by George Nagle
Individuals were internally motivated to accomplish their tasks. They didn’t do it for glory or recognition or money, though money often accompanied the end results. It was all about the challenge of doing the right thing when others couldn’t, or at least it was supposed to be.
***
In Aberdeen, the apartment Korey had secured was exactly what he’d asked for. The property manager, a short, grouchy looking man with sideburns that flowed into a full beard, met him on site and handed him the keys. He had a bit of a waddle that James instantly recognized as a bad right hip.
“Sooo, you be John, then, eh? Well noew, me name is Michael, you know, and I have ter say that lady that rang me, then, she said I were ter get you all fancied up on living,” the manager said in his run-on manner of a high pitched voice.
They shook hands.
“Noew, this be the Baker Building we have you in,” said Michael.
“Why is it called the Baker Building?” James asked.
“Oh, it’s me family name, and I be looking after it, so it is called that,” replied Michael.
They walked up a flight of steps to the second floor where they took a left and walked down the hall. They got to the corner and stopped in front of door 221. James laughed silently, as he often did. If only it had the letter “B” after it, it would be perfect.
“Well noew, yer should be okay ter do fae a bit, yeah? The misses went ter the shops and me son helped get yer situated. Need to sign those papers, exchange some quid, and yer set. The Korey lass said yer may be doing some remodel and ‘tis fine just as long as yer don’t block any windows and don’t be extending into the neighbors’ spaces.”
Michael kept speaking as James looked quickly around. “Plus yer have a space you know in the storage fae things you wanted stored in the lowers.”
They took care of the paperwork and Michael gave him two sets of keys and his phone number, telling him to give him a call if he needed anything.
The apartment was great. The bedroom occupied the corner of the building and the bathroom created the adjoining wall with the neighbor on the right. The layout allowed for privacy, and the cement flooring levels soundproofed the place. Should it come up, this would explain why James didn’t know his neighbors.
James made a list of things he would need to make the apartment look lived in, such as sheets, clothes, bathroom items, and food. The bed itself was a twin and needed to be replaced, he decided after lying on it. He felt tired from the flight, but doing the necessary shopping would be a good way to avoid napping and extending the effects of jet lag.
He didn’t manage to find half the things he needed since many of the local shops, once he found them, were closed on Sunday. He did manage to get some basics at a shopping center that would get him through until the next day. By the time he returned to the apartment, he was exhausted. It didn’t help that he’d nearly had two accidents on the way back because he’d forgotten to stay in the near lane when making a left. He was happy to crawl into bed, but he soon remembered that the mattress was extremely firm, so much so that he might as well have slept on the floor. The bed definitely had to go, but that was a problem for the next day. He gathered a blanket and two pillows and crashed on the sofa, falling asleep quickly.
Everything hurt and there was no sound, or just one constant sound, he couldn’t tell. An intense heat was coming from a roaring blaze to his left. As he rolled to his right, his blurred vision saw someone on the other side of an old iron gate pulling a chain.
It was 3:37 a.m. when his eyes opened. James felt extremely uneasy, as he always did with those types of dreams. Still, it was better than the hallway dreams that were almost cartoonish.
He decided to get up instead of trying to force himself back to sleep, which rarely worked anyhow. He was still feeling the effects of the travel and decided he’d better eat something. After breakfast and a rather good shower, he revisited the list of things he needed to buy and tucked it in his back pocket.
For the time being, he decided to work on the list of requirements for each individual in the operation. He wasn’t sure how the major would go about searching for the right members, so he felt he’d better error on the side of caution and list requirements only. As short as the list was, it took him two hours and several versions to get it where he wanted it to be.
1. All members need to be highly trustworthy to keep the operation black bag. They
will not be informed of the target until the operation has started.
2. Individuals on the ground need to come from an abusive background, foster care,
or child protective services.
3. Individuals on the ground need to have experience in extracting people.
4. Marksmen with shooting handguns and assault rifles.
5. All individuals need high intelligence and a plan to pursue academic development.
6. Need one explosives expert, one electrical expert, and one communications expert.
The first one went without saying, but James didn’t want to leave anything to chance. The other items, if filled, would give him the working crew he needed, assuming everything fell together as envisioned.
James got up and stretched. He felt achy and wasn’t sure if it was from the prior night’s dream or the jet lag. Then he dug the paper out of his pocket and added “Find a gym” to his list. There was nothing like a good workout to flush the system and help reset the circadian rhythm.
He normally would have headed to the office and gotten a jump on the day, but he didn’t have access to the building and he doubted anyone who knew him would be in that early, so he did some work from the apartment. He also decided to ask Michael about internet access. Hopefully all he needed was a modem and router.
That day and the next passed with ease. James was able to get everything done with the exception of finding a gym. He also managed to talk with Carissa about moving in. She’d asked again if he was sure it was okay and he’d answered, “Yeah, I’ve already spent next month’s rent because that’s your problem now, then.” She’d laughed.
On Wednesday morning, James set out for Cambridge to attend the session with Dr. William Watterson. The journey went well, and he had plenty of time to find the building and lecture hall. The crowd was larger than he’d expected, but that was all to the good. He’d blend in and be able to observe more easily.
