Much of the grime was gone. For the first time, I could make out indentations on the tag's surface.
Hi wiped the tag with a paper towel and handed it to me. Excited, I placed it on the counter, thumbed the light switch, and positioned the Luxo.
"I can read something!" I confess. It was almost a squeal.
"What do you see?" Shelton crowded so close I could smell his deodorant.
"The bottom lettering is clearest. Hold on." I adjusted the lens. Characters swam, then crystallized into focus. "C-A-T-H. Then an O, I think. I can't get the rest."
"Catholic," Shelton guessed. "A soldier's religion was stamped on the last line. What else?"
I squinted through the lens again. "Above that, more letters: O P-O-S." Aha! "His blood type, right? O positive?"
"Gotta be." Shelton thought for a moment. "Can you make out any numbers?"
"I think so. On the next two lines. But they're really hard to see. Looks like the first string is nine digits long. Above that is a second sequence, looks like both letters and numbers." Quick count. "Ten characters. Why?"
Shelton grinned and raised both hands to the sky. "Good morning, Vietnam!" he whisper-screamed, elongating the final word by a dozen syllables.
"How can you tell?" Hi asked. "You haven't even looked."
"Now it's my turn to teach, sucker!" Beaming, Shelton threw an arm around Hi's shoulders. He started to arm-wrap me but stopped short, self-conscious about my gender. The spontaneous move morphed into a head scratch.
Boys.
"We've got a nine-digit social security number and a ten-digit military service number. That's rare." Releasing Hi, Shelton pointed at the tag. "In the late sixties the armed forces switched from military ID numbers to social security numbers. But for several years they printed both, just to be safe." Dramatic pause. "That occurred only during the Vietnam War."
"Incredible," I said. "We caught a big break there."
"True," Hi agreed. "Call me crazy, but couldn't we solve this in an easier way?" He adopted a pensive look. "How about . . . oh, I don't know, maybe just reading the guy's name?"
Good point. Back to the magnifier.
As much as I raised and lowered the arm, I couldn't bring the letters into focus. "There's too much damage," I said. "The lettering is obliterated."
I flipped the tag indented side up. Vague symbols wavered under the lens.
"The reverse side's a little easier to see. But the letters are backward. I can only make out an F on the next line up."
"Focus on the top row," Shelton urged. "That's the soldier's last name. Get that, we could investigate online."
Using the penlight, I angled a beam across the tag. Letters appeared as shadows in the metal. "This is working. I see an N. Then a C. No, it's an O." I increased the angle of the penlight. "Then a T-A-E. The last is an H."
I reversed the string in my mind. "Heaton."
"Well, that's a start." Hi flicked a salute. "Nice to meet you, F. Heaton."
I summarized aloud. "F. Heaton. Catholic. O positive blood. Served during the Vietnam War era."
"Not bad," Shelton said.
Not bad? I was psyched. We'd accomplished our goal. But our discovery only led to more questions.
Who was F. Heaton? Why was his dog tag buried on an uninhabited island? Where was he now?
I didn't know. But I was determined to find out.
And it was time to go. Our luck couldn't last forever.
We were repacking the sonicator when Ben burst through the double doors.
"Ben, the name was--"
He waved me off. "I found another lab upstairs. Locked, but I think it's in use." Ben was speaking to everyone, but looking at me. "You'll want to see."
"We got what we came for. We should leave before we're nabbed."
"Something's in there. Something alive."
"Why do you say that?"
"I heard barking."
CHAPTER 13
A windowless steel door barred our path. Thwarted us. If thoughts could destroy, it would have become a smoldering ruin. I wanted past that door in the worst way.
The thing looked shiny-new and had a ten-digit electronic keypad entry system. Billions of combinations. Unbreakable.
This was not a door that made friends. Its sole purpose was to make you go away. I could feel it sneering. Aggressive. Cocky. Intending to stay closed.
After Ben's bombshell, I'd flown up the stairs, the others trailing behind. At the top, a dingy hallway cut across the building, leading to this monstrosity. Stopping me cold.
"Ben, are you sure, absolutely sure, you heard a dog?" My nerves were firing like automatic weapons.
A firm nod. "I know what I heard."
"Okay," I said. "Shelton, do your magic."
Shelton worried his right ear. "Sorry, Tor, but this one's out of my league. I can't crack a keyless system."
Think! Find another way.
"We need the code." My mind raced for a solution. "Who put this thing here, anyway? I've never seen a door like this in the other buildings."