Discovered©
They waited til 1:00 a.m. the next morning to sneak out to the garage. When the door was opened, the Fiero appeared to be ready and waiting for action.
"How does the shield you set up for security work?" Dick asked.
"It’s set up like a force field." Dave replied. "The closer you get to the car, between two distances, the harder you are pushed away. It starts at about a foot away from the surface. Try to touch it. It won’t hurt you."
Dick approached the car and stood an arm’s length away. He slowly extended his arm towards the car. At the prescribed distance, he started to feel resistance. The resistance slowly grew until, at an inch away, he was pushing with all his strength, and couldn’t force his arm in any further. Gasping, he relaxed his arm. The opposing force also relaxed, as it pushed his arm back.
"Man, that’s impressive!" Dick said.
"Access code Hart," David said, facing the car. "recognize David Christopher." Dave turned to Dick. "Say something similar." Dave said.
"recognize Dick Lowery," Dick said. There was a brief flicker of energy around the car’s perimeter as the field changed.
"Now we can get in," Dave said. "The field actually isn’t off, it just allows us access."
They entered the little car and settled into the eerily familiar surroundings.
"It’s a little like the starship enterprise," Dick remarked briefly.
"Hm." Dave replied with a look of excitement on his face. "That’s something to think about. With this technology, space exploration, or at least transport to low earth orbit, may be easier than we could ever imagine. We’d still want something airtight, though, for fail-safety. This car certainly doesn’t qualify."
The antigravity drive was quickly brought on line, and the cloaking device was engaged as they floated out of the garage into the night air.
Unbeknownst to them (but beknownst to us), a dark figure watched from a nearby concealed vehicle, and another from the woods next to the garage. The one next to the garage spoke into a radio.
"They’ve flown the coop." He said. "Looks like now is the time."
Back in the Fiero, Dave flew the short distance to the professor’s ranch using the car’s ability to sense electromagnetic fields to avoid any power lines. They would be invisible in the dark, and while the Fiero might not be hurt, blacking out a neighborhood would generate a little more excitement then they wanted right now. He brought the car down to a soft landing just behind the barn. When they exited the vehicle, they left the cloak on. "I sure hope we can find it again in short order," Dave said. "This kind of reminds me of what that comedian said about wonder woman wandering around at the airport until she bumped into her invisible plane."
The humor helped relieve the anxiety over the search. "What exactly are we looking for?" Dick asked.
"We’ll know it when we see it." Dave replied. "Should be some sort of secret entrance, and we might be able to find it by a panel that sounds hollow. You looked it over pretty thoroughly. Was there anything suspicious?"
"I checked for hollow-sounding panels," Dick replied. "Didn’t find any, but there was one area I couldn’t get to. There is a storage area in one corner that was locked up. First, though, we have to get inside."
They made their way to the rear entrance. There was a standard deadbolt and privacy lock installed.
"Been waiting to try this," Dave said as he pulled a set of picks from his back pocket. He began to fiddle with the lock.
15 minutes later, he was still fiddling.
"A great engineer, you are. A great cat burglar, you are not." Dick said. Allow me.
Dick stepped towards the lock with what looked like a cordless screwdriver. It was a compact but powerful cordless drill. He inserted a drill bit and approached the lock.
"Wait!" Dave said. "We can’t leave evidence of a break-in, that’s a dead giveaway if anyone is keeping tabs on us!"
"That’s why I made note of the make of locks and bought a set at Lowe’s before coming over." Dick replied. "Once we’re in, we’ll just replace them.
Dave smiled at the simplicity of Dick’s plan. "And if we need to come back we’ll have the keys. Sweet!"
Soon, the door was open. It only took a moment to swap out the doorknob and the locks. The outside stoop was swept clean, and the old drilled-out lock and knob were placed in the trash indoors.
Dick turned on a flashlight. "Lucky for us there are no windows, so careful flashlight use will go unnoticed." He said.
