Binary Code

“Okay Will” says Sam, “get the specs from Dr. Johansen and get working on your Logistics and Deployment report, I
want it ready by 16:00 hours and you let us know how you are going to use these wonderful little black boxes, got it
‘Baby’ ?”

“Yes sir Sam, I certainly got it.” Grabbing Johansen by the shoulder he heads away from the group saying “Come with
me my lovely friend, we gots us some work to do !”

With the presentation completed Sam turns to Clem and reaches out to shake his hand, telling him “Remarkable Clem,
what you are capable of and how well you do it never ceases to amaze me.” He then turns to the remaining G2 staff
and shakes their hands one by one, addressing each one by first name, “Eli, Mark, Catherine, Jean-Pierre …” and so on
right down the line, shocking them that he knows each of their names. He and Clem walk away towards Clem’s office
and are just being seated as the intercom buzzes and Stella announces “Mr. Kolanowski has arrived Sam, I am sending
him down to G-2 right now.”

Sam thanks Stella and as they get right back up and head back out into the lab Clem says to Sam “We will do this
preliminary testing here in the Lab today Sam, but I thought for the main testing we should set up headquarters on the
15th Floor.”

Sam replies “Clem that is a pretty busy area, all the old mainframes are still active there, they are almost obsolete but
they are still kept on-line as a backup system, those old units run 24/7 backing up the data from the new systems on the
32nd floor. It would be a big job to move those and I can’t afford to shut them down. Why so important we use that
floor?”

“Well Sam,” says Clem, “it may be just a hunch but there must be something unique about that floor, it’s the biggest
single room in the building for one, 325 feet from the East wall to the West wall, the length of a football field, which will
be very advantageous when we try to extend the range of our candidate’s MKE effect. But maybe it’s just because that
was where this all started, where Mr. Kolanowski” [Sam couldn’t help but notice this was a man with a PhD who had won
the Nobel Prize for Science in 1984 and earned about a half million dollars a year, and yet he still had enough class and
courtesy to add the “Mr.” in front of a janitor’s last name.] “first had his kinetic experience that may be the key to
unraveling the greatest mystery ever. In fact one of my G2 group is Polish and when he read the transcript of the 1976
incident he suggested we rename the test Lab on the 15th floor to the ‘K-2 Lab’.”

“Why… what does that represent?” asked Sam.

“Kolanowski’s Kaplooey” said Clem, “the exact word he used to describe the Univacs and Crays crashing that night. “

45

Sam felt a shiver going down his spine, an eerie sense of ‘deja vue’, that slightly creepy almost scary feeling you get
when you realize a very important clue about the meaning of Life has just briefly let you get a micro-second glimpse of
something cosmic. Ari was climbing K-2 [1] the day he called Sam to launch this project. Now Clem wanted to name the
new Lab “K-2”. Sam had a Masters degree in Mathematics but he didn’t need that to realize the statistical probability of
this happening by chance was close to infinity.

Clem continued “I know it is going to be a lot of extra trouble but I would prefer all of our testing be done at exactly the
same location of Mr. Kolanowski’s first experience. We don’t know this phenomenon well enough to analyze how it
works, we are just trying to measure it. So lets stick with a location where we have evidence of it being manifested in
the past on a very significant level Sam.”

“You got it Clem, I will have Will get right on that tomorrow and clear out the 15th floor for you. Anything else?”

“Well Sam, we should reprogram one of the express elevators so the candidates go straight to the 15th floor from the
lobby.”

“Why Clem, you don’t want to be waiting another 3 minutes while their elevator stops on a few other floors?”

“No Sam, I don’t want anyone with enough MKE in their system to crash a mainframe getting off on the wrong floor and
wandering around knocking every computer in our Network out of commission. I also want badges on every one of the
candidates when they enter the building and scanners on the entrances to any critical areas of the building, so if they try
to access an area where we could lose data the system will shut down all computers that might be in the striking range of
the MKE’s effect.”

“Good thinking Clem, Will can take care of all the details. I will have him meet with you tomorrow and get everything
set up to your specifications.”

By the end of their conversation Stella arrives at the G-2 Lab with Mr. Kolanowski, who greets Sam enthusiastically and
cannot stop shaking his hand in an exagerated pumping action that almost dislocates Sam’s shoulder. “So nice to see
you Mr. Sam, I am so glad to help if you need me for anything Mr. Sam. You are a great man to work for Mr. Sam.”

“You know Mr. Sam,” he continues, “I give that gold envelope you presented to me to my wife Ishka when I get home
last week and I tell her ‘Here, Mr. Sam gave me $10 worth of stock in his company, will be very valuable some day if we
hang on to it.’ But my wife she look closer at envelope and then opens it and looks at Stock Certificate and she almost

[1] K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest. With a peak elevation of 8,611 m (28,251 feet), K2 is known as the Savage Mountain
due to the difficulty of ascent and the second-highest fatality rate for those who climb it. For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died
trying. Unlike Annapurna, the mountain with the highest fatality rate, K2 has never been climbed in winter.

46

faints, then she starts to cry! When she stop crying she finally tells me you gave us $10,000 in stock, that is what the ‘k’
meant in the label on the gold envelope that said $10k, I thought it meant ten dollars for Kolanowski !”

Sam’s arm is about to fall off so he gently puts his left hand on Kolanowski’s shoulder and extracts himself from his grip
while he still has some feeling in his right arm. “You are very welcome Mr. Kolanowski, and you deserve every penny of
that stock. I am sorry I made your wife cry though.”

“Oh Mr. Sam” the old man says, “ don’t worry she cry because of how happy she is, and she will cry again when I tell her
how much money Ms. Stella gave to me in your limousine on the way over here. That’s a lot of money for whatever
favor you want me to do for you, must be a big favor. Do you want me to kill someone Mr. Sam? I would hate to have
to do that but for you I would do it, even without the money.”

Sam and Clem can’t help but smiling, as Sam reassures Kolanowski “No my friend, you do not have to kill anybody. You
just have to let Dr. Clemsford run a few tests on you, and I guarantee you none of it can harm you in any way. Just a few
measurements of something about you that is very special.”

“Oh I get it Mr. Sam,” says Kolanowski with a big exaggerated wink, “you want to measure ‘something special’. Sure,
go ahead, but it is not really that special Mr. Sam, about the same size as most other men I guess.”

Sam cannot help but laughing and Clem is turning a bright shade of red, as he tells the old man “Not exactly what we are
after Mr. Kolanowski, we are going to measure some special magnetic waves that your unique characteristics seem to
create, the reason you can’t wear watches.”

“Oh… Mr. Sam, I already thought you are about the finest man I ever know, but now you want to do all this science
and testing so you find out why I cannot wear a watch, so you can fix it and then I can wear the fine gold watch you gave
me! You are good man Mr. Sam, a very good man.”

Sam gives up trying to explain and just lets Clem take over the management of Mr. Kolanowsi’s initial testing, saying
goodbye to everyone and heading out of G-2 back to his office.

At the door of the Lab he says over his shoulder to Clem “Call me with the results and have Stella take care of getting our
guest back home.”

Clem’s testing of Mr. Kolanowski takes the rest of the afternoon and goes very well. At the end of the session Clem asks
Sam to meet him on the 15th floor, the new ‘K-2’ Lab site, and heads down there himself with Mr. Kolanowski.

While Sam and Clem were up in G-2 a team of technicians shut down all the all the mainframes on the 15th floor, re-
routing their backup functions through the I.T. [Information Technologies] Department to other servers. They did

47

however keep the oldest working unit in the company on-line, a 60’s relic which was an old Univac 1103A, one of the
actual mainframes that Kolanowski had crashed on the infamous night of December 7th, 1976.
The old girl had been moved the to center of the long hallway which bifurcated the entire room, and at the extreme
opposite end of the building a single chair was placed in the exact center of the hallway. A long length of vinyl tape had
been stretched down the center of the room and adhered to the floor, and it was essentially a long tape measure with
every foot and Meter marked off, showing a measurement of exactly 328.2 feet or 100 meters on the dot separating the
old univac from the solitary chair.
Sam and A.J. arrived on one elevator at the same moment Clem and Mr. Kolanowski stepped out of another one, and
they entered the ‘K-2’ lab together.
Carefully avoiding the Univac, Clem escorted the old man to the solitary chair on the far wall and had him be seated, then
instructed A.J. to power up the Univac, which took a good ten minutes to boot up. Meanwhile Clem was giving
Kolanowski some last minute instructions.
Finally everything was ready and Clem turned Kolanowski’s chair around so he was facing the old computer at the other
end of the long hallway, 100 Meters away.
Nothing happened.
Slowly Clem rolled Kolanowski closer and closer to the Univac, 90 Meters away … 80 Meters … 70 Meters … 60
Meters… 50 Meters…
The mainframe beeped and the old green LED monitor showed a message

When the error message cleared after a few minutes Clem continued advancing Kolanowski’s chair closer to the Univac,
45 Meters … 40 Meters … 35 Meters.

Suddenly the old mainframe beeped 3 times and the LED monitor showed a message

48

A small cheer went up from the handful of onlookers and one of Clem’s technicians was busy recording information [by
hand with a pencil, not taking any chances !] in a notebook. Clem looked somewhat dissapointed and wheeled Mr.
Kolanowski back to the far wall.

Kolanowski asked “Dr. Clem, did I do something wrong, was I suppose to be trying to do something?”

“Well,” replied Clem, “there is something in you that can shut down that computer, make it go ‘Kaplooey’, and we
want to find a way to help you control that, so you can make it happen when you want it to, does that make sense?”

“Yes Sir Dr. Clem, but I have no idea how to do what you ask me, these things happen without me ever doing anything
one way or another.”

Sam is walking the length of the hallway towards them, and Clem turns and walks to meet him, and they meet around
the center of the large room. He talks quietly to Sam for a few moments, Sam begins to nod in agreement and then
they both return to Kolanowski still sitting in his chair.

Sam asks the old man “Have you ever fired a rifle Mr. Kolanowski?”

The old man replies “Yes sir Mr. Sam, my father taught me as a young boy and I am a very good marksman, I was a
sharpshooter in the Polish Army when I was a young man.”

Without being asked he continues to add to the information in his initial reply: “My father he was a Freedom Fighter
against the Nazis, he served with the famous Tadeusz Kociuszko unit, and I was always very proud of him, all my life.
He was a hero to me and to many others in Poland. But you know while I work in the Boiler Room all those years I also
hear many stories about you Mr. Sam, that you were a warrior too and also a hero, I was also very proud of you all the
time I work here Mr. Sam. So now if you want me to kill someone for you I will, you bring me rifle and I will shoot. You
are a good man, Mr. Sam.”

Sam is overwhelmed but hides it well, replies quietly “Your father may have been a hero but I was not, there were no
heros in my War.”

Composing himself Sam continues “Mr. Kolanowski I do not want you to kill anyone, and please stop saying that before
you get both of us arrested, but I want you to fire a rifle for me, except there is no rifle.”

The old man says “So you want me to pretend like I am firing a rifle, is that correct Mr. Sam, but there will be no rifle?”

“Exactly” interjects Clem, “and your target is that computer!” as he points to the old Univac 100 meters away.”

49

The old man says “Okay !” and raises his arms as if pretending to raise a weapon, but Sam puts his hand on Kolanowski’s
forearm and stops him.
“Not that way, this is not about pretending to fire a rifle, this is only about thinking you are firing a rifle. Do this in your
mind… see the rifle, look down the sights, aim carefully, slowly squeeze the slack out of the trigger, hold your breath and
don’t blink, focus on the sights and gently squeeze the trigger.”
“Okay Mr. Sam, I try now.” The old man focuses on the Univac on the far wall, squints his eyes, takes a deep breath,
and ….. NOTHING.
Sam walks away about 15 feet and motions Clem to join him, and they have a short conference in quiet whispers, then
Clem breaks off and heads out of the huge room while Sam returns to Kolanowski’s side, and they make small talk for a
few moments.
Clem returns shortly after with a maintenance employee who is lead over to the Univac, and seems to ask Clem several
times if he is certain of what he is being asked to do, then carefully paints a bullseye on the front face of the computer
cabinet. Finishing up in about ten minutes he is dismissed and Clem walks the 100 meters back to Sam and Kolanowski.
“Now, lets try it again Mr. Kolanowski.”
“Okay Mr. Sam, I try now.” Again he old man focuses on the Univac on the far wall, squints his eyes, takes a deep
breath, and ….. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
The mainframe beeped and the old green LED monitor shows:

50

Clem is beaming, the old man looks up at Sam for approval but Sam has a face of stone, stares back at Kolanowski and
shouts at the old man “Try again! I thought you were a marksman. Fire your weapon like your father did when he
fought for your homeland, with the courage the Freedom Fighters of Poland had when they faced the Nazis. Show me
what you are made of!”
For the third time the old man focuses on the Univac on the far wall, determined, squints his eyes, takes a deep breath,
and after an agonizing twenty seconds or more ….. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
The mainframe beeps a long mournful sound and the old green LED monitor flickers and shows:

as the old dynosaur system slowly shuts down and becomes silent.
End of Chapter 7.

