Chapter 26

                Eldon Monroe sat quietly eating his lunch.  He was used to the fact that this off site laboratory, once bustling with eager technicians, no longer was a hub of activity.  Actually, he liked it this way.  During the last several months Eldon had been able to study anything he wanted and not be accountable to a single shirt and tie bureaucrat.  At first he had taken inventory of everything in the lab.  He was like a kid in a candy store as he sorted through all the open projects strewn about the immense facility, finally settling on a couple of interesting possibilities.  When he was first given the assignment of caretaker, he remembered being somewhat depressed but after seeing this sleeping giant he recognized all the possibilities for study.  The laboratory contained everything the Center had been working on, even the beginnings of the hush hush Probe project.

                Stored in a separate section of the lab was one of the original prototype Probes.  Eldon spent the first couple of months learning everything he could about the theory and operation of the wondrous machine.  As he grew to appreciate the power such a device could give someone, he studiously guarded the knowledge he gained, not even sharing with fellow employees at the local after work watering hole.  Eldon learned that the machine would require little work to ready it for service and as he finished his meal he wondered what it would be like to travel on missions through time.  The office com demanded his attention as he was leaving his make shift cafeteria.

                “Lab 21…. Eldon Monroe speaking…. may I help you?” Eldon got so few calls that he had to think about his communications spiel, causing his words to come out in short chunks. 

                “Yes, this is the Personal Secretary to the Center’s Directorate Manager.  Mr. Kenfer has advised me that it has become necessary to temporarily reactivate beta section in Lab 21.  Two technicians have been assigned to the task and you are to assist them in any way possible, is that clear Mr. Monroe?” She knew it was a gamble impersonating the Directorate Managers secretary but unlikely that a low level caretaker would know that the Directorate Manager of the Center had a personal secretary, let alone who it was and she had promised Loomis that she would get him the personnel he needed to fire up the prototype Probe for the risky mission at hand.

                Eldon was elated with the news.  He would get to see the Probe in action at last and to be a working technician on the project was just icing on the cake. “I’ll ready the section you need right away.  Can you tell me when the techs will arrive?  There is also the matter of security codes for the control consoles.  Who ever you send must have the codes before any power or computer connections can be made.” Eldon’s mind was racing.

                “The technicians will arrive in two days.  To expedite matters I am sending the security codes to your hand com via encoded cipher.  My records show that you have the com issued to you when you took the posting at the laboratory.  That com will have the required program to decipher the codes for your use.  I want you to have the power and control feeds connected to the Probe consoles by the time the techs arrive.  This will shave a day or two off the start up process once your help shows up.  We have a working line Probe in trouble out there and time is of the essence.” She was pouring it on pretty thick but she needed this Eldon fellow to hop to it.

                “No problem, I have all the original schematics left by the last operations crew to run the machine and I’m already familiar with both theory and operations material.  I don’t believe I caught your name and by the way it’s nice to feel needed.  This job has been a might lack luster so far for my taste.” Eldon was curious about the scenario behind the sudden turn of events.

                “The codes should be showing up on your hand com any second.  Remember that this material and the activation of beta section is classified until further notice.” She cut the connection before Eldon could ask again for her name and made sure that the com lines from the lab would forward to her location.  Just in case Mr. Monroe called back with any questions.

                Just as Eldon realized his caller had terminated the call his hand com beeped loudly.  The screen indicated that he had a message.  The message prefix warned that he would need to use the deciphering protocol his caller had indicated if he wanted to read what had been sent to him.  As he keyed in the download instructions to commence with the program, he walked along the crowded isle leading back to beta area of Lab 21.  Although the isle was barely passable here and there from piles of unused equipment, he could traverse it blindfolded and reached the beta section doorway in minutes.

                When a large project of this type is undertaken in a laboratory that houses other ongoing projects with staff, an internal secure area is often created to keep the curious from nosing around.  This is not because of security issues in general but because new technology of this type would attract everyone in the building and cause all the surrounding research to suffer from neglect.  Eldon now faced the large doors to just such an area.  His hand com finished digesting the codes sent to him and announced the fact with a loud buzz.  On the screen there were three codes.  The first was to open the doors into beta section.  The second was to unlock the communications console, the brains for operating the Probe and the third would be needed for routing power from the Center’s power grid using the labs utilities maintenance station.  The first worked without a hitch and Eldon pulled the heavy doors outwards.  Walking in was a real treat.  The sealed chamber had kept out the fine coat of dust that the rest of the laboratory endured.  Deeper inside he found the lights and flicked them on.  Grinning he saw, still resting on the desks where they were last used, the manuals he wished he could have read months ago.  His present level of training having been gleaned only from general computer files he had read and reread over and over again.  He found the control center next and it looked like it might have been shut down only moments ago, not the two years since the main project had moved over to the Center Complex.

                Eldon had climbed a single set of twelve stairs to get to the control center level.  Walking over to the railing he looked down.  In a large clear space that allowed for working access and for the time flux field to develop without touching any other objects in the bay, was a Probe.  Not as polished looking as the final model he was sure but every bit as functional.  Eldon could not look away.  He had his work cut out for himself and was determined to be ready in the two days given him…..