A Disruptive Invention

by Peter Shackle

  John and his mother went first to his apartment on the Arsenal so that she could freshen up a bit, and then they went for a quiet lunch at Landry’s seafood restaurant near the Arsenal. Coming from Iowa, seafood was something special, and John’s mother thought that fish would be healthy for her. Over a long meal John told his Mom all about Huntsville and what it was like. They talked about Electrolev and John’s hopes that it would be able to go public in a few years, so that he could repay his parents for all the money that they had spent on his education. John’s mother was a farmer’s wife first and foremost .This was peak harvesting season and so after lunch they drove out into the Alabama cotton fields and looked at the harvest in progress. John’s Mom had never seen cotton growing on bushes before, and was just fascinated to see the little white fluffs, the size of a crab apple, all over the bushes stretching out into an ocean of white as far as the eye could see. They saw a huge harvesting machine cutting the bushes and pressing the cotton into big cubes, about five or six feet across, which were then left in the empty field to be picked up later.

  Next they went to visit the United States Space and Rocket Center. John’s Mom was awed at the size of the Saturn rocket, and to actually see a piece of moon rock. That evening John had arranged for them to have dinner with Steve Harmann and Sarah, and Judy. Ever since that dinner party at the Biergarten restaurant when they had first arrived in Huntsville, John had retained a sentimental memory for that restaurant, so he chose to go there again. During the evening they went over the famous history of the Germans in Huntsville and how they had all been brought there to make the new rocket science happen in the space race of the fifties and sixties. John’s Mom was really thoughtful when she realized how history was repeating itself, and she looked wonderingly and proudly at John as she realized that he must be mixed up in something that was again going to change history. She felt reassured and soothed to see John and Judy so happy together. As usual Steve and Sarah made merry company. They still mourned for their earlier life in California, and Sarah explained that she would probably never get used to life in Huntsville with its sticky summers and cool winters. However Steve went over the huge financial benefit that they would all have once Electrolev went public and they all nodded sagely and agreed that what they were doing was worthwhile.

  The next morning John and Judy saw his Mom off at the airport so that she could carry on helping out with the harvest back on the family farm. “Bye Mom – remember I love you!” said John as he hugged her goodbye.

  His Mom shouted over her shoulder as she went on into security: “Don’t forget I want you both down on the farm for Christmas!”

  “We’ll be there!” John and Judy responded together, smiling at each other and squeezing hands.

  Chapter 52

  One morning in November John was walking towards Steve’s office. The preparations for the mid December test flights were buzzing through his mind. As before, he needed to arrange reservations greatly in advance for Homey Airport and the Dreamlifter, but since the episode in which a stealth vehicle from another country was found over Homey airfield, he had found that he was able to commandeer essentially any resources which he needed for the LeviStar work. It felt essentially as if the whole resource of the USA was pushing behind him, which was an intoxicating feeling. He felt invigorated and alert, able to cope with anything that life might throw at him.

  When he got to Steve’s office he started out with: “It’s pretty obvious now that a whole range of LeviStar type vehicles is going to be needed. The USAF has already got the Frances program underway in California. Then the experience of rescuing me from the Chesapeake in Delia brought home the point that a LeviStar air-sea rescue vehicle would be fabulously useful. With no downdraft from rotors, rescue out of the water could be so easy. We could make a vehicle with a waterproof underside, and a platform that would open out on one side with a winch like they use in the helicopters. There would be no need for pressurization and hydrazine thrusters, so it could be a pretty cheap vehicle. We could probably use a ducted fan a lot like Charlotte had. We could even make a fold down platform onto which we could pull people instead of hoisting them up. Then there is the next truly obvious requirement, which is an unmanned surveillance vehicle. It would be sent up to 100,000 feet and just hang around in the area until it was needed. Then it could come down to low levels to take pictures and take off back up again until it was next needed. There would be no need for pressurization and climate control since there would be no crew. So I can see two more immediate, huge, development contracts. If we proposed these to the US government then there is no way that they could say no to any of them, unless they tried to pretend that the world had not changed.”

  “You have got me convinced!” rejoined Steve. With all these contracts in hand our Electrolev stock options would quadruple in value! From the economic side, the longer this technology stays secret and we can legitimately develop it without competition, then the more Electrolev and our stock options will be worth. I can guess where this conversation is leading – you want me to go recruiting again and find a marketing/product planning/contracts person, right?”

  “You got it, Steve!” exclaimed John. “We have been doing all this so far just using inspired engineering, but the time has come when we should start planning a company for the next hundred years!”

  Steve mused: “It’s going to be tough interviewing people without them being able to know what it is we do.”

  “Maybe we can pull people who already have secret clearance who do this kind of work for big defense contractors?” said John.

  “Yes, that’s it.” replied Steve. “I’ll get a headhunter going looking through the likes of Boeing and Northrup Grumman and see if we can find somebody suitable.”

