Glossary: KDF Headquarters
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dochermesGlossary - KDF Headquarters Building
Located at 28 East 38th Street in Manhattan, the granite building had been constructed for DR VITARIUS in the mid-19th Century. KENNETH DRED had bought the structure in 1937 when Vitarius left for Europe; Dred lived there until his death in 1979. JEREMY BANE inherited the building and its contents. In 2001, he leased it for use to the KDF SECOND TEAM while retaining ownership in the event that the team disbanded or vanished. In 1979, LEONARD SLADE began extensive modifications and additions, some of which would not meet Code and it is believed by many that Trom influence kept building inspectors quiet.
-BASEMENT LEVEL.
There was a regular entrance to the basement level at the outside rear of the building but that door was kept locked. Usually, members went into a deep closet to the right of the front door. A sliding panel exposed steep concrete steps leading down to the basement level. To the left was the Trom power generator and the water heater. The water tank itself had been relocated to the roof. A walkway lit by overhead fluorescent bulbs had the Arsenal to the left and the Vault to the right before ending in a plain wooden door to the garage. Next to the Vault on the right was the room containing the elevator machinery.
The walls of the long narrow walkway were lined with open rough wooden shelves. Most of these had become filled with luggage, lamps, old televisions, bundles of clothing in clear bags and similar detritus. There were also accordion files crammed with receipts and insurance forms and court documents dating back decades, most of them not likely to be ever needed.
-The Vault had a massive door of cold iron, inset at the top with protective Eldaran sigils. Only the senior KDF members knew the code that unlocked the Vault's keypad. Under a single naked light bulb was revealed shelving that held the most perilous items Kenneth Dred and his successors had gathered over decades. These included at various times: A chamois bag of Cyrinkyl, 'star-snow.'Shards of the cursed sword Hellspawn. The Brand of Submission, the Zhune artifacts of the lost science of that ancient land, the Ghoul-summoning pendant. The Jar of the Djinn. The Spiked Gauntlet. The voodoo Death Drum from their first meeting with Samuel Watesa, the Silver Hammer of Malberon. Two Mummy cases nailed shut, jeweled chalices and plain clay goblets, a row of human skulls behind glass casing, some crumbling sea trunks piled atop each other. The soul jar holding Mercurio.
-Garage. Accessed through a plain wooden door at the end of the walkway. Only large enough to hold two vehicles at a time, the garage had several workbenches and assorted tools but no greasepit or lift. Any serious repairs had to be done elsewhere. Exit from the garage meant driving up a steep concrete ramp and make an acutely sharp turn into the alley between KDF headquarters and the building next door, pulling out onto Lexington Avenie.
FIRST FLOOR
-Vestibule. Inside the street door was the vestibule or foyer, a room six feet by ten where visitors waited to be cleared by Trom sensors. There was a framed oil portraits of KENNETH DRED on the left wall as one entered. To the right was a bench big enough for two people; the top of the bench hinged open to reveal a compartment where weapons had to be surrendered by visitors. On a shallow shelf behind the bench was a ceramic lamp and some old magazines seldom changed.
-Front Hall. On the right hand wall facing the inner door was a hinged wooden panel. When swung open, this revealed a monitor screen and complicated control panel which operated the Trom sensors scanning visitors in the vestibule. The control panel also could activate sprays jets of the anesthetic gas both into the vestibule and over the exit door at the rear of the building, facing the alley between KDF headquarters and the next building. The panel also controlled the PA system within the building and could turn off alarms activated by intruders.
Just inside the vestibule door, the Yellow Shield sat beneath the floorboards. In 1972, Kenneth Dred had placed the powerful Melgar taliman there. It was a five-sided ensalir plate five feet to each side, and gralic attacks could not materialize over it. Beings entering with hostile intentions found their feet frozen helplessly to the floor and their gralic abilities neutralized. In the center of the front hall, a wide staircase with bannisters led up to the second floor and every floor above that to the ninth.
Next to the closet door on the right was a full-length mirror with a coat rack beside it and a cylindrical holder for umbrellas and canes.
