Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1)

by Gregory Gates

  For the next half hour Jeff went over the entire plan from crew training and cargo launch through surface exploration and the return voyage, leaving out only the part about a child to be born on the planet. No point in overly complicating things at this juncture.

  Paul sat back and shook his head, “I’ll be damned. It’s so simple, it’s perverse. The government know about this yet?”

  “No.”

  “Oh boy, they’re gonna have a lot of questions. I don’t envy you that.”

  “We’ll just take it as it comes.”

  “Honestly, it’s a hell of an idea and I think you’ve got the right approach. I have serious doubts that it can be done, but I’m on your side. Truthfully, there are a lot of people in the aerospace industry – and I’m one of them – that have long hoped somebody would step forward and do this. If you succeed, you’ll open a whole new chapter on space travel. Give me a couple days, and I’ll get back to you.”

  “Fair enough.”

  As he drove back to Newport, Jeff was cautiously optimistic. The meeting had not gone at all as he’d imagined. He had hoped to get into the production facilities and actually see some hardware. But he understood Paul’s hesitance. This might not be so easy. Still, Paul hadn’t fallen on the floor laughing and had Jeff tossed out of the building. That was encouraging.

  The next morning Dr. Loewen from SRT called back. “Mr. Grey, I’ve talked the idea over with a few of my colleagues here and we’re interested. Frankly, excited. It’s a fantastic idea and a huge opportunity for us.”

  “That’s great! Alright. There’s a Kawasaki dealership near you, I’ll arrange to have a Mule delivered wherever you want, and I’ll fax you a brief outline of what I have in mind. After you’ve had a look at the critter and thought about it for a bit, let me know what your budget needs are and I’ll wire you whatever you need. Just remember, 18 months to launch and, obviously, it’ll have to be ready long before then.”

  “Right. This will take some doing but I think it’s plausible. One question, how do you plan on landing this?”

  “Just like the Mars Science Lab. So it’ll need to be fueled and ready to drive away on touchdown.”

  “Understood. Alright, send me what you have, we’ll take a look and get back to you as soon as we can, probably a week or two.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks Dr. Loewen. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

  Jeff was ecstatic. This was a huge step. Having SRT onboard would lend the project considerable credibility and the Mule – if it worked – would establish a low-cost, functional baseline for many other systems that would follow.

  Jeff decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He needed two things and he needed them quick: a plane and Abby.

  “Abby? Hi, Jeff.”

  “Hi! I was going to call you this afternoon. I’m all set. I was planning on flying out tomorrow.”

  “Excellent. However, change of plans.”

  “Huh?”

  “Instead of coming to Providence, I want you to meet me in Wichita.”

  “Wichita?”

  “Yeah, Mid-Continent Airport, the Cessna plant. And bring your log book.”

  “Uh oh. What did you buy?”

  “Nothing yet, but there’s a CJ3 there that I want us to look at. Low hours, decent price, looks nice. You are current for the CJ3, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Great. But here’s the bad news. The only flight that’ll get you there on time is on American, leaves LAX at 6:10 am, connects through Dallas, and puts you into Wichita at 1:25. I’ll make the reservation, you figure out how to make the flight.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “I’m really looking forward to having you back. I can sure use some help.”

  “And I’m looking forward to being back. Say, have you heard from Gabe?”

  “Nope. Not a word.”

  “Hmmm. Sure hope she comes back.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you tomorrow in Wichita.”

  “Right. Take care.”

  “Yeah, you too.”

  Jeff thought he’d surprise her and neglected to mention they’d be on the same connecting flight from Dallas. He liked surprises.

  Friday morning Jeff was up at 2:00 am to make the hour and a half drive up to Boston for a 6:00 flight. Going to bed the night before hardly seemed worth it. Having his own plane would solve that problem once and for all.

