The Nuclear Report

This is an unusually long short story, and perhaps not worth reading. However, if you want to really know the evolution of my writing style, I would advice you to read this story, and then read some of the better off ones....

Adam stared at his PC monitor. His had clicked a picture. It took approximately two minutes to display the complete picture. At first, it would show the hair on a person?s head. Then it would slowly go down to the eyebrows. Within the first minute, the face would be displayed.

He had thought of getting rid of his computer for a long time now. It had been with him for ten years now. Three times, it got over heated. Fourteen times, the data in the computer was lost. Still, Adam kept the computer with him, for a very simple reason. It was too valuable to replace. Getting rid of it would mean getting rid of ten years of his life. However, he soon found a solution to that problem. One day, a hard ware storeowner was talking to him, when Adam casually spoke about his problem. At once, the man gave a solution. Remove the hard drives and put it into a new computer.

Three weeks later, Adam had finished the change. Now, the computer responded at the click of the mouse. Adam worked as a software expert. At the time of the replacement of his computer, he had 15 clients. Now he had 67 clients.

Soon, he began to get bored of his job. The problem was that when he had the older computer, things were done much slower. Now however, he finished a day?s work within half the time. Adam began to seek thrill. That was how he decided to hack. There were many files on the Internet, which could not be accessed without paying money. Adam changed that. He hacked into the sites and illegally downloaded software. Once, he even succeeded in ordering a movie from Amazon without paying a penny for it. Life suddenly became fun for Adam.

One day, Adam woke up late. He switched on his computer and went to eat his breakfast. He suddenly realized that he had an appointment with his doctor today. Therefore, he gulped down a cup of coffee and stuffed a few pieces of bread. He then made the computer to scan the Internet for files. However, in his hurry, Adam forgot to specify which web site to scan. That meant that the computer had the liberty to scan anyone out of the eight billion sites in the internet.

?Late again, Adam?? Dr Fuller asked as Adam entered his office. ?Please take a seat. Now, shall we continue from where we left off?? Fuller asked.

Adam had a problem. He began having strange dreams about nine months ago. It then became more serious and he even had black outs and headaches. He had decided to consult Dr. Fuller. Ever since then, he had been with Dr. Fuller.

?Well, Adam, do you still have dreams?? Fuller asked. Adam nodded his head. Just two days earlier, he had a recurring dream. ?Now Adam, I thought about your problem. And I thought,? Why not try Hypnosis. It is a great way to recollect things subconsciously?

Adam nodded his head. ?Ya sure, you are the doctor Fuller. You can do any thing you want. Just get rid of the dreams.?
?Okay now, Adam I need you to relax. Relax your muscles and mind. Be at ease. Do not think about anything. Just relax.?

It took three minutes of silence for Adam to completely relax. ?Now, let?s start out hypnotism?,? said Dr. Fuller. Back in Adam?s house, the computer was scanning the internet for files. After a while, however, the computer became stuck. Then in small letters, DECRYPTING FILE was written. It seemed that a file was protected by a very powerful password, which could only mean one thing. There was something confidential that someone was very keen on keeping secret.

?You are dreaming Adam. You are dreaming Adam. You are dreaming Adam,? Dr. Fuller kept saying. That was how Adam was going to be hypnotized. Slowly, Adam felt sleepy. Within minutes, he was laying on a bed, sub consciously listening to Dr. Fuller. ?Now, Adam, what do you see?? ?It?s dark all around. Then it is slowly becoming white, until it is bright white all around. Slowly, slowly?? ?Yes, good, Adam good, keep going?

?Slowly, I can see things. I am on top of a building, a tall building. I look down and see people. They are strangely dressed people. There are cars, small cars, fast cars, big cars, and even trucks.? ?Okay, Adam, Do you know where you are. Is there any kind of indenti-??The statue of liberty, the statue of liberty? I can see it. And I can see cars around me.?

For a moment, Dr. Fuller was confused. ?Wait, I thought that you where on top of a building?? ?Yes I am on top of a building. There are cars. There is a Ford?. a Ford Fleet, And a GMC Cortex.?

