by L. S. Wood
General Carey heard just prior to leaving Washington, D.C. to go to the nesting site for the new bomb that the Japanese Emperor was preparing his military ready to join forces with Germany to take whatever spoils of war they could muster up from the war for themselves. The humbug around Washington, D.C. was that the Japanese could become a problematical country to deal with if they did enter the war at that time, and this new weaponry might have to be used against them as well as on German soil.
Time was running out for the allies abroad, and the need for the special bomb to bring lasting peace to the earth was in desperate need.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Arrival of Brass
General Carey flew in from Washington, D.C. to the hot sands of New Mexico’s northern desert on the second day after informing the president and his confidant staff that the Manhattan Project leaders were ready and now prepared to test the first nuclear prototype of the atomic bomb. He was extremely anxious to take part in this new historic event for humanity arriving at the experimental facilities at 1600 hours their time in the desert that afternoon.
“Good afternoon, General Carey”, “And the same to you, Charles. Good to see you, too, Roger. Is the Egg ready to have its shell cracked open yet?” “No, sir, General Carey, the Egg is not quite ready to hatch. We are mostly ready, but want to explore the demeanor of the first chain reaction possibilities of this first split atom just a little further. Nothing to worry about though General Carey just a little more material and mathematical figuring to go over on my part, that’s all.”
“I was in communication with Major Wood on my way over here to see you Roger. He said the nest should be ready in just about another four days or less, is that a problem with you gentlemen?”
“No, sir. General Carey, not a problem at all.”
“I guess the workmen are quite curious to know why we are building a 100 foot tower that looks similar to a giant wind-powered water well without a blade attached way out here in the middle of no-man’s land in the desert so important. I guess everyone will know by the end of next week, right?” “You bet they will, General, and undoubtedly so will the rest of the nation and the world. The news media, if we let them, will take this huge blast and make it bigger and well known around the country and around the world. The Manhattan project will not be top secret any longer after this baby hatches itself, even out here in no-man’s land!”
“Hey, Sergeant Wise, why the hell are we way out here in no-man’s land erecting this stupid looking water tower without a well attached to its under-belly anyway?” “We do not really know boys. You know the old military saying don’t you, and how it goes? It is not up to us to ask that silly question why boys, it is only up to us to do or die! Now boys, a lot more sawing on those planks and a lot less flapping those jaws of yours, and we might get this damn project off the ground a whole hell of a lot sooner than later! With a wee bit of luck and my sweet Irish temper boys, we just might have this stupid waterless tower completed and ready to fly before General Carey arrives from Washington D. C. to inspect our work! Now let’s stop all this yakking and get attacking this project pronto!”
“What do you mean, General Carey, Sergeant? Do you mean the real chief, the head chief, the big cheese of the military armed services from the capital, that General Carey?” “That is the one boys, the one and only General Carey!”
With everyone realizing who was coming to inspect their work at the tower site, the work on the nesting tower took on a vigorous double time in their efforts. Just the thought of General Carey inspecting their work scared the hell out of most of them.
The men’s hands flew at the heads of nails with hammers as if a machinegun was set on rapid fire. Handsaws sang out in musical tune, singing away cutting quickly back and forth across the surface of the boards beneath them. Their speedy rhythm caused tiny wood shavings to flow down toward the ground in a constant stream of sawdust.
If General Carey, head of the entire military armed services, was coming all the way out here to the desert to this hellhole to inspect their work, then the tower they were building must be something of great significance.
On the fourth very long hard day of hot work on the special erection in building the Egg’s nest, a motorcade of several vehicles approached the nesting site from the direction of the main laboratory complex.
The motorcade speeding across the deserts-sands sent up a huge cloud flume of dry desert dust about twenty five and more feet up into the clear day air. Each Jeep had one of the scientific doctors in it along with a couple of special military men to protect the doctors from any harm should any come near them. In another specially equipped vehicle sat General Carey along with two his military aids for assisting and serving him.
The caravan first stopped at a huge crater made in the desert floor created by several bulldozers and heavy equipment. The area was halfway between the breached fence of the main compound and the small fenced in compound at the nesting site. The crew of select craftsmen from civil engineering had put together a cylindrical shaped cement operations headquarters building, buried half beneath the surface of the desert’s sands and had lined the several outer concrete walls in the making of the building with a thick lead lined shielding. A small dozer with an angled blade was busy at work backfilling a trench laced with many cables running northward toward the nesting location several miles to its north.
The two doctors with General Carey were extremely pleased with the progress the civil engineering group was having finishing the special project of building the controlling facilities, and were anxious to see how the nest way out in the middle of the desert was coming along.
Construction at the nesting site had to be in its final phase in the top-secret project to keep away any crafty spies from foreign lands. The government wanted the rest of the world to be in total darkness and unaware in its development. The idea of making the atomic bomb came from a Germany scientist whose plans were stolen by the united allies.
