THE ARK

Day 931

Cowan had walked back into the infirmary. Captain Travers and a physician were completing the medical evaluations on the five volunteers that Fitch had come up with.

“Amy. How long until you’re ready to begin?” Cowan asked.

“We are finishing up now, we’ll move into the chamber right from here,” she answered.

“Good, do you guys have any questions?” Cowan said looking at the test subjects.

They all looked nervously at one another. Finally, one of them spoke up. “All we know is we were ordered to report here for some tests and that we would be sleeping for five days.”

“So you didn’t volunteer for this?” Cowan asked.

“Sir we were just ordered to report here at 0700,” the man answered.

“In the Army, that is volunteering,” Travers offered.

Cowan seemed to understand but he was not too pleased. “We have been working on what we refer to as the Sleep Program. It could be considered a cross between suspended animation and a drug induced coma.

“While sleeping in our systems, the normal body processes slow to almost a stop. Our last group was out for five years, and they aged about 2 days each year. We’ve made some major changes in our processes and need to see how they work. The Pentagon has placed a rush on this and they want it done immediately. That’s why we didn’t have time for our normal selection process.

“There will be an IV in your arm and a mask on your face. You’ll breathe a special gas, and the drug in the IV will put you out quickly. There will be equipment hooked to you that will monitor your heart rate and blood pressure, as well as temperature and breathing. You won’t dream or be aware of time. You’ll awaken feeling slightly confused and nauseated, but this will pass quickly. Any questions?”

“Has anyone ever died during one of these tests?” asked the soldier.

Travers answered before Cowan could respond. “You’ll have medical personnel in there with you at all times and if there is a problem we can easily end the test.”

The soldier, while young and nervous, noticed that his last question was avoided.

As the exams were completed, the test subjects were moved to the chamber. Their shirts were removed and they were placed in the open capsules. They would not need to remove their pants. The short duration of the test avoided the need for waste removal systems to be used.

“Is the Colonel planning to be here for this?” Travers asked.

“He had to fly back to Washington last night; He expects to be back tomorrow,” was Cowan’s response

“Any idea what’s with these trips of his?” the Captain asked.

“Seems like Washington has heard about what we’re doing and they’re really interested, even considering expanding the project,” Cowan answered.

As they spoke a technician attached blood pressure cuffs to the arms of the test subjects, and IVs were started.

After the electrodes for the cardiac monitors were attached, a positive pressure face mask was applied.

At that point, Travers and Cowan left the room. Only a physician and two technicians remained.

The heavy steel door sealed the chamber and the room was pressurized to make the conditions in the room the same as they would have been inside the individual capsules.

After the soldiers had been breathing the gas mixture for several minutes, the flow of SF016 was started. The test subjects were asleep within ten seconds from the first traces of SF016 entering their systems.

Cowan was at his desk studying a technical diagram on the computer screen when Fitch entered the room. “How is the test going, James?” asked Fitch.

“So far they’ve been asleep for forty-seven hours without incident. The technicians are working in shifts and the Doc is just hanging out. They’re bored, but I guess that’s good. Also, I have some great news; we have completed the tests of the new biological scanners. They’ll maintain a constant watch for biological contamination during the sleep process. This should prevent the need for the further precautionary use of biohazard suits when entering the sleep chambers. Explained Cowan excitedly.

“Great news,” Fitch said then paused and continued. “James, they want us to do it,” Fitch said.

This got Cowan’s attention. He quickly spun his chair around and stood. He started to speak but caught himself. He stared at Fitch and noticed his uniform and his lower jaw dropped.

“Oh, my!” was all he said as he stared at shoulder boards of the man’s dress uniform. These looked like the same shoulder boards that usually had the shiny silver eagles of an Army Colonel. Today they each had a single gold star, perfectly centered.

“Yea, that was my reaction too. They’re real serious about this project and they want me to have all the clout I need to get it done. I guess they figured a mere Colonel would’ve trouble getting enough stuff in gear to get it done.”

“Congratulations Matt. This is wonderful,” Cowan said as he shook his friend’s hand.

“Thanks. I’m excited too. Are you in the middle of anything that can’t wait?” asked General Fitch

“No, I was working on designing the automatic systems for a large sleep chamber,” Cowan answered.

“Let’s go talk,” Fitch said.

As Cowan was getting up, Captain Travers walked into the room. “Welcome back Colonel,” She said as she walked to a desk and picked up a three ring binder.

“You’re mistaken, Amy. The Colonel didn’t come back,” Cowan said with a smile

Captain Amy Travers looked at the two men with confusion, and then a sudden clarity came to her as her eyes fixed on the gold stars on General Fitch’s uniform. “Congratulations Sir. You must have really impressed them with what we’re doing.”

