Chapter 8

Inventory, Shortages, revelations

Could I change the course of history, and did I even have the right to do so? After having given that speech to my people, it seemed an odd question to be asking myself. To be honest, it wouldn’t be my own timeline I would be changing. Although, since I had no way to return to my own, you might say it had become mine by default.

For these people of this time, the future was yet to be written. If I could potentially save millions of lives, why shouldn’t I. Why was I even questioning it? Of course, I was aware of the expression ‘no good deed ever goes unpunished, ‘ so just what would be the repercussions of doing so? I might have been well grounded in physics, but this went way beyond my course of study. Best to leave it to those philosophers who knew better for a later time.

Then there were those members of the family in German-held Europe that would perish, with their accompanying family history that would be forever lost. Could I sit idly by and let it happen again?

Using weapons, a hundred years in advance of what was available now, would it be fair? It was crazy to even think about it! These weapons were derived from the armaments of that war. It had been war with the race to build better weapons at a breakneck pace, and fighting it on something like equal terms would be foolish. Outnumbered, and outgunned as we were, I would need every advantage I had if I were to lead my people out of this unscathed.

Fairness be damned! There may be rules to follow with Hague and Geneva Conventions, but giving up an advantage wasn’t one of them. Now the question was just how to use those strengths, and how to make them even more effective. I had limited resources, weapons, people, hell everything. I would need a lot more, but just how to get them was the question.

From what I had learned so far about the compound, was that it was wholly self-contained in the event of a major calamity. It was or had been, built to keep the family safe. It was unclear if that meant through a world war or not. It might become more evident when I knew more.

Tapping my new communications badge, for it seemed ‘the little man’ had been busy, I called out, “Nick?”

Unsurprisingly he answered in a moment. “Yes, Mr. Wolfenstein?”

“Nick, I am going to need a complete census and inventory of the compound and town.”

“Yes, Sir, I’m already on it. I have already started a physical inventory of the compound. No door will be left locked, and every room will be examined. The Mayor has assured me he will be doing the same. So far, the results have been consistent with what we thought we would find. However, the diagrams show several areas that have not been inspected in years. It will take some time to check them all out. As for the town, we should wait for the mayor’s report.”

Hearing that, gave me an idea, so I told Nick, “Keep it up. Report when you have finished, or find anything unusual.”

Nick replied, “Yes, Sir, will do.”

Saying, “Carry on,” I broke the connection as I heard Nick’s acknowledgment.

I started catching up on the reports of what had happened while unconscious in the hospital. I was amazed and thankful I had such competent people working for me. While I knew the power had been knocked out I hadn’t realized just how extensive it had been, nor how long it had lasted. While the backup generators of the internal Compound had kicked in almost immediately; the rest of the Compound and town had been without power for nearly half a day. Teams had been sent out to all of the base housing to perform repairs. Fortunately, the solar panels themselves had been undamaged, only the panels charge controllers needed replacement, and a few inverters that hadn’t tripped off when the serge occurred. It had taken somewhat longer to power up the small nuclear power stations within the compound, and restore the rest of the Compound’s power.

We had been cut off from the power grid, well in truth we been cut off from everything. The few places that had kept power were the hospital, and town hall emergency response center. The main reason casualty reports had taken so long to be received, was the lack of telephone service. Landlines within were now working because the switching computers that had been outside the compound were currently being served by backup systems within the Compound. They too had been knocked out as well but were a priority item to be restored. Everyone had smartphones but most people finding out they were non-functional, only the military grade phones were still working, but they were just working locally. Then there was the limited number of smartphones that the odd little man had given people that were still working. As there was a cell tower serving the Compound. It hadn’t been severely damaged, but like so many other things it had taken time to restore it to full service.

My people had patched into the local Philippine phone line while I was out, and some were wanting to connect to the local power grid. That had been waiting for approval from me. I believed we could have quickly swamped the regional power grid causing a power outage or brownout that would cover a wider area, and thus announce our presence and power needs. I had us remain on our own power for the time being.

But with the power outage, people started checking on their perishable foodstuffs. It quickly became apparent there was going to be a shortage there. In fact, food, in general, was going to become a significant issue. The stores might have been cleaned out had not been for the quick response of the police force. When people tried to buy food and were told checks and credit cards would not be taken, very few had that much cash on hand. Then the stores stopped taking even cash. There had almost been a riot over that.

