by Davis, James
"Crap, my manners. Please take a seat," Tanner interrupted, clearly only barely interested in what Johnny had to say. He motioned to two leather armchairs in front of his desk "Water? Soda?" he offered, opening a small fridge behind his desk and removing a peach flavored energy drink.
“No, thank you,” Johnny said.
“Very well then,” Tanner replied stepping back over to his chair and falling into it with great ease.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Tanner said, looking from Johnny to Roosevelt.
"As I was saying, we just aren't looking in the right places. There has got to be something there. If I jus---," Johnny said.
Tanner raised a hand to silence Johnny, drawing an audible sigh from Roosevelt who was becoming visibly agitated, "John, John, listen you don't have to convince me. I believe you. If you say something is there, something is there," he said, pausing for a moment and looking at both men.
"And...if there isn't, it'll be great PR anyway. A51's first mission to Mars, imagine it John, it's gonna be huge. Every TV, every PC, every phone, they're all gonna be tuned in. Even if we never find anything, we'll be swimming in money," he said, excitement getting the best of him as he jumped up from his chair.
"So, you'll pay for it?" Roosevelt asked.
"Hell, yes, I'll pay for it! I'm in!" Tanner exclaimed.
"My man!" Roosevelt exclaimed, matching Tanner's excitement and slapping Johnny a little too hard on the shoulder.
"That’s great news!" Johnny agreed.
"We're gonna get rich guys!" Tanner almost shouted, "Well, you guys are gonna get rich, I'm already pretty rich," he added cheekily.
He stood up and walked over to the window, overlooking the city, silently staring out for a moment before speaking.
"We've got a lot to do, and only a little time. Gungnir has five seats. That’s you two, two of A51's best engineers, and one left for T-Wash," he said.
"T-Wash?" Johnny asked.
"Not a chance!" Roosevelt interjected.
"Of course, I'll be coming too. I wouldn't miss this for the world. The press is going to be all over it," Tanner said with a huge grin.
Johnny shook his head.
"You don't know the first thing about flying an actual mission. We ain't babysitters!" Roosevelt argued.
"That's the beauty of being me, boys, you don't have to know the first thing if you surround yourselves with people who do. I won't get in the way, and besides, if I'm not on that bird, it doesn't leave the ground." Roosevelt tightened his jaw and glanced over at Johnny who was forcing a smile.
“Tanner, look man, we can't just take you with us just because you want to come. You would have to go through months of testing and training,” Johnny explained. Tanner held a hand up and looked Johnny dead in the eye.
“Who’s paying for this trip?” Tanner asked.
“You are,” Johnny replied.
“Uh, huh, and who is providing the vehicle to take said trip to the old red bitch above us?” Tanner asked, annoyance seeping into each word.
“You again.” Johnny said in a defeated tone.
“Then I don’t want to hear another word about it. My money, my shuttle, my goddamn company! I am going and that's final!” Tanner all but shouted like a petulant child. Johnny took a step back and glanced helplessly over at Roosevelt and then back to Tanner.
“Alright, man. Whatever you say,” Johnny said. Tanner's face lit up with a huge toothy smile.
“Great! I’m glad we worked that out! Now let’s go plan our trip to that beautiful red bitch!” Tanner said as he stepped around his desk and headed for the door.
“Bet he didn’t take his meds this morning,” Roosevelt leaned over and whispered in a hushed tone.
“Bet you’re right,” Johnny said as he stood up to leave the office. Roosevelt fell in behind Johnny as they made their way to the R and D department.
“Hurry up! I have something I want to show you guys,” Tanner said over his shoulder as he waited for the elevator. The clicking sound of the elevator button Tanner continued to push filled the hall as Johnny and Roosevelt fell in behind Tanner.
“What are we going to look at?” Johnny asked.
“Food, I hope,” Roosevelt said before Tanner had a chance to answer. Johnny smacked his arm.
“Shut up and let the man talk,” he said. Roosevelt rubbed his arm and gave Johnny the stink eye. Johnny ignored him and kept his attention on Tanner as they all waited on the elevator.