-Medical Ward. To the right as one entered was a double-sized, brightly lit room with three regulation hospital beds; each bed has monitor screens for Trom sensors which can take blood pressure, EKGS, etc without needing attached leads. Three walls are packed with shelves and cabinet doors holding supplies. Among the equipment at hand was a stomach pump and a C-Pap machine. An enclosed bathroom with toilet and sink had been built in the far corner. Just inside the medical ward's door was a stainless steel sink.
-Elevator. Between the Medical Ward and Dining Room was the elevator, the cage of which could hold six adults comfortably. The elevator only went as high as the ninth floor. At that point, members had to walk up concrete steps to the hangar; this was because the hangar had originally been the roof.
-Dining Room. After the Medical Ward on the right came the seldom used formal dining room with its long polished table, high-backed chairs and crystal chandelier. Members usually ate in the kitchen itself or in the adjoining Rec Room.
-Rec Room. After the Dining Room along the right side as one entered the hall was the Rec Room. This took up most of the rear wall with a back door and then the kitchen. The Rec Room held a pool table that seldom saw use, and a handcarved chess set on its own pedestal, as well as wall racks of assorted magazines and newspapers and an elaborate sound system. The gigantic TV screen was so large and so detailed that it felt like looking through a window at real people. Hooked up to satellite signals, the system had thousands of channels available.
Mostly, the rec room was valued for its soft comfortable easy chairs and wall-length couches piled with cushions. Often the members were bruised and sore after a case, and really enjoyed stretching out on the furniture in this room. More than once, each of them had ended up sleeping here. The SECOND TEAM had started the tradition of Wednesday being Pizza Night, with the team gathering for socializing and eating; JEREMY BANE made it most weeks, as did other KDF Associate members, allies and acquaintances. This was a much appreciated custom which bonded the members and kept morale high.
On the right hand wall of the Rec Room was an unmarked panel which slid aside after concealed latches were thrown to reveal a narrow passage leading to the building next door. This had been secretly (and illegally) constructed by LEONARD SLADE and only the KDF members knew of it. In TED WRIGHT's clinic in the adjoining building, an unmarked door by the receptionist's desk seemed to be only a closet for hanging coats but its rear panel opened to the passage. More than once, Bane and the KDF members had used this way to enter or leave when the headquarters was being watched.
Between the Rec Room and the kitchen was the exit door which opened out into the alley between the KDF building and the building next door. The door itself was reinforced with sheets of steel and the windows on the rear wall were bulletproof acrylic, and could not be opened. This was the alley where KDF cars came up the ramp from the underground garage to exit onto Lexington Avenue.
-Office, also called the Reception Room. To the left as one entered. Here was where visitors were shown, and also the room that served BANE as an office for the DIRE WOLF AGENCY from 1991 to 2000. To the right was a desk, sitting under a gorgeous hand-painted map of the world as it had been in 1937. Three leatherbound chairs stood in front of the desk. There was a long leather-bound couch under the two high narrow windows, a coffee table with magazines on it and five straightbacked wooden chairs rearranged as needed. On the left wall was a waist-high case holding reference books and atop that sat a huge fish tank filled with bizarre specimens from Ulgor. These included a luminous squid with five-inch tentacles, a starfish that had a single angry red eye, a seahorse two feet long that had visible fangs and a colony of hermit crabs usually budy at constructing walls or tunnels. A tiny bathroom was built into one corner of the office, not much more than a closet with a toilet and sink. Inside the door, an old-fashioned landline phone hung on the wall. This was kept active for the use of visitors.
-Waiting Room. Further along the left side wall after the office was a room not used much. Some visitors could wait here if the office was being used or members could relax here during slack moments. It was sparsely furnished with comfortable chairs, a couch and regular TV set on a stand.
After the Waiting Room on the left as one entered was the kitchen. A snug room of polished dark wood and gleaming stainless steel, with wall cabinets on all sides, the kitchen had a refrigerator, gas stove and oven with a microwave hanging under a cabinet. In a nook under a window which admitted morning sunlight sat a round table with five narrow chairs. On the table sat a ceramic bowl piled with bananas, pears, tangerines and lemons. The kitchen was at the rear of the building. The exit door to the alley outside was between the kitchen and the Rec Room.
