by Ira Tabankin
“Yes, sir. The course laid in and engaging.”
“Wake me if any threats are detected. I am going to put myself into suspended animation.”
“Yes, sir.” The ship’s AI continued to scan for threats while tracking the four ships the AI was ordered to follow.
@@@@@
Everett’s wife was very pleased she hadn’t fallen ill like many of her friends. Her two best friends’ children had come down with polio as well as tens of thousands had developed very bad case of the flu the previous winter, which was so serious it had claimed many lives. She thought she was lucky. She hadn’t even had a cold. It never dawned on her that her husband had something to do with her great health.
Everett studied the list of new aircraft that Kalteck had left for him. This year’s list was very important due to them becoming a foundation for technologies that were going to be used in future warplanes. The key planes were:
January 23 — Douglas XF4D-1, the prototype of the Douglas F4D “Skyray.”
February 14 — Republic F-84F “Thunderstreak.”
April 26 — Lockheed X-7.
June 20 — Bell X-5, first aircraft with swing wings, which was critical for future designs.
August 7 — McDonnell F3H “Demon” (BuNo 125444)
September 20 — Grumman XF9F-6, the prototype of the Grumman F9F-6, later F-9, “Cougar.”
December 27 — North American XFJ-2B, the prototype of the FJ-2 “Fury.”
@@@@@
Everett wasn’t worried when he didn’t hear from Kalteck the first couple of months, but when four months passed, and he didn’t hear, he began to get concerned. The President called him every morning asking if he’d heard from their special visitor. Every morning he had to tell the President he hadn’t and there wasn’t any reason to be concerned. When the fifth month without contact rolled around, Truman asked Everett, “What are your plans if something has happened to him?”
“Mr. President, he left me plans for our initial rockets and,,,”
“Are you aware I’ve been informed the Soviets are in the process of testing a new rocket, which is an extended range version based on the German V2?”
“No, sir. I haven’t seen such a report. May I ask where it came from?”
“I’ll make sure you get copies of our intelligence reports. Our intelligence agencies have sent me a report saying Stalin has developed at least three new versions of the V2. One is supposed to have a range of five hundred miles.”
Everett sat up. He remembered their last meeting with Stalin, who hadn’t mentioned anything about their rocket development programs. “Sir, when Kalteck contacts me, I’ll let him know what Stalin’s up to.”
“I’d like you to visit Chairman Stalin,”
“Sir, without Kalteck?”
“Of course, Stalin knows you’re his voice here. You have nothing to worry about. I’d like you to leave in three days.”
“Sir, I’m due to stop at Boeing's engineering offices to review their latest drawings on one of our newest and most important projects.”
“I thought all of them were. Which one is this special project?”
“Sir, it’s the YB-52. Our friend said he gave them a new design for the bomber’s wings that will enable the plane to carry loads not just in its bomb bay but also under its wings. His other change was to tell Boeing to increase the size of the rudder. He told them their original design was to low and would hurt the plane’s performance. If Boeing carries out his suggestions, the plane will end up being several times over-engineered so it could last one hundred years and carry out every mission we might ever think of using it for. I personally can’t imagine a warplane lasting over one hundred years, yet Kalteck assured me this bomber was so over-engineered it could one day even launch missiles into space.”
“I remember. How do you explain to Boeing these changes to their designs?”
“I’ve told them we have established a new engineering office made up of some of the German scientists we smuggled out of Germany. We’re keeping them hidden away from the public’s eyes. Boeing’s executives understood and not only agreed with our plan, but they also thanked us for our assistance.”
“I agree. That was an excellent idea. Kalteck chose well when he decided you should be his special partner. I had hoped you’d be able to manage this project, but you’ve exceeded far beyond my best dreams. Keep up the excellent work. I suggest you maintain your visit to Seattle. Is there anything else on your plate?”
“Mr. President, I’m also supposed to stop at Douglas, who is finishing work on the X-2 and X-3, one of them is supposed to attempt to break Mach 2, double the speed of sound which is critical to us reaching our goals. If we can’t break double the sound barrier, then we’ll never get a man into space or be able to build what he calls supersonic planes. Kalteck said our next goal will be to build a rocket plane that will be carried by the YB-52 to the edge of space.”
“I agree, let me know when you can squeeze visiting Stalin in. Please make sure I know when you next hear from our friend.”
“I know he’d call unless he ran into something very serious out there. I have faith in his ability to handle anything he runs into. I’m concerned he discovered another alien base. It’s funny that we’re now calling the others aliens and we accept our friend as one of us.”
