New York City on the Edge of Forever

Chapter 9

George Hammond: What's he doing here?

Museum complex

The one major problem left was Atom's ID. Isaac had explained it in a nutshell:

"We can't just pull an ID for Atom out of our collective asses, because we can't plant it into the 1984 databases without having gone back in time in the first place. So I had to find someone who's ID I could borrow. I've actually found a few good ones. We're very lucky that in 1984 there are no picture ID photos on line. Back then the Internet didn't exist. It's precursor, the APAnet was only connected to government, military, and college research and development facilities, and those of a limited number of corporations doing development work for the government. If anyone wants to get a confirmation of Atom's ID, it will take days to obtain."

Atom's press ID would be that of a college student named Daniel Jackson. Jackson had been a child science prodigy and had skipped several grades. He had eventually studied Archeology with a specialty in Egyptology. Jackson had been a reporter on his college newspaper. His description loosely fit Atom, except for his height. Simon hoped the clothes they had picked for Atom would make him look a bit taller. It had been a rush job to have the suit and shoes custom made, the CIA's spy shop had been a big help. They had owed Simon a favor.

Simon entered the lab carrying a backpack.

"Here, Atom", he said. Isaac designed this. It fits on you like a backpack, but it converts into a large briefcase. Let's get everything you'll need".

Robert put together a small file folder and inserted all of the printed documentation Atom would need. There were ID papers, press passes, and even a photo of Cora that Isaac had pulled out of Atom's memory to print on 4x5 glossy paper.

Atom saw the photo and smiled, "I guess I'm a camera".

Simon packed the period correct clothes he had secured for Atom in his size.

"A suit as well as a lab coat and engineer outfit. You will be able to pass as a member of the press, or a lab geek."

Robert handed him a small electronic dongle. "This is a network adapter. You plug the lab Ethernet transceiver cable to the larger end, and the cable at the smaller end goes into your internal LAN socket"

He placed the device into a padded envelope and that into the back pack with all the other stuff.

Simon also gave Atom a ziplock sealed bag containing some water bottles.

"Mineral water mixed with Castor Oil", he said.

"How did you know?", Atom asked.

"Issac's idea", Simon said.

Atom listened one more time to Isaac's instructions on time travel. Then the three of them took the elevators up to the street level and walked across the street to Central Park.

"Good luck Atom!" Simon and Robert said as one.

Atom jumped into the sky and headed west.

He activated his HUD control panel. He could see that Isaac had downloaded the latitude, longitude, and temporal coordinates for his jump. He turned to fly the correct heading, activated the temporal processor and increased his speed. When his air speed reached eighty eight miles per hour a wormhole opened in the sky ahead of him and he flew into it. All around him was the blackness of space. Lighting bolts were flashing all around him. He experienced some rough turbulence for a few seconds and then exited the wormhole. Looking down he could see he was no longer over the NY Tristate area but somewhere in the American SW desert. He identified the bus stop where the press group was waiting and landed. Hopefully he wouldn't have long to wait for the bus.

Somewhere in Nevada Near Area-51. April 29th 1984

The bus stop was a truck stop in the middle of no where. A two lane blacktop ran by the stop, a faded state highway sign identified the road as a minor Nevada state road. Somewhere down that road would be a turnoff leading into the Groom Lake complex. The US Air Force had charted a bus to bring the press core into the base for a "dog and pony" show hoping to satisfy their demands for some kind of disclosure. There were several dozen rented autos parked in front of the row of buildings making up the truck stop. Behind the buildings there was additional parking and diesel pumps for the truckers who stopped to rest before continuing across the state. This far from the nearest interstate road there wasn't much traffic. Atom had entered the main building and used a stall in the men's room to change into a civilian suit. He folded the backpack and unfolded it so it converted into a briefcase. Wearing a suit, tie, and a fedora hat Atom's height wasn't much of an issue. He looked like a proper member of the fourth estate. While he waited for the bus Atom sipped from one of his water bottles. The oil and mineral water hit the spot. After sitting in the lounge for about a half hour he heard an announcement that the press bus had arrived. Atom found the press credentials that Isaac had created for him and got in line to board the bus. A man in an Air Force uniform checked each person's passes before allowing them to board the bus. He looked over Atom's papers several times and finally handed them back to him motioning for him to get on the bus. Atom found a seat next to a woman not much taller than he was. He figured keeping quiet was probably the best idea to avoid any possibility ruining his cover.

