Fragmentation

by Gregg Cameron

  They continued to snuggle and kiss like two honeymooners in case they were being watched.

  “Then what?”

  “We will keep the original notes on our person and go to the museum and enjoy it. After we get back, we’ll check out and head for home.”

  “Do you think it’s safe?”

  “I don’t know what else to do. Perhaps if they think we are no longer interested, they will leave us alone.”

  “I’d like to believe that. Here comes the waiter with our lunch.”

  “Colleen, keep the conversation on the museum going at the table.”

  They were both hungry and luckily, the burgers came with a generous portion of fries along with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. They talked excitedly about going to the museum. David was particularly interested in seeing the original Wright Flier.

  They arrived back in the room just past 1:30.

  Colleen laughed, “I’m going to shower first.”

  David put the TV on and turned up the volume as Colleen rummaged through her suitcase getting out a pen and wrapping her note pad in the clothes she would wear to the museum. She took these along with the towel containing the original notes into the bathroom. Turning on the hot water to steam up the room in case there was a camera, she busied herself getting out her toiletries and things until the mirror had completely fogged up. She began rewriting the notes. When she finished, she quickly showered. Afterward, Colleen found a shower cap in the bathroom and placed the original notes in it. She wrapped them inside her wet bathing suit and placed everything into a plastic laundry bag.

  She dressed, came out carrying the laundry bag and the note pad with the new notes wrapped in a towel. She placed the laundry bag in her suitcase, covertly slipped the note pad with the new notes from the towel into the suitcase.

  “David, do we want to keep the notes we took at the archive building?”

  “I don’t think so; I’ve had enough of that.”

  He took them from her, briefly glancing at them for effect and casually put them into the wastebasket with the second page folded over, saying, and “Good riddance.”

  David showered and dressed while Colleen fixed her hair and put on make-up. After he came out of the bathroom she said, “I think I will hang my bathing suit in the bathroom and maybe it will be dry when we get back from the museum.” She took the bag into the bathroom and closed the door. Colleen hung her suit on the shower rod, folded up the notes and slid them into her panties then came out. David gave her a quizzical look and she just smiled.

  The Air and Space Museum was impressive with a large DC 3 airplane hanging from the ceiling. There was an immense variety of planes from the earliest attempts by man to fly, including the fragile and crude looking original Wright Flier. The museum was arranged by decades, with planes from the twenties and the thirties including the Hughes Air Racer, different creations from Glen Curtis along with Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis.” There was the WWII display with Mustangs, Spitfires and Hellcats in various settings. After WWII there was the Bell X-1, in which Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier. In the modern grouping, there was the SR 71 Blackbird, the fastest plane in the world.

  They barely had time to cover the airplane section and only briefly got to look at some of the early space capsules. The one Neil Armstrong rode back to earth after becoming the first human to set foot on the moon was the most fascinating.

  Around 6:00 PM they took a taxi back to the hotel. Inside, David casually glanced at the note pages in the wastebasket and noticed the flattened second page indicating someone had looked at it. They packed their suitcases, carefully checking them for bugs, went downstairs and checked out.

  As they were walking to the car, David whispered he was going to trade in this car for another and they would do it at the airport. They loaded the car and left.

  Colleen took out the map and directed David to Dulles International Airport. As they neared the airport, David entered the road for the rental car returns and followed it to the Budget location. He returned the car and took the shuttle bus to the airport as though they were going to fly to Philadelphia. Inside the terminal, David went to the Budget counter ostensibly arranged a car for their arrival at Philadelphia, but actually rented another car, a maroon Mercury Mountaineer SUV. Later they stood in the American Airlines ticket line, asked about flights to Philadelphia, and purchased two tickets for the 8:15 PM flight.

  The plan was to pretend to go to the bathrooms at the same time, then come out and each would go to a different shop. Colleen would slip out of the shop, stay in the crowds and take the shuttle to the Budget lot while David would also try to get lost in the crowds and later take a taxi to the Budget Rental area.

  The plan seemed to work and just before 8:00 PM, they were in the Mercury leaving the Budget Rental Car place. Carefully watching his mirrors, David drove around the same area several times and practically ran a red light before heading back onto Route 95 north. The highway was clear and there were no cars behind them. Ten miles up Route 95, they stopped for dinner at a Burgermaster restaurant.

  Chapter 18

  Defense Intelligence Agency: Friday, June 15.

  Commander Robin Camp was sitting at his desk enjoying a good cigar when Chief Petty Officer Doyles sheepishly entered the room.

  “What is it, Doyles?”

  “I’m afraid our man has lost them Sir. They were scheduled to be on American Airlines Flight 8305 to Philadelphia leaving at 8:15 PM but failed to board.”

  “Jesus Christ, I thought they were being watched!”

