The Ship: The New Frontiers Series, Book One
Page 32
“Strike that. I don’t want any mention of a UFO in this report, you read me, captain?”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
“But you had occasion to believe that your weapons system might be needed, perhaps in self defense?”
“Yes, sir. I was made aware that the possibility existed that units engaged in the maneuver might be fired upon by the Texas Air Guard. The governor of that state had made certain public statements to cause me, as aircraft commander, to be concerned.”
The general covered his microphone with his hand and leaned back. After conferring briefly with the other officers on the panel, he spoke. “I think we’ll leave that in the record. It’s needed to explain why the crew armed their weapons.
“Now then, captain, had you been engaged to that point?”
“No, sir. We had no threat warning. Arming the missiles was precautionary.”
“And did you select missiles in preparation for firing?”
“No, sir. I also observed that my copilot had made no such selection.”
“This report,” the general picked up another paper, “indicates that subsequent testing of the fire control module by a depot inspection team found an intermittent fault, involving the ground return system. This was further isolated to the power plug. Are you aware of this?”
“No, sir. We made the usual checks before takeoff, but there was no indication of a fault.”
“What do you conclude from this, Captain?”
“Sir, I believe that the missiles launched without a specific command from myself or my copilot. I believe it was an accident, sir.”
“Are you aware of what happened subsequent to the unintended launch?”
Yesss! We’re off the hook! “I believe that one of the missiles struck the helicopter. It suffered a hard landing and three persons, two of whom were later identified as Russian officers, were arrested. The pilot of the helicopter was also detained, but he was subsequently released. I don’t know whether the other missile hit the...other aircraft.”
“Strike that, it’s hearsay, and anyway I don’t want it part of this record. We’re keeping this unclassified, other than For Official Use Only. Do you have anything more to add?”
“No, sir.”
“Lieutenant? Any comments you wish entered into the record?”
“No, sir.”
#
Chuck met Lina in Andrews, and they headed for the ranch.
“Any problems?”
“No. There were people on the ground with guns, but they gave up when that Osprey landed. One of the government people called the sheriff’s department and the men were taken into custody for trespassing. I think the FBI picked them up, along with two Russians on the watch list. Have you heard from my dad?”
“I talked to him this morning. He thinks things are under control, for now. Some of the engineering staff is already here. Joe got the oxygen system fixed, it was a misconnected tube, so the Farside is operational. He’s working on installing fairings over the stuff we moved outside the fuselage, but he doesn’t need me for that. You either.”
“Oh. Well, shouldn’t we be doing something?”
“Actually, I think there is. We need to stay out of sight for a while, just in case. Your father is avoiding contact too, just in case. He’s waiting to see whether there’s going to be a subpoena, but for now the lawyers are dealing with things. The plant is shut down, I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to reopen it. Anyway, I’ve been expecting you. I’ve got something for you, and we’ll be at the ranch house in a minute or so.”
“Something for me, eh?” Her tone was flirtatious.
“Not that. Okay, that too. But something else.”
Chuck parked the car, then escorted Lina into the house. “Hang on a second.”
Moments later, he returned. “I had an idea. Let’s start with this. It was my grandmother’s, and I think she’d like the idea of my passing it on to you.”
“Oh, Chuck. It’s lovely. But it’s small, I don’t think it will fit.”
“We can have it resized in Hawaii. I’m sure we’ll have time during the honeymoon to take care of that.”
The End
of
Book One, the New Frontiers Series
The Series will continue
Books by the author:
The Wizards Series:
Combat Wizard
Wizard at Work
Talent
Veil of Time
Siberian Wizard (forthcoming)
The Darwin’s World Series:
Darwin’s World
The Trek
Home
The Return (forthcoming)
The New Frontiers Series
The Ship: Book One, The New Frontiers Series
Novella
Hands
Short Stories
Ants
About the Author:
Jack Knapp is a former soldier and science teacher, now a novelist and blogger. He’s a member of Mensa and the Society for Creative Anachronism.
He’s reinvented himself a number of times over the years. Currently, he’s an amateur scientist, musician, bird enthusiast, and commentator on national and international affairs.
Jack spends far too much time on Facebook, but still manages to write. He expects to complete three novels in 2016. one in each series. The second novel in the New Frontiers Series does not yet have a name, but the Farside and other ships will spend a lot more time in space!
Jack also writes (sporadically!) two blogs:
http:jlknapp505.com (nonfiction essays)
http:jacklknapp.com (topics in writing and publishing)
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Books by the author:
About the Author: