The Ship: The New Frontiers Series, Book One

by Jack L Knapp

  “We’re running a little late. Maybe there was a welcoming committee that picked him up. Do you think we should call Trent?”

  “Why don’t we just go on out there?”

  “Why don’t we. No taxi, Will. I’ll rent a helicopter. It’s faster, and just in case they decided to start without us, we can board the Tesla at sea. Trent’s message said they had a fairly small window of time to head out.”

  “Do it. I’ll see to our bags.” Frenchy nodded, then walked toward the terminal while glancing at his cell phone. There had been no calls or texts from Chuck or Trent Stokes. If there had been a change of plans regarding the upcoming shakedown, Trent would have called, wouldn’t he?

  Shaking his head, an unconscious reaction, Frenchy walked into the terminal to see about finding a helicopter to fly them out to the Tesla.

  The trip took just over an hour. The ship was still tied to its moorings, although a faint haze of diesel smoke drifted from the stack.

  “Looks like they’re getting ready, maybe running tests. Anyway, we’re in time.”

  “We’ll go back to shore; landing on the ship doesn’t appeal to me if we don’t have to. I’ll give Jim a call, see if he can send someone to pick us up.”

  The pilot touched down on a hotel helipad long enough to drop off Frenchy and Will, then lifted off on its way back to the airport. The two men caught a taxi in front of the hotel. Sven was waiting when they arrived at the dock with one of the ship’s boats, and he took them to the Tesla.

  “Morning, Trent. Have you heard from Chuck?”

  “He’s not coming. There was some sort of mishap and he was shaken up. He said go ahead without him.”

  “I’m sure he’s disappointed, but we’re here now so you can get on with what you were doing.”

  “Jim’s doing most of it, Frenchy. He’s down in the engine room, doing a last check of the impellers.”

  “What’s the ship’s status?”

  “The diesels are at idle and the batteries are fully charged. It only takes a few seconds to power up the impellers, so we’re just about ready. Come on up to the bridge, you can watch from there. It’ll be pretty empty, just me for now. We had the computer system, so we automated everything we could. Later on Sven will come up to give me a hand. The wheel is still mounted, but it’s only connected to springs to give a feeling of resistance. The wheel’s there in case someone gains access to the bridge or we need to make it appear that this is a conventionally-steered ship. Anyway, we don’t need a helmsman. All maneuvering will be done with the impellers, and as soon as we’re clear of the channel we’ll set the autopilot. That’s controlled by the GPS unit, so the only time we expect to need a human at the stick is when we enter or leave harbor. The rest of the time, he’ll stand a watch as lookout and in case there’s some sort of emergency.

  “We’ll head out as soon as the tide turns. We shouldn’t have any problems in the channel, it’s deep and wide enough. The big container ships come in here, so we won’t have a problem. The channel is marked too, with buoys. We just stay in our lane and make sure we don’t run into any of the small craft. There’s very little large traffic right now, plus the sonar and the radar are on. We can be underway in less than a minute, according to Jim, and we’re just waiting now for the tide to turn.”

  “Make it so, Captain Trent.”

  Trent grinned, then picked up the telephone. “Sven, bring in the anchor and stow it. Stand by the mooring line when you’ve done that.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.” Moments later they heard the whirring of the winch. The ship drifted briefly, responding to the turning tide. Loud clanks, accompanied by splashing, sounded as the anchor came up. A strong smell, rich with the effluvium common to harbors everywhere, reached the bridge.

  “They classify this as a lay berth,” Trent explained. “Berthing at the dock would have been usual, but we’re not loading cargo and the harbor master didn’t want us taking up space that’s needed for bulk offloading. He considers us deadlined, waiting for repair parts. We filed the departure paperwork by mail, but it won’t get there before midmorning. By then I expect to be at sea.”

  “Irregular?”

  “Very. But it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission. You might eventually get hit with a fine, but it won’t be much compared with what we’ve already spent getting the Tesla ready for sea trials. We can’t go through the usual departure routine, because we can’t allow a pilot on board. He’d smell a rat right away as soon as he saw us controlling the ship with a joystick!”

