Scareforce by Charles Hough Read Free Book Online Page B

uncoupled. And they expect this to take place according to the mean-time-between-failure charts and graphs generated by other
     computers that understand these computers. They expect to be able to fix these failures with the parts ordered and maintained
     by still other computers.
    Late in the night, when the last bomb run has been completed and the last missile has been launched and the last fighter has
     been avoided; when the last emergency has been solved and the last landing accomplished in spite of grievous battle damage
     and the last crew member has gone home, the technicians run their diagnostic programs and hunt for the expected problems.
     All the intelligence and scientific thought that went into this machine gives them the right to expect these things.
    What they didn’t expect to find was a ghost in the machine. But that is what happened.
    It started slowly and was not recognized for what it was for some time.
    The earliest occurrence took place after midnight in the console operations room. The room, and in fact the whole building,
     is entirely divorced from the outside. The total absence of windows prevents the occupants from determining the time or type
     of day. The carefully controlled temperature and humidity prevent any hint of what mother nature is brewing up outside. The
     hum of the machines is at first the most insistent sound and then, after acclimatization, an unnoticed background of white
     noise.
    Donaley, the mid-shift supervisor of the technician team, was seated in front of the console screen in a computer-induced
     trance. His eyes followed the random-appearing dance of alphanumerics across the screen. He was concentrating on the pattern,
     looking for the single bit that was not in step with the rest. The technician on the other side of the console squatted behind
     the open doors to the insides of the machine. He had been pulling and reseating the many computer boards to attempt to isolate
     the one that was causing the problem. He was totally hidden from Donaley’s view.
    Donaley’s concentration was interrupted by the bang of first one then the next equipment door slamming shut.
    “What’s the matter? You giving up?” He didn’t look up from the screen as he asked the question. The only answer he got was
     the third and final cabinet door slamming shut.
    “Did you pull all the boards?” asked Donaley. He rolled his chair back from the console and stretched. He had been locked
     into an uncomfortable position by his concentration. There was no answer from behind the console.
    “Hey, Ted, I asked if you pulled all the boards.” This time he raised his voice to be sure his counterpart heard him clearly.
     Still there was no reply.
    “Ted, what the hell’s the matter with you?”
    “I don’t know. What the hell’s the matter with you?”
    Donaley swung around violently in his chair. The voice came not from behind the console but from the door to the control room.
     Ted had apparently exited the room sometime earlier while Donaley was immersed in his inspection of the computer screen.
    Ted laughed at his boss’s stare and swung around the end of the console.
    “Hey, who closed all the cabinet doors?”
    Good question,
thought Donaley. He was too shaken to speak.
    On another night not too long after the first, Donaley was seated at the same console, this time wearing a communications
     headset. Another technician had drawn the midnight shift and was ensconced in the flight station going through the radio circuits
     to try and track down a reported problem.
    “Pilot, radio one check.”
    “Rog, one checks.”
    “Pilot, radio two check.”
    “Rog, two checks.”
    “Pilot, HF check.”
    “Rog, HF checks.”
    The litany was monotonous and boring, but necessary. Donaley was in the midst of what must have been the nine millionth check
     when he was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder.
    “Just a minute,” he waved the interruption off. “Let me finish this last