They immediately saw what Dick had been talking about. In the far corner of the building, there was an enclosure with a padlocked door. It looked quite sturdy and well built. There would be no drilling into that padlock.
"This is the only area that isn’t a perimeter wall," Dick said. "If this isn’t the way in, then the only other possibility is a trap door."
"Don’t need to drill the lock," Dave said. "Just cut the hasp." He then produced a small hacksaw. "It’d be next to impossible to use something like this against the lock, but usually the items it attaches to are just mild steel."
Sure enough, when the hacksaw was applied to the loop of the hasp, it gave way quickly. In only a few minutes, the lock was removed intact.
Dave pushed open the door and shone the light inside. There were shelves on the walls with a selection of boards on them.
"Lumber racks." Dick said. "Some nice hardwoods, too. I’d like to have these in my shop. Hello, what’s this?"
They both settled their lights on the floor. A stack of wood was in the corner of the space. Nothing unusual about that – it was stacked up on stickers to dry – but the floor around it was of note. The layer of dust that had collected since Maloney had died stopped along an edge, revealing a crack – an imperfect seal.
"That’s gotta be the entrance," Dave said. "Now just how do we open it?"
"Funny," Dick said. "One of those stickers looks out of place." He reached for it.
It moved easily, and the entire stack of wood lifted easily and silently out of the floor and slid to the side, revealing a staircase.
"Sweet!" They both whispered.
"After you," Dave said.
"No, after you!" Dick replied. The humor again eased the tension. Still, somebody had to go first. Dick was closer, so he stepped down. Dave followed.
Near the bottom, the stairs turned ninety degrees to follow the back wall of the barn. It was pitch black. The flashlight beams seemed pitiful in comparison to the darkness, which seemed to be compounded by the silence.
At the bottom Dave shined his flashlight on the wall, revealing a bank of switches. He reached for them.
"Can’t hurt to turn on the lights in a basement that was designed to be secret, can it?" He asked.
"It should be OK," Dick replied. Dave turned on the switches.
Rows of fluorescent lighting came on, bathing the basement in light.
The basement was of clear span construction. There were no vertical columns to support the floor above. The barn had been constructed using industrial building principles. The slab above was poured on a steel substructure with large beams that spanned the distance between the two side walls. The free height in the basement exceeded ten feet, leaving ample room to maneuver large components. There were workbenches and desks along the back wall where Dave and Dick were standing. In front of that, however, the space was divided into two clearly distinct areas. The area from the center of the basement to the far side wall was what appeared to be a full research lab. Heavy cables were strung everywhere. All sorts of complicated-looking machines were gathered in the area, and a single massive workbench was the centerpiece. They both recognized reactors similar to that in the Fiero, but in various stages of construction. There was what appeared to be a couple of completed ones on the workbench, each one complete with some paperwork. The overhead area was thick with power and data lines.
"There are some heavy duty machine tools in here," Dick remarked, noting a lathe and mill, "But there isn’t any special feed to the barn for the three phase power to run them."
"There’s your answer, Dick," Dave said. He gestured at a reactor set aside in what appeared to be the power distribution area. It appeared to be hooked up and running.
The other side of the basement, nearest to them, appeared to be set up as a limited production line for cars. Dave recognized three other fieros there. The one at the end was a chrome yellow 1988 formula version. The center one a slick looking 1988 notchback, and the one at the back of the garage, nearest them, was a copper color 1986 GT model. They appeared to be in various stages of assembly/disassembly. There was a parts crib of sorts against the nearest sidewall. They included electric motors, Zilla controllers, Manzanita Micro regulators, cable, connectors, fuses, meters, and various car parts.
Close examination revealed that the cars were indeed in the process of being converted to battery electric with fusion generator hybrid systems, much like the one they were using. "Ours must have been the first – the prototype," Dave said. Dick nodded and moved into the room. They examined the Fiero closest to the back wall first. It appeared to be in similar condition to the one Dave had purchased, except it had the network of field emitters only halfway installed. The internal combustion engine had been neatly stripped and the engine compartment had been cleaned.