Univac 1103a

51

Chapter 8- The Global Search

Setting: Board of Director’s conference room, Penthouse floor
A.J. let Sam know about 15 minutes in advance that he had determined all department heads should be present at Will’s
logistics presentation, so he had moved the meeting up to the Board Room. When Sam arrived the room was packed,
the only empty seat was his at the head of the massive Mahogany table. Will came in just 30 seconds later, Sam
suspected he had been waiting for the boss to be seated to make a dramatic impact when he walked in the room, which
he certainly did.

Instead of his flashy shirts and wearing jeans when he could get away with it, Will was in a Brooks Brothers double
breasted suit that probably set him back at least three grand, Luigi Voltan shoes and a tie that was hard to describe,
although ‘gorgeous’ might be the first word to come to mind.

Little did Sam know that after everyone else had their moment to shine, Clemsford, Johansen, even Kolanowski, Will
had made his mind up this was his turn to rock Sam’s world, and he set about doing just that.

Without delay Will began his presentation and he was all business, this was a Will that Sam had never seen before, and
he liked it. More accurately one might say he was totally blown away, and justly so.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am treating this mission I have been entrusted with as an integral part of what most certainly
may turn out to be one of the most important endeavors ever undertaken in the history of mankind. Bearing that in
mind, I am trusting you will consider my presentation in the same light.

“I have exactly eight calendar days to cover six continents and screen 1.24 billion human beings, 48.5% of the Earth’s
population. ‘Impossible’ seems to be a word Dr. Harmon Clemsford is not very familiar with and Mr. Sam Preston has
never even heard before. Therefore rather then attempt to educate these two brilliant men on this small adjective
missing from their vocabularies I felt it might be a bit easier to just complete the mission, which I intend to do without
fail.”

He never cracked a smile, he never looked up to see any reaction or acknowledge a few smiles here and there at his
clever endeavor, he just kept on delivering a very uncharacteristic speech that was of the utmost seriousness.

Holding up the MKE-7 unit he began his dissertation reeling off Dr. Johansen’s specs at a high rate of speed: “This unit is
the 7th generation MKE [Magnenomic-Kinetic Energy] detection unit. MKE is what we are looking for, you have all been
briefed in your reports on that subject and why we are looking for individuals who exhibit characteristics of high levels of
MKE. Dr. Clemsford’s G2 team under the leadership of Dr. Johansen [nods to Johansen who is seated to his right] came up
with this device, however the first prototype is not something I feel we need to see at this meeting, it looks like a
refugee from a Jukebox graveyard. Nonetheless within 72 hours G2 had refined the design and miniaturized the

52

apparatus seven times, a truly remarkable achievement in that time span. There will be one more iteration of upgrades
and then the MKE-8 will go into production with 1500 units being produced in ten days. If we fall behind on our profile
acquisition rate more units can be produced very rapidly.

“The MKE-7 weighs 28.350 grams, exactly one ounce. It is constructed of a Titanium case embedded with Kevlar
reinforcing fabric, and can withstand a G-Force impact of over 12g’s, it measures 1 cm. in thickness and …”

Over the next five minutes Will presented the complete technical data on the MKE-7 in a perfect explanation of all
aspects of this amazing device and ending with “ … We refer to these as Supercases.”

Will looked up at his rapt audience, glanced at Johansen who gave him a nod of approval, and asked “Any questions?”

It had not escaped Johansen’s attention that Will had no notes in front of him nor was he using a teleprompter. He had
not only memorized all the specs on the MKE-7, he had delivered a perfect carbon copy of Johansen’s own speech in the
G-2 lab earlier that morning. Very impressive.

The first and only question was “How are you going to deploy these?”

Sam responded “Good question, and reached over the a side table next to the podium and grabbed a ½” binder with a
red label on the front in large letters diagonally across the cover that read ‘CLASSIFIED’.

Will opened his report and began explaining the deployment plan he had created for the MKE-7 and the future MKE-8’s:

“Rather then wait for the production of the 1500 MKE-8’s we will start scanning the entire population of New York City
with this single unit and a small run of 44 additional MKE-7s, approximately 7.2 million individuals. Our goal is to
develop higher saturations in urban areas where the high population density will yield more profiles with less effort.
Conversely low population areas and remote locations will be avoided when possible, and when scanned will be targeted
for saturations ranging from 10 to 15%. The overall target is 48.5% of the total population of the planet, in N.Y.C. we are
expecting 92.5% saturation, Manhattan having one of the highest population densities in the world [66,940 per sq. mile,
approx. 4 times that of Chicago].

“Before continuing with my plan let me give you a brief demonstration of the MKE-7. There are 112 people in this room,
excluding myself.” He holds up the MKE-7 and the tiny green LED flashes for an instant then he immediately goes out,
and Will puts the unit back on his podium. Someone in the first row says to his neighbor just loud enough for Will to hear
: “I guess something went wrong.”

Will replies “Nothing went wrong, I am just waiting for the report…” and as he finishes those words a laser printer
behind him churns out 10 pages in quick succession. An aide quickly retrieves the pages and hands them to Will.

53

He begins reading: “Total time of active scanning: 0.00125 seconds or 1.25 milliseconds. Profiles scanned: 113. Profiles
rejected: 1 Duplicates: 0 Report generated in 0.00659 seconds or 6.59 milliseconds. Total cumulative active response
time: 8.50 milliseconds. Scan rate per hour: 340,473.6 profiles.”

Looking up Will took a moment to explain the meaning of the data he had just read to them: “This means that the scan
of this room including the report generation and uploading [exclusive of the printer time] took six and a half thousandths
of a second, and at this rate would be cable of logging over a third of a million profiles in 24 hours.”

The were a lot of stunned looks on many faces, then a hand went up and one of the department heads asked “Will, why
was one of the profiles rejected?”

“Good question” Will replied, “let’s take a look.” With a remote control he clicks on a video screen and simultaneously
explains “The MKE-7 uploads images of any rejected profiles although this feature can be turned off once the operator’s
confidence level confirms that if the unit rejects a profile there is a good enough reason not to second guess it.”

As he finishes that sentence a photo of a big fat pigeon on a windowsill appears on the AV screen, and Will says to his
audience “I believe if you turn around you will see our 113th guest.” Everyone turns around and sees the same pigeon Will
displayed on the screen on a windowsill right behind them.

Will explains as the bird had a heartbeat and thermal imaging temperatures in the range of humans the scan picked it up,
then the firmware rejected that profile. He explains these types of false signals are being eliminated in the upgraded
MKE-8.

He then goes through the data on the 112 profiles of the individuals in the room and calls out the highest MKE levels
detected, which are in the range from 1 or 2 to the high 70’s, very low numbers. A reading of 10,000 is the candidate
level they are seeking, Mr. Kolanowski having tested very close to that.

Finishing the data report analysis Will then turns to the Deployment Plan.

“In Manhattan we will be working with 45 MKE-7s that G-2 will have ready in the next 24 hours, deploying 30 of these as
stationary units in the highest profile traffic centers of the City, Grand Central Station, Times Square, 5th Avenue,
Subway entrances, and so on. The balance of the units will be mobile and working a predetermined grid to cover every
city block, combining the coverage of the 15 units the city will be covered once every 24 hours.

“The areas we will miss are shutins not on the streets or sidewalks during the sweep of the city, and any blocks not
accessible at the time of our sweep due to traffic or construction. The G2 staff has extrapolated a projection of 98.2 %
coverage of New York City in five days, allowing an additional five days on the East coast to sweep several more large

54

metropolitan areas by the time the 1500 MKE-8’s are ready and the Global sweep begins.”

“The inter-continental sweep of the 1500 MKE-8’s would be much too time consuming to go over in detail at this meeting
but each of you will be given a detailed written copy of the entire report on your way out.

“I will now answer any questions.”

A 45 minute Q&A session followed, Will was prepared for every question and never missed a beat. His plan was
masterful, 250 MKE-8’s per continent, a team of 1500 technicians per continent, everything at their disposal. One staff
member was surprised at Will’s mention of the Polish Army and several other branches of the military in Eastern
European nations and Russia having pledged all of their military resources to assist in the campaign, including 10’s of
thousands of troops and thousands of vehicles, barracks, aircraft, everything in their command. Asking Will how he got
all of these foreign military commanding officers on board so easily Will replied “Simple. I bribed them. Mr. Kingsley
has very deep pockets.”

The meeting wound down and everyone present was very confident Will’s plan was going to get the job done.

Will wrapped up the meeting on this note: “I do require your assistance, every single one of you will play an integral role
in this mission. Beyond that, I want you know that I am desperate for your prayers that we may succeed. Thank you
very much for your attention.”

There had probably never been a standing ovation in this board room, and even though many present almost felt
compelled to stand up, they looked to Sam to take the lead. However they had no idea what his reaction was as his
back had been turned to them the entire time so he could have his eyes on Will. By the time he stood up the room had
been in total silence for well over a minute, and it appeared he was simply preparing to walk out.

But he did not… once standing he stood in place and then very slowly brought his hands together once…. then a long
delay and another almost slow motion clap…. on the third one he was joined by a few other members of the audience,
on the fourth clap even more, and soon the entire group was on their feet and applauding.

The ‘old’ Will they all knew would have been grinning from ear to ear however the ‘new’ Will they were experiencing for
the first time showed immense humility and just bowed his head as the applause thundered throughout the room.

___________________________________________

55

Setting: Sam’s office, everyone important is present.
After an extremely busy and very productive day Sam gathers everyone in his office to review the Logistics plan.

A.J. takes the floor and begins “The Manhattan coverage will begin tomorrow, Will has that set up and is ready to roll.
By the time that data is in, along with most of the major metropolitan areas on the East coast we should have the new
MKE-8’s ready and we will start the Global scanning. We have decided to scan all six continents simultaneously, 250
MKE-8’s per continent. As any areas are completed there units will be redeployed to areas that need them the most. I
have asked for volunteers from a list of possible Operations Directors and here is what we are going with:

NORTH AMERICA: A.J.

SOUTH AMERICA: WILL

EUROPE / ASIA: CLEMSFORD

AFRICA /AUSTRALIA: JOHANSEN

“Our projections look favorable for the targeted timetables with the exception of Africa, due to the low population
density. We are omitting Antarctica entirely. In Australia we are skipping the entire outback so there will be very little
wasted effort by concentrating strictly on the major metropolitan centers, mostly on the East coast with a very limited
time allowance for the West coast cities. We project 68.5% in 5 days to wrap up Australia ahead of any other teams.”
and then Johansen moves on to Africa. “This is our stumbling block, we are seeking 35 % coverage and the projections
show us barely managing 15%. The lowest population densities on the Planet with the second largest surface area make
Africa our biggest challenge.”

Clem speaks up “Too bad there wasn’t an epidemic in Africa, that’s the only time the entire population ever comes to
centralized geographic areas, to get inoculations.”

Will is thinking about something and suddenly stands and says “Why don’t we just make a disease?”
There is a minor uproar as everyone speaks at the same time, finally A.J. regains control of the meeting and says to Will
“We cannot start an epidemic just to meet our goals, get serious.”

“Hold on” says Sam, “maybe this is not as crazy as it sounds. We don’t actually have to start a disease or give real
inoculations, we just want everyone to think we are. And while we are at it we can distribute food and other medical
supplies, do something positive for all the trouble we put these people through.”