Given the security check and the size of the crowd waiting to board the hour Atom sat on the bus before it left was probably reasonable. It was a well maintained Greyhound charter, with a working A/C system and good shocks. Despite the poor roads they drove over the trip was comfortable.

The bus entered the top secret AFB and stopped inside an empty hangar. There were a few tables set up with uniformed Air Force personal seated behind them. There were signs with letters of the alphabet in front of each station. The visitors got off the bus and lined up by last name. Atom got in the line for "J". The man behind the desk wore an Air Force Lieutenant's uniform. His name tag read "G. Hammond".

There seemed to be a problem with the ID of the man in front of Atom. At least it was taking a while longer for him to be cleared. The man in front of Atom spoke in a British accent.

"Leftenant, is there a problem?"

Hammond ignored the British pronunciation of his rank. "No, I'm just double checking. My orders are that foreign press credentials have to be given extra scrutiny.

Now it was Atom's turn. He handed over his press credentials and ID papers.

Lieutenant George Hammond gave Atom a long look over before opening his mouth.

"Daniel Jackson?", the Lieutenant read in a questioning voice.

He gave Atom a second careful visual and then seemed to wink at him. Before Atom could react Hammond's face returned expressionless. He handed the papers back to Atom and prepared a name tag for him.

"You can get your ID photo at the end table to your right", he said.

As Atom turned to walk Hammond threw him a quick salute which Atom barely caught out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't get it?", Atom thought. "That Lieutenant seems to know me. But how?"

Atom stood in another line waiting for his ID photo. A teenage girl and her mother were standing behind the table. The woman was dressed in civilian clothes. She had been hired for the day to take the ID photos, and had been allowed to have her teenage daughter tag along. The both had military issued ID tags. The woman's read 'Susan Carter' and the daughter's "Samantha Carter". Samantha raised a Polaroid camera to her face and aimed it at Atom.

"Say cheese!".

Atom smiled and didn't blink from the camera's flash. Susan took Atom's ID card, attached the photo, and returned the ID tag back to him.

"Pin this to your clothes and wear it all the time you are on base", she said.

AFB Area-51 Research Facilities .. official press tour April 29th 1984

"Before you can enter the base on tour please check your bags in these lockers", a man in a Sergeant's uniform said. "You should keep your ID papers on your person. You may bring along writing material, and approved food stuffs but no cameras please! Everything else you must leave in the lockers. Before you can enter the base you will be asked to empty your pockets. Please leave any knives, guns, etc in the lockers".

That last part was mostly a joke. If any of the reporters actually had a weapon with him, he'd probably have found himself in the stockade by now. Small items that were not intended to be weapons but could be used as one, such as a swiss army knife were what the man was referring to.

There were several rows of lockers set up along the wall of the hangar. He checked for his 'Daniel Jackson' ID in his pocket. He took one last long drink from a water bottle and put the empty into the briefcase which he put into one of the lockers. He closed the locker and pocketed the key.

Several electric carts started to arrive, each towing trailers with two rows of bench seats each. They looked like a Disney Land tram. Seated in the front of each conveyance was a person in a white lab coat accompanied by a driver in a blue Air Force uniform.

"The tour will break up into groups. It doesn't matter which group you join, everyone will get to see everything on the tour schedule", the Sergeant said.

Atom's eyes zoomed on on the front of each tram. He read the name tags on each of the white coats. The name on the name tag of the man in the second tram from the left read "Robert Levinson". Atom pushed his way over to the group just stating to queue in front of that tram. He was the third person to get on board. Robert picked up a bull horn and adjusted the volume. The first time he pulled the trigger there was a loud feedback squeal that had everyone on the tram except Atom cover their ears with their hands. (Atom's hearing had build in automatic gain control).