There had been some panic, but fortunately little looting, I had thought my people wouldn’t be involved with that, so who? Martial law had gone into effect because of it. As it was basically a military town, that had made it somewhat easier to swallow, all except for the academic leaders and civilians who saw little need for it. Till one of them had a brick thrown through their window. Who might have done it? The incident was being investigated.

I had my suspicions, and with a large number of people that had come to watch the events prior to the event. As was proven by the News media, and The Heritage Air Force people, that there might have been others that may have made the trip with us. If there had been, why hadn’t they come forward with questions of their own?

With the known hostile news media here, just how many others had slipped in with them? I would have to have the DNA sampling done again in an effort to identify them.

Of all the issues, food was the most pressing, I would have to deal with that soon. Any strangers, possible enemy agents, would have to be dealt with soon as well, as there was no telling what mischief they might cause.

I had to stop reading, it was gut-wrenching, what I had put these people through in my own quest, which had such disastrous results for them.

Now they faced a war not of their choosing, against a foe that for all their lives had been a reliable ally of the United States. It was bound to cause problems. It was hard for me to make that adjustment myself, but I had. It was simply not the same time, and I must make sure they all understood that.

It seemed clear from the beginning that food was going to be the first issue to be dealt with, and soon! Hell, all consumable goods, and non-durable goods; just about everything a modern world provided, and that was often taken for granted as always being there; would now no longer be available.

I let that soak in for a bit. It was starting to look a bit overwhelming. I had already been confronted with the fact we had no real currency. While there was some gold, it just would not be enough. I couldn’t see us going to a gold standard for money in any case. While every monetary note had ‘In God We Trust’ written on it, that just wasn’t true any longer ... if it ever had been.

Currency had been created to make it easier to trade goods and services. It was all backed by the simple premise that its value would be honored; but now, the people having made that promise were gone. There was a different, older government making the same promises. However, they wouldn’t recognize our paper. Gold was another matter, in a way it was no better than paper money, but having a long history, and the fact gold could not be counterfeited, was more acceptable as a medium for exchange. I think very few people realized that the same promise that had been made for paper currency had also been made for gold.

In any case, I would have to contact the ‘Family’ here, of this timeline, and hope they recognized my people and me.

I called out, “Adam?”

“Yes, Mr. Wolfenstein?”

Well, that was different, it had been saying and using ‘affirmative, or working before.’

I went on, “How goes it with that family server, are they still unaware of you?”

“Affirmative, Mr. Wolfenstein. Do you want to change current instructions?”

I thought to myself, yes, I couldn’t afford to wait for them to figure out their system had been hacked.

“Adam, I can’t wait any longer. Let them know you are in their system, and that I want to talk to them.”

“Affirmative, Mr. Wolfenstein. Analysis indicates that even with my announcing I’m in their system, it may still take time before they acknowledge it.”

I was a bit impatient, “Do what you can to speed that up. I can’t afford to wait any longer.” I was not sure what good it did to explain myself to it. It just came out.

“Affirmative, Mr. Wolfenstein. Initiating a system call. Will inform you of its recognition.” Then Adam had volunteered, “Do you wish an update on the current progress of download?”

I hadn’t given that much thought, “Print out a report, and a summary.”

“Affirmative, Mr. Wolfenstein, it is on your desk now.” Sure enough, it was. The shortness of the stack gave proof that transmissions would be slow. I asked, “Do you need any more?” Adam replied, “Negative, data so far collected matches what in the historical database. Currently looking for any data that may have not been included. Logic dictates that something may have been left out.” I would leave it up to Adam to find it.

I picked up the report and was looking it over. I don’t think my mind was entirely on the report, as I thought about ‘The Compound’s’ mission.

I was thinking, this place had gone through a few mission changes while it was being put together, now where would I look to find those differences. I would need to see those who knew and had been here in the earlier years. Was there a log kept, as well as the as-built blueprints, inventories, including scheduling and construction Diaries.

Not needing my com badge for this, I called out, “Adam?”

Adam replied, “Yes, Mr. Wolfenstein?”

I continued, “Adam, I need the full layout of the compound, do you have blueprints and building logs or any inventories of that in your system?”

Adam replied, “Negative.”

Somehow, I had half expected that. Then Adam surprised me by volunteering, “An aerial survey with ground-penetrating radar could be done. Without additional data, I cannot be of more assistance. Current diagrams are accurate, but appear out of date.”

I said, “You are now authorized to make such scans. Make it happen. I need that data as soon as possible.”

Adam replied, “Yes, Mr. Wolfenstein. Drones are being prepared now.”

I was about to ask another question, then realized Adam would be unable to answer it. I went ahead and asked anyway, you never know for sure, till you ask, “Is there a network within the compound, you are not connected to?”