“Sure” says Will, we fabricate a disease, give out 250 million Vitamin C tabs, and get the population of Africa covered in
three days per our schedule. We’ll call it ‘H-2’.”

56

Sam asks “H-2 ?”

Will replies “Yeah, Harmless Hoax, H-2.”

“G-2, then K-2, now H-2” thinks Sam, maybe this was just meant to be and it will work.

Clem speaks up again and simply says “Dolus Innoxium”.

“What is that?” asks A.J.

“The scientific name of your H-2 disease, Latin for hoax is Dolus, and innoxium is innocent or harmless. Sounds official to
me. The added benefit to this name is any real scientist or medical doctors will understand the Latin meaning and realize
what we are up to, but to most of the world it will appear legitimate. That way the medical community will not hamper
our efforts by trying to help or find out too much information.”

“Brilliant” is A.J.’s single word reply.

Will steps in and says “I believe we will need some backup for this one, World Health Organization, United Nations, Red
Cross… that’s going to be tough. Sam do you have any connections to get those types of organizations to be complicit
in this scam?”

“I probably don’t” replies Sam, “but I certainly know who does. Ari is without a doubt the greatest philanthropist on
Earth and he is also a leading humanitarian, he has donated more money to medical relief efforts around the world then
anyone else in history. I will let him take care of the red tape, should be no problem for him.”

“Done deal then,” says A.J., “Will is going to create the H2 epidemic and Ari is going to pay for it.”

Hours later the exhausted group is wrapping up their collective efforts and the Global plan seems to be completely viable
in all areas.

They part weary but satisfied, all of them anxious to get some rest and be ready for a huge week coming up. A.J. is the
last of the staff to leave Sam’s office and he turns to Sam who is still at his desk and says “Do you really think we can pull
this off?”

Sam seems to stare off in space for a few moments, then replies “The last, and probably the only, operation in history
of this magnitude was successful and their logistics were far more difficult then ours. And even more importantly, their
accomplishment changed the course of the World forever.”

57

“When was that Sam?” He replies: “The 6th of June, 1944. D-Day”.

They both leave the office a moment later, Sam hits the lights and the office is dark and silent.

Over the next 5 days the Manhattan Project [1] went like clockwork. However that name, even though it was tempting,

was discarded and it was simply referred to as Phase I-NY. Meanwhile the production of the MKE-8’s was ahead of

schedule, and the overseas teams were all deployed and actually got an earlier start then planned.

Australia was a snap, South America went well, Asia turned out to be more difficult then anticipated but the extra
resources from Australia and South America being sent as reinforcements got everything back on schedule. The
European Campaign was the most complex but the vast military support Ari had financed with his astronomical bribes
turned the corner for them and got it done.

Africa however, was a disaster, even with the H-2 scam the numbers were just not available and the progress was dismal.
However Johansen’s early evaluations of the data from the first 100,000 profiles showed almost zero incidence of valid
HKE candidates. She did not have time to derive a hypothesis for why, made some guesses that the arid climate and
lower nutrition standards of the African continent altered the blood physiology of the population so MKE readings in the
10k range were almost non-existent.

The lower numbers in Africa were offset by the overflow successes in other areas, and after the longest eight days of his
life Will cabled Sam:

Mission accomplished.
48.796 % global population scanned.

Coming home.

Clem had returned a day ahead of Will, as Johansen took charge and wrapped up the work in Europe to give him a
chance to get back to Vertex and start analyzing the data. It took several days of gargantuan effort but the final cut was
on Sam’s desk on the 10th day of the Mission:

Viable candidates worldwide MKE values 10k +

[1] The ‘Manhattan Project’ was the official codename given to the research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the
United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. The borough of Manhattan had at least 10 sites which included
warehouses that held uranium, laboratories that split the atom, and the project’s first headquarters in a skyscraper across from City Hall.

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This was followed by a detailed breakdown of the locations, age, gender, health statistics and numerous other forms of
analysis.
Sam sent everyone home for a well deserved long weekend and insisted they all take the following Monday off. Even
Clem was not allowed in his lab, and over the weekend Sam had a medical team evaluate all the Project Leaders at their
homes to determine if they were fit to continue working at full bore or if the Global campaign had left any of his staff too
debilitated to continue.
Everyone checked out fit to report back for duty on the following Tuesday.
Over the next 30 days the 15,176 candidates were rounded up, most came to the U.S. if they were overseas. For a few
exceptionally high scoring candidates who were not able or willing to travel Clem and Johansen did the second Order
testing in their home countries. Ultimately over 11,500 of the high scoring individuals went through the Second Order
testing, and 457 made it to the third round.
Of those 115 went all the way to the Fifth classification, the highest order established for measurement of MKE. Of these
98 agreed to remain in the pool and spend 30 days residence at Vertex quarters for training and enhancement of their
control over the high levels of kinetic force they were endowed with.
The Global Manhunt portion of the operation had been accomplished, the fate of the entire mission now rested in the
98 candidates that had been sifted out of essentially the entire population of the planet. They were the apex of the
pyramid, but that soon was changed to the Vertex, and to avoid confusion with the corporate name they were given the
designation of V-2 or V2 , the vertex of Vertex. Of course…
End of Chapter 8.

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Chapter 9 – World caliber blunder

Setting: K-2 lab, 15th floor.
The weeks following the Global search went extremely well, better then Sam had expected. The remaining 98 V2
candidates were being lodged at the Plaza Hotel with unlimited expense accounts, in many cases their families had been
brought to New York to keep them company, and each spent 4 hours in the K-2 lab daily, and then had the rest of their
day to themselves, becoming the quintessential tourists for the most part. A half dozen of V2 group who were either
quite elderly or had moderately severe medical issues where residing in the Penthouse on the top floor of the Vertex
Building. Around the clock nurses and medical staff were made available, and overall it was a reasonably happy group of
campers.

Clem’s development of the testing protocol had been as follows:

1. Calibration
2. Focus
3. Control
4. Consistency

Each four-hour training session starting at 08:00 AM every morning consisted of one hour on each phase of testing. The
K-2 lab remained opened and staffed for 12 hours each day, so any of the candidates wishing to ‘work out’ were
welcomed at almost any hour.

Sam never disclosed the financial arrangements with the 98 members of the final V2 group, but he did divulge to A.J.
that each of their families would be set for life, and many following generations if their newfound wealth was properly
managed.

The Soft Media development was in high gear, Clem’s staff working in teams around the clock. The candidate testing
was no longer about crashing old Univacs but now strictly revolved around the sole task of changing one binary bit from
a ZERO to ONE kinetically, and as the Soft Media became more advanced and more sensitive the results increased
exponentially.

Sam was a little sad to hear Mr. Kolanowski, the catalyst for the whole V2 group, had only made the cut up to Level
IV, and would not be part of the final group of Level V candidates. When A.J. informed him he was about to drop the

old man, Sam asked him to reconsider.

A.J. replied to Sam’s request with “What can I do with him Sam, he can’t keep up with the others and will only drag them

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down, and it will tie up more resources keeping him in the group, resources we really can’t afford to waste.”
Sam thought for a moment and then told A.J. “Just do what corporate America normally does with those that are not as
gifted as the rest of the group, promote him!”
So Mr. Kolanowski, the ‘K’ in K2 became the Deputy Director of MKE Research Management, and stayed with the
program with a very fat salary, much to Sam’s delight. It was more of an honorary position, but Kolanowski’s work ethic
ensured he was present daily for every minute of the morning four hour sessions. He even managed to stay busy the
second half of each day, checking every piece of equipment meticulously for even a few fingerprints or a spec of dust.
Sam actually suspected the old man was cleaning the K-2 lab every day himself, the floors sparkled and walls gleamed
with the signs of meticulous care that exceeded the janitorial staff’s best endeavors on any other floor.
Normally when an operation of this complexity is going this well there is disaster lurking just around the corner. That
night Sam was tossing and turning in his sleep, exhausted but not able to rest with all the details and demands of the
project assaulting his senses non-stop. Suddenly in the middle of night, at precisely 02:35 A.M. Sam bolted out of his
sleep sitting straight up, his eyes bulging and his breath coming in short gasps, and said aloud “OH MY GOD!”

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Setting: Sam’s office, 03:17 AM
Sam had walked the 18 blocks from his apartment to the Vertex Building, he needed the cool night air to wake him up
and snap him out of his dazed condition. No cabs at this time of night in his neighborhood anyway. The streets and
sidewalks were deserted, he didn’t see a soul during the entire 20 minute walk, and a good thing too because he was
not exactly sure if he had been talking to himself out loud or just in his mind, but a battle was definitely raging within
him.

On one shoulder he had the Devil mocking him, “You really did it this time Sam”, “How could you be so stupid Sam” over
and over again. On the other shoulder where one would hope an Angel would be comforting him with thoughts like
“Everyone makes mistakes Sam” there was instead a small idiot, just jibbering like a total moron, “Yuk, yuk, yuk Sam…
you really did it this time, yup you shore did !”. Sam had superb self-discipline normally and this schizophrenic behavior
did not set well with him.

Getting to his office in the deserted building he took a minute to compose himself, and finally both of his demons left
their perch on his shoulders, the Devil and the Moron. He tried to compose some improbable but at least conceivable
scenario where this situation could be corrected, and yet even as he chased a number of long shot ideas around in his
head he already knew there was no Reset button that would fix this disaster.

A few summers of surveying on a U.S.G.S. [1] crew mapping remote areas of Yosemite National Park during his early
college years had taught Sam the grammatical distinction between the various categories of aberrations. A mistake for
one, the simplest and most oftenly occurring type of problem, was looking at a measurement of 101 feet and writing
down 111 in your surveying notes. An error on the other hand was adding 2 and 2 and getting 5. But the worst of all was
a blunder, defined by Webster as “to make a gross or stupid mistake, especially through carelessness or mental confusion”.
This is what caused the most troubling problems both in surveying practice and in life. And Sam knew he was dealing
with a massive BLUNDER.

There was a tempting path in one of the corners of his mind that his discipline did not even allow him to consider, the
“Why didn’t anyone else notice? ” avenue that would have possibly relieved him of some of the guilt he was feeling for
letting so many people down. However he knew it would serve no other useful purpose in resolving the situation, and
he shut that door and locked it down.

He glanced at his watch, there was not even enough light in his office to read the Atomic wall clock, he only had turned
on a small brass banker’s lamp on his desk with the long cylindrical shaped bulb and a green shade which cast a soft glow
of yellow light on the area between his elbows and not much else. For some reason turning on the bright lights seemed
wrong, as if it might expose his shame that he was certain had to be written all over his face.

[1] U.S.G.S. is the abbreviation for United States Geological Survey, which is a scientific agency of the United States government involved in surveying.

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The iridium hands on his old military analog watch showed 03:24 A.M., and he felt that was as long as he could wait.
Military protocol required notifying the next in command, typically the X.O., of any breach of security or in the event of a
tactical crisis. Sam was prone to falling back on his military training when the going got rough, and this certainly
qualified as a tactical crisis, so he dialed A.J.’s home number and without any details simply informed him he was needed
at the office immediately. Three minutes later A.J. stepped out of an ice cold shower that served both to wake him up
and to substitute for a more leisurely morning shower, and he was dressed and on his way to the Vertex Building
moments later.

Security unlocked the front door for him and he took the Executive elevator straight to Sam’s office.

“We got trouble.” was all Sam said when A.J. had taken a seat directly in front of Sam’s desk.

If an explanation was forthcoming A.J. did nothing to hurry it along by asking for details, he knew from Sam’s tone that
the man was having difficulty coming to grips with the magnitude of whatever iceberg their Mission had just struck.

The problem right now was the old Mexican standoff, Sam could not bring himself to offer the details of the horrible
realization that had shocked him awake from a sound sleep less then one hour ago. And A.J. had too much discretion
and respect for Sam to simply ask him for an explanation. Finally Sam knew what he had to do to break the stalemate,

so he instructed A.J. to launch the protocol for a TIER 1 meeting. He knew full well that A.J. could not proceed with

that directive until he had assessed the situation personally and concurred that the situation was of a significant enough

nature to require the TIER 1 action.

The TIER 1 protocol had been created by Sam in the late 70’s when The Vertex Group had been heavily involved with

Pentagon and the Department of Defense work, particularly the code they were developing for the Air Force’s Strategic
Air Command. This was during the last gasp of the Cold War and the threat of Nuclear Warfare was not just an
unwelcome possibility, it was an every day fear.

