Tribal Knowledge: Part One

By Jonathan Avery

A government physicist and a humanities professor become entangled within mysteries that surround the local crash site of an unknown aircraft.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Avery
• Release date: Dec 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005700706

Jonathan Avery

Born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1984.A cybersecurity engineer who has worked in San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta.I enjoy fishing, movies, animals, and computers.Currently living in West Palm Beach with my two cats: Milo and Bridget.

Book preview

Tribal Knowledge: Part One

Written by Jonathan C. Avery

Edited by Valerie I. Naftaniel

Chapter One: Richard

Richard, known to his friends as Richy, wasn’t always the most adventurous one in the group, but he was the eyes and ears they needed to stay out of trouble. He was 35 years old, and acted as the conscience and safety officer when his friends Bill and Jon snuck into the local nursing home that had been abandoned years before, due to hurricane damage. He was the cautious one during illegal street races, when Sean would do burnouts in his infamous 1992 red Ford Ranger, and during a ghost tour in Key West, he was the outspoken skeptic. As the ghost tour guide passed around a very blurry, very grainy photograph, she explained that this apparition haunted the building for many years. It was obvious that nobody in the entire group could see anything conclusive in the photo. Richy scoffed, and aggressively pointed out several possible causes for the phenomena in the photo, in an effort to debunk it. He was sick and tired of cities trying to profit off of any little bit of doubt about the afterlife. The guide was still confident, and handed them another, even more grainy photo. Sean said to Richy Still a skeptic? He was repeating the guide’s own words to mock the absurdity of the situation. The guys all burst into laughter, high-fived each other, then continued on with the tour.

Richy was also a fan of Manga. He had recently taken a trip to Japan to immerse himself in the culture. He wanted to educate himself, so he could speak knowledgeably on the topic.

He was as passionate about his professional career as he was about his hobbies. His interests and his career also shared the great potential depth of knowledge and expertise Richard craved. As a life-long learner, he strived to understand every facet and perspective of each topic he targeted. During his time at Zurlo Labs, a prestigious and federally-funded scientific laboratory known for its history of cutting-edge aerospace inventions and discoveries, Richard quickly rose to the top of the ranks. He was a very well respected and intelligent experimental physicist. One of his most recognized breakthroughs was in the realm of biological aging control.

In his peer-reviewed research publication, Richard defined Bio-Aging control as the concept in which living organisms can be manipulated at the cellular level, slowing down the aging process, and in turn, creating an environment in which time doesn’t affect biology. In his published experiment, Richard placed a hamster and some plants inside a glass bell dome, and surrounded it with special magnets that he had invented. Each magnet had a concentrator wrapped in copper wire which focused electromagnetic energy directly at the specified target area. The electromagnetic field created an environment in which the cells could not function at the normal rate. Another hamster and bell dome were also set up, but without the magnets. After 30 days of the hamsters living and feeding within the domes, scientific measurements were taken, blood was drawn, and conclusions were made. The magnetized hamster and plants had aged more slowly than the non-magnetized display. This astonished the general public, and even some researchers within the scientific community, but it didn’t surprise Richard. He had been working toward this moment for years.

The world headquarters for Zurlo Labs was located in Arlington, Virginia, a city just southwest of Washington D.C. It was a 6-story building tucked away inside a very dense forest, and surrounded on all sides by tall security gates. There were multiple layers of defense just to get to the front door, and