The Ship: The New Frontiers Series, Book One

by Jack L Knapp

  “That won’t be possible, I’m afraid. My grandfather passed away. I don’t recall him mentioning that he’d contacted DARPA.”

  “My condolences, sir. Charles, you said? The fact is, Charles, we didn’t take his proposal seriously when he sent it to us. We get a lot of ideas and most of them are...well, impractical.”

  “So you trashed his proposal. What caused you to change your mind?”

  “His name came up in connection with another matter. We retrieved the file and took another look. While I’m not ready to go beyond this point on the telephone, we hoped to discuss the matter in person. Are you familiar with what he was working on?”

  “I am. Intimately familiar, in fact; I wrote the control software for the first units.”

  “You have operational units, then, more than one of them? His letter didn’t mention that.” The man was quick, picking up that much information from Chuck’s comment.

  “I’m guessing he sent the letter before I began working with him, because he never mentioned it. We improved the early device and most of the bugs have since been worked out. That said, what do you have in mind?”

  “We have a team of investigators we’d like to send out there to meet with you. Are you still in Texas? Would it be possible for you to meet with them?”

  “No, we’ve moved to New Mexico. I don’t see why we can’t meet, but it won’t be just me, others are involved now. I suspect Morty was interested in your agency financing development of his invention?”

  “That’s correct, in essence. He also wanted us to help with problems he was having. We have staff who are experts in a number of fields.”

  “I’ll have to confirm with Mister Fuqua, so how about I talk to him or better yet, have him contact you? You have a name and number he can call?”

  “I’m the office contact, Oscar Norton, but others will be at the meeting. When should I expect a return call?”

  Chuck wrote down the man’s number, said goodbye, and ended the call. Thoughtfully he found the charger for Morty’s phone and plugged it in. Who could say, there might be other calls. He used his own cell to call Frenchy. Let him set up the meet, maybe decide whether he wanted one of the company’s lawyers present. In the meantime, Chuck had a test flight to prepare.

  #

  “No, you’ll be pilot-in-command, Chuck. I certified Lina as copilot only. She needs to get her own pilot’s ticket before I’d be comfortable with her in command, and besides we only have the one spacecraft so we don’t need her certified. Got a name for it yet?”

  “Just a number, Joe. We’d probably need approval from the front office to name this first bird. Frenchy’s latest brainstorm has us reorganized as a division of New Frontiers, which is only a holding company, so that’s who would approve the name. Still, we need a second command pilot. We’re not immortal, none of us. Have you thought about that? It’s not what you were hired to do, but what about you?”

  “Will needs more hours in the spacecraft...you really should have a name, you know. But as soon as Will can take time off from what he’s doing with the Twin, I’ll run him through a certification exercise. Command Pilots need ordinary FAA certificates first, we can add special certifications later on. One day, those records will be important, but for now, we’ll just keep them confidential. Frenchy’s team of lawyers insist we dot every T and cross every I.”

  “What about you, Joe? You’re certifying the rest of us, which means you’re de facto certified yourself.”

  “Can’t pass a flight physical, Chuck. My ticker’s only a little better than Morty’s was. No, I’d love to fly this thing, maybe even all the way to the moon, but if I come along I’ll be a supernumerary. Will or you will command, the other will be the copilot. Lina will probably want to come along, but I wouldn’t want to list her as crew until she gets her pilot’s certificate. The lawyers insist on that. It’s a test flight, so something is likely to go wrong and real pilots will be needed. Murphy always flies the third seat, the one you can’t see, but trust me he’s along on every flight.”

  “No flight physical? But what about that prop job you told me about? And you did some of the early tests on Number One too.”

  “I only did the hovers and low-level flights, following the King through that test course you laid out. As for the plane, Chuck, I can’t talk myself into selling her, but I’ll never fly her again. She’s in a hangar in Bakersfield, and once a month someone goes out and cranks the engine. She’s flyable, but to be honest she’s part of my past, not my present. That’s why I don’t sell her, I’d be selling my own past.”

  “That’s too bad, Joe. I really expected you’d fly the first space mission.”

  “No, I knew when I came here this was likely to be my last hurrah. I enjoyed building this one, already got some ideas for the next one, but if I fly in it I’ll be a passenger. I’m enjoying the engineering, though. We’ve got a good team. I wasn’t sure about you at first, but you’ve also fitted in well.”

  “I had to, Joe. I couldn’t leave Lina with you guys all the time. Some of the boys are unmarried, you know.”

  Joe chuckled. “I hadn’t thought of it like that, but I can see your point. Anyway, Frenchy talked to me yesterday. He’s getting anxious, wanted to know when the first flight above the atmosphere would take place. He also asked if the Bedstead and the King would fly off our wing. I had to tell him no.”

  “Why would he have wondered about that? They don’t even have a cabin, just a windshield, and they’ve not been tested at altitude.”

  “He thought they could fly if the pilot wore one of the spacesuits. I nixed that idea. I think he thought we’d use the Bedstead and the King as chase craft because they’ve been flying alongside us during the earlier tests. Mel and Lina did get in some flight time, we needed someone to watch what the controls on Number One were doing and keep an eye on the externals. I’m just glad we didn’t lose any of the solar cells. I wasn’t sure how well that epoxy would hold; we couldn’t use a heavy coat over the outside layer of glass without degrading performance too much.”

