4 JULY 1940

US NAVY SHIPYARD

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

An entire area of the shipyards had not only been closed off but, giant frames were erected and then covered with tarps so that no one could see what was going on. It was not quite full proof but, even a careful observer would be unable to see any one thing that might give away the nature of the work going on here. As Leslie Groves waited by the entrance, to the secured area, he thought about all of that. Just having this much security was drawing unwanted attention that, no doubt, foreign spies had already detected. Naturally, the FBI was constantly checking out the surrounding areas and looking for signs of suspicious activity. They had already sent in a report that some suspicious Japanese were trying to buy a building that had a commanding view of the area.

Groves found the Bureau’s report to be somewhat dubious. To them, anybody with oriental features was suspicious and that included those who carried American passports. It was not that Leslie had reason to doubt their threat assessment. He just sometimes wondered if Hoover’s boys might miss some Caucasian spy, and Nazi’s were very Caucasian, because they were too busy checking out the little Asian kid who was trying to buy a box of Cracker Jacks at the corner store.

He knew it was not his real concern but, Groves was a details man and he could not help himself. To him, everything was important and that was what made him a good engineer. Over the years he had slowly discovered that this, also, unfortunately, made him indispensable to the powers that be. That was why he got assignments like his last one. That was the act of building the war department’s new home down in Arlington. It was also, probably, why he got reassigned to this project before the work had even really gotten started on the last. Leslie might have been used to getting bounced around by the army but, that did not mean he had to like it.

It also meant that, on an evening when he should have been out enjoying fireworks, he was stuck at this navy yard, waiting in the rain, for others who would just interrupt his work even more than they already had. The only good news was that, at least this time, his VIP’s had the courtesy of being punctual. Quite often that was not the case. When they arrived, at the check point, Groves waved them past the guards. He knew these two men by sight and did not wish to waste any more of his time as they went through the lengthy check in procedure. Groves also wanted to get in out of the rain.

Earnest Littlefield was all smiles as he shook hands with the army Colonel and introduced his tag along, “you’ve met Doctor Jones, I take it?”

Groves remained glum as he also shook hands with the archeologist, “he wouldn’t be here if I didn’t Doctor Littlefield.” Groves waved for the men to follow as they began walking back towards the carrier that was now tied up alongside the pier with all of the railroad tracks on it. Currently a few cars, most notably an extra long flatbed, was parked on the tracks. A giant stationary crane, normally used for loading cargo containers on freighters, was working over the cars.

Indy saw the work but he was commenting more about what he had just seen while coming in, “impressive security you guys have in place.”

“That’s just what you can see Doctor Jones,” Groves told him. “FDR isn’t pulling out any stops on this one.”

“Not exactly what I was thinking colonel,” Jones replied. “I was just thinking that all the fuss might draw some unwanted attention, that’s all.”

Groves gave a side glance at the man and smiled. The army colonel found himself impressed. None of the other brainy types, assigned to this project, had even given security a second thought. Jones had just gained a certain amount of respect with Groves. That was why the colonel actually responded to his statement, “yes it does. That means the best we can do is misinformation. We’ve been spreading rumors with the civilian dock workers, even some of the military personnel, and especially with the people who live nearby, that we’re doing experiments with a giant magnet. I’m hoping any spies might draw their own conclusions and think we’re working on some device that will defeat naval mines.”

Littlefield actually giggled. He thought this deception plan quite clever, “I bet you even gave it a name.”

“Of course,” Groves stated. “We’ve been generating phony official reports and been stamping it with a letterhead that calls all this, The Philadelphia Experiment.”

The three men stopped at the railroad tracks where they could get a better look at the on going work. A giant crate was being lifted off the flatbed railcar. It’s obvious destination, if it followed the cranes railing system, was the flight deck of the USS Enterprise. Groves did not bother to tell them what was in the crate since he was aware that they already knew. Instead, he just commented, “when we get it up there we’ll be lowering it to the hangar deck via one of the aircraft elevators.”

Once again, Indy had to admire the thought that went in to all of this. Apparently Groves did not miss a trick. Even the timing was well calculated. When better to actually make the move than on a night like this, when most casual observers would be looking for fireworks as opposed to some boring crate sitting in a navy yard? It really made Indy doubt his co-conspirators appraisal of the situation.

Naturally, Jones had to count Mitchell’s unique knowledge but, Indy was a historian and Cam Mitchell was not. What the future man did not seem to grasp was that just because someone lacked machine power did not necessarily mean that they lacked capability. All it really meant, in the end, was the amount of labor might increase but, the end outcome would remain the same.

Littlefield watched the slow moving crane with some wonder, “will it actually fit down the elevator? We had some doubts about that.”

“We made sure we had plenty of room Doctor,” Groves replied. He then went on to explain, “getting it to the platform is the least of our problems right now.”

Indy looked to the colonel, “platform?”

It was Earnest who replied, “the cradle they built for it on the hangar deck. Colonel Groves did quite the job. It has this sort of locking mechanism on the sides, an automated roller system to turn the inner ring, and most importantly of all it’s tied directly into the ships electrical plant with a high powered capacitor system.”

Groves waved that part off, “that was mostly Rickover’s doing. That guy knows his stuff when it comes to electricity. That’s not the part that concerns me though.”

Indy had to ask, “then what does?”