  It was a week later that Steve introduced John to Michael Doherty. Michael had a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, and after that he had worked for 5 years on administrating defense contracts for the Air Force. He had been head hunted out of that by Boeing to work on contract proposals for the USAF, and had now amassed five years experience doing this work. He was a US citizen, but he had a lilting Irish accent inherited from his mother who was an immigrant from Ireland.

  He was flown in from Seattle over the weekend, and on Monday he was there in Steve’s office, intrigued and even a little amused. “The story I have been told about a secret air vehicle system that needs new government products planned with ultra priority is mouth watering,” he began. “But I’m a bit vague as to what it really is, like a fighter, or a helicopter, or a bomber or what.”

  “The important thing here is that you already have a top secret clearance for military vehicles,” replied Steve. “I’m going to let our President John Sykes tell you all about the technology in a few minutes. For me the important thing is to explain to you about the stock options. As well as a competitive salary 20% above what you get now, the compensation includes stock options corresponding to 1% of the value of the company. When you have finished with John, you will realize what that means.”

  After a few more routine exchanges, Steve took Michael round to John’s office nearby. Judy was waiting there with John.

  “This is Michael Doherty,” introduced Steve.

  “I’m John Sykes, President of Electrolev and this is Judy Chen, our V.P. of engineering,” explained John.

  They all sat down, and after reassuring himself about Michael’s security clearance, John told the whole story about LeviStar technology and the possibility of vehicles that could operate in near space and return to earth at will. He did not explain how it worked, just what it did.

  “It’s clear to me that this invention has changed the whole nature of our civilization,” concluded Michael. “The fleet of near space interceptors to guard air space above the USA is only a beginning. After that there will be troop transports, assault vehicles, etc. The marines’ hovercraft assault craft are immediately obsolete – what is the point in bouncing over the waves w
hen you can skim right over everything. Did you say that this thing works better and better the bigger you make it?”

  “Right on!” said John

  “In that case you can envisage aerial battleships. Then there are civilian applications.”

  “Yes but the trouble is that right now the real nature of the technology is top secret,” said Judy. “Eventually it will be public knowledge and then will come all the civilian products. At the moment though the technology is secret and protected and so only military products. This situation will certainly not last forever because we know that another foreign power has the know how. Sooner or later the technology is going to leak out. We have not told you how it works, but I can tell you that fundamentally it is not much more complicated than an internal combustion engine. It is amazing simple!”

  “Well, if you will have me, count me in on this!” enthused Michael.

  Electrolev interviewed three other candidates that week. However none of them had the background fit and excitement with the technology that Michael displayed. Two weeks later the soft spoken man from New York with the Irish accent was part of the Electrolev team.

  Chapter 53

  It was now the beginning of December. The next set of Delia test flights at Homey airport was scheduled for the second week in December, again for two weeks, so that they would finish just before Christmas. Michael Doherty had worked out his notice at Boeing and had rushed down to be with the Electrolev team at Huntsville for the week remaining before the principals all left for Las Vegas. He was planning to organize his relocation while everybody else was away working on the test flights. It was Monday morning and John was showing him around.

  Together they entered the hangar where the Delias were housed. Delia 1 was standing on its wheels on the left, while Delia 2 was parked about six feet off the ground on the right. It was running off batteries so it was essentially silent, just hanging there in thin air.

  “Oh my God!” exclaimed Michael when he realized what he was looking at.

  “What is going on here is the testing of the closed system environmental controls that we just implemented last week,” explained John. “Ian Smith and Jim Telham, our two physicists, have volunteered to be locked up inside Delia 2 for two days to try out the climate control and the experience of being in near space for a prolonged period. So they are inside there right now. We have got a Skype video link set up using our Wi-Fi system so that we can talk to them.”

  He walked across to a computer on a table close by Delia 2: “Hello guys, how is it going in there?” he asked.

  Ian and Jim appeared on the monitor screen: “We are doing pretty well, considering that we only started this gig three hours ago,” explained Ian. “John has found that he forgot his toothbrush but apart from that we are doing great. We will need to get reclining seats installed in here so that people can sleep on them if necessary. We have brought in a couple of air mattresses to sleep on for now. It’s funny how we went and planned that people could live in here for say, four days, and yet we never thought of arranging anywhere for them to sleep. We have got a galley here, two days of tasty meals and an airline style bathroom, but we never were smart enough to plan beds! Fred is going to get reclining seats like in international first class on an airline put in on Friday, before we all leave for the test flights.”

  “That’s a really good input!” said John “At least we have learned something from having you locked up there! I’d like to introduce Michael Doherty, He is going to be doing product planning and marketing, getting us organized for the new Electrolev products that are going to happen in the near future.”

  “Welcome aboard Mike!” exclaimed Jim.

  “Thank you! I’m looking forward to working with you all and this exciting new technology!” said Michael in his Irish accent.

  “Did you come from across the pond?” asked Jim.

  “No, I’m a New York native but my mother came from over there,” he replied.