“Everett, General Bradley told me that the Air Force has an urgent need for the YB-52, so do everything you can to get the plane into production as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
@@@@@
“Kalteck, I am tracking two three-ship fighter groups leaving the gas giant. They have not seen us. We are in stealth mode. Although shields are up, please remember that while in stealth mode, our shields are reduced by 25%. All of my weapons are armed and in standby, and I am continuing to lock onto the various targets. I am waiting for your orders,” said the ship’s AI.
“Can we take out their refueling base orbiting the gas giant without them spotting us? I don’t want to risk all of them turning on us, they outnumber and outgun us.”
“I have calculated we can use the mine weapon the Earthlings developed, with our added pumped X-ray generator.”
“I like this idea. Since their refueling base is stationary, send three mines in stealth mode to destroy their base and any ships refueling. Then swing us around the gas giant. We are faster than the enemy ships. Place some mines behind the enemy and when we swing in front of them, drop a few mines in their path. This way, if they turn back to the gas giant or continue on their course, we may get lucky.”
“Where do you want me to take the ship after we deploy the mines?”
“Place us on the course to hide us in the sixth planet’s rings until we see what effect the mines have on their base and if their ships run into the mines. If the mines destroy their ships, place us on the course they were on. Let’s see where they were going. We might find another one of their bases. Keep us in stealth. I’d like to avoid a head to head fight.”
“I understand and will comply.”
“Execute my orders while I pray to the creator of all.”
Thirty minutes later, Kalteck felt his ship launch three mines towards Jupiter and then his ship vibrated as it accelerated to come around his enemy’s formation. The ship dropped three mines behind and three in front of the enemy. His ship then flew into Saturn’s rings, where he cut his engines and waited to see if the Earthling’s concept of hidden weapons worked. “AI, what are the enemy ships doing?”
“They have not changed course. The ETA of the mines to their fueling base is 143 earth hours.”
“Did they see our launch?”
“No, we used compressed inert gas to push them out of the cargo hold. There wasn’t any energy release so their sensors didn’t see anything.”
“Excellent, I am going to rest. Wake me five minutes before the mines arrive or if the enemy changes course.”
“Yes, sir.”
@@@@@
“Kalteck,
it is time to wake. The mines are 5 earth minutes from the enemy base. As of now, they have not reacted to them. The enemy formation continues unchanged. While you slept, I was able to collect some of the old mining rocks which the nanites have broken down. They have stored most of the minerals and have increased our antimatter storage.”
“Thank you for the report. Open the monitor and show me their base. I want to see if these weapons work as we hoped they would.”
The bulkheads of the ship turned into a curved 3D monitor. “Zoom in at maximum percentage so I can see what happens.”
“You won’t be able to see the mines. I can overlay circles on them to show their position.”
“Yes, please.”
Kalteck watched the small circles fly towards the enemy’s fueling base hidden on the backside of Jupiter. “Time to detonation?”
“Ten, nine, eight, seven…two, one, now.”
The monitors dimmed as three bright white lights flashed when the antimatter in the mines exploded. “High levels of X-ray radiation, the level is off our normal scale. The burst was a massive spike. That was an interesting merging of our pumped weapon and their mine. The mines in stealth mode were almost invisible. They worked better than I projected.”
“What were the results of the attack?”
“The fueling base is dead, and the three ships that were docked there are drifting dead in space. Should I move us into the area to collect the ships?”
“Let’s first see what the enemy’s formation does, I don’t want to get caught by their ships while we’re towing their dead ships. How long until they see the explosions?”
“Six light minutes.”
“Okay. They should arrive at the location of our mines before the light from the explosions reaches their sensors, excellent. Can their sensors pick us out from the rings? Should we move into the gas giant’s atmosphere?”
“We should be safe here. The rings are masking us very well.”
The minutes slowly ticked by until the AI responded, “They have just run into our mines a fraction of a minute before they saw the light from the loss of their fueling base. Their ships are now floating dead in space. I expect the high level of radiation also killed or heavily damaged their ship’s AIs.”
The monitors had again dimmed to save Kalteck’s eyes from the brilliant explosions of the mines. “Orders?” Asked the AI.
“We’ll wait here for another five hours. I want to make sure the enemy doesn’t have any additional stealth ships in the system which could hit us as we tow their ships.”
“Sir, where would we take them? I don’t suggest bringing these alien ships to Earth…”
“We will take them to what the Earthlings call the asteroid belt. We will leave a small tractor generator on one of the large rocks, it will hold the ships while the rock orbits the star. Afterward, I want to pay homage to our shrine on our home world. I see it in my mind even though it was built a thousand years before I was born. It’s marked by the stone face, which reminds us of what we lost. The face looks up to the creator of all while it lays there, begging for forgiveness.”
