Spycraft - Melton [119]
At the lab, the scientist rigged up an old thermal drill, a type used for a brief time by dentists. The drill utilized a very fine nozzle and air pressure to shoot a thin, high-velocity stream of extremely small aluminum oxide particles, essentially eroding the tooth’s enamel to create a hole rather than drilling it out. While erosion eliminated some of the discomfort of pressure during drilling, patient complaints about the taste of the particles made the technology unacceptable.
The OTS engineer pulled out samples of every possible material and the two went to work. They drilled holes in glass, concrete, plaster, stucco, and ceramic tile. No material was spared from testing and a clean hole appeared in each sample. Both engineer and scientist admired what the drill had accomplished.
“Works great, you solved the spall problem. And it’s no good to us,” the engineer told the stunned scientist.
A lengthy conversation followed as the engineer pointed out that despite the precise, clean holes, the drill would not be usable in a clandestine operation since it sent a fine spray of particles through the hole at breakthrough. If a target room was on the other side of the hole, the drill would deposit a fine coating of dust on carpet, furniture, and files that would surely alert the room’s occupant.
The scientist listened intently and asked questions about the nature of operations and the special tools that were required. “Can I keep working on this?” he asked.
The OTS engineer readily agreed. Here was a scientist with demonstrated creativity and who was clearly hooked by the challenge of clandestine requirements. Had he been a case officer, the engineer would have claimed a “recruitment.”
A few days later, an OTS secretary took a cryptic phone message from the scientist. “Tell my friend to come on down, he’ll know what it’s about.”
The following day the OTS engineer watched as the scientist attached a sleeve to the device that was inserted into the hole being drilled. The drill went into the sleeve, which was sealed around the outside of the hole. Extending from the collar was a hose that ran from a filtering system to a clear Plexiglas tube. “He blew the grit back into part of a vacuum cleaner bag, so he could filter the stuff out. Then coming out of the vacuum bag was a clear tube and in that tube was a Ping-Pong ball and a photoelectric cell on the side. That was the on/off switch,” the engineer explained. “So, when the gas came on for drilling, it created air pressure in the tube and lifted the Ping-Pong ball. While drilling he had positive gas flow and ball stayed up. As soon as the drill tip broke through, the pressure in the tube dropped, the Ping-Pong ball fell, triggering the photoelectric cell, and the damned thing turned off.”
The operational dust problem was solved along with the problem of cutting a clean pinhole through smooth plaster. OTS engineers reconfigured the device for portability and named it the Grit Drill. Helium was substituted for compressed air for its higher exit velocity. The entire Grit Drill and its accessories could be squeezed into a standard briefcase.
Once the Grit Drill kit was certified for deployment, the well-traveled engineer received orders to demonstrate the system to the overseas OTS tech bases. There, skeptical audio techs assembled for a demonstration of the “latest solution from Headquarters.” For field types, the Headquarters’ show-and-tells had a reputation for bringing more hype than practical value.
The engineer described the system, explained why it worked and demonstrated how to set it up. He then began punching tiny holes through materials the most susceptible to spalling. Each tiny hole was perfect, with no spall appearing on the target side of the sample materials. But before the demonstration was finished the chief of audio operations interrupted. “I’ve seen enough,” he declared. “I’m doing an operation tomorrow; bring that thing along because you’re going with me.” The engineer was stunned.