Only A.J. and Sam actually ever knew if Vertex had the launch codes for the B-52 Bombers armed with Nuclear warheads,
but they had written most of the S.A.C. software for the B-52’s mission execution plans and with or without the actual

launch codes it made Vertex a target for espionage and possible terrorism threats. The TIER 1 protocol called for 25

members of the Vertex Group selected not by their rank in the company but by their security clearances, military
experience, and familiarity with the classified applications Vertex developed for the Department of Defense. The plan
was so well thought out that the Pentagon later implemented Sam’s procedures throughout all of the high level D.O.D.
contractors working on classified projects.

No TIER 1 meeting had ever been called in the history of the Vertex Group but in order to maintain their Pentagon
security clearances A.J. was required to be briefed quarterly on the current TIER 1 procedures. As X.O. of Vertex A.J.

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knew no meeting could be called without his approval and understood Sam had forced the ball into his court, so he asked
the mandatory question of Sam:

“Sir, I will need full disclosure of our situation and any compromises to our Mission prior to my making a determination if

a TIER 1 meeting should be called.” Right by the book.

Sam sighed, the one good thing about this was now, with A.J. in on it Sam knew he had the best man and the best
Executive Officer anyone could ever ask for by his side.

Sam briefed A.J., which didn’t take long. It was just one tiny oversight, but the magnitude of this oversight seemed

certain to have doomed their entire mission. A.J. agreed to the TIER 1 meeting as Sam knew he would, and left for his

office to set the protocol for their meeting in motion. Leaving Sam’s office he told Sam they would meet in the Board
Room at 07:00 hundred hours.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Setting: Rooftop helipad. 04:05AM
Sam took the staircase instead of the elevator, it was only one floor to the rooftop from his office and he wasn’t even
sure why he was going up, fresh air was the excuse he had given himself but in reality he knew it was to escape the
confines of his office, as if this crisis would seem less daunting in the cold night air.

The lights of the City in the crisp blackness probably made an amazing sight but he didn’t see the beauty in it tonight.
Every window with a light on represented a witness to his poor judgment and irrecoverable lack of clear thinking.
People wouldn’t die, buildings wouldn’t crumble, but the Earth would be a poorer place for his part in taking away any
chance of giving the world the gift of knowledge Ari had pledged to leave as his legacy.

He looked at his watch again, several hours before the meeting would convene in the Board Room, he wished he could
use that time to work on the problem, to somehow dilute it, to mitigate it, to make even one little part of it go away. He
wished there was anything productive he could do with these next few hours, but there wasn’t.

He wandered over to the Bell 410 anchored down in the precise center of a large yellow circle painted on the helipad.
Without even thinking about it he walked the full perimeter of the circle and checked all six of the tie-downs, they were
of course all drawn as tight as possible. It was a beautiful bird, state of the art, as fast as the Huey Cobras in Nam but
without the Sidewinder missiles and the big 50 caliber machine guns. He guessed the FAA frowned at that kind of
weaponry on a corporate helicopter these days… almost making himself smile, but not quite.

A voice called out “Good Morning First Lieutenant Preston ” and he almost jumped out of his skin, turning around to see
Chuck Miller walking towards him with a huge grin.

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Sam nodded, reached out his hand and gave Chuck a hearty handshake before Chuck had time to salute, which Sam
knew he was about to do. It was their old veteran’s ritual, they had acted out this scene a hundred times since the post-
1968 era.

Chuck and Sam had served together during Sam’s tour of duty in Vietnam. Chuck had been a Marine fighter pilot
initially, flying A-4 Skyhawks in the first months of his 13 month tour, delivering 10,000 lb. bomb strikes of Napalm and
burning every living thing in his path when he did. Each air strike added to the weight on his conscience and after just 3
months of combat action he resigned his commission, thereby giving up his lifelong dream of a career as a Fighter Pilot.
He did however stay in the Marines, as a Warrant Officer and requested to be retrained as a MedeVac helicopter pilot.
Returning to Vietnam a short 60 days after leaving he flew rescue missions daily into the hottest danger zones in the
conflict. He volunteered for a second tour, and then a third, back to back with no stateside duty or respite from the
combat, and flew more MedeVac missions then any other pilot in the Vietnam theatre of operations, and probably
saved more American boys then any other individual in the War.

Although the Geneva Convention prohibits firing on a MedeVac helicopter bearing Red Cross insignias that never stopped
the Viet Cong and NVA from firing rockets and downing many rescue choppers. The ‘rules’ said that if you bore the Red
Cross insignias you could not have any weapons or armament on your helicopter, but after consistently taking enemy fire
most MedeVac pilots painted over the Red Crosses on their birds and installed a few 50 cal guns, then trained their
medics or corpsmen to be door-gunners.

Not Chuck, he left the crosses on, never carried weapons on board, and never fired a shot during his three tours, maybe
trying to atone for the death and devastation he had unleashed on both the enemy and certainly on some friendlies and
civilians with each Napalm air strike he had delivered.

In March of 1968 Sam had been in command of Bravo Company of the Marines 1st Recon Battalion and was in some
heavy action during the Battle of Khe Sanh. Sam was hit during a rocket attack and sustained severe injuries, and it was
Chuck who brought him out in his Huey chopper. They took heavy enemy fire and were shot down when Chuck’s bird
lost the tail rotor. Chuck risked his own life to stay with Sam, although Sam’s chance of surviving was almost nil, and
another Marine MEDEVAC chopper finally arrived and got them out of a very hot area, bringing Sam back to the military
hospital in Saigon where he did manage to pull through. Chuck received the Bronze Star Medal for his bravery that day,
and by the time the war was over he had a Silver Star and two Navy Crosses to go with that.

Sam always felt he owed Chuck his life, and there was no doubt in his mind Chuck Miller was the bravest man he had ever
known. Years later as a civilian Sam returned to Southeast Asia once, although he refused to ever set foot in Vietnam.
While in Thailand he managed to track down Chuck’s whereabouts, rumors having been Chuck had returned after the
war and was running guns and flying drugs out of Cambodia, living a very dangerous lifestyle.

65

Sam did finally find his war-buddy, convinced him to come back to the States, and after a few weeks in detox and a few
months in rehab Chuck was pretty much a human being again. Sam offered him a position at Vertex, first as his personal
chauffeur in the early years, and then later under a Department of Defense directive that anyone with Sam’s security
clearance be required to have a bodyguard when traveling abroad, Chuck became Sam’s bodyguard. As the company
rose in status and purchased their first corporate helicopter Chuck was promoted to Vertex’s corporate pilot, and now
flew both the corporate Learjet-M25 and the Bell 410 for Sam.

Unlike many corporations who kept a bird on their helipad just for the bigshots in the company, at Chuck’s request the
Vertex helicopter was in almost constant service, providing emergency medical transportation at no cost for the citizens
of the City, volunteering for Rescue mission in times of natural disasters, assisting the National Guard or FDNY whenever
they needed a skilled pilot and fast helicopter. Sam was proud of Chuck’s efforts to provide these services and rarely
used the chopper for himself, so he was glad to see it being of service to others.

Curiously enough, in the midst of the mutual respect they shared for each other it was now Chuck who felt he owed his
life to Sam for giving him a second chance and an honorable purpose in life.

No one had to tell Chuck that Sam was facing a crisis, and Chuck respected Sam too much to invade his privacy. They
just sat down together on one of the runners of the Bell and talked comfortably about nothing in particular, fishing, the
news, the weather… eventually talk turned to their old times together in Vietnam but even that was moderated, with
the sharp edges long worn down like a polished rock after years in a river bed. It was like talking about a movie they had
both seen together a long time ago, neither of them wanted to make it personal again in any way.

Finally Chuck addressed Sam without asking any direct questions and said “You know Sam, you and I are probably as
close as any two people in the world could be, but we have this huge chasm between us that keeps either of us from
ever exposing our fears to the other one. You were a fine troop commander and a damn good Marine, and a lot of
people have told me I was a pretty good pilot back in those days, especially when the shit hit the fan. I remember
spending a couple hours with you one nasty day in Hell when the biggest thing we had in common was that is was very
likely we were both going to die together in that shithole. After an experience like that you can be around a person the
rest of your life but that huge chasm will always separate you, we make that chasm so huge because the words at the
bottom of it spell out something we don’t ever want to see again, and wish we had never seen in the first place. Nope,
if you ever let someone see you when you think you’re about to die, that will always be there and it both bonds you
together and at the same time separates you forever.

“You’re a good man Sam, probably without a doubt the finest man I have every known in my life. Whatever is wrong
right now, it will pass. But we both know when some things pass they still leave their mark, they still haunt you forever
and they never entirely go away. We both lived through Hell together and survived it, and I know you are going to
survive whatever you are facing now, but it’s going to leave a mark on you. Just do your best Sam, just do your best.
That’s all we did back then, that’s all you can do now.

66

“Now if you will excuse me I have volunteered your bird to fly a little girl down to Memphis, she is going for treatment at
St. Jude Children’s Hospital burn ward after a bad fire last week, not much they can do for her here, so if you don’t want
to get blown off this roof you better clear the deck Sam.”

With that he unstrapped the Bell 410 from it’s moorings and fired up the big twin turbines, as Sam headed for the
stairwell and gave Chuck a wave over his shoulder.

_________________________
Setting: Sam’s office [briefly]
Returning to his office Sam was somewhat surprised to see Stella was already at her desk, checking his watch he saw it
was 06:20 AM. This was surprisingly early for her, had she sensed something was going horribly wrong for Sam and
shown up early to offer her support? Her long stare at him confirmed that hunch, it was uncanny how well she could
read him. On a number of occasions Sam had wondered how different things might have been between them if he had
given their feelings for each other a little breathing room and the almost imperceptable encouragement it sometimes
takes for feelings to begin to grow.

Stella had made coffee and a steaming cup of dark roast was on his desk in his favorite mug, which seemed very inviting
at this moment, like the warmth of a fireplace in the winter. He shook off the chill from the pre-dawn air on the rooftop
and nearly scalded himself with his first sip … how did Stella know the exact time he would be coming back down from
the heliport, if she even knew he was up there? Something told him she had known precisely where he was and who he
was with, and morever he had a strange feeling she knew exactly what was going on this morning, even though he was
certain A.J. would not have mentioned a thing.

Time to lower the last veil of secrecy, if there still was one, and confirm the bad news Stella seemed to already have
sensed. He called her through the door rather then buzzing her and stared straight into her intense blue eyes for a

moment, then told her “Stella, please prepare the Board Room for a Tier 1 conference and have Security notified they

need to be present and lock down the entire floor.” Sam saw no surprise in her face, she never let her emotions register
for others to see. Before she turned to leave Sam said to her:

“One other thing Stella, I don’t know how but find a way to get this information for me and place this call…..” as he was
speaking he wrote something on a pad and tore off the sheet to hand it to her. As she reached for the paper her hand
touched his, and she left it longer then was necessary, wrapping her fingers around his palm and squeezing hard. Sam
looked up, you always noticed Stella’s eyes first, and this morning they were an even deeper blue then he ever
remembered seeing, glimmering as if they were a little more moist then normal, most likely from holding back a few
tears. Today she had on a little black dress, it was classy and elegant, very alluring. “The dress or Stella?” thought Sam,
and he knew they both were.

67

In an instant the moment was over and Stella walked out the door of Sam’s office.
While he was on the roof A.J. had placed a black leather handbook on his desk, the gold lettering on the cover said

“Tier 1 protocol” with a Department of Defense shield in the center:

Tier 1 Protocol

and procedures

The Vertex Group

Sam knew the contents by heart, after all he had written these specs himself a few decades ago. Twenty five members
including himself, no two from the same department, seniority in terms strictly of the level of their government Security

Clearances. A quorum of 21 members required to act on any motion, no more then four members of Tier 1 ever

allowed to be on vacation or absent from the company at the same time, two alternates available if required.