?What!? Dr. Fuller asked, confused, There were no cars called Ford Fleet or GMC Cortex in the market. Adam must have made a mistake. ?Are you sure Adam? Are you really sure?? ?Yes I am. I look down and see Starbucks coffee shop. There is a sale.? Adam smiled.

Dr. Fuller began to understand. Adam wasn?t dreaming in the present, he was dreaming about the future. Dr. Fuller was sure that there was no sale in Starbucks that morning, or for the coming month.

?I see? I see a huge tower, in the middle of smaller buildings. It has the American Flag on the top. Moreover, a huge statue was placed next to it. The statue was of a soldier

Back in Adam?s house, the file was still being decrypted. What ever the file was, it was getting very tough to open it. If the computer managed to open it, then Adam would be happy, or would he?

?I also see-?Adam said but stopped short. ?What was is that you saw Adam. Tell me.? ?What?s that?? Adam asked, fear in his voice. ?What?s what? What are you talking about?? ?Don?t you hear that noise? The?.the earth is shaking.?

In Adam?s mind, he was recollecting what had happened. The building was shaking. At first, it was a slight tremor. However, it slowly grew into a huge shake. Adam clanged onto the rails on the side of the building. Down, he could see people falling. Cars were swerving of the road. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. A petrol truck had crashed into a petrol station. The resultant explosion was deafening. Adam almost fell off the building. The shaking was increasing gradually. A few minutes later, there was another great blast. Adam looked to the road below him. On one side of the road, was a huge hole, created by a train.

?A train? But trains move underground don?t they?? Dr. Fuller asked. He was listening with absolute attention.

?The train had broken the road and made a huge hole. It was due to the earthquake. Then, then I almost fell? Arrggh? HELP?.Somebody HELP?? Adam?s sound was getting louder and louder.

Dr. Fuller did not know what to do. In a moment of haste, he snapped his fingers. Immediately, Adam came back. He was no longer hypnotized. ?You may leave, Adam, our session has ended? Adam was surprised by Dr. Fuller?s behavior. However, he went out of the room, not knowing what he had just told.

Adam returned home and rushed to his computer. ?Well, well, what do we have here? Oh, files, new files!? Adam always liked to dramatize any new file he scanned. He stared at the screen.? What! ?He cried. ?So many files. I didn?t?? then he understood. He had not specified any particular web site. He then stared at the last file name. In small letters it was written: THE NUCLEAR REPORT


Adam took a long time to open the file. Who ever had made the file had made sure that no one would be able to open it. No one except Adam that is.

However, at first he did not understand what the file was about. He sat down and read it.

ATOMIC BOMB NO: KLWE-570 IS CURRENTLY PLACED ON THE COAST OF NORTH KOREA?.

PLACEMENT: 1962
AUTO-DETONATION: 2006

?What is this about? Some joke or something?? Adam thought. He was about to delete the file when he noticed what was written on the bottom.

PROPERTY OF THE PENTAGON, ILLEGAL ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL FILES A FEDERAL LAW


?What did that mean?? Adam thought. This was Pentagon?s file. At first, Adam did not believe it. Then he looked at the last sentence?.and the whole document. It talked about atomic bomb. That could only mean one thing. Adam shivered as he thought of it. There was an atomic bomb off the coast of North Korea.

Adam called Dr. Fuller. ?Err?Doctor Fuller, could I ask you a riddle?? There was a pause. Dr. Fuller was apparently wondering what kind of a riddle Adam would possibly want to ask at 10 in the night. ?Yes why not Adam.?

?Well, I read in a book that supposes an atom bomb was placed on the coast of?.North Korea?.and it would detonate on 2006?what would happen?? Dr. Fuller was confused. ?Is this a trick question Adam?? ?No, Doctor, it is a general knowledge question.? Adam said. ?Well, I took physics when I was in university?.and I suppose?North Korea would be washed away by? either a tidal wave or by an earthquake. If it were a tidal wave?then the whole of North Korea would be washed away. However, this is a stupid question Adam. Because, Atom Bombs do not self detonate like that. Except for old bombs like?. KLWE-570?. Which is an old bomb made in the 60?s .So Adam?Hello? Adam where are you? Halloo? ?Adam didn?t feel like replying. He only said: ?Dr. Fuller, I think you come here right away.? There was something in the tone of his voice, which made Dr. Fuller grab his keys and dash towards his car.

