KJKJJLD: Confidential 7

were two military airports; Anacostia, at which he would land, and bolling air force base.
And to
complicate matters slightly, Andrews air force base was only a short distance away. A thousand feed above his head a
tremendous air force stratocruiser circled patiently. A thousand feet below him a flight of navy banshee fighters awaited
clearance for landing. And climbing through the pattern came a division of air force ricks neck ached from swiveling around.
Scotty was helping him watch for other aircraft. But in the rear seat, hartson brant and julius weiss talked a steady stream,
as they had ever since taking off from spindrift. Rick wished he were as oblivious to the traffic Actually, he didnt know what
they were talking about. Good as his scientific training was, they were in a realm where his young mind hadnt even probed. His
earphones gave out: tower to spindrift flight. You are cleared to land. Approach from northeast. Rick glanced down in time to
see the navy fighters pee off in a precision maneuver that was lovely to watch. Then, on their heels
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returned. Hartson, i just took the liberty of ordering a scrambler placed on your phone switchboard, in case we need to hold
any classified conversations between here and my offices. The phone man will install it today, if you have no objections. Of
course not, hartson brant said. I think its a sensible precaution, especially with one member of the team remaining in
Washington. Whats a scrambler barby asked. A special device that turns phone conversations into jumbled gibberish so no one
can understand them. You talk normally, and sound normal to the person listening. But anyone tapping in on the line gets only
sounds that mean nothing. The agents face turned grim. Speaking of gibberish reminds me of the reason for the call. The
Washington post carried a story in one of its columns this morning hinting that two scientists working on a supersecret
project had been driven insane. It also hinted that the insanity was an effect of the gadget they were working on a haircut and
a wink rick held the sky wagon at the altitude to which he had been assigned by the control tower at Anacostia naval air
station in Washington. He was a little nervous because there was more air traffic around him then he had ever seen before.
Across the Potomac river, so close that the traffic patterns almost interlocked, was busy Washington national airport. Below
him along the Anacostia river were two military airports; Anacostia, at which he would land, and bolling air force base. And to
complicate matters slightly, Andrews air force base was only a short distance away. A thousand feed above his head a
tremendous air force stratocruiser circled patiently. A thousand feet below him a flight of navy banshee fighters awaited
clearance for landing. And climbing through the pattern came a division of air force ricks neck ached from swiveling around.
Scotty was helping him watch for other aircraft. But in the rear seat, hartson brant and julius weiss talked a steady stream,
as they had ever since taking off from spindrift. Rick wished he were as oblivious to the traffic Actually, he didnt know what
they were talking about. Good as his scientific training was, they were in a realm where his young mind hadnt even probed. His
earphones gave out: tower to spindrift flight. You are cleared to land. Approach from northeast. Rick glanced down in time to
see the navy fighters pee off in a precision maneuver that was lovely to watch. Then, on their heels, he stood the sky wagon up
on a wing and slid down toward the muddy river below. A short time later rick called for instructions and was told to beach at
ramp three. He located it without difficulty. Scotty climbed out on the pontoon and caught the rope thrown by a seaman. In a
few moments they were beached. A stocky young man who might have been a government clerk approached and introduced
himself as tom dodd. The identification folder he held out bore the familiar janig imprint. Steve phoned ahead, he said. Do you
need anything for your plane wed better top off the tank, rick said. Everything else is all right. He described the kind of gas his
plane used, fearful that the navy might use either a higher or lower octane that would not be suitable. Dodd gave instructions
to a navy petty officer, then led the spindrifters to a waiting sedan. Rick got into the back seat and slumped back between his
father and weiss. The little mathematician looked at him in some alarm. Rick you look done in. What on earth is wrong he smiled
feedly. Im a sissy, professor. The only other times i've flown into Washington in landed at light plance airports outside the city.
This morning I got right into the middle of the big kids. Honest, the traffic was worse than times square. I was so scared i'd lose
position and bang into someone that I almost swiveled my head off. Tom dodd looked back back and grinned sympathetically. Dont
feelbadly. Even the commercial pilots sit up straight and keep bright eyed on the Washington approach. Air wise, its one of the
most crowded cities in the world. As tom steered the big sedan expertly through the traffic en route to downtown
washington, rick asked his father, what were you and professor weiss talking about you lost me just about the time we got air
borne. The scientist shook his head. This time, rick, I cant help much. Ask me again when youve completed your undergraduate
work in college. Im afraid your father is right, weiss agreed. When one gets deeply into the physical sciences there are no
longer simple mechanical analogies; there are only equations that i'm afraid are beyond you for noe, rick. Rick sighed. A lot of
help i'm going to be on this project youre not supposed to help, his father corrected. The project is entirely for the purpose of
developing principles for the system. The final product will be the equations with which the technologists can begin actual
system design. In other workds, we are working only on the first theoretical step. But the newspaper said the scientists were
affected by a gadget, scotty objected. The was wrong. Paper covered with mathematical computations can scarcely affect
anyone, hartson brant said decisively Rick stared through the window. The sedan was moving down constitution avenue
toward street. But how did the newspaper find out anything in the first place dodd swung the sedan around a truck, then
shrugged expressively. Wed like to know. Columnists have their sources of information. Usually the source isnt close to the
inside dope, so most of the columns are pretty inaccurate. A good thing, too, otherwise the enemy would be getting our top
secret information in print all the time. Probably this leak came from someone in the hospital where the team members were
taken. Conversation lapsed until dodd swung the sedan into a restricted parking place near the corner of and streets. Then he
let the way into an office building. Rick looked around him as they walked to the elevators. It was a typical large office building
with an arcade type lobby. He noticed a haberdashery shop, a barbershop, a florist, a newspaper tobacco stand, and the
CONFIDENTIAL

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were two military airports; Anacostia, at which he would land, and bolling air force base.

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