The Germans were busy working on the bomb, but at a much slower scientifically overrated and complicated mathematical rate of speed. They were using improper quantities of heavy water concentrate in all their computations with incorrect formulas in purifying contaminated raw uranium into plutonium for their nuclear bomb’s creation.
The design and prototype of the experimental American atomic weaponry in their arsenal was sought out by other countries in their quest to fulfill their own deadly needs.
The design for the first jet engine built by the Germans was also attached to these plans; a new weapon of destruction used against innocent lives the Germans attacking innocent victims over the English Channel, with buzz bombings attacking England. The buzz bomb was one of the greatest determining factors behind why this new atomic bomb the world was so desperately needed, abroad. In the beginning, bits and pieces of the Manhattan project were scattered around our country in its first stages to deter any foreign spy from getting immediate access to the entire project.
General Carey’s motorcade proceeded along the new pathway on the desert floor to the north towards the nesting site where the tower for the nest was in its final phase. The busy soldiers in the field all called to attention as soon as General Carey exited his vehicle in the small motorcade convoy. “Carry on men,” General Carey yelled out at the top of his voice, “You are all doing an exquisite job out here. Carry on men.”
“Good afternoon General Carey and a good afternoon to you Major Wood.” “I certainly hope this nesting project meets or exceeds your highest standards of quality control with detailed specifications in structure and buildings in this project, sir.”
“A fine job well done, Major Wood, well done. We surely hope this work is what you and Roger was expecting, Charlie. If there are any changes that need to be done that you or Roger deem necessary for the nest, this is certainly the time to make them all known to us so we can make the changes before we complet
e the job. To modify the tower after completion would be real time consuming if not impractical at that stage of the game.” “Everything looks first-rate, General Carey.” “Day after tomorrow, Major Wood, the doctors and I would like the Egg brought out here and positioned in the nest for proper fitness and inspection”. “Everything is just about ready for it, General, and will be in order I am sure for the arrival of the Egg on site, sir.”
General Carey, Major Wood, Charlie, and Roger followed the trained engineering staff slowly around the nesting site, as they took out the drafted blueprints showing the tower’s size and measurements. The engineers began measuring the prints with their slide rules. They measured longitudes and latitudes in precise measurements for the nest’s proper height, width, depth, and weight.
Taking into account and overlooking the final progress taking shape around them with the greatest in admiration for the fine work accomplished so far on the structure in such a short notice of time, it was truly amazing all this work had taken shape in such a short time.
The military men in the field were like little preprogrammed robots, as every move made by them was not wasted, as the nesting site was coming together in slow rapid motion right in front of the ones from the convoy. Fruition of the long project was now inevitable, and the first real test of the new atomic bomb was just a day or two away.
The dignitaries returned to the nesting site early the second morning after the first inspection as planned. Placing the Egg into the tall nest was like Cinderella sliding on the glass slipper the handsome prince had placed on her. The nest cradle fit the Egg with perfection. Soldiers in the field did not quite know what to expect when the Egg was placed down into its final nesting place. They were confused as to why they had built this tall tower way out in the desert to hold a ball made from steel that looked more like a wrecking ball way out in the middle of these hot sands. They had no idea what was going on and never would until a few days later.
Their mission in the hot desert was now complete even though it seemed a bit ridiculous to them. They had brought fruition to their temporary assignment that lasted a long time out in the middle of nowhere. Their new orders now were to pick up their tools of trade immediately, and to load them back onto the vehicles they used and returns back to the Army Air Force headquarters. As soon as most returned to the airbase, they were to again pack up all the necessary equipment from civil engineering to leave the facilities empty of materials and vacate the premises immediately for their new assignments awaiting in sealed envelopes back at headquarters. Most all of their new orders would send the men halfway round the world to join their counterparts in the fight for world peace.
They were to take time off and spend quality time at home with their loved ones for a couple of days before moving out to their new assignments. They were ordered to not mention their last assignment to anyone they ran into while on leave. This didn’t make any sense to the soldiers.
There was a horrific war going on across the sea. They were one by one hand selected out of their fighting units, then stationed way the hell out here in the middle of no-man’s land, in the New Mexico desert where scorpions, tarantulas, and rattlesnakes lived. Living there and having nothing to do for the past several months except sit around and wait for their assignment. They were told nothing about this special mission up front.
Foolish orders sent them rushing out into the hot desert sands in northern New Mexico to accomplish their silly mission in record time. They were to build a foolish looking tower with scaffolding, several other smaller wooden structures representing empty houses, along with a few cinderblock cement out buildings. Some made of wood, some steel structured buildings alike and all with different roof designs for no apparent reason. All were built not far from the tower. Now to pack up and leave did not make any sense to any of them. Nothing about this ridiculous assignment made any sense to them. The project left an awful lot of unspoken questions of confusion unanswered to most all who wondered what the importance of this top-secret military mission was that they had just accomplished. They packed up their equipment and left without further wondering what they had really just accomplished for their country.
