She looked at me as though I had commented casually about the weather. ‘You don’t have to know anything about lasers. All you have to do is to get the plans. Don’t worry… we’ll go through all this together. It should be interesting to say the least.’
I stared at her in amazement. ‘You’ve accumulated all this information on that division?’
‘I had five years to do it. Now… as you know the head of the division is John Packman. The company allows three years tenure in the weapons division for security reasons. He’s been there for almost that period of time and is about to move shortly. Why don’t you contact him and take him to lunch?’
‘Won’t he become suspicious?’
‘Not if you tell him that you’re on the short list to replace him. Even better, you can arrange to visit the division but you’ll have to obtain a pass-card for access. If you contact Packman on some pretext… like an excuse that you’re working on a new idea for commercial computers to be manufactured by laser beam operation or of some development relating to lasers, he may invite you there.’
‘More likely he would try to talk it down by telephone. Do you really want me to lie to him for the sake of getting those plans?’
‘I don’t really care what you have to do to get them. We’re dealing with World War Three here, Jason. It’s not a matter of what I want you to do… it’s a case of saving millions of lives. And you can do it. As the clown said in Twelfth Night: “Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, while some have greatness thrust upon them.” You’ve been chosen for this role. Be it angel or Devil! You don’t have a choice, especially where Jan’s concerned.’
She wasn’t pulling any punches either and in my mind’s eye I could see her dressed in that brown uniform. ‘All right,’ I conceded. ‘Tell me about lasers!’
She picked up the first pile of papers and raised them to reading height before reading out aloud. ‘A laser is a device that strengthens light. It can burn a hole in a diamond or carry signals of numerous television pictures at the same time. Unlike other forms of light, laser light travels in one direction only. Lasers are used in communications such as radio and television, in industry for cutting and inspection, in medicine for use in surgical operations, in scientific research, and in military operations. In the past, laser beams have measured the distance and speed of enemy planes and ships. They’ve guided shells and bombs to their targets and have been used as navigational devices. Military research has been underway for many years to develop high-energy lasers that could destroy enemy aircraft, tanks and missiles. Such development would also include the destruction of ground troops. A number of organisation in the United States have been working on military research for the Star Wars programme which put such fear in the Soviet Union. The idea was to threaten everyone from satellites in space but no one seems to have emerged with a satisfactory solution. British ingenuity has come to the forefront again at Dandy’s weaponry division. Such an advanced laser gun is being developed there and a prototype is being tested albeit at the moment it is imperfect and erratic.’
I held up my hand to stop her, ‘Hold it… hold it there! If it’s imperfect and erratic why should Commander Yasood and the rest of the gang, whoever they are, want it? After all, if Penny Smith knows it doesn’t work properly, they must know it too.’
‘I think that’s where Schmuel Musaphia and Menel come in,’ she answered.
‘Really!’ I spluttered with surprise. ‘Would you tell me where they fit into all this?
She ignored my question and looked down at the papers again to start to read again. ‘There are many kinds of lasers but the one Dandy’s dealing with is a crystal laser. It employs a fluorescent crystal such as a ruby as its light amplifying substance. The power for a ruby laser comes from a flash tube often coiled around the ruby. The flash tube excites a large number of chromium ions which are electrically charged atoms in the ruby allowing it to melt hard materials. Such streams of light can burn through thin steel in short bursts because the flash tube can generate such intense heat in the ruby. There’s a garnet called neodymium yttrium aluminium which produces a continuous beam of light. This occurs because it uses less power to operate than a ruby laser and it can be cooled by water. It’s used generally as a drill. The first laser was built in 1960 and people have been researching laser guns since that time all over the world. But still they haven’t come up with the death-ray machine everyone’s after.’
‘If I could remember a quarter of what you told me I’d be happy,’ I told her. ‘Do you realise what would happen if such a weapon fell into the wrong hands. Imagine if Menel decided to auction it to a number of buyers.’
‘He told you he wanted to preserve a decent and safe life for his children and grandchildren… the whole family.’
‘That’s what he said but can anyone believe him? It sounded very much like bull-shit to me.’
‘Jason… we haven’t any choice!’ She was becoming very desperate into trying to win me over.
I shook my head slowly. ‘Without the plans of the laser prototype, it hardly matters whether we have a choice or not. I can understand where Menel fits in as Chief Advisor on weaponry to the 21st Century Crusaders but you haven’t explained what use Musaphia will be. What has that old man to do with all this?’
‘He’s an expert on diamonds and jewels. Rubies are used in lasers. If you get those plans he can experiment to perfect the weapon. He has a lot of expertise in that field.’
‘I’m not convinced about any of it,’ I grunted.
‘I’m sure we’ll meet him again,’ she predicted, lowering the papers to face me.
‘Not in the King David Hotel I hope,’ I rattled sharply. ‘I don’t want to go through all that again!’ I yawned and rose from the settee, walking towards the bedroom. I did not intend to look inside but the door was partly open. Beside the bed were a pair of two-tone black and white shoes of the kind that Jan wore. Very few women wore two-tone coloured shoes. As Penny collected all the papers, I stepped inside to examine them. They were size five… Jan’s size!
‘By the way,’ I asked, keeping my voice on an even keel when I returned to the lounge, ‘what size shoes do you take?’
She looked at me with a surprised expression on her face. ‘Five… why? Are you going to buy me shoes for my birthday?’
I shook my head and made a feeble excuse but I refused to accept her reply as the truth. It was too much of a coincident that both she and Jan wore two-tone black and white shoes size five. I had never seen Penny wearing them. But it was something I had to push to the back of my mind for a while. ‘I’m going to visit John Packman at the weaponry division,’ I told her. Theory is one thing… practical knowledge is another. I have to see this weapon for myself.’
‘It might be a good opportunity to learn the rules and the layout of the division while you’re there,’ she advised.
‘Rules, I echoed. ‘What rules?’
‘You won’t get past the main gate without a pass. You’ll have to get that from Packman. Then there’s a procedure before you can get to the area you want to visit. That laser gun is very well guarded as you’ll find out.’
‘I’m not interested in the gun itself. Where are the plans kept?’
‘There are two sets on microfilm. One of them locked away in the Chairman’s office. The other’s in a safe in the factory.’
I stared at her icily. ‘And you know the combination of the safe, I suppose.’
No, I don’t. The plans are also on the computer system. It’s a special programme but access is restricted and it requires a double password. Packman has one of the passwords, I have no idea who has the other one. There’s also another problem. You might find your way into the computer system but, for the purposes of security the weaponry division has a separate computer completely independent of the main system. To work on that one, in order to crack the passwords, you’d have to break into the security zone itself.’