  “Mike, I would like to give you a demonstration ride,” said John. “I have just got my test pilot’s license after a year and a half studying, and it’s actually legal for me to take the controls. Come on over here to Delia 1 and I will give you a trip around the hangar. Can you open the doors for a while so we can run the APU?” He called out to a nearby technician. The pair of them climbed up into Delia 1 and John closed the hatch. Mike sat in the flight engineer’s seat while John sat in the pilot’s seat.

  “It flies just like a helicopter,” said John. He pressed a few buttons and then used the collective control to lift Delia 1 two feet off the floor.

  “One of the neatest features of the technology is that you can park it anywhere you like,” he said, operating the collective. “That can range from here to 30 miles up in the sky, or even higher in theory.”

  Next John used the cyclic control to move Delia 1 gently around the hangar.

  Mike was impressed to the point of being overawed. “Wow – this is truly mind boggling!” he exclaimed.

  John put Delia 1 back where she was parked, to the relief of Terry Mettle who had just walked in. He had been getting a bit possessive concerning the Delias recently. It was true that he had tremendous skill at maneuvering them compared to anybody else, but then John and Judy had only got their test pilot licenses two weeks ago and obviously nobody else could get close to him in Delia flight hours.

  After John made the introductions, Terry said: “I’ve got an idea that I want to bounce off you. Next week when we pack the Delias into the Dreamlifter, why don’t we forget the ramps and the ropes and just move them into the hold under their own power? I am sure that I could do it if there were other people around to do the final positioning of the vehicle in the hold! If you think about it, I can lift one of those Delias into the hold and position it much more neatly and quickly than could be done with all those hoists and ropes!”

  “That strikes me as a darn good idea,” said John. “Why don’t you go and talk with the logistics people about it. It could save just a huge amount of trouble compared to all the fuss that we had to go through last time.”

  After lunch in the cafeteria where Mike met all the rest of the team, John organized a meeting with all the managers to talk about Mike Doherty’s assignment. He led off with an introduction: “Mike is here because with all that we have learned from the Delia program it is obvious that it is time to start planning the future Electrolev products that we can now see are needed. Judy has been kind enough to give names to these products, and Michael’s job is to make a reality of them. Number five will be Elaine, which will be an air sea rescue vehicle - no space going capability, no pressurization, just a simple rugged vehicle for pulling people out of awkward places. Number six will be Frances which will be a near space capable interceptor, with the mission of policing the near space airspace of the USA. Frances could be a whole lot like Delia, but will have armaments of some kind to be determined. Number seven will be Giselle, which will be an unmanned vehicle, capable of parking in near space over some chosen location for months at a time, and then coming down closer to earth for surveillance purposes as needed. Giselle’s main payload will obviously be an optical system. Michael is going to be starting a series of meetings to plan out what is possible for these vehicles in order to put together proposals for the Air Force. The first meetings should be in about three weeks time when we all get back from Homey. In the meantime Michael is going to be moving himself here from Seattle.”

  John was just on the point of dismissing the meeting when Harold Trimpop put up his hand.

  “Yes, Harold!” said John

  “Since we are all here together at this moment, I have something that I want to put on the agenda for our time at Homey,” said Harold.

  “My group was totally intrigued by the idea of the seventh generation software that Judy conceptualized, in which the LeviStar tilts over when it goes round a corner, but without falling out of the sky. I could not stop them from thinking and talking about it, and
as a result a really elegant concept for realizing generation 7 vehicle control software is on the table. We have even gone so far as to use it to run Delia around the hangar a few times, so we know that it mostly works and is stable. So the next thing would be to try it out at speed and at altitude. I would like to put this on the list of things to achieve while we are at Homey. What I have in mind is that just as an experiment, we will separate the two processors which normally back each other up, and have a switch to select one or the other to control the vehicle. One side can have gen 6 software which is tried and tested, and the other side can have gen 7 software to be tried out. So if anything goes wrong we can flip the switch and instantly have the gen 6 software back again.”

  John glanced at Judy, who nodded, and he said: “Right, I’ll make sure it’s on the agenda. That’s a fantastic achievement if it works – it is so complex that we never thought it would be possible in less than a year.”

  “Ah, but the way we have done it, it is very simple and elegant. Come by the programming area sometime and I can run you through the flow chart!” replied Harold.

  With that the meeting broke up. John and Judy lingered behind.

  “I’m going to be flying out there on Sunday,” remarked John, thinking about the flight testing expedition to Las Vegas. “How about you?”

  “Me too, I’m on the morning flight through Dallas Fort Worth.” replied Judy.

  “Maybe we could share a hotel room in Vegas,” suggested John.

  Judy looked at him with her special impish smile which usually meant that she had a few things going on in her mind which she did not choose to share. She was learning to control John in subtle ways that he did not even realize yet. “I really want to spend lots of time together with you and go out to see stuff in Vegas, but I’m a person who likes to have her own private place to retreat to. Also I know from when you fell asleep on my couch once that you snore and that would drive me crazy!” she drew close to him and put her arms around his shoulders. “I love you dearly but all things in good time!” she remarked enigmatically.