“Yeah, Stiles wanted to invite Tyler to the presentation at the launch facility, and asked me to come along to do formal introductions.”
“That’s what he told you anyway,” Gramps suggests.
“Huh?”
“Shortly after that, I discovered Tyler’s lab had been bugged.”
“How’d you do that? He can’t do that!”
“Well, he did,” Gramps responds, ignoring the question. “And after that he sent a man over to search the place. He was unsuccessful as well,” Gramps adds with a grin.
“They’d need a warrant for something like that.”
“You’d think so, but they didn’t have one. It was all very clandestine; otherwise their true intent might have been discovered. Finally, on the third try, they caught us off guard, and were able to get all of the original bits back,” Gramps finishes.
“So what’s he whining about now? He’s got his material back,” Mr. Charles wonders.
“He’s still afraid we can reveal to the world that a substance with gravity-defying characteristics has been discovered,” I answer.
Silence dominates the kitchen as Mr. Charles mulls over everything that is being revealed. “So he’s been concealing things from me, and using me to get access to whatever he needs to complete his cover-up,” he finally concludes. “I think I should watch the recordings now.” Gramps hands him the first DVD, which he loads and begins to play.
We’ve been talking for over a half hour. Apparently, no one had had lunch because Kylie begins to lay out some snacks before fixing her dad a sandwich. Gramps has taken the seat next to him and the two watch the videos, with Gramps answering any questions that Mr. Charles has.
Jared helps his sister put together some more sandwiches for the rest of us and we sneak out to the porch. The day has warmed up, but it is starting to feel like fall. Jared and Jennifer sit in the only two chairs. Willie, Kylie and I settle on the porch steps to eat. The quiet is pleasant and welcome now. The tension has disappeared.
“So do you think your dad will come around and help us?” I hear Jennifer ask Jared behind us.
“I think so,” he replies.
“Me too. I can tell when daddy’s going to give in on something,” Kylie adds.
“And it’s the right thing to do,” Willie says. “Your dad has always struck me as the kind of guy that does the right thing.” He gets up, rubs his hands together to brush off any crumbs. “You know, Jer, I really got to get going.”
Just then, the kitchen door pops open, and out come the two older men. Kylie and I jump up to make way on the steps.
Mr. Charles walks up to Willie. “You look like you’ve got somewhere to be, nephew,” he observes. Then he sticks out his hand. “Thank you for coming over.” His voice is friendly but businesslike as Willie accepts the handshake with a smile. “We’re just going to take a walk out to the hangar to look at your handiwork; at everybody’s work.”
“Thank you, sir,” Willie replies.
Willie says goodbye to the rest of us and drives off as the two men walk down the drive at a brisk pace towards the hangar. Jared and Jennifer follow, while Kylie and I trail along at the rear of the procession. She takes my hand.
“What if your dad sees?” I admonish her gently.
“I don’t care. I’m going into high school and he’s just going to have to get used to the idea of me being with boys. Besides, he already knows we like each other.”
“How’s that?”
“Duh! Weren’t we out at The Hill together that first night Stiles and he came out? And then when Margarit was over for dinner that one time she asked me about boyfriends. Dad seemed a little surprised by the conversation, but she assured him that girls my age were definitely keeping their eyes open and that it was to be expected. That night helped change my feelings towards her a little.”
“So, you’re okay with that now?”
“Yeah, I guess. And in four years, when I graduate and go on to college, I’d like to think he’s going to have someone looking after him here.”
“That would be a good thing,” I agree.
We come to the hangar doors. Looking in, I can see Gramps and Kylie’s dad walking around the saucer as if inspecting an aircraft prior to flight. When Mr. Charles points at something, Gramps explains what it is.
Jared and Jennifer are standing to the side observing the tour, which is now proceeding across the scaffold to the cockpit. “This is going much better than I thought it would,” I overhear him whisper as Kylie and I get closer. I notice the smooth edges around the rim of the saucer. Walking closer, I stoop and rub my hand on the fresh skin, peering underneath.