SECOND FLOOR
-Conference Room. This held the long oak table more than a hundred years old where four generations of heroes had assembled. There were five swivel chairs on either side of the table, with one at each end to make a total of twelve. At the head, the table held a deep drawer which often held Kenneth Dred's book FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE. The wall to the left was lined with green metal filing cabinets and reference books, needed less as information was scanned and stored in the computer files. A large area of the floor was kept free and uncluttered for the arrival of members through gates.
Two six-foot lockers held field suits for BANE and CINDY. A waist-high refrigerated cabinet at the far end held drinks and snacks.
-Memorial Room. Across the hall from the Conference Room, this was a somber chamber with black-framed portraits of KDF members, allies and friends who had passed on. KENNETH DRED himself, WILLIAM MURDOCK, MICHAEL HAWK etc. A few momentos and personal belongings were displayed here but nothing from fallen enemies; it was not a trophy room.
-Main Library. Further down from the Memorial Room was the Main Library, crammed with a confusing array of books, clippings, scrolls and loose papers accumulated by KENNETH DRED. During her years as member, CINDY BRUNNER catalogued and organized much of this but, considering most of the hallways also had crowded bookshelves, it would have been a lifetime task.
-Gallery. Opposite the Main Library, this well-lit airy room displayed a dozen oil paintings and several sculptures but none were of a Midnight War nature. Anything with a sorcererous tinge was kept down in the Vault. This Gallery was kept intact mostly from sentiments, but SABLE and surprisingly GALVAN enjoyed spending time there studying the art.
THIRD FLOOR
-Members Quarters
Here was where JEREMY BANE and CINDY BRUNNER had their rooms. Other KDF members occupied rooms on this and on the Fourth Floor. Even when members had their own apartments or houses, these quarters were kept for them for cases where they had to stay at the building. Following the death of a member, the room was painted and new furniture brought in, even if it was almost identical to the old furnishings.
FOURTH FLOOR
-Members Quarters
Most had an identical layout. There was a queen sized bed over by the windows looking down at 38th Street, a nightstand with three drawers and a lamp. By the head of each bed was a wall intercom. There was a desk with a computer, a dresser with a big mirror on its top and several comfortable chairs. On its wheeled cart was a TV In the far wall were two doors, one for the closet and one for the bathroom. Some of the members brought in a small couch. Each member added individual touches such as bookcases, hanging plants, standing lamps, throw rugs, framed photos or posters, etc.
FIFTH FLOOR
-Guest Quarters and rooms for Associate Members kept on a non-specified basis.
-SIXTH FLOOR
Labs took up the entire sixth floor of the building. When the KDF had first been established, Leonard Slade had claimed this story for his research and had constantly been bringing equipment in and out during his tenure. With Megan taking his place as the KDF's Trom liaison, she had continued doing the same.
Under brilliant fluorescent lights in the ceiling, the white tile floors and walls glared at him. Aside from a wall full of cabinets and drawers, Bane had no idea what the equipment was that he was looking at. It seemed to be just miles of stainless steel tubing and clear plastic pipes and air vents, with gauges and digital readouts every few inches. There were two long black tables with stools pulled up under them, and he pulled one stool out to settle down and watch Megan get to work. Just inside the door were three boxes on a shelf, holding blue latex gloves.
Here was where Slade and Megan brought the Links, helmets and other KDF equipment for repairs and upgrades. Anything relating to the CORBY was normally done in the hangar.
SEVENTH FLOOR - The Gym. Lined up facing the windows showing 38th Street were three treadmills. A variety of Nautilus equipment took up most of the floor space. Walled off with a narrow open doorway was a co-ed locker room, three showers and several benches, with a toilet and sink in an enclosed stall.
The right hand side had a sparring area with a floor covered by padded mats; this was also used for practicing the KUMUNDU Doh Ra form.