The second vehicle had the emitters, motor, and reactor installed, though the data and power lines had been only partially routed, and no controller or batteries had been installed.
The last vehicle, however, appeared to be complete. It’s chrome yellow paint appeared perfect in the bright light, and the tinted windows added to its mysterious air. Dave popped open the decklid and hood to reveal a completed car, much like the one they were driving (except this one had T-tops and leather seats!).
"How about that," Dave said. "A completed prototype. And a nice one at that. Wonder where he found this beauty?"
They made their way over to the "fusion lab" portion of the basement, and investigated the equipment there. There were parts racks with field emitters and reactor cores stored in them.
"Looks like he had started pilot production," Dick said. "Very interesting indeed. I'm amazed he was this far along!"
"Let’s see if anything more than the obvious is on the computer," Dave said. He booted up one of the small desktop units on a mobile workstation near the large workbench.
"Hmm." Dick said, as Dave navigated the cybernetic landscape. "Seems some network drives were set up, but can’t be accessed at the moment. Let’s try to find the servers and boot them up. They should be down here someplace."
A brief search turned them up in a small enclosed computer area. They were quickly brought on line, and another mobile unit was located. The mobile units were again queried for data.
"Look," said Dick. "Here are copies of the data and production plans that you found in the car. And more plans. According to this, the small generators like what he used in the cars are rated at 75 to 150 kW when used for producing electricity. He also has plans for a reactor that has ‘slightly’ more capacity, at 1 GW!"
"A central power plant." Dave said. "Or else we should find a DeLorean around here too. Wonder where he kept the flux capacitors?"
They both chuckled. "This is interesting," Dick said, "Take a look at this document."
Dave started reading. "These are the power output curves for the emitters, correct?" He asked. Looks like even the small emitters are quite powerful. They’re pretty much only limited by the input power."
"That’s impressive," Dick said. "That really opens up the possibilities for the technology. Other than that, though, there’s really nothing here that we didn’t know already. This shows us the extent of the research at least."
"Check around for blogs, an intranet page, summary reports, presentations, anything that would tell us about what sort of history the invention has." Dave said. "We really need to know if anyone else is aware of it."
Anxious minutes passed. One document after another was examined without results, and there were no webpages or documents that would give them a clue as to the "political" situation regarding the research.
"Nothing." Dick said. "Looks like Mr. Maloney was all business all the time."
"I dated a girl like that once," Dave mused.
"I remember that one. Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you. Yikes!" Dick retorted.
"Can you get a brief listing of the contents of the computers?" Dave asked.
"Sure." Dick said. He began to compile a list for printing.
While Dick was perusing the computer’s contents, Dave moved back to the Fiero production line, and examined the far wall of the garage. "Wonder how he got the cars in and out?" he mused.
He soon found the answer. A door was built into the wall at the exit of the "production line." Dave quickly located the controls and opened it, revealing a long tunnel, lit by fluorescent lamps.
"Got it." Dick exclaimed, as he headed towards Dave with a sheet of paper. "You planning on doing some more exploring?"
"Yeah," Dave said. "This looks like it curves off into the woods. He’s got to have a secret entrance out there someplace."
"This place looks like a real batcave." Dick remarked.
"You should know," Dave retorted. "You have one."
"Yeah, but not like this," Dick replied. "This is beyond anything I could imagine. Well, let’s take the batmobile, Robin!" He indicated the yellow car at the end of the production line.
They got in and immediately appreciated Maloney’s taste in interior trim. The typical squarish Fiero dash had been replaced with a custom aftermarket unit that was decidedly more ergonomic and modern looking. The detail design of the computer and flight controls, however, was almost exactly the same as in Dave’s EV. Even the computer interface was identical. They powered up the reactor and brought shields online, then headed out the tunnel using the near-silent electric drive.