James repressed a chuckle at his first glance at Dr. Watterson. He looked like a modern version of President William Howard Taft, complete with the large belly and mustache. All he was missing were the round glasses.
The lecture began, and James soon realized the material was intended for an advanced audience. He knew some basics, but this hardcore science was beyond his understanding, at least at the rate Dr. Watterson was speaking.
Glancing around, James realized he wasn’t the only one struggling. A lady on his right asked the person on her right if she understood what Dr. Watterson was saying, and that individual admitted she was puzzled, too.
James felt better. He decided to interrupt so as to have a semi-reasonable excuse to talk with Dr. Watterson later, in private.
“Excuse me, Dr. Watterson. Dr. Watterson?”
The entire room, including Dr. Watterson, turned as one. Dr. Watterson was clearly irritated by the interruption, while the people near James seemed to lean away from him.
“Yes?” said the irritated professor in his Welsh accent. “What is it?”
“Sorry to interrupt …” James began.
“Ah well, I accept your apology and will continue. Now as I was saying …” Dr. Watterson began speaking again.
James kept his tone pleasant, but increased the volume. “Dr. Watterson, could you perhaps review the last few points again? I was not able to follow the jump from interperpolsion forces and the skin effect as you were describing it.”
“Perhaps, young man, you shouldn’t be in this room if you are unable to follow the material. This is my lecture, and I do not allow others to speak while I’m sp
eaking. If you are unable to keep up, I suggest you start at the beginners’ course and come back when you have mastered that material.” Dr. Watterson gestured toward the door.
“I see. Well, I think you will find that I’m not the only one exiting the room. Not to mention, I do not think a simple request of …”
James was cut off by a red faced Dr. Watterson, who shouted, “First, I doubt there are any original thoughts rattling around in that storage compartment atop your shoulders. As far as others not following, they too can depart. I can lecture to an empty room as well as a full one. Calvin, see this individual out!”
A slim, young grad student in the front row stood up. James had already begun making his way out of the room, and Calvin fell in beside him.
When the doors shut behind them, Dr. Watterson began to lecture again, but Calvin stayed outside the lecture hall with James.
“You must be new here, or hate the program, to stop him in mid-lecture like that,” Calvin marveled. “Surprised he didn’t take your name down. He must be getting soft in his old age. The last person to do what you just did got tossed out of the school completely, but then again, he had a full-blown argument in the middle of the lecture. This was a few years ago, but everyone still talks about it like it was last term.” Calvin spoke with a lot of hand motions and weight shifting.
“Right, well, I won’t keep you from returning.” James turned, still peeved. Now he needed to rethink how to get information on Yan.
“Oh, no, I can’t go back in. He’d kill me. Besides, I know the material, as it is my research. I can explain what you were asking about. I really think he had me escort you out to answer your question,” Calvin said, smiling. “The head of the department has been on him about being too abrupt with pupils, but there’s no way he was going to lose his reputation, so out you go.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder and stuck out his tongue to blow a raspberry.
“Sounds like a great boss you have there,” James said in a rather sarcastic tone.
“He isn’t so bad, once you get used to him. Oh, and as long as you don’t disagree with him in public … or private, really. Best to just let him think it was his idea all the time. But then, it has to still go along with his theory.” As an afterthought, Calvin added, “That’s where Yan messed up. Well, if you want to go …”
“Sorry, who?” James stared at Calvin.
Calvin looked back at him. “Who what?”
“Who did you just say?” James asked. He suddenly realized his entire demeanor had changed and consequently put Calvin on guard. James forced his body to relax and said, “Something about someone disagreeing with Dr. Watterson.”
Calvin’s eyes got wide for a second before he said, “Oh, yeah, Yan. That was a fight, that. Shame, too; Yan had brains. He was my brother’s roommate the first term we were here as freshmen. We thought we’d try a little separation, so we just lived next to each other, but with different roommates. Didn’t work out too well, so we ended up swapping the next term. Things were better after that. Well, not for Yan; a few terms later he got tossed out.” Calvin jerked his thumb and made the raspberry noise again.
As they began to walk, Calvin started to ask James questions like, “So are you new here?” and “Where do you come from” and “Are you majoring in particle engineering?”
Before James could really answer any of the questions, Calvin was onto the next. It was rather annoying.
They walked down the hall and into a lab area with a lot of equipment running in a very large space. It surrounded an enormous circle of tubing with a variety of wires and transducers hooked to it, which made it a little challenging to walk around the crowded space at the edges.
There was only one other person in the room. James saw a blond ponytail lying over the back of a white lab coat. When they were a few feet away, the woman looked up and smiled.
Wow, thought James. Just as it registered how pretty she was, she walked up and kissed Calvin as though he had just singlehandedly saved her family and all her friends. As the passionate kiss broke, her hand disappeared down Calvin’s front.
Based on his reaction, she must have grabbed something she shouldn’t have, at least not in public.
