Chapter Thirty-Six
OLIVE MARIE, ARE YOU CRAZY?
Grabbing the manila folder full of information he had amassed on Lyndon Johnson, Forrest slipped on his jacket, attached his SCAR identification badge, and was about to open the door and go downstairs to his car. Reaching for the apartment’s doorknob, he was startled by a knock on his door. Was he hearing correctly? Was that actually a knock? Before he could take a look out the small security peephole, another rasp was heard coming from the other side of the door. This time the knock was louder and more pronounced than the first. What the... he thought peeping out the hole into the hallway. “What...” he said opening the door. “Olive Marie!! What are you doing here? And at this time of night?”
Without as much as a how-do-you-do, she bolted into his apartment. “You’re up to something Robert Scarburg. I know you; I saw that look in your eye when Grandpa said you couldn’t go to Texas. You’re going to Texas, isn’t that right? What’s our plan?”
“Our plan? Our plan? YOU don’t have a plan!!”
“Ah ha!! Got you!! But YOU DO have a plan, and I want in on it. Grandpa wouldn’t let me go to Texas either. Now tell me. Let me have it. What is OUR plan? I want to go too! Give me our plan!”
“Olive Marie, are you crazy? Even if I did have a plan I wouldn’t tell you. Everyone would know about ‘my plan’ in five minutes.”
“There, you said it again. You DO have a plan. If I’m not in on it, five minutes will be too long. I will tell Grandpa you are up to something and then see where you will be! This isn’t a threat Forrest Scarburg... I want in!! Or else!!”
“I’m not saying yes, and I’m not saying no, take off your coat and sit down, and I’ll fill you in on my ‘Plan’, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, promise?”
For the next few minutes, he explained to Olive Marie how he slipped the access card from Krista’s purse. He showed her the pages of notes he had written trying to figure out the four-number access code to use in the elevator. He explained the codes were necessary so he could gain entry to the laboratory where Pegasus was ‘parked’!”
“Gain access to Pegasus! What in the world for?” She said listening intently to Forrest’s every word. Only occasionally she would grunt ‘Un huh’ or ‘Hmmm’ as Forrest explained how he was going back to Dallas to the Clint Murdock estate. He explained how it had been reported that Vice President Johnson attended a party at the Murdock mansion the night before the Kennedy Assassination along with other Washington bigwigs. The rumor was they were planning the assassination of President Kennedy the following day. Forrest had discovered this information and wanted personally to validate who had attended the party.
This was as a convenient a time as any for Forrest to explain to his sister the story about Clint Murdock, whom he was and how Murdock was connected to Lyndon Johnson.
“Get comfortable Olive and I will explain it all to you.” He began telling the entire chronicle to Olive Marie.
The story began with a woman by the name of Margaret White.
MARGARET WHITE
Who was Margaret White? Ms. White said she was the girlfriend of President Lyndon Johnson. It sounded like a fabrication, but what can anyone say, it was her story as she told it to a TV reporter for the program, ‘Who Had An Affair’.
Murmurings had begun after the assassination of John F. Kennedy that Lyndon Johnson might have been involved. The gossip concerned a man by the name of Clint Murdock and Lyndon Johnson. Ms. White stated she had been invited to a party - a party given at the mansion of a Texas millionaire named Clinton Murdock. Her exposé of Lyndon Johnson began with that party she said. A party at the Murdock estate, would not, in and of itself, be worthy of a mention. They had the reputation of throwing lavish parties all the time; however something was different about this particular party she was so eager to tell about. What made this evening unique? Unique enough that later Ms. White would recall specific events that happened that eventful November night. What night? Oh, nothing special about that night other than it was only the night before the assassination of John F. Kennedy, that’s all! Thursday, November 21, 1963.
CLINT MURDOCK
Before Forrest continued with Margaret White’s story, he guessed it wouldn’t hurt to give Olive Marie a little background on Clint Murdock since he did play a crucial part in Ms. White’s tale.
Forrest explained that Clinton Murdock, Jr was born in Dallas, Texas, on May 10, 1925. His father had made a fortune from real estate, land development, railroads, and especially oil. Clint was well educated with a degree from the University of Texas in a field of study concerning oil and oil exploration. Forrest, at the moment, could not remember the exact discipline of Murdock’s college major, but he believed Clint also had an advanced degree from some university back east, Harvard, Yale or another of those Ivy League schools.