“Wow!” I exclaim back towards my friends. “You guys have really been busy. All of the underneath skin is on already.” I glance up at one of the controller tubes. Around it, probably framed by a rim of plastic or aluminum, is a gap between the skin and the tube. It looks like a can light installed in a ceiling, without the final trim on. The end of some plastic hose hangs near the one I am looking at, but not any others that are near by. I stand up and walk over to my friends.
“That tubing for the wiring was a good idea, too,” I say, disturbing their conversation, “but why doesn’t every tube have one?”
“Because we can use a single, multi-wire network cable for every four containment fields. Jennifer suggested the tubing,” Jared brags for his girlfriend. She smiles at his acknowledgement. “Luckily, she was here when Willie wanted to start applying the underside, otherwise we’d have a heck of a time fishing the wiring through.”
“And Willie said we needed the access gap around each tube if we wanted to secure the containment frames inside the tubes,” Jennifer adds.
“You guys think of everything,” I say. It’s comforting to know that I have become part of a team that works together.
“And what have you been doing while we’ve been out here working our butts off?” Jared teases as only Jared does.
“My hands have been getting covered in carbon from scraping and converting bits to the ‘nth degree,” I shoot back, comfortable with his game. “And then,” I continue with great exaggeration, “I painstakingly divide them into little groups, precisely measured so they are ready to load into the containment tubes the moment we get a chance for a test flight.”
“And how many of them are ready?” Kylie wants to know.
“I’ve got sixty-eight envelopes ready, though we only need sixty-four. Gramps suggested having some extras on hand just in case we lose a few.”
“That means we can do a test anytime we want,” Kylie continues with subdued excitement. “I’ve gone about as far as I can without actually trying it.”
“What about the fuel cells?” I ask.
“I got them hooked up a week ago, and booted up the onboard computer the day before yesterday,” Jared brags.
We all stare at one another, waiting for the next item on the mental checklist that we are all thinking about. But none ever comes.
I hear a voice calling from the cockpit. Looking up, I see Gramps trying to get our attention. Mr. Charles head is barely visible as he sits in the cockpit. Gramps appears almost frantic. “Where’s the eighth circuit board?” he calls down to us. We look at each other in bewilderment.
“We attached them a couple of days ago. They were all in place so the first part of the wiring to the computer could be put in,” Jennifer finally answers back.
“Well it’s not here now,” Gramps informs us, starting back down the scaffold to converse more easily. “Somebody’s removed it.”
I can think of only one person who is interested in what we are doing. As I’m about to utter his name, I hear a quiet voice behind me say, “That somebody was Stiles. He removed it late last night.”
I turn around to see Uncle Earl walking towards us from the access door along the side wall. He’s carrying an electronic device in his hand. My guess is that he has been listening to us for a while. Gramps walks by me to greet his son. I hear Mr. Charles feet h
it the floor as he comes down from the saucer to join us. We form a semi-circle facing Earl, which Mr. Charles and Gramps close up.
“I hope you all won’t be too upset with me. After all, you know how interested I am in flying saucers.” He timidly looks around at each of us for a reaction.
“How do you know that about Stiles?” Jared’s dad asks brusquely, like a boss speaking to an employee. Earl reacts by taking a step back, before holding out the cell phone that he has carried in.
“Let me show you.” He presses the appropriate button and a video begins to play showing a figure carrying a flashlight, mounting the scaffold to the cockpit. The hangar was dark; the features of the figure hidden from view. I note the perspective of the picture, and look up at the corner of the hangar. For the first time, I notice a small black box nestled back into the corner about three quarters of the way up the wall.
“How long has that camera been there?” I ask quietly as the video plays.
“Since you put that - what do you call it? - gyro spike in.” He turns the screen towards himself for a moment. “Here it comes,” he says, placing his finger on the pause button. “And there!” He turns the screen back around for all of us to see.