  Jeff arrived in Dallas a bit past 9:30 am and immediately headed for T.G.I. Friday’s in the concourse. He was starving and had two hours to kill before Abby arrived. He figured Abby would probably be hungry and there wouldn’t be enough time before their connecting flight departed for her to eat, so he had a club sandwich and basket of fries made up to go and headed for the departure gate.

  Abby walked right by him on her way to the check-in counter.

  “Hey! Aren’t you even gonna say hi?”

  She snapped around toward him, “Ah, jeez. What are you doing here?”

  “Same connecting flight.”

  She trotted up and gave him a hug, “Great to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you too. Hungry?”

  “Famished.”

  He handed her the bag. “Club sandwich and fries do?”

  “Oh my god! You’re a very good man, I don’t care what they say.”

  “Here, have a seat and eat. You don’t need to check in, they’ll call us first. You have a good flight?”

  “Yeah,” not bothering to stand on ceremony and speaking with a mouthful of sandwich, “and while we’re on the subject, you’ve got to stop flying me first class, I’m getting spoiled.”

  Jeff grinned, “Comes with the job.”

  “So tell me about this plane.”

  “It’s a 2007, factory stock from what I’m told. About 700 hours on both engines, all records, maintenance program… the usual. It’s for sale or available on a 12-month lease with option to buy.”

  “What’s it doing in Wichita?”

  “New paint and a maintenance check.”

  “They’re having it painted just before selling it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s nice of them. How much?”

  “Five million.”

  “Sounds about right. Who owns it?”

  “Some investment bank that took TARP money a few years back and now has Uncle Sam climbing all over them to cut out the frills.”

  “Jeez. That stuff still going on?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “They gonna let us fly it?”

  “All arranged. Their pilot will be there and their CFO, who has authority to close the deal.”

  “So if we like it we can fly it home?”

  “You got it.”

  “Cool. You ever fly in a Citation?”

  “No, but I’m sure looking forward to it.”

  “Nice aircraft. Comfortable, reliable, easy to fly, and the CJ3 is single pilot certified, so once you get licensed and rated you can fly it, and you won’t need me to chauffer you around.”

  “Hey, I like having you chauffer me around. It’s dignified.”

  Abby laughed, “Dignified for you maybe. Remember where you found me?”

  “Oh yeah. You’ll pardon me for saying so, but that was funny. You had that girl out front at the counter absolutely terrified.”

  “Oh, that was Jean. I terrified her just walking in the building.”

  Jeff chuckled. “Anyway, I’m well on my way. Started flight lessons on Monday. Already have a whole two and a half hours in my log book.”

  “Hey, good for you. How do you like it?”

  “It’s fun. A little unnerving, but fun. Looking forward to getting past the basics and actually flying the thing.”

  “It takes a while. What are you flying?”

  “A 172.”

  “Oooo, rocket man.”

  “Yeah. It’s like, come on Jeff, pedal faster. Once I get the private license a
nd instrument rating, multi-engine, complex aircraft, blah, blah, blah, I thought maybe I’d buy a King Air C90, just to have something to get some hours in.”

  “A C90 isn’t exactly your basic beginner aircraft.”

  “Yeah, I know. But it’s about the fastest thing around that doesn’t require a type rating and, since it’s a turboprop, it’d probably make the transition to jets a bit easier. Besides, I’ve got you to nursemaid me until I get it right.”

  Just then their flight was called and they boarded for Wichita. During the hour and a quarter flight Jeff brought Abby up to speed on his discussions with ILC Dover and SRT. At Mid-Continent Airport they collected Abby’s luggage and were met by a courtesy car from Cessna that took them around to the other side of the airport and Cessna’s Wichita Citation Service Center where they were met by Alan Hayes and Ronald Davis of Plains Development Bank. Walking through the facility they were greeted with the sight of more than twenty Citation jets parked along the two-thousand-foot-long tarmac in front of the building.

  Jeff stopped abruptly, “Wow, now that’s impressive.”

  Abby smiled, “Welcome to the Citation capitol of the world.”

  “Have you been here before?”