  “It wasn’t a good idea, you’re right. I don’t know...I guess there’s no real reason Will and I can’t take her up. As soon as we get Will certified, anyway. He’s got the hours, let him fly as command pilot. I’ll be happy to copilot for him.”

  “I expected that, but I didn’t want to decide. You’re the company’s biggest stockholder now, after Frenchy. Will’s up there too, but he didn’t put in as much as Frenchy, and Morty got his share as part of the initial agreement. Anyway, that’s business, not flying stuff. I’m glad you’re okay with Will flying the left seat.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “You are to take the message that’s attached to the email we just sent you. Hand it to the colonel. When you have done that, come back. I have further instructions for you.”

  “Uh...who am I speaking to?”

  “I am General Stroganoff. Is enough. Follow your orders.”

  “Yes, general. Be right back, sir.”

  The major printed the attachment, glanced at it, and had time to think Holy shit! as he carried it down the hall. The American phrase seemed particularly apt, considering what the attachment said. More than a simple email, this one had the supreme leadership’s emblem across the top of the page. Would the colonel follow the orders? He had to know what this meant, what was unstated but a virtual certainty. The colonel’s family would at least get a pension for the service he’d rendered as a junior officer, before he began to rise through the system. Before he’d turned into a bureaucrat and forgotten what operations were all about.

  Reaching the colonel’s door, the major knocked once, then opened the door. The colonel stood with his back to him, just turning around. The glass of vodka spilled, his face darkened toward purple, the colonel opened his mouth to roar at this insignificant CLERK who dared barge in...

  “I have received a priority message, colonel. You are to read it and follow the instructions. I am to respond, t
o say that I gave you the message. I’ve done so. Good day, colonel.”

  There was just time enough to see the colonel’s face turn white. The instructions were clear. He was to report to New York and catch the first flight home for ‘debriefing’. The major didn’t envy him; such debriefings were sometimes fatal, and always bad news for the debriefee.

  Back in his office, he picked up the phone. “Sir...still there?”

  “Of course I am! I’ve been waiting for you to respond!”

  “Yes, general. Sir, I printed out the message and placed it in the colonel’s hand myself. He was reading it as I left.”

  “Very good, colonel. That’s the good news. There is better news, you are in charge of the office for now. The rank is permanent, the assignment is not. You will be joined soon by General Oleff. He will take over. If he cannot be released from his current assignment, I’ll take the job myself.”

  “Sir, is there a problem?”

  “Perhaps. We shall see. It appears that the Americans have something we urgently need.”

  “Sir, we don’t know what they have. They think it’s important, but there’s no way we can be sure. We’ve made one attempt, but the Americans destroyed their device. We...that is, the colonel...decided to monitor the situation. We may try again.”

  “We have information you lack, colonel. It appears the Americans may have a working antigravity device.”

  “General, my agent saw no evidence...”

  “Speaking of that, how much does he know?”

  “Not much. I gave the instructions myself, only that we wanted to capture the barge they were using and tow it up the lake. He didn’t know what we were looking for, only that we wanted the barge.”

  “Are you certain he knows nothing?”

  “I don’t see how he could know more, general. Unless the colonel, my predecessor I mean, told him.”

  “Do not use the man again. If further action is necessary, we will handle that from here. For now, gather as much information as possible. There is a list of names attached to the message, see what you can find out about them. General Oleff will take charge when he arrives, but at the moment he’s unable to turn his own project over to his replacement so it may take time. Have the information he will need. I suppose if you should somehow stumble over this antigravity device, we want it. Not that I expect this to happen.”

  “General, my agent said nothing about the barge floating. He said his men reported that it moved under its own power, but if they had antigravity, wouldn’t the barge have been floating in the air?”

  “Not necessarily, although your thinking is commendable. Suppose this device is not yet perfected, that it’s not powerful enough to float the barge but only make it lighter?”

  “I...see, general. Yes, that could explain what our agent reported.”

  “Follow your orders, colonel. There have been too many failures already.”

  “One question, general. You mentioned other evidence?”

  “Yes. I suppose it can’t do any harm. I’ll send you the satellite photos via the secure link. Are you able to interpret such photos?”

  “I think so, sir. If the photos are clear.”

  “They’re clear enough. It appears that the Americans have refitted one of their shuttles with the device. They also have two other flying craft, smaller, that accompany the large craft when they fly it. They only fly at night, so the photos are unclear, but you can clearly make out the shuttle and the other two. They have no wings and fly slowly, so the only possible explanation is antigravity. We must have this, the chairman himself has commanded it. You will assist General Oleff. One additional task; you will go to the airport to ensure your predecessor makes his flight. Do not allow him to remain in America. He must return home for the debriefing. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, general. I’ll see that it’s done.”

  “You will do it yourself, colonel. Report to me when you have carried out your orders.”

  “Yes, general. I will not fail.”

