Delphi Station

by Bob Blanton

  “Sort of,” Marc said, “but we won’t have trouble seeing an aircraft carrier form up with other ships and head this way.” Marc was glad that they had managed to expand their satellite coverage. They had managed to add over one hundred satellites since the first Oryx had begun operation.

  “Of course, you won’t,” Admiral Michaels shook his head and took a long sip of scotch. “But there’s still the problem of intercepting the message. I hope you can’t break into our military-encrypted transmissions.”

  “ADI?”

  “Who’s ADI?” the admiral asked.

  Marc held his hand up to signal the admiral to wait.

  “Captain, I would not be able to break the encryption in time to be useful,” ADI replied. “And the US 3rd Fleet currently has two carrier groups out on maneuvers. There are sufficient numbers to form the strike force Admiral Michaels has suggested.”

  “ADI is our tech specialist; she listens in remotely.” Marc said, “She says she can’t break the encryption, but she has informed that there are two different carrier groups from the 3rd fleet out on maneuvers.”

  Admiral Michaels’ eyes rolled up as if he were reading off a HUD, “Those have been scheduled for months. But it would give the president a chance to commandeer one for this purpose. You can’t intercept the message; you don’t know which ships yet; how do we get the information you need?” he asked.

  “We’re going to need to think about it,” Marc said. “Okay, we’ll meet again next Monday to discuss options and other ideas. Keep doing what you’re doing, we cannot slow down, but we need some ideas.”

  “You have some time, it will take a strike force at least five days to get here,” Admiral Michaels said.

  “Captain, it will take six-point-five days for the closest group, eight-point-two days for the other,” ADI told Marc.

  “Okay, see everybody on Monday.”

  “Daddy,” Catie called out to hold Marc back.

  “What’s up?” Marc asked.

  “I got a text last night. It was from my friend Alyssa in Boston.”

  Marc nodded.

  “She lives across the street from Grandma and Grandpa McGennis’ house.”

  Marc suddenly became very interested. “What did she have to say?”

  “Three black SUVs drove up to the house yesterday morning. A bunch of men got out and checked around the house. Then they left,” Catie said.

  “Did they go into the house?”

  “I asked, but she didn’t know,” Catie said. “Who do you think they were?”

  “Probably FBI,” Marc said. “I guess we made the move just in time.”

  “What about Grandma Ma and Grandpa Pa?”

  “Cer Catie, your great grandparents are currently in their backyard,” ADI announced.

  “Oh thanks,” Catie said.

  “Why don’t you call them,” Marc suggested, “Have ADI route the call.”

  “ADI?”

  “Calling.”

  “Hello, Grandpa Pa,” Catie said.

  Chapter 21

  Meltdown

  “What is that thing?” The president asked. Nancy Blaylock, the Director of NASA, had just displayed an image of Delphi Station on the screen.

  “Mr. President, I believe that is a space station,” Director Blaylock said.

  “What, it’s just a big can.”

  “You can see here on the zoomed-in portion, that one of their jumbo shuttles is docked. There’s room for eight of those shuttles to be docked at once.”

  “That’s bigger than the International Space Station,” General Wilson said.

  “It’s bigger than a football stadium,” Director Blaylock said.

  “How did they get that thing up there?” General Wilson asked.

  “It seems they built it up there. They’ve been sending a jumbo shuttle up at least every hour for weeks.”

  “Why didn’t we know what they were doing before now?” demanded the president.

  “Sir, we knew they were sending the shuttles somewhere, but we never managed to find out where they were going. We never thought that they were even capable of making orbit. Even after seeing one docked at that station, it’s hard to believe it. The shuttles are hard to see, and their exhaust plume is nonexistent once they’re in orbit. We don’t understand how they’re getting thrust, much less how they have enough fuel to make it into orbit. The space station is difficult to see; it seems to absorb light, so it just looks like empty space.”

  “Then how did we get this image?”