After Adam told Dr. Fuller about the Nuclear Report, Dr. Fuller sat silent for a few minutes. Then he picked up his mobile and called Dr. Grant.

Dr. Grant was a seismologist. He had been a respected figure in America. ?Hello, Grant, its me Fuller. Could you come to ??? Twenty minutes later, Grant too sat silently for a minute. Then he asked Adam for a wet towel and a dry towel.

He placed both the towels side by side. He then raised his fist and tried to slide the wet towel. There was a raise in the towel. He then tried to raise the dry towel. This time, there was a huge raise in the towel. ?You see, the wet towel is a tectonic plate found in America and surrounding parts. The dry towel is a tectonic plate that is found near N. Korea If the atom bomb detonated near the wet towel, it would not cause much effect. However, the dry towel will easily move or even break. The plate near North Korea is that of the dry towel.?

There was silence. Adam finally broke the silence by asking,? How bad will the effect be?? Dr. Grant looked at him for a minute before replying. ?You see, near the weak plate is active magma. That means that if the weak plate cracks or moves, the magma will spill out. If, thanks to god, the magma does not spill out, then, the plates will move into one another, causing a massive earthquake. It will be felt even in New York.?

The last words of Dr. Grant had an amazing effect on Dr. Fuller and Adam. They looked at one another. They were thinking: What if the dream Adam had was this.

?But we will have to contact the Pentagon? Dr. Grant said. ?No, no we can?t.? Adam said. ?Why?? ?Because I ? I did this illegally. They could jail me for this.? Dr. Grant looked at Adam for a moment. ?So you are worried about serving 9 months in jail. Than saving millions of people, are you? This did the work. Adam left with Dr. Grant to contact the Pentagon. Before leaving, Adam told Dr. Fuller, ?Doctor, I have an encyclopedia, if you want to use it go ahead.?

Dr. Fuller was not much of a computer user, but he was amazed by the depth of the encyclopedia. He read about Psychology and the atom bomb. He even read about Hypnotism. However, when he read the last few sentences of the page he face grew pale. It was written: ?..Although it is widely believed that hypnotism can reveal dreams, Sigmund Freud proved that Hypnotism only lets the hypnotist know of the patient?s inner feeling and doings?

Dr. Fuller was confused. That morning he had hypnotized Adam and he had revealed his dream. However, the encyclopedia stated that Dreams could not be revealed in hypnotism. Then was Adam lying? , Or was he revealing what he actually experienced? It took a few minutes for Dr. Fuller to fully understand what that meant. It meant that Adam had traveled into the future.




?Listen Sir, Mr. Arnold is busy right now. He will see you in a few minutes? the secretary of Arnold told Adam, Dr. Grant and Dr. Fuller. They were in the outer office of Mr. Arnold, head of the database section of Pentagon. Arnold controlled what amount of information came in and went out of Pentagon. Adam wanted to meet a higher official, but Arnold was the only man who was available. A few minutes later, they were called into the room. ?Please have a seat,? Arnold said. Adam quickly launched his story. Ten minutes later, Arnold was looking at them baffled. ?So, you are saying that you hacked into the Pentagon and read a file called NUCLEAR REPORT? But how?? ?It doesn?t matter how. The important thing is the nuclear bomb could detonate anytime in 2006. Don?t you see, millions of people could die?

Arnold picked up the phone and dialed a number. A few minutes later, a bespectacled man named Perkins arrived. He heard the story and too was confused. ?But you can?t hack into Pentagon, Sir. It is impossible. How exactly did you find the file?? ?I found it when I scanned the internet for files. I was-?Adam stopped short. He just had a brainwave. ?Maybe-Maybe- Mr. Perkins, do you format the computers in the Pentagon??

?Yes, we do. Every four years. Why did you ask?? ?Because you see. I bought my computer from a hard ware store. In addition, they said that they had gotten it from computer centre. Could I use the phone??