On the left hand side, JEREMY BANE had set up a knife throwing range. ("To his left was a metal rack holding ten throwing knives. These had been made for him to be as nearly identical as possible to the matched pair of silver-bladed daggers he always wore in sheaths under his sleeves. Sixty feet away, part of the wall had been covered with cork panels. On the floor in front of those panels was a small electric motor with a steel rod extending up to face level. The rod was hinged and ended with a round wooden disc as big as a man's head. Throwing a toggle switch on the rack holding the knives made the steel rod swung back and forth, up and down, moving in erratic circles. This gave an erratic moving target to throw at.")
EIGHTH FLOOR Storage. Unused furniture and appliances, packed-away clothing, large amounts of cannied or dry food and bottled water.
NINTH FLOOR
-Detention Cells. Three heavily-fortified cells designed to hold MELGARIN or TROLLS. The cells were clean and dry, with a hard sleeping pad on the floor, a motion-activated sink and toilet but nothing else. Each cell had a vestibule five feet by five feet, with an outer door that had to close before the inner door would open. The KDF rarely kept prisoners more than a day or two; they were normally repatriated to their own realms if wanted for offenses there, handed over to the MANDATE or DEPARTMENT 21 BLACK if they had commited prosecutable crimes or sometimes sent to remote areas of CHUJIR or ANDROVAL where they could live reasonably but had no way to return to the real world.
The Ninth Floor also was used to store tools, parts and supplies for the CORBY in the hangar above.
TENTH FLOOR
-Hangar. This had been the roof originally until Bane had ordered walls extending upward fifteen feet to accomodate the CORBY and a new roof constructed over that. The hangar was lined with cabinets, lockers, work benches holding tools and equipment. There was a bathroom door at the far end and a card table with a couch and folding chairs in one corner. Most of the floor space was taken up by the CORBY.
ROOF.
-Most of the roof was taken up by segmented steel panels which rolled away like a shutter to allow the CORBY entrance and exit. A narrow walkway extended around all four sides of the roof with a waist-high iron railing for safety. At each corner of the walkway, a steel post extended up six feet with a glass-encased bulb burning brightly. The southwest corner held the horizontal cylinder of the water tank. When raised, a trap door revealed a ladder leading into the hangar.
Since the elevator and staircase only reached the ninth floor, members had to ascend from there up concrtete steps to the hangar.
Located at 28 East 38th Street in Manhattan, the granite building had been constructed for DR VITARIUS in the mid-19th Century. KENNETH DRED had bought the structure in 1937 when Vitarius left for Europe; Dred lived there until his death in 1979. JEREMY BANE inherited the building and its contents. In 2001, he leased it for use to the KDF SECOND TEAM while retaining ownership in the event that the team disbanded or vanished. In 1979, LEONARD SLADE began extensive modifications and additions, some of which would not meet Code and it is believed by many that Trom influence kept building inspectors quiet.
-BASEMENT LEVEL.
There was a regular entrance to the basement level at the outside rear of the building but that door was kept locked. Usually, members went into a deep closet to the right of the front door. A sliding panel exposed steep concrete steps leading down to the basement level. To the left was the Trom power generator and the water heater. The water tank itself had been relocated to the roof. A walkway lit by overhead fluorescent bulbs had the Arsenal to the left and the Vault to the right before ending in a plain wooden door to the garage. Next to the Vault on the right was the room containing the elevator machinery.
The walls of the long narrow walkway were lined with open rough wooden shelves. Most of these had become filled with luggage, lamps, old televisions, bundles of clothing in clear bags and similar detritus. There were also accordion files crammed with receipts and insurance forms and court documents dating back decades, most of them not likely to be ever needed.
-The Vault had a massive door of cold iron, inset at the top with protective Eldaran sigils. Only the senior KDF members knew the code that unlocked the Vault's keypad. Under a single naked light bulb was revealed shelving that held the most perilous items Kenneth Dred and his successors had gathered over decades. These included at various times: A chamois bag of Cyrinkyl, 'star-snow.'Shards of the cursed sword Hellspawn. The Brand of Submission, the Zhune artifacts of the lost science of that ancient land, the Ghoul-summoning pendant. The Jar of the Djinn. The Spiked Gauntlet. The voodoo Death Drum from their first meeting with Samuel Watesa, the Silver Hammer of Malberon. Two Mummy cases nailed shut, jeweled chalices and plain clay goblets, a row of human skulls behind glass casing, some crumbling sea trunks piled atop each other. The soul jar holding Mercurio.
