“Let me go round the building and check,” replied John.
Steve, Judy and James chatted fretfully for a few minutes while John went around the building. Judy said pleadingly to Steve: “What do you think has happened to Tony, Steve?”
Steve was troubled verging on distraught. “Judy, I don’t know how to put this, but there was an awful lot of blood in his office and a bullet mark on the wall. I just don’t know what to think.”
Judy buried her face in her hands and sobbed. James Harper looked on in silent sympathy. Steve excused himself and called a temporary agency to get a new receptionist for the next morning. He also called the security company and told them that Hippy had been found dead and that they would need to make arrangements for tomorrow.
After a few minutes John came back to the conference room where James, Judy and Steve were waiting. He was trembling slightly. “I’ve been all round and every single computer in the building is as it should be. But what is missing is the backup tape collection from the computer room. Every single tape cartridge has gone, even from the tape drives!”
“Do you back up your network every night?” inquired James.
“Every single night we do incrementals, and at the weekend when things are quiet we back up the whole thing.”
At that moment Lieutenant Witham came into the conference room. “Could you excuse me please?” he said politely. In his latex gloved hand he was holding a Nextel phone. “This was found on the seat in your lobby – does it mean anything to you? Also another curious thing – the body of your security guard was missing his outer uniform clothes!”
Steve answered for them: “That’s a very ordinary Nextel and there must be a million like it. But the Nextel people could tell you in a flash who it belonged to. As for Hippy’s clothes being missing…. ,“ his voice faded away.
Witham interrupted: “If somebody took his clothes to impersonate him that would have been a way into the building. The only person who would have noticed the difference would have been Julie, and she was mysteriously shot early this morning. As for Mr. Shepard, he was here late last night, right?”
Judy sobbed uncontrollably. “He loved his work so much that almost every night I had to drag him away to come home. Last night he was convinced that he’d found the secret of how our products work and whatever I said or did I couldn’t get him to come home. So I left him here and went home to fix dinner by myself. If only I had persisted and dragged him off home! He would have still been with us today! I feel like it’s all my fault that he’s gone.” She sobbed hysterically and Steve put his arm around her shoulders.
Witham continued: “So Tony Shepard was the only person in the building apart from whoever took Hippy’s clothes.”
“I just found that there has been a theft,” said John, his hands tightly clenched into fists. “I looked all around the building and found that every single computer back up tape is gone. Somebody has taken a copy of the entire knowledge and information base of Electrolev!”
“Where were they kept?” responded Witham.
“It’s all kept in that room over there, just opposite Tony Shepard’s office.” said Steve, wearily. He was really distraught, a man working on his last reserves of fortitude.
“And Tony was working there last night, right?” continued Witham.
“Yes,” nodded John. Judy nodded, big tears running down her cheeks.
“Well that shows a pattern to me,” said Witham. “Hippy probably saw the perpetrator before he got mugged for his clothes. Julie would have been the person who handed over the keys of the building to the person in guard’s clothes. Tony Shepard was sitting right opposite the back up tapes. So every single person who saw our suspect is dead or missing. It is a definite pattern, although it is a very sad and hard one for Electrolev.”
Steve, John and Judy wearily shook their heads and looked at each other. Judy buried her face in her hands.
James Harper had been silent through all of this, but now he spoke vehemently, in a voice brittle with tension: “Even though there is no defense contract yet, the work in this building is of critical national security interest. It is of vital importance to the United States of America. That’s why I have just had armed guards posted here 24 hours a day until further notice. From what you have said I am now convinced that some foreign power wanted the information about what is going on in this building. And now, unfortunately, they have it.”
John sat up straight and looked at the others: “I am determined that Electrolev is going to carry on. I know Tony would have wanted that. We are going to overcome all this horror. We have an invention that is going to change the world and nothing is going to stop us while I am alive.”
Chapter 29
After the night of attacks, life at Electrolev was in a turmoil. The very next day Steve and John called everyone together for a meeting in the main conference room. The pictures of famous aircraft on the walls, like the Wright brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, which had previously seemed aesthetic and reassuring, now seemed to be stark reminders of the consequences of disruptive change. While they waited, John’s eyes rested upon the Kitty Hawk scene and then his imagination moved on to World War 1 fighter planes, to mass bombings of cities in World War 2 and to the dropping of the first nuclear bomb. He felt nervous and uncomfortable at the obvious analogy with his own work. In the background of his mind the attacks upon three of his friends weighed heavily upon him. All the staff was nervous, glancing round uneasily, worried beyond measure about their own personal safety and the thought that they might become the next victim of an assassin.
John stood up first of all, his face pale and holding onto a chair back for support. “I am going to let Steve explain things first of all. You will probably all understand that I am feeling totally distraught because three of my dear friends have been attacked largely because of this technology that I have invented. You can only imagine how that feels.” With that statement he sat down again.
