PROJECT ARCHIMEDES
A "Way of the Gun" Sequel
I. PROLOGUE
Walker Mayimbe looked at the file on his desk as he spoke over his phone. It was a simple, if weighty affair in a binder-clipped manila folder. He sat alone in his office, a regal and stately affair, as befitted a man of his station and power.
"Yes" he said, "I have the file." he said into the receiver. The images were intriguing, to say the least. He skipped the first several pages, he knew exactly where Eureka, Oregon was located and didn't need the brief on the secret nature of the town. Thankfully whoever handled the documentation had seen fit to flag changes within the last year. That was interesting... several of them, or so it seemed.
There was, of course, the rather hectic overview of the town's usual coexistence with utter disaster, but a few of the incidents had been startling to say the least.
"One moment," he said, responding to the voice on the phone, he flipped through several more pages, settling on a report from six months prior.
"I'm there." he said. The report indicated a rogue scientist using his research abusively, extremely so. The man, one Doctor Tom Baxter had attempted to return to a blacklisted project. Mayimbe frowned at some of the notes. Baxter had been considered promising once, but the man had been deemed too unstable for their purposes. His willingness to sacrifice almost anything for his craft would have been useful, if it could have been contained somehow. In the end, Mayimbe didn't really regret reading how Carter had most likely executed the man.
The assessment of the various technologies in the incident raised an eyebrow. "Very interesting, sir. I am particularly liking in this mimetic material… Yes, the other is interesting as well, but the report indicates a slash and burn on the data archives… I don't see any notes about the outcome of Doctor Blake's hospitalization." He listened a bit more, then, "Ah, I see."
He thought about that for a bit then said, "I don't think the slash and burn was doctor Baxter's style, however. It seems much more likely that mister Carter employed the services of mister Donovan… No, we can't do that again. Barlowe was too anxious and involved in that project, sir."
He listened for a while continuing to page through the file.
Notes indicated uncharacteristic behavior for several highly placed or very important members of the community. Douglas Fargo, the puppet director wasn't such a puppet after all; Jo Lupo, General Mansfield's pet pit bull not quite so tractable anymore either, and a romance with Zane Donovan? Interesting... potentially useful as well.
Carter's willingness to resort to violence was a shift. He added a note there that any future operations should keep more of his history in mind and not assume that he was just a sheriff. Traditionally the "sheriffs" of Eureka were anything but, and this man seemed to easily fool people into believing that he was more Andy Griffith and less Steve McGarret.
"No, sir. I respectfully request that you keep her out of it. Ms. Barlowe is too vested in her father's legacy, or lack thereof. I don't like working with her in the least." Though his tone was respectful there was a definite undercurrent of iron will to it. No, if Beverly Barlowe was to be involved in this operation he would take no part in it.
Of course that meant that his superiors might decide to employ them both against each other. It wouldn't be the first time.
Henry Deacon's profile looked odd somehow. While he wasn't behaving in an uncharacteristic way, observers had noted a vague errancy in his manner for a short while. A marital spat might explain it, but the notes indicated that whatever had happened appeared to have strengthened the man's commitment to his ideals and his wife. While he bore watching, Deacon would always be an adversary, and Mayimbe was resigned to that. He had tried once, a long time ago, but it was not to be.
"Yes sir, I have been keeping track of that. Our readings are indicating another event within the next several months. As always it's hard to determine where it will manifest, but considering it's past ties to the region it's highly possible that it will manifest in Eureka again."
He fell quiet while he listened. Agreeing and disagreeing as necessary, then said, "I think it's time we resurrect Project Archimedes."
He laid out two profiles side by side, having different reactions to each.
"Yes, sir. As the originating scientist I think I am most qualified to oversee our operations this time. With your support, of course." he paused to listen, then said "No, sir. I believe I have reasonably demonstrated my willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. The cause is more important that any one person's well being or personal wishes."
On the left was the profile of Doctor Allison Blake. She still looked beautiful, and age had matured her with grace and dignity. The added poise and experience elevated her from the brilliant young specialist into a woman of stunning bearing and vast personal fortitude. It had always been hard to part with her, but he believed what he'd just said. Their goals were far more important than what he might have felt once, or yet did.
"Very well, sir. I will begin making arrangements. Thank you for your vote of confidence. Good day." He hung up the phone and looked at the other profile.
Kevin Blake, by any measure a prodigious savant. Looking at the picture was like gazing into a mirror that looked back in time. On a whim he pulled out a desk drawer and activated the hidden compartment in the side, retrieving an old passport. He laid it out next to young Mr. Blake's profile and examined the similarities. It was not hard to imagine Kevin looking like the man in the photograph in a few more years.
It was time for Mayimbe to become Doctor Donald Aimes once more.
He was proud of the boy's- strike that, the young man's accomplishments thus far. His growth was outstanding and showed no signs of stopping. The test results slipped into the school documents rated his aptitude extremely high. It was good to see the post-natal treatments hadn't induced the feared autism.
Trying to hear the boy's reply in his head he said to the photo, "Hello, Son."
Disclaimer: I don't own Eureka, it's characters, or its concepts, I'm just playing for fun and an educational experience.
Author's Notes: This is the prologue to my sequel to "Way of the Gun". I'll be revealing more of what is going on in the future and don't want to give too much away in this first segment. Expect this one to have semi-regular updates as time permits, but I wanted to get it out there at least.
But, in a nutshell a friend and I were talking and hashed out that if Kevin did indeed send the time travelers back to fix his autism, as Carter and Henry discus in 4x02, or for whatever hidden reason a person of his obvious talent could imagine, then whatever caused his autism was directly related to Camp Eureka or the events established shortly after. Since the big change is that they brought Trevor Grant back, and we know that Trevor was a founding light in Beverly's Consortium, then it stands to reason that Kevin's autism was CAUSED by them.
For what end? I think Season 2 shows us that.