Timecachers (6 page)

“What the heck would I be doing in the south? Buying a cow? If I need beef I’ll order it from a menu!”

“For heaven’s sake, it’s impossible to hold a rational conversation with you. I should have driven myself, anyway. I knew the ride was going to be like something from Grand Theft Auto. Honestly, I don’t know why I agreed to let you drive me here.”

“Because you’re too cheap to pay the parking fee, that’s why,” he answered.

Adam and Tom shared a smile, knowing what a hair-raising adventure being Sal’s passenger could be. They also knew that in spite of the aggressive driving habits, riding with Sal was a lot safer than riding with most people. At least he was an attentive driver.

“Hi guys,” Adam said. “You can relax now. You made it safely and in plenty of time.”

At the gate, Adam, Tom, and Alice passed through the airport security check without difficulty. Sal, as usual, was another matter. “What the hell do you mean I can’t take my gel shoe inserts?” Sal was yelling into the indifferent face of the TSA agent. “What do you think I’m going to do? Whip one out mid-flight and bitch-slap my way into the cockpit?”

“Sal,” Adam interceded before things got out of hand. “Just give him the inserts. I know you have at least a couple more pairs packed with your gear.”

“Sorry,” Adam murmured to the security person as Sal pulled the inserts from his shoes and threw them on the floor. The team headed off in the direction of their gate before security could reconsider letting Sal through.

“You know that jerk just wants them for his own fat feet,” Sal muttered.

Alice rolled her eyes. “Good grief, Sal, don’t be stupid. That guy was twice your size. I’m sure the last thing he wants is your smelly little shoe inserts. They’d hardly fit him.”

“I don’t believe it was personal, Sal. He’s just doing his job,” said Tom. “His duty is to inspect everyone for items containing a liquid or gel like that; it could be an explosive. They mustn’t allow anything through that could be inflammable or hazardous, you know.”

“They let
him
through,” Alice smirked.

“I don’t know why they made me take off my shoes anyway,” Sal complained. “They didn’t make any of you take off your shoes. I bet all of you guys have those gel inserts, too. That TSA dude was discriminating against me.”

“Discriminating? Don’t you think it might have something to do with the way you are dressed?” asked Adam.

“Dude! What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” asked Sal, stretching out his arms with a flourish.

Adam looked at him wide-eyed. “Arctic camouflage cargo pants, a Che Guevara tee-shirt, and a baseball cap that says ‘Viva la Revolucion!’? And you are surprised they made you take your shoes off? I’m surprised they didn’t just shoot you.”

“All perfectly acceptable urban wear. It’s discriminatory to pick me just because of the clothes I’m wearing.”

“My gosh, I hope you brought something a little less urban to wear in the mountains of Georgia,” said Alice, “or one of them good ol’ boys down there just might pick you for something a little more invasive. You know how to call a pig, boy?”

“I’m not worried about them yahoos,” said Sal, although the flash of alarm in his eyes revealed that he might be more apprehensive than he was letting on.

They reached the gate and found seats without much difficulty. It was early for the weekend travelers, so the airport crowd was still pretty light and the gate had only an average amount of activity. As they took their seats, they noticed the gate attendant talking on the phone. She quickly glanced at Sal, gave a grim nod, and spoke softly to someone on the other end of the line.

“Great,” thought Adam, “now we’re all on the security watch list.”

The rest of the flight was uneventful, although the air attendants asked Sal several times if “everything was OK.” Adam suspected they were more interested in the safety of the other passengers than they were about Sal’s comfort. Eventually they became convinced he was no longer a threat risk and put their efforts into ignoring him for the rest of the flight.

Departing the plane, the sauna-like humidity in Atlanta felt like walking into a steam room. Adam’s clothes were drenched with sweat within ten minutes of leaving the Atlanta airport. He hadn’t expected such a drastic weather change, and was relieved to be in the cool air conditioned air of the airport shuttle as they headed to the car rental place to pick up the vehicle Dr. Odan had reserved for them.

