Blue Gold (NUMA Files 2)

“I’d like that. Sounds like an eclectic collection.”

“Oh, it is. We’ve got aircraft from all over the world that we’re getting ready for exhibition. Three buildings are devoted to exhibition restoration alone. This is a high-class club. The artifacts have to have a story behind them to qualify for a makeover. Something historical or technological, or maybe they’re the last of their kind. Here, this is what you’re interested in.”

They entered a building laid out like a warehouse. High metal shelves ran from one end to the other. Stacked neatly on the shelves were hundreds of taped cardboard boxes of all sizes. “Storage is our third most important function, along with restoration and preservation,” Miller explained. “We’ve got more than one hundred and fifty aircraft and tons of other artifacts spread throughout the complex. This is mostly parts in here.”

Consulting a computer printout on a clipboard, he walked down one of the aisles with Austin trailing.

“How do you find what you’re looking for?” Austin asked with bewilderment.

Miller chuckled. “It’s not as bad as you might think. Every important part from every plane in the world has something stamped on it. We’ve got complete records of serial numbers, registration numbers, or letter codes. Here, this is what we’re looking for.”

Using a pocket knife, he slit the sealing tape on a cardboard box. After reaching inside, he pulled out a metal cylinder about two feet long. Austin thought it was the part he had sent from California, but it was too shiny, and its surface was free of dents and nicks.

“This is identical to the artifact you sent us.” He extracted Austin’s cylinder from the box. “We matched the two objects through their serial numbers. This first is from a plane that was decommissioned and taken apart, which is why it’s in such good condition.”

He handed the cylinder to Austin, who hefted it. Like the other, it was lightweight aluminum and weighed only a few pounds.

“What was this used for?”

“It was a water- and airtight storage container. This one is pristine because the plane never went into active service. We examined the interior of yours, but the seawater leaked in through the hole and contaminated the residue of what, if anything, was inside. We can tell you what aircraft these things came from.”

“Anything would be a help.”

Miller nodded. “You’ve heard of the Northrop flying wings?”

“Sure, I’ve seen pictures of them. They were the original delta-winged aircraft.”

“Jack Northrop was way ahead of his time. Take a look at the stealth bomber and fighter, and you’ll know he was onto something.”

“What does the flying wing have to do with these cylinders?”

“They both come from flying wings. Where’d you get this, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“It was found in the water off the coast of Baja California.”

“Hmmm. That makes the mystery of our phantom plane even deeper.”

“Phantom?”

Miller lay the cylinders side-by-side on the shelf. “Our artifact comes from a plane that was junked after the war. With the numbers on this thing we can trace its history right back to the assembly line.” He tapped the battered artifact with his finger. “The numerical designation on this part doesn’t match up to any plane we have record of. It came from a plane that didn’t exist.”

“How could that be? A mistake?”

“Possible, but not likely. Taking a long shot, I’d say that the government ordered up a plane, but maybe it didn’t want anyone to know about it.”

“Could you be more specific about the type of plane?”

Miller carefully replaced both cylinders in the box and retaped it. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Building 20 was crammed with aircraft, bombs, and plane parts. They stopped in front of an odd-shaped single-passenger plane with a broad swept-back wing. Two propellers faced backward from the trailing edge.

“This is the N1-M, Jack Northrop’s first project. He wanted to prove a flying wing could fly without all the drag-producing surfaces like engine housings and tail sections.”

Austin walked around the plane. “Looks like an overgrown boomerang.”

“Northrop called it the Jeep. He built it in 1940 basically as a flying mockup. It had some real problems during the tests, but it performed well enough for Northrop to talk the Air Force into building the B-35 bomber.”

“Interesting, but what does this have to do with the cylinder?”