One thing was for sure. It would make a great science fiction story. No wonder grocery store tabloids never ran out of material. As long as people like Dr. Barnett existed… But then again, according to everything they could find out, he didn’t exist. One thing for sure, this was going to be one of the screwiest investigations he had ever been involved in.
The only sound was the air filtering through the room. Dr. Gimbel was bending over a large sphere with his head inside. He was carefully installing the first of the three photon separators. It was extremely delicate work and having to bend over was not making the job any easier.
“How is it going Gimbel?” he heard General Devin say.
He bumped his head at the sudden voice. He hated to stop; he was just about ready to tighten the final bolts in place.
“Gimbel,” the general yelled again.
“General, I can’t talk right now. I’m trying to install this damn separator,” he finally said.
“I see, then I’ll check back with you later,” Devin said.
Thank God. It had taken him a great deal of time to just be able to get into the right position to work on the installation. Doctor Gimbel was never happier than when he was working alone. He hated to be interrupted and his social skills left a great deal to be desired. He found the demeanor of General Devin to be abusive and offensive. Frankly, he didn’t care much for the man but he did love working on advanced technology. This would be his crowning achievement. A totally new kind of weapon unlike anything ever developed before. His name would become more famous than Oppenheimer.
While a brilliant scientist, one of Gimbel’s biggest faults was his bragging. He loved to tell anyone who would listen how advanced his work was. It was because of this that many other scientists working in S-4 knew about the development of the BlackStar project. It was during one of Gimbel’s bragging sessions that Dr. Barnett learned of the weapon being developed.
Intrigued, he goaded Gimbel on until he had divulged much of the scope of the project. At that time, it was still in the developmental stages and work had only just begun.
Nevertheless, Barnett could see the potential of such a weapon. When General Devin learned of his bragging, his first thought was to get rid of Gimbel but he soon realized that he had no one else to turn to if it was going to be developed.
It was at that point that Devin decided to add Level-10 and move the BlackStar from Level–9. He also separated the living quarters for the team working on the project. While all of the others ate, relaxed, and even slept on Level–5, Gimbel’s people were confined to Level–9 and the new Level–10 complex.
They still worked the same as before, but now they had almost no contact with the other scientists. For someone like Gimbel it was a devastating blow to this ego. It took Devin many heated discussions with Gimbel to placate him with the understanding that when the BlackStar went operational, all the credit would be given to him. Devin assured him that everyone would know his name and he would be recognized for his brilliance. While they lost about a month of progress due to Gimbel’s wounded ego, eventually he came around and they were able to get back on track.
While all of this was going on, several key scientists left due to the persistent rumors of the weapon being built. They did not want to be associated with another Manhattan project.
Dr. Barnett had approached General Devin head on and asked if there was any truth to the rumors. Unfortunately, Devin treated the questions in his usual gruff and threatening manner. He went so far as to warn Dr. Barnett that if he ever repeated what he had heard he would be finished as a scientist.
Several arguments took place and soon Devin started looking over Barnett’s shoulder constantly. Several more confrontations followed and Devin’s lack of skills in handling intellectuals made matters worse. Finally, when Devin called into question Barnett’s abilities and dedication, it was the final straw. Dr. Barnett simply walked away from the program.
Devin was furious and immediately set into motion a plan to both discredit him and to have his background disappear. It soon became Devin’s standard procedure for anyone who left the program. They would soon find themselves in a situation where they couldn’t prove their past accomplishments. Their history vanished as if they had never existed. It was no surprise to Dr. Barnett when he learned that a similar thing had happened to Dr. Lake.
By now Devin had become very adept at making people vanish. Rumors once again circulated, this time about what would happen to anyone who left the program without permission from Devin. Devin did nothing to stop these rumors, however.
What the scientists didn’t know was that Devin had decided that there was a better and more permanent way of making problems disappear. The desert was a very large place.