  “We got it from the last SpaceX flight to ISS II,” Director Blaylock said. “Once we realized those shuttles were going into orbit, we started to collect data. We estimated where they must be going, and we had SpaceX extend their reentry orbit so they would make a pass close to where we thought this would be.”

  “Still, how could they have hauled all that material up there?”

  “It still doesn’t make sense. Calculating the cargo area of those shuttles, they must have filled every square meter of the holds with material. And even then, our scientists say that wouldn’t have had been enough material.”

  “Unless they shipped the material up in bulk and manufactured the parts up there,” General Wilson said.

  “That’s absurd,” Director Lassiter said. “And how could they possibly assemble that thing in just a few weeks?”

  “Unknown.”

  “Where are the solar arrays?” Secretary Mathews asked.

  “There are none,” Director Blaylock said.

  “Then how are they powering the thing?” the president asked.

  “We don’t know,” Director Blaylock said. “One would have to assume some form of nuclear energy.”

  “So, the nuclear physicists finally made something,” Director Lassiter said.

  “What!” the president demanded.

  “As you probably remember from Admiral Michaels’ briefing, MacKenzie Discoveries hired two very prominent nuclear physicists. We don’t know what they have been working on, but this suggests it was designing a reactor to power this space station,” Director Lassiter explained.

  “Get Admiral Michaels in here. I want to know more about this.”

  Everyone around the table looked at each other nervously. After a brief pause, Director Lassiter continued, “We can’t, Mr. President. You fired him.”

  The president looked confused for a moment. “Oh, right. Well, get someone in here who can explain this!”

  Chapter 22

  Teenagers

  “Do I have to go?” Catie whined.

  “I thought you liked Sophia,” Linda said. “And Jason will be there.”

  Catie blushed when her mother mentioned Jason. “But for a whole four hours,” Catie continued to whine.

  “Mrs. Michaels has set this up so her children can meet some of the other teenagers here in Delphi City. You’re on the board of MacKenzie Discoveries, so besides being Jason and Sophia’s friend, you’re representing the board to the community. We can’t have people thinking that you don’t want to associate with the other teenagers here in the city. Besides, you need to learn how to socialize with other people. Going to parties is one of the ways people socialize.”

  “Gawd,” Catie groaned. “And we’re watching some long movie. How do we socialize while we’re watching a movie?”

  Linda sighed. “It’s about having a shared experience that you can talk about later.”

  “Then why can’t I just watch it myself. I can run it at two-point-five times speed and save two hours.”

  Linda smacked Catie on the shoulder. “You just go and have a good time. And I’ve instructed ADI to disable your comm except for emergencies.”

  “Oh, you’re mean,” Catie said.

  “I just know you, and I know what my daughter needs. Besides, you like Star Wars.”

  “When I was six!”

  “Oh, come on, you’ll have fun. The Last Jedi is supposed to be very good, and stars a young woman,” Linda said
. “Now you’re just wasting your breath, you’re going, and that’s it.”

  “Oh, jeez,” Catie wheezed. “Okay, but I’m not wearing a dress.”

  “Jeans will be just fine. Why don’t you wear that outfit you wore when I met you at the Prudential Center? I can do your hair up.”

  Catie flounced herself down on the couch in her mother’s condo. She wondered how she was going to deal with having both parents trying to do what’s best for her. ‘I had it so good when Daddy was busy, and Mommy was in San Diego,’ she thought.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Catie rang the Michaels’ doorbell. She could hear the noise of the party coming from inside the condo, ‘Gawd! How am I going to survive this?’ she thought.

  “Hi Catie,” Sophia said as she opened the door. “I like your outfit. You did something to your hair too.”

  “Yeah, my mom curled it a little,” Catie mumbled.

  “It looks good. Come on in and meet the rest of the group.”

  Catie followed Sophia into the condo, “Hey everybody,” Sophia shouted over the music, “This is Catie, Catie this is everybody,” Sophia laughed. “I’ll take you around in a bit, but let me tell you who everybody is.