  “What about the Coast Guard?”

  “They might check us out, although there’s only one or two coastie boats and there are a lot of ships and boats using this harbor. Shouldn’t be a problem if they do. We’ve got standard equipment for navigating in American waters, and that Liberian registry will stop a lot of questions. Wait one.”

  Trent phoned Sven, waiting on the forward deck, and told him to stand by to take in the bow line to the mooring buoy. His next call was to Jim. When he reported all systems ready, Trent ordered control to be shifted to the bridge. Standing in front of a panel, he watched the shifting lights. When he was satisfied, Trent thumbed a wheel to increase power to the impellers. A small wheel, conveniently mounted for use by either hand, stood up from the panel. Trent pushed gently forward and the Tesla inched ahead. The mooring line sagged as the load came off.

  “Take in the bow line.” Trent’s voice showed no sign of tension. This might have been an ordinary departure of a conventional ship. Frenchy looked at the shoreline. No one appeared to be paying attention. A minute later Sven came up the ladder and joined them on the bridge.

  “Ready for departure, Captain. Lines and anchor stowed, deck secure.”

  “Take the helm, Sven.” Trent stepped back and took his seat in the leather-upholstered chair reserved for the captain. Sven sat down in an equally comfortable chair and swung the control panel into position. Responding to Sven’s input, the ship swung around and moved slowly down the channel.

  “We’ll keep the speed down. The only ship traffic is a fisherman going out, so we’ll stay behind him. Most other ships need a minimum speed to maintain steerageway, but since we don’t use a rudder that’s not something we have to worry about. Seas are low, winds light, and we’ve got ballast in the tanks so the ship will be stable even if there’s a problem with the instruments or the impellers. I’ll engage the anti-roll system as soon as we hit the open sea, but it shouldn’t be needed. There’s coffee, so grab yourselves a cup and enjoy the ride.”

  “You only need three of you to control the ship? I was sure you’d have more.”

  “We’ll need deckhands later on when we start shipping cargo, and there’s always maintenance work on a ship, so we’ll need a couple of seamen. We’ll work out manning charts when we get back. This one’s just out of drydock, the generators have less than a hundred hours on the clock, and while the batteries aren’t new, they’ve been through a complete discharge-recharge cycle. The impellers are new, they’ve been run for testing but that’s all. Almost everything is automated, so Jim should be able to handle everything below-decks by himself. In a pinch, Sven will help him while I take over the helm. I’ve got my master’s ticket and Sven is studying for his, any ocean, any tonnage. Eventually he’ll captain his own ship. For now, there’s not much on the ship that he can’t do, and like I said, most of the system is automated. Jim’s not interested; he’s hoping to command a different kind of ship.”

  “This is a shakedown cruise, right? What if something goes wrong?”

  “There are tugs available, but I don’t see us needing them. We’ve got four diesel-powered generators feeding two banks of batteries, so even if the diesels fail we’ve got emergency power. Propulsion and steering are also split into separate systems for safety, controllable remotely from the bridge or in an emergency from local stations in the engine room. I’ll exercise that system after we make sure the primary is working fine. We’ve run individua
l tests, everything is nominal, the only thing we haven’t done is exercise all systems while under way. I’ll go to full power after we’re well off shore. Feel like a trip to Bermuda?”

  “Wait a minute, isn’t that where all those ships have disappeared?”

  “You don’t really believe all that stuff, do you Frenchy?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Will and Frenchy arrived back at the plant the following Monday. They were met by Lina, who walked up as they finished tying down the Piper.

  Frenchy hugged her, then asked, “What happened to Chuck?”

