. "General Collier, I cannot possibly work with this ignorant fool!" as he pointed at McPherson. "He mocks me and my work. He is incapable of comprehending the depth of my intellect. There is no way he could ever help me with my research."
Off to the side, out of the line of sight of the three men, Mike Jenson and Walter Cunningham looked sideways at each other and cocked their heads. Almost simultaneously, they slightly shook their heads at each other in disbelief as the scene unfolded before them. To one side stood Heinbaum, arms now crossed and chin jutted out. On the other side stood McPherson, arms also crossed and chin jutted out. General Collier stood between the men. It almost looked like a boxing match was going to break out between the two with Collier as the referee.
General Collier was definitely up to the task of ending the standoff. "Let me assure both of you that you may start something, but I will permanently end it."
Pausing to let his words sink in, Collier continued, "You will work together, or I will find others who will. I will remove both of you from these facilities. Dr. Heinbaum, you will be permanently assigned to radiation poisoning research duties at the Los Alamos facility in New Mexico where you will live out the rest of your days. Lt. McPherson, you will be assigned to our Antarctic base where you will drill ice cores and supervise weather reports for the rest of your days."
Both men looked thunderstruck.
Heinbaum proclaimed, but with little enthusiasm, "You can't do that."
To which General Collier replied. "You really don't want to test me, Doctor."
Five days later, the collaboration between Dr. John Heinbaum and Lt. Jerome McPherson had resulted in a positive leap forward, and that is what angered and frustrated Heinbaum as he reminisced about the first demonstration of his heat ray and jumped again at the startling racking of a pistol slide. It seemed like Lt. McPherson took extreme pleasure in embarrassing and irritating him. Heinbaum could feel his blood pressure increasing as he thought back about this morning's calamity.
Shortly after General Collier and Lt Jenson had departed the demonstration, McPherson had taken a claw hammer and a flat head screwdriver from supplies and left the lab. He had returned about an hour later hefting a long black glassine filament he pried from outer edge of the saucer. The filament had a bulbous head on one of its ends. Working with Cunningham for the next few days, he drilled a hole into the lead chamber of the emitter box where Heinbaum's heat ray bulb was seated and inserted the thinner end of the filament into the hole so that it was exposed to the emitter bulb. He then caulked the hole in the box with some silver gunk he had found in the items inventoried from the saucer.
This
morning, McPherson had placed the same glass cup full of water on the work bench about 5 feet in front of the bulbous end of the filament and put 2 hotdogs in it. Calling out in an overly loud voice for Dr. Heinbaum to join him, McPherson had indicated that Heinbaum should stand to the side of the emitter box about 3 feet back from the hotdog filled measuring cup. Walter Cunningham had positioned himself at the end of the lead box opposite the cup, arms folded across his chest. McPherson had then walked back to the rear of the emitter box where the activating toggle was located.
"Now, Doc, observe," McPherson had said with the same tone and tenor of voice Heinbaum had used in the first demonstration days earlier, and with the same flourish used by Heinbaum, he dramatically put his finger down on the electrical switch and closed the toggle.
The results were practically instantaneous and violent. The water in the cup began to boil within 5 seconds and then with a loud, greasy sounding pop, both hotdogs exploded into a pink goo that splattered all over John Heinbaum's nice white lab coat.
Grinning like a red haired demon, Jerome McPherson had said in a very insincere manner, "Oh, sorry, Doc. I thought you were out of the debris zone."
A blood vessel in John Heinbaum's forehead, just above his close-set eyes, began to pound as he thought of the humiliation. With a deep seated menace, he silently mused, "That cursed, red-headed Scotsman will not get the better of me. I will discover the secret of the black filament and when I do, I will create a weapon that will cook Jerome McPherson just like the turkey he is!"
Smiling to himself, Dr. John Heinbaum rose from his lab stool, and headed toward the exit door, involuntarily jumping nervously as the pistol slide was racked repeatedly.
Chapter 6 - Voodoo
The military cargo plane carrying Dr. Diane Hoffman, Major Jim Blunt, Whatsit and Dr. Lucy Smith, landed at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport at 0730 on April 14, 1948. It had been decided that with all the potential candidates for DNA sampling who had to be interviewed and tested, Dr. Lucy Smith needed to get first-hand training with the sampling protocol. The success of the trip to meet the Dalai Lama had buoyed Blunt and Hoffman's confidence, and they wanted to expand their live sampling as quickly as possible since the hard work of isolating the unique DNA sequences lay ahead. The airport had been constructed on a man-made peninsula jutting out into Lake Pontchartrain and had been co-opted by the Army during WWII as a strategic location for protection of the Gulf of Mexico from enemy incursion. B-17 bombers were the most numerous aircraft sitting in silent rows on the concrete aprons in front of the large, dark green hangars.
The Origin of F.O.R.C.E. Page 6