  “Yeah, got most of my type ratings here at Flight Safety International.”

  Alan, PDB’s pilot, pointed to the south side of the ramp, “She’s just over here.”

  They walked around the sleek jet, adorned in gleaming fresh white paint with bold slashes of blue and bronze from nose to tail.

  Abby turned to Alan, “I approve. Nice paint scheme.”

  Alan nodded, “Yeah,” and gently touched the fuselage, “okay, it’s dry.”

  Jeff asked, “How long have you had it?”

  Ron responded, “We bought it new in November 2007.”

  “Well, I’m utterly clueless about these so I’m going to let Abby ask all the questions. Sell her on it and you’ve sold me.”

  Abby walked around the plane carefully inspecting every surface, nook and cranny. “Did you have Cessna do a current pre-buy inspection?”

  Alan replied, “Yeah, just last week. It’s inside with the logs and maintenance books.”

  “Good. Let’s have a look.” Climbing inside she turned to Jeff, “Sweet. This is really nice. The fabric wall covering down the sides, man, that is a nice touch. Haven’t seen that before. Alan, you guys have an interior decorator do this?”

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact we did.”

  “Very nice.”

  Thirty minutes later Abby was satisfied with everything she saw. “Okay, I’m good. Can we take her up?”

  “Sure,” Alan replied, “let me just have a look at your log book and type rating. You’ll have to take the right seat since you’re not on our insurance policy. That okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “Jeez, lady, you’ve got a lot of hours. You flew in the Navy?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What?”

  “F/A-18s.”

  “Damn. Okay, well, let’s go flyin’.”

  Jeff took a seat in the cabin with Ron. Alan taxied out onto Mid-Continent’s runway 1R and they took off. As they leveled out at 12,000 feet and headed north over Kansas Jeff turned to Ron, “I could get used to this. I’ll bet you’re gonna miss it.”

  “Yep, sure will.”

  Jeff got up and walked forward to the cockpit. Abby was busy going over all the flight systems with Alan but Jeff interrupted her anyway, “Well?”

  “I’ll let you know when we’re back on the ground but so far so good. It’s a CJ3, works just like all the others.”

  “Good enough.”

  They flew for another twenty minutes then returned to the airport. After shutting down Abby climbed out of the cockpit, looked at Jeff and gave him a thumb-up. “I like it. Nicest one I’ve ever flown.”

  Jeff turned to Ron, “Sold. Let’s get her done, I want to go home.”

  Ron smiled, “Alright.”

  As they walked back to the Cessna terminal Alan leaned toward Jeff, “That’s one hell of a pilot you’ve got there, as good as I’ve ever seen. Better than me.”

  Jeff smiled, “Thanks.”

  Two hours later Jeff was seated in the CJ3’s right seat watching Abby go through the checklist in preparation for taking off, “Home, James.”

  She laughed, “Don’t make me smack you. Say, how are we going to get to Newport from Quonset?”

  “I left a car there… just in case.”

  “Good thinkin’.”

  Three hours later they were on the ground at Quonset State Airport. Jeff reached over and put his hand on Abby’s shoulder. “Thanks for the ride. Sure beats the hell out of flying commercial.”

  “Yes it does,” she grinned. “So, what do you think? How do you like it?”

  “I’m in love.”

  Jeff and Abby spent the weekend at Wrentham House going over projects that needed immediate attention. He decided that Abby should concentrate on getting a command module built. “You’re going to be flying it, so it’s your baby. Contact Astrotech first thing Monday, explain what we’re up to – make them believe you! – and find out what the status is of their CEV command module. It’s a four-seater loosely based on the Apollo CM and should be just right for us.”

  “Did they ever build one?”

  “So far as I know, just a mockup. But they submitted the design to NASA as part of the CEV program competition – which they lost to Lockheed Martin and the Orion – but there should be plans… somewhere. We need to get them onboard, and soon. That’s a long lead-time item and it’ll be expensive. If they won’t build it for us we’ll need to see if we can get the plans and have somebody else build it. Maybe Boeing or possibly even ILC Dover. Plan B, I suppose, would be a SpaceX Dragon, but it’s awfully damn big and heavy. So see what you can do with Astrotech and we’ll go from there.”

