Overrun: Project Hideaway Page 3

  That was fifty years ago. And what had become interesting to both Rone and Kobus was that “sometime” had now become way too long.

  The job of her research team was to monitor the hibernation and thoroughly examine the psychological histories of the pilots. Based on these studies, they were to think, rethink, and predict each pilot’s reaction to any and every set of situation and stimuli that could be possibly encountered on the ship.

  Neither Rone nor Kobus had ever met the two men. They had inherited the project from a screening and implementation team now since retired. This previous team had selected these men from more than thirteen hundred candidates referred to the project for consideration.

  Despite not knowing them personally, through numerous lengthy discussions with her predecessors, some done through dissertations and coursework at the dome universities, Rone felt she had experienced the entire process firsthand. She felt connected with the men inside and out. And considered herself the most qualified of anyone ever associated with the project to get into their heads and gaze into their souls.

  Of anyone in the room, she was the foremost expert on the two men guarding the most important cargo ever to be shot off the planet in a ship.

  She had heard rumors of the project during the earliest years of her university enrollment, and they had drawn her…almost fanatically so. She was fascinated by the fact that these men had been left in hibernation and never wakened from what could be considered a terminal sleep. She was fascinated by the moral implications of the sin they continued to commit each day they did not bring these men back to Earth. And she was morbidly curious as to what would happen if these men were ever to awake.

  Rone spent years and three subsequent theses on the subject. She spent more than ten years with the original personnel that screened the men. She knew the personal histories of each pilot by heart. She had run and re-run their psychological evaluations and created and played out every scenario of their return to consciousness both in report form and in her head. She lived, breathed, and dreamt these men and always wondered, despite all her studies, what would really happen when their time finally came to return to life.

  During the course of this all, she had acquired an extreme fondness for these two men, an almost illogical love. Impractical or unethical. Romantic or paternal. She was always never sure. What she did know was that despite whatever their personal intentions for signing onto the project, she felt an emotion toward both of them based on their individualities and what they had gone up there to do.

  She feared the longer they were left up there, and now with the country at war and the dome under attack, the closer they came each day to becoming irretrievably lost.

  These were the thoughts driving her in this conversation. She had always felt it would be her decision and hers alone as to when these men would finally return to Earth. If there was ever a time to bring them back down, this was it.

  "These men have been in hypersleep for fifty years,” Kobus spoke directly to her. “That’s nothing to their bodies, but half a lifetime to everyone they knew around them. People that are now most likely gone. They will come out of it thinking they’ve been under for only a few weeks or a few months. Natural human reaction has to be taken into account. They will be disconcerted at first, more so than what follows a typical stretch of suspended animation. After that, fear will quickly follow," he said not addressing the room so much as he was lecturing her personally.

  “And then anger,” he paused and turned away from her to the others listening intently. “It will come. We could quickly lose control of the ship and the entire situation.”

  Kobus shared some of the same feelings as her own. Though, not entirely so. Like her, he was morbidly fascinated at the prospect of the two pilots possibly floating forever through space in a continuous hibernation. However, he never felt a personal connection with either of the men. The control they held over their personal fates didn’t sway his emotion or compassion in either direction. And the fact that she was the expert, with more knowledge, credentials, and overall authority on the subject, always caused him to engage her in debate.

  Rone turned from the lieutenant commander and looked directly at him.

  "They're going to be really pissed," Kobus said ignoring the rest of the room and speaking to her directly again.

  Each additional year the project continued, Kobus had become more and more squeamish at the idea of ever bringing the men back to Earth. He advocated leaving the ship up there indefinitely rather than risking the possibility of detection even from the minute surges of low frequency power required to bring it back online. He had also started to harbor a growing fear of the two men.

  This apprehension and his own personal research centered on only one of the pilots. Each day he spent working on it was another day he felt the decision made many years ago had been entirely wrong. This pilot was wrong. He was not the one the world should be counting on to keep it as well as its secrets safe and secure.

  Kobus never wanted to see the ship come back down, not with this man alive and on board.

  Kobus had gone so far as argue his case to her in court. After the ruling, there was even an appellate proceeding. But on both occasions, in the presence of both governing tribunals, he was never able to completely convince her or those making the ruling of his fears. Rone wondered if Kobus’ repeated attempts to keep the pilots and ship in continued hibernation was only due to personal fright of the world they all existed within. Or perhaps he just wasn’t entirely convinced himself of what he claimed.

  Either way, she had always been able to keep Kobus and his ideas in check while at the same time keeping the project moving forward. Ship mission plans had never changed in all the years since it was launched.

  "I've researched both their psychological histories thoroughly. I've been closely monitoring their life support and brain patterning. Nothing has been out of the ordinary," Rone argued back at him. “There have been no complications going into or during their hibernation states. Normal brain wave patterning has always been intact. They were both given top physical and psychological clearances when they went up.

