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STORED EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

Except for the emergency supplies stored in the two wall lockers, all material in the bolt-hole is in storage. Vehicle weapons are not mounted; all munitions, supplies and ammunition are in sealed metal or plastic boxes, cans, crates and so on. Personal weapons, web gear, medkits, backpacks, etc are stored in the locker located at the end of each freeze tube. All battery powered equipment have had their battery packs pulled are placed in a charger next to the computer. These are automatically charged during the wake-up cycle.

The team members are wearing only light cotton underwear in their freeze tubes with needles in their arms, monitors wired to their chest and head, conductive shock pads taped to their chest and a respiration tube down their throats. Their MPID Card is located in a slot on the inside of the tube, removing this card unlatches and open that person’s tube. There is a one minute delay before the tube opens.

STANDARD OPERATION

While the team is in cyrosleep, the bolt-hole is filled with an inert gas at a slight overpressure. The bolt-hole itself generates a low-level electro-magnetic field, the combined effect is that nothing inside the bolt-hole suffers from the wear and tear of time.

The bolt-hole is powered by a self-contained, long-life, radioactive thermos-electric generator (RTG). The RTG module is buried in the solid rock, 30 meters below the facility. It is powered by a receptacle of low-level nuclear waste within a thick lead shield. This waste gives off heat as the radioactive material decays. Attached to the lead casing is a solid-state thermos-electric module which converts the heat into electricity. The constant heat from the waste is converted into low-level direct current which is then used to charge a series of Eternal Batteries (Project designed ultra- long-life power cells) which, in turn, power the facility.

This system is designed to provide a dependable source of electrical power that will last for hundreds of years without noticeable power degradation, so once buried, the bolt-hole would never need to be refueled.

The only problem with the RTG system, is that, due to the design limits of the system, they can only provide a limited amount of electricity, enough to run the minimal system requirements while the team is frozen, but not enough to run the bolt-hole at full power.

After receiving the recall signal, the bolt-hole computer sets the Eternal Batteries to run at OVERLOAD, thus generating the power needed to wake up the team as well as charging the team’s battery packs and---most importantly---to give the team vehicles fusion reactor its initial charge.
Important to the safe operation of the bolt-hole is the computer. This system monitors the over-pressure of the inert gas and should this pressure drop below a predetermined level, it will sound the Breach Alarm and wake the team. If any water is detected within the bolt-hole, again the computer will automatically wake the team. The computer also monitors the team’s freeze tubes and in the rare occurrence that one of the tubes malfunctions, it will recall the entire team. Finally, the computer monitors the Extreme Low Frequency (ELF) Receiver for the recall signal.

The recall signal can come from a number of places: Prime Base, Omicron Base or any Regional Command Base can trigger the recall signal.

Once the signal is received, the computer first evacuates the inert gas, replacing it with a pre-bottled atmosphere mixture. It then shuts down the electrical-magnetic field, and starts the wake-up process for the freeze tubes. It then turns on the overhead lights.

All Project vehicles are equipped with a fusion power pack with an 18-month supply of fuel. This pack requires an external power source to start the fusion reaction. A cable hanging from the ceiling has been run into the engine compartment of each vehicle and plugged into the power pack, after turning on the lights, the computer then activates the power pack. (The power cable must be manually disconnected from the pack).

After the computer has initiated the recall procedure and it has verified that all team members have been successfully recalled, the computer executes its final program, starting an eight-hour countdown then wiping all programs and shutting itself down. Once this is completed, the computer cannot be reactivated, it is essentially high-tech junk. The computer is equipped with a LCD screen that will display any messages or communiques that it has received, but this screen will fade out after 4 hours.

The bolt-hole’s Eternal Batteries will provide power for twelve hours after recall, they then will turn off. The air supply is good for up to eighteen hours of breathable air.

The override setting essentiality destroys the batteries and they are not recoverable. The RTG cannot be recovered. The bolt-hole is not designed for habitation, there is no water supply, no sanitation and no ventilation. The team must abandon the bolt-hole.