The figure is now coming up out of the cockpit. Holding his flashlight against the cowling, the beam shines straight up on a face glancing wide-eyed in the direction of the large door. It’s definitely Stiles, and in the reflection of light, the controller board can be seen in his other hand.
“In the next moment, you’ll see him put the module into his jacket pocket, but this is the best shot of his face there is,” Uncle Earl says calmly, almost innocently.
“I wonder where he’s taking it,” Jen wonders softly.
“Probably to that guy who was in the black car,” Jared guesses. “I wonder where he is from, and who he is working for.”
“He’s from somewhere in Colorado,” Jared’s dad answers. “I overheard them talking on that first night. But I don’t know who he’s really working for. Maybe for himself. Could just be a middleman, but it’s obvious to me now that Stiles is a plant to keep an eye on you kids. And now I know why he said he’d be out of town this weekend. It’s a good guess he won’t be back until Monday.”
“And then, if we’re lucky, it’ll still take a couple of weeks for them to get somebody to analyze the board, and they still won’t know what it’s being used for,” Gramps says hopefully.
“I wouldn’t count on that much, Tom,” Jared’s dad cautions. “If they are who we think, they probably have plenty of resources and money. Especially for something that has the potential this appears to have. Geez! I can hardly believe it!”
“But they still don’t have anything that specifically says ‘we have your bits’, do they?” Jared asks. “I mean, that circuitry can easily be explained by our cover story, can’t it?”
“Cover? What’s your cover?” his dad asks.
“That they control some lighting effects,” Kylie jumps in. “I’ve got a version of the program that will sequence LEDs mounted in the tubes.”
“That’s pretty believable. Where is the software, by the way?” her dad asks.
“At home, in my computer,” she answers quickly.
“Good. I wouldn’t load it into this machine until it’s ready to be tested. Stiles would easily be able to copy that and it would be a dead giveaway. Do you have a testing schedule?”
We all look around at one another. “I guess we’re just waiting or hoping for the right opportunity,” I say.
“Well, this may be it. What remains to be done?” Mr. Charles wants to know.
“The containment assemblies have to be installed, and the rest of the wiring from the controllers to the tubes has to be run. And we need a replacement circuit board for the one Stile’s swiped,” Jared replies.
“I’ve got two extra,” Gramps says, “just in case one failed during a test.”
“Well, if we replace it, he’ll know we’re on to him. Maybe we can spin that into your cover story somehow, too, by removing it if we’re not testing,” Jared’s dad suggests.
I’m surprised by his sudden enthusiasm, and awed by his ability to quickly analyze our status. I guess that comes from running an experimental launch facility.
There is a moment of quiet anticipation in the hangar as we all wonder if tonight is the right time for the first test flight. I ponder everything the four of us have discussed in the last fifteen minutes, mentally checking my list again.
“Well?” Jared’s dad slowly but deliberately intones. “Are we ‘Go’ for a test flight?”
I look straight at him. “Yes sir!” I confirm. “We are ‘Go’ for test.”
“Ok,” he responds. “Kylie, let’s get the rest of the containment frames and your software; Jared and Jennifer can start on the wiring that’s left to do.”
“We’ll go get the bits and another circuit board,” Gramps says, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Can somebody give Willie a call to let him know what’s going on?” Mr. Charles suggests. “He should be in on this, too.”
“I will,” Gramps says. “I need to ask him about some motorcycle parts anyway.” He looks at me and winks.
“Ok then,” Mr. Charles says, “let’s get busy, misters!”
Test Flight
Willie arrives at my house almost forty-five minutes later. Gramps is gathering his parts, while I’m upstairs in the loft trying to secure all of the envelopes of bits into a single box.
I turn the box on its side, taping three of the flaps shut, leaving the forth flap open on the bottom side. I also slide a twenty pound weight into what is now the bottom of the box hoping it will be enough to keep everything from floating away. With all of the bits loaded, the box weighs close to five pounds as I carry it down the stairs.
