by Laer Carroll
"Pause recording," said Huang. "Unsafe for someone to try stopping her? Is that credible?"
The guard commander, who had the two stars of a First Lieutenant on his shoulder tabs and collar, nodded.
"I naturally studied her classified dossier as soon as I was assigned here. In the line of duty she has killed at least a dozen people either with weapons or hand to hand. I've seen a video recording of her attacking three men who kidnapped her with her hands and feet. No movie martial-arts hero could have done better. And then there's that Great Engineer stuff. Who knows what weaponry she's invented and not announced?"
The junior guard from the security room spoke to his commander and to the rest of the room.
"About weapons. The senior night guard had me reviewing the reports of the aircraft who encountered her as she was leaving our airspace. She wanted me to have a summary for this meeting."
Huang said, "Give it, Corporal. Briefly."
"As soon as she was airborne she reported her presence to Huizhou air traffic control and gave a flight plan. Our fighter command diverted a two-ship patrol unit near the Taiwan Strait to double-check the plan. They were unable to get the ship on their radar despite being up above the horizon and observing the target area. They were lucky: they caught a visual of her."
He frowned down at the notes on his slate computer, then looked back up.
"That radar invisibility was not the only odd event. One of the pilots powered up weapons and painted the craft with radar. All his weapons went instantly offline and, the mechanics on the ground report from remote diagnostics, are completely destroyed."
He frowned down at his notes again. "As in totally gone. As if they were never there."
"Anything else, Corporal?" said the Major.
"Not in my report. But I have a question. What do we tell anyone who asks how the Captain got aboard the plane? To me it looked as if she flew."
"You can say you don't know how. Tell them to ask the Captain when she returns."
Wang said, "I'm going to say I think its one of her inventions. I think she rappelled. I THINK I saw a line connecting her to the plane."
Cook grinned. "I'll tell them it was magic. What do you expect of the Dragon?"
The Major said to Wang, "Play the rest."
The intelligence agent pushed a virtual button on his phone.
"I left a day early for my vacation, Sir. I'm extending it to two weeks. But I will return. I have Princess IV to build.
"When I leave Los Angeles I will text you. You can have police arrest me when I arrive for disobeying the Committee. But you might consider a celebration instead. Arresting me will cause so much trouble."
The General had told Jane he was sure she had the best interests of the Glorious Republic at heart, that her work spoke for itself, and to have a good trip.
The recording ended. The General addressed the Major.
"I suggest you treat the absence of Captain Kuznetsov as expected and go about your business as usual. Send me a report on her leaving with very little detail. When she returns--if she returns--we can deal with matters at that time.
"You have my every confidence, Major. Now Good night."
The room was silent for nearly a minute as everyone digested the phone call and what it meant. Then the Cook asked for permission to leave to get breakfast ready.
The base commander nodded to the Bear and the woman left. Then she addressed the guard captain.
"It was good of you to spring an emergency-response drill for tonight. Our people have become a little lax about their military duties lately. Have a good day."
The two guards stood, exchanged salutes with the Major, and left on the heels of the cook.
"Lieutenant Wang. Prepare your daily report to the General. Say only that the Captain left at an early hour to avoid a weather system. Mention that she's traveling in the Falcon rather than in a civilian vehicle, but only in passing as a routine matter. Say nothing about her unusual mode of boarding the aircraft. Understood?"
Wang stood, exchanged salutes with the base commander, and left.
The Major swiveled her chair and gazed out at the runways. As she did so the lights illuminating it automatically timed off and left the outsides in near darkness.
She wondered where Jane was and when--if--she would return.
<>
Jane was high above the Pacific Ocean. Ahead of her the sky was showing a touch of gold on the horizon. She was racing to meet the sun.
With Robot she reached out to a communication satellite and made a phone call.
"Mom. I've arriving a day early."
"I'm glad to hear that, dear. Alex, it's Jane! She's arriving a day early!"
"Good," said her father over the phone extension in his home office. "When and where?"
"I'm coming in my new toy, Princess III. So I'll land at Edwards and shelter the craft there. As soon as I get off the phone with you two I'll call Kate and the rest to send Princess, the original Princess, to pick me up. Hmm... Late afternoon is the best I can figure to pull into your driveway."
Her mother said, "Then I'd better get to work. I know that crew of yours. They'll arrive with you and be hungry."
"It's breakfast time for me. We're sixteen hours ahead of you. But I'll have a good appetite. Now, got to make some more calls and then bring this thing down the ground. Love you both."
She hung up to overlapping Goodbyes.
Her call to Natalie went to voice mail. She might be in surgery or with a patient. Jane left an "arriving early" message.
Kate picked up immediately.
"Boss. What's up?"
"Arriving early. Can you drop everything and get yourself and the rest in Princess to Edwards in about an hour? I'm coming in my new toy instead of by an airline."
"We can, in more like an hour and a half."
"No problem. Now got to go. I've got to contact Edwards and get permission to land. I also have to arrange secure hangar space for the craft."
"Getting hangar space is my job. You spend all your time talking to Edwards and getting safely on the ground."
