Timecachers
BY
GLENN R. PETRUCCI
Although portions of this novel are derived from real events, all characters and organizations portrayed are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No reference to any living person is intended or should be inferred.
Copyright © 2011 Glenn R. Petrucci
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the copyright holder except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Published by ReturnSide, LLC, New Castle, Delaware
Brought to you by KeVkRaY
For Kathy...
who fills my life with love and my writing with clarity.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TIMECACHERS MAP
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
GLOSSARY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Timecachers Map
Chapter one
Adam shook his head as he looked through the storm door at the rain drenched package. “Crap!” he muttered. “I wish that delivery guy would put the packages under the awning when it’s raining.” His next thought was that he was probably expecting too much from the sleepy-eyed deliveryman.
Springtime brought frequent rainstorms to Delaware. This year they were a welcome nuisance, a wet promise of warmer weather after a particularly cold winter. And rain was much better than snow.
It was still cold enough outside to form a layer of condensation on the storm door window, the moisture droplets tracing slim, wet tracks in the fog as they dribbled down the glass. Adam used his sleeve to wipe a porthole in the condensation, inspecting the front yard and noticing the thick, pale-green tips of daffodils peeking through the sparse remnants of melting snow; the victors of winter’s final battle against the coming of spring. It wouldn’t be long before he would have to find time to fire up the lawnmower.
Contrary to the geek stereotype often associated with engineers, Adam Hill led an active lifestyle, was well-groomed, dressed stylishly, and had an athletic build. He didn’t consider the pudgy “Dilbert” physique to be a very accurate portrayal of his colleagues. Some of the hardcore gamers who seldom ventured into direct sunlight let themselves become as squishy as gummy bears, but most of the folks in his circle led very active lives and kept in pretty good shape. He believed that staying physically active kept his mind sharp; as much as the mental calisthenics he performed to keep abreast of new technology. Adam spent as much time as he could outdoors—hiking, biking, swimming, and rock-climbing—whatever he could do that would let him replace the glow of his computer monitor with the radiance of sunshine. His preference was for non-competitive activities; while his taller-than-average frame gave him a physical advantage, his easy-going nature could sometimes be a handicap in fiercely competitive sports.
Not that his choice of activities were limited; there were always plenty of invitations to join one outing or another. His swarthy good looks, intelligent conversation, and pleasing mannerisms assured Adam’s popularity among his peers. He was more troubled by how often he had to decline their invitations. Finding enough time to spend with his friends was often difficult for the twenty-eight year old business owner.
Covering his head with his shirt, Adam retrieved the soaking wet package and brought it into the house. He wiped away the droplets of water to read the hand-written priority mail label with his name and address, and a return address showing the shipper as TSO, Inc., Natick, MA. “At least he brought it to the correct address,” Adam conceded. He carried the package to the kitchen, found a handy dishtowel to sop up some of the water, and then used a steak knife to cut through the packing tape. The box hadn’t been sitting in the rain long enough to soak through, and the pink Styrofoam peanuts inside appeared to be dry as they spilled out onto the countertop. More peanuts bubbled from the box as he fished out an object about the size of an electric razor. It was wrapped in a pink plastic bag and had the proper ESD cautionary labels required for Electrostatic Devices.
“They passed the packaging test,” he thought. He was always amazed at how many companies failed to use anti-static packing materials to ship electronic devices. “So this is the latest in spaceman navigational devices.”
The peculiar phone call came about a week ago. Not that it was unusual for a company he’d never heard of to contact him about testing a new product; most of his business came by word of mouth referrals from development engineers who had used, and appreciated, the service he provided. Adam’s company, Overhill Engineering, LLC, specialized in testing microprocessor-based devices, specifically the embedded software that allowed the devices to function. Adam started the company with his former partner, John Overton, a few years ago when the bean-counters at his former employer decided it made good financial sense to eliminate the product test department and have the development engineers perform their own testing. It wasn’t long after that misguided pronouncement that the company began having quality issues, especially with the usability of their products. They had learned a hard lesson about the difference between what engineers thought was user friendly and what the typical consumer considered easy to use. The company ultimately had to contract the work back to Adam, paying him a lot more than they used to, benefits notwithstanding.
