A Chilling Discovery

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11305.05

14-15 July 1969 O.E.)

 

SUNDAY

 

It was Sunday morning, July 14, 1969 O.E.; but for John Randall, it was another day on the job at the Kennedy Space Center's VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building). He and several other engineers/technicians had been called in to work by their boss, Chris Barber. With the moon launch

scheduled to take place on the coming Tuesday, Barber wanted to get a head start on the final assembly of the Saturn V rocket that would take the astronauts into space.

 

John arrived at the VAB at 6:54 a.m., paid off the taxicab, and went in the front door of the VAB. He flashed his ID to the sleepy guard, who waved him through. He went down the hall to the locker room, changed into NASA work clothes, and started for the main assembly room, only to be greeted

by a notice on the door that all technicians were to report to the conference room on the second floor.

 

John turned and made for the staircase that led up to the second floor. He ascended the stairs, and made his way down the hallway to the doors of the conference room. He went inside, nodding at the technicians already gathered there, most of whom he knew or knew of by now, and sat down in a chair. He glanced around the table, and most of the other men were exhibiting the same

responses/mannerisms he was; trying hard to stay awake. A few minutes later, Chris Barber came into the room, and walked to the head of the table.

 

He glanced around, smiling at the ones who were struggling to stay awake. "Good morning, gentlemen," he said, and the men acknowledged him with sleepy voices. "It is vitally important that we all do our jobs well," he continued. "We have a big day on Tuesday, and we need everyone to be at their best." John nodded along with the rest of the group. Barber quickly outlined the jobs the men would be mainly concentrating on today, then said, "Well, gentlemen, that's all I have. Let's get to it. And, oh, by the way, since it's Sunday, you get double-time pay today. Let's try to be finished by 1 o'clock so we can all go home. Hop to it!"

 

As the men filed out of the conference room, Barber came over to John and took him by the arm. "John, you look better today," he said. "Are you over your illness?" Randall nodded. "I think so, sir," he replied. "The prescription the doctor wrote me really helped." Randall, of course, had been treated by Challenger chief medical officer Gretchen Hanson, and she had taken samples

of his blood and stomach contents to be beamed up to the ship's lab for analysis. There had been no word from the ship as of yet.

 

Barber smiled. "Good, good," he said. "I tell you what, though. Just to be on the safe side, how about we keep you on the ground assembly crew? Wouldn't want you to have a dizzy spell on the scaffold." John nodded. "Neither would I, sir; sure, that's fine with me." The NASA technician clapped him on the shoulder. "All right, then," he said. "Let's go see what we can do today, and get out of here to enjoy our afternoon." "I'm with you, sir," replied the Challenger engineer, and he followed Barber down the stairs to the main assembly area.

 

The men split up into their individual teams, and began their work. John soon became the 'go-to-guy' on his team as his teammates were constantly amazed by his knowledge of the engines. John's team sped along at a rate that did not go unnoticed by Barber. He watched Randall move continually through his team, helping with something there, pointing out something here. 'That man has learned fast since he got here,' thought the NASA technician to himself. 'He must have gotten top marks at the university he attended.' Randall's team, unsurprisingly to Barber, finished their tasks ahead of the other teams. Barber kept his eyes on John, and, a few seconds later, one of the

technicians on one of the other teams yelled at him. Randall went over, and, a few seconds later, was pointing something out to the man who had called him over.

 

A short while later, the men were finished with their tasks. John had wound up helping the other teams as well, and one of the technicians, as amazed as all the rest, suggested to Barber that Randall be the utility man for them. The rest agreed heartily, and Barber told John he had a new role. Then, he looked at the group. "Gentlemen, I am impressed," he said. "You all have done a great job." He glanced at his watch. "And, in less time than I expected. You can all go home, but be ready for a long day tomorrow. We've got the rocket pretty well assembled; we'll be using the launcher platform to do the rest. Be here at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning, and see you then."

 

The men gave a shout, and headed to the locker room to prepare to go to their respective homes. John went along with a group of the men that were heading to the front of the building to clock out. He did so himself, and a few minutes later, his taxi arrived to transport him to the safe house. The taxi dropped him off, Randall paid the driver, and walked across the yard to the house. He went into his room, changed into shorts and a t-shirt, and went to the kitchen to grab a can of Pepsi-Cola from the refrigerator. As he popped the top open and took a long drink, he noticed some of the

away team gathered in the dining room. He watched for a second or two to make sure it wasn't a formal meeting, which it wasn't, and took his can of soda to the living room. He sat across from the air conditioner, then got up and turned on the television. He flipped channels until he found a baseball game, and sat back down to watch.

 

The rest of the day passed uneventfully.

 

 

MONDAY

 

 

The alarm clock sounded at 4:35 a.m. on the morning of July 15, 1969 O.E. John rolled over, snapped off the alarm, and got out of bed. He grabbed some clothes, and went down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower. He finished, toweled off, dressed, and went to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. The taxi arrived, he walked out to it, and the cab whisked him away. He arrived at the VAB, paid off the driver, and told him he didn't know what time he would call. The driver nodded and sped away.

 

John walked in the front door, flashed his ID badge to the guard, and went to the locker room to change into his NASA work clothes. He made his way to the assembly area, and was greeted by his fellow technicians. John told them to get to it, it was going to be a long day, and the men nodded, and set about their tasks. The first two and a half hours went by without a hitch, and John told the men to take a break. They all went to the small break room on the left side of the assembly room. The men got snacks and drinks, and settled down at the tables to rest a bit. John sat down at a table with a can of Pepsi-Cola.