-Garage. Accessed through a plain wooden door at the end of the walkway. Only large enough to hold two vehicles at a time, the garage had several workbenches and assorted tools but no greasepit or lift. Any serious repairs had to be done elsewhere. Exit from the garage meant driving up a steep concrete ramp and make an acutely sharp turn into the alley between KDF headquarters and the building next door, pulling out onto Lexington Avenie.
FIRST FLOOR
-Vestibule. Inside the street door was the vestibule or foyer, a room six feet by ten where visitors waited to be cleared by Trom sensors. There was a framed oil portraits of KENNETH DRED on the left wall as one entered. To the right was a bench big enough for two people; the top of the bench hinged open to reveal a compartment where weapons had to be surrendered by visitors. On a shallow shelf behind the bench was a ceramic lamp and some old magazines seldom changed.
-Front Hall. On the right hand wall facing the inner door was a hinged wooden panel. When swung open, this revealed a monitor screen and complicated control panel which operated the Trom sensors scanning visitors in the vestibule. The control panel also could activate sprays jets of the anesthetic gas both into the vestibule and over the exit door at the rear of the building, facing the alley between KDF headquarters and the next building. The panel also controlled the PA system within the building and could turn off alarms activated by intruders.
Just inside the vestibule door, the Yellow Shield sat beneath the floorboards. In 1972, Kenneth Dred had placed the powerful Melgar taliman there. It was a five-sided ensalir plate five feet to each side, and gralic attacks could not materialize over it. Beings entering with hostile intentions found their feet frozen helplessly to the floor and their gralic abilities neutralized. In the center of the front hall, a wide staircase with bannisters led up to the second floor and every floor above that to the ninth.
Next to the closet door on the right was a full-length mirror with a coat rack beside it and a cylindrical holder for umbrellas and canes.
-Medical Ward. To the right as one entered was a double-sized, brightly lit room with three regulation hospital beds; each bed has monitor screens for Trom sensors which can take blood pressure, EKGS, etc without needing attached leads. Three walls are packed with shelves and cabinet doors holding supplies. Among the equipment at hand was a stomach pump and a C-Pap machine. An enclosed bathroom with toilet and sink had been built in the far corner. Just inside the medical ward's door was a stainless steel sink.
-Elevator. Between the Medical Ward and Dining Room was the elevator, the cage of which could hold six adults comfortably. The elevator only went as high as the ninth floor. At that point, members had to walk up concrete steps to the hangar; this was because the hangar had originally been the roof.
-Dining Room. After the Medical Ward on the right came the seldom used formal dining room with its long polished table, high-backed chairs and crystal chandelier. Members usually ate in the kitchen itself or in the adjoining Rec Room.
-Rec Room. After the Dining Room along the right side as one entered the hall was the Rec Room. This took up most of the rear wall with a back door and then the kitchen. The Rec Room held a pool table that seldom saw use, and a handcarved chess set on its own pedestal, as well as wall racks of assorted magazines and newspapers and an elaborate sound system. The gigantic TV screen was so large and so detailed that it felt like looking through a window at real people. Hooked up to satellite signals, the system had thousands of channels available.
Mostly, the rec room was valued for its soft comfortable easy chairs and wall-length couches piled with cushions. Often the members were bruised and sore after a case, and really enjoyed stretching out on the furniture in this room. More than once, each of them had ended up sleeping here. The SECOND TEAM had started the tradition of Wednesday being Pizza Night, with the team gathering for socializing and eating; JEREMY BANE made it most weeks, as did other KDF Associate members, allies and acquaintances. This was a much appreciated custom which bonded the members and kept morale high.
On the right hand wall of the Rec Room was an unmarked panel which slid aside after concealed latches were thrown to reveal a narrow passage leading to the building next door. This had been secretly (and illegally) constructed by LEONARD SLADE and only the KDF members knew of it. In TED WRIGHT's clinic in the adjoining building, an unmarked door by the receptionist's desk seemed to be only a closet for hanging coats but its rear panel opened to the passage. More than once, Bane and the KDF members had used this way to enter or leave when the headquarters was being watched.
