Mystery Of The Mist At Cyan Mountain

By T. J. Judah

After their exploits in 'Cherry-1 A Combat Controllers Tale,' R.J. and Cherry are settling into normal life.  He, in his engineering work at the electronics factory and She, at her children's clinic.  They have one young son, Douglas.

 

The peace and tranquility of this relatively unknown and unassuming community was about to change with the shock wave of a single .22 caliber bullet shot into the side of an otherwise innocuous looking hillside.

 

No strangers to mysteries and challenges, the team of Jansen and Company must now unravel the 'Mystery of the Cyan Super Storm,' one that vaults them into a whole new arena of problem solving.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.J. Judah
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224751815

T. J. Judah

The author has a BA and MS in Business Management and is married with two daughers and six grandchildren.  He is retired from Federal Service with the FAA.   He enjoys life with his bride of fifty years and their energetic Yorkie.

Book preview

Introduction

After their exploits in ‘Cherry-1 A Combat Controllers Tale,’ R.J. and Cherry are settling into normal life.  He, in his engineering work at the electronics factory and She, at her children’s clinic.  They have one young son, Douglas.

They have settled in RJ’s hometown of Pine Creek, where he grew up with his parents Dan and Martha Jansen, and his siblings Tom two years younger and Lanora two years older.

Dan is retired from Foreign Service; he and Martha own and operate the Lazy J restaurant.  Tom fly’s commercial airliners and is currently single.  Lanora is married to Darren and they have two youth age daughters.  He works for an Oil field / Chemical company and she is a CPA that does local resident’s taxes on an annual basis. 

The town of Pine Creek is located in middle America and would be characterized as a sleepy sort of mundane no-nonsense community of about ten thousand people give or take a few after College and High School graduations. 

The peace and tranquility of this relatively unknown and unassuming community was about to change with the shock wave of a single .22 caliber bullet shot into the side of an otherwise innocuous looking hillside.

No strangers to mysteries and challenges, the team of Jansen and Company must now unravel the ‘Mystery of the Cyan Super Storm,’ one that vaults them into a whole new arena of problem solving.  

The situation develops when a strange malady has come upon a few local boys of the community, first their sight is affected when everything they see is through a blue misty fog.  Then their health begins to deteriorate rapidly. 

When one of the youngsters abruptly passes away from the symptoms, they find themselves in a race against time to save the others, discover the source of the problem, and stop it before any others are affected. 

Chapter One

Bobby and the Professor

Bobby is a curious twelve-year-old and entertains himself by riding his bicycle around the college campus in their small middle American town.  The campus is beautiful with old oak trees lining the road ways.  The sidewalks were wide and level, he loved to cycle around in the evenings when there was not much foot traffic or other activity. 

The college is nestled in a small valley just on the edge of town and is surrounded by trees and small hills.  The attractive landscape is pristine and attracts students from many communities in the region.  Many of the graduates choose to stay and reside in the local area and work in one of several industries that have chosen to locate there due to the high quality of life. 

It has several majors including medical, engineering, educational, administrative, business, and a Reserve Officer Training chapter (ROTC). 

Bobby has made a friend in Professor Alfred Cook.  Professor Cook has a PHD in electronic and electrical engineering and like most college professors has a multitude of experimental projects going on.  Sometimes his projects eventually get made into products or processes for chemical design and development, or for medical devices.  He also has some pet projects that are just for fun.  One of the Professors pet projects has caught the eye of young Bobby and he intends to investigate further. 

Dr. Cook first caught the attention of young Bobby when one evening while he was cycling around the campus.  He spied Dr. Cook having his evening meal.  It was all spread out on one the benches next to the walkway.  He was also studying a printout of a design schematic of his new and very complex project.

Hey, what’re you looking at there, Professor? 

Ah...well it’s part of my design for a project I’m working on.

It looks really interesting, what is it? said Bobby.

Ah...well, I’m not really ready to discuss it with anyone just yet.

Well, I can see the title of it right there.  It says it’s a time machine.  Is that true?

Ah...well I just had to name it something, so I named it that. 

Oh, my name is Bobby, I’m twelve and I’m interested in science stuff.  Can I learn more about your project?  I saw you through the window one night.  You were working late on something that made a lot of noises and flashing lights. 

