THE BRINK - OPERATION DEEP FLIGHT

by Marshall Huffman

  “Gentlemen. You’re Doctors Morgan and Phillips I believe. Doctor Ferris, we have already met indirectly. I have been going over your personnel files. Shame on you Doctor Morgan. I should call the MP’s for some of those escapades. Doctor Farris, I wouldn’t smile, you have quite an amusing chapter back in college as well.”

  “Must be another Doctor Ferris.”

  “God, I hope not,” the Admiral said, chuckling.

  “We all learn from our mistakes,” Morgan said.

  “Except for you,” Phillips added.

  “Anyway, I wanted to thank you for speaking up today. Those two issues are important. The committee is considering both items and has promised an immediate review. Obviously a cost/benefit analysis will have to be made but I doubt that it will make all that much difference in the end. This project has the highest priority. It goes along the lines of the Manhattan Project during World War II.”

  “Holy smokes. Are we getting ready to go to war?” Phillips asked.

  “Doctor, we are always getting ready to go to war. No, we are not getting ready for war. Not in the traditional sense,” the Admiral said.

  “Admiral, I admire the way you played us all today. You would make a great conductor. We all certainly got on the same page fast enough,” Peter said.

  “All but one,” Marcus said, smiling.

  “There is always one,” Morgan replied.

  “Doctor Ferris. I would like to have a word with you tomorrow.”

  “Oooh…a secret military meeting. This has all the makings of an excellent novel. I wonder if there is a spy among us?” Morgan said.

  “I hope not. I would hate to shoot some poor son of a bitch,” the Admiral said without smiling.

  “Any particular time?” Peter asked, getting back to the subject.

  “Ten hundred..Oops..10:00 a.m. I’ll have a note sent to your room with the details. Now if you will excuse me gentlemen, I should circulate,” he said and bowed slightly.

  “Wow. I love this stuff. The only way it could get any better is if I could figure out a way to include Susan in this scenario,” Phillips said.

  “Who is Susan?” Peter asked.

  “That is Susan,” he said, pointing to a tall blond talking to a group of men who seemed intent on having her undivided attention. She was around five foot six but looked taller in heels. She wasn’t a total blonde. Her hair was streaked and shoulder length. She certainly had an attractive figure from what Peter could see.

  “Very nice,” he said softly.

  “Doctor Susan Long. She is the head of the VLA program. A very smart lady, not to mention the obvious attributes,” Morgan said.

  “What is her part in this project?”

  “Anything to do with the computer link-ups. She will tie all of the systems together so that they operate as one seamless system.”

  “Now that will be a hand full,” Peter said.

  “You want to meet her?” Phillip asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. That doesn’t sound like a good idea. She seems to be getting enough attention just now,” he replied.

  “I told you he was shy,” Phillip said to Morgan.

  The three talked for several more minutes before the two men moved on to trade insults with other colleagues they knew. Peter went to the bar to get another Sprite and lime.

  “I’ll have what he’s having,” a soft voice said behind him. Peter turned and looked into the hazel eyes of Doctor Susan Long.

  “Are you sure? It’s just Sprite.”

  “Great. People make fools out of themselves when they drink too much at a party like this. All except Phillips and Morgan that is. They can hold more liquor than anyone I know. They are quite a pair.”

  “Funny, they said the exact same thing about you,” hoping she had a sense of humor.

  She laughed and blushed slightly, “That is so like them. They crack me up.”

  “They are something else.”

  “Yes they are but they are brilliant. I really respect what they do. They can think circles around me. They are really out there.”

  “You know, all kidding aside, they said much the same about you. They have a very high regard for your work as well,” Peter told her.

  “That’s always nice to hear. We have worked on a few projects together and you can always go to them when you get in a bind. They look at things in such a different way that they can often come up with solutions that seem crazy at first. Then they break it down for you and suddenly it all makes perfect sense. I love those nuts,” she said.

  “Looks like our paths will cross from time to time. I have the navigational and air handling systems,” Peter told her.

  “Yes, I know. My path crosses just about everyone’s at one point. Ours will cross often. The navigational system is one of the most critical components of the entire project. It will have to interact with almost every other system so we have to get it right,” she said.

  She had suddenly become serious. She was Doctor Long the scientist at the moment.

  “We are developing the hardware. The software is your baby the way I understand it,” Peter said.

  “Oh yes but the two still have to be compatible. When the program tells it to go right the controls have to know what to do. They have to function accordingly and that is your job. Doctor Ferris, we will both have our hands full,” she said.

  “At least we don’t have the propulsion system to create,” he said.

  “Easy for you to say. And in a way you are involved too. Your navigation system has to work with the propulsion system as well. Software, navigation, and propulsion are all one unit when it comes to getting from point A to point B,” she said. Peter had to admit, he hadn’t given that much thought. Suddenly the project took on a new dimension. What the hell had he gotten them into?