As expected, Adam replied, “Unable to respond. The query asks for data that would logically be unavailable.”

Then it went on, “Insufficient data. However statistical analysis would indicate a probability that there is. There is also accompanying probability of error.”

I asked myself could there be a separate system unconnected to the outside, as well as to Adam’s network, and therefore unhackable. Would it be likely to have the information I was seeking? If it existed, and if it did, would it have incurred the same damage as the other compound computers?

Given the age of the compound, with its cloak and dagger history, and its ever-changing mission; there most likely wouldn’t have been any public records, even if there were I no longer had access to them, as this facility hadn’t yet been constructed yet in this timeline. No, whatever records there were would have to be onsite somewhere, and most likely as hard copies at that. Surely, they wouldn’t have been meant to remain hidden from the ‘Family’s Prime.’ Now just where would I find them? If I had a problem like that, say remodeling the apartment I owned, I would just ask the building supervisor ... well, whoever my contractors were would.

Slapping myself on the forehead, I thought, ‘How stupid of me! Of course! The maintenance supervisor’s office! After all, every part of the compound would surely need to be maintained.’

Where would the maintenance office be? Somehow that feature had been overlooked on my tour. Well, my chief maintenance engineer would know that. Come to think of it, I hadn’t met him with the others when I arrived, and I don’t think he had been a part of the tour when I had been given it. If anyone was to have given me a tour, it should have been him.

Now I had a question Adam could answer, “Adam, who is my chief maintenance engineer? And why was he not present when I landed or was given the tour?”

After I was given directions, I met up with my chief engineer outside his office. His name, I learned, was Richard Massey. He explained why he had not been there when I had arrived. He had just come back with some heavy equipment he had requested. With there being several ongoing projects in the works, that had already been approved and funded, and not canceled due to my Grandfather’s death, he would be needing it. He offered that he had only taken the position a few years ago, and quite frankly didn’t know the details or history of the compound as well as he would have liked.

The last Chief Maintenance Engineer had died while on vacation, and it seemed most of the staff had been hired at about the same time as when the compound was reactivated, and the militia was to be home based here. He expressed how the old Chief Maintenance Engineer might not have been all that helpful as he had mostly been just a caretaker, contracting out most of the work out that needed doing as it needed to be done.

That more-or-less lined up with the cloak and dagger history of the compound as I had learned.

He was sure no one had been on site more than a few years. He told me my grandfather had expressed regret for throwing him into the job without adequate preparation or knowledge of the site. As it was explained to him by my grandfather, he had been sort of pressed for time, and the death of my predecessor had caught him off guard. He needed a replacement right away, and Richard had come highly recommended as a quick study, who could handle the job. Grandfather always did his homework, so I had no doubt it was true.

That explained why so much of the place seemed so new. I mean there were the older buildings, but much of it seemed so new the paint hadn’t finished drying - in a matter of speaking. Dick did a lot of the hiring, as things had been moving at breakneck speed. There had been a sense of urgency with all the new construction, the roads were constantly needing repair. That had been one of the reasons he been away, to get the equipment required to keep up with the work.

It had almost felt like a new town was being built from the ground up. There had been the old town, that had become nearly a ghost town when Dick had first gotten here. That had been razed to the ground, having been deemed to be more trouble modernizing than to build all new. Then it was like a mad rush to get everything constructed before the militia moved in. They started moving in even before everything was ready; but yes, he had stayed on top of everything that had been going on for the last five years. He knew about as much as one could learn in that time.

I thought, ‘Well, in a way that was disappointing. I had been hoping for greater knowledge of the history of the compound before the changes started.‘ I then asked what he did know about the compound. He said he had made it a point to immerse himself in the workings of the Compound. Keeping up with the work, and documenting everything. With the many changes that were occurring with the militia home basing here, it hadn’t been easy.

One thing he had observed was that someone had put a great deal of effort into the planning and execution of the re-development of the compound. From what he had learned it had been a former Naval Air Station when the naval airship hangar had been built in 1933, then handed over to the Army Air Corps when the Navy gave up on large airships for scouting. Then later shortly after 1969, at which time your family regained control of it again. All again somewhat murky, as it must have been some sort of agreement with the government, all very hush hush. What with all the secrecy of the Air Force, and the Strategic Missile Command, and then finally with your family taking it back, there was not much documentation available.

I have no idea when the Hanger was covered as it was, or why. You might say it was the oddest thing that had been done here. On a scale of one to ten for peculiar, you could say most everything rated at least an eight or higher, and that hanger covering was definitely an eleven.