Between the Rec Room and the kitchen was the exit door which opened out into the alley between the KDF building and the building next door. The door itself was reinforced with sheets of steel and the windows on the rear wall were bulletproof acrylic, and could not be opened. This was the alley where KDF cars came up the ramp from the underground garage to exit onto Lexington Avenue.
-Office, also called the Reception Room. To the left as one entered. Here was where visitors were shown, and also the room that served BANE as an office for the DIRE WOLF AGENCY from 1991 to 2000. To the right was a desk, sitting under a gorgeous hand-painted map of the world as it had been in 1937. Three leatherbound chairs stood in front of the desk. There was a long leather-bound couch under the two high narrow windows, a coffee table with magazines on it and five straightbacked wooden chairs rearranged as needed. On the left wall was a waist-high case holding reference books and atop that sat a huge fish tank filled with bizarre specimens from Ulgor. These included a luminous squid with five-inch tentacles, a starfish that had a single angry red eye, a seahorse two feet long that had visible fangs and a colony of hermit crabs usually budy at constructing walls or tunnels. A tiny bathroom was built into one corner of the office, not much more than a closet with a toilet and sink. Inside the door, an old-fashioned landline phone hung on the wall. This was kept active for the use of visitors.
-Waiting Room. Further along the left side wall after the office was a room not used much. Some visitors could wait here if the office was being used or members could relax here during slack moments. It was sparsely furnished with comfortable chairs, a couch and regular TV set on a stand.
After the Waiting Room on the left as one entered was the kitchen. A snug room of polished dark wood and gleaming stainless steel, with wall cabinets on all sides, the kitchen had a refrigerator, gas stove and oven with a microwave hanging under a cabinet. In a nook under a window which admitted morning sunlight sat a round table with five narrow chairs. On the table sat a ceramic bowl piled with bananas, pears, tangerines and lemons. The kitchen was at the rear of the building. The exit door to the alley outside was between the kitchen and the Rec Room.
SECOND FLOOR
-Conference Room. This held the long oak table more than a hundred years old where four generations of heroes had assembled. There were five swivel chairs on either side of the table, with one at each end to make a total of twelve. At the head, the table held a deep drawer which often held Kenneth Dred's book FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE. The wall to the left was lined with green metal filing cabinets and reference books, needed less as information was scanned and stored in the computer files. A large area of the floor was kept free and uncluttered for the arrival of members through gates.
Two six-foot lockers held field suits for BANE and CINDY. A waist-high refrigerated cabinet at the far end held drinks and snacks.
-Memorial Room. Across the hall from the Conference Room, this was a somber chamber with black-framed portraits of KDF members, allies and friends who had passed on. KENNETH DRED himself, WILLIAM MURDOCK, MICHAEL HAWK etc. A few momentos and personal belongings were displayed here but nothing from fallen enemies; it was not a trophy room.
-Main Library. Further down from the Memorial Room was the Main Library, crammed with a confusing array of books, clippings, scrolls and loose papers accumulated by KENNETH DRED. During her years as member, CINDY BRUNNER catalogued and organized much of this but, considering most of the hallways also had crowded bookshelves, it would have been a lifetime task.
-Gallery. Opposite the Main Library, this well-lit airy room displayed a dozen oil paintings and several sculptures but none were of a Midnight War nature. Anything with a sorcererous tinge was kept down in the Vault. This Gallery was kept intact mostly from sentiments, but SABLE and surprisingly GALVAN enjoyed spending time there studying the art.
THIRD FLOOR
-Members Quarters
Here was where JEREMY BANE and CINDY BRUNNER had their rooms. Other KDF members occupied rooms on this and on the Fourth Floor. Even when members had their own apartments or houses, these quarters were kept for them for cases where they had to stay at the building. Following the death of a member, the room was painted and new furniture brought in, even if it was almost identical to the old furnishings.