  “You already know Jason, and my brother, David. That short guy over there with the glasses is Artie Gillespie, he’s a nice guy but a bit of a nerd, his parents are both teachers. The cute guy with the black hair is Chaz Murillo, he’s mine. His mom’s a doctor, and his dad is working as a foreman in one of your factories. The brunette over there is Annie Halloway, her dad is one of your pilots, and her mom is working as a lab assistant for the Zelbars. The blond girl is Barbara Kerr, her mom and dad are both nurses.”

  “How old is everybody?” Catie asked.

  “Except for Jason and my brother, they’re all fourteen.”

  “Oh, and when are you showing the movie?”

  “It’s seven o’clock now,” Sophia said. “Mom’s starting the movie at eight.”

  “What are we supposed to do until then?” Catie asked. She was aghast at the thought of an hour doing nothing.

  “Mingle, talk to everyone. Come, let’s get you something to drink. What do you want, we have coke, ginger ale, root beer?”

  “Just water,” Catie said.

  “Boring.”

  “I try,” Catie laughed nervously.

  “Here, take this and go say hello to Jason. He’s been talking to Annie since he got here.”

  “But…”

  “Go.”

  Catie took a drink of her water and walked to where Jason and Annie were talking. “Hey Jason,” she said as she caught his eye.

  “Oh, hello, Catie,” Jason said. “This is Annie Halloway; Annie, this is Catie McCormack.”

  “Hi,” Annie said with as much disdain as one could put in such a short greeting.

  “Hi,” Catie said back.

  “Annie was just asking about how it feels to fly the Oryx,” Jason said. “I was telling her how amazing it is to take one up. They’re so smooth and powerful, the freedom of being up there with nothing around you.”

  “Sounds like you’re enjoying it,” Catie said.

  “Well you know how it is,” Jason said. “Annie, Catie took me for my first flight in an Oryx; she even let me fly it for a while.”

  “Oh, so you’re a pilot too,” Annie said, clearly not happy that Catie had anything in common with Jason.

  “She’s the best pilot they have,” Jason said.

  Catie blushed at the praise.

  “How many flights have you made?” Annie asked Jason.

  “I’ve only made thirty-five so far, Catie’s probably made way more than that,” Jason said.

  “No, I’ve only made about thirty in an Oryx,” Catie said. “We’ve got enough pilots now, so I’m not going up much.”

  “Where are you flying them?” Annie asked.

  “Oh, we’re just hauling cargo between islands,” Jason lied. “But it’s a lot of fun.”

  “Maybe, you could take me up once?”

  “I’d have to get clearance from my boss,” Jason said awkwardly.

  “We have an Oryx that is just finishing ground testing,” Catie said. “Maybe you can ask your boss if you can do one of the test flights. Then you could take Annie along, and it wouldn’t be such a long flight.”

  “You think he would let me?” Jason asked, knowing full well that Catie assigned the pilots who did the test flights.

  “I bet he would, especially for the second one, you know the high-altitude flight.”

  “That would be nice,” Jason said. “I’ll be sure to ask him.”

  Catie gave Jason a wink, letting him know she’d arrange it. “It’s nice meeting you, Annie,” she said as she moved on.

  Catie wandered around a little, feeling very awkward; eventually, she wound up sitting in a chair by the wall. She was furious with her mom for cutting off her comm because now she was stuck with absolutely nothing to do and bored out of her mind. Forty minutes before the movie.

  “You look like you’re having as much fun as I am,” a voice to Catie’s side said. She looked up and saw Artie Gillespie leaning against the wall.

  “Hi, I’m Catie.”

  “I’m Artie.”

  “I’m not much of a party person,” Catie said.

  “Me neither. This is my first party, besides birthday parties,” Artie said.

  “I guess it’s my first teen party too,” Catie said.

  “Well, only thirty-eight minutes until the movie starts.”