The tunnel stretched nearly a mile through the woods before ending abruptly at what appeared to be a dead end. The tunnel must have had embedded sensors, however, because the doors silently parted as they approached. Dave stopped just beyond the exit, and the door slid silently shut behind them when they had passed a certain distance away. As an experiment, Dave backed up towards the doors slowly, and they slid open again. Getting out of the car and walking towards the doors, however, provoked no response.
"There must be a sensor in the door mechanism to pick up the reactor’s field signature. Either that or there is a transponder of some kind in the car. Nothing happens when we just walk towards the door." Dave said. "Anyway, it’s good to know we can get back in easily."
Exiting, they began to examine the area. The outer surfaces of the doors looked like a natural rock face. Outside, there was a copse of woods. A short and barely visible trail led smoothly down to the nearby road that was next to the property.
"Bet we’re still on Maloney’s ranch, but a mile or so down the road. That turn looks familiar." Dick remarked.
"I agree," Dave said. "We drove past this on the way here. A secret underground workshop, complete with secret entrance. This guy really WAS a mad scientist!"
"Well, back to the batcave," Dick said. They got into the car and drove back to the lab. His comment was appropriate. All that was missing from Maloney’s setup was the turntable to turn them around at the end, although there was space to turn the car around.
Dave spoke up first when they got back. "What do we know at this point? It’s clear that Maloney had developed the fusion technology far past the prototype point. Apparently, he just didn’t know how to introduce it to the world."
"That’s not surprising," Dick said. "It’s a disruptive technology. It’s even more disruptive then an electric car. The introduction isn’t just a large problem, it’s THE problem"
"I bet we could solve it if we put our minds to it," Dave said.
"I don’t know," Dick replied. "That’s kind of outside our fields. But it can’t hurt to work on it. Just imagine the possibilities!"
"I know," Dave said. "We’re driving one of the possibilities. Hey, some of the students at the university might have some bright ideas. Maybe you could talk one of the political science professors into assigning an essay on the introduction of disruptive technology. We could really stand to hear some other opinions."
"Now there’s a good idea," Dick replied with renewed enthusiasm. "I’ll do that."
"Boy, look at the time," Dave said. We’d better be getting out of here, unless you think there’s more."
"Nope, I think we’ve seen everything here," Dick replied. "It appears to just be technical information. I’ve got the list." He brandished a piece of paper.
"Right, then," Dave said. "Off we go into the wild blue yonder."
After returning everything to the state in which they found it, they silently exited the building, while being careful to re-conceal the secret entrance. Dick only bumped into the car once while trying to get the door open. Dave didn’t laugh because he was tripping over the bumper at the time. "OK, we’ve got to do something about that," Dave said.
The return flight was uneventful. They floated back into Dave’s garage a few inches off the floor, and settled to a stop inside. Only then was the cloaking device deactivated.
Upon exiting the car, Dave reengaged the security field for the car. "Access Code Hart. Recognize David Christopher. Activate security level 1. Increase forcefield depth to 3 feet."
A brief flicker appeared as the energy field expanded.
"That makes me feel better," Dave said as they were exiting the garage. "The 1 foot depth wasn’t terribly useful. Did I tell you that it can also prevent the car from being moved?"
Dick never got a chance to answer. As they exited the garage, gloved hands clamped down on their mouths. More hands held their hands and feet tightly. They were bodily lifted and carried into the house. In the living room, a man waited in one of the armchairs, while Dave and Dick were expertly placed in a sitting position on the sofa before being released.
Dave was becoming very ticked off, but more than that was incensed at the fact anyone would try to do what he thought they were going to try to do – bury the whole thing, and deny the world inexpensive power and a tremendous leap forward in technology and independence. The fact that they might also try to bury Dave and Dick was also rather annoying.
