The Tale of Barry Thomas

Barry Thomas, smartest guy in the colony? No. Seventeen, green, and willing to learn? Yes. He helped out Doc Stewart at the water works. Doc Stewart was in charge of keeping the pump houses at Lake Reno going. Doc was getting on in age so he relied heavily on Barry to do most of the physical work. The old man hoped that Barry would pick up the tricks of the trade so when he passed on, the colony would continue to have running water and power.

The Doc looked over Barry's shoulder as he was tightening a valve screw. “No, no, son, you gotta get those two lines to match up squarely.” The old man pointed with a shaking index finger at two hash marks that were scratched into the metal pieces.

“Sorry, Doc.” Barry did as he was told while the eyes of his supervisor bore into him. Barry backed off the valve screw, loosening it. He came back in for a second attempt. The bolt turned slowly until the two hash marks lined up perfectly.

“There, that's perfect.” The old man sighed a breath of relief. Doc Stewart stepped back and eased into a chair that had rusted casters. Everything in the control shack was rusted and makeshift. “All right, son, let's see if we did any good.” He swiveled the chair towards a panel on the wall of the musty old shack. Tens of dials filled the panel. Each dial had a red needle that waved slightly.

Doc moved his attention to a dial that had the words, “Main Inlet Gate,” written on a piece of duct tape. The red needle in this dial was horizontal and silent. It slowly started to rise. It went passed 10 PSI then 20 PSI then 30 PSI. It slowed its march upward and dropped back down until it finally settled on 23 PSI.

“Damn,” the old man cursed.

“It didn't fix?” Barry asked with passive curiosity.

“No, it still won't clear 32 PSI. We need it to be between 55 and 60 so the water can flow through the pipes.”

Barry just looked at the old man, who was staring intensely at the dials.

“Well,” Doc Stewart started, “I guess I'll go tell the council we still can't get it going. You might as well head home, lad. It will probably take the rest of the day with the council. You know how they like to drag out their meetings just to end up agreeing on the problem anyway.”

“I'd actually like to stay here and read these prints if that's all right with you, Doc?”

“Have at it, son. Who knows, you might see something I missed.”

Barry watched the aged man walk through the doorway and into the afternoon sun. The door sealed behind him giving Barry a sense of calmness. He was alone. Finally. He didn't hate the old man, but he sure put him on edge.

The assistant took a seat in his master's chair and opened the book of prints. The book was filled with pages of lines that ran to and from little boxes. Everything was cluttered with numbers, symbols, and three letter words like PSI and BAR and STP and ATM.

The pages looked like spider webs of lines crossing over other lines. Some lines came to a stop and others could be traced running from one box, or “junction” as Doc Stewart would say, to another.

Barry scanned the pages until he saw the words “Main Inlet Gate” over one of the junction boxes. It had two lines connected to it. One line had an arrow pointing towards the junction box and the other line had an arrow pointing away from the box. The second line had in parenthesis above it “58 PSI.”

Barry's heart raced a little as he finally found himself understanding the prints, or “schematics” as Doc called them. He traced the second line along the page until it reached another junction; only this time it was a triangle instead of a square. The line split at the triangle and ran into two separate boxes. One box junction was labeled “Pump House One” and the other box was labeled “Pump House Two.” Each box had a PSI rating next to it. The first pump house read “30 PSI” and the second house read “28 PSI.”

Barry looked at the wall of dials and found the dials tagged “Pump House One” and “Pump House Two.” The first dial read 23 PSI and the second had no reading at all. A glowing feeling washed over Barry as he realized that the inlet pressure from the main inlet was 23 PSI but needed to be 58 PSI because the water pressure would split into the two pump houses. When the first house reached 30 PSI, it would send the remaining pressure to the second house.

“It must be so that the first pump house isn't overworked,” Barry said aloud, thinking that Doc Stewart would be proud.

Barry traced the line back to the main inlet gate and followed the first line that led into the inlet junction. He had to flip to the previous page.