“Something like that,” Fitch said. “How is the test going?”

“So far everything is going fine. We’re having trouble maintaining the pressure in the chamber; it was never designed for this kind of thing. But it looks like we’ll be able to make it work for three more days.”

“Good. James and I are going to leave for a while. I want you to meet with both of us in my office at 1300 hrs,” instructed Fitch

“Yes General, I’ll be there,” Travers answered.

As the men left the building, Cowan was aware of how quiet the General was. When Cowan had inquired about the trip to Washington, the General had not even responded. He was clearly lost in thought. Cowan decided to give the man the time he needed. Clearly, things were bothering him. Cowan walked silently with his friend for several minutes. They were quite a distance past the picnic site when Fitch stopped. He looked around quickly with a mild look of surprise on his face and then started back. Today the tables were dry and Fitch sat down on top of one of one of them.

“They want it done,” was all Fitch said.

Cowan decided to let the General continue, so he silently waited.

“They want a fully functional sleep facility, one where a large group of people could be placed in the event of a disaster. A facility ready and stocked so that as soon as a threat was detected as many people as possible could go take the long nap and wake up when it was clear.” Explained the General

“Matt, we can never create a facility that will hold a large enough number of people,” Stated Cowan.

“I know this isn’t intended as a survival shelter. This is intended to sleep a specially trained group of people. Their function will be to help the survivors rebuild. The general populous will be going to special underground shelters, large modified mines and specially built bunkers, and possibly undersea shelters to wait things out.

“The planning of these shelters is in the hands of a different group. The estimate is still less than one percent of the population will be able to make it to a shelter. Our part is to sleep the ones needed for rebuilding, Physicians, engineers, farmers, teachers and many others, as well as a formidable military force to deal with what they find when they awaken. Our facility won’t just house the sleepers but all needed equipment, including vehicles, aircraft, computers, weapons, farm equipment, and even a small but advanced hospital. There is even talk of a special sleep chamber for livestock, but I don’t think that will actually happen,” explained the General

“Do they have a location for us yet?” Cowan asked.

“Yes, but it’s still under construction. Fitch said

“When will it be completed?” was Cowan’s next question.

“Unknown, it’s currently in the hands of the Air Force. It will be turned over to us as soon as I get there to take control,” Fitch said

“You are saying, that he Air Force has a massive underground facility partly constructed. They’re going to just hand it over to us so that we can make a ‘What if’ facility? That makes no sense,” Stated Cowan.

“I know, but James, they’ll lock me away if I give out more details. They might even arrange for you to disappear too. It’s that secret,” said the General

“This is making me very uncomfortable,” Cowan exclaimed.

“I know. I’ll try to keep you as informed as I can. The truth is The Air Force is turning over a large underground facility to us. We’re setting up a large facility to protect a possible team that would be to rebuild after a massive disaster. That team will take everything they need with them. Underground and undersea facilities are in the works for the general population. Lastly, I’ll be locked away and you could be made to disappear if I reveal any classified information about this project to you. I won’t be able to tell you many other details, but I promise not to lie about it either. Can you live with that?” asked the General

Cowan sat in silence for a few minutes before answering. “I can live with it. Keep me as informed as possible.”

Fitch nodded.

“Who else at this facility knows the real details?” Cowan asked.

“You’re the only one who knows anything right now. From what I understand, I’m only one of fourteen people who know the secrets. This afternoon we’re going to brief Travers if you’ve time. I’ll keep the two of you in the loop as much as possible. The three of us will be the team that makes this whole thing come together,” General Fitch said

“I wish I could tell you more James, I really do. Personally, I could use someone to talk to this about, but my orders couldn’t be clearer.”

With that, they got up and headed back to the complex.

As they walked Matt added, “I’ll be flying to the new facility in Arizona tomorrow. I’ll be officially taking charge of the site in the afternoon. As soon as this current experiment is completed, I want you and Travers out there. We have a ton of work to do and not much time.”

“Why the sudden rush to get this done?” Cowan asked.

“I was told to get it up and running ASAP,” answered the General

Cowan could tell this was one of those situations where his friend had chosen his words carefully. He was not lying, but there was definitely more to it.

“I want to begin discussing some of the details with both of you, unfortunately, I’ll be tied up this afternoon after we talk to Travers, and I’m leaving in the morning,” Fitch said

“Why don’t you and Amy stop over to my place this evening, we’ll grill some steaks and go over everything. Kathy is visiting her parents in Kansas this week, and DJ is back to college, so there won’t be anyone there,” James Cowan asked.

“Ok, that works for me, we’ll ask Amy. I can be there at 1830.”