Yes, my name is Dr. Alfred Cook, I’m a professor of electrical and electronics engineering here at the college.

Yes, said the Prof, I was working late one evening on this project.  The apparatus is located in the basement of the Engineering building.  The whirring and clunking sounds and flashing lights are what attracted you to the window, presumably to see what might be the source of such a wonder. 

Bobby had gazed in amazement as the machine seemed to cycle through a series of processes and chime sounds when each process was done and was moving on to the next one. 

Lying down on the ground he was looking in the window and watched Professor Cook as he was working some experiment. 

Hey Professor, I just wanted to know what that machine is supposed to be doing?

Over time Bobby and the Professor became good friends.  Both were curious about the same kinds of things.  They got along quite well.

The Professor was a middle-aged man, medium build, blond hair, almost boyish looking for a forty-five-year-old.  His buttoned-down look with white shirts, ties, and suspenders, accentuated his overwhelming presence, yet he had an abundance of time for his young protégé in young Bobby, who he was trying to entice into the field of molecular electronics, successfully I might add. 

They were working on a field of study that concerned making electronic devices smaller and smaller to fit into miniature devices. 

The machine is doing a series of calculations.  The idea is to ionize matter, put a time switch on the blob, the blob is what I call the molecular mass when it’s been ionized.  I set the time switch with a complicated algorithm that sends the blob to somewhere different in time and geographic location.  When the timer is done the blob recombines and a new time switch starts for the return trip.  It’s all encoded in the DNA of the molecules.

What, exclaimed young Bobby, It’s a time machine then isn’t it?  Oh, wow Prof, does it really work?

Well...not exactly, said the Professor.  I’ve been able to ionize some matter into a blob" but the next sequence seems to be a bit off.  So far, I’ve sent my assistants Begonia plant, a box of tissues, a shovel, and a phone book into the nether sphere, but so far nothing has made the return trip. 

Some cave man in the past may be getting deliveries that will really advance his life. And also making other local cave dwellers very jealous that he has a brand-new shovel and something to wipe his runny nose with.  His mate might actually think he’s pretty tech savvy...or a wizard or something magical.  Anyway...I can make some stuff disappear but that’s about it. 

What the Professor didn’t know was that his crafty lab assistant Sally Anderson was actually swiping the items out of the chamber when the lights flashed.  She planned on returning them after the semester was over.

Neither the Professor or Bobby knew that little secret and the crafty lab assistant was not about to ruin the fun. 

One afternoon Bobby stopped by after school to see how the science project was coming along.  Hey Professor can I see it work? Said Bobby.   

Sure, said the Professor.  Just don’t touch anything.

Bobby and Dr. Cook went down to the basement and Dr. Cook explained how all the dials and switches worked and what sequence was required to make it work.  Bobby soaked it all in like a sponge.

Thanks, Professor, I’ve got to get home now or I’ll be late for dinner.

Bobby stored that information away under ... this could be useful in the future tab.

He cycled home and rushed into to tell his mother Jamie about all his new adventures.  Jamie was struggling with putting dinner on the table and was distracted and emotional.  Bobby caught aback with her unusual demeanor inquired. 

Mom...Mom what’s the matter?  What’s going on?

Jamie collapsed to the floor and sobbed quietly.  Bobby tried to console her but it was no use.  He searched the house for his father to no avail. 

Mom...where’s dad? Again, he asked, Where’s dad and where is Danny?

Jamie struggling to speak, They’re at the hospital.  Your brother Danny is dead.  That’s all I know.

Bobby staggered back into a corner and slumped down to the floor.  Danny was his older brother and was his mentor on everything boys should get into.  What had Danny gotten himself into now?

Chapter Two

The Invisible killer

R.J. waved goodbye to Bud as the Jelly Bean entered the highway.  Piper, his Jack Russel dog was in the back window splendidly showing his teeth in his now famous smile.  He made his way back across the highway wondering if he would ever see Bud Conley and the New Snake Skin Rangers ever again.

He opened the door to the Lazy J restaurant just as Cherry drove up in the Stingray. 

Was that Bud I just saw driving away in the Jelly Bean? Cherry quizzed. 

"Yes, it was.  He and the new band are setting off on a new tour this week.  He said he might stop back by on the return trip.  They’re still based out of Branson, pretty much the middle of the country so they can go in any direction.  You look stressed, what’s going on?