  Peter and Susan talked for the next two hours and when they finally looked around they realized most of the people were drifting off. He looked at his watch and was surprised to find it was past 11:00 p.m.

  “No wonder everyone is leaving. I guess we had better call it a night as well. We start at 7:30 a.m. or 0730 as the Admiral would say,” Peter replied.

  “Aye, Aye Captain or whatever the reply is. Peter, it has been a pleasure talking to you and I really look forward to working with you on this project. I also want to thank you for the super conductor you created. It was pure genius. It has made my life infinitely easier,” she said.

  Peter blushed, which was very rare for him.

  “That is grossly out of proportion. The team did the work. I just got the credit,” he said.

  She smiled and replied, “Modest and good looking. An unusual combination. Goodnight Peter.”

  He watched as she headed for the elevator. He waited for several minutes. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t giving the impression that he was following along after her. As he reached the elevator, Doctors Morgan and Phillip came up. Doctor Morgan looked like he would pass out at any moment.

  “Where’s Susan?” Phillips asked.

  “In her room I would imagine. She left some time ago.”

  “So you didn’t score?” Morgan managed to get out.

  “You know, she really likes you guys. I’m not sure I understand why,” Peter said.

  “See. He is starting to insult us. I told you he would fit right in,” Phillip said.

  Peter just laughed. What else could you do with these two guys?

  * * *

  Peter’s alarm clock went off at 7:00 a.m. and he slowly opened his eyes. He hated mornings. How anyone could get up at that hour and be happy about it was beyond his comprehension. Without turning on the lights he walked over to the small refrigerator. Damn, what kind of sick person would put a spotlight in a refrigerator? He groped around and found a can of Diet Coke and went back to the bed.

  He sat on the edge and drank the first half before heading to the bathroom. After a shower and shave he was starting to feel like a real person again. Once he was up and going it took
him no time at all to get dressed.

  He walked into the conference room after showing his identification at 7:26 a.m. Several others were arriving at the same time. He found a seat and opened his briefcase. He had just started to read through the agenda for today when Admiral Marcus entered the room and walked to the podium.

  “I trust you all slept well,” he said in his booming voice. Groans came from several areas of the room. Peter could hear Doctor Morgan over the others.

  “Excellent. We have another busy day. In the envelopes you were given as you came in today you will find blue pages. That is what we need to accomplish by the end of the day. As you can see, we will be in breakout sessions. I realize some of you will need to be in more than one session due to the nature of your particular expertise. Don’t worry about that just now. Just go to the room where you are listed and attend that session. Do not,” the Admiral said, pausing and looking around, “Do not take it upon yourself to attend a different session. First of all you will not be allowed in if your name is not on the list. Second, it will really wrinkle my bonnet and you do not want to wrinkle my bonnet.”

  It was probably intended as humor but no one laughed.

  “Let’s get to it shall we?”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  - WASHINGTON DC –

  Peter found his group that had to deal with the navigation system. He was surprised at how many people were in the room. He counted the names and found that there were twenty-two people on the list.

  “Hi Peter,” Susan said.

  “Hi. Gosh, sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You look. . . different,” he stammered.

  “Yes. This is my professional side.”

  Her hair was up and her clothes were loose. She had on glasses. The fancy jewelry and fingernail polish were gone from the night before. It was quite a transformation.

  “When you live among wolves it is best not to look like fresh meat,” she whispered.

  In some ways Peter realized that they were talking about systems and subsystems that were over his head. It was the technical side that he relied on his team at DigiLabs to take care of. He took notes and followed along with most of the discussion. Most of it centered around how it would tie into the main computer so Susan handled a large portion of the questions.

  He was impressed by her ability to think on her feet. She was candid as well. If she didn’t know she simply said that she would have to give it more thought and get back to them. He was among some very brilliant people. That was for sure.

  By the time they broke for refreshments, he had filled twenty pages with notes. He realized it would be better if he got a tape recorder so he didn’t miss any important points. He went to the front desk and asked them to get one for him. Just before they started the second session it was delivered to him. It was much easier with the recorder.

  “Doctor Farris. What will be the primary language of the system you design?”

  “We can design it around whatever would make it easier for Doctor Long to tie it into the central system,” Peter said.

  “You are willing to change your programming to meet Doctor Long’s protocols?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “How many navigation systems has your company developed?”

  “This will be our first,” Peter said and smiled.

  “That can’t be right. This has to be the most sophisticated system ever designed and you have never built one before?”

  “No one had ever build a super conductor before we came along either, but we did. We will take care of our end, you just worry about your end and everything will turn out fine.”

  “That is all very reassuring but…”

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name but let me say this. DigiLabs won the Malcolm Baldridge this past year. I would like to ask you sir, how many times has your company won the award?”

  “It takes more than an award to design a navigation system,” he muttered.

  “I take it that means none. I suggest you play nice or you will find your life substantially more difficult on this project,” Peter said.

