Chapter VII
When there was a pause, Jamie was able to ask one of their questions.
JAMIE: Can you tell us anything about the circumstances under which my uncle disappeared?
PAUL: I remember it like yesterday: it was a Friday. May 20, 1960. That was the day of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Even though it was at the tip of Chile this quake literally rocked the world. We even felt it here, and while Southern California didn’t get the tsunami that hit Japan and the Philippines, there was damage as far north as the port of Los Angeles.
CLARENCE: I remember Jerry telling me, on his way out the door the previous night that he had taken a day off to go deep sea fishing with some college buddies who were in town. I didn’t know he fished. He seemed distracted that night. Now I know it’s been quite a while since that night, but I’ve had a lot of time to ponder what happened. You see, I was held partially to blame. We had government officials swarming the place on Monday morning, when it was discovered that the most recent plans and calculations were missing from the safe.
The safe was not an actual safe, it was a room with shelves on all sides, holding the plans and formulae and calculations for the project. It later came out that Jerry had asked Abbott if he’d straighten up the safe. Things were a little unruly and it would be a help. So Abbott went in and neatened the shelves of papers. What Abbott didn’t know was that the scientists had an organized chaos, and when he straightened up, he unknowingly covered up the fact that a vital piece of the plan was missing.
PAUL: Oh how we quarreled during the days leading up to that final day. It tested our relationship. Jerry couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me what was going on. We had promised to be honest with each other and yet, I knew he was keeping secrets. Maybe I could have helped. I don’t know. That he didn’t spill the beans about classified project I could totally understand, but Jerry got seasick. He hated boats. I don’t understand that he said he was going fishing. I mean, I guess he did go out on a boat, look where they found his remains. In a submarine. I just don’t know why he was there. I hope you kids find out.
CLARENCE: It was really good to meet the both of you. I hope you’re able to get to the bottom of this mystery. Please let us know what you find.
PAUL: Meanwhile, keep in touch on Facebook OK?
The two men got up to leave. As they were just about to end the video call, Jamie and Helen overheard Paul say to Clarence.
“Do you think I should tell him what he said that morning….” As the gentlemen exited the room where the video conference was set up, they moved out of range for either Jamie or Helen to tell what if anything followed.
Helen shut down the video call. She made sure the room looked as it did when they entered, gather up any notes they’d taken, and suggested that they retreat to their favorite carrel to discuss what they knew so far.
“OK, let’s make a list of everything we know, and a list of what we still need to find out.” Helen suggested.
Jamie really liked how organized Helen was. His school notes were always a disaster. History notes in his Algebra notebook, and biology homework stuffed in with AP English. Helen had her notebook, labeled clearly Jerry (Gerald) Brody née Breen.
She had two pages labeled What we know and What we need to find out, under which was neatly printed:
What We Know
Gerald left Bloomington in summer 1957.
Gerald changed his name from Breen to Brody, date unknown
Gerald met Paul in late 1957
Gerald went to work for Ted Taylor at General Atomic in 1958
Jerry, as he was known, was one of the human calculators, and was responsible for checking and verifying the works of the senior scientists
Sometime on May 19, Jerry apparently asked Abbott to straighten the safe
On the evening of May 19, Jerry told Clarence he had the next day off and was going deep see fishing.
He told Paul he was going deep sea fishing with some college buddies
There was a 9.4 earthquake in Chile on May 20 that caused damage to harbors as far north as Los Angeles and tsunamis in Japan and the Philippines.
There was an earthquake on Easter Sunday in Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, that measured 7.2
A submarine was discovered in dislodged debris off the coast of San Diego by navy seals who were doing deep dive exercises.
Jerry’s remains were found on the cold war era submarine.
A set of plans for the Orien project were found on the submarine
“I don’t like this, Helen.” Jamie said. “I’m glad you asked me to wait and not tell my grandpa. This list makes it look like Uncle Jerry was selling or giving classified information to the Russians. It’s pretty black and white. Jerry appears to be a traitor.”
Helen held up the second list, and began adding items as the came up:
“I think we need to find out if this Abbott person is still around, see what he remembers” Helen added that to the second list.