Murdock’s father passed away in 1961. At this time, Clinton, his brother and younger sister inherited the entire Murdock family fortune. The headquarters of the Murdock Empire was located in Dallas. Clint and his siblings now owned the Techno Manufacturing Company, Columbia Construction, the ‘Texas Hunting & Fishing’ magazine, Murdock Publishing Company and MurCo Oil.
In the late 1940s, Murdock Sr and his close friend, another Texas oil mogul, Keith Bales met quite by accident, the Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover. A friendship developed that lasted for years. In fact, it was claimed Hoover was deeply invested in the MurCo Oil Company.
Another startling fact: Murdock had ties with the Mafia. In the mid ‘50s the Senate Select Committee on Criminal Affairs discovered Carlos Mancini, the head of the crime family out of New Orleans, owned almost forty percent of the MurCo Oil Company. They also looked into allegations that Murdock Sr had close financial ties with Johnny Russolli. Russolli reportedly was head of the Hollywood crime syndicate.
Later, one Senator on a subcommittee of the Criminal Affairs Committee claimed, "Murdock had J. Edgar Hoover in his back pocket. People, with plenty of money, seem to always ‘invest’ their money on law enforcement officials. To insure their interests are protected, they look for officials in high places to help them.” Hoover was the poster boy for the law and order in this country and made it a lifetime goal to wage war with mobsters, gangsters and the like, so it was a feather in Murdock’s hat to let it be known Hoover was his friend. That's why men like Murdock made it their business to drop Hoover’s name in their conversation every chance they got. If the head of the country’s FBI is your buddy, you can get away with a lot of things. Things some might say are on the hazy side of legal.
Murdock developed extreme right-wing political opinions and along with some of his close friends, supported extreme groups like the ‘Society for the America Way’. Murdock also donated money to a number of candidates for congress with anticommunist campaigns. Also, it was reported Murdock was also a quick source of fast money for the American Nazi Party, and its leader, Lawrence Honeywell.
Also in the early ‘50s, Murdock joined forces with some of his wealthy friends to gain control of the Pennsylvania Southern Railroad. This involved buying 650,000 shares worth $65 million.
Murdock’s construction company Columbia was involved in several projects including providing the maintenance for the Panama Canal and the construction of a tunnel under Havana harbor for Fidel Castro, the military dictator of Cuba. In 1960 Murdock purchased the ‘Lone Stars’ pro football team for $800,000 and provided the bulk of money for the construction of the Dallas Stadium.
Forrest explained about the others at the gathering included the two Senators from Texas Harold L. Hood and Charles Tomlin, the head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover, Texas State Senator John Masters and Richard Nixon.
“Before I go on Olive, let me tell you about Richard Nixon. Why, if it were true, would he be at the house of Clint Murdock? We all remember he was President but what we fail to realize he was also Vice President with Eisenhower from 1956 to 1960.
??
?Nixon ran an unsuccessful campaign for president against John Kennedy in the ‘60 election. The race remained close for the duration, but there were charges of voter fraud in some states such as California and Texas, both states won by Kennedy; Nixon did not want to contest the election, even though his advisors thought he should protest the vote count in court. He though it would be a long drawn out affair and would make the U.S. look bad to the rest of the world. In January 1961, Kennedy was sworn in as President and Nixon and his family returned to California. He resumed his law practice and wrote a bestselling book called, ‘The Sixth Dilemma’.”
“Did he hold a grudge against Kennedy?” Olive Marie questioned.
“Possibly.”
“Did he think Kennedy had ‘stolen’ the 1960 election from him?”
“Maybe.”
“Did he seek revenge?”
“It is likely. All your questions may be true, Sis. I would like to know too, and part of the answer lies in finding out if Nixon had been at the Murdock house the night before Kennedy was killed! Was he a participant in the ‘secret’ meeting? If he were Olive, then your statements are probably accurate. He could have been involved in the planning of the assassination.
Ms. White explained: “It was getting close to the end of the evening when Lyndon finally arrived,” Ms. White said during the TV interview. She continued, “The room suddenly became quite when he entered. Lyndon announced he wanted to see a specific group of his political friends immediately behind closed doors. Later Lyndon, flustered and upset, emerged from the secret meeting and rejoined the party. I knew Lyndon could operate secretly. Knowing how he was I did not say anything... not even how glad I was that he came to the party. He grabbed hold of my hand so hard, I thought he was going to break a finger; he spoke barely above a whisper, a quiet, throaty growl. He spoke close into my ear, I’m here to tell you, it was not a happy message, but one I'll always remember: ‘I can assure you Marge after tomorrow those Kennedys will never be a thorn in my side again - that's no threat - that's a promise.’
