Chapter three
No Noise
Shopping for bits is always fun, except, of course, if you happen to be carrying 24v truck batteries to your van. And that's just what our intrepid heroes were doing, that and ordering for that afternoon a supplemental load of commercial solar cells with which to trickle charge their batteries. Work went on for some time, trying to eliminate all noise sources, and noises they themselves might make. The fitting of common mode chokes to every cable and internal ferrites their monitors, too, until such time as they knew they weren't going to radiate any data to the electric house wiring. At last, everything was switched on, then the testing, utilising the RIGOL spectrum analyzer showed that every signal was at least -70dBm, and darned good. They fixed 6 foot earth spikes all round the place, making sure all their grounding cables went to one common terminal post, making sure there could be no ground loops, then last but not least, they fixed 6mm mesh to the walls, ceiling, floors, doors and windows, a veritable Faraday cage.
"Well, we're about done. Have we forgotten anything," asked Alan, scratching the back of his head. "Let's see this chap or anyone else can get to our systems, unless they're using a 100GHz to spy on us, they wont get a single signal being radiated from us, and like wise from them."
"I should hope not," replied Jim, "Even the conduits that run to out solar cells are grounded, with the cells totally isolated when not in use. Let's see just how clever this Sprig chap is. £10 to a pint of larger we nail him?"
" Sod off. You know you always win. Hang on, we've got to leave the room to listen to the TV or the radio. Have we still got that digital video sender, the one I was always meaning to repair?"
"Yeah, it's up in the attic with the train set and your four 150mm video monitors to bought but never used."
"Hey, don't knock it. They we're only £5 each. In any case, we can run the cables through to here, then isolate the system so there is no physical electrical connection," replied Alan.
An hour later, all their systems were up and running, tested and found to be secure, just as their onion and Tor usage is normal. Everything is going to be logged, and any patterns traced to their original sender, well, unless the sender is using an internet cafe, the you have to make sure you keep an eye on personages, times, etc. Only the CIA and the British had those sorts of resources. All they have to do is to to carry on with their normal work activities and see if anything out of the ordinary happened. Alan ran through all the data they had, looking for data patterns, data packets with the same number of bits, pinging patterns, but there 's nothing yet. Even with their Tor system they could eventually trace the original IP-address, no matter how many changes of IP-addresses there were, random or otherwise.
"Alan. Are we still logged into all the world's Internet cafes, the ones with a live video feed?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, it would only take a couple of lines of code to match the data patterns to the cafe's video feed, then bingo, we have a face, a personal web-cam, even. Leave this one to me. I'll only be a few minutes and we're in business."
"You know, something, Jim? I wish they would tell us that a football match in Nigeria where eleven year old girls beat the professional team forty-five goals to nil by half time. I'd love to run down the betting shop and place bet. I'm sure I'd get ten thousand to one. Though I'd only get odds-on for a bet on Trump being shot and killed at noon to morrow."
Jim didn't hear a word, he was tapping away the code strings to update his earlier idea. After half an hour they sat down to watch the news and have a larger and a few sandwiches. Their computers and monitors were on taking into account the various time-zones, with one line listening to Reuters for the long awaited news off the list of happenings our Prof Sprig had sent them.
*******
"Professor. We've made a breakthrough and ready to test our hypothesis. I'd like you to witness our transmission this afternoon. Can you be available?" asked Maria, excitedly, via the earth to moon video link.
"Well," said Sprig, "Could you tell me a little more about your breakthrough, Maria? I'm a little busy right now. However, depending on the situation, I could be persuaded," he teased.
"Harold had done some work on sending data, but you know and have experienced this. he's worked out a method of multiplexing the data stream in the same way you teleport from the moon. We're ready to send an object back to Gert and Daisy, with the hope the experiment will work in the same flawless way you teleport back and forth to Nature."
"That's amazing! I expect that your checking has a one hundred percent mathematical result?
"Indeed, yes. However, we're not sure if there's a way to bring back the object we send, unless we replicate our equipment with a pure positive direct current voltage source of 24 volts. We could replicated the equipment but need your personal authority to go ahead."
"Are you saying that you could physically send something, or, someone back to the year 2017?
"I suppose so, Professor."
"I'll be right there, Maria. I guess I could bear the horrid prickling for a chance to go back to the past. Meet me in the teleport room. I've an idea I think you will approve."
Sprig made his way to the detested teleport machine, pressed the dreaded button, and in a thrice, he found himself looking into the beautiful face of Dr Maria.
"Professor Sprig. Did I hear you correctly? You said you' be glad to have the chance to go back in time. You were joking, surely?"
"Maria, you know full well, that if you had the chance to see our past, then you'd take every opportunity. However, you're a physicist, thus you take every opportunity to do whatever it takes to prove your theories and mathematical hypothesis, am I correct?"
"Yes. Of course, but I'd never place anyone's life in jeopardy. That would be unethical, unless I were to place myself as a volunteer in the experiment, knowing the risks, of course." she replied as they entered the laboratory, where Harold was readying the experiment for the first test.
"Then count me in as a willing volunteer, knowing all the facts, and," he took from his pocket a neolithic writing implement and and some paper from the same period, then began to write his authority for the human experiment, as supreme head (dean) of faculty, then passed the docket to Maria, "let's do it. Harold, what is there I kneed to know?"
Harold gave a full and comprehensive account of what he thought the professor needed to be safe, and how the operating system functioned. The replicator is set to work producing the equipment, then, an hour later, the equipment was tested and ready for use. All the coordinates and time constants were programmed into the device, then a 24-volt capacitor is charged, then placed ready for use into the return power supply. All Sprig had to do is to push the green button, then he would be returned to the future at the time set. A green beam of laser light surrounded the equipment, within which the operator must stand, with enough room within the circle, so that the person and whatever artifacts the operator deemed fit would return safely to the laboratory a few moments after the volunteer had left.
"You see, Maria. Being the head of faculty has its perks, eh? The power has gone to my head, and , ha, ha, Ha, the mad professor goes forth, me hearties!" said the professor, laughing loudly.
Harold and Maria gazed at each other, incongruous to their normal working conditions and both wondered if the professor was mad, then Maria suddenly understood Sprig's need to return to the past.
"Harold! Start the process, and do so now!" she demanded, then, grabbing the video recording device, she pulled the professor by the arm into the green ring. Then, in a trice, they were gone!
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THE TOMB
Science Fiction*** FIRST DRAFT *** In UK ENGLISH We are six thousand years into the future: This story starts in...