Let’s get some lunch and I will explain later.

They entered the restaurant and greeted the Mom’s, Deb and Martha, and young Douglas.  Cherry scooped him up and smooched all over his face till he started giggling and trying to squeeze her lips.  They played for a few minutes and ordered some food for lunch. 

After lunch she frowned at R.J. and said seriously.  I lost a boy today.  We still have no cause of death but losing one isn’t the big problem.

Well, what is the big problem? queried R.J. 

"In last two days there’s been six boys including the one that passed away come into the clinic with strange symptoms.  They all are delirious and whine that they see everything as the color light blue.  Many years ago, I experienced something similar in the military with soldiers that had been exposed to toxic chemicals. 

We were able to track down what they had been exposed too and effectively treat them with no lingering after effects.  The big problem now is if these kids have been exposed to something like that, what is it, and where can we find it to treat it, and then to hopefully prevent any future exposures. 

The Labs are working feverously to pin it down but it continuously evolves with constantly changing symptoms.  Some of which have already turned deadly.

We’ve notified the Sheriff and local police to the situation.  They are investigating the boys’ recent movements in hopes of tracking back what we’re dealing with.  Danny, the boy who passed, was about fourteen years old and was the leader of a small pack of junior wannabe boy scouts that were always up to something. 

The last time they were seen together the whole pack of them were headed northwards out of town on their bikes with their 22 rifles strapped to their backs.  The Sheriff says they were always heading out of town to go shoot bottles and cans at an old dumpsite northwest about a mile.  They would also shoot squirrels and rabbits sometimes.  He says they’ve done this for years.  Why would this time be any different?"

What else is bothering you?  There’s something else, I can see it in your eyes? asked Martha. 

Cherry said, My mind is racing, what if it’s not a manmade airborne chemical or toxin?  What if it’s a virus of some unknown origin that only affects boys?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Let the authorities work the timelines and movements of the kids and give the Labs a chance to identify what we’re dealing with, responded RJ.

I know, I know all that.  It’s what I don’t know that’s making me crazy.

"Cherry, you are brilliant doctor and researcher, and a wonderful mom and wife.  We will figure this out.  As soon as we can get some more information, I’ll round up some guys and do a grid search for possible contamination sites.  If Tom is available, we could search from the air, if we can get a handle on their direction of travel.

"Ok, I’ve got to get back.  The situation continues to change minute by minute.  No one around here has ever dealt with anything like this before.  My military experience and training are helpful but there is so much unknown right now.

Cherry kissed Douglas and gave him a good hug, held hands with R.J. and looked into his eyes with a look of deep concern, and whispered... We must figure this out soon, the clock is ticking loudly.

Cherry zoomed out of the drive, the Stingray roaring loudly as it disappeared into the distance.  R.J. began collecting his thoughts and wondered if any of his Laser equipment might be able to detect fumes or gases?  First, they need a sense of direction.

Chapter Three

The Sheriff and Blind Luck

R.J. called into work and notified them of the situation.  He asked the engineering manager to look into whether or not wide spectrum high powered lasers could detect and or ionize the contaminate molecules to neutralize them.  That is assuming they were dealing with a manmade compound. 

The manager, Cliff, agreed and understood the gravity of the situation and the need to maintain discretion until the situation was more fully detailed.  That is, until he found out his son was one of the small pack of boys that had been affected by the unknown substance.  He started to panic and rushed off to the hospital to be with his wife and daughter by his son’s bedside. 

The responsibility now fell on an enthusiastic intern.  Jeff was a fresh-faced senior engineering major in the local college.  He had been studying ionization and molecular liquefaction and its effects on solid matter under Dr. Cook.  High powered lasers used to ionize matter was his thing.  The question will be what type of matter will it work on, and what if any type of transformation there will be.  Turning a solid into a liquid and then into a vapor and then into atomic particles was Dr. Cooks big thing.  Making the particles move around in that particular state was what he was currently working on.

R.J. told him to experiment on vapors of different types to see what happens. 

Be careful Jeff. We don’t want to make it worse or for you to endanger yourself or anyone else in the plant.

Acknowledged R.J.  This is right up my alley.

Get to work, I’ll check in with you later as soon as I get more information on what we’re dealing with.  

RJ, good to see you, said Sheriff