Steve then stood up, his face straight and unsmiling, his voice tight and self controlled. “By now, you probably all know something of what happened yesterday. All of us are traumatized by the deaths of Julie and Hippy and Tony’s shooting and abduction. Since I have been at the center of things I think that I am in a position to give you a clearer view of what happened than you may have got from the TV news. The amazing fact that we have now to accept is that in this building we have an important new technology that is likely to change the course of world history. Because of this another country has gone to extreme lengths to find out what we are doing. The United States Government now realizes the importance of our technology and that is why we now have armed guards from the Air Force police here 24 hours a day.” Many of the employees gasped and shivered, murmuring amongst themselves.
“Unfortunately some other foreign power came to the same realization, and as demonstrated by yesterday’s events, they were totally ruthless about stealing the Levistar technology. All they really wanted was to get hold of our backup tapes, which contained every secret that we have. From what I now know, I am convinced that a foreign agent killed Hippy just to get his uniform, and then came here masquerading as the night guard replacing Hippy. Late in the night when he thought the building was empty, he went to get the tapes. Unfortunately for Tony, he was working late and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The agent apparently shot Tony and kidnapped him. The only other person who knowingly saw this agent was poor Julie, and for this reason he chose to murder her as well, to completely cover his tracks.”
“The reason that I am explaining all this is to make it clear to you that it is not the staff of Electrolev who are being targeted. Even though at the moment you may reasonably be feeling petrified, in fact you are not in any imminent danger. Instead some foreign power was prepared to stop at nothing to get our secrets. Anybody who threatened that objective was attacked. Hippy, Julie and Tony were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now you can see that the Air For
ce have placed some serious security on the premises, and I am assured that shortly they are going to think of something even better. So for the time being I am convinced that you and your families are safe at home, and here at work you are also safe thanks to the Air Force police.”
“What I do have to impress upon all of you is that for the time being you should not talk about where you work or what you do at all. It’s best if nobody knows that you work at Electrolev and what we do here. If anybody already knows that you work here, simply insist that we just design helicopter parts. If somebody asks about the Humvee parked outside, it is because some of these parts are military helicopter parts.”
Ian, the physicist, put up his hand. “Why should we stay here and wait to be killed off? I could go and get a job as a school teacher and have a nice peaceful life!”
Steve answered with a voice heavy with persuasion: “I have already explained that nobody wants to kill anybody. It’s just that we have some unbelievably valuable secrets in this building. This means that all your stock options are even more valuable than can be imagined. Remember that if you leave before the company goes public or is sold, the stock options become worthless. I want everybody to just sit tight and think about the likely value of their options for the time being. In no more than a couple of weeks we will have worked out a real solution for everyone’s personal security with the Air Force.
“I shall be calling another meeting in a few days when I know about arrangements for remembrance meetings and funerals.
“I can really feel for those of you who knew Tony, Hippy and Julie as I did.” He looked at Judy with her face buried in a handkerchief and sobbing uncontrollably.
Terry Entmann the systems engineer put up his hand. “I am going to miss Hippy because he was always so cheerful and sympathetic to me when I went home in the evening. I once mentioned to him how my wife had a problem with MS and he would always ask after her and inquire how it was progressing.”
Judy’s software manager Cynthia then put up her hand. “Julie’s little boy was born at almost the same time as my son, and I am going to really miss talking with her about child rearing issues.”
Jim Telham the physicist put up his hand. “Tony was almost like a father to me. I learned so much from him. I am sure that he would have wanted us to finish this story that he, John and Judy had started. We have got to get our courage together and carry on – I feel like we have a role to play in world history.”
Steve looked around expectantly. Nobody else raised their hand.
“I understand how everybody is feeling shaken after yesterday’s terrible events, and so this seems like an awful time to introduce a new face, but now it is my duty to introduce you to Terry Mettle. Stand up Terry! John, would you like to tell us about Terry and how he was chosen?”
John stood up, gulping to control the stress in his voice: “Now that the vehicle we are planning, Delia, is going to weigh 10,000 pounds, we are legally required to have a qualified test pilot. Terry is a professional helicopter test pilot with lots of experience. Right now he does not know how a LeviStar works except that it can replace a helicopter, and I am looking forward to teaching him all this in the next few days.”
Terry stood up. He was a thin man about five foot six with a lined face and thick brown hair, dressed in tan colored Dockers slacks with a short sleeved shirt and moccasin style shoes. Terry was looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Obviously this is an unbelievably difficult situation for everyone in the company. On the other hand I love being a test pilot and I am really looking forward to being a part of this exciting new company!”
Steve stood up for a moment. “The events of the last day and night have been unbelievably tragic for us. You all know how after the first threats against us I upgraded our security in every manner that I could think of, and yet it still was not enough. In the midst of our sense of grief, I cannot but reflect that since some other country has stolen our secrets we are now engaged in a race against persons unknown to develop this new technology. So it is doubly important that we continue with even more dedication to our projects. We all have lots of things to get on with, so let’s press on. If anybody has any personal concerns come and see me privately. As soon as there is any further news I will call everybody together again.” The assembled staff looked at each other and expressions of fear and bewilderment flitted from one face to another. They were anxious, petrified and aghast at all that had happened in the last day and a half. They slowly filed out of the conference room, their faces dark with foreboding.