 

David Andrews came into the break room, got himself a can of soda, and came over to John's table. The engineer smiled at him as Andrews sat down. "Man, it's turning into a circus out there," the NASA technician said. He was referring to the large group of reporters and media people that had already gathered at the VAB. John nodded, agreeing with him, but for a different reason. The Challenger engineer was very concerned and alarmed at the sheer number of the media people. 'This would be perfect cover for one of the terrorists to try something,' he thought to himself.

 

He looked at Andrews. "Yeah, the reporters are getting ready, all right," he said. Andrews leaned closer to him, and lowered his voice. "Between you and me, John, I'll be glad when this launch happens," he said. Randall looked at him, likewise lowering his voice. "Why is that, David?" he asked. Andrews was about to reply when Barber stuck his head in the door. "Okay, A crew, we need you guys at the platform, let's go!" The men finished their snacks and drinks, John included, and headed out the door to the massive launch platform. John lingered behind the group, and found himself alone for a second. He tapped his ear bud, activating the away team's comm link.

 

Speaking in a low murmur, he said, "There are way too many people here; it's gonna be hard to keep an eye on anyone." A few seconds later, the voice of Starfleet Marine Major Kimiko Johnson sounded in his ear. "Just keep your eye on the rocket, we've got the people covered." "Roger that," acknowledged Randall, and he caught up with his team. As he rejoined his team, another voice sounded in his ear. "Be sure to give the rocket a nice thorough going-over," said Commander Zach Murphy, the CO of the away team. John turned slowly, looking over the crowd, and spotted Murphy. He put up a thumb, the commander nodded once, and blended back into the crowd of reporters.

 

As John turned back to his team, he saw Barber at the foot of the platform, a frown crossing his

face. Randall knew the NASA technician didn't like the situation with the reporters any more than

he did. He told his crew to begin the ground survey, and he himself fell in with them, having activated his ocular implants, hoping to get some assistance from the people manning the monitors,

namely Marine Captain Cassidy Granger, and Morrison, the other CO of the away team. John's

team completed the ground engine survey, and Randall decided he wanted to take a personal look

at the middle part of the rocket. He ascended the ladder at the side of the launch platform, and stepped onto the scaffold.

 

John began his visual inspection, wishing he had his tricorder. He had missed it very badly on this

particular mission. He made his way slowly around the rocket, then came to a sudden stop. He squatted down, and heard Murphy's voice over the comm link. "You okay up there?" the commander asked, and immediately after that, Granger's voice saying, "Move left one meter." Randall tapped his ear bud in acknowledgement to both parties, and moved to his left. He had spotted a rivet on one of the panels that had minute scratches on it, and knew the rivet had had something done to it very recently. Granger's voice sounded in his ear again. "Open the panel to your left." John knew then his ocular implants were functioning perfectly; Granger had seen on the monitor what he had.

 

He got his toolkit open on his belt, and opened the panel. What he saw inside made his blood run cold. Inside the panel, attached to the side of the hull, was a gray box-shaped object. Randall knew this object had not been in the place it was now last night. Granger asked him, "Are you trained in EOD?" John replied in the negative, and the female Marine captain said, "If not, stand back." John tapped his ear bud in acknowledgement, replaced the panel cover, and stood up. Granger's voice sounded in his ear. "Evacuate the area." "What's my cover story?" asked John. "Lean against the fire alarm," came the reply. "Roger that," John said, and casually walked over to the ladder, climbing down to ground level.

 

As John's feet hit the ground, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Barber was watching him. He reported it to Granger, who told him to pretend to trip, or something. He acknowledged, and when he turned back, Barber was watching the rest of John's team. Randall noticed a fire alarm a little ways off against a wall. He casually made his way over to its vicinity. He leaned against the wall for a second, then pretended to lose his balance, and made sure his hand pulled down the switch on the alarm. Instantly, a loud ringing sounded, and the security guards leapt into action, driving everyone outside the building to the lawn outside. Randall heard Barber yell, "Fire alarm! Everyone to emergency exits, NOW!!!"

 

John made his way over to his group, trying to look as surprised and bewildered as everyone else. The technicians made their way to their designated point, and turned to watch the chaos as the security guards tried to herd the people to safety. Randall wandered a little ways off, and tapped his ear bud. "Commander, is EOD on the way, sir?" A few seconds later, Murphy's voice said, "Aye, roger that. They're on their way now." "Acknowledged," said John, and made his way back to the group. He smiled at David Andrews as the technician spotted him. Andrews, however, just waved at John as he veered off to talk to someone else. Randall listened via his comm link as arrangements were made to beam the box up to the ship, then he spotted Barber making his way to the group.

 

As the NASA technician arrived, John asked innocently, "What happened, sir?" Barber, looking a bit haggard, replied, "Well, the fire alarm went off for some reason. Maybe the firefighters will discover the source." He looked around at the group. "You guys all right?" he asked, and they all nodded. John listened via his ear bud as the ship successfully beamed up the box-like object, and he relaxed, then raised his eyebrows as Barber turned to him. "I wonder if that fire alarm has something wrong with the wiring." John nodded. "Could be, sir; it's been known to happen." Barber nodded, then turned to watch the chaos in front of him. John thought darkly to himself, 'Well, they made their move, and we still have no idea who planted that device. Good thing we caught it, or their mission would have succeeded.'

 

He was not looking forward to the rest of the day.

 

 

END LOG