It didn't take long for Melvin to begin working on the locks.
"Yo, I'll get this open in a sec. Back home, the man used to keep us colored without food as punishment, but where there's a will, there's a way, and if the lord don't provide, Brother Melvin will." Said the thin black man.
And true to his word, he had the lock opened, revealing a stash of weapons- two pump action shotguns, 2 revolvers, 2 automatic pistols, two submachineguns and one precision rifle with a scope. Below were boxes of ammunition. Furthermore, there were boxes of flares, first aid kits, and three bullet proofvests and three kelvar vests, four night sticks, and over a dozen sets of handcuffs.
Caribe gave a gentle whistle. This was quite the armory.
Rich was still working through the desk and the computer. A few minutes of tinkering and he got it going, but it revealed little but schedules and calenders of dates as well as an extensive pornography collection.
Further investigation revealed a collection of holodiscs in a small box near the computer.
"Anyone got a Pipboy?" Asked Rich.
Dwemer was loading up with ammunition, said, "Yeah. Let me load them."
The first disk revealed little except staff records. There were supposed to be a staff of eight marshalls but the staff had never been complete. Upon completion of the facility, the staff would have increased to eight. One of the files revealed a picture of Curt Lemay's Grandfather.
One of the other disks provided a basic history of the facility. Built before the war, the facility was meant as a depository, primarily, for court records and documents. As the facility went deeper, the security level became more serious. The first two levels below were for regular court document and files that had been placed in storage. These were mostly private civil cases. Below that were two files of more sensitive criminal files. These documents were supposed to be transferred to data but the process had not been completed before the war.
Below the court files began the USPTO areas. Again, the first two levels were merely files and prototypes of various devices and creations. These were sealed in a vault. Below that were more sensitive materials that had been given confidential and secret clearance. Further below, was top secret clearance.
Each of the sensitive areas was autonomously guarded by it's own security system. Each required a passkey for entrance.
A third disk revealed the history of the site. The Selma Depository had been created by Vaulttec, as primary contractor, and TMF Construction as subcontractor. Work had begun several years before the war, but work had been delayed because of budget constraint and labor problems. However, the need for storage space required that the Depository become active before it was fully complete, and documents had been placed in storage shortly before the beginning of the war.
The final disk revealed the diary of the lead marshal. Much of the later files gave little about the site except Marshal Deacons concerns about the coming war and the security of the site.
One of the last entries in the file revealed an interesting discussion that the US DOD had begun to place various biological agents in the lower vaults for security. Although Deacons had asked about the nature, he had been informed that he lacked the security clearance. However he had reported that the construction on that part of the project had not been complete or was thoroughly secure, but his concerns had been dismissed.
The final records reveal the consequences of the war, how the beginning of the war had shortly led to the end of work on the project as construction workers left the site to return home or to be recruited into the military.
"They've done it. The big ones have been dropped now. Most of the staff that remained has left us to return home to look for their families. I tried to stop them, but it was no use. Those that remained I have brought down into the depository. We will use this as a shelter from the radiation. We are deep enough that we should be able to get through this. There is enough food, water."
The diary entries that followed discussed life during the first two years underground, the depression of those that remained, the suicide. Finally, the last entry.
"We are going back up. God help us. I have no idea what we will find. But if we are to survive, we cannot do it below ground but must go up again. I have placed the system on automated standby, and have triggered the security system. When, or if, the government returns, they will no doubt be able to turn these systems on again. We have done our duty, and have heard nothing these past years. I only hope there is a world above which we might rebuild. God bless those of us that have survived. Marshal Thomas James Deacons, Chief Marshall, Selma Depository."