Chapter 30
The next day John, Judy and Fred Beller sat down with Terry Mettle to explain to him what Electrolev was all about.
“Can you tell us about your career Terry?” said Fred.
“Well, I originally got a degree from the United States Air Force Academy and then I did helicopter training at Stead Air Force base in Nevada. I worked for a few years as a helicopter rescue pilot at Vance Air Force base in Oklahoma, and then I left the Air Force and joined Boeing as a test pilot. I took this job at Electrolev because my wife got a position with Northrop Grumman in the area. She is an aerospace engineer.”
Terry cleared his throat: “Early this morning I had my first chance to try out Charlotte inside the courtyard. It was awesome! I only went up about six feet, but it sure made a believer out of me! However, I’m convinced that you have got to change the controls. The LeviStar is just like a helicopter, and it needs to have the same set of controls. A right pedal should turn it right, a left pedal turn it left. Then that big lever which makes it go up and down is what helicopter pilots call a cyclical control, and it should be on the left side of the pilot seat. The joystick which makes it go forwards, backwards and sideways is what helicopter pilots call a collective control and that should be in front of the pilot. If you configure it this way then any helicopter pilot can immediately fly the thing.”
John nodded sagely. “That makes perfect sense Terry. We will do that. Fred, why don’t you share the plans for Delia with us all so Terry can see what we have in mind?”
Fred’s stock in trade as a mechanical engineer was his 3 dimensional design software, with which he was a master. Fred opened up his laptop and dazzled them with 3D images of what Delia was going to look like. There was Delia from on top, Delia rotating slowly, Delia in cross section, Delia from the inside.
“Fred, that’s like dream come true!” exclaimed Judy. For a moment the hideous memories of Tony’s kidnapping were displaced by some positive thoughts and excitement, making her eyes sparkle. “How big is it?”
“About 25 feet in diameter. It will weigh around ten thousand pounds, and be able to carry another thousand pounds of passengers and cargo. The inverters will have fifty kilowatts capacity. The cabin will have seating for four, and will have a simple utility area with a kitchen and an aircraft type toilet. The regenerative descent will be fully implemented; however batteries do not exist that can take it all the way into space. Instead it will have modest batteries that could take it up a few miles and a small jet turbine on board in the center which will deliver gases to the lateral thrusters, and also generate electricity for the inverters.”
“I think I can guess the answer,” mused John, “but tell us what happens if you are making a regenerative descent like a hybrid going down a hill, and suddenly the battery is full?”
Fred nodded and grinned: “We have got 50 kW of lights on the underside of the vehicle which can quickly burn up the excess energy that the battery cannot hold during a regenerative descent. We will use halogen lamps that will get rid of the energy both as heat and as light. So much of the bottom side will be covered in incandescent lamps. On the top side, the entire upper surface is covered in solar cells, which will provide at least twice the energy needed to keep the vehicle hovering. So the idea is that during daylight it can recharge its batteries, and then run off batteries during the night period. In this manner it can remain hovering for days at a time.”
“C
an it go in space like space shuttle?” asked Judy, breathless with excitement.
“Yes, the cabin will be fully pressurized and at altitudes where there is insufficient air to run the jet turbine, we will use hydrazine thrusters located close to where the four air thruster jets are positioned.”
“How do I get in and out?” asked Terry.
“She’s got a retractable shock absorbed undercarriage, and I am proposing that she stand high enough that the crew can enter through a hatch in the center underneath. Watch.” Fred pressed a few keys and an undercarriage unfolded from beneath the image on the screen and the aircraft settled down on a flat surface. The group sat there stunned, since despite all the discussions nobody had seen Fred’s 3D images of Delia before. “Any questions?” asked Fred cheerfully.
Terry Mettle put up his hand. “Fred, I feel like there is an elephant present in the room which everybody is ignoring. It’s obvious to me that Delia is what everybody calls a flying saucer type of UFO. Yet nobody is saying that or even mentioning the fact.”
Fred responded: “We all have known that, Terry. Tony was pretty funny about it and he basically forbade anybody from mentioning the fact. So, yes, we have all known that for some time. Unless we pervert the design to conceal the reality, that’s what it is.”
John spoke up: “We have had to contend with some physical realities with this vehicle. Litz wire is heavy and expensive. For a given amount of wire you can couple with the most gravitational field by having a round shape – that’s just a fact of geometry. Any other shape will be less efficient. So the main anti coil is a big circle round the outside. Then because a single anti coil is inherently unstable, you need four smaller ones pretty much in the same plane to apply nudges to keep it flat and steady. They take up space, and so it’s most effective to have them mounted on the underside where you see them, which frees up space inside the cabin. Delia regenerates energy coming down just like a hybrid car going down a hill, but we can never have a battery big enough to hold all the energy released when you come down from space. The only option is to have a huge array of lights which can radiate away all the energy as light and heat. They have to be on the underside because the whole topside is reserved for solar cells. So yes, by an incredible coincidence, Delia looks just like the popular concept of a UFO. It’s kind of embarrassing and we try not to mention it.”
A Disruptive Invention Page 14