The workbench was covered with vacuum tubes, tools, wire, screws and one large oscilloscope. Using a soldering iron, Bev was adding the last few parts to the chassis that held the device together. She sighed deeply as a stubborn part was refusing to be soldered. Finally, a wisp of smoke and the solder flowed into the joint. “That’s it, you little bugger!”
Bev had been working for nearly 12 hours straight. She had to focus, but found her mind wandering a bit, thinking about Ray. She imagined him holding her as he had in the surf. She just couldn’t get it out of her mind, how she felt. At once, excited, safe and nervous. She felt an upwelling of emotion she had never felt before. She was normally so cool and controlled. This feeling was both delicious and frightening. What if he didn’t feel the same? She didn’t dare think of confessing to him.
At last it was nearly time for the “smoke test”. In electronics, that is the first time a newly designed and built device is powered on. Bev hit the switch on the power supply. Tubes began to glow. No smoke, great! “Well, except for the smoke coming out of my body of course.” she joked to herself. Ray did stir her physically, no doubt about that. The feeling was strong and unmistakable.
Now power off, connect the signal generator. This is a unit that feeds a known tone or modulated signal into her circuitry, attenuates it until it is barely detectable, adds noise or interference, and then allows her to see how well her circuitry recovers it. She connected the cables, powered up the signal generator.
The results were not quite what she wanted, but it was a start. She spent the rest of the day making minor changes and testing. slowly, she got it to work on the test signal. By turning down the gain, the signal generator could somewhat simulate a weak signal.
She unbuttoned Ray’s shirt, ran her hands over his chest, feeling every bump and ripple. She looked at him. He was already looking at her. “I’ve got to stop this, I’ll never finish!” She chuckled at the unintentional pun. She felt warm somehow.
Next step was to try it on an intercepted Japanese transmission, recorded on an engraved disc. This was something like a phonographic record, but a more versatile version used by the military during World War II.
You can record a signal and play it back on the same device. Bev used canned recordings of intercepted Japanese transmissions to further test her device.
For several days, Bev tested and modified her device. It was starting to work! The transmissions were coming through clearer and easier to transcribe. Her device could not recover more than the original receiver, but she could at least test its ability to clean up what the original receiver captured. With any luck, it could do even better against a real live signal.
Ray came to the lab. “How is it going in here?” Bev heaved a sigh, “It’s working somewhat, but I need to test it against a real signal.” Ray looked at her. Even in her dungarees, smelling of solder, she was adorable. “Hang in there, you’ll get it.” Bev looked up at him. As their eyes met, neither looked away.
The lab was built for highly classified work. Very few people had access. The lab was soundproof, to prevent eavesdropping. The main door to the lab was the only access, and it had a bolt on the inside to prevent unauthorized access when particularly sensitive work was being done. Bev’s device was just such a project, so they had been keeping the door bolted. When bolted, a sign saying “No access” appeared on the outside.
In the back of the lab, there was a nap room. Inside, there were just a couple of single beds and little else. Long hours in the lab often meant sleeping at odd times.
Without a word, Bev took Ray by the hand. She stood up and pulled him toward the back of the lab. She was going for broke, she decided. Ray did not resist. She walked backward for a moment, gauging his face. He looked calm and just a little nervous. She saw nothing to stop her. They both knew where this was going.