Finishing up Forrest said, “Okay, now that you have heard my plan to seek out the Murdock estate and find out who attended the party you said you promised not to tell Grandpa. You agree Olive Marie? Right now I have to return to the laboratory.”
Without answering Forrest’s question, Olive asked, “What happens when we get to the laboratory?”
“We! We! There is no we, Olive Marie. It’s just going to be me! And you promised you would not tell Grandpa about my plans either. When I get to the lab I am going to ‘borrow’ Pegasus, and I am going to Texas.”
“Texas! Texas! Right on Forrest, oh, I’m not going to tell, why would I tell, I’m coming with you!!”
“What!! No!! You can’t come. It’s too dangerous!!”
“Well it’s just as dangerous for you as it would be for me. I’m coming, if not I’m telling Grandpa you are going to steal Pegasus, and then you won’t be going either, Mr. Smarty-Pants. After I spill the beans to Robert Scarburg the Second, you won’t be able to get within a mile of his time machine. What do you think of them apples, Robert Scarburg the Fourth?” She said, throwing considerable emphasis on ‘the Fourth.
He solemnly pondered the situation and its ramifications. He surely cannot let her go with him, but if she does not go he doesn’t get to go either. He knew her; she would tell Grandpa all right. What to do? What to do?
After considering the alternatives Forrest make a decision, “All right Sis, you can come with me under two conditions.”
“Anything, anything, I’ll help you steal Pegasus. What are the conditions? ”
“It is my mission - I am the boss, what I say goes - agreed? And I am not stealing Pegasus, I am only borrowing it for a while.”
“Yep, you’re the boss, and what you say goes - agreed, and we are just borrowing Pegasus – got it Forrest. Borrowing does sound better than stealing. I hope, for your sake Forrest, Grandpa sees it that way,” she said with a devilish smile.
During the drive back to headquarters, Forrest’s mind wasn’t as blank as it was on the drive home now he had company, and he had the makings of a plan. He kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong, especially now that Olive was coming along. His mind was racing, he should have been thinking what could happen if ‘The Plan’ worked, and plan accordingly.
“BORROWING” PEGASUS
Forrest and Olive Marie walked up to the automatic glass entrance doors, they did not open, Oscar, the guard looked up from his desk and grinned. As he walked across the slick tile floor, they could hear his keys, clipped to his belt, jingling as he opened the door, “Hey, Forrest, hey Olive Marie, sorry, we lock the doors after everyone has finished. What are you both doing here at this hour of the night? Did you all forget something?”
During the drive back from his apartment to SCAR headquarters a million things must have passed through his mind, but an answer to Oscar’s question, ‘Forget something?’ was not one of them. Having no preconceived plan Forrest blurted out, “Nah, Grandpa, I mean Captain Scarburg had a big meeting today, well, it would be yesterday now, and assigned Olive Marie and I some tasks. We had to come back tonight and get some of my notes to complete our assignments.”
“Yeah, I noticed on the sign-in sheet where Dr. Lonnie Joe Wheeler, Jacque Jollett, Sam Lin and Si Lei Kim all signed in yesterday morning. Something big going on?” The guard inquired.
“I don’t actually know all the details Oscar we’re having another meeting this morning so maybe Grandpa will fill us in on more of the particulars.”
“Come on in you two, just sign in and let me know when you all get ready to leave.”
“Fine, thank you Oscar,” Forrest replied while they signed the log-in book, “but we might just stay and complete some of our projects before leaving.”
“You know you both can stay as long as you like - my shift ends at 4 a.m., so if you’re not out by then sign-out with the next guard coming on duty. Have a good evening both of you, well, what’s left of it. Don’t work too long, you both need to go home and get some sleep.”
Walking toward the elevator door with Olive close by his side Forrest answered without turning around, “Uh huh, see you later Oscar.” Just a couple more steps and a push on the “Up” button would get them out of Oscar’s sight, and they could begin solving the four-digit code problem. The shiny steel door opened immediately on pressing the “UP” button. Inside Forrest selected his work floor - floor number four. He could not wait for the elevator to stop on the fourth floor. By the time they reached the second floor Forrest had already swiped the access card through its slot. The yellow light began blinking. He knew if the correct code numbers were entered the light would turn green. All right he said to himself, here goes nothing. His hand was trembling as he reached out with his right index finger, 9... 7... 4... 3..., nothing, nada, no green light. No problem, he thought, 7... 9... 4... 3..., again nothing. Now he was beginning to get worried. What if the elevator were programmed like computers? He might only get three tries before being automatically prohibited from further inputs. He would be deemed “unauthorized,” and it is highly possible an alarm bell would sound notifying the guard someone was tampering with the elevator controls. He had not thought of that. What if this elevator were set up this way? What if... what if... the heck with what ifs, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Here goes.