Their gear was to be delivered directly to the rental agency, and would hopefully be there by the time they arrived. Traffic around the airport in Atlanta was heavy as usual, allowing the team a little more time to enjoy the air conditioning. Fortunately, their testing would be conducted in the higher elevation of the Chattahoochee National Forest, where the cooler, less humid mountain air would make hauling their gear and executing the testing tasks more pleasant.

Adam had hiked in the Appalachian Mountains many times, and had done several legs of the Appalachian Trail, although he never had been to this particular part of the Appalachians, or the Blue Ridge, as the range was called here. The AT came through the Chattahoochee further to the east, the trailhead just below Springer Mountain. A little further to the north, in Tennessee and North Carolina, the range became the Great Smokey Mountains. Adam and the others had hiked in Smokey Mountain National Park and they were anxious to visit it again. There would be no time on this trip, though. This time of year the Smokey Mountains were crowded with tourists taking in the spring blossoming along the well-kept trails of the park, so they would be headed to the more isolated trails of north Georgia. They would be heading out route 575, across the Etowah River in Cherokee county, and eventually on up to East Ellijay where they would enter the Chattahoochee National Forest. It was only about ninety miles from the airport to the entrance to Chattahoochee, about a two hour drive, depending upon the traffic. Atlanta always had heavy traffic, even compared to Philadelphia. Once they were beyond the beltway, the congestion would dissipate and the driving would be more pleasant.

Adam had made reservations at a small hotel in Ellijay. It would still be daylight by the time they arrived, but there wouldn’t be enough time to unload and set up their base camp today.

As the shuttle van pulled into the car rental lot, Adam was relieved to see the crates with their gear stacked next to the office door. They piled out of the van and back into the Atlanta humidity, placing their carry-on bags next to the rest of the cargo. The lot-boy approached the group and asked Adam, “Ya’ll the Adam Hill party?”

“We be all of them, and it ain’t no party,” quipped Sal. Alice gave Sal a jab in the ribs.

“Yes, that’s us,” Adam said quickly.

“I’ll bring your vehicle right up. A Dr. Odan called to reserve one of our big ol’ trucks for ya, so if ya’ll be so kind as to step in the office and sign off on the paperwork, ya’ll can be on your way,” the lot-boy said as he headed off to get the SUV.

Adam said, “I’ll take care of the paperwork while you guys start loading up.”

“Can’t do it. The dude said ‘ya’ll come to the office’, so that means we all have to come with you,” said Sal.

“Give it a rest, Sal,” Adam sighed. “All the cargo is here, ready to go. In Philly, we’d be lucky if half of it wasn’t stolen by now. Load up; I’ll be right back.”

The rental agency provided a Chevrolet Suburban, which had even more room for passengers and cargo than Adam’s Yukon. He quickly took care of the paperwork, and the team was loaded up and on their way with a smile and a hat tip from the lot-boy. The big SUV effortlessly accommodated the team and all the gear as they smoothly rolled out of the parking lot and north onto the Atlanta beltway.

Chapter six

T
he little hotel in Ellijay worked out perfectly. They had made good time driving up from the airport, and now they could relax and get a good night’s sleep after a long traveling day. Adam and Tom spent some time making sure all the gear was intact, while Alice disappeared into her room to organize her notes and devise a format for logging their testing results. Her plan was to keep all the records on her notebook computer while at the base camp, but switch to hardcopy notes in the field. It wasn’t so uncommon for her to keep track of her notes on paper, and she often used pen and paper even in a lab environment. Not only did she find it more convenient to record her notes this way, it also served as a backup to the data that was eventually entered into the computer.

Sal planned to take a dip in the hotel pool, but was disappointed when he was told that it had not yet been opened for the season. To everyone’s relief, he didn’t make a ruckus about it.