A Tier 1 meeting required the entire floor be locked down with armed Security. The principle during the Cold War and
the heavy involvement of The Vertex Group with Pentagon projects was that decisions that resulted during a Tier 1

meeting could affect National Security and should be treated as such.
Stella came to Sam’s doorway and said softly “I placed your call for you, Line 1 is holding”. Sam thanked her as she
turned away, marveling how resourceful she was, knowing this was not a number that was easy to get a hold of. He
spoke in a very low tone for about a minute and a half on the phone, then thanked the other party for their cooperation

and hung up. On the notepad on his desk he wrote the number 21 and circled it. Glancing at the Atomic clock he saw it

was 07:52 AM, and rose from his desk to head down the hall to the Board Room.
There was an armed security guard stationed in front of his door, one at the Executive elevator door, another at each

68

end of the 100 meter long hallway in front of the stairwells, and one at the Service elevator which was open with a
message blinking over the door “TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE”. These men knew the drill, he nodded to each one,
stopped for a moment when he recognized a familiar face and shook hands with Agent Sullivan, recently retired Secret
Service. Sullivan had been a bodyguard to the President during the Carter administration, and had served in Sam’s unit
in 1968, Staff Sgt. Sullivan back then. Damn good soldier, and a damn good man.

Inside the Board Room there were exactly 25 chairs, the rest had been removed from the long conference table. No
visitors at this meeting. Each had the same leather folder Sam had brought with him with the D.O.D. emblem on the
cover, each had one glass of water, a pen, and a small notepad. No briefcases, no notes, you walked in and out of this
room empty handed.

Sam took a seat at the head of the table, A.J. on his right and Clem on his left. Will was not in this group, neither was
Johansen. There were four empty seats, so it seemed they had just made their quorum.

Sam did not delay, he stood up and began speaking: “Gentlemen, you are now present at the first and only Tier 1

meeting ever called in the history of The Vertex Group. To allay any of your concerns National Security is not at stake,
however the future of our company is.

“I have something I want to show you”, and taking a small remote control unit from his pocket he clicked a button and a
video screen lowered behind him on the East wall of the Board Room, as Sam stepped to the side. “A list that nobody
would ever want to be on.”

Ten numbers line up vertically with one blank line each, no title, no details of any kind:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

As Sam spoke each entry showed up on the board when he clicked the remote, starting with number 10.

“TEN: March of 1178 THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA BEGINS TO SETTLE
NINE: March 28, 1979 THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT
EIGHT: March 24, 1989 THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL - PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND ALASKA
SEVEN: December 1944 HITLER SENDS 3 ARMORED DIVISIONS TO THE BATTLE OF THE

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SIX: January 27, 1967 BULGE WITHOUT ANY PROVISIONS FOR PROVIDING FUEL FOR THE TANKS OR
VEHICLES, ENDING HIS LAST CHANCE IN WWII.
FIVE: December 1812
FOUR: January 28, 1986 ASTRONAUTS GRISSOM, WHITE AND CHAFFEE BURN TO DEATH IN FIRE ON
THREE: April 15, 1912 APPOLO 1 DURING LAUNCH SEQUENCE TRAINING
TWO: April 26, 1986 (Clem shakes his head back and forth while rubbing his forehead and grimacing)

NAPOLEON’S ‘GRANDE ARMÉE’ DECIMATED BY RUSSIAN WINTER
AND SUFFERS 480,000 CASUALTIES DURING INVASION.

CHALLENGER SPACE SHUTTLE DISASTER

THE TITANIC SINKS

CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR PLANT DISASTER

“The ten greatest mistakes in modern history, or one version anyway. I have left the number one spot open, because
today I am claiming that dubious honor for myself.” … and he scrawls his name on a small touchpad next to the screen
placing his signature in the Number ONE spot on the chart.

“Gentlemen, the last two month’s work, the efforts of every individual in this company worldwide, the Global search
conducted in such a supremely efficient and monumental manner, the billions of dollars of Mr. Kingsley’s funding we
have spent, all of these efforts are of ZERO value to us.”

Shock and awe, the only way to describe what every individual in that room reflected in their stares at their leader’s
announcement.

Sam continued, “I will now get right to the point, as painful as it may be for me. Our efforts up until now have been
based totally around the individuals we refer to as the V2 group, a collection of the 98 individuals with the highest levels
of MKE power on the planet. Contrary to our hopes and plans we will not be able to acquire any data from any of these
individuals.”

Clem then states “Please clarify your reasoning Sam.”, immediately wishes he hadn’t.

Sam replies “Because every member of our group is alive Clem, and we cannot get a message back from the Human
spirit until the physical body containing that spirit has experienced Death. Shall we euthanize them one by one to
perform our experiment, ask for volunteers to take their own lives, wait years or decades for each of them to expire
from natural causes? They are living, and healthy, and therefore of no use to us whatsoever. And this massive
oversight lies entirely within the jurisdiction of my responsibility and my complete responsibility only. Period.”

Clem speaks up hesitantly, “But Sam, we all had a hand in this, none of us saw it coming, we were so wrapped up in the
research and the complexity of the Mission we overlooked the simplest detail. You cannot possibly state that this is only
your faul….”

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A cold icy stare from Sam cuts him off before he even finishes the word.

Sam resumes “I spoke to Mr. Kingsley’s personal physician just moments before this meeting to get the latest update on
his condition, they estimate he has approximately 21 days left to live. We do not have time to start over, it’s too late for
that.”

“Gentlemen, I am prepared to resign as Chief Executive Officer of The Vertex Group, I am fearful that my incompetence
in this matter will destroy the credibility of this corporation forever. You have the same authority as the Board of
Directors and you may accept my resignation in lieu of convening a Board Meeting.”

Sam takes his seat and there is total silence for several minutes, the white screen behind Sam with the Top Ten list
glowing like the 10 commandments in the Burning Bush. A few members clear their throats as if they were ready to
speak, but then say nothing.

Finally A.J. speaks up and asks “Sam, what about the seven candidates we have isolated up here in the Penthouse
accommodations, the ones in poor health. I don’t mean to sound morbid but just being pragmatic, are any of those
individuals anywhere near terminal health conditions?”

“I can answer that” interjects Clem. “Actually yes, Mrs. Cohen, 87 years old, suffered chest pains and was transported
to The Metropolitan Hospital Center late yesterday afternoon, and went into cardiac arrest three hours later. She did
not pull through, and her demise while truly unfortunate is also wasted in terms of the scientific needs of our project as
we are weeks away from being fully prepared to accomplish the final stage of our project. Of the remaining 6 candidates
on this floor, their health issues have compromised their MKE abilities severely, we are finding hostile cells to the human
physiology such as cancer destroy the delicate balance that strengthens the MKE forces. Not one of them is still testing
anywhere near the 10k level as our minimum baseline, and we have progressed so far beyond that with the rest of the V2
group that even an MKE strength of 10k is of no use to us any longer. Sam simply asked that these members of the
group continue to stay in the program as long as they wish, but they are no longer viable candidates. Several of them
are preparing to leave soon, the other four seem to enjoy the penthouse accommodations and the excellent care they
are receiving, so they are probably going to stay with us for some time.”

The last life preserver to a drowning victim had been tossed out … and it sank also.

The meeting broke up about three hours later, eventually everyone did speak up and many ideas were tossed around,
none of them even remotely viable. To a person the group was unanimous that they would not even consider Sam’s
resignation, and they were all extremely adamant on that point.

Finally Sam stood up wearily, and spoke: “Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we should all go home now. This day can
bring no further news for us that could be positive. I am calling a General Meeting tomorrow at 13:00 Hours for the entire

71

company to announce our misfortune in this Mission due to my failure in leadership.
“I would ask that you do not share what you heard in this room with anyone until after that meeting. Thank you very
much.”
The room cleared and A.J. and Clem stayed behind. Sam said “A.J., Clem, the three of us no longer form a quorum for a

Tier 1 meeting, we cannot discuss this matter in this room any further according to our Pentagon directives. You may

join me on the roof at the Helipad if you wish, I think the fresh air would do us some good.
End of Chapter 9.

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Chapter 10 – General meeting

Setting: 10th floor ballroom, packed with chairs and overflowing crowd. 13:00 hours, Friday.
Ari had flown in the night before, no last second arrival this time. He had spent the entire evening with Sam, who had
shared dinner with Ari in the Presidential Suite at the Plaza, Lobster Thermidor which normally was not on the Room
Service menu, even at the Plaza.

Ari did not look as well as he had a few weeks ago, his illness was taking it’s toll on this man who had been as tough as
iron his entire life. Sam could see in his eyes the damage was far worse then what Ari let others even get a glimpse of,
his doctors had been right and his time was running out.

They spoke well into the night, Ari never criticizing Sam in any way, but looking disappointed his quest would not come
to be. There was much discussion of continuing with the Mission even after Ari’s passing, but Sam could sense that
would never happen, Ari wanted to be a part of this, to witness it, not just to give the World a gift but to see them take
the bows off and unwrap it.

In the end they both seemed to come full circle, and strangely enough Ari paraphrased the remarks Chuck Miller had
made to Sam just 24 hours earlier, saying “We did our best Sam. Sometimes that’s all you can do, just do your best.”

The next morning Sam did not arrive at the Vertex Building as early as he normally did … there didn’t seem to be any
reason to. He met Ari in his office briefly and then they both went to the 10th floor for the General Meeting.

The massive room was packed, Vertex staff members standing 10 deep on the sides and rear of the room and over 3000
seated. In the front of the huge crowd two chairs were waiting for Sam and Ari. The tension in the room was stifling,
rumors had been swirling all day about the subject of the meeting, but the only knowledge anyone had for certain was
that bad news was afoot.

As they entered the room Clem came over and went right to Ari, almost ignoring Sam, and gave him a long handshake
and a pat on the back, somewhat unusual behavior for Clem. Ari took his seat but Sam did not, he wanted to get this
started, more accurately he probably just wanted this to be over.

He introduced Ari to the vast audience as Mr. Aristotle Kingsley, probably totally unnecessary but a nice gesture of
courtesy.

Sam began with his first statement “Our V2 group of candidates is being disbanded …” when suddenly Clem interrupted
and took the floor:

“… because we no longer require their services.”

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Quite startled, Sam says in a very annoyed tone of voice “Dr. Clemsford, this is not the time. I have the floor.”

“Then Mr. Preston, you will have to fire me and have me carried out of here bodily, because I am taking over this
meeting.” says Clem to a shocked audience.

Clem continues “Mr. Kingsley, this is not a personal question even though it may seem so, only scientific information I
am seeking. How much time do you have left?”

Some in the audience gasp, there is an undercurrent of voices expressing their surprise, but Ari answers without
hesitation in a strong clear voice, or as close as he can get to that: “I am told by my physicians approximately 21 days Dr.
Clemsford, no more than 30 at the absolute outset.”

Clem goes on, reminiscent of Perry Mason interrogating a witness on the stand, “And Mr. Kingsley could you please tell
me exactly what time it is now?”

Surprised but not missing a beat Ari replies “I do not wear a watch Dr. Clemsford, watches don’t seem to like me.” The
ever present atomic clock was at his back and out of his view. Sam’s eyes widen, his anger with Clem turns to
amazement and he leans forward in anticipation of Clem’s next question.

Clem continues, seemingly inspired by the excitement in the room and in Sam’s eyes. “Mr. Kingsley, do you know what
this device is?” he asks while bringing a small electronic device out of his coat pocket and showing it to Ari.

“Yes Dr. Clemsford,” replies Ari, I believe that is the MKE-7 detector which measures the forces we planned on using to
obtain a signal from the afterlife.”

“Actually this is an MKE-8b” answers Clem, “but you are quite correct as to the function of this instrument, just a slightly
newer model with updated firmware.”

“Mr. Kingsley, would you please read the number on the display of the MKE-8b so we all can hear you?”

Ari looks at the small LED display on the face of the unit as Clem holds it in front of him, and reads in a loud clear voice

“Seven Two Four Five Five, seventy two thousand four hundred fifty five.”

72, 455

“Do you have any idea what that number represents Mr. Kingsley?” queried Clem.

74

“My bill at the Plaza this week?” said Ari with a huge smile, prompting laughter from the audience and even a small smile
on Sam’s face.

“Possibly” said Clem, “but not in this case. This, Mr. Kingsley, is your MKE reading which I took as you entered this
room just a few moments ago, the third highest ever recorded on this Planet. And to qualify that, the only two readings
that ever exceeded yours were from our top two V2 candidates after over 30 days of intense training. Your readings
exceed theirs prior to their training by almost seven times.”