FOURTH FLOOR
-Members Quarters
Most had an identical layout. There was a queen sized bed over by the windows looking down at 38th Street, a nightstand with three drawers and a lamp. By the head of each bed was a wall intercom. There was a desk with a computer, a dresser with a big mirror on its top and several comfortable chairs. On its wheeled cart was a TV In the far wall were two doors, one for the closet and one for the bathroom. Some of the members brought in a small couch. Each member added individual touches such as bookcases, hanging plants, standing lamps, throw rugs, framed photos or posters, etc.
FIFTH FLOOR
-Guest Quarters and rooms for Associate Members kept on a non-specified basis.
-SIXTH FLOOR
Labs took up the entire sixth floor of the building. When the KDF had first been established, Leonard Slade had claimed this story for his research and had constantly been bringing equipment in and out during his tenure. With Megan taking his place as the KDF's Trom liaison, she had continued doing the same.
Under brilliant fluorescent lights in the ceiling, the white tile floors and walls glared at him. Aside from a wall full of cabinets and drawers, Bane had no idea what the equipment was that he was looking at. It seemed to be just miles of stainless steel tubing and clear plastic pipes and air vents, with gauges and digital readouts every few inches. There were two long black tables with stools pulled up under them, and he pulled one stool out to settle down and watch Megan get to work. Just inside the door were three boxes on a shelf, holding blue latex gloves.
Here was where Slade and Megan brought the Links, helmets and other KDF equipment for repairs and upgrades. Anything relating to the CORBY was normally done in the hangar.
SEVENTH FLOOR - The Gym. Lined up facing the windows showing 38th Street were three treadmills. A variety of Nautilus equipment took up most of the floor space. Walled off with a narrow open doorway was a co-ed locker room, three showers and several benches, with a toilet and sink in an enclosed stall.
The right hand side had a sparring area with a floor covered by padded mats; this was also used for practicing the KUMUNDU Doh Ra form.
On the left hand side, JEREMY BANE had set up a knife throwing range. ("To his left was a metal rack holding ten throwing knives. These had been made for him to be as nearly identical as possible to the matched pair of silver-bladed daggers he always wore in sheaths under his sleeves. Sixty feet away, part of the wall had been covered with cork panels. On the floor in front of those panels was a small electric motor with a steel rod extending up to face level. The rod was hinged and ended with a round wooden disc as big as a man's head. Throwing a toggle switch on the rack holding the knives made the steel rod swung back and forth, up and down, moving in erratic circles. This gave an erratic moving target to throw at.")
EIGHTH FLOOR Storage. Unused furniture and appliances, packed-away clothing, large amounts of cannied or dry food and bottled water.
NINTH FLOOR
-Detention Cells. Three heavily-fortified cells designed to hold MELGARIN or TROLLS. The cells were clean and dry, with a hard sleeping pad on the floor, a motion-activated sink and toilet but nothing else. Each cell had a vestibule five feet by five feet, with an outer door that had to close before the inner door would open. The KDF rarely kept prisoners more than a day or two; they were normally repatriated to their own realms if wanted for offenses there, handed over to the MANDATE or DEPARTMENT 21 BLACK if they had commited prosecutable crimes or sometimes sent to remote areas of CHUJIR or ANDROVAL where they could live reasonably but had no way to return to the real world.
The Ninth Floor also was used to store tools, parts and supplies for the CORBY in the hangar above.
TENTH FLOOR
-Hangar. This had been the roof originally until Bane had ordered walls extending upward fifteen feet to accomodate the CORBY and a new roof constructed over that. The hangar was lined with cabinets, lockers, work benches holding tools and equipment. There was a bathroom door at the far end and a card table with a couch and folding chairs in one corner. Most of the floor space was taken up by the CORBY.
ROOF.
-Most of the roof was taken up by segmented steel panels which rolled away like a shutter to allow the CORBY entrance and exit. A narrow walkway extended around all four sides of the roof with a waist-high iron railing for safety. At each corner of the walkway, a steel post extended up six feet with a glass-encased bulb burning brightly. The southwest corner held the horizontal cylinder of the water tank. When raised, a trap door revealed a ladder leading into the hangar.
Since the elevator and staircase only reached the ninth floor, members had to ascend from there up concrtete steps to the hangar.
