Marcus Kline leapt up the stairs. Two at a time. Black tie fluttering over his shoulder. No alarm yet, just thunderous classical music pumping through the speaker system. Too loud for pleasure, but perfect for security. Keeping covert conversations from prying ears.
Los Alamos National Laboratories. Birthplace of the Manhattan Project. Now, a defense and sciences Mecca. Hundreds of the smartest people on earth. Scientists on the bleeding edge. Nut cases in any other setting. Heroes here. Kline needed information from one of them—Rahul Banerjee, a physicist tasked with conceptualizing secret weapons for the United States.
Kline and his partner, Eric Randolph, had traveled back through time to 2008. Their objective: find Banerjee’s files related to “cloaking” technology. After searching LANL’s network for three days they’d managed to get…nothing. The clandestine approach wasn’t working.
Time for plan B.
Kline slowed to a quick stride. Stopped at the third door on the left. Pushed it open. Inside the room, Eric hovered over his datapad. He threw up his hands.
“This is stupid. Pointless. This stuff’s ancient. I don’t even know where to begin! I can’t find anything on this network. We could be doing more important things here!”
“Our time’s up. Union agents are close. Let’s go!”
Eric shut down his datapad. Kline made for the door. Eric caught his arm. A rectangular piece of clay with wires protruding from the top rested in Eric’s palm. He grinned.
Kline shoved it back at him, “What are you doing!?!”
“You know what kind of message this would send? Isn’t that what we want?”
“We want information. Put that away! We’re going to the source.”
Kline hustled down the staircase. Ground floor lobby. Front door. No sooner had he pulled it open–
eeeeeiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaahhhHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
The alarm. Lockdown. Seconds ‘til the Special Response Team would arrive. Kline and Eric slipped out of the building.
Kline squinted. “We need to get to Banerjee, now.”
Hope you guys enjoyed the first installment of our preview episode. This episode is a little unique because it has 7 installments. Most episodes will have about 3 installments. Each episode has its own unique illustration, so the illustrations are swapped out every 3 installments.
I had fun writing the new episode because it’s based in Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) in 2008…and I happened to be at LANL in 2008. My wife and I were given a “behind-the-scenes” tour by one of the security guards there. The place is amazing. It sits atop a huge mesa next to the town of Los Alamos. As the birthplace of the Manhattan Project (USA’s nuclear research during WWII), it is brimming with history, including buildings that are closed down because they’re too radioactive for humans to visit.
And, while a third of the US’s plutonium is stored at LANL, the laboratories have grown far beyond nuclear technology (e.g. LANL hosts one of the sites where Human Genome Project work is being done). If you’d like to discover more about LANL, check out their website: http://www.lanl.gov.
Thanks for reading!
One other note…in the opening paragraph I mentioned music being played at a higher volume to block anyone trying to “spy” on one of LANL’s development buildings. That’s also true. They pump music through the building at higher decibles so that anyone pointing a microphone at the building would just hear the music as opposed to any conversation inside the building.
I’m enjoying the new format, guys. Having something “bite-sized” to read twice a week offers excitement without the time commitment of a longer episode. Keep up the awesome work!
By the way 505 fo’eva’!
Thanks, Jessica! We appreciate the support!
PS. For those who don’t know, (505) is the area code for New Mexico, location of LANL. And Jessica is my wife, who toured LANL with me.
There I was riding the wave as I ferreted out a selection of tomes on computer technology when my attention was vamped by the irresistible tow of that magical word…free! Amplify it with the words “Time Travel” (I am, I must confess, a Sci Fi junkie) and yet again with “Online” (I won’t have to figure out what I’m going to do with another paper back added to my collection) and you get the same effect as a squirrel has on a Mountain Fiest.
This is the first time I have come upon anything like this and the concept is intriguing. Nicely designed website too I might add. I concur with Jessica regarding the format. I shall be reading and monitoring this site with interest.
Thanks, Herb! We hope you enjoy everything you find. I would strongly encourage you to subscribe via the RSS feed (that’s the easiest way to keep up-to-date).
New installments begin launching July 6 and will continue to launch every Monday and Thursday. Thanks for stopping by!