“I and all of our AIs have the coordinates stored. Kalteck there is a risk the Earthlings will see us. Should I mask our approach?”
“Their telescopes aren’t good enough to see the sculpture. By the time they’re able to see it and figure out it’s a huge alien face, they may know they’re not alone. Funny, I’m calling our face alien like the Earthlings. I am spending too much time with them. I need to visit our shrine to remember what we’ve lost and why I am here.”
“Sir, I hope you aren’t planning on giving the enemy ships to the Earthlings. The ships are much too advanced for them. They might and would most likely use them to settle their old animosities, which could turn the Earth into the same disaster as Mars is. You could be the reason for destroying their world.”
“I don’t intend to let them near the ships until they’re ready for them. I am planning on having you clone yourself to manage the ships which we’ll use to sneak into and attack enemy bases. You’ll have to see if you can locate the enemy’s ID codes from their damaged AIs so their auto-defenses will not open fire on us when we strike them.”
“How far can I go in my treatment of their AIs? If they’re still alive, they will be in a very weakened condition from the high level of radiation.”
“Don’t kill them, see if you can turn them to our side. I don’t know what will be left of their cores…”
“Sir, I’m sure their cores which are kept as on our ships in ostrtium cases survived.”
“I am not so sure. I don’t think any of us have ever seen the inside of one of their ships. I can’t wait to explore one. When we do, I want an encrypted urgent report with what you learn sent to the closest relay station. Maybe we’ll learn some important details which will give our military data on how to easily defeat these ships. How long has it been since I’ve communicated with Everett?”
“Five months, nineteen days, thirteen hours…”
“I get it, I’ve missed five contact periods.”
“Yes, you have. What do you want to do about it?”
“Send a small probe to the base. Make it look like a small meteor and arrange to have it burn up when it enters the atmosphere. Time it to transmit when Everett is usually in his office. Download the record of the battle and the information we learned about their base around their gas giant to him too. I think he has a right to know enemy ships are already here and they have to hurry their development.”
“Yes, sir. I will arrange it.”
Chapter 14
Everett received Kalteck’s message with the recordings of the battle. He also smiled when he read the part about using mines in the battle. He placed a call to President Truman to inform him of Kalteck’s information. Truman suggested Everett and his wife visit Camp David so Everett could brief the President in person. Everett’s wife, Liane, was shocked at the invitation. “What should I pack? How long will we be there? Who else will be there? Oh my God, I’ve got to tell Julie and Susan, they’ll eat their hearts out…”
“Stop. Honey, you can’t tell anyone we’re going to spend the weekend with the President.”
“What do you mean I can’t tell my friends? They’ll die with jealousy. It’s what a woman lives for. I have to tell them.”
“You can’t. If you speak a word of the visit, we won’t be able to go.”
“How will they know? My friends will keep it secret until we return. I promise none of them will say a word of the trip. Please, I’m bursting.”
“Please sit. I have to explain to you that I operate a very secret group within the Air Force…”
“I know that. You remind me all the time. You told me its why I can’t even visit your office…”
“What you don’t know is I report directly to the President. I’ve met with him many times and I speak with him almost weekly. You already know the White House has called here for me in the middle of the night.”
Liane sat with a shocked look on her face. “You talk with the President every week and you’ve never told me? Have you been to the White House?”
“Yes, and I’ve been to Camp David. It’s a bunch of small cabins on the top of a mountain. It sits in the middle of the woods. It’s very rustic and quiet. There’s nothing to see or do there. Don’t worry about what you’re going to wear and you can’t tell anyone.”
“Oh my God. Everett, I didn’t know.”
“I couldn’t tell you. I’ll tell you the President is a down to earth person. When he speaks to you, tell him what’s on your mind. Tell him the truth. You can tell him anything if it’s the truth.”
“Will he tell me what you really do?”
“No, that I know is one thing he won’t. It’s classified so high, most members of Congress have no idea what I do.”
“I’m your wife, shouldn’t I know? I want to be proud of you. I want to…”
“You want to brag to the other wives at th
e O-club. You’re the wife of one of the youngest generals in the Air Force, isn’t that enough?”
“You know how wives are. They ask me what you do and I can’t say because I don’t know. The other officer’s wives all brag about the missions their husbands go on or the projects they manage and I don’t know a thing about what you do.”
“Well, now you know I speak with the President every week.”
“Can I tell them at the club?”
“We’ll ask the President when we see him. We’ll be flying to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The Secret Service will meet us and take us to Camp David.”
“The Secret Service will drive us? Oh, my God. Thank you for inviting me. I’m so excited.”
“I didn’t invite you, the President did. He wanted me to bring you. Before you ask, I don’t know why. I guess we’re going to find out why when we arrive.”