"Sorry about that folks!", Robert said. "Can you all hear me OK now?"

There was a chorus of Yess'es and OKs.

"My name is Robert Levinson", he began, "I work in the computer division here. My job is to keep all the information systems running and to make sure that all data storage is secure. I have access to lot's of top secret stuff and I can assure you that there is no Alien UFO stuff on line here. I'd know about it".

There was a laugh from the people on the tram.

"I'll be showing you our computer facilities, and give you good folks an idea of where some of your tax dollars are going. Someday most of the things that I get to play with are going to be commonplace. Your grandchildren will probably have computers more powerful than the ones I'm building, and they'll cost thousands of times less!"

The tram came to a stop in front of a four story building. It looked exactly like the kind of place that might be found on a university campus, not a top secret government facility. The group entered the lobby and Bob started to explain about the different systems that were used. There was a large IBM 370 mainframe that had been there for years and was still running accounting and personal records jobs. The facility relied on SEL super-mini computers to run simulations on new aircraft propulsion systems and airframe designs. Finally all the graphical design stations made use of a cluster of Digital Equipment Corporation VAX 11/780 super-mini computers.

The group got to walk though the various computer rooms where all of this equipment was set up. The machines sat on raised floors under which ran the miles of interconnecting cables and A/C cooling ducts. The VAX room was the last one on the section of the tour that Robert was in charge of. The group exited the room, but Atom hid out of site behind between two of the computers. He raised one of the floor panels and dropped below replacing the panel above him.

In the dim light he used the owl eye image intensifiers in his camera eyes to see. Isaac had instructed him to look for the thick net Ethernet cable and follow it to a transceiver tap point. There was one at each computer, a muti-wire cable terminated with a fifteen pin "D" connector at each end. Atom crawled around under the floor, looking. Between two of the VAX mainframes he found an unused tap point. Atom pulled the envelope containing the Ethernet adapter that Bob had given him out of the lining of his jacket. There was a short length of the fifteen pin cable in the envelope. Atom assembled the adapter and plugged the D connector on the cable to the transceiver socket. He opened his chest cavity and plugged the Ethernet connector from the adapter in to his LAN socket. He heard Isaac's voice in his head.

Cyberspace, 1984

Atom slowly descended into cyberspace. Gradually his vision faded and he found himself surrounded by the vast soft white universe created by ones and zeros.

"We are connected to a slow network and I have to use lots of compression to achieve an acceptable rate of data transfer. Even so, things are going to appear in slow motion", Isaac warned him. "You've chosen well Atom, thank you. I can deposit my seed into the necessary computers from this connection. Good job. The transfer will take a few hours and I will have to create a few diversions so Robert and others don't find you hiding here. When the transfer is complete I'll contact Mr. Levinson for his assistance."

Atom's physical body relaxed and went into low power mode. Just before he drifted into dreamland he thought to himself, "Great, now I get to be a freaking Petabyte USB stick!"

AFB Area-51 Research Facilities .. official press tour April 29th 1984

Robert Levinson walked the tour group from the VAX computer room into the terminal office area. "This is where most of the design work is done", he explained. "This area has most of the terminals that connect to the VAX system. There are Computer Assisted Design or CAD graphics stations and conventional terminals here. Some of the stations make use of IBM's new PC/AT personal computer systems, though we tend to buy them much better equipped than the ones available to the public."

The uniformed guide accompanying the group was counting heads and looking down at a clipboard he was carrying.

"I think someone is lost. We seem to be one short on the head count.", he told Bob.

"We passed at least one bathroom since you last did a head count", Bob said. "I'm sure the straggler will show up when the next group passes this way".

"You're probably right. Anyway there will be a head count before the bus leaves, and there isn't any other way out of here so whoever it is, he or she will show up eventually", the guide in uniform agreed.