The soldiers, who had been working around the clock all week long on the construction of the safety bunker, felt similar to everyone else at the sight. Why would their government or any other government build a six layered cylindrical silo shaped bunker from cinder blocks lined with several layers in thick lead blanketed sheathing? Each lead shield was fitted between each cinderblock layer, and then filling in the empty cavities of the cinder blocks with full strength high intensity concrete that would stop a mortar attack. Why would they do all this, and then place a one-inch thick sheet of preformed armored steel plating around the whole outside of the entire structure?
It just did not make much sense to any of the soldiers who feverishly labored in the sweltering heat of day and the cold raw of night in extreme adverse conditions to make this stupid structure that did not do anything useful without any information as to why they were there in the first place. Nothing made any sense to most as they were only doing as told to do as soldiers, and happy to be of service to their country no matter what this whole thing was about.
They all assumed that the bunkered silo structure they were building was to be a bomb-proofed structure of some sort. It was definitely a bomb shelter built to withstand the strongest of all modern man-made bombs. All they could do at that point of time was to complete their task and leave the area immediately.
Most would leave their assignments in the desert feeling bewildered to what it was all about, but would soon in the months to follow find out that their stay in the hot desert sands was worth their while with the end of the war that followed the dropping of the newly invented atomic bomb.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Mr. Stewart Jones had just taken off down the grassy runway from his old friend Brad’s bumpy backyard landing strip. Brad stood by the landing strip, and waved his friend a friendly goodbye as he roared off down the airstrip and into the air. He flew off into the bright blue of the early morning sky without a cloud anywhere, a perfect day for flying. He was flying back home to his daughter’s home where he lived and kept his old Waco biplane undercover out in one of her empty barns near their airfield. He was feeling quite chipper this day about going back home to see his daughter and his grandchildren, and their children.
He felt quite satisfied with himself and life for the time being, leaving his old friend Brad’s farm behind, especially after spending a few very relaxing well enjoyed days of reminiscing about the fun they had in times of old when they were both much younger and more mischievous.
Just as old Stuart’s wheels on his vintage biplane left the grassy runway, a very important message began broadcasting out over the local public radio channels in the immediate area of Brad’s farm and the surrounding area that also encompassed the new laboratory and military compound to the far north and northeast of his farm.
The special broadcast reported there was going to be the detonation of a very large-scale bomb in the testing area above the new airbase forty miles to the north northeast of town. It was only going to be a test. No one in the immediate area should become distressed if they saw a very sizeable looking white funnel cloud appear in the sky above the desert floor after hearing a large blast or feeling the earth shake beneath ones feet or rattled their homes like a mild earthquake. It would not be a tornado, an earthquake, or even that of the enemy of Hitler’s army invading the country. It was only our government testing a very strong new weapon for our protection.
All fighter aircraft squadrons from the testing facilities airfield were now out flying in a circular pattern one hundred or better miles outside the compound in circles around the area of the testing sight. They were there to keep out all stray aircraft that had not heard the warning about this specific test which was going to tak
e place early that day, who might fly their aircraft too close to the testing area, and get themselves along with their passengers hurt or killed by the super blast.
Neither these pilots, nor any of the men in charge of the test that day had any idea there might be one unique pilot flying alone in and around within the restricted fly zone. Mr. Jones had missed the very important message of the day, the broadcast about no one to fly within fifty or less miles of the restricted blast location to the north.
Had Stew landed his small aircraft at the local airfield twenty miles south of Brad’s farm, a warning not to fly that day was hanging on the doors to all the hangers. He and his plane would have been forbidden and not allowed to take off from the airfield that day. Then again it was Stew Jones, and old Stew never did like listening or taking orders or advice from any strangers.
Stew sure as hell, would not want to put his old friend Brad out by having to have him drive those extra twenty or less miles to pick him up at the airfield. Especially being quite capable of landing his plane right there at the farm where Brad kept his old twin winged biplane out in the barn. The one he and Stew had bought together when they both purchased their two twin winged biplanes as a package deal, but Brad had not flown his in a couple of years now. Old Brad had had a couple of near mishaps in his last few attempts in landing at his farm as his eyesight and depth perception was failing him, and he knew better than chance another flight, for the next might be his last.
Stew flew his biplane Betsy north northeasterly as he had always done in the past on his return trips back home to his daughter’s house where he always kept his plane. He hoped this beautiful day wouldn’t be spoiled like his last flight by him meeting up again with those damn fool highflying knuckleheaded dip shits he had encountered on his way down to Brad’s.