"Thanks, Exec. Over and out."
Kate hung up the phone in the middle of "Over."
The sun was rising over the horizon ahead. The windows of Princess automatically reduced glare. It was still bright in the clear blue sky.
"Edwards Air Traffic Control. This is personal aerospacecraft, a converted Dassault Falcon 9X, tail number B-7033X, out of Guangzhou, China. Captain Jane Kuznetsov commanding, no passengers. Requesting a landing slot at 12:43 pm or later."
"B-7033X, Edwards. Wait five, 7033X. Wait five."
"Edwards, 7033X, waiting."
It was three minutes when Jane got a response.
"B-7033X, Edwards Air Traffic Control. Can you make 12:29?"
"Edwards, 7033. No problem. I've got plenty of reserves on this baby."
"Glad to hear it, Dragon. Welcome home."
Uh, oh. She was going to get SO MUCH RAGGING from every pilot outside China!
<>
==============================================
TO: Lieutenant General Allison Griffin
SUBJ: My arrival
____________________________________________________
Sir. The prodigal daughter is returning home for a couple of weeks. I'll make time at your earliest convenience for a face-to-face briefing. Contact me at this email address at any time, day or night. I have it set to contact me and wake me up if need be. Until then.
==============================================
<>
Phil answered his phone before it could ring more than once.
"Newman."
"Honey, I just landed at Edwards. I'm waiting for an OK to travel to the hangar where I will park this thing."
"Darling. Welcome home."
"I was afraid I was going to miss you."
"No chance. I've had my phone in my hand ever since your mom called me. She did it as soon as she hung up wi
th you."
"Reason million and one of why I love her. How are you?"
"Impatiently waiting my turn. How would you like a limo to pick you up at your home at 10:00? By the time you got to my place I'd be there from the set."
"Limo, Hell. I'm taking my car. And resisting breaking the speed limit getting to you."
"Be late and safe. Much better than the-- Keep your shirt on. I'm coming! God damn it, producers aren't supposed to solve problems! That's the director's fucking job!"
"Bye." But the line was dead.
It sounded as if her honey was in the middle of problems on the latest movie he was financing.
Ah, well. She was home.
<>
The long Thanksgiving weekend she spent time with her three families, as she thought of them.
One was her foster parents and their three biological children. The youngest liked her, the two older accepted her but neither liked nor disliked her.
Natalie was another and her family by marriage. The daughter loved her and Jane returned the feeling. The son was awed by her achievements and even more by the fact that she spent time with him and seemed to enjoy the experience. Natalie's husband accepted her and was friendly but not affectionate.
Phil was the third. On Saturday Jane flew him and herself to the East Coast to spend two days with his daughter and, to a lesser extent, his ex-wife.
Her crew might be called her fourth family. Jane returned to them on Monday and spent the week with them at JPL, catching up with the various projects Kate had taken on while Jane was gone. Her exec had grown in skill and confidence in Jane's absence.
On Saturday Jane met General Griffin at Edwards and they discussed Jane's near future back in China. The woman was getting a lot of pressure to curb Jane and suggested Jane leave that very day before Griffin was forced to act upon the pressure.
At the end of the three hours of discussion Jane made ready to leave. The very last thing she said to the General was that she should see that Kate was promoted to captain and be tasked to take over the JPL job till Jane could return to it--if she did.
At 5:00 Jane boarded Princess III and took off into the hot dry desert air, chasing the sun back to finish the work she'd begun almost a year ago.
Chapter 22 - Finish<
Two hours later she had caught up with the sun and passed it, going from day to night to day again. Thus it was that she passed over Japan at just past 9:00 the next morning.
She called the General.
"Sorry to bother you if you're having a late morning, Sir. I'm coming up on the coast. Where do you want me to land?"
"At your air base. Preparations have been made for your arrival. Welcome home."
"Thank you. I'm glad to be back. I am eager to get to work on China's first true spaceplane."
"Which technically you will own. All the paperwork has been done as you requested."
<>
Coming in from the east and the north Jane passed over the
Northern tip of Japan at 100,000 feet. The space jet engine at this height was decreasing in efficiency but still supplied 99% of the reverse thrust to slow her down from thousands of miles per hour.
By the time she passed the southern tip of Korea and entered the East China Sea she had dropped to 50,000 feet. Now the air jet engines could provide 10% of their thrust at sea level, increasing as the Falcon fell deeper into the atmosphere.
A hundred miles south of Shanghai Jane crossed over into the land area of China. She skimmed down the coast 100 miles inland reducing speed and height all the time. The terrain was hilly and green.
Nearing Huiyang Air Base she swung right to fly almost directly west. This would bring her straight into the runway.
At 5000 feet and 600 miles an hour she could see the two runways on the horizon. She transferred from Huizhou air traffic control to the base's ATC.
"Welcome, Dragon. Come straight in."
"Dragon is it? Very well, Dragon has you in sight and is on track to land straight in."