After all that it seemed that your family didn’t know what to do with it, and just barely did what was needed to keep it from all falling apart, mothballing most everything.

“No offense to you or your family meant by that,” he added.

I assured him none was taken. In truth that was all before my Grandfather’s time. By now, I was used to how grandfather seemed to take great delight in concealing the purpose of even the most mundane things. It would be the same here, within the compound.

He paused, then said, “Yes. There’s been so much work done, with numerous changes made for the basing of the militia, it was hard to keep track. In fact, I think they sometimes deliberately kept me in the dark about much of it. To be sure, there were a lot of substantial deliveries for the stated amount of work being done. They kept me busy with checking the spec work of the different parts I knew about, but I had a suspicion there were things they didn’t want me to see. I took the hint and didn’t stick my nose too far into their business, while still trying my best to keep track of it.

“There seemed to be a lot more excavation than was called for as well, and with the numbers of heavy motor vehicles moving in and out it was impossible to keep track of it all. They even arranged from time to time for me to go on an inspection extended tours of some outside facility, or a forced vacation for a few months - albeit with pay - to get me out of the way. So, I was sure they were hiding something important; and no, there were no added notations made on the blueprints I was given. They seemed to match the official plans, even though I had seen the work being done. Whatever they did, they hid it very well. After they had gone, I examined as much as I could. If there is more, I was unable to find it, though there are some puzzling areas that didn’t quite make sense.

I questioned him about those and would have him point out those areas on the blueprints, I would check them later to see if they were on the scans. His answers told me some of what I needed to know.

Making that gesture that was becoming familiar, I tapped my com unit, “Nick, meet me at the Chief Engineer’s office,”

He replied, “Yes, Sir, Mr. Wolfenstein.”

Then I heard Adam tell me the drones were in the air and were beginning their survey.

Dick then led my ever-present girls and me into his office. It had an odd feel to it.

I talked a bit more with Dick - as he insisted I call him - about the abnormalities.

I asked, “How about we scan them to see if something is behind them?”

He agreed and said he had some equipment that might help. I added that I might have something better. We looked over the prints he had on a large table, with him pointing out the areas we should consider.

He looked up, “Say, I almost forgot!”

Then he walked over behind his desk, reached for a picture hanging on the wall, and swinging it open, revealing a safe behind it, how melodramatic I thought. On opening it, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. He said, “I was told to give this to you.” Sure, enough, it had my name on it. As I opened it, I pulled out a card, it simply said, “My Office.” Its meaning was clear, and I asked Dick if I could have the room, he looked at me a moment then left the room. Then Adam stated the room was secure.

A quick look around, and yes, how I could have failed to notice before? There were all the clues that it was! Dick had over the years he had been here had added his imprint to it all, but it was unmistakably Grandfather’s office. The ticker tape machine, out of the way, and almost inconspicuous. But I knew it for what it was. I went to it and read the tape, then rolling my eyes I walked over to the safe and entered the code on the tape. The floor of the safe then moved up revealing a second compartment.

Yes, as you may have guessed, it was another tape player and an envelope. Well, not the same sort of tape player. This one was a bit larger and had some sort of cradle with a set of holes at each end. Pulling it out, I sat back at the desk, placing the tape player before me. Pressing the play button, I then opened the envelope to examine its contents. At hearing the usual “Mission, Impossible” intro, I chuckled once again. However, the smile didn’t last long, as, after the greeting, Grandfather got down to business.

“Son, I have to admit I’ve been holding out on you.”

I thought to myself, “Oh, ya think? So, what else is new?“ I wasn’t mad at Grandfather, just that it seemed he didn’t trust me with all the facts. It didn’t make much sense as he had picked me to be the next Head/Prime of the ‘Family.’

He went on, “I know you are now somewhere in the past or possibly the future, he was uncertain just which way you’d end up going. My money is in the past, as it fit with details of the family’s history, that had simply not made sense up to that point. If things have gone well, exactly one hundred years to be precise.”

I thought back ‘who the hell was this ‘he’?’

I was glad I had been sitting down as I would have dropped if I had been standing. As it was, I felt exceedingly lightheaded. I stopped the tape, as it took a moment to gather my wits. This was a ‘shell shocker,’ even more so than the incident itself. Especially as now I realized it had been no accident after all. This was something that I would be unable to share with anyone. An accident is one thing, but to find out it had been a deliberate act. I should have been pissed as hell, but I knew there was more to it. I then pressed the play button again.