There was no pandemonium, their was only great relief and a sense of absolute joy in the room, emanating from those
who understood clearly what had just unfolded and just shared by everyone else. The large group did not know all the
details, but they sensed a great disaster had been narrowly averted, and a great miracle had just occurred.

Clem thanked Ari and sat down beaming. Shortly everyone was standing and cheering Dr. Clemsford. Looking over at
Sam it was A.J. who noticed he looked overwhelmed, so A.J. took the podium and waited for the uproar to settle down.
He then explained a concise overview of how the Mission had almost been doomed by a simple oversight, never even
coming close to putting any blame on Sam’s shoulders, and how Clem’s discovery had miraculously saved the day. Ari
was now the entire V2 group, and the project would go on.

During A.J.’s speech Sam got up to leave but felt faint and stumbled as he stood up, then he felt an arm around his
shoulder and looked over to see Stella at his side. She escorted him out the door, Clem on his feet instantly to follow
them out.

Stella got Sam on the Executive elevator and loosened his tie as they headed up to the top floor, Clem just squeezing in
the doors as they closed.

No one said a word on the ride up to the 72nd floor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setting: Sam’s office, Sam at his desk and Stella and Clem in two large leather chairs.
Stella has poured a drink for both Sam and Clem, not even asking if they wanted them, and they both sip Bourbon out of
large crystal glasses.

“Clem, how did you know?” asks Sam.
“Just a hunch Sam,” replies Clem, “but after working with the V2 group every day I get a sensation when I am around
them, and I felt that same sensation in Ari’s presence. I had also noticed at our last meeting that he never wears a
watch, yet he seems to enjoy jewelry, and also he is very punctual so time seems quite important to him. When a man

75

who could afford a new Presidential Rolex every day of the week doesn’t wear a watch there has to be a reason.

“But most of all Sam” he continues, “I believe in my theory, the one my staff in the Lab like to call ‘Clemsford’s theory of
Non-Coincidental Opposites.’ When they name a theory after you Sam, you have to not just believe it is correct or that it
is accurate, you have to believe it really exists. So I applied the theory and determined after searching the entire globe
on a scale that has never been achieved before, finding the rarest of the rare handful of individuals on the Planet who
possess a power we need for our Mission, and then failing… the oversight was just the natural order of the Universe
showing us we were looking too hard, if I may quote a country song ‘Looking for Love in all the wrong places.’ ”. So I
looked a lot closer to home, and got the answer I was hoping for when I scanned Ari without him knowing it as the two
of you walked into the meeting.”

Clem’s words not only answered Sam’s questions about how he had saved the Mission with his brilliant hunch, but at
that moment his reply seemed to answer another great question in Sam’s life. He asked Clem if he wouldn’t mind giving
him a few minutes alone, maybe head up to the Helipad and get Chuck Miller to warm up the bird, and he and Ari could
join him on a little flight around the City.

Clem excused himself and left, and Stella got up to follow. Sam stopped her and asked her to please stay, and suddenly
the normally eloquent and confident CEO of a huge corporation seemed like an awkward schoolboy. He stared at Stella
and after a little hesitation cleared his throat and said:

“Stella, maybe I have also been looking too hard and in all the wrong places, my life can’t just be about my work or this
company. I need to apply Clem’s principle of non-coincidence and realize it’s not just by accident that you are always
there for me when I need you, and it’s not just by accident that I have feelings about you I suspect you understand, but
that I have never voiced. So I am going to ask you now:

Stella, would you give me the honor of becoming Mrs. Sam Preston, because I am in love with you. ”

Her answer was simply “Oh My God!” and she rushed to Sam and gave him a crushing hug.

A few moments later when she finally let go Sam simply said “I guess I will take that as a ‘YES’.”

---------------------------------------------------------

Setting: Helipad on the roof of the building.

When the General Meeting was over Ari was escorted up to the roof where the others were waiting by now. Sam had
Stella at his side, and was holding her hand, which surprised no one. A.J. joined them shortly and the group boarded
the helicopter with Chuck at the controls, taking a long leisurely ride over Manhattan and then around all of New York

76

City, on a glorious fall day.
During the course of the flight Sam and Stella announced their news, which brought a sincere round of congratulations
from all present.
As they were landing a few hours later at the heliport on the Vertex Building, Ari asked “Sam, do you have room for an
old man who is dying at your apartment?”
Sam replied “I think we can do a little better then that Ari !” as he reached over and took his lifelong friend’s hand in his
and held it for a long moment, “I think we can do a little better then that.”
From that day on Ari never returned home, and never left Manhattan again.
End of Chapter 10.

77

Chapter 11 – The final candidate

Setting: Ari Kingsley at the Presidential Suite of the Plaza
Ari spent the rest of the weekend using the Presidential Suite as a makeshift office, with only one goal in mind, to set his
affairs in order.

He was on the phone to Paris, speaking fluent French with a man named Dupont who handled his affairs throughout
Europe. That call alone took over three hours. But when he hung up the line he felt like he sometimes had when
mountain climbing and finally taking off his heavy backpack, like a man who had been relieved of a great burden that
was no longer necessary to carry.

Similar calls followed sequentially throughout the day, to Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Sidney… same story each time but in
a different language. Ari never used an interpreter, he couldn’t even say offhand how many languages he was fluent in.
He always felt if you couldn’t speak the language of a country, then you had no call to be doing business there.

On a personal level he only requested one man to come to New York, other then his team of physicians, and that was
the old accountant, Charles, who had accompanied him to the first meeting here. Charles would take care of all the
loose ends, finish up the details, polish the entire package and tie it up neatly with a string.

By Sunday Ari was showing signs of exhaustion and Sam insisted he take the day off to rest and recover. That afternoon
Sam and Stella joined Ari for a long leisurely brunch at a sidewalk café, then a relaxing walk through Central Park.

Meanwhile first thing Saturday morning Sam had put in a call to the Plaza, asking for the Concierge, an old friend of his
named Henri.

“Ah oui Monsieur Sam, how are you my dear friend? ” said Henri with his thick French accent, which after 25 years in the
U.S. it was Sam’s opinion Henri had hung on to deliberately rather then because of difficulties with the English language.

Sam inquired about some architectural details of the Presidential Suite. According to Henri the three rooms which joined
together to make the Suite had a combined area of 6,750 square feet. Sam calculated if three of the Penthouse suites
atop the Vertex Building were combined and a few walls removed their area would be very close to that.

Sam’s next question pleased Henri immensely when he asked who had designed and furnished the current interior of the
Presidential Suite when it was last remodeled. Henri replied with a touch of pride in his voice “Mais bien sur Monsieur
Sam, it was meeee. I have always wanted to be an architect or a designer, and I was given total authority over the
remodeling seven years ago, I deeeesigned everything myself Monsieur Sam.”

78

Sam then asked Henri how long it might take to replicate the Presidential Suite using the Penthouse suites at the Vertex
Building, if it was really done as fast as humanly possible… to which Henri replied, “I have seen your suites Monsieur
Sam, they are lovely, it would not be that difficult I do not theeenk, a few columns, the marble floors, a few fountains,
the furnishings and similar artwork, normally this might take a month or two but in a very urgent situation maybe I could
do the whole job in two weeks.”

“You start today Henri and you have two days, I want Mr. Kinglsley moved over here by Monday.” said Sam.

“But Monsieur Sam, zees eez imposseeeble, two days. Not for any amount of money could that be accompleeeeshed.”
protested Henri.

“Henri, whatever figure may have crossed your mind, just triple it and get started now. Call me if you need anything
whatsoever, my entire staff is at your disposal. Thank you Henri, I owe you a big favor mon ami.” Sam hung up the
phone leaving Henri totally stunned, but grinning broadly under his large black moustache.

Setting: Monday morning, the Vertex Building, K-2 Lab.
Ari did not begin his training on Monday morning, he attacked it. Clem marveled at his quantum progress rate
compared to the earlier V-2 candidates. Ari had no problems shutting down the Univac at 100 meters, and within days
he became a sharpshooter, a gunslinger, a lightning fast ‘quick draw’ artist.

Ari’s totally abnormal amount of discipline and self-control, coupled with a lifetime of pushing himself to supreme limits
in every endeavor he undertook made him the perfect candidate. Within 96 hours his MKE measurements had doubled,
and he was exhibiting uncanny ability controlling and focusing his power.

Clem and the G-2 staff never left Ari’s side other then when Ari returned to the new mirror image Presidential Suite that
Sam had created for him on the Penthouse floor of the Vertex Building. But the long sessions and rigorous demands,
magnified by the extreme efforts put into this training were taking their toll on Ari.

After the first ten days Sam called Clem into his office for a full report on Ari’s status. Clem told Sam “He’s there Sam, he
already has doubled anything we ever even dreamed of attaining with our first group, and he has just simply uncanny
control and focus over his power. I am afraid if we push him any harder again we will face the Law of Diminishing
Returns, we will just be wearing him out with very little additional benefit, his power may even begin to decline. This
frequently happens with world-class athletes who over-train and peak before their time.

“I would like to switch our focus on just making Ari comfortable, short little sessions every now and then just to keep
him sharp, but no more pressure on him. The man still has a lot of living he wants to do, and very little time to do it in.”

That evening Sam and Stella dined with Ari and spent hours of lazy reminiscing, pleasant conversation with never a

79

mention of work or the Mission. In the excruciating crush of the myriad of details over the last 6 months, this was the
first time Sam realized he was going to lose the best friend of his entire lifetime very soon, and as they left Ari’s suite late
that night and walked down the long hallway, Stella looked over and saw the uncontrollable tears flowing from Sam’s
eyes.
____________________________________

Setting: G-2 lab, Clem, A.J. , Will and Sam.
The balance of MKE training for Ari had been moved from the K-2 lab to a small room on the top floor of the building,
adjacent to Ari’s Presidential Suite. The room looked like a fortress, large steel door that could have been on the vault of
a bank, thick lead panels on all the walls, no windows or vents, and an air filtration system literally borrowed from
NASA to keep the room totally dust free. ‘Clean Room’ protocol was in effect, but this was nothing new for the
technicians at Vertex, it was standard technology in the computer industry. [1]

Clem began to explain to the three men that they had ‘hit the wall’. “In other words Sam, we have pushed the SOFT

MEDIA as far as we can. We are at Level V and I don’t think we can enrich the media sensitivity one more generation

unless we solve our lighting problem.”

The lab technicians had been working without any incandescent or fluorescent lighting in the small room, only able to
use small lithium powered Xenon lamps similar to what surgeons wear in the Operating Room. But with the sensitivity of
the SOFT MEDIA at it’s highest level ever, even those Xenon lamps began to corrupt the media.

Clem’s next step had been to try chemiluminescence, combining diphenyl oxalate with Cyalume, to produce a glowing
green light without electricity, similar to the glow sticks used as flares. At first it looked good, the light was enough to
work by and there appeared to be no corruption of the SOFT MEDIA. But when the green tubes were produced on a
larger scale and banked together like sets of long flourescent bulbs to provide adequate lighting in the room, the
combined effect of their output corrupted the SOFT MEDIA.

“Do we even need to continue the enrichment of the media for another generation?” asked Sam. To which Clem replied:

“Sam, we don’t know how far Ari’s signal is going to have to travel through time and space, that is a complete unknown.
So my attitude is when you don’t know how big the charging elephant is going to be, your best plan is to just keep
making the gun bigger and bigger.”

_____________________________

[1] A cleanroom is a laboratory or manufacturing environment, typically used in scientific research, that has a low level of environmental pollutants such as
dust, airborne particles and chemical vapors. More accurately, a cleanroom has a controlled level of contamination that is specified by the number of particles
per cubic meter at a specified particle size, which is extremely minute.

80

Clem’s chemiluminescence concept.

Clem had been pushing himself harder then Sam thought might be prudent, even the much younger staff members of G2
could barely keep up with him the last few weeks. So Sam told Clem what essentially was an outright lie, just to take the
burden off the scientist’s shoulders:

“Clem I have something I believe will work, back from my days in the service. We had a device called the Starlight Scope
[1], it was highly effective during Vietnam but then got mothballed by the Pentagon, we actually did a little work on the
concept a few years ago for the D.O.D.”