Adam called Jenkins the Hardware store owner. ?Hey, Jenkins, it?s me, Adam. Jenkins, where did you get the computer you gave me. It?s just that I want to know about it.?
?Well, lets see, that was 10 years. I must be having it on the registry. Let me see? Yes, from a man named Thomas. He was from?? but Adam did not wait to listen. He hung up and asked Perkins, ?Did you have a man named Thomas who formatted computers?? ?Yes, it was a long time ago. He erased the data on the computers and then resold the computers to computer stores. However, are you telling me that the Nuclear Report was in the computer that you bought? Nevertheless, that is impossible! We completely erase all information on the computers. You could not have gotten it.?

Adam sighed and looked at every one present in the room.? You see, information is stored in 0?s and 1?s. So, when you erase data, it is rearranged, so that you cannot see it. However, when you retrieve information, the data is rearranged. Therefore, you see I lost information many a times. So I created software to retrieve information.?

Perkins looked at Adam, surprised. ?That?s stupid. We use state of the art technology to erase data. You?re explanation is baseless.? The phone rang, and Arnold picked it up.? Yes?Okay?.and ?You are sure... okay.? Arnold looked at Adam,? Sir, The FBI called. There is no Nuclear Report in your computer. They scanned your files and hard drive. You have no evidence.? ?But that?s impossible. I saw the report yesterday. It should be-?Now Adam knew what had happened. His computer must have short-circuited. ?I can prove it to you. I can retrieve the Nuclear Report.? ?Sir, we have the best computer experts scanning your computer. There is no evidence of anything.?

Arnold called the security and asked them to escort Adam, Dr. Fuller and Dr. Grant to their cells. ?Cell! What! Now are you locking us? After all, we told you. But we are telling you the truth.? ?I know, but we get many calls saying that there are bombs and earthquakes. Many, almost all the calls are fake. We cannot be sure, that you are telling the truth. You will be detained until we come to a conclusion. There will be a meeting of the heads of the pentagon, and I will raise the issue. Till then you will have to stay in your cells.?

They were escorted to their cell. There was a guard posted outside the cell. Dr. Grant asked Adam,? Now what are we going to do? We will be here until tomorrow. In addition, even if we are released they will not believe us. And you should have saved the Nuclear Report and showed it to Mr. Arnold. Adam? Adam? Tell something??

?I am going to prove to them.? Adam said. ?What are you telling about?? Adam looked at the window above him and said, ?I am going to escape.?

The next day, the guard opened the cell door and saw Dr. Fuller and Grant. However, Adam was missing. Minutes later, Arnold was informed of Adam?s escape. ?Well, inform the police. Nevertheless, do not make such a commotion. It?s not like he is a convict.?

That day, the police were informed. They half-heartedly looked for Adam. Three miles away, wrapped in a piece of cloth, Adam was walking towards a hotel. His head was filled with ideas. He was thinking: I need to get to my house. I need to prove that there really is an Atomic Bomb off the coast of North Korea and- A poor man waved a book and asked Adam if he would like to by it. ?No, no I don?t want- wait a minute, show me the book on the cover of the book was written: Golden memories of Pentagon

Adam paid for the book and checked into a hotel. In his room, he began to read about the various achievements of Pentagon. Adam was about to close the book when a small column caught his eye. A man in coat and Suit was holding a certificate along with another man. Underneath the picture was the Heading: Dixon saves millions
Neville Dixon the head of the Computers department in the Pentagon, secured a deal with ABS Computers, whereby Pentagon could sell ABS formatted computers and ABS would sell new computers to Pentagon. By securing this deal, Dixon saved millions of dollars. As tribute, the new office in the computers department will be named Dixon?

A brainwave struck Adam. Of course, now it made perfect sense to him. The deal was secured in 1960, and ABS would get the computers. That meant that the Nuclear Report was in one of the computers. Which was the site from which the nuclear report was downloaded? Yes, now Adam remembered it. It was from abs.com. Adam closed the book and went out of the room. Tonight, he thought, I am going to get the Nuclear Report.



