by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Rory immediately tried to contact Grady, but Taffy took the call, “Hi, Rory. What’s going on?”
“Two armored guards just showed up at the academy to arrest Candy. RJ got involved and now both of them have been arrested and taken to the science center.”
“WHAT!!”
“The Colonel in command said that Dr. Jansky ordered Candy brought to the science center.”
“GRADY! GET OUT OF THE SHOWER AND GET IN HERE NOW!!”
Rory quickly said, “Abby and I are going to the science center to see what’s going on.”
The display went dark and Taffy threw a jumpsuit toward Grady, “PUT THAT ON!”
“What’s going on?”
“Taffy and RJ were just arrested at the Academy. They’ve been taken to the science center and we’re going to find out why!”
Grady quickly dressed as he followed Taffy to the roof of their house. He lifted his communicator and pressed Noel’s number. It beeped continuously and then he pressed another number. Amie Hessler appeared, and he ordered, “Put me in contact with Dr. Jansky now!”
“Grady, Dr. Jansky has ordered that he and Dr. Goldman are not to be disturbed by anyone. I cannot disturb them at the moment.”
“HESSIE, I’M ORDERING YOU TO INTERRUPT THEM AND PUT THEM ON MY COMMUNICATOR!!”
“Grady, I am a civilian and you can’t order me to do anything; only Noel can do that. They’ve been up all night working on something and they made it clear no one is to interrupt them!”
Taffy snarled, “To hell with this. Get in the ship!!” Grady ran into the old Rex Rabbit and lifted off the top of his home.
Chapter Two
The Henricks and Dunhans arrived at the science center simultaneously and they exited their ships. Taffy was the first one out and she sprinted away. Grady watched her leave and took two quick strides before stopping and shaking his head. He looked at Rory and Abby as he said, “Forget trying to keep up with her! I gave up on that years ago.” They walked quickly toward the front entrance of the science center as Taffy disappeared through it.
Taffy flew through the front entrance and yelled at the receptionist, “WHERE’S JANSKY’S LAB?!”
“Fifth floor, Mrs. Henricks,” the receptionist answered. Taffy looked at the elevators and saw there was a line at all of them. She turned and sprinted up the moving stairs.
She arrived at the fifth floor and saw Amie Hessler talking with a young man down the hall. She sprinted toward them and Amie looked up and said, “Uh-oh.” Taffy arrived at the lab entrance and started toward the door. Amie said, “Guards, no one enters the lab.”
The two guards standing on each side of the entrance stepped in front of the door. Taffy turned to them with a snarl, “If you like serving in the military, you will step aside now!!”
Amie stepped in front of Taffy, “Dr. Jansky has ordered no one to disturb him and I will follow his orders.”
“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER!?!”
Amie’s expression showed her determination, but she backed up slightly as she saw Taffy’s expression, “They’re in the lab, Mrs. Henricks.”
Grady walked up with Abby and Rory and turned to the guards, “You will step aside.”
The guards looked at each other and decided they weren’t about to challenge the supreme military leader of all New Britannia’s forces. They stepped aside but Amie held her position, “I will not allow you to disrupt Noel and Joshua!!”
Taffy reached forward and grabbed Amie by the neck and threw her out of the way. Amie rolled across the floor and came to a stop clutching her neck. The door to the lab opened and Joshua looked at Taffy and then saw Hessy lying on the floor, “What’s going on here?”
Taffy put her face an inch from Joshua’s nose and snarled, “ARE YOU HOLDING MY DAUGHTER IN THERE?!”
Joshua pushed his nose against Taffy’s and said forcefully, “I’m not holding anyone! We send a courier to your residence to explain what’s going on and you come here and assault one of my engineers!!” Taffy glared into Joshua’s eyes and he didn’t flinch. “It’s your fault we were forced to do it this way!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S MY FAULT?!” Taffy snarled. “YOU ARRESTED MY DAUGHTER AT THE ACADEMY!!”
Abby quickly interrupted, “You also took my son into custody.”