Groves almost laughed as he replied, “if all that will even work. We can do wonders with this ship, we built it after all. The cradle and platform were easy enough. It was probably one of the easiest things I’ve built in years and that includes all the strange requests that went into it. The problem is that thing right up there,” Groves pointed to the crate. “We don’t have a clue how it works. For all we know, when we turn on the juice, it’s going to blow out every generator on that ship.”

Ernest smiled with a certain amount of pride, “that’s what we’re for Colonel. The work on that end is progressing.”

Groves did not seem convinced, “yes I read the metallurgical report from Bell Labs. I’m afraid I don’t find them as optimistic as you do, Doctor.”

That was something that Indy had not heard of. He looked to Earnest who then quickly went over the basics, “we tested some samples from the rock like core of the device. Our information said it’s called Naquada.”

Indy blinked, “that’s the name of a pre-dynastic culture in ancient Egypt. How did you come by that name?”

Both Groves and Earnest shrugged the question off. They obviously did not know. Littlefield went on with what he did, “I didn’t think it was as important as what they found out about it down at Bell. They’d never seen the likes of anything like it. It’s ability to store energy is unbelievable.”

“It’s not the storing part that bothers me,” Groves added. “Tell him what happened Doctor.”

Earnest stumbled around, “they didn’t have all the information and that is what…”

Groves interrupted and told Jones point blank, “they had a shaving about the dimension of a fingernail. They got it charged up all right and when they tried to reverse the polarity, to get a discharge, they blew up the room it was in, the ones on either side, and then half the hallway past that.”

Earnest sulked, “a few people were hurt but, luckily no one was killed.”

Groves let out a short bark of a laugh as he replied to that, “I don’t call that lucky. We also have more than a fingernail up there.”

Earnest quickly replied, “and like I told the President, the mineral core is not the only part of that device. It has a mechanism as well. It’s obvious that a part of that mechanisms function is to regulate the release of energy and channel it into the devices primary function.”

“Obvious,” Groves rolled his eyes, “that means you don’t really know Doctor. That’s been my point all along. We obviously don’t have a clue how that thing really works. For all we know we could take out half of Philadelphia if we turn it on.”

“And,” Earnest added, “that’s why we’ll be well out to sea when we turn it on.”

“You mean if,” Groves replied, “you turn it on. Personally I’ve been asking myself, since I was told about this madness, if we really should.”

Indy just listened to the two men debate. He found it quite interesting as well. Earnest had been dealing with the Stargate since they first found it over ten years ago. Doctor Langford trusted him, valued his work but, had held back with the guy and now Indy could see why. Earnest was a true believer.

Earnest was aware that Indy had been involved with the gate ever since Langford had requested that the government get it out of Egypt. What Earnest Littlefield had not known was exactly how deeply Indy had been involved. Keeping Earnest ignorant of the details had also been Langford’s decision. Indy had never questioned it. Mitchell had never even questioned it. Now Indy counted that as a good thing.

Of course, it was likely that none of what Earnest knew would have ever been important had that mystery guest not come flying through the gate last year. That had been the event that suddenly thrust all of this to the forefront. It was not only because this kid, whoever he was, had given them valuable information on how to operate the gate. In many ways it was simply because his arrival proved that the thing worked, and was what Earnest had always claimed it to be.

The event had only excited Earnest that much more. Now Indy could see that Langford’s reservations were well founded. Earnest Littlefield was obsessed with it. Indy could imagine that this obsession was also to the point of recklessness. Ernie was willing to turn that thing on no matter what the consequences might be. Littlefield’s thirst for knowledge might be admirable in some ways but, as Indy had seen many examples of over the years, there were some stones best left unturned. It was a lesson that Earnest needed to learn in spades and, unfortunately, there was no way to teach it to him now. Like with anyone else, he would have to learn that lesson on his own. Indiana feared that such a lesson might cost others way too much though.

A few hours later they were all standing out of the rain and on the hangar deck of the Enterprise. The crate had been moved away from the elevator that was already rising back to the flight deck. Above the crate was yet another railing system that had a trolley attached. Two giant clamps were hanging down from that trolley and just waiting for the sailors to open the crate.

The side panels fell away first and, for the first time ever, Indiana Jones got his first good look at their doorway to heaven. He had seen parts of it but, it had always been packed for shipping. He had seen photographs of it but, that could not do it justice. Now, standing here on the Enterprise, he examined the entire thing with his own eyes. He took off his fedora and held it to his side as he took in every detail of the giant ring. He noted the symbols on the inner track, the very ones he had been working with photos of for some time. He looked at the nine chevrons that were positioned around the diameter of the device. His jaw fell open and the only words he could manage were, “holy cow.”

If Indy’s demeanor was one of reverence, Earnest acted more like a kid on Christmas morning. He was quite jumpy and smiling like an idiot as he said, “now do you see what I’m talking about Indy?”

Even Groves, a professional pessimist, could not help but look in wonder. He rubbed his chin as he examined the gate and he had to admit, “that is something.”

Earnest was particularly happy to hear that. He poked the colonel and said, “told you so.”

Groves shook his head in resignation, “just because it’s a wonder doesn’t alleviate my concerns Doctor. In fact, it is having quite the opposite effect.”

“How so,” asked Earnest.

“Well,” Groves said as he let out a deep breath, “now that I’ve seen it for myself this is no longer some theoretical fairy tale.” Groves noted the strange looks he was getting so it summed it up for them, “to put it simply, I’m no longer worried. Now I’m just scared shitless.”