"This is the part where you typically demand to know what’s going on here," the man said in a gravelly voice.
Dave was surprised and mildly amused that the first thing that came to his mind when the man spoke was "Peter Falk." The impression was actually quite understandable. The man was even the same size as the actor, and sported an ill-fitting trenchcoat just like the famous TV detective Falk was so well known for. With effort, he turned his attention to the matters at hand.
"OK, I’ll bite," Dave ventured, "what IS going on here?"
My name is Dr. Manuel Spencer. I’m the chief agent of a secret government organization that monitors scientific and technological breakthroughs for possible threats to national security.
Dick couldn’t resist. "Don’t tell me – it’s the Office for Scientific Intelligence, right?"
"They just call us ‘The Agency’," Spencer replied. He didn’t seem to get the joke.
Spencer resumed what Dave had always called "lecture mode," which is where the villain, secret agent, etc. reveals all their plans in detail to the opposing force in a TV show in order to bring latecomers up on the plot.
"A number of years ago," he began, "we were concerned with some advances in fusion research made by someone I believe you know, a Dr. Maloney." Spencer paused, waiting for a response. When he got none, he continued.
We knew at the time that the world wasn’t ready for fusion power, given the Russian threat, and presented a case to the president for having the research quietly end. He approved. The additional funding Dr. Maloney requested was never granted, and he was eventually reassigned to another unrelated project. As the years passed, we kept an eye out for the good doctor, in case he hooked up with some private concern to continue his research. He never did, but there were rumors that he continued on his own after he retired to a nearby ranch. We never saw any of the fruits of such labor, however, so we were not overly concerned, at least not until you two came along."
Spencer uncrossed and recrossed his legs. He appeared to be settling in for a long story.
"You see," he began, "we were alerted that someone had shown a lot of interest in Dr. Maloney shortly after he died. It was you two. On making further inquiries, we found out about the two of you. You’re old friends, and you live some 60 miles apart, but suddenly you’re spending a lot more time together working on a new project car. A car purchased from Maloney’s estate. We wondered what possible connection there could be, and kept a wary eye on you. Naturally when you stopped the fire on that gasoline tanker, what had been a slight concern became our number one priority. You see, the world situation has changed, but it is still incredibly dangerous. We believe that introducing a technology like that will still lead to chaos."
Either dick or Dave had to have given something away in their expressions, because Spencer continued with "That’s right, we know about the car. It’s powered by a working prototype of the doctor’s reactor, isn’t it?"
Neither dick nor Dave said anything.
"Well, no matter," said Spencer. "We monitored you closely since then, and when we saw you leave tonight, everything was confirmed. We knew we had to get to you first."
That got Dave and Dick’s attention. "First?" They both said together.
Looking satisfied that his remark had produced the desired effect, Spencer continued.
"You know that the world today is much different, and potentially even more volatile than the world was when Dr. Maloney started his work. At least then, we knew who the bad guys were. There are a lot of people that would stop at nothing to get this device, or to destroy it. In fact, the world is so volatile right now that announcing the existence of this device could even start world war three."
Dave and Dick looked at each other. They had just discussed that possibility, though each thought they could work it out. What’s more, Dave thought, they SHOULD do it. It was the right thing to do.
Spencer seemed to already know everything, so Dave decided to lay his cards on the table. "What are your intentions?" He asked.
"Glad you asked," Spencer replied. "Until a safe plan to introduce the technology exists, we intend to confiscate it. You’ll be reasonably compensated, of course."
Dick seemed to understand where Dave was headed. "You won’t be able to take it. There’s a security field, and with a word, we can make it irreversible."
"You wouldn’t dare," Spencer began.
"Just hear us out," Dave said. "We’ve been talking about some of the same things. What if we could develop a plan to introduce the technology? Would that be worth something to you? Would you at least let us pitch it to the president?"