“Let me take over on this lighting issue, one less thing for you to deal with.” and with that Sam and A.J. and Will left the
lab, Clem feeling relieved his lighting crisis was in good hands and going to be all right.

In the hallway outside of the G-2 Lab Will asked Sam “Do you really think we can adapt the old Starlight Scope principle
for effective lighting in proximity of the SOFT MEDIA ?”

“Not in a million years, Will.” replied Sam.

A.J. then asks Sam “So what is your plan Sam?”

“Not a clue A.J.” replies Sam.
----------------------------------------------
End of Chapter 11.
[1] The AN/PVS-2 Starlight scope was introduced during the Vietnam War and was an adaptation of earlier active GEN 0 technology,
relying on ambient light instead of an infrared light source. Using an S-20 photocathode, their image intensifiers produce a light amplification
of around 1,000×, but were quite bulky and required moonlight to function properly. During the Vietnam war the Startlight Scope was very
effective, and it was considered Top Secret and classified military information.

81

Chapter 12 – Lighting breakthrough

Setting: Sam’s office.
Sam did not see A.J. or Will for the remainder of the day, but early the next morning he felt they needed to get to work
on the lighting issue which had become quite urgent. By taking the burden off of Clem’s shoulders Sam had essentially
also cut off his dependence on the G2 group, so they were truly on their own. He felt there was a probability the outside
chance that with input from A.J. and Will the three of them might come up with something, but that was not a sure bet.

He buzzed Stella and asked her to locate Will and get him up here immediately, but with some hesitation Stella
suggested Sam check with A.J. on Will’s whereabouts.

Moments later A.J. stepped into Sam’s office with his trademark “What’s up boss?” greeting.

“Looking for Will , A.J., see if you can find him for me so we can give this lighting issue our full attention.” replied Sam.

Hesitatingly, A.J. quietly replies “He’s in Port-au-Prince Sam.”

Shuffling through some G2 reports on his desk Sam says “What is that, some new restaurant just opened up? It’s a little
early for lunch, don’t you think?”

A.J. braces himself for what is coming and replies “Sam, it’s not actually a new restaurant name, it’s a place in the West
Indies.”

Sam’s head snapped up and he virtually shouted “What the Hell is Will doing in the West Indies? This time he went too
far, everyone in this entire company needs a little R & R [1] by this stage of the project, we are all working to our limits,
and Will decides to go take a vacation and go snorkeling in the West Indies ! Who in the Hell authorized this?”

A.J. replies, “I did Sam, and he’s not snorkeling, actually he is Scuba Diving.”

“Either way, I’ve had it! This time he’s done for, I won’t tolerate this A.J., …. he’s A.W.O.L. [2] as far as I am concerned,
this time he went too far. Why in God’s name did you authorize this?”

A.J. replies “Well you see Sam, I was in the Mediterranean diving a few years ago, near the island of Crete, and during a
night dive under a full moon one evening we experienced this amazing phenomenon…”
______________________________
[1] R & R is the military term for Rest and Relaxation. During the Vietnam War combat troops were sent to Australia for ten days of leave
to recover from the stress of combat during their 13 month tours overseas.

82

[2] A.W.O.L. is the military acronym for Absent Without Leave, punishable by General Court Martial, and is considered desertion during
time of War for which the penalty is death under Article 86 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Sam cuts him off “So you got comparing vacation notes with Will instead of working on our lighting crisis and he decided
to take a little vacation to see if you could match your experience, is that what you are telling me ????”. Sam is furious by
now, and getting madder by the minute.

“No Sam, if you will give me a minute I can explain. Will is in the West Indies finding the solution to our lighting
problem.”

Sam blows up over this statement: “What the !!#&** ? Are you telling me the technology in some beach bum tropical
resort is better then what we have here, or there is some high tech industrial complex turning out the lighting solution
we need so Will is down there buying our lights in some third world Rum soaked grass hut economy?”

A.J. patiently continues “Will is not buying our lighting down there, he is harvesting our lighting.”.

Sam sits back down, takes a deep breath, and as he gradually feels his blood pressure lowering says to A.J. “I want you
to have a seat and start at the top and patiently tell me what is going on, while I calmly and rationally listen to what you
have to say. So let’s just start over…”

A.J. begins and lays the whole story out for Sam. During his diving experiences on vacation in the Mediterranean, A.J.
had become aware of phosphorescent seaweed that glows in the dark, totally organic of course, and after a brief
discussion with Dr. Johansen [but not Clem!] they felt this organic lighting could provide the best source of light without
any likelihood of electrical or magnetic interference corrupting the SOFT MEDIA.

Continuing his explanation A.J. said “Will has three Grumman G-111 seaplanes beached and he is loading them up as we
speak, 100’s of natives in their outrigger canoes harvesting the phosphorescent material and he expects to be returning
tonight.”

Sam is satisfied but still grumbles “You should have kept me in the loop A.J.” to which A.J. replies “Sam, you are just as
exhausted and burned out as Clem, I felt we could handle this small phase of the project on our own and take one more
crisis off your checklist.”

“Thank you A.J., I appreciate that and I am looking forward to seeing your results. What are you going to call this stuff
anyway?”

A.J. replies “Phosphorescent Photo-cells Sam, or just P2 .”

“Damn ” thought Sam, “we are going to run out of letters in the alphabet before this project is over!”

83

Bioluminescence
Setting: Loading dock of the Vertex Building, 04:30 AM.
Will returned from the West Indies very early the next morning, and got all the staff on the night shift to begin unloading
a semi with a 55’ long trailer of the P2 seaweed. It looked like a scene from a bad science fiction movie, ‘The creature
from the Green lagoon’ or something as armload by armload the slimy dripping gunk was carried down gleaming hallways
and up carpeted elevators, until a special lab room Dr. Johansen had set up was full with almost 3 tons of the stuff.
Johansen had drawn up plans which allowed light to filter in to the sandwich type cells she designed and recharge the
organic material during the day, while filtering out any actual light rays that could adversely affect the SOFT MEDIA. A
team she had put together began the construction of the panels, and by early morning the small test lab was fully
retrofitted with the new P2 , which cast a soft green light in the room much like sunlight shining through a piece of jade.
The G2 staff had even come up with special colored glasses that converted the green light to a more natural range of the
visible light spectrum, so the working conditions became virtually identical to conventional electric lighting.
Chalk one up for A.J. and Will, and one less major issue for either Clem or Sam to have to deal with.
End of Chapter 12.

84

Chapter 13 – The World Watches

Setting: Sam’s office
Sam looked uneasily at his calendar again, it felt like the 100th time already since he arrived at his office before dawn, the
date circled was today and represented 21 days since Ari had arrived, making it equivalent to the three weeks his doctors
had predicted he would last.

He felt the need to be close to Ari and went down to the other end of the top floor to the Presidential Suite. Not
surprisingly Ari was awake and Clem was present, along with Ari’s doctors and several of the G2 staff. Ari seemed
exceptionally pleased to see Sam, and Sam knew full well Ari was aware of the date although under no circumstances
would he mention it.

Equipment from the test room was being moved in to the large suite, temporary walls with lead shields being moved
into place, the lighting fixtures being replaced with the P2 panels from next door.

Ari laughed and said to “It’s like having a tomb built around me Sam!”, leaving Sam to marvel at the attitude this man still
held even when he was so close to death.

A monitor on the far side of the room has a giant digital zero on the display, and Ari is absentmindedly tapping his finger
on the nightstand next to his bed, each time he does the big L.E.D. zero turns to a ONE, or a ONE turns back to a ZERO.

Clem says to Sam “It’s amazing how easily he can to that!” Sam asks Clem “SOFT MEDIA” I presume?

“No Sam, that is a standard hard drive, he’s doing it the hard way!”

“Just like the blink of an eye” says Sam, “seems almost effortless.”

“Hardly !” counters Clem, “the blink of an eye requires six distinct muscles and requires a minimum of 12 neural pathways
to contract the 18 separate ligaments controlling the eyelids, then the friction of the inside eyelid against the cornea
must be factored in, and the aerodynamic drag of the eyelashes, and …”

“Stop!” says Sam, “you can’t possibly be serious that you can calculate the aerodynamic drag of an eyelash … can you?”

“Never mind Sam” replies Clem, “I was just pointing out that compared to the MKE force Ari needs to generate to
change that ZERO on the display across the room, the blinking of an eye is 1000 or maybe even 10,000 times more
effort.”

85

Ari laughs heartily, not the laugh of the Ari from a month ago but still the same sense of humor.

“Sam, now that my room has been prepared for our final adventure, I have decided to name it the

Chamber of the Apokálypsis

which I think has a very nice sound to it.”

Sam says “I didn’t know our goal was to bring about the end of the world Ari”.
“No Sam”, says Ari smiling, “in Greece the word has a much different meaning, it is the ancient Greek word which means

Revelation.”

Sam gets a chill down his spine, an unmistakable feeling that this is no longer just a scientific endeavor but has crossed
the plane to become a spiritual journey, the most uplifting moment since the Mission began for him, maybe even in his
entire life. As if reading his mind, which would not seem out of place in this setting, Clem speaks up:
“I do like that name Sam, Ari did well in my opinion in naming this room. For the last few days I too have felt we were
drifting away from pure science into a much bigger role, a role of discovery and I believe it will be an Apokálypsis. I
never told anyone but ever since the Easter Egg I have felt that our Creator really does want us to find Him, to witness
His signature, and to share that with the world, and now I feel more then ever that we are getting very close, the
moment will soon be at hand.
In the background some technicians are installing a large L.E.D. stopwatch clock on the wall, and Ari looks at it and asks:
“What is that …. how much time I have left?”, trying to force a smile.

Clem replies “No Ari, that will be measuring how long you have been gone, while we anxiously are awaiting a signal from
you.

Ari’s look turns very serious, and he abruptly asks everyone to leave so he can get some rest.

Shortly afterward, Sam’s Office
Sam has only been back in his office a short while when Stella comes in, and she is crying. He leaps up from his desk and
puts his arm around her shoulder, asking what’s wrong.

Stella replies between sobs “I just got a call from Mr. Kolanowski’s wife; he won’t be coming in to work today …. he
died in his sleep last night.” Sam feels a stabbing pain deep inside him, and all he can do is hold Stella closer, neither
one saying a word for several minutes.

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They decide to take a walk down to the K2 Lab, and Sam buzzes Clem and asks him to join them there. He takes a brief
moment to notify A.J., also directing him to lower all flags on the building to half-staff in Mr. Kolanowski’s honor.
They meet Clem on the 15th floor, and together they reflect on how this all got started, one old man who couldn’t wear a
watch, Sam can hear him in his thick Polish accent explaining “Watches don’t like me Mr. Sam !”
A while later A.J. shows up carrying a frame about three feet wide, and he sets it on top of the old Univac 1103a still in the
same place it was when Sam had the bull’s-eye painted on it for the old man to focus on. A.J. explains he found this old
photo through the personnel department in Mr. Kolanowski’s file and had it blown up by the graphics department on the
42nd floor, and they also came up with a frame for it.
There is a small plaque on the bottom of the frame, and Stella and Sam step forward to read it:

In Memory of Janek Kolanowski
Sam gives A.J. instructions that the old Univac is never to be moved from it’s spot, and that the framed photo will also
remain there with it, always. “We owe this kind gentle man everything” he says, adding with great emotion “he turned
out to be quite a Freedom Fighter too.”
When they finally leave the K-2 lab they split up and Sam follows Clem up to the G-2 Lab. Entering the lab Sam is
surprised to see all of the young men and women wearing black armbands, Clem explains they had all grown very fond
of the old man and were devastated by the heartbreaking news. A team of geniuses who had immense respect for a
janitor, maybe that is in it’s own unique way a definition of love.
That evening Sam and Stella, Clem, A.J. and Will pay their respects to Kolanowski’s widow at the wake. The next day
Sam set up a Trust for all of Mr. Kolanowski’s grandchildren, their higher education at any University they ever choose
will be taken care of. The Trust is from Sam and Stella, not using any funding from The Vertex Group corporation.

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Setting: Clem’s office, Sam and Clem present.
Clem is giving Sam the latest briefing, their side of everything is 100% GO. Every detail has been checked and rechecked,
Ari’s MKE readings are holding steady, even though it is painfully obvious the rest of his body is failing rapidly.