  “They were, but after they bought the tickets they both went in the restroom and came out and went shopping separately. Our person was watching the man but lost him in the crowd, then they were both gone. He waited at the gate but they failed to board the plane.”

  “Check to see if they used a credit card.”

  “We did and they went to the Budget Car rental and rented a dark red Mercury Villager SUV, license number DC 4112A”

  “Didn’t your man see them do that?”

  “Yes, but he thought they were getting a car for their arrival in Philadelphia.”

  “They must be headed back to Philadelphia by car or they are going on a later flight and the car rental was just a diversion.”

  “We learned one other thing; we had their room bugged and they seem to have given up looking for information on the Philadelphia Experiment. They even threw out the notes they made at the National Archives.”

  “How do you know that for sure?”

  Sir, we had two surveillance cameras in the room. They got bored with the whole business and threw out the notes. We checked their room while they were out. After they checked out, we took the notes from the wastebasket. I have to say they did not do very well and there is little in the notes that isn’t common knowledge.”

  Commander Camp jammed out his cigar. “Still, I don’t trust those two. Why didn’t they get on the plane? They may have changed their minds or they knew they were being followed and gave us the slip. If they are headed back to Philadelphia, make sure you have someone at their apartments. We cannot use satellite tracking in the dark, but we can watch for them on Route 95. Have the Military Police keep an eye out for their vehicle and make up a cover story of some kind so as to not raise any suspicion.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “And Doyles, whoever you have on this, make sure they don’t lose them again! This thing has been nothing but one big cluster fuck and I’m getting a lot of heat from the Caseys on it. Is that understood?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “What about that old tub, where is it now?”

  “Tomorrow, at first light, we are towing it out past the continental shelf where it will be destroyed. The charges have already been placed and they will be fused when it is at sea
.”

  “See to it that it happens on schedule and call me when it’s gone.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  Chapter 19

  At the Burgermaster, they filled up on a couple burgers and fries and bought two extra Cokes for the road. David chose Route 301 instead of 95, heading toward Annapolis. At Middletown, Delaware, he could take Route 13 north into Wilmington, Delaware. It was a little bit longer but less traveled and if someone was on the lookout for them, they would be less likely to be found on such an offbeat route.

  Colleen decided the best approach would be to stay at her parents’ house in Ocean Beach and return to Philadelphia on Sunday night.

  With that decision made, they followed Route 13 north through Delaware and crossed into New Jersey on Route 295. From there, a forty-minute drive took them to Route 70 and into Lakehurst. At Lakehurst, they proceeded east on Route 37 driving over the Seaside Bridge twenty minutes later. Turning left, they followed Route 35 north to Ocean Beach Unit 2. It was a tedious way to go but they arrived safely and presumably without being followed. It was almost 1:30 Sunday morning.

  Somewhat to Colleen’s surprise, the house was vacant, as members of her family were usually there every weekend during the summer. The only explanation could be it was two weeks before the big July Fourth week and everyone was planning to be there then.

  Exhausted from the drive and the tension of being followed, they quickly snuggled up and fell asleep.

  David awoke with a start to the sound of a helicopter overhead. It was daylight and he broke out in a cold sweat as a dreadful fear crept over him. The chopper banked over the house and sounded as though it was setting down.

  “Colleen, wake up, there’s a helicopter landing.”

  “What?”

  “There’s a helicopter coming in to land.”

  “Oh, go back to sleep.”

  “Colleen it’s them; they’re after us.”

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s almost eight o’clock. What does that have to do with it?”

  “It’s Senator Land and he very often comes in by helicopter. They live nearby in Normandy Beach. They are friends of my parents. The Senator has a heliport in his yard so he can commute to Washington. He was a pilot in Vietnam and loves to fly.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, now go back to sleep.”

  David felt better, but still it was unnerving having a helicopter land near you when some part of the government is looking for you.

  They slept for another hour and then David was up looking for their notes from the National Archives.

  “Colleen, where are the notes from the archives?”

  “Oh,” she began to laugh, “come here, you’ll have to get them.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Just come here,” pulling him back into the bed.

  Colleen placed his hand inside her panties where he could feel the warm folded papers.

  “How long have they been there?”

  “Since yesterday. I forgot I put had them there when we left the hotel. I did take them out when I had to pee at the Burgermaster but put them back and I just kind of got used to them.”

  David removed the notes and set them on the nightstand, looked into her blue eyes and began to kiss her nose, her lips and gently removed her nightshirt. She responded to his caresses and their passion rose in intensity to a climax. They remained together for some time, resting in the afterglow of their lovemaking and enjoying the closeness of each other.

  Later David sat in an old Adirondack chair studying the notes while Colleen prepared a quick breakfast. David perused the notes as he spread them out on the table.

