CHAPTER 8: Triple Effort

From the journal of Doctor Jon Quayle Cornelius.  With the increased presence of the military in Strangerville in the wake of the explosion at the secret laboratory, I must now focus my investigation on what caused it but in order to do that I must return, at great personal risk, to that lab.  There has to be a way of getting past that electronically locked door.  Soon the army will have that place locked down...I am in a race against time.

The television had been on but Cornelius hadn't been paying attention.  It could have been the morning news headlines, a game show or some children's television show...he hadn't taken any of it in.  Instead he was thinking about his next expedition to the secret laboratory and how to avoid capture by the army guarding it.

Out in the town Cornelius observed that there were fewer military and scientific personnel in town this morning so he ventured outside to see what was going on.  It wasn't long before he noticed one of the disease victims, Tre Stern, walking down the main street.  Cornelius decided to try to engage him in conversation, to judge if the disease was progressing or going away.

Stern didn't display any response to outside stimuli, like conversation.  He was as detached from reality as he was the first time Cornelius had encountered him.  However, Cornelius tried one new trick on him.

"Hello, Tre..." he said, addressing him by name for the first time.  "Your friend, Lauren, is very concerned about you.  You remember Lauren?"

"HeR nEsT iS cLoUdEd In BeAuTy We Do NoT DeSeRvE hEr" said Tre.  Cornelius wasn't sure whether he was responding to his point or just saying something at random.

Stern walked off in the direction of one of the strange pods that were scattered around the town.  He crouched down and touched it, muttering something incomprehensible to it.  

He knows something about that pod. Thought Cornelius, making notes about Stern's behaviour.  What did he mean by 'her nest is clouded in beauty.  We do not deserve her'?  Was it a reference to Lauren?  Cornelius thought that unlikely.  The victims often spoke of a 'mother' figure and now she has a nest?  Who has a nest?  Birds, spiders, insects?  'We do not deserve her'...a figure of worship and power, perhaps?  Cornelius got out his copy of the Secrets of Strangerville book that Erwin the conspiracy theorist sold to him but it made no mention of 'mothers', 'nests' or 'being deserving'.

 

Whilst he was in the town centre he decided to visit the library.  Not for the books they had there:  David and Peggy had examined every relevant book in the stock but for the people he met there.  Scientists mainly hung out there and Cornelius found that if he asked the correct questions, he usually got an interesting answer.

This time he encountered the librarian:  Lauren.  She had struck up a friendship with David and had turned out to be a useful source of information.

"Good morning, Miss Mercer...may I call you Lauren?"

"You must be Cornelius" she replied.  "You match David's description down to a T"

"I am he.  I've heard many good things about you, Lauren, and you have already proven invaluable to our investigation."

"And how are you progressing?"

"Hmmm, slowly.  However, it is progress and we haven't stalled.  Now we are in a race against time before the Army shuts us down.  They have stepped up their presence of late and although we're certain that they probably know about our work, they can't certainly know that we've probably certainly made a breakthrough and that it's probable they might have to stop us to be certain."

"Eh?"

"To cut to the biscuits, Lauren, David, Peggy and myself will have to make a breakthrough within the next 48 hours to keep ahead of them."

"How can I help?"

Cornelius didn't immediately respond but remained silent for a few seconds as he composed his plan.

"Lauren...you've been very brave and resourceful so far and what I'm about to ask you contains some element of risk."

"I told David this the other day:  I am prepared to help out and take risks"

"I can see why David likes you...now what I propose is this:  Can you create a distraction at 1pm today?  A distraction that will draw the military presence away from the secret laboratory."

Lauren thought about this and stroked her chin.  "Hmmm, I think I know a way..."

All it took was for Lauren to start a rumour that the purple pods scattered around the town were vibrating and emitting a loud humming noise to mobilise the army into locking the town down and doubling the guard.  Meanwhile Cornelius, David and Peggy managed to drive up to the now unguarded secret lab in David's non-descript Oldsmobile Cutlass.

They parked up about a 1/4 mile away and walked around the mesa until they found the gap in the rear fence.  The place was once again deserted.

"Cornelius...looks like your ploy worked.  I can't see any guards" said David.

"Well done Lauren" Cornelius replied.

"So, what now?" asked Peggy.