“What happened to the plans that were found on the submarine?” Jamie asked. “If the project was declassified, I wonder if we could get a look at those?”
“Was your grandpa notified when they found Jerry’s body? Where is he buried? Were they any other clues?” Helen Added
“What did Jerry say to Paul on the morning of May 20?” they said in unison – loud enough to get a shushing from the Librarian.
Helen gathered the notes together. Jamie offered to carry her backpack. Once they were out of the library, they divided up the tasks.
Jamie would ask his grandpa if he knew anything about what happened with his brother’s remains. If he was even notified.
They’d both work on a way to ask Paul about the quarrels he’d had with Jerry. They didn’t want to pry, but there could be something, some clue that would help explain how a shy human calculator wound up trapped on a Russian submarine with classified plans for a nuclear powered space ship that was being built to go to Mars, before men had yet to set foot on the moon.
Jamie handed Helen her backpack when they parted toward their separate houses. They promised to meet up the next day.
When Jamie got home, there was a large manila envelope waiting for him on the dining room table. His mom looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What’s going on here. Letters, packages, and you’re spending a lot of time with the Simpson girl. Are you two um.”
“Mom” Jamie dragged out the word as only a teenager could. Making it into more of a three-syllable word. “It’s not like that. We’re just working on the DNA project for the journalism assignment.”
“Still? I thought that was due last week.”
“I got an extension; some interesting facts have come to light. To which this package may pertain.” He picked up the envelope. “So I’ll be in my room studying.”
Clutching the thick envelope from Clarence to his chest, he dashed off to his room. He was barely able to resist the urge to open it, but knew he had to wait for Helen to be there.
— Lkai
When there was a pause, Jamie was able to ask one of their questions.
JAMIE: Can you tell us anything about the circumstances under which my uncle disappeared?
PAUL: I remember it like yesterday: it was a Friday. May 20, 1960. That was the day of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Even though it was at the tip of Chile this quake literally rocked the world. We even felt it here, and while Southern California didn’t get the tsunami that hit Japan and the Philippines, there was damage as far north as the port of Los Angeles.
CLARENCE: I remember Jerry telling me, on his way out the door the previous night that he had taken a day off to go deep sea fishing with some college buddies who were in town. I didn’t know he fished. He seemed distracted that night. Now I know it’s been quite a while since that night, but I’ve had a lot of time to ponder what happened. You see, I was held partially to blame. We had government officials swarming the place on Monday morning, when it was discovered that the most recent plans and calculations were missing from the safe.
The safe was not an actual safe, it was a room with shelves on all sides, holding the plans and formulae and calculations for the project. It later came out that Jerry had asked Abbott if he’d straighten up the safe. Things were a little unruly and it would be a help. So Abbott went in and neatened the shelves of papers. What Abbott didn’t know was that the scientists had an organized chaos, and when he straightened up, he unknowingly covered up the fact that a vital piece of the plan was missing.
PAUL: Oh how we quarreled during the days leading up to that final day. It tested our relationship. Jerry couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me what was going on. We had promised to be honest with each other and yet, I knew he was keeping secrets. Maybe I could have helped. I don’t know. That he didn’t spill the beans about classified project I could totally understand, but Jerry got seasick. He hated boats. I don’t understand that he said he was going fishing. I mean, I guess he did go out on a boat, look where they found his remains. In a submarine. I just don’t know why he was there. I hope you kids find out.
CLARENCE: It was really good to meet the both of you. I hope you’re able to get to the bottom of this mystery. Please let us know what you find.
PAUL: Meanwhile, keep in touch on Facebook OK?
The two men got up to leave. As they were just about to end the video call, Jamie and Helen overheard Paul say to Clarence.
“Do you think I should tell him what he said that morning….” As the gentlemen exited the room where the video conference was set up, they moved out of range for either Jamie or Helen to tell what if anything followed.
Helen shut down the video call. She made sure the room looked as it did when they entered, gather up any notes they’d taken, and suggested that they retreat to their favorite carrel to discuss what they knew so far.
