Metafire

Chapter 19 The Hard Disk

Jack and Jill arrived with their computer booty in the early evening. Ferguson had arranged a high security entourage of two Marines and selected FBI personnel. No Los Alamos personnel were allowed, but Major Henderson was in fact present by the morning.

On coming in to the room, the Major beamed, "Congratulations. So, that's the computer I've heard about. I don't think it's going to work if you plug it in!"

"No. But I can take out the hard disk." Jill had arranged to have a toolbox in the room and was rustling through it. She had opened up DEC Alpha's on a number of occasions. "In the next couple of hours we expect to have a team in from DEC that can inspect the unit and suggest possible courses of action."

"By the way, I have personally briefed the President on the situation here." The Major wanted everybody to understand, "he would like to know the status, one way or another, as soon as we know it. It's the reason I'm here, actually."

Ferguson was watching Jill disassemble the Alpha, and then looked up at the Major, "it could take several days, Major. We have to be careful not to destroy what we want to read. If the disk head crashes, it could take out all the data we want on the disk in a fraction of a second."