Having his own company gave him the luxury of choosing which products he wanted to test, and allowed him to offer his services to several other companies. Adam and John had since gone their separate ways, but the business was already established and Adam saw no need to change the company name—a not-very-imaginative combination of their names.
What was peculiar about this phone call was the description of the device, and the relatively obscure explanation of its functionality. Adam had received the functional
specification the day after he agreed to test the product. Even after his initial scan through the document he wasn’t quite sure how to begin the test plan. He was exceptionally technically astute and kept abreast of most emerging technologies, but the covariant space-time operators, infinite-component wave functions, and proper-time Schrödinger equations mentioned in this document went far beyond his understanding of physics.
UAT, User Acceptance Testing, was Overhill Engineering’s specialty. The company’s principal value-add was having both the technical acumen to understand the complexities of development engineering and still test for LCU. Least Competent User was simply a politically correct term for making sure a highly technical device could be operated by the dumbest person on the planet.
The phone call was from Edward Odan, PhD., president of Time-Space Obversions (TSO), Inc., a greater Boston area engineering company that had been formed by Dr. Odan, in conjunction with MIT’s department of physics.
Odan’s slight New England accent was just enough to give his voice a scholarly inflection, yet not Bostonian enough to sound haughty or pompous. When Odan spoke, Adam got the feeling he was listening to a college professor, which, in fact, he was.
The company was developing a highly advanced product that promised to be “the next big thing” in handheld navigation devices. “What we are looking for is someone to do the field UAT testing for us,” Odan explained. “You see, our engineering group is highly advanced in theory and design, but we need someone with your particular professional and personal background to conduct the user application testing of this product.”
“I understand the need for my real-world testing services, but what is it about my personal background that’s relevant?” asked Adam.
“Well, for this product we need someone not only familiar with hardware and software testing methodologies, but someone who also has a very diverse aptitude for several types of outdoor adventure activities, you see, including backpacking, orienteering, and rock climbing, as well as survival skills and some practical knowledge of early American history. The background research we conducted on you turned up a good mixture of the types of skills we need for this testing.”
Adam thought he’d better carefully scrutinize the personal information he put on his LinkedIn profile from now on. “I’m not sure I understand the need for someone with my outdoors experience, and knowledge of early American history? Do you mean the colonial period?”
“Pre-colonial as well—but don’t concern yourself with that at this point. Your historical knowledge could be helpful in analyzing certain peculiar reactions of the device. Your team will be required to conduct most of your testing in remote, rugged, terrestrial areas—wilderness areas in the Southeast to be precise.” Odan cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“I’d like to send you the functional specifications to look over and a non-disclosure agreement. I can promise you that this will offer you one of the most unique testing experiences of your career. The details of the test plan will be up to you, but you will need to set aside one full week of testing time in addition to the test plan development. One week of exclusive testing time, and a team of three to four resources with skills similar and complementary to your own. You may choose your own team of course, but they must clear our background check. I can offer you generous compensation--triple your usual fee, in fact, plus reimbursement for any expenses you incur.”
Money wasn’t the only consideration, although Adam had to admit that such a lucrative contract was attractive, and the timing for access to his best engineers was perfect. He could afford to be selective about the jobs he took, having managed his finances well enough to cover his own basic living expenses for quite a while, but he had been promising his contractors there would be new work coming along for them soon. At present, he was the only fulltime employee of his company. Several of the engineers who contracted to him had inquired about fulltime positions, and he hoped that someday he could offer them permanent jobs.
His extracurricular activities were enjoyable, but they didn’t do much to grow his company. He had promised himself at the onset of this venture that it would not become an obsession; he would be selective about which jobs to take and leave plenty of time to enjoy life. He soon discovered that keeping a viable business proved to be more time-consuming than he imagined. Perhaps this opportunity with Dr. Edward Odan of TSO Devices, Inc. would allow him to do a little of both, and give his company the financial boost it needed to hire a few fulltime employees. The project was different than others his company had done, requiring the testing to be performed outside of a laboratory environment, yet it was well within his area of expertise. It certainly promised to be a fun and interesting project!
Chapter two
Adam returned Dr. Odan’s call the same day he received the functional specification. He had already signed and faxed back the non-disclosure to TSO, Inc., but he needed a follow up for additional details and clarification of their expectations. “The theory, at least what I can understand of it, is fascinating,” Adam said into the receiver. “Using the stellar emissions from space to determine navigational positioning is ingenious, Dr. Odan,” he stated.