It cooled off considerably as evening set in now that they were closer to the mountains. The fresh, chilly air stirred their appetites, and they decided to drive to town to check out the local eateries. While in town, Sal convinced the team to stop at the outfitter shop so he could get a replacement pair of shoe inserts. Adam wanted to stop by the outfitter’s place anyway. He had made several calls to the store while making arrangements for this trip, and they had been exceptionally helpful with providing the information about trails in the area, what they could expect for weather, terrain, and in locating spots that could offer navigational challenges. Adam did much of his shopping online, but he liked to patronize local merchants whenever he could. Owning his own business had given him a different perspective; it wasn’t just about finding the best price.

The shop was well-stocked with reasonably priced hiking and backpacking equipment, so everyone found something of interest to browse. While the rest of the team was preoccupied, Adam asked a weary looking cashier for James Adair, the store manager/owner who had spoken with him on the phone. The phlegmatic cashier’s attire was disheveled, as if she had just returned from a quick nap in the stockroom. Adam noticed her nametag read “Daisy-Lynn” and grimaced at the thought of Sal’s comments sure to come.

She responded with an alarmed grunt, which Adam interpreted as concern that he was going to complain about something. He felt obligated to add, “I wanted to thank him for all his help on the phone.” The cashier’s eyes, which never actually looked at Adam, returned to their previous uninterested glaze as she pointed toward the rear of the store.

Following Daisy-Lynn’s gesture, Adam discovered a man who was energetically refilling a display of daypacks. He turned and smiled with a broad grin as Adam approached. He was about the same age as Adam, dressed in well-worn cargo jeans, a faded olive-drab tee-shirt, hiking boots, and sported a bushy, straw-colored beard and a long ponytail stretching midway down his back.

“Did Daisy-Lynn get you taken care of?” he asked Adam.

“If you’re James Adair she did,” Adam replied.

“That’s me. You must be Adam Hill. I recognize your voice from our phone conversations. I was hoping you’d stop in and say hello while you were visiting our part of the country.” More quietly he said, “Don’t let Daisy-Lynn put you off. She’s not much for socializing, but she’s dependable. Most folks down this way will talk your ear off. Were you able to get all the information you needed for your project?”

Adam usually did not share any information about his projects outside of the testing team, as he was typically under a non-disclosure agreement. Since this project was to be conducted entirely in the field, it was impossible not to give a few folks a general idea of what they were doing. If he were too closed-mouthed, people tended to be suspicious and assumed you were up to no good. In this case, Adam just said that they were doing consumer product testing of a new type of GPS receiver. It was pretty close to the truth, and people could accept that he couldn’t tell them too much about a new product that the company wasn’t ready to announce yet.

“Yes, between you and the ranger in Blue Ridge I was able to plan out our trip very well. You were most helpful, which is one of the reasons I wanted to drop in and say thanks,” Adam answered. “We’ll be stopping by the ranger station in the morning to pick up the backpacking permits.”

“Glad ya’ll came in; we’re happy to help,” James said with a huge grin through his bushy beard. “I know you said you would be testing some new GPS receiver, but are you folks carrying a radio or anything along in case of an emergency? There’s not much cell phone coverage where you are going, but that’s the type of location you were looking for, you said.”

“The device we are testing has some communication abilities, but I don’t like to depend on a prototype device in a critical situation. In addition to our cell phones, Tom, one of my engineers, has a Personal Locator Device that can send out an emergency beacon if we need to.”

“That’s about the best way to go, since those things work just about anywhere. You just don’t want to push that button unless you really need to, though, with the cost of sending out a rescue helicopter these days.”

“You’re right about that. Hopefully it’s something we’ll never use. It does give us some peace of mind in case of a life-threatening situation,” Adam replied.

“Yep, best way to handle emergencies is to avoid ‘em in the first place!” laughed James.

“You folks have a pretty good gig going,” James continued, “getting to test out new toys before they’re available to anyone else. Sounds like a really fun job!”

“The job can be fun, but it’s not always so exciting,” said Adam, “I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a little place like this. Has to be better than working for someone else, and you get to check out some fun new sporting stuff too. Have you owned the store long?”