Interlude Eleven point One, Exploring and Repairing the Eagles' Nest
After exploring the EAGLES' Nest, the heroes came to the
rather unfortunate realization that they had no easy way out,
and likewise no easy way back in.
From the console, someone could manually open the various security doors,
but how could they lock them behind them? The heroes didn't seem
inclined to let IPAC in whenever they felt like it.
Eventually, the White Knight found a temporary solution. Near the
entrance at the warehouse, the tunnel had split, but the heroes had
not investigated it. The maps indicated that this was an underwater
entrance that let out about 12 meters down into the James River.
Best of all, IPAC didn't know about it. The White Knight also
found that the doors to the submarine pen were still functional,
and when those were closed, the Nest was secure from a casual
invasion by IPAC.
Getting in and out was therefore not a problem for the Wanderer, if he
didn't mind getting damp. Fervor and the White Knight could
borrow SCUBA gear for the short term.
* * *
The Wanderer and the White Knight found themselves back at the
Nest fairly quickly, and working to get the base functional.
The Wanderer's ability to survive underwater was a great help in
getting a patch on the hole in the vehicle dome, and once that was
in place, the pumps were able to clear out the dome fairly
quickly. There were a number of vehicles in the dome, but all
had suffered by their extended immersion and would require repair
work.
The White Knight concentrated on the security issues, and made
an interesting discovery. The security systems and access cards
were all coded to sigma radiation. He found a store of unactivated
cards and was able to make up a few for the heroes. The cards,
when activated, had biometric sensors, and if the user was validated,
delivered a small pulse of coded sigma radiation. They also functioned
as small but highly efficient scrambled radiophones. With the cards,
the heroes were able to make use of the tunnel by the warehouse
until they decided what to do with it.
They also discovered that Overlord's sub had aboard it a strange
device, that extended on a flexible pole, something like a periscope,
and had a broadcast dish attached to it. The White Knight's curiosity
was aroused, but he was not able to immediately fathom the purpose
of the device.
Last Updated 12 February 2001