  “If these men were given the military clearance to be aware of and then safeguard one of the most important inventions the world has ever seen, then these same men are certainly capable of handling unforeseen contingencies and changes in mission plans. They are United States soldiers for God's sake, not unstable civilians under suicide watch. They can handle this. This is what they were sent up there to do,” Rone finished.

  "These are not unforeseen changes in mission plans," a younger male voice came softly but with authority from the far end of the briefing table.

  Heads turned towards the man that had spoken. Rone could barely see the outlines of his face through the thick haze of smoke choking the room. She thought it was Christopher Korcheck, a member of the Beam Cannon technical group. Only when a burst of air from the overhead ventilating fans cleared the air a bit was she finally sure.

  Korcheck was considered to be one of the top minds in the entire United States scientific dome community. He grew up a child prodigy. His genius as an adult was thought to be immeasurable. Some said it simply couldn’t be described.

  Korcheck was a young, eccentric, and driven scientist who spent years working in the tunneled caves below the domes. A man who declared on national news at the age of ten that he would use his knowledge, a great gift given to him from God, to one day save the world. The footage was a favorite throughout the national news media throughout the years that followed.

  Korcheck worked with the beam cannon scientists. He studied their designs, examined the flaws, and conducted his own experiments into the technology. He then helped a corps of beleaguered engineers see it through. He had discovered new means of storing and utilizing power. He created atom chips and power control devices that were always smaller than anyone else had ever dreamed of in design.

  He refined the space necessary to make the Beam Ca
nnon Hardware usable. Through his own ambition, he made it possible for the beam cannons to work. Once constructed, the technology he helped perfect in design would completely encompass the globe with an artificial atmosphere. Not limited patches of the globe that would only be able to protect a preordained few.

  Once a few more things worked into place, it would be possible to implement the technology completely. Once done, the disease and division that ravaged the planet would one day be gone.

  "We need to think about what we are going to do," Korcheck continued. "We're going to pull these men from hibernation, a procedure that is in itself disconcerting and stressful to the physical and mental system, and tell them the world is at war. And then tell them that their family is dead. Everyone they’ve ever known is dead, because we decided to leave them up there in an extended hibernation rather than bring them back down at the specified time.

  “If we do this, we have to completely follow through. We cannot bring them out and order them to just sit up there and await the possibility of discovery by a hostile force. I think that's a little more than you can expect from anyone.”

  “We need to wake them up and bring them back immediately," Rone agreed with him.

  At that moment, the lights dimmed, the coffee mugs on the table rattled, and the walls surrounding them shuddered. Electronic voices droned status reports in the outside corridors, and flashes of red emergency lights spilled into the room.

  "It may soon not be up to us to decide," Kobus said grimly. "Since I joined the pilot research team five years ago, a few things of note have given me great concern and make me extremely apt to disagree. Particularly in regards to Major Jeff Barnes, co-pilot of the Hideaway.

  Rone lowered her eyes and wrung her hands under the table while Kobus continued.

  “With each and every psychological discussion of Barnes that has come up, there has always been a disturbing issue that seems to repeatedly surface. It’s small, very small. But it’s an issue. It’s an issue that’s been there since the onset of the mission and has been continuously overlooked due to this man’s elevated intelligence.”

  Rone set her hands again on the large meeting table and did her best not to clench them into tight fists.

  “Barnes is a genius. A good man to have on any crew. But not on a mission like this. He’s always shown signs of paranoia. Small miniscule signs, many times overlooked because of his intelligence and wealth of technical skill. But I tell you, it’s a threat. His actions in pressure situations have always caused the scientists working on his research small amounts of concern. And it’s for this very reason we cannot let this be the man to bring the Hideaway down. He is a risk.

  “Given the step-ups in security qualifications and clearances as well as the initiation of the Vulture Program since they went up, it is my opinion that he would not have been cleared for this mission if the selection process had been made at a later date. He is only a pilot, gifted in technical intelligence. But he is not a Vulture soldier. Neither of them are.

  “We have to take that into consideration. We cannot make the mistake of assuming that both or even one of them is going to act rationally. Especially after they figure out the severity of the circumstances they will have awakened to find themselves in."

  The lights in the briefing room dimmed again. The groan of tortured steel echoed throughout the facility.

  "We also have to take into consideration that we are under attack," Rone shot back. "The security of this dome and its scientific facilities are threatened. If we don't at least bring them out of hibernation now, they could be up there forever."

  "Since I have joined this team, both myself and a large amount of my colleagues have been second-guessing the ability of Major Jeffrey Barnes to handle such a command. We have even gone so far as to recommend that this man’s hibernation simply be terminated."

  "You've done what?" Rone turned on him in disbelief. "How dare you make these accusations and recommendations without my consultation! How dare you go behind my back…”

  "It has never been withheld from your knowledge! We have submitted numerous reports to the dome governing bodies!" Kobus shouted back. "You do know that! We don't think he can do it! And that is why we can’t wake them up!"