“You’ll see in a few short minutes. What is taking this damn thing so long!” He shouted as he glared up at the camera. A speaker next to the camera blared to life.
“Uh, sorry sir. I was using the restroom.” A panicked voice said just before the ding of the elevator. The door opened and they all stepped inside. Tanner pulled out his phone and typed a quick text before turning his attention back on his two guests.
“I’m going to need you guys to sign an N.D.A when we get down here.”
“A non-disclosure agreement?” Johnny asked, confusion in his tone.
“That’s correct,” Tanner said with a nod.
“For what?” Roosevelt asked.
“For the things you guys are about to see. I promise you’ll be glad you did,” Tanner said. The elevator dinged and the door opened before Johnny or Roosevelt could ask any more questions. They followed Tanner out into a short hallway, stopping in front of a reception area where a middle-aged man with a Dr. Phil haircut sat stuffing a jelly donut down his gullet. The man didn’t seem to notice Tanner standing in front of him as he continued to stare at the donut like it was a gift directly from God himself. Tanner cleared his throat loudly causing the man to jolt and drop his donut.
“Eugene, I swear to Christ if you leave me standing at the damn door for more than ten seconds again, I will fire your ass!” Tanner scolded.
“Sorry, sir, I wa…,” Eugene started but Tanner cut him off.
“Now, get off your fat ass and pick that damn donut up out of the floor!”
“Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!” Eugene said as he frantically got up to grab the donut. Tanner gave the man one final glare before turning and walking away.
“And you better not eat that damn donut after it was on the floor, Eugene!” Tanner shouted over his shoulder. Eugene was just about to take a bite of the donut when Tanner’s words reached him. Disappointment covered his features as he tossed the pastry into the trash and then waved a one fingered salute to his boss’ back.
“Mary, could you get these two fine gentlemen to sign an N.D.A for me please?” Tanner asked a woman sitting at the front desk of the R and D area.
“Yes, sir,” she replied, looking Tanner up and down with a sexy smile on her face. Tanner's face flushed red when he saw the way she was looking at him.
“Uh, you two come find me after you sign those papers. I’ll be inside,” Tanner said in between gulps of air. Johnny saw how Tanner's entire demeanor changed around the beautiful woman and chuckled.
“I think he likes you a little bit,” Roosevelt said with a chuckle as he signed his paper.
“Yeah, maybe a little,” Mary said, popping her gum as she spoke.
“Do you want these or should we give them to Tanner?” Johnny asked, holding up the papers they had just signed.
“I’ll take them. You best not let him wait on you too long. His panties get all twisted up if he has to wait for anything,” Mary said in her best southern belle accent. Johnny chuckled and pushed through the doors to the R and D department. Johnny and Roosevelt stood there in silence taking the scene before them in. A massive odd-looking engine for a shuttle was suspended from the middle of the large room with wires and tubes running off of it in all directions. They glanced around the room looking for Tanner but couldn’t seem to spot him. They decided to walk deeper into the massive room but stopped when they each felt a hand slap down on their shoulders.
“Welcome to the Thunderdome, bitches!”
Chapter Five
4
:15 p.m. July 6, 2048
A51 Technologies
Houston, Texas
“Really? The Thunderdome?” Roosevelt asked before he burst into laughter.
“You like the name huh?” Tanner asked, as he also began to chuckle.
“Oh man, that's fantastic!” Roosevelt said as he tried to get himself back under control. Johnny wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and then pointed at the massive engine in the center of the room.
“That the big secret?” Johnny asked. Tanner cleared his throat and looked back at where Johnny was pointing.
“Correctomundo!” Tanner said as he pushed the two men forward.
“This bad boy is just one of four new engines that will be taking us up to big red,” he added, giving them both a pat on the shoulder.
“What’s so special about this engine compared to a traditional shuttle engine?” Roosevelt asked as he craned his neck to get a look at the top of the engine. Tanner chuckled.
“That's like asking what the difference is between riding a horse across the country and flying in a private jet across the country. The difference is night and day. It's an entire new propulsion system never seen before. At least not to my knowledge anyway,” Tanner said, his arms spread wide to emphasize his point.
