Chapter 18

The next day, a Thursday, I called Monica on her extension at NRL. The lab was shielded from most frequencies of electromagnetic radiation to prevent radio eavesdropping from the outside. That meant cellular phones didn't work at the Naval Research Laboratory. I asked Monica to come to Theology on Tap with me at Pat Troy's in Old Town Alexandria the next day. Theology on Tap was a national Catholic program for young adults who basically meet at a bar to socialize.

Monica accepted my invitation, and I was excited about our date. Still, first I had to attend one of the many briefings of the Project Pathfinder scientific and technical team led by Commander Chang in the conference room at Building C60. The commanding officer of Project Pathfinder wore his khaki naval officer's uniform as he explained the slides from his Power Point presentation.

"...blah, blah, blah...Project Pathfinder...blah, blah, blah...," Commander Chang droned on and on. I took notes just to look busy and to keep from falling asleep in front of the commanding officer of the project. He said something about Project Whirlwind and Project Scorpion. I couldn't pay attention because I couldn't stop thinking about Monica. "Project Whirlwind will use Naval Based LGATEs and Land Based LGATEs operated jointly by the Army and Air Force." I learned new acronyms, some of the many that the Department of Defense used. In this case, I learned of the NB-LGATE and the LB-LGATE. The LGATE again was the acronym for Laser Guided Antisatellite Tracking and Elimination.

From my what I understood, the United States and its allies were deploying the LGATE system all over the world. Commander Chang then said something about Russians. "Our intelligence community has learned that Russian operatives have infiltrated the LGATE program and stolen many of our secrets. We now have to develop a defense against our own antisatellite system."

The Asian-American naval officer explained that Project Whirlwind and the associated Project Pathfinder and Project Scorpion were conceived by scientists and engineers at the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) to counter threats by the old Soviet satellite reconnaissance and surveillance program. The Soviets did not have an antisatellite system of their own, but their operatives working in the US and abroad managed to steal technical details of the early DARPA designs and prototypes of Project Whirlwind. Subsequently, Russia inherited the intelligence data.


"All secrets shall be revealed," said a voice in my mind. I knew the voice came from my mind because at the same time Commander Chang was talking about DARPA and Russians. The voice in my mind spoke to me more frequently those days. I thought I was losing my mind. Visions, voices...what was next? Miracles?


"I need to send someone to SPAWAR in San Diego to liason for the NRL effort of Project Pathfinder. SPAWAR's Code 4033 is already working on such a defense. I need a volunteer."


Dr. Luis Freedman stood up and said, "I volunteer Dr. Michael Sanglao for the assignment."

"Great," said Commander Chang. "Dr. Sanglao, get ready and leave tomorrow."


Yeah, great. I had to cancel my date with Monica to go to Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, California. I had planned possibly to give Monica my rosary bracelet if things went well in Old Town Alexandria. Those days I was in a hurry to get my girlfriend. I went to the Applied Physics Laboratory to say goodbye to Monica in person.

I went to Building C39 and swiped my ID badge. I entered the Applied Physics Laboratory of NRL and went straight to Monica's office.

"I have to go to California tomorrow," I said to Monica.

"But what about our date?" Monica asked.

"That will have to wait."

"Well, then." Monica took both of my hands and came close to me. We kissed passionately.