Spencer laughed. "There is absolutely no possibility that an engineer and a physicist could come up with a plan to find a solution to this problem," Spencer said, still chuckling. "The international politics are such that they may never be solved!"
"And there’s no way a simple engineer and physics professor could build a flying, fusion hybrid electric car with a cloaking device and a forcefield!" Dick protested.
"Point well taken, Mr. Lowery," Spencer said. "However, in this case, I think saying that the problem is well out of your areas of expertise is an understatement."
"Or perhaps we have greater insight than you give us credit for," Dave protested. "You can’t write something like that down in a file. Every great diplomat and negotiator has begun their career with an initial assessment by professionals, such as those that put together your files on us, that they would amount to nothing. Can it really hurt to give us a chance? All we’re asking for is a chance to pitch our plan to the president. We’re willing to abide by his decision."
Spencer sighed and leaned back in the chair.
"Come on," Dick encouraged. "The possible benefits are unimaginable, and not just for this country, but for the entire world! Never has there been a time more ripe for a new energy technology, and never has there been one with more promise. Whoever introduces this technology and effectively spreads it across the globe will be a hero. It could conceivably stop the nuclear programs of several third world nations, as well as end dependence on foreign oil. Energy really will be so cheap that it can’t be billed by the kilowatt-hour anymore, just like they promised with fission plants way back. You may as well at least give us a chance at making the United States the hero for a change. Might do a lot for foreign relations."
"I've got to admit," Spencer added, "It sure would feel good to leave all those middle eastern countries in the unenviable position of trying to export sand, and to have the upper hand against those penny-ante South American dictatorships for a change." "All right, you’ve got a chance. Like you say, what’s the harm in pitching the plan? It could help in the long run. But there can be no evidence of this technology’s existence. You’ve got to give us the car."
"Time for the second hurdle, I guess," Dave thought. "At least he’s listening. Might as well go for the gold!"
"Sorry, can’t do that," Dave replied. "That car is the whole basis for the technology. We’ll promise not to use it for anything beyond what a "normal" electric car could do, but for things to appear normal, we have to keep the car."
"Did I just use the phrase, 'a normal electric car'?" Dave thought to himself. "I wonder if that's an oxymoron?"
"Consider this, Spencer," Dick said. "It’s not like you can take it by force. It’s got a shield, and no known force on earth can penetrate it."
Again, Spencer sighed. He leaned forward in his chair and said "How do we know we can trust you?"
"You’ll just have to take our word, Mr. Spencer," Dave replied. "But consider also that as professionals, we know the value of integrity."
"We’ll be keeping our eyes on you. If you do anything to alert anyone as to the existence of the technology, expect us to move in and take the car by force."
"Deal!" Dave and Dick said at once.
After being briefed with the usual "this never happened" type of speech, and exchanging contact information, they left Dick and Dave sitting there astonished. Neither moved for several minutes.
"What an opportunity," Dave said.
"And what a job," Dick replied.
"Hey, at least they’re not as antagonistic as we thought," Dave said. "They left us alone, AND gave us a chance to be instrumental in changing the world for good. That’s what I signed up for when I decided to be an engineer!"
"Yeah, me too," Dick replied, "I just never thought I’d actually get a chance to do it. I’d better get those student essays out ASAP."
"Yeah, and we’d better do some heavy duty research into international politics, too," Dave said. "Keep in close touch, and let’s get together twice a week to formalize our plans."
"Deal," Dick replied. "Let’s be sure to keep this in perspective and not get too big for our britches. When dealing with something like this, not only does everything affect everything else, but we want to avoid even the appearance of dictating to any other countries."
"Don’t worry," Dave said. "All of the swaggering, tin-plated dictators with delusions of godhood I know are in aerospace management or real estate."
Too shaken to laugh, the remark at least garnered a smile from both of them. And as Dick left for his home, both were aware of the enormity of the opportunity and responsibility that confronted them.
Feedback on this Chapter? Click here to E-Mail Dave