"Well this is the end of my tour", Bob told the group. He lead them to the building exit. The man in uniform motioned the group to the waiting tram. "The tour train will take you to the next stop in a few minutes. I'll be driving you over to our aircraft display where you can see some recently declassified aircraft that were developed right here on this base"

Bob saw by his watch that he had about ten minutes before the next group arrived. He ran over to his private terminal running on a highly modified PC/AT computer and brought up his I.S.A.A.C interface.

I.S.A.A.C. or Intelligent Software Autonomous Assistance and Control was Roberts current design for an AI based user interface. The program could verbally communicate with the user though a voice synthesizer interface Bob had added to the computer. He still had to type in his commands as the computer still lacked the ability to understand human speech, but Bob was working on a way to add that feature. I.S.A.A.C. made use of several daemons running on the VAX computers in the background, and the PC/AT was connected directly to the base's main Ethernet Thick-Net coaxial cable via a transceiver tap.

The I.S.A.A.C. interface started up with a crude graphical rendition of Sir Isaac Newton. "Hello Isaac", Bob typed.

"Good Day Bob", Isaac replied in his crude synthetic voice.

"Bob, I'm a bit busy now, but I will need to talk with you in a few hours", Isaac added. "Can you please come back later?".

"Sure", Bob typed. He was baffled. Isaac's response was more like that of a sentient being than the AI enabled interface had ever displayed. He dismissed it as just his imagination. He had started a few background tasks on the machine before the tour, maybe that's all that the program was trying to tell him.

Robert took the next group through the circuit and then broke for lunch. All of the tour groups were escorted to the base chow for lunch. Bob ate in his computer lab, he brought bag lunch that he made himself. As he passed by the PC/AT he saw that I.S.A.A.C. was still occupied with something.

"Damn, I must have made some kind of programming mistake. Those tasks I started this morning should have been done by now.", he though. "Well might as well just leave it cause I don't have the time to mess with it now, there will be two more tour groups to baby sit in under an hour".

Cyberspace

Atom lay under the raised floor of the VAX computer room. Isaac was still downloading his seed from Atom's on line storage. In the cyberspace white room Atom was lying on a plush white cot with Isaac by his side. The electronic image of Sir Newton gently rubbed Atom's head to calm him.

"The transfer is now over 50% complete. I've accessed the IBM-370 mainframe and convinced it that a certain Daniel Jackson never did join the tour group. When the brass print out a confirmation copy of the tour roster they will just think that they counted heads wrong on the bus."

"But I left some stuff in a locker", Atom whispered to the knighted scientist.

"I'll get Bob to retrieve your things. My next problem though, will be getting Robert on board. I should be whole by the time the press tour leaves. I'll be able to interface with him then".

Outskirts of Rachel Nevada, April 29th 1984

Poindexter had planed well. The road he was on was just outside of Rachel Nevada, the closest town to the AFB at Area-51. He had found an abandoned ranch with a house and barn along the road, one that had been abandoned in 1984. In the year he had just left that ranch was still abandoned, but the buildings had fallen down from neglect. Here he would be able to hide his time truck for a few days before returning to his present time. (was that worded right?) Drake opened the back of the trailer and found the tools and two spare tires for the trailer he had packed just in case. It took him an hour to change both blown tires.

Back on the road he kept an eye out for the property that he had located with help from Google and some newspaper morgues. He drove onto the property up to the barn. The structure was in good shape and the only entrance was the main door which was locked by a single hasp and a padlock. Poindexter got a pair of bolt cutters from his toolbox and snapped the lock off. He opened the door and backed the time truck and trailer into the barn. Drake then opened the trailer to retrieve the small motorbike that he had manged to fit in it. It had taken him a while to find a vintage motorbike from 1984 and get it restored. Just one more attention to details that Poindexter was proud of. He loaded the saddle bags on the bike with the MAG tapes, clothes, and other supplies that he brought with him. The last thing he did was to close the barn and replace the padlock with a new one for which he had a key. He mounted the motorbike and started to drive to Rachel where he'd get a hotel room for the night.