The Operation Begins

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 13002.27

05 July 1969)

 

 

John sat in the back of the Ford Econoline van being driven by

Starfleet Marine Hunter Matheson as they approached the guard station

at the main parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center. It was a typical

Florida morning; partly cloudy skies and sunshine everywhere. It was

also going to be a hot one; even at this early morning hour, the humidity

was present, you could feel it.

 

The van pulled up at the guard shack, and everyone in the van held

their ID badges up to the windows of the van for the guard to see. They

were waved through, and Matheson made for a parking space at the side

of the main building. They arrived, and everyone disembarked, heading for

their respective departments and/or job assignments. John and Challenger

chief engineer Eddie Freeman began walking toward the VAB (Vehicle

Assembly Building) complex. John said, "Guess we head for the VAB, huh?"

Freeman nodded. "Guess so. Hard to miss it, too," staring at the huge

building the two men were walking toward. Randall smiled. "Yeah, not exactly

a small building."

 

Freeman said, "Well, let's go to work, yeah?" John grinned, and said,

"Roger that, sir." The two men walked as casually as they could toward the

building. As they approached the front door of the building a few moments

later, John said, "So did you see in the packet who we're supposed to report

to?" Freeman stopped and said, "Hold on, let me check." The chief engineer

rummaged through his duffel bag for a moment, and took out his manila

envelope containing his information. He glanced through it briefly, and said,

"Nope. We're just to report to the VAB. If we need to talk to someone, they'll

send us there, but it looks pretty busy; we'll probably be waved right in." He

replaced the packet in his duffel bag, and looked up to see John holding the

door open. Randall said, "All right. After you, sir." As they stepped through the

door into an empty, wide hallway, Freeman said, "Probably should drop the

'sir, lieutenant' stuff while we're pretending to be civvies. In fact, drop the 'sir'

permanently if you want; makes my skin crawl." As they walked down the

hallway, John smiled, gave a small, quiet laugh, and said, "All right, was just

teasing you some, but I will stop." He looked around as the hallway opened

into a wide room, spotted a station ahead, and said, "There's the guard

station, I believe." He began walking toward it, and Freeman fell in step beside

him, saying, "Yep."

 

The two men arrived at the station, and both presented their badges as

John handed his information papers to a half-awake guard. The guard studied

the documents for a few moments after verifying the men's IDs. Both men

were hoping that the documents were historically genuine enough. The guard

looked up, and said, "Ok, John Randall." He looked back down to his clipboard,

then looked up again. "You're to report to Chris Barber. His office is down that

way to the left. You can't miss it." He gestured to another hallway that branched

off to the left of the station, and John nodded, moving that way. He heard Freeman

get cleared behind him, and continued down the hallway until he arrived at a door

with the nameplate "Chris Barber" etched into it. Freeman arrived and stood beside

him as Randall knocked. A short, balding man with glasses opened the door,

took in the two men standing there, and said, "Yes?" Freeman glanced at Randall,

and said, "Chris Barber?"

 

The NASA technician narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, and replied,

"That's right. And you are?" John said, "Mr. Barber, I'm John Randall, and this is

Ed Freeman. I believe we're the new guys on the block, so to speak." Barber

nodded and said, "Ah, yes, our two new engineers. Come in, gentlemen." He left

the door open, and went back to his desk in the relatively small office. Freeman

held the door for Randall, who grinned at him, and the two men entered. The NASA

technician waved them toward a couple of overstuffed chairs in front of his desk,

and said, "Sit down, gentlemen, I believe you have some paperwork for me."

The two men opened their duffel bags, and produced their manila folder envelopes,

which they gave to Barber. Freeman said, "That should be it." Barber nodded his

thanks, pulled out the documentation from both folders, and scanned the pages

briefly.

 

The NASA technician looked up after a few moments and said, "Well, I can

see we have two very bright technicians here. Why don't you tell me a little about

yourselves?" John looked at Freeman, and raised his eyebrows, silently suggesting

that the chief engineer go first. Freeman gave a brief nod, catching Randall's unspoken

request, and spoke. "Well, I'm Ed Freeman, though I prefer Eddie. I'm from San

Francisco personally, and went to CalTech. Did a tour in the Army, though I avoided

that mess over in Vietnam. This is my first job in the civilian sector. Not much else to

say about me, really." Barber gave a brief smile, and said, "San Francisco. I always

meant to travel out that way; haven't gotten a chance to, yet. Welcome aboard, Eddie;

good to have you with us." He then turned to John. "And you?"

 

Randall gathered his thoughts, remembering his 'personal' information in the

packet, smiled briefly, and said, "My name is John Randall, and I'm from a small town

in Tennessee. I graduated from UT-Knoxville about 3 years ago, and, because I blew

my knee out playing football, was ineligible for the Army. I majored in engineering, and

I guess that's what helped me get here." Barber said, "I see. Good to have you here,

Mr. Randall, or do you prefer John?" Randall replied, "John is fine." Barber nodded.

"Well, gentlemen, what do you say I give you the fifty-cent tour, and let you look over

your new home, so to speak?" The two men nodded, and they all got up to exit the

office. As Barber led them to the assembly area of the VAB, John thought, 'Well, here

we go. Stay sharp, Randall. Dad did this for a living. Let's see if you inheirited any

of his skills.'

 

 

END LOG