  “See that you don’t, colonel.” The dial tone indicted the general had hung up.

  #

  “Come in, gentlemen. My name is Fuqua; I’m the chief executive officer of the New Frontiers Corporation. You’ve already spoken to Mister Sneyd, and this is our lead corporate attorney, Mister Hazzard.”

  “Thank you. I’m Brigadier General Fuller, US Air Force, and I’m chief of the delegation. Colonel Ponder, US Army, is my deputy. We’re currently detached from our various services and assigned to DARPA. Colonel Warren represents the Air Force, Major Hooke is a Marine, Colonel Tindall is Army, and Rear Admiral Sessions represents the Navy and Coast Guard.”

  “You’ve got us outnumbered, general,” chuckled Frenchy. Chuck said nothing, but watched the group. All were in civilian clothing, so there was no way to tell if any of them were pilots. They might even have been staff weenies, for that matter. The Marine looked familiar, although Chuck couldn’t recall ever serving with him, but maybe he’d shown up in Fallujah at some point. Things were confused at the time and painful at the end. Chuck was at the meeting to provide technical expertise if needed and the lawyer was there to keep Frenchy from being impulsive. That said, the meeting was Frenchy’s.

  “We have various interests, Mister Fuqua, and considering how promising the device appears to be, all of the services wanted to see how useful it would be.”

  “I understand, general. I wonder why Morty never mentioned contacting you?”

  “I can’t answer that, Mister Fuqua. His letter was too vague for us to take seriously. If he’d had a working model, that would have been different. We see any number of proposals, frequently several during the course of a month. Most of them range from impossible to impractical. Mister Sneyd’s letter was scanned and a file started, but that was as far as our interest went. Keeping records is routine, because you never know what might turn out to be useful. But that was then, and now things have changed.”

  “How so, general?”

  “Are you aware that the Department of Transportation is interested in your company? Not to mention the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communication Commission. I may have missed some, maybe the National Security Agency; they’ve got feelers into every aspect of America, and for that matter the rest of the world. I wish we had the level of computing power they take for granted!”

  “Why are they interested in an obscure holding company? We’ve been chartered less than six months, although we had other companies before incorporating New Frontiers.”

  “According to our sources, they’re responding to Congressional interest. I got my information from a clerk in the Department of Transportation’s Congressional Liaison Office. He helped draft a letter, responding to a Congressman’s inquiry. The Congressman himself didn’t write the letter, of course, and for that matter he may not know anything about it. A lot of business is done by staffers using their elected official’s name. But departments have to respond as if the Congressman himself wrote the letter. In this case, the response pointed out that they had no reason to get involved with your company at this point. Perhaps it would be better to say they had no justification, because they’d almost certainly try to keep any House member happy. That’s where department budgets come from, after all.”

  “My, my,” Frenchy’s voice was soft. “I ran into opposition in Texas and I’m getting pushback from Santa Fe too. I wonder who has the clout to get the federal government involved?”

  “Someone with deep pockets, Mister Fuqua. The government runs on money, and the first thing a newly-elected politician does is form a reelection committee to collect more of it. Even before they take the oath of office, they’re raising money for their next campaign. Money talks in Washington and at the state level too. You’ve got enemies, whether you know about them or not.”

  “They’re too late. They can delay us, but they can’t stop us. We, the corporation that is, own the rights to the device you’re interested in. We go
t them from the inventor, Morton Sneyd, and his grandson Chuck owns Morty’s shares in the company. He’s also deeply involved in product development. We’re committed to bringing the device to its full potential.”

  “I understand. What you might not realize is that we also have considerable clout in Washington. Not to put too fine a point on it, we have our own political allies, people who want to see the devices we develop manufactured in their district if possible but their state at the very least. We dispense considerable pork, Mister Fuqua. Pork talks too.”

  “I’m surprised. I expected you to offer development money, but at the moment we’re adequately funded. We don’t have much surplus, but we’re moving ahead, so it’s not as if we were faced with a shutdown if we didn’t join forces with you.”

  “We’ve got money, Mister Fuqua. In practical terms, we draw from several budgets, so the limit of what we can offer is quite high. Perhaps even better, some of our funds are difficult to trace. I mention this because Mister Sneyd said you have an operational device to show us.”

  “We do. We currently have two operating vehicles that use only the impeller drive system. We’ve flown them for more than a hundred hours each, meaning that since the craft use multiple impellers we’ve got considerable experience with them. It’s fair to say we have thousands of operational hours using the impellers. I expect you want to see them, so I can make them available for a demonstration if you wish.”

  “Is one of them the airplane you converted? The Air Force and the Navy are interested in that. We’re also speaking for the Marines and Coast Guard. They’ll provide part of the funding.”

  “I hadn’t intended to mention the airplane. We intend to manufacture our own planes, but start out by modifying off-the-shelf airframes.”

  “You’re thinking business-class planes?”

  “For now, but there’s no reason we can’t scale up. Passenger planes, cargo planes, the system will work on any of them.”

  “Interesting. Would it be possible to take a look at the plane? A functioning airplane, using your system...I’m sure that would be of interest to the steering committee.”