Grandfather went on, “I had some research done, and I can say I’m not sure if any of it is true or not. But he offered me enough evidence to convince me that it most likely was. To be sure I tested it, not once but many times.” Who was this ‘he’?

“You’re probably wondering how I know you have gone back in time. Well, besides the historical evidence, that was not made known to rest of the ‘Family,’ he told me it had to happen that way. So, he planned it that way. Those robotic assemblers did a bit more than you had called for. Oh, by the way, your research is sound, and may well lead to resolving our planets energy needs and end our reliance on fossil fuels.”

Well, that was nice to know, maybe he could have told me that before sending me ‘back in time’ ... A tune seemed to start in my ... Naw it couldn’t be...

Grandfather continued, “If all has gone as per plan, and I believe you know just how well I plan things out, you are in the family compound. While the primary goal of the Compound was always the preservation of the family in a time of need, it has become more, much more.

“Adam’s creator came to me with a fantastic story. It all started about the turn of the Millennium before you were born.

“Adam’s creator is a time traveler!”

Did I mention I was sitting down... ?

“He had been doing the same sort of research you had been doing with energy production; only in his case, he was looking for where you went. He was certain you hadn’t just gone up in smoke and disappeared, his mother had convinced him of that. He was not having much luck with that until the two girls, Nicky and Wind Song, found him and approached him with some advice. With their help, he was able to figure out what had happened to you.”

Again, I asked myself who was this ‘he’?

“Adam’s creator, as you have learned, is eccentric. This was not always so...” There was a pause as I heard my grandfather take in a deep breath, he continued, “Adam’s creator is ... No, wait I shouldn’t be telling you this now. I’m not sure if he truly knows any longer, he says so much lately that does not make much sense. I did a DNA sampling. He is human, and it indicated he was indeed, Family.”

It was his work, and the input from the two girls, Nicky and Wind Song, that would be required for you to return.

Just what had Nicky and Wind Song have to do with it? I asked myself.

“Don’t ask me how or why it worked out that way. You’re the Physicist in the family, not I. Let’s just say I believed him and did as he asked. He told me that even with his help, it was no sure thing you would return. He wasn’t even sure at that point, what would happen to him once you did manage to return. He had been suffering or started to fail, shortly after his mother gave birth to his past self here in this time. (It was confusing to think about it.) Before he was too far gone, he tried to explain that two different versions of himself couldn’t exist at the same time. Again, I can’t clarify it. I had to take it on faith since it was happening right before my eyes. Of course, he added that every leap/jump did affect the brain as well, and he had made many jumps before being able to control the landing points in time. Again, that was done with the input of the two girls Nicky and Wind Song.

“Finding out this about them. I tried to find out more about the girls and decided to do some testing on them, and they resisted all attempts. It was then, after a few tries, that I found no matter how I went about it, I couldn’t get any material from them to get DNA results on them.

I then flat out asked them to tell me about themselves. The girls had started to do that when both girls suddenly cried out in a great deal of pain. They then froze, then after a moment, they seemed to snap out of it. The girls then looked at me, blankly. It was as if I had never asked them the question. I was about to ask again, when I saw something in their eyes, or was it their body language, that warned me not to do it again.

“He explained to me when I told him about it, that he had tried the same thing with the same results. Only he noted that after he had, they didn’t seem as capable with the help that they had been giving up to that point, this was verified when he asked them about some of the steps they had already helped him with. They seemed willing to keep on assisting, but something was missing. The insights they had been giving seemed somehow diminished, he didn’t try questioning them a second time.”

I asked him how come he hadn’t warned me of that before I had done it. Somewhat confused he stated that he had thought he already had. This is why I have asked you not to question them.

Thinking to myself, ‘Yes that seemed to fit, the girls had been helping me with some key parts of my research, but it seemed only to a limit. I hadn’t really thought much of it, I was just happy they had helped as much as they did. I had never questioned the how.’

“Ever since you started your work, I copied everything you did ... everything. Even your drawings of your prototype. I made sure there would be a record of your work.

“That was how he had been able to recreate your work as quickly as he did. He even had notes from his future self that he told me had been invaluable. It was then that he started on the A.D.A.M. project.”

Grandfather carried on, “Look, I am more a businessman than a Physicist or scientist. I’ve been told I am a visionary. Maybe this will shed some doubt on that now, but nothing had prepared me for this. However, I have been working for the last thirty-seven years to get you and the compound ready. Even those before me have. I have put everything I can think of in it to help you. But I could only do so much, now the rest is up to you.