"So far we've only done some generalised searching of this place and we've picked up random bits of information.  But we absolutely need to find a way to open that electronic key card operated door.  Peggy, your technical knowledge is going to be invaluable here in finding out what we need.  I will continue to look for scientific evidence of what they were researching here."

"And me?" asked David.

"Why David.  You're the hired muscle." said Cornelius, drolly.

David looked put out that his own intellectual skills were apparently not required.

"Aww, don't worry David..." said Peggy.  "It might not be the most glamorous part of this operation but someone has to keep a look out for the army returning."

"That's right, Peggy.  David, I need your eyes are ears on full alert.  Not just for keeping a look out for the army but also spotting things Peggy and I might miss."

Although the three of them had been to the laboratory before, and scoured it for potential clues, they could always find a new pile of papers and documents hitherto undiscovered and now because they had been slowly discovering more of what had happened they had a better idea of what to look out for.

"I've discovered some before and after aerial photographs...you can see on this one that there are no purple pods but on this one they've started to sprout." said Cornelius to his team.

"We still need to find out what caused them to sprout" said David.

"Obviously.  I still need you to keep your eyes and ears out for anyone out there approaching this place.  Peggy, find me a technical manual for that door!"

"Sure thing, Cornelius" said Peggy.

She did find a manual, but not for the door.  But it was of some interest to her anyway.  It might take a while to explain what she had discovered to Cornelius and David, however.

"So I'm sitting here...guarding the place.  No one for miles around, no one coming up that dirt road, no sounds of footsteps or talking...I'll just sit here...guarding" said David, trying to pass the time in his boring role.

"Don't be churlish, David.  We haven't got time for that" said Cornelius.  Peggy approached her boss with the information she had discovered.

"Cornelius...it's no go on the door.  We don't know anything more about getting through it than we did the last time we were here.  But I haven't drawn up blank either.  I found this manual for the lab's computer system."

"Well that could be useful.  Can you power it up and get information from it?" said Cornelius, his interest piqued.

"Power up, yes.  Retrieving information, that will be a lot more difficult.  Let me show you the basics of how it works.  Let's find a terminal..."

She led Cornelius through the rooms until she found what she had been looking for.  "Aha" she declared.  "That's our terminal"

It looked like a cross between a television set and a microfiche reader and Cornelius had only a slight knowledge of what this machine did.

"A computer terminal using a keyboard and viewscreen...yes, I have seen one of these before." he said.

"So you know that this design of computer doesn't use punchcards or reel to reel tape?  Instead it uses something called a microchip or microprocessor.  Looking at the cables I'd say this terminal connects to a mainframe where the memory is stored...and that is going to be behind our locked door."

"I'm sure given time you can access that information from here" said Cornelius, reassuringly smiling at her.

"Given time...I can try to make a start now until the army men come to throw us in jail" she replied.

"That's my girl!"

More information was gathered but the door remained locked and Peggy found that she didn't know as much about this design of computer than she thought.  But she now had the operator's manual and that was something.  David thought he could hear the sound of truck engines approaching the lab and warned the others.  They quickly shoved all retrieved information into a bag and escaped by the gap in the fence before the army trucks arrived.

Back at Cornelius' house they had some of his specialty grilled exotic fruit to eat before comparing notes on what they'd discovered and what might they do next.

"So you reckon you can access that computer?" David asked Peggy, but with a tinge of scepticism in his voice.

She didn't immediately reply but instead sat down in front of him before she spoke.  "I understand the principle of how these integrated circuit computers work, it's just a matter of taking the time to read that manual.  Before joining the DPR I was working with experimental computer models, light pen technology and even prototype touch screens."

"I don't understand half of what you're saying there but do we have the time to study that manual, given that the army is going to make investigation more difficult?"

"We're all going to have some sleepless nights for the next few days..." interjected Cornelius.  "David is right; we don't have a lot of time to complete our investigation but likewise accessing that computer is crucial to it."

David stood up from the table and said "Well, I'm heading back to Britechester to start work on compiling more dossiers of evidence.  I can give you a lift back into town for you, Peggy."

"That'll be fab, David.  Don't worry, Cornelius, by the next time I see you I'll know how to work that computer." she said.

Once they had left, Cornelius was left alone with his thoughts.  He couldn't finish his dinner as he was preoccupied with his plans and analysis.  One more raid into the lab, he thought.  But this time...at night.