It was a rats nest of lines, but Barry held onto the string he was following. The line ran through three boxes with dashed lines. These junctions were labeled “Discharge Stations One, Two, and Three” The line finally came to a stop on a triangle shaped junction. The line went to one of the points at the base of the triangle. The other line leading from the base of the triangle was labeled “Bypass Relief Valve.” The line leading into the triangle at the top point was labeled “Master Valve” Only the “Main Inlet Valve” leg had a rating. It was 150 PSI.

Barry consulted the wall of dials and couldn't find anything labeled “Main Inlet Valve.” He found the discharge stations and checked the pressure ratings against the schematic and found the first station was normal, but the second was very weak and the third had no reading.

“It has to be this main inlet valve, but where is the dial.” Barry was puzzled and glanced back at the page. “It should be here.” He noticed the master valve junction had a number one in the center of the triangle. In the notes section, the same triangle with the number one in the center caught his eye.

There was a message next to the symbol. “Master Valve ratings can only be read at the Master Valve Gate House.”

“Of course,” Barry proclaimed. He stood up and dashed out of the control shack. He looked across the lake to where the master valve gate house was located. He hopped onto his bike and sped over to the gate house.

He opened the rusted door. Inside the shack was a large wheel that sat horizontal over a massive pipe. Next to the wheel was a dial with the words “Main Inlet Valve.” He looked at the rating. It read 89-90 PSI. “It's supposed to be 150 PSI,” he said aloud.

Barry slowly turned the large wheel and watched as the needle started towards 150 PSI. It finally settled and Barry took a step back like he was waiting for the thing to explode. He finally decided that it wasn't after a couple of minutes and returned to the control shack.

He passed by the chair and looked over the wall of dials. Everything looked normal so far. He found the main inlet gate dial. The needle was erect and reading a comfortable 59 PSI.

A smile crossed Barry's face as a sense of pride washed over him. He stood over the dials feeling like he was their master. He suddenly remembered Doc Stewart.

Barry stepped out of the control shack. The Sierras were casting their massive shadows over the New Reno colony. It was late afternoon, almost evening. The Doc had wasted his whole day waiting on the council.

Barry got on his bike and pedaled as fast as he could towards Reno Proper.

The lights of the skeletal city sparked to life as the darkness of night beckoned. Barry darted past stumbling drunks and eager gamblers. The streets of Reno Proper weren't nearly as busy as they would be in an hour from now.

He expended the last bit of energy he had as he pedaled up the last bit of hill to the University, the place where the council convened.

Barry noticed Doc Stewart in the courtyard talking to some man. As he got closer he recognized the man. It was John Quincy, the casino boss of the Silver Baron. The man was also the head of the city council.

Barry stopped next to Doc Stewart and dismounted from his bike. He struggled to compose himself. “Doc.” He still needed to catch his breath.

“What is it, son?”

“I got it.” He was breathing more steady.

“Got what?” John Quincy asked.

Barry gave this man a respectful kind of bow. “The water pressure. I fixed the water pressure.”

“Really?” Doc Stewart asked.

“Yeah, I read the schematics and found the master valve wasn't letting in enough water. It was being sent through the bypass relief valve and we weren't getting enough water pressure.”

John and Doc Stewart shared a curious look at one another.

“Very good, son.” Doc patted Barry on his shoulder. “You did it. John here didn't think you could.”

“I'm glad to know my schematics were legible,” John added.

“What do you mean?” Barry asked with confusion.

“It was a test, son. We needed to know if you had the aptitude to run the water works. I'm not gonna be around forever you know. Had to be sure we had the right man for the job, so I rigged the line to see if you could fix it.”

Barry stood there dumfounded. “So it was only a test?”

“Just a test.” The old man chuckled. “And you passed.”

Barry started to laugh nervously, unsure if he should. He stopped and looked puzzled again. “What did Mr. Quincy mean by his schematics though?”

“He wrote them. Hell, he designed the whole damn thing. He built the water and power plant years ago. The lake too.”

“Really?”

“Yep, so take good care of them, kid.” John slapped Barry on his arm and walked away into the night.

“Let's go, son. I'll buy you a drink, you've earned it.” The old man smiled proudly at his student.