  Catie laughed, “You’re counting down the time too.”

  “Yes, but I am looking forward to the movie.”

  “You’re a Star Wars fan?”

  “Absolutely, I’ve seen them all,” Artie said. “I really like space movies. Do you want to play a game on our phones?”

  “I can’t, my mom blocked my phone for the duration.”

  “Oh, that’s mean,” Artie said. “Are you going to be in Sophia’s class at school?”

  “No, I homeschool,” Catie said.

  “I wish I could,” Artie said, “but my parents teach at the school, so they make me go. I guess they don’t want to have to teach school all day and then come home and teach me.”

  “That would be hard, but my dad doesn’t really spend that much time with me on school,” Catie said. “I mostly do it on my own, with help from my coach. She checks my work and gives me extra assignments if I seem to be struggling with a subject.”

  “That sounds good, maybe I can talk my parents into it. Where do you study, at home?”

  “Mostly, or in our offices, so I’m usually there anyway.”

  “Offices?” Artie asked.

  “Yea, where we work and hold meetings and stuff.”

  “What kind of meetings?”

  “I don’t know, a board meeting every two weeks, but there’s always some meeting to coordinate with someone you’re working with.”

  “What kind of work do you do?”

  “Coordinate projects and some design work, and help others with their projects,” Catie said.

  “What company lets a kid do design work for them?”

  “MacKenzie Discoveries,” Catie said.

  “Oh my god, you’re that Catie McCormack,” Artie gasped.

  “That’s my name. What’s the matter, did someone say something bad about me?”

  “No, no, but you’re like famous.”

  “If I am, it didn’t help me get out of this party,” Catie said.

  “Wait until I tell my sister that I met you,” Artie said.

  “Why would she care?”

  “She thinks you’re a goddess,” Artie said.

  “How old is she, like seven,” Catie said with a shake of her head.

  “No, she’s sixteen,” Artie said. “She wants to be a pilot like you.”

  “She’s old enough to get a license,” Catie said. “I’m sure she can find someone to give her lessons. Is she going to school here too?”


  “Oh, she’s supposed to start college this year,” Artie said. “Mom’s trying to get her to go to the University of Auckland or Australia National University. That way, she would be closer to visit.”

  “With the new Lynx we have, you can get there in about half an hour,” Catie said. “We have permission to fly to Australia and New Zealand.”

  “Wow, wait ‘til I tell my sister that. She’d be able to come home on the weekend. Are you guys going to run a regular service?”

  “To Auckland for sure,” Catie said. “Probably to Sydney and Wellington too, but I’m not sure about Canberra. So, your sister skipped a few grades?”

  “We both did,” Artie said. “I’m in the same class as David, but he and all the kids ignore me because I’m so young.”

  “I had the same problem, that’s why I like homeschooling,” Catie said.

  “So, what grade are you in?”

  “It depends on the class,” Catie said. “Another reason I like homeschooling. I’m starting college-level math and science, twelfth grade English, history, and social sciences.”

  “That does sound cool. Do you mind if I tell my parents about you?”

  “Why would I care? Tell them you can use ADI as your coach like I do. They’ll know who she is.”

  “The movie starts in three minutes,” Sophia announced. “Popcorn is ready, and candy is now out on the counter if you want any.” Mrs. Michaels had kept the candy hidden away until the move was ready to ensure there would be some left.

  Catie looked at her comm for the time, surprised to see it was seven minutes to eight. “Great, just three more hours to go,” Catie mumbled.

  Artie laughed, “Do you want to sit together during the movie? I can fill you in on anything you might not know.”

  “Sure,” Catie said.

  Chapter 23

  What Do We Know?

  “Okay, everybody’s had a week to think about options, let’s have them,” Marc said as the admiral and the members of the board settled down at the table.

  “We now know the carriers that are involved in the exercise,” Kal said. “They are the Carl Vinson, the Nimitz, and the Theodore Roosevelt.”