  “You got it. Still no word from Gabe, huh? We could sure use her.”

  “Yeah, I know. Not a word. I’ll call her tomorrow. If she’s out I’ll need to find a replacement ASAP.”

  “You have anybody in mind?”

  “No.”

  Abby cringed. “Ugh.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sure glad Sue signed on, I kinda like her. If nothing else, she’ll bring some class to this operation.”

  Jeff laughed. “Yeah, something we’re desperately in need of.”

  Late Sunday afternoon, as they were looking over the schematics for the Apollo LM and kicking around ideas for how it might be modified and used as an ascent module, the doorbell rang.

  “You expecting someone?” Abby asked.

  “No.” Jeff got up from the conference table and headed upstairs, “Back in a minute.” Reaching the top of the stairs, he looked across the hall and entry alcove to the glass doors and was somewhat shocked to see Gabriel standing there.

  He rushed to the door and yanked it open, “Good lord! You’re here.”

  She smiled softly. “Yes. I’m here.”

  “Why didn’t you call and let me know you were coming?”

  “I didn’t arrive at an awkward moment, did I?”

  “No, of course not.” He held the door open for her, “Come on in.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Gosh I’m glad to see you.”

  “Well, I’m glad to see you too.” She stopped near him, “It took me a while to sort this out. I’m sorry, I should have called, but…”

  “It’s alright. I’m just glad you’re here. Where’s your luggage?”

  “In my car.”

  “Your car? You drove from L.A.?”

  “Yes. That was the final step in my decision tree. I figured if I made it all the way here, that’d be pretty conclusive. Besides, I need my car.”

  “Oh good grief, I would’ve bought you a car. Hang on a second.” Jeff walked to the top of the stairs and yelled down, “Hey Abby! Get up here!”

  “Abby’s here?”

  “Yeah, you mis
sed all the fun. I met her in Wichita on Friday and we bought an airplane. We would’ve flown out to L.A. and picked you up.”

  Gabe frowned. “Ohhh. What kind of plane?”

  “A Cessna Citation; bizjet. Sure beats driving cross-country.”

  Abby reached the top of the stairs, “Gabe!” And ran up to give her a hug.

  “Hello squirt.”

  “You made it! I was getting worried about you.”

  “Yeah, like I told Jeff, it took me a while to sort this out. But I’m here, onboard, and ready to go to work.”

  Jeff smiled, “Well there’s plenty of work for you, but I think Abby and I have had just about enough for today.”

  Abby groaned, “I’ll second that.”

  Gabe glanced back and forth to the two of them, “What have you been working on?”

  “A lot of stuff,” Jeff said. “Just now we we’re going over the Apollo LM, kicking around the idea of using it as a baseline for an ascent module.”

  “Oh wow, that could be a challenge. For one thing it’s too small. Further, I’ll have to take a look at the thrust and acceleration figures, we may not be able to do it standing up like the Apollo astronauts. Too many g’s.”

  Abby hugged her again, “Boy am I glad to see you.”

  Jeff nodded in agreement. “That’d be great, but it’ll wait until tomorrow. You want a drink or something? Then we’ll help you bring in your stuff.”

  “Yes, sounds good but, may I talk with you alone for a minute?”

  Abby winked, “I’ll be at the bar.”

  Gabe waited until Abby was out of earshot then turned to Jeff. “I haven’t approved of everything you’ve said, but you have been honest with me and, well, I need to be honest with you. I decided to come back because you’re the first person that’s every trusted me with something really important, and that means a great deal to me.” She looked at the floor, scuffed it with her shoe and shuffled uneasily.

  “What is it, Gabe?”

  She took a deep breath. “I have some, uh… problems.”