“So, are you going to explain the difference or just let us use our imaginations?” Johnny asked.
“Calm your tits, gents. I’m getting to that,” Tanner replied before turning back around to face them.
“I’m going to assume you both already know how a traditional shuttle engine works correct?” Tanner asked, looking from Johnny to Roosevelt and then back to Johnny. They both nodded and waited for Tanner to continue.
“What makes this so different is one word,” Tanner said holding up a single finger as he spoke. Johnny and Roosevelt just stared at him waiting for the big reveal.
“Moscovium.” Tanner said, a huge smile spreading across his face.
“Moscovium?” Roosevelt asked, confusion pouring over his words.
“Yes, moscovium. Element 115,” Tanner explained.
“What's so special about element 115?” Johnny asked.
“Have you ever heard of a man by the name of Bob Lazar?” Tanner asked.
“Yeah, isn't he the guy that claimed he worked on UFO’s back in the late 80’s?” Johnny asked, excitement filling his tone. Tanner’s smile grew even bigger.
“Exactly!” Tanner said.
“Who the hell is Bob Lazar and where the hell is he so I can find out what the hell you two are talking about?” Roosevelt asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Tanner and Johnny.
“Bob Lazar was a scientist that supposedly worked on alien spacecraft for the government back in the 80’s. He said the main propulsion was from an element that had not yet been discovered at the time he was working on the alien spacecraft. Moscovium wasn’t actually discovered until 2003 and even then, it could only be observed for a split second,” Tanner explained with a snap of his fingers.
“Okay, so what is it and what makes it different?” Roosevelt asked, now getting completely into the conversation.
“When they originally discovered it, it broke down almost immediately giving them hardly no time to research it. We’ve figured out how to stabilize it and use it the same way those alien spacecrafts did years ago,” Tanner said.
“Wouldn’t that be considered outdated tech now?” Roosevelt asked.
“It would if Bob and his team would have figured out how to stabilize and use it back then,” Tanner said.
“So, what does it do? How does it work?” Johnny asked.
“It would take entirely too long to explain so we’ll just show you,” Tanner explained before turning around to the group of people working on the engine.
“We almost ready to test fire it?” Tanner shouted over the growing cacophony of voices inside the room.
“Five minutes!” A random voice shouted back. Tanner nodded and turned back to Johnny and Roosevelt.
“Follow me,” he said, waving a finger over his shoulder for them to follow. They walked around to what Johnny assumed was the front of the engine and stopped next to an older white-headed man who was pressing an intricate series of buttons on a huge console.
“You fellas ready to have your minds blown? The government tried for years to do what has taken A51 six months to do,” Tanner said, pride swelling up in his chest.
“Thirty seconds!” A voice shouted as all of the workers near the engine backed up several feet. Roosevelt and Johnny started getting concerned about everyone in the room being so close to the engine when it fired.
“Is it safe to fire this thing in here with all of us being so close?” Johnny asked. Tanner chuckled as another voice shouted.
“Ten seconds!” A mechanical voice started to count backwards from ten and Johnny could see that Tanner’s excitement was growing close to overload levels as they watched the massive engine start to slightly shake in its mounts.
“3...2...1…” The voice sounded. Johnny watched as a bright blue light shot out of the bottom of the engine. The room was eerily silent as the engine began to lift up under its own power. There was no noise or heat coming from the engine as it slowly lifted its own weight from its mounts. Johnny’s jaw dropped open along with Roosevelt’s as they watched the impossible happen right before their eyes.
“Holy shit,” Roosevelt said in a low tone.
“Holy shit, indeed!” Tanner said with a chuckle as the engine started to lower back down to hang from its mounts.
“Don’t get me wrong, that is amazing but that hardly seems like enough power to get us to Mars even if there are four of them attached to the shuttle,” Johnny said.
“What you just saw was only three percent power,” Tanner explained.
“Only three percent!” Johnny guffawed. Tanner laughed and nodded his head.