“OK, let’s make a list of everything we know, and a list of what we still need to find out.” Helen suggested.
Jamie really liked how organized Helen was. His school notes were always a disaster. History notes in his Algebra notebook, and biology homework stuffed in with AP English. Helen had her notebook, labeled clearly Jerry (Gerald) Brody née Breen.
She had two pages labeled What we know and What we need to find out, under which was neatly printed:
What We Know
Gerald left Bloomington in summer 1957.
Gerald changed his name from Breen to Brody, date unknown
Gerald met Paul in late 1957
Gerald went to work for Ted Taylor at General Atomic in 1958
Jerry, as he was known, was one of the human calculators, and was responsible for checking and verifying the works of the senior scientists
Sometime on May 19, Jerry apparently asked Abbott to straighten the safe
On the evening of May 19, Jerry told Clarence he had the next day off and was going deep see fishing.
He told Paul he was going deep sea fishing with some college buddies
There was a 9.4 earthquake in Chile on May 20 that caused damage to harbors as far north as Los Angeles and tsunamis in Japan and the Philippines.
There was an earthquake on Easter Sunday in Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, that measured 7.2
A submarine was discovered in dislodged debris off the coast of San Diego by navy seals who were doing deep dive exercises.
Jerry’s remains were found on the cold war era submarine.
A set of plans for the Orien project were found on the submarine
“I don’t like this, Helen.” Jamie said. “I’m glad you asked me to wait and not tell my grandpa. This list makes it look like Uncle Jerry was selling or giving classified information to the Russians. It’s pretty black and white. Jerry appears to be a traitor.”
Helen held up the second list, and began adding items as the came up:
“I think we need to find out if this Abbott person is still around, see what he remembers” Helen added that to the second list.
“What happened to the plans that were found on the submarine?” Jamie asked. “If the project was declassified, I wonder if we could get a look at those?”
“Was your grandpa notified when they found Jerry’s body? Where is he buried? Were they any other clues?” Helen Added
“What did Jerry say to Paul on the morning of May 20?” they said in unison – loud enough to get a shushing from the Librarian.
Helen gathered the notes together. Jamie offered to carry her backpack. Once they were out of the library, they divided up the tasks.
Jamie would ask his grandpa if he knew anything about what happened with his brother’s remains. If he was even notified.
They’d both work on a way to ask Paul about the quarrels he’d had with Jerry. They didn’t want to pry, but there could be something, some clue that would help explain how a shy human calculator wound up trapped on a Russian submarine with classified plans for a nuclear powered space ship that was being built to go to Mars, before men had yet to set foot on the moon.
Jamie handed Helen her backpack when they parted toward their separate houses. They promised to meet up the next day.
When Jamie got home, there was a large manila envelope waiting for him on the dining room table. His mom looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What’s going on here. Letters, packages, and you’re spending a lot of time with the Simpson girl. Are you two um.”
“Mom” Jamie dragged out the word as only a teenager could. Making it into more of a three-syllable word. “It’s not like that. We’re just working on the DNA project for the journalism assignment.”
“Still? I thought that was due last week.”
“I got an extension; some interesting facts have come to light. To which this package may pertain.” He picked up the envelope. “So I’ll be in my room studying.”
Clutching the thick envelope from Clarence to his chest, he dashed off to his room. He was barely able to resist the urge to open it, but knew he had to wait for Helen to be there.
— Lkai
The tension builds! Lots of story to unfold and the explosive “Do you think I should tell him what he said that morning….” I like the way to are gentle with the friendship between Helen and Jamie.
ReplyDeleteThank you. All comments are helpful and appreciated.
DeleteThese kids are so innocent. I know that when I was 15 and went into a library carrel with my boyfriend, it wasn't for research! Or that kind of research. I'm rootin' for Helen and Jamie! You've made them so real! (Macoff)
ReplyDeleteThank you. In Real Life, I share a duplex with my best friend. We have a male/female platonic relationship - 20+ years. I want to build a relationship for Helen and Jamie that's both real and unexpected. Spending Sunday starting to chart where that is going. Thank you for the comments they are helpful and appreciated.
Delete