  “He was doing the first hover test with the King. Something went wrong and it almost flipped over. He had a high current reading on one of the bow impellers, but said he thought it was okay. It was, but then suddenly it pitched up and the rear section hit the floor. The King is a wreck, the frame is bent, one of the batteries caught on fire and the other one is bent, and Chuck hit the control panel. He has two cracked ribs and the King is going to need rebuilding, probably from scratch. One of the batteries is ruined and maybe the other one is too; we sent it off to the factory to see if they can salvage any of the cells. We need the replacements, so maybe they can do something with the wrecked ones. Mel has added a roll bar to the Bedstead, and when the King is rebuilt it will have one too. The Bedstead’s bar is mounted behind the pilot’s seat and extends above his head. It’s also wide enough to provide some protection to his arms. Chuck didn’t roll the King, it was too close to the surface, but it could happen when they’re out on the test course. This one was easy to install. Mel bought it from a tractor supply company; roll bars are required on small tractors, I think.”

  Will nodded thoughtfully. “Good idea. At least I’ll have wings and controls if I have to shut down the impellers in flight. How much will the ribs affect Chuck’s schedule?”

  “He says he can keep going. He can’t do heavy lifting, but he can do drilling and riveting. Mel and I can lift things and help do what has to be done, and it won’t be all that bad. We’ve got the overhead crane for lifting heavy things like the batteries.”

  “Don’t let him overdo it, Lina.”

  “He’s pretty stubborn, dad. Reminds me a lot of you.” She grinned as Frenchy winced.

  “So how did the cruise go? You were out all day, weren’t you?”

  “Right, we came into port after dusk, tied back up to the same mooring buoy after Sven lowered the anchor. Almost everything worked as expected. We did have to shut down the anti-roll system. I sent Morty a message suggesting that we might install four of the smaller impeller units and use them as a dedicated anti-roll anti-pitch system. In a pinch they could also help with maneuvering, but we didn’t have a problem during the cruise. Everything else worked as expected.

  “I was a bit disappointed that Morty passed up the chance.”

  “He has some sort of bug, or maybe it’s allergies. They’ve been rough this year.”

  “Welcome to New Mexico. Even the plants fight back out here. But he’s a tough old coot.”

  “Remember that he’s old, dad. I didn’t like the way he looked, so Chuck and I talked him into taking a few days off and resting. He wanted to help with installing the impellers on the Twin Otter’s wings, but he finally left. Grumbling all the way, as you might expect.”

  “I’d like to see how that’s going, Lina. Then I’d like to take a look at the King. Was anything else damaged?”

  “Just Chuck’s pride. He said the computer wasn’t able to control one of the impellers and he was lucky. I’ll tell you this, I was scared stiff for a moment!”

  Frenchy looked at her questioningly. She nodded back. “Yes, dad. I was really scared.”

  He got the unspoken message. Whatever was developing between the two of them, Lina thought it was serious.

  “Anything I should know about, honey?”

  “Not yet, dad. We’ll let you know if there is.”

  “We?”

  “We.”

  #

  Will’s new airplane, a De Havilland Twin Otter, had finally arrived. He met the pilot in Clovis and underwent a day-long transition course, then flew the Twin to the plant. The engineers took out the passenger seats, then began working on modifying the plane.

  Morty was now watching the installation of the second impeller on the Twin. This one, unlike the models now being used on the Bedstead and the King, bore a much closer resemblance to the cylindrical housing used on the original Flying Bedstead.

  Frenchy and Will walked over, Will to see how the installation was going and Frenchy to have a close look at the old man. He did indeed look ill. His skin had a grayish cast and he was wearing a clip across his nose to hold his nostrils open. Only his eyes showed the same enthusiasm Frenchy was accustomed to seeing.

  “Allergies that bad, Morty?”

  “Worse than usual. You’re supposed to use these when you sleep, but I figured they’d work just as well during the day.”

  “Lina said she and Chuck had talked you into taking some time off, Morty.”

  “Aw, I just couldn’t stay in bed with Chuck gimping around like he is. I’m just watching anyway, doing a little supervising now and then. It’s not as if I was working on anything.”

  “Don’t overdo it, Morty. Anyway, these aren’t the same impellers we’re using on the other craft.”