“Sis, start reading out these numbers, and I will punch them in.”
She started with Baba’s numbers - no luck. Well, he did have a touch of luck, after entry number three nothing happened, he was not locked out - no alarm bell rang out. Olive Marie continued calling numbers and Forrest kept entering different sets of four digit numbers. Around 3:30 a.m. they had gone about as far as humanly possible. They had tried number after number, nothing worked. Both were about to give up when, without thinking, Forrest pressed the numbers 1–2–3–4. He heard a metallic sounding ‘ding’ as the yellow light changed to green - No...! No.
..! “Are you kidding me, 1...2...3...4? Sis, tell me the code number isn’t that simple, is it?”
But it was that simple, the elevator began to move. A slight ‘bling’ bell sound indicated they had passed floor 3..., another ‘bling’... floor 2..., ‘bling’... floor 1... on the elevator continued down traveling three floors below street level. At the last ‘bling’ the elevator door opened, but Forrest stayed inside, frozen in his spot, he was afraid to move. He knew what they were about to do was wrong... but his Grandpa should accept part of the blame also; he was wrong too. He should have allowed his Sis and himself to go on the President Kennedy mission - we’re not kids anymore! Forrest thought. Yeah, that’s right... at least that was the way he justified it to himself at the time.
“Come on Forrest,” Olive Marie said stepping off the elevator.
It was dark inside the circular lab except for a number of the small display lights on the desk-sized launch control consoles that never powered down, but the light that caught his attention was one low wattage spotlight shining down on Pegasus from high in the ceiling.
There was just enough light to allow the two of them to walk around in the room, they could see Pegasus sitting in the center. Under that dim light, it had a majestical aura, which seemed to give the whole thing a mysterious glow. Feeling excited yet scared at the same time; maybe they had bitten off more than they could chew. They must have walked around that beautiful object two or three times. Forrest had seen it before but was still utterly mesmerized by its brilliant titanium surface.
Fortunately he had worked in the lab many times. He knew where everything was located. Who and what were in each office. He knew most all the people who worked in the launch facility. He knew everything except the most crucial thing at this moment - he did not know how to turn on the lights!
“Forrest, please, it’s spooky in here – could you, please turn on the lights?”
Oh, my! He thought. Is this the way it is going to be the rest of the trip... nag... nag... nag?
A revelation came to him... the electrical equipment room! The circuit breakers that controlled all the lighting must be in there, and he knew exactly where the room was located.
Standing in front of the breaker box, he did not know which breakers to switch “On.” A number of them were already in the “Off” position. Could he damage some piece of essential launch equipment by turning its power ‘On’ when it possibly should remain ‘Off’?
“Well come on Forrest, turn the lights on!” Olive Marie demanded.
He didn’t come down here to turn back now. Switching all the “Off” breakers to the “On” position, through the door they could hear motors beginning to hum, see fan blades starting to turn, the light came on, the launch facility was coming alive!
With mind racing, they left the equipment room to return to Pegasus. Now they had to figure out how to get into Mike Watkin’s office. Mike was the assistant launch boss, the Chief of the Flight Prep Crew. Forrest had assisted on Launch Two and Launch Three, both of which were unsuccessful, but he remembered all the basic procedures Mike performed on the launch console computers. He was hoping Mike had not reprogrammed the master computers used when his Grandpa flew on Launch Four. Forrest wasn’t quite sure, but he did not know if he could get this machine out of the lab.
He had conveniently forgotten to tell sister Olive Marie this. He wanted her to believe he knew what he was doing.
He had to gamble; he did not know how to change the destination coordinates nor could he change the date of arrival. All he could hope was Mike Watkins had not changed the computer data.
Okay, he thought as he approached Mr. Watkins’s office door, he always locks his office. I have no choice I will break the window on the door and reach in an open the lock from the inside. Picking up a wrench from a workbench he smashed the glass. Shattering glass flew all over the floor. Their shop vacuum will take care of this with no problem, he thought. Just as he was about to reach inside to unlock the lock Olive Marie grabbed the office doorknob and gave it a slight turn. Surprise – the door wasn’t even locked. Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Watkins, Forrest thought. I know how tidy and organized you are. If I had only tried the doorknob first, oh well, no use crying over spilled glass now.
At least some things were going in their favor; numbers were still being displayed on the ‘DE