At that moment A.J. knocks on the open doorway and steps into Clem’s office, saying to Sam “Stella told me I would find
you down here.”

“Sam, …. we have a problem.”

A.J. explains to Sam and Clem that he just got word of a massive media leak, which they had been dreading all along but
nonetheless expecting. The problem is reportedly this is not mainstream media, but a tabloid has the story and is ready
to unleash a huge scandal about Vertex perpetrating a giant scam on Ari and a giant hoax on the world.

They kick this around for a while and Sam finally asks A.J. “What would your course of action be A.J. ?”

A.J. responds “Sam, I think full disclosure is in order. Shut down the sensationalist scandal rag by going mainstream
media, bring them here, show them everything, let them see this is not some gypsy séance session but a true scientific
endeavor, and that we are not scamming Ari but on the contrary, we are helping to be a part of providing his final wish,
ensuring his place in world history and as he puts it Giving a gift to the World, a gift of knowledge.”

The plan is then refined, Sam stretches his contacts in the News industry to the limit contacting CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC,
60 Minutes, 20/20, and a myriad of others. A full tour of the facilities is scheduled for 09:00 AM the next morning, and
all Department Heads are notified to prepare briefs for the media.

Finalizing their plan, as Sam is leaving he says to his two most trusted associates “Let’s hope the old saying is true
Gentlemen, that the best defense is a good Offense.”

----------------------------------------------------------
Setting: The Apocalypse Room, Sam, Clem and Ari.
Clem and Sam are observing the labored breathing of Ari, watching the complex tangle of cables and sensors to a screen
monitoring his vital signs. He has held on several days past his Medical team’s prognosis, doing so only through his
sheer force of willpower and indomitable spirit. However his body is ravaged and exhausted.

Clem has left every final detail of the Mission to his G2 staff, and Sam senses it is not from fatigue or lack of willingness
to continue, but that he wants to focus all of his attention on Ari during the short remaining time they have together.

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Both Sam and Clem have come to admire Ari on a new level, beyond even what they already thought was supreme
respect, it has progressed to just a feeling of absolute love for him. As Ari has declined, his entourage has become more
and more restricted, even G2 staff can no longer enter this area without clearance, and the same goes for A.J. and Will
and the rest of the entire Vertex Group employees. After the media spread this story world-wide, almost all of their
reporting being in a very positive manner and very supportive, the switchboard has been fielding thousands of calls per
hour. As recently as yesterday Ari declined to see the President of the United States, as well as a host of other world-
wide royalty and dignitaries.

One visit that did get his attention was via a courier package and then a short-wave transmission, with the Daili Lama
who personally contacted Ari, and send him an ancient manuscript, for his eyes only. After studying it for hours Ari

jokingly told Sam it was his Via ad caelum, or “Roadway to Heaven”. Sam suspected it was something very close to

that, and the significance of receiving this from the Daili Lama was monumental. He had been told Ari was on the short
wave transmission to Tibet for several hours. Good travel advice to get if you are looking for directions on where to find
Heaven.

No other outside visitors were to be allowed from this point on according to Ari’s personal physicians, nor were requests
or messages even to be presented. However a short time later Sam found himself in a situation where he chose to break
that rule.

Leaving Ari’s side a while later he was surprised to see Chuck Miller waiting in the hallway, and after shaking hands he
invited Chuck to walk over to his office with him. Once inside and with Sam seated, Chuck closed the door behind them,
catching Sam off guard, and then said “Sir, I have a request I would like you to consider.”

‘Sir’ … not ‘Sam’. Immediately Sam knew this was something important, and had Chuck take a seat and proceed.

“Sam you may recall a few weeks ago I did a mercy flight down to Memphis, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, for a little girl
named Emily, a severe burn victim.

“They don’t think she is going to pull through, and her caregivers are telling me there are very long odds she will even
survive another 48 hours. She has heard all about Ari from her Mom, and … well Sam, she wants to meet Ari, she
says she has a message for him.”

“Now before you say anything one way or the other Sam, I know it’s a long flight and a lot of fuel to burn, I will do this
on my own time, no salary whatsoever, and I will also pay for all the JP-5 [1] that the 410 uses both ways. Won’t cost you
or The Vertex Group a dime Sam. This kid is really special, would just break your heart if you saw how brave she is, after
what she has been through.”

[1] JP-4 and JP-5 are both grades of jet fuel.

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“Chuck,” replies Sam, “Ari is no longer able to receive any visitors, and his medical team has forbidden me from even
asking him. I am very sorry… I really am.”

Chuck stands up straight and looks Sam right in the eye and says “I understand Sir.”

Sam stands also and reaches across his desk to shake hands, looking at Chuck he notices the man has tears in his eyes,
the toughest and bravest human being he ever met in his life is standing in front of him, crying openly.

Chuck turns to leave and just as he gets to the door Sam suddenly says:

“Chief Warrant Officer Miller, I have a MedeVac mission for you, you are needed in Memphis to bring a very special
young lady back here for a meeting with Mr. Aristotle Kingsley. I expect you in the air by 13:00 hours and get your ass
back here with that little girl as soon as possible.

“Is that understood Marine?”

Chuck spins around, snaps to attention and says “Yes SIR.” as he gives Sam a crisp salute which Sam returns, then he
turns and literally runs out of Sam’s office heading up to the Heliport.
-----------------------------------------------------
Setting: The Apocalypse Room, 9.5 hours later.
A tiny little body wrapped in bandages on a stretcher is being wheeled down the corridor from the steps of the Heliport
towards Ari’s Room.

Chuck is holding the little girl’s hand as a team of medical staff is alongside with I.V. bottles and tubes running to the
child’s arm.

Sam is waiting at Ari’s door and holds up his hand for Chuck and the group to stop, and he enters Ari’s room. Ari is
awake but in the last day his condition has deteriorated significantly and he now drifts in and out of consciousness
regularly.

Sam sees his eyes are open and says to him, “Ari, I would like to ask you a very, very big favor. There is a young lady
here to see you, her name is Emily and she is eight years old, and she has traveled a very long way for the opportunity to
speak with you.

He continues “I know your physicians have forbidden any more visitors, but this would mean a lot to me personally.”

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Ari replies “Sam, I am your guest here, and you have treated me very well. Please invite the young lady in.”

Sam motions to Chuck to bring the little girl in, and Chuck wheels her stretcher next to Ari’s bedside, then takes a place
standing adjacent to Sam on the far wall. The lights are off and only the pale green glow of the P2 lighting illuminates the
room, giving it an eerie mystical glow. Ari’s eyes are nearly shut and his vision has been failing him, so he doesn’t notice
the bandages on the young burn victim, but he does see her beautiful bright eyes and focuses on those as she begins to
speak.

“Good evening sir,” she says softly, “my name is Emily and I am eight years old.”

“Good evening young lady” replies Ari, “my name is Aristotle Kingsley and I am much older then that! You can call me
Ari, and I understand you traveled a long way to see me. Is there something I can do for you Emily?”

“Yes sir Mr. Ari, my mommy says you are on your way to meet God very soon, and that you are going to send us back a
message when you get there, is that true Mr. Ari?”

“Yes Emily, that is my plan.”

“Would you please tell God something for me when you meet him Mr. Ari?”

“Yes Emily, I certainly will.” he says.

“Just tell him that I Love Him, and tell Him that I’m not mad about the fire at all. It hurt a lot at first but now I don’t feel
much pain anymore. I know I don’t have long before the angels come for me, just like you Mr. Ari.”

The little girl continues, while Ari begins weeping softly. “And please tell God that I am not afraid of dying, because I
get to meet Him sooner this way, and I get to go to Heaven way before I would have if I had to wait ‘till I was really old
like you.”

“Will you tell God that for me Mr. Ari?”

“Yes my child, I will tell Him everything.”

“The only part that makes me sad Mr. Ari is that I will miss my Mommy and my Daddy and my little dog Amber too. She’s
a good dog Mr. Ari, and I worry that she will miss me a lot. Will you teach me how to send them messages from Heaven,
like you are going to do, so they will know I am all right and that I miss them?”

“I will teach you Emily, I promise.” replies Ari choking back his tears.

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He reaches over and takes the little girl’s hand is his, noticing the bandages for the first time, and after a few moments of
silence in a very faraway voice the little girls says:
“Thank you Mr. Ari, see you in Heaven.”
Chuck and Sam stand motionless for several minutes, then Chuck moves over to the stretcher and removes Ari’s hand
from Emily’s, and solemnly wheels the child’s stretcher out of the room into the hallway.
A doctor comes over to the stretcher and takes Emily’s wrist to check her pulse, as Chuck says to him “I can be ready for
the return flight to St. Jude’s whenever you say Doc.”
The doctor looks at Chuck and says to him “There is no hurry now, she’s gone.”
Chuck slowly moves closer to the little girl, bends over and gently gives her a soft kiss on the forehead, and starts to
move away… then turns back around and puts his head on her chest and his shoulders begin to shake as he sobs silently.
Sam steps over next to Chuck and puts his arm around his friend’s shoulder, and leads him away from the Apocalypse
Room and the child.
--------------------
End of Chapter 13.

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Chapter 14 – The Apokálypsis

Setting: Main lobby, Sam’s office, Ari’s suite.
The last days of November had given way to the first week of December, the seasons moving in their methodical order
as the end of a splendid Autumn heralded the first cold crisp week of winter. Sam had an experience during the night
that he knew was an Omen for what this day would bring.

As he crossed the huge marble floor of the lobby of the Vertex Building heading for the Executive elevator he heard
Stella call out his name from behind him, turning to see her running towards him and into his open arms.

“Oh Sam …. I had the most amazing dream last night, except it really didn’t feel like a dream, it was more like a vision,
it seemed so real, I am not even sure if I was awake or asleep.”

“I saw your outstretched arm reaching for Ari’s hand, and his hand was outstretched and his finger almost touching
yours, and ….”

“I know Stella” said Sam, “I had the exact same vision.”, as he gently touches her hand with his index finger. The vision
was Michelangelo’s ‘Creation of Adam’, just as Sam had also experienced it.

They took the elevator to top floor and rode together in silence.

As they arrived in their offices the sun was just appearing over the horizon on a hazy morning with some scattered
clouds, the golden light hiding behind one of the thick clouds as it climbed in altitude. They stood side by side, watching
the sunrise, as if they were waiting for something they could not even describe.

The only indication of the sunrise as it unfolded in front of them was a soft glow around the single cloud that seemed to
be rising with the Sun itself, staying directly in front of it. After a few moments the thick cloud appeared to part into
two halves, and a single bright ray of the sun broke through. In an absolutely riveting moment that left both Stella and
Sam breathless the single ray of the Sun beamed through the gray light of dawn, illuminating the uplifted torch of the
Statue of Liberty and it exploded into a burst of golden light almost as if in flames…. Sam had been watching this same
sunrise for a quarter of a century, almost every morning, and never experienced anything like this. The torch truly
looked as if it had been lit, and seconds later another ray struck the face of Lady Liberty and illuminated her beautiful
countenance like a spotlight in an opera.

As the magnificent scene was unfolding in front of them Sam clutched Stella’s hand, and without knowing why, he found
himself repeating the words he knew were engraved on the bronze plaque at the base of the statue:

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THE NEW COLOSSUS
“GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR,

YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, THE WRETCHED
REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE. SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS,

TEMPEST-TOST TO ME, I LIFT MY LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR!”
by Emma Lazarus

In wordless harmony they both knew as they shared this moment that THIS would be THE day. Moving into his own
office Sam again looked out his window, this time facing North where he could see his second favorite sight in the City,
The Brooklyn Bridge. Immediately he noticed the two massive flagpoles on each tower were flying their huge American
flags at half-staff. Turning to the wall calendar on his left his eyes locked in on today’s date:

December 7th, 1991

It was Pearl Harbor Day, the 50th anniversary of the day Franklin D. Roosevelt had called “A date which will live in infamy”.
In his mind Sam could visualize the front page headlines following this date in history exactly 50 years ago, one giant
word spelled in the largest type possible: “WAR”.

Dec. 7, 1941
Seating himself at his desk he was shocked to see today’s daily newspaper’s front page staring back at him, also with on
one headline in huge type, but a much different message:

Dec. 7, 1991

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