  “They are, it’s just that the housing is different. I mounted the first ones vertically on the Bedstead, but later on I mounted them in gimbals so they could point in any direction. That’s why the casing for the later models is ball-shaped, so the impellers can be shifted around. The plane has flight controls, so it’s easier just to hang the impellers on a fixed mount that’s always pointing forward. We can still get limited controllability by varying power settings, and I added trim tabs that can change the impeller heading up or down by five degrees. We’ll do ground testing first, taxiing on the runway, and I reckon we can refine the orientation of the impellers a bit before the plane takes off. We might just hang the plane from that crane in the assembly plant and feed in just enough impulse to see what effect the impeller angle will have. I talked to the engineers already. Prin Sikkit’s the head of electrical engineering, he’ll work on the trim controls. Slip’s the guy in charge of mounting the impellers. Come on over, I’ll show you what he’s doing. Will, you’ll want to take a look at this too.”

  The three walked over and looked up at the wing mount. The impeller hung close to the fuselage, almost touching it, but far enough back to clear the propellers.

  “We installed the mounts so the impellers would be as far back and as far inboard as possible. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to interfere with airflow around the wing or cause turbulence in the prop wash.”

  “Good thinking, Morty. At any rate, it’s balanced. I’ll have some idea of whether it will fly as I go through the ground tests. I would prefer wind tunnel testing, but I don’t suppose that’s possible.”

  “No, but Slip has a program for his computer that lets him model what’s likely to happen. He ran virtual tests using different mounting locations. Putting the impellers outboard of the engine changed the wing loading characteristics too much. He mailed off a question to the manufacturer asking about moving the turboprops outboard. He just told them we were considering mounting a cargo pod inboard on the wing and wanted to know what they thought of the idea. Haven’t heard back from them yet.”

  “I’ll want to take a look at the airflow pattern. We’ll taxi the bird, keeping the speed down at first, then run up the engines. I’ll keep it down to less than takeoff speed until I’m sure it’s safe. Maybe we can use ribbons on the leading edges of the wings to see what’s going on with the airflow. I know what to expect from an unmodified Twin and if this doesn’t affect flight characteristics too much, it should be okay. The Twin Otters were designed to take off and land on short airstrips anyway, so there’s quite a bit of safety built in when you’re flying from an airstrip as long as ours is.”

&
nbsp; “You’re not afraid to fly it, Will?”

  “No, I’m just being cautious. I’ll fly it, because this is the first step in making me a few billion dollars. That’s worth taking a few chances.”

  “Keep your calendar open, then. We’ll be ready for ground tests next week and you’ll want to be here for those.”

  “I’ll do more than just be here, I’ll be watching closely!”

  As they talked, Will noticed a group of men following a fork lift carrying a large pallet. Another followed immediately behind. Each pallet carried two of the globular impeller containers.

  “What’s going on, Morty?” He pointed to the forklifts and the gaggle of engineers following behind.

  “I had the impellers pulled from the King. We’re doing a complete teardown to find out whether Chuck’s problem was with the impeller or whether it was something in the software. The Bedstead and the King are flying test beds, but they aren’t like the Tesla in a sense. We can’t totally isolate any of the systems while we’re airborne, and they’ve all got to respond to a single control input the way they’re designed now. We may find that it’s better to have two systems for safety, each controlling four of the eight impellers. I looked over possible redesigns after the accident. We’re mounting each of the Bedstead’s impellers at the corner right now, but on the long sides. It wouldn’t take much to double the number of impellers by adding two to the front and rear, located by each corner. That would mean that each corner has two impellers, one at the front or rear, one to each side. We could then arrange dual controls so that one computer manages the front and rear impellers, while a different computer controls the four side-mounted units. A central computer, responding to the joystick, would supply inputs to the subsystems. If one or even two impellers failed, the program could be set up so that the computer shut off whichever system had stopped working. In an emergency, the pilot could override the computer and shut off one of the subsystems. He’d lose power, but with proper design the other subsystem could fly the craft or at least bring it down gently.”