The guard locked the main entrance and went away. Adam came out of a bush and unlocked the door. He then went into one of the rooms. But it was only when he opened the room that he understood the magnitude of his task. He wanted to find the Nuclear Report. It was in one of the computers at ABS. However, which one? There were hundreds of computers in the building. If he were to search each one of them, it would take days. Adam decided to do something crazy.

All night he worked. In the morning, the guard opened the door and walked around the building. What he saw made him faint. The computers were all connected together. In addition, there were many wires tangled in between. The guard quickly called the police and the manager. An hour later, the manager understood what had happened. Some one had connected the computers together and scanned the hard drive. Apparently, the thief had not found what he was looking for, and had left the wires as it was. The manager was overjoyed. For months, he had thought of connecting the computers together. The thief had taken the pains to do it. And what was better, it did not cost a penny.

In his hotel, Adam sat in front of his laptop. He was reading the Nuclear Report again. He had gotten the report, but no one had noticed it is loss (since no one knew that it was there). He was wondering what to do next. He could go to Pentagon with the Report but no one would believe him. He could hear a man sing: Do what is necessary, what ever it maybe, for a man?s got to do, what a man?s got to do. Adam was going to do what was necessary.

The police later on tracked Adam to being within three Kilometers of Wal-Mart store. He had used his credit card to purchase a computer, satellite receiver, cables and many more things.

In his room, Adam was doing something he had never done before. He was going to hack into a Satellite. Adam worked day and night, week after week, relentlessly. Sometimes he would not eat for a whole day. Still he kept on working. He connected wires to the ground and started jacking into the Satellite.

A month later, on day, three hundred and forty channels in the US did not receive signal from a Satellite. It was eight at night, when the maximum number of people watched the TV. Even the satellite operators did not know what was going on. They tried all the frequencies, but nothing worked. Then suddenly, they received transmission. However, they received transmission of a sea. People later on identified it as the Sea of Japan. The satellite zoomed into the coast of North Korea. Slowly people could see something coming into focus. The video switched into heat sensing. Now people around the world could see fish moving. However, there was also something stationary. It looked like a ?.

A voice was now speaking to every one on earth. ?People? that missile like structure you see now in your television screens are an Atomic Bomb. It was placed there by US military during 1960. If not removed as soon as possible, it may explode and millions of people may die.? The voice stopped narrating. Moreover, satellite transmission came on again. News Anchors around the world now spoke about what was going on. The anchor on BBC was speaking so fast that the camera operator had to reduce the speed of the camera.

Things quickly came into focus. World leaders discussed what should be done and A US NAVY ship was given entry into the Sea of Japan to diffuse the bomb. People began to gossip. Who was it that was talking? How was he able to control the satellite?

For the next 24 hours, news channels were pouring out information. The next day, newspapers recorded a massive increase in the sales of newspapers (some even had to print extra copies.)

Then the president of US made a statement in which he said that the Atom bomb would have exploded if it were not diffused in time. And it was suspected that the satellite was controlled by a man named CHRISTOPHER ADAM. Police were on the lookout for this man he said.

However, how much ever the police searched, they could not find Adam. They searched his hotel room, but found no trace of him. Dr. Fuller gave information that baffled the police. He said: I think Adam must have traveled in time to the future. The police ridiculed him, but the fact remained that they had not found Adam. Within months, hundreds of awards were conferred on the missing Adam. People from all over the world sent flowers to Adam?s hometown.

Far away, lost in time, two rescue workers were looking for survivors under a collapsed building. There was a major earthquake in which New York City had collapsed and rescue workers from other cities were asked to help. The two workers found a man?s hand sticking out from the wreckage. ?Hey Joey, who?s this?? one of the workers asked. ?Well, these people here say that this man saved them from a falling bricks-??and got killed in the process didn?t he?? asked the other. ?Yes that?s what happened.? They observed the people who were saved. They were two women and three little girls. ?He saved five lives didn?t he?? one of them asked. ?Yes he did. He should be given an award. Well, all that we can do is bury him now.? Therefore, they buried Christopher Adam, not knowing that they were burying the man who saved millions, a man who was forever going to be remembered as Adam the savior.