Gramps and Willie are talking by the truck as I walk up. I can tell Willie has been told the real reason for being called over. There is a bright-eyed excitement on his face. I can also see Cheri sitting in his Beast, probably expecting the usual Saturday night date.
“Hey Ty,” Willie greets me as I walk up. “Sounds like it’s going to be quite a night!”
“I hope so, Willie,” I reply, rather subdued. “What about Cheri? She looks kind of bored already. What’s she going to think?”
“She’ll be okay. She’s been out to the saucer a couple of times when I’ve dropped off parts. I’ve never told her we actually expect it to fly though. Won’t she be surprised!”
“I think that’s what Tyler is worried about, Willie,” Gramps says. “How good is she at keeping secrets?”
“Oh, pretty good, I think,” Willie answers. “We’ll just have to explain the whole thing to her. I think she’ll be fine with it then. Maybe Jen or Kylie could help out there. You know. Girl to girl might be the better way to bring her into the group.”
I chuckle to myself, thinking back on my early concerns about how many people get brought in on this project. It seems a moot point now. I’m glad it’s only a few more weeks until it’s over.
“Well, we have one big thing to help us,” Gramps says. “It’s a pretty unbelievable story for anyone who hasn’t actually seen the evidence. I think we’ll be okay.”
“Well, let’s get going then,” Willie presses. Without waiting for any response, he spins around and heads back to his vehicle. There is a brief conversation with Cheri, who appears extremely disappointed as he backs around and heads out the driveway. I heave a sigh as we get into the truck.
“Don’t worry about it too much,” Gramps suggests as we head out. “I think Cheri will get just as wrapped up in our project as the rest of us.”
“I hope you’re right.”
The hangar is a flurry of activity when we arrive. Jen and Jared are placing the containment frames on the saucer where they will be installed. Kylie’s head is poking up out of the cockpit, probably working on the computer. Willie, with Cheri’s help, is already inserting the collars he has brought into the co
ntainment tubes to make securing the frames easier.
“Here,” Gramps says, handing me the extra circuit board. “Why don’t you go put this where Stiles removed the other one. I think I’ll start working on the wiring.” I look at him appreciatively before climbing up onto the scaffold to join Kylie.
As I cross the scaffold’s planks, Kylie looks up to greet me. It feels good, all of us being here, working towards a test flight. We haven’t been this excited in a long time. “So I guess we get to work together for a while,” I say, climbing into the cockpit. Right away I notice some extra boards have been put in place for temporary flooring.
“That’s nice,” she replies, but keeps on clicking away at the keyboard. “You know, I’ve only tested this program once with the joystick and foot controllers. I’m really kind of nervous about how it’s all going to work. I hope you’re not planning on going too far.”
“I’ll be happy if it just goes up a couple feet. I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I assure her. “That’s what a test is for; to find the bugs and glitches. I don’t expect it to go well.” She looks at me with a feigned pout. “You know what I mean.” She bursts into laughter.
It only takes a few minutes to get the circuit board in place. As I begin to get up, a snake of network cable pokes through the end of one of the plastic tubes. “Hey!” I yell, looking up over the rim of the cowling. Gramps is grinning at the other end.
“Pull in as much as you need, okay?” he calls back. I draw in another foot and a half, which easily reaches the closest circuit board, with a little extra. “Is there some way to secure that?” Gramps calls again.
“We were going to use some wire ties around the ‘U’ brackets, but we don’t have them here,” Willie yells to us, apparently monitoring our progress. “Use this!” He tosses me a roll of duct tape that he has just taken out of his box of parts.
“That’ll work,” Gramps acknowledges.
I tape my end. “Ok,” I tell Gramps. “Ready for the next one.” He waves back to me and pulls wire cutters out of his back pocket to snip the cable. “I sure hope somebody’s got a wiring diagram for all of this,” I mutter to Kylie.
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