“I know. There’s a lot to the process. The important part is that it's working well, and we're progressing faster here than any of us had even hoped,” James explained.

“How long until this chamber is complete?”

“Another nine months at least. We've got lots of testing to do. Also, the systems for monitoring the sleepers aren't installed yet. The chamber across the hall will be about a month behind this one by that point. Then we'll work on the smaller chambers upstairs. Also, we were just told there needs to be a sleeper chamber for livestock down in the pit. They just started tunneling that one out. Half of my technical staff has returned to our facility in Arizona to conduct testing of the sleep process on animals. If we aren't careful, this place could turn into the next Noah's Ark.”

RJ was confused and asked, “What's the pit?”

“Come on, I'll show you.”

They walked out to the main tunnel and turned to the left. A short distance down the tunnel they came to a massive opening in the floor. Cowan walked across to a palm reader and placed his hand firmly on its surface. “Good morning, Mr. Cowan. The elevator is ascending” a mechanical voice announced.

It was almost a full minute before the large circular platform rose into a position flush with the roadway in the tunnel.

“Step on the platform,” Cowan ordered, and RJ stepped on. Cowan placed his palm on the reader again. “Good morning, Mr. Cowan. The elevator is descending.”

Cowan stepped onto the platform as it began a slow descent into the pit. “There will also be a normal elevator; it's supposed to be operational in a few weeks,” he explained.

The descent was quite slow, but when they finally reached the bottom, RJ was amazed at the size of the area. It was probably around twenty times the size of a football field. The ceilings had to be close to fifty feet above the floor. Most of the area she could see was finished. Steel walls and floors were in place, and the lights were mostly hung. Behind them, a group of men were carving a new tunnel off the back of the room.

“This area will be partitioned off, once it's determined where everything will be kept down here,” Cowan explained.

“So, this is all storage.”

“Correct. The list of everything that will be put into storage for you keeps growing. This room will be very full.”

“Looks good. Is that where the animal chambers will be going?” RJ asked, pointing to the tunnel under construction.

“Yes, it'll be about the size of one of the large chambers upstairs, but a single level.” They stepped aboard the platform, and it began to rise.

RJ returned to the command center and found Fitch.

“How long will you be with us RJ?” the General asked.