On the late afternoon of December 7, 1941, Senator Harry Truman arrived at the secret government establishment dubbed “Thingmaker” in a discreet Nash 600 sky-sled that appeared to be a standard Washington, DC, taxicab. Behind the wheel of the floating vehicle sat a youthful fellow with dark wavy hair and a long oval face featuring an aquiline nose above full lips. Looking back over his shoulder at his passenger, the driver received a positive nod. He maneuvered the controls of the sky-sled in response, so as to cause it to sink slowly onto its undercarriage bumpers as they made contact with the pavement.
The building before which the car settled, an innocuous and shabby warehouse-type structure with its windows boarded up, stood in the shadow of the Nehi Bottling Plant at 1923 New York Av