  Another explosion flashed across the monitor. At the same time, the entire room tilted to one side. Drinks splashed across the floor, and sparks spit from swinging lights. A female scientist in the back of the room toppled sideways from her chair. Two men hurried next to her to help her climb back into her seat. The sound of rushing footsteps pounded just outside the doorway.

  "I think what we have to do here is plan for the possibility that this facility may be destroyed," Lt. Commander Corrado said forebodingly from the front of the battle-rocked room. Bright flames on the monitor jutted behind his shoulders while he spoke in the dimness.

  The lingering smoke of cigarettes brought the battle burning outside further into the room. "The ignition of the Death Wall may not save us. Right now we have to plan for that. Everything else should be set aside," he said pointing at Rone and Kobus. "There is a good chance the J.G.U. will get through."

  "That does raise questions, doesn't it?" the quiet strong voice came again from the back of the room.

  "Please continue Dr. Korcheck," Corrado said taking a step back and inviting him with a wave of his hands to come up and take the floor.

  "They could quite possibly be up there forever," Korcheck continued before Corrado finished his sentence. Korcheck pushed his chair away from the table and stood. He stepped slowly to the front of the room talking as he did.

  "We might not have been lying to the later generations of their families when we told them they died a few years back." Corrado moved away and sat down when Korcheck reached the front of the table. "Their fate might really already have been decided.

  “If the security of this dome is compromised, there will be nothing for them to come back to," he looked around the room staring each person directly in the eye. "We will all be dead. And all the years we've put into this. All the people who are suffering or have already died will have done so for nothing. And then the question will be why.

  “If the Beam Cannon Hardware is never used, in a few years there might not be anyone left alive on this planet to even ask. The J.G.U. are nowhere near capable of producing technology like this. It's the reason they are here."

  The room was silent. Long bits of burned ash dangled from still lit cigarettes. The monitor at the front of the meeting room had finally been switched off.

  "But think about this. I mean really thing about it. The ship containing the Beam Cannon Hardware is still up there completely unmanned. An easy salvage for the J.G.U. if the war continues on this course. A simple space retrieval once they figure out its coordinates."

  Explosions rocked the dome again. Many of the scientists grabbed at coffee cups sliding across the table and braced their legs to keep from being knocked to the floor. At the back of the room, a different female scientist began to cry softly near Korcheck’s empty seat.

  "But that's just it, Korcheck," Kobus spat. "They don't know anything about this."

  "They will if the security of this dome is compromised."

  "What if we are destroyed?" Kobus fired back again. "Everyone that ever knew about Project Hideaway will be dead. If we wake the pilots, they could come down here and bring the technology right to them. Hand it right over to the J.G.U. End the war immediately by giving them precisely what they want."

  "Not necessarily," Korcheck argued. "Safeguards have been built into the Hideaway systems to prevent that type of unauthorized return."

  "Those safeguards can easily be defeated and you know that. What kind of a deterrent is death, when you, as far as you know, are the only two people left alive from your country or on the planet. There is nothing for them to lose.

  “With this in mind, there is that chance, a great one in my opinion, that they would attempt an unauthorized return. We can't risk tha
t happening."

  "The nukes would prevent that, Doctor," Rone spoke up again. "Any tampering with the safeguard equipment or the follow through of unauthorized mission plans would result in annihilation of the ship. And that is almost guaranteed not to happen due to other safeguarding measures aimed individually at the pilots.”

  “But right now, they are vulnerable in space. Especially if we continue their hibernation. There is nothing to prevent the J.G.U. from flying right up to that sleeping ship and taking it over."

  "What nukes?" Korcheck asked suddenly looking startled. "The implementation of nuclear devices into the Beam Cannon Hardware is not something ever…”

  "If the pilots are awake, no matter what the safeguards are, there is always the possibility they can come down!" Kobus shouted ignoring Korcheck and slamming his fist on the table. What if the plan fails and the United States ends up losing this war? You will be risking paving the way for J.G.U. success. Their kind could ultimately survive while the memory of ours is lost forever."

  "You would rather have no one use this technology?!" Korcheck raised his voice back at Kobus. "You would rather the entire world sicken and die in the event of our government's defeat. This is the kind of immoral and irresponsible thinking that has brought us to this point today, Kobus!"

  "Dr. Korcheck," Lt. Commander Corrado stood from the table and moved towards his initial place at the front of room. "That will…"

  The loudest explosion yet interrupted his sentence and threw him to the floor. Chairs overturned and numerous legs lifted backward into the air.

  The force of the explosion knocked Korcheck from his feet and across the table in front of Kobus.

  "Korcheck!" Kobus, one of few who managed to continue standing, raged. "Your leftist take on this entire situation is of no use here!” His finger jabbed with rabid accusation at the young scientist’s face with every word.

  Korcheck sprawled across the top of the table and rolled back over to face Kobus. The blast had thrown him so close that the tip of his nose almost touched Kobus’ outstretched finger.