  “What I am theorizing is: The Philadelphia Experiment worked to a degree but not entirely, so they decided to try again, this time using the Aratusa, a much smaller ship than the USS Eldridge. If they used the same equipment and field strength on the smaller ship, the results might have been somewhat different. In fact, I think the results were a lot different and they actually lost the Aratusa for a time, finally reporting it lost at sea. Now, it appears that several months later, it showed up and the crew was either dead from the experiment, starvation or both. I believe the answer lies in the time line when the Aratusa became the USS Morgan. Why else would they report it missing then rename it the USS Morgan?”

  “David, let’s look carefully at the dates, the time line, as you say. The original Philadelphia Experiment took place in October of 1943 and the Aratusa was reported missing at sea December 10, 1944. Then, in April of 1945 it reappeared and was renamed the USS Morgan. Where was it between December 10th and April of the following year?”

  “The second experiment may be Project Bright Star and must have been done on or before December 10, 1944 when they reported it missing.”

  “Well, I guess the question is, what exactly was the second experiment?”

  “From what we have found, the experiment must have been a form of teleportation. I think the ship was fragmented into its molecules, transported to another location and reassembled. To make matters worse, the same thing might have happened to the crew, which is how human cells became embedded in the molecular lattice of the ship’s steel. I’m guessing that because the crew was mobile while on the Aratusa, their relative positions changed as they moved through the space-time continuum. They were re-assembled as it were, wherever they moved to, while the ship, a static object, did not move in relation to the crew’s original positions causing some of them to become fused into parts of the ship. It might have looked kind of like a double exposure of the ship and its crew, with some of them being where they could not be.”

  “That’s a pretty outlandish theory, David.”

  “Well, the other thing which came to mind was; they were able to warp or bend the space-time continuum and the ship went ahead in time to April, or somehow slipped through a hole in the fabric of space and time, temporarily ending up in another time or dimension. After they returned from wherever they were, they did not come back to the exact spot or time they vanished from, causing them to be lost for a while.”

  “Beam me up, Scotty.”

  “Yes, perhaps like that. The Dimensional Pulse Rephrasing of Frequency makes me wonder if the government tried to bring them back. According to the notes, they spent considerable time trying to fix something using that technique.”

  “David, if they did try a second time and reported the Aratusa missing at sea with all hands lost, they must have killed the crew with the experiment.”

  “I agree and if that was the case, they covered it up by renaming the Aratusa, the USS Morgan and letting the ‘lost at sea’ scenario mask the actual tragedy as a simple accident. Apparently, Einstein knew that experimenting with his Unified Field Theory was extremely dangerous to humans and we were not ready to do this. For this reason, it is claimed he never finished his work on it.”

  “So, what if these crew members are not actually dead, rather somehow locked into the steel of the ship, fragmented and dispersed through the steel?”

  “Oh I think they are dead all right. There has been no nourishment for over sixty years, at least not for the cells that are locked in the molecular lattice of the steel.”

  “What if some or only parts of some were locked into the steel, you know, like in your double exposure example and others were elsewhere, perhaps on the deck just walking around?”

  “Then what are you saying?”

  “I’m not sure; but maybe they survived and later died of starvation or lack of water. Perhaps, whatever food and water was originally on board was also fragmented and rematerialized in an inedible form. After all, the ship was missing for five months.”

  “Entirely possible under my Fragmentation Theory, my dear.”

  “Ha, Ha, the great David Albright theoretical phy
sicist.”

  “Well, if it did happen that way, then it’s possible a lot of the things on the ship no longer functioned because they came back slightly different from their original form. If they came back close but not exactly the same, not all of the electronic gear would function. Perhaps even the propulsion system and other equipment, whose properties were slightly altered such as the fuel, might no longer work. I don’t think we can prove any of this but maybe someone with a little more knowledge could.”

  “Yes and remember we still have the samples.”

  “Actually, there is a whole ship back in Philadelphia.”

  “What’s bothering me is why would someone not want us to know about this? They may have even killed to keep this silent and we could be next.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “I have an idea,” said Colleen, “Senator Land is a friend of my parents and I’m thinking we should go to him and lay out what we know. He is chairman of the Senate Oversight Committee and can help us.”

  “You mean just walk in, samples and all?”

  “Yes, I’ve known him since I was born and have flown in his helicopter hundreds of times. He even taught me how to fly it and although I do not have a license, I probably have over 160 hours of flight time.”

  “You never cease to amaze me, Colleen.”

  “Well, I was kind of a surrogate son to him. His son Thomas is a violinist and has no interest in mechanical things whatsoever, so, since I was kind of a tom boy when I was growing up, I got to be his other son, so to speak.”

  “Yes, but he is with the government; do you think this is a good idea?”

  “He’s good government and besides, they are my godparents.”

  David was skeptical, but under the circumstances there was little else they could do. They were in a rented car that easily could be traced. Whoever was looking for them knew where they lived and worked and while for the moment they were safe in Ocean Beach, they would soon be out of cash and any credit card transactions were traceable. They could do little else.