Joshua glanced at Abby and responded, “He left us no choice! We were forced to bring him or have the guards subdue him.”
Grady grabbed Taffy by the shoulders and pulled her away from Joshua. Taffy raised her arms in protest and Grady said, “Don’t even think about it, Taffy! Now shut up and pretend you’re listening!!” Taffy’s anger almost got the best of her, but she saw Grady wasn’t kidding. She lowered her arms and stood still fuming. Grady turned to Joshua, “Why did you have Candy arrested?”
“You passed a law that required me to do it!!”
Grady’s eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed, “What are you talking about?”
“Your wife came up with the brilliant idea two years ago that there is a possibility that Earth could possibly find the colonies and use their stealth scouts to listen in on what we’re doing. So, a law was passed in the Colonies and New Britannia that any new technological break through was forbidden to be discussed outside of a shielded facility and anyone aware of the breakthrough would be immediately brought in to be issued orders to not discuss it with anyone!” Joshua paused and looked at Taffy, “You were not exempted from that law! So, we were forced to bring Candy in to issue State Prime Directives that she is forbidden from discussing the new technology she discovered with anyone and that includes you!”
“Why didn’t you release RJ?” Rory asked.
Joshua turned to him, “He’s just as stubborn as you, Rory. When they arrived, I told him he was free to go but he refused to leave Candy. When I asked if she had discussed her school paper with him, he told me she did. I had no choice but to hold him as well and issue Prime Directives to him. This law has been a huge pain in the ass and you have no one to blame for this but yourselves. Work is hard enough without all the regulations and laws you’re saddling us with.”
Taffy listened to the exchange and started to feel her guilt start rising, “You could have let us in the lab to let us know what was going on, Joshua!”
“By law, no one can enter a shielded facility working on new technology without first being approved by the Senior Scientist. You would have received your approvals if you had remained at your residences long enough for the couriers to arrive. Dr. Hessler was following the law when you arrived demanding to enter the lab and didn’t have approval to enter.”
Taffy lowered her head slightly and sighed, before turning to Hessy, “I’m sorry.”
“You are one strong woman, Mrs. Henricks. But I guess I can understand your concern for your daughter.”
Taffy went over and hugged her, “Please forgive me.” Hessy sighed and nodded.
Candy stepped out of the door and rushed over to Taffy. Taffy hugged her tightly and Candy said softly, “I’m sorry about this, Mom.”
“It’s not your fault, honey. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me for being so paranoid.” Taffy turned to Grady, “Perhaps this law should be modified.”
Grady nodded, “It does border on paranoia, Taffy, however, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Grady turned to Joshua, “What’s going on?”
“You’ll have to step in the lab before I can tell you. Hessy, you should join us.” Joshua went into the lab and the others followed him in. Joshua rubbed the back of his neck and blew out a breath, “Noel and I have been working on this since I spoke to Candy last night and we’ve not had any sleep, so forgive me if I leave something out.”
Rory and Taffy turned to Candy and she shrugged, “I called Uncle Joshua last night to ask him some questions about my paper on phase fields; I didn’t have any idea it would lead to this.”
Grady turned to Joshua, “What exactly did my daughter write that caused all this?”
“She asked if a negative phase field could stop a positive phase field from penetrating it.”
Rory raised a shoulder, “Everyone knows the two different charges would cancel each other. What’s so novel about that?”
“I agree, Rory. But then she asked if a blaster beam carried a charge, to which I responded that it carried a positive charge. She followed up that question with asking if a powerful enough negative phase field could stop a blaster beam.”
Rory and Grady stared at Joshua in silence, until Rory asked, “Could it?”
“That’s what Noel and I have been working on all night. It appears it can.”
“What are you saying, Joshua?”
Joshua turned to Rory, “If our experiments are correct, there appears a real possibility of developing a phase field that can stop or deflect blaster beams.”
“But I thought force fields weren’t possible, Joshua,” Abby interjected as she hugged RJ.
