“I think we need a pressurized environment and we need to place a few subjects out for five days and conduct a successful wake-up. If we need a couple of other people in the test area to monitor events and manually change bags of SF016, I don't care. We've shown we can automate the process. In honesty I don't care if it's all held together with duct tape,” Fitch stated.

Cowan smiled. “The main sleep chamber can be pressurized; all we need to do is remove the covers from five of the capsules and shut down the computer systems in those capsules. We can monitor everything from the main computer in the chamber. The SF016 will need to be handled differently, and we'll need staff in there. However, it should be no problem. We won't need to deal with waste management; there will be no output in such a short test. The individual capsules will serve as nothing more than a bed. If you can get the five test subjects and they all check out medically, we can start on Monday.”

Fitch knew disbelief must be written on his face. “You already had this figured out?”

“It came to me last night after I talked to you. By now they probably have the cover doors off the five capsules and the individual capsules systems tied into the main computer.” Cowan answered with a grin.

Chapter Thirteen

DAY 932

Stanley Waldorf and Tony Jackson walked into the Midnight Lounge and took seats near the back of the dark, smoke-filled bar. The smell of stale beer was heavy in the air.

Stanley had picked the Midnight Lounge for this meeting since he'd never been there in the past and probably wouldn't be seen by anyone who knew him. He only needed ten seconds in the building to decide he'd never be back again.

The out-of-the-way seats they'd chosen helped ensure their conversation would remain unheard and Waldorf positioned himself so he could see anyone approaching.

Whenever anyone came close, he would signal Tony, and their conversation stopped.

These two men had never socialized in the past; in fact, they had no use for one another. Waldorf had tried unsuccessfully, about a year before, to have Jackson fired from NASA for an inappropriate act he and his girlfriend had been caught engaged in on NASA grounds during work hours. Unfortunately, today the two men had things they had to discuss.

The Deputy Director spoke first. “We need to discuss this comet situation.”

Jackson nodded. “I know, I can't stop thinking about this and the fact that it's still being kept from the public.”

Waldorf continued. “I agree, it's not right to keep this kind of thing a secret. I know Williams was at the Pentagon for a few days last month and I know there are some people here working on a solution. But people need to know this; the government isn't supposed to keep something like this from the people.”