“Call me Ed, please—and the fundamental design is not all that novel,” Odan replied. “Man has used stars for determining his position on the planet since the ancient Greeks, and probably even before that. The ingenuity was designing a device that could receive the signals sent out by those heavenly bodies. Our primary ‘value-add’ for this technology is employing a new discovery, my discovery, of how those star emissions can be received by a micro device. Until now, radio telescopes of tremendous size were required to ‘listen’ to the stars. By receiving the star signals and syncing them to the time-constant frequency of another heavenly body like a pulsar, we can determine our exact location anywhere on the planet without the need of a supporting satellite system like NAVSTAR or Galileo that global positioning systems use. The technology is basically the same, except we don’t need satellites; we use the stars.” Odan paused a moment to let Adam absorb the significance of his last statement.
Not getting a response, he elaborated. “One of the weaknesses of the satellite GPS systems is that you can often lose the satellite signals, especially in remote areas and under heavy cover where you really need it the most. The stars are everywhere, always available, and the emissions strong enough so that is not a problem with this device, you see.” Another slight pause, then, “In fact, we’ve also discovered some interesting anomalies that may actually enhance the unit’s functionality.”
“Anomalies?” asked Adam. The word set off his internal alarm. He’d been doing testing long enough to know that usually meant serious design obstacles, and dealt with enough marketing types who tried to turn bugs into features.
“Not to worry,” Ed replied. “Nothing has been discovered that would impede development. The schedule is still on track.”
Adam was still skeptical, but he set aside his concern for now and moved on. “How far along in the development phase are you? You sent me a functional spec; have you completed a design specification?”
“We have a working prototype. Of course, the anomalies I mentioned are not part of the original design features. They turned up in our initial design testing. The necessity, at least in part, for engaging you to perform UAT testing is due to those anomalous discoveries.”
“Meaningful test results require testing to the design standards,” Adam pointed out. “I assume you want me to test the accuracy of your device against a traditional GPS receiver, but I’ll need some sort of parameters to determine if you are in range of your design goals.”
“Your assumption is only partially correct. We have already verified the accuracy of the positioning, and the testing you will be doing for us will take you beyond the range of the current GPS receivers,” Ed answered.
Adam knew that modern GPSr’s could receive from multiple satellites, and the ground-based WAAS stations improved th
e reliability of the system where signals were weak. Some were also augmented by land-based cellphone towers. Most of the receivers, even the consumer hand-held and automobile models, were pretty dependable. Finding places to test without GPS coverage would be a challenge.
“Let me clarify our testing needs further to you. We aren’t looking for you to do a typical software or product testing project.” Ed said. “More a field alpha-test if you will. It will be most helpful to us to have someone with your background in usability testing to provide feedback in an actual field environment.”
“I see,” said Adam haltingly, “but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to arrange access to a spacecraft…”
“Of course not,” Ed laughed. “We only need your inputs for the land-based navigation, so all of your testing will be earthbound. For your testing parameters we will provide you with a basic testing scenario for you to execute. The scenario will have specific goals for you to accomplish using the device to guide your team. You will determine the details of how to carry out the scenario in your test plan. Since you will be using new technology, your plan will need to be flexible, and allow for impromptu adjustment of your testing strategy. The test results I am most interested in are the experiences you and your team encounter during the testing, you see, not so much the functionality and performance of the device itself. Therefore, it will be essential that you keep extensive notes of the scenario execution.”
“We always provide well-documented test results,” Adam replied, sounding a bit defensive. Alice Delvecci would be an ideal engineer for this project, he thought. While he enjoyed writing the proposals and test plans, when it came to the tedious recording of every minute detail of test results, no one was better than Alice. She would tirelessly document every step of an executed test procedure and each variation of device response through multiple regression tests. Adam was a good documenter when he had to be, but to him the redundant recording of test results was as mind-numbing as mowing the lawn.
“Undeniably,” said Ed. “In fact, your company has produced exemplary test results reports which I have examined in our background search. For this testing project, I should warn you that your engineers will likely have to resort to somewhat more manual note-taking than usual.”
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