Turning to face James and putting his arm around the girl’s shoulder, Calvin said, “This is Regan. Regan, this is uhh …”
“Hi, I’m James,” he said, reaching out and shaking hands. Immediately, he realized he should have gone with John, as that was the identification he had with him, but it didn’t matter, as he was certain no one was going to check it.
Calvin began to explain what had happened during the lecture, but James wasn’t sure Regan was listening, as her right hand was groping Calvin’s backside. James didn’t understand her interest in him, but then again, who was he to judge?
When Calvin got to the part where James questioned Dr. Watterson, Regan gasped, as if Dr. Watterson were going to walk in and somehow associate her with James’s evil deed.
“See, told you, mate,” Calvin said smugly.
Not sure what to say to this, James merely smiled.
Just then two more people entered the lab, and James did a double take. It looked like Calvin and Regan had just walked in. Either this was the twilight zone, or someone had figured out cloning or had created a time warp. Not only were the newcomers identical to Calvin and Regan, but the new Regan was walking with her hand in the new Calvin’s back pocket.
“How did it go?” the original Calvin asked.
“Fine. You know how he is. Got through the rest of the material, announced he was heading to the pub, and that was it.” The new Calvin made the same raspberry tongue sound and did the same thumb jerk, while the new Regan giggled.
“James, this is my brother Raymond and this is Regan’s sister Regina. We’re all twins. Though Regan and I are the cute ones,” Calvin said with a big smile. Regan gave a small “Aw” and proceeded to kiss him.
“Calvin tells me you were roommates with the last student to interrupt Dr. Watterson,” James said as a way to introduce the topic and break the ice.
“Yan? Yeah. That was a bad day, wasn’t it? Well, he had it a lot worse than you. Always banging on about creating an artificial zone for a sustained electro-magnetic pulse, remember that?” Raymond said to the room at large.
“Well, he did sort of demonstrate it on the accelerator,” said Regan, turning her head to look at the encircled area.
“Right.” Raymond looked disinterested, but James looked at everyone in turn, silently asking “And?”
They failed to pick up on it. James felt he’d better not push it for now; he’d have to circle back to it later. “So can you explain the lecture to me, please?” he asked instead.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Calvin said with a smile.
“Have at it; I have to go check my video feeds,” Raymond said, walking away with Regina.
Regan kissed Calvin on the cheek. “Go be brilliant!” she told him with a giggle.
Calvin blushed. “Sorry,” he said as he led James to a room just to the side of the lab. “She can’t keep her hands off me. Pure animal magnetism. Get it? Kind of appropriate, since we work in magnets.” He had a huge grin on his face, but then looked serious.
“Actually, it can be a bit annoying. She’s bright and all, but she wants me all the time.” He shook his head as they sat down at a desk. James felt like shaking his head, too, but he resisted the impulse, as he didn’t want to insult Calvin.
Over the course of the next few hours, Calvin walked James through the finer points of the lecture and what they were doing in the lab. The focus was on creating better power sources for batteries through magnets, and they were making a lot of headway from the traditional 60:1 ratio to a few tons of magnetic force into the size of a baseball. The drawback was that the temperature had to be extremely low.
“This is similar to superconducting ceramics, where there’s essentially no loss of efficiency in conducting electricity over any distance in a cold e
nough environment, but not one seen in nature, right?” James asked.
“Exactly, yes. It’s just that we’re storing the energy for release as we see fit, not just transporting it.” Calvin leaned back in his chair.
“So what happens when that energy is released from a high capacity substrate? Say if it were to come out extremely rapidly?”
“You’d get a rather large electromagnetic pulse, then. Funny you say that; it’s exactly what Yan kept pushing. Kept asking about sending electrical fields through a high conducting substrate to generate a sustainable EMP. Dr. Watterson said it couldn’t be done, not at a normal temperature at least. Yan seemed to think it could.” Calvin drank some tea.
“What do you think? Could it be done?” James asked.
Calvin paused. “I think it might. Yan seemed to be getting some results, but he never shared his methods. I would like to believe it could be done. It could accelerate what we’re trying to do here by years and years.”
Later, driving back to Aberdeen, James thought about how he was going to get Calvin to evaluate the fortress and tell him how to dismantle the system. It seemed the logical thing, given his level of understanding, but it was also risky. But simply telling him about the set up would create a firestorm of questions, not to mention the fact that Calvin was very much a part of what James called “the herd.”
James reminded himself that he was putting the cart before the horse. Until he and the major worked out the plan, it was impossible to say if expertise with the EMP was even needed. Something just told him it would be.
James shifted his focus to thoughts of Carissa and found himself back in Aberdeen in no time. It was past 11 when he crawled onto the couch that night, and he drifted off to sleep with little problem.
***
Moving day came, and James stood inside the flat Carissa shared with Judy. Judy wasn’t speaking much, so James took his cue from this and concentrated on getting the truck loaded. After they finished, James left the ladies to say their goodbyes.
Carissa came out a few minutes later, her eyes shiny.
“Listen, I am sorry; she seemed down, you know. Just had a bit of family troubles of late. She really is a sweet person and has always been there for me.” Carissa paused and bit her lip, clearly trying to decide whether to say more.