“This is going to change the world,” Johnny said, still watching the engine.
“There’s no doubt about that! Now let’s go get this mission to Mars planned out, shall we?” Tanner asked, motioning for the pair to follow him to his R and D office.
“So, when do I get to see the actual shuttle I’ll be flying us to Mars in?” Roosevelt asked. Tanner took a long drink from his can and looked back at him.
“We actually sent the other finished engines to Skunkworks and they have a team solely focused on designing and building the shuttle for this trip. We sent them everything that we wanted to see on the shuttle and told them to go crazy with it. This thing is going to be huge. It's going to double as our home while we’re there since we’re landing so far away from the colony that's already been established up there,” Tanner explained as he sat down behind his desk and opened his laptop.
“They already have each section on the trucks and ready to ship. They’re just waiting to get the appropriate papers from each state for the truckers to drive it over here. Should be here by Friday,” Tanner said, pointing at the screen of his computer for Roosevelt to see.
“Wait a damn minute! Why is this already built and ready to go? I just came to you for help on this mission this morning,” Johnny said, suspicion coloring his words. Tanner chuckled.
“Yeah, about that. I told Arthur you would figure it out. He told me last year NASA was pulling the plug on your mission. I told him I wanted to pick it up and do it myself but he wouldn’t let me unless you agreed to it. He was pretty certain you would once he gave you my number.” Tanner explained.
“Well, that son of a…,” Johnny started but Tanner cut him off.
“Now, now, don’t start with the name calling. The mission is still a go and honestly you are in far better hands than you would ever be at NASA. No offense but they just don’t have the money like I do to put into this mission so really it's a win-win for you and me,” Tanner said. Johnny seemed to consider this and then nodded.
“Yeah you’re right, but that still pisses me off that he went behind my back for over
a year like this,” Johnny said.
“Well, at least we’re still going,” Roosevelt said, giving his friend a quick pat on the shoulder.
“I’ll be having a talk with that weasel once we get done with the mission,” Johnny grumbled.
“Well if you two decide to leave NASA for good there are open spots here for you and I almost guarantee that A51 pays people such as the two of you quite a bit better than NASA,” Tanner said, looking at them with raised eyebrows. Johnny and Roosevelt looked at one another for a long second as they had a silent conversation together in their minds. Finally, Johnny turned back to Tanner.
“We may just take you up on that when we get back from the mission,” Johnny stated. Tanner nodded emphatically.
“Good. I’ll have Mary draw up your paperwork and have it ready as soon as we get back, but for now let’s go over the list of names that will be joining us on big red.”
Chapter Six
5:27 p.m. July 6, 2048
A51 Technologies
Houston, Texas
“Erik Kunetsov and Rebecca Simmons?” Roosevelt asked, reading the fronts of the two folders Tanner had just handed him. Johnny turned back to Tanner waiting on him to explain who each person was and why he picked them to join the mission.
“Erik Kunetsov is the flight engineer for the mission. He's worked with the design team every step of the way. He knows Gungnir like the back of his hand. He has a Ph. D in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in mathematics. Long story short, he’s extremely smart,” Tanner explained before moving on to the next person.
“Rebecca Simmons has a dual masters in astrobiology and geology as well as a bachelor's degree in plant science. She’ll be able to identify any plant or rock we find up there,” he finished, looking up from his notebook to meet Johnny’s eyes.
“Sounds like we'll be in good company,” Johnny said, giving his head a quick scratch before standing up and smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt.
“I sure hope this shuttle is big enough to accommodate five of us,” Roosevelt said as he thought about how tight of a fit it was inside a conventional space shuttle.
“Not to worry, my friend. We kept luxury in mind when we designed the shuttle. We'll have all the comforts of home on board, maybe a little more. Wait till you see it. It's gonna be the longest craft ever launched into space by almost double the length. With hthl and vtol capabilities, we can take off, and more importantly, put the thing down almost anywhere,” Tanner said as he stepped around his desk and slung an arm around Roosevelt’s wide shoulders. "And you know what else? We're gonna do it in maximum comfort and style!"