  When they finally broke for lunch several people came up and patted him on the shoulder or offered support. He looked for Susan but she was already gone so he sat down with Doctor Phillips.

  “Where is Dr. Morgan?”

  “Didn’t feel too well. Went to his room. Do you know who you were sparing with?”

  “Not a clue.”

  “Doctor Balestara. Ego as big as this room. Thinks he is smarter than all of us put together. He is a total ass.”

  “What is his specialty?” Peter asked

  “Fluid flow dynamics,” Phillips said.

  “Pretty heady stuff.”

  “He is still an asshole.”

  “Peter, could I have a word with you?” Admiral Marcus said slipping in beside them.

  “Sure. I looked for your note but none was at the desk.”

  “Yes. Something came up. I should have informed you. It's my fault and I apologize. It was thoughtless of me. If you don’t mind, we can meet now.”

  * * *

  “Peter, I have been watching you since you arrived.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You are an interesting person.”

  “In what way?”

  “Many. You didn’t drink a drop of alcohol, you are punctual, you will speak up with others won’t, you watch and study people. Hell, my boy, you didn’t even hit on Doctor Long. I was watching you at the morning session today. Doctor Balestara, while brilliant, is a real jerk from the word go. I can’t think of three people who like the man. You certainly didn’t let him intimidate you which is his favorite sport.”

  “Admiral Marcus…”

  “Ray. Ray is what you can call me in private. Peter and Ray when we meet like this and it will probably be often. When we are in public it's back to Admiral and Doctor. Is that okay with you?”

  “Certainly. Ray, I wasn’t trying to get into it with him but his attitude was serving no useful purpose that I could see.”

  “I agree. You’re defeated if you start off thinking you can’t do something. You nipped it in the bud and that’s what you needed to do.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Peter, I’m going to go out on a limb here. Here are some observations I have made and you can tell me if I’m wrong. You are not a technical guy. I don’t mean that you aren’t smart as hell but when it comes to the nuts and bolts, that’s for those other eggheads. What you do best is get things done. Get people to excel. Hell, it takes a very special talent to take a bunch of scientists and get them to all work as one unit. I have too much military bearing for that crap. I just want to take them out and shoot them after a couple of days.”

  “That can’t be too good for morale,” Peter said.

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed that. So here is the deal. Bring in whomever you need to handle the navigation and air handling systems. I want you to be the civilian liaison on the job. You will answer to no one but me. You will have total control over all aspects including dismissing those who are deemed detrimental to the project. It won’t be easy because you will have to keep the eggheads working and this old warhorse from wanting to kill them on occasion. We will have our moments but I promise you this, I will back your decisions one hundred percent. No one will backdoor you. I will keep you in the loop at all times and try not to let you get caught off guard. In return, I would like the same from you. If we screw up, I want to find out from you, not some damn Congressman or the newspapers,” Marcus said.

  “Wow. That is some offer. You are right about the technical aspects. It isn’t exactly what I do best. I am better at getting projects done but this is something else. This has never been done before,” Peter said.

  “Neither had the super conductor,” Ray reminded him.

  “Good point. Would you mind if I took some time to think about this. I would like to sleep on it and give you an answer tomorrow,” Peter said.

  “That�
�s another thing I like about you, Peter. You are not overcome with flattery and won’t make a decision without thinking it through. So many would have only thought about the glory, not the rest of it. Peter, you are the right person for the job,” Ray said.

  “I really appreciate the offer. I’ll give you my answer tomorrow. I had better get back, they will be starting soon.”

  The Admiral walked him back to the meeting room and they shook hands.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  - WASHINGTON DC -

  The rest of the afternoon was nonstop meetings and by 4:30 p.m. everyone was looking whipped. Even Admiral Marcus had lost some of his crispness. Peter had a chance to lead some lively discussions and he found that they were willing to accept his views and seemed to respect his opinions. The Admiral continued to watch how he handled himself. Susan was watching discreetly as well. When the meeting finally ended for the day, she came over.

  “Good job,” she said.

  “Thanks. Good group of people.”

  “Do you feel charged up?” she asked.

  “Can’t wait to get started,” he said, closing his briefcase.

  “Me too, I have so many thoughts running around in my head. My flight leaves in a few hours, would it be too forward to ask you to join me for a drink?” Susan asked.

  “I would be delighted.”

  They headed to the bar where she ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and Peter ordered a Sprite and lime.

  “You don’t drink?”

  “Not much really. A beer occasionally. Scotch when necessary but usually I fake it,” he said.

  “Me too. I only like wine. Red or white dry wines.”

  “I figured you for a Champagne type girl,” Peter said.

  “Silly boy, champagne is the ultimate wine,” she replied.

  They talked for another half hour until it was time for her to leave for the airport.

  “It has been a pleasure to meet you Peter.”

  “Same here Susan. I look forward to working with you.”

  “Here is my card. Call if you want to go over anything about the project or. . . well anything,” she said.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Have a safe trip,” he said and waved as she got into a taxi.