She touched down sweetly on the wide main runway. A third of the way to the westernmost end she turned right onto a crossing taxiway. It ended in the narrow secondary runway. Only a left turn and a couple of hundred feet further on was the hangar where Princess normally slept. She turned right and entered it and powered Princess down.
Waiting for her as she tramped down the ladder were Major Huang, Jane's personal keeper/spy Lieutenant Wang, the head of security, and the Cook. Several mechanics and technicians were standing behind them waiting to take care of the craft looming over them all.
Jane spoke to the head of the tech group, an older completely bald little man. "Wu! She performed perfectly, thanks to you and your people! Give her a going over and charge her up!"
He bowed to her twice then waited till the important people got out of the way of his job and that of his crew.
Jane walked up to Huang and the others. "How were matters while I was gone? Anything requiring my immediate attention?"
"Nothing, Captain. We're glad to have you home."
Probably they'd worried she'd not return and their jobs would be in danger, Jane guessed.
"Good. Then please have someone take my luggage to my room in the barracks. I want sleep a bit and get my body back on schedule."
The Major said, "You are free to return to your apartment in Huizhou, Captain. Shall we get a driver to take you there?"
"Good to hear. No, have the luggage taken to my car. I'll return to my apartment and meet you all here at 8:00 in the morning."
To Wang, her exec, she said. "Schedule a meeting for 10:00 in the cafeteria. Everyone who's not on duty is to attend."
Jane walked away, toward where several base cars were parked behind the headquarters building. A security guard and one of the mechanics carrying her luggage arrived as she was buckling her seat belt in the vehicle she usually used to travel on the base and nearby. They put her three suitcases in the back seat.
Jane nodded to them and drove away. Twenty minutes later she was in her apartment high above the center of the city and the river which wound through it.
She changed into pajamas and ordered dinner to be sent up--lunch in this time zone. Then she stood looking out at the city as it came more fully awake, the sun climbing in the sky ever closer to the zenith.
Hard to believe, even for her, a space traveler, that back in Pasadena night was just creeping over her family and friends. For a moment her insides hurt as if she'd been stabbed, she missed them so.
The door bell chimed. Her meal had arrived.
<>
There was paperwork to be done the next morning, even though her capable exec had taken care of most of it during her two weeks away. Then it was time for her 10:00 o'clock meeting.
She mounted the foot-high portable dais and adjusted the microphone atop the lectern on the dais.
"Hello, everyone. It's good to be back. Please, sit." She waited for them to do so.
"I hope everyone has drinks or snacks. Or both. And have gone to the bathroom. I wouldn't want my words to be ignored because someone fainted from hunger. Or had to answer an urgent call to nature."
She waited for the chuckles to subside, then pressed a button on her remote control. Behind her a big TV screen lit with an image of an craft flying across a blue sky. It looked like a giant white arrowhead more than anything else.
"This is our next job. This will be a true spaceplane, able to travel to the World Space Station and beyond, even to synchronous orbit. It and its successors will let China take its rightful place among the stars."
She paused to let a round of applause rise, swell, then subside.
"When I was back in the States several people asked me how I could deal with an enemy, give them technology my government forbade them. I have several answers, at least to people who weren't just venting their spleen. All of them are important.
"I see some people recording this on their phones. No, don't stop. I want these words to go everyw
here.
"First, a legal matter. I am NOT giving the Glorious and One True People's Republic forbidden technology. In the last few weeks my representatives, here and in the US, have created a company I wholly own. They have partnered with Chinese aircraft companies to build and maintain spacecraft using technology that I myself created. The partnerships are structured so that China does not have direct access to this tech. But it will have access to the products using it. This is the same tactic which China has used to work with other foreign companies which employ forbidden technology.
"Let me add this. I have made arrangements so that if ANY country tries to use that tech for war there will be severe consequences up to and including fatal ones."
She let that sink in.
She pressed a button on her remote. Behind her the screen showed the decades old photograph of the blue earth just above the grey barren land of the Moon.
"Most of us have seen this photo so often it has lost all its emotional impact. But a little over a year ago I stood on the Moon, and I looked up, and I saw our planet sharp and lovely in the black vastness of space. We who live on Earth, as busy as we are with our daily lives, forget the larger picture. We are on one precious world in a universe which has millions, billions, trillions of other worlds."
Behind her the TV screen showed the Earth shrinking. Under it the surface of the Moon appeared, then rushed away until the two planets disappeared. Mars flashed into the frame then rushed away.
Star-studded blackness reigned for several seconds. Then an image of the Cat's asteroid appeared and steadied in the frame. Several more still images appeared. They showed the "front door" to the first building discovered, the "living room" first seen in the headlamps of a drone, and finally the Cat doll.
"We are not alone. The Cats lived near us 19,000 years ago. Why they did not conquer us or destroy us we do not know. They easily could have the way we can stamp out an ant's nest. They may not exist any more. Perhaps they do exist but have gone on to bigger and better lives, perhaps ascending to god hood. Or they may still be out there.
"And where there was one alien life form, there may be others. Ones which we may meet someday."
She let that sink in, then showed a last image: Saturn seen from just above the plane of the rings. The several rings were in sharp display.