“That’s what science has always determined, Abby. Controlling a phase field such that it encloses an object just can’t be done. Remember that phase fields are usually generated by a current running through a wire or conduit. Producing one outside of them hasn’t been possible.”
“Are you saying it is now?”
Joshua turned to Taffy, “We discovered about four in the morning that it might be. We immediately took steps to prevent Candy from turning her paper in and to have her brought here to receive orders to keep her paper secret. I think that brings everyone up to date.”
Grady was shaking his head, “Joshua, I just don’t see any possible way to generate a homogenous phase field.”
“Grady, what do you think our stardrives generate?”
“But…is that a phase field?”
“Yes, it is. It has a neutral charge that removes a ship from the dark energy filling our universe. Once the ship is outside the dark energy around it, it can travel at super-light-speeds.”
“But I understand the stardrive field is extremely weak,” Rory added.
“It is and that’s why it can’t be detected by standard scanners.” Joshua answered. “That’s also why it can be molded to enclose a ship.”
“You’ve lost me, Joshua,” Grady said shaking his head.
“Well, we first looked at what would be required to produce a negative phase field strong enough to stop a Planet Killer’s blaster beam and we quickly determined that wasn’t going to happen,” Joshua replied. “But Noel asked a question that started us on another path.”
Noel shrugged, “I asked if negative and positive phase fields had similar properties to a magnetic field.” Grady and Rory stared at Noel and blinked. “What do we know about magnetic fields, Grady?” Noel asked.
“They are some of the most powerful fields in the universe. Magnetars have magnetic fields that are more powerful than any recorded and that includes black holes. However, how does that apply to this?”
Noel smiled, “Opposite charges…”
“Attract!” Grady replied.
“And like charges?”
“Repel!” Grady answered.
“We started looking at how powerful a positive phase field would have to be to deflect or stop a powerful blaster beam,” Joshua announced. “It appears they don’t have to be very powerful to deflect a positively charged blaster beam.”
“But that still doesn’t answer how you can get a positive phase field to enclose a warship, Joshua,” Taffy interjected.
“The same way we get the stardrive field to wrap around a warship, Taffy. We use emitters to send the field to each other.”
“And you’ve proven it will work?” Hessy asked.
Joshua smiled, “Come with me.” Everyone followed Joshua to the end of the lab and he powered up a small laser on a heavy-duty metal table. He pointed at the end of a long metal chamber and everyone saw a silver colored ball about two feet in diameter suspended above the floor. Joshua turned to Noel, “Charge the ball.” Noel pushed a switch, and everyone heard a small humming sound. Joshua turned around to them, “That ball has a positive field surrounding it.”
“How powerful is the field?” Taffy asked.
“We’re using a twelve-volt battery to produce the field. This laser is an industrial laser and is quite hot.” Joshua passed out dark goggles to everyone and smiled, “I suggest you put these on. Everyone did, and Joshua pressed the firing stud on the laser. A brilliant beam leapt out of the laser and hit the silver ball dead-center, but the beam was split and went above and below the silver ball. Joshua kept the laser firing and had a running commentary, “The ball’s positive field extends about four feet out from the ball and the laser beam’s positive charge is repelled by it. The laser follows the course of least resistance and goes around the ball.”
Joshua continued firing the laser for a minute and then turned it off. Grady took off his goggles and shook his head, “Joshua, this defies the laws of physics.”
“I would normally agree with you, Grady. But it appears a circular phase field will deflect a similarly charged field hitting it. We’ve never been able to do this because we’ve never been able to produce a homogeneous positive phase field. We all assumed it couldn’t be done. Candy’s questions started me thinking about it and this is what came out of those questions.”
“But that beam should have just blown through it!” Grady replied.
“If the laser was less powerful, it would have hit the ball, Grady. The more powerful the beam, the more deflection takes place.” Joshua paused and then added. “Imagine a high-powered rifle bullet hitting a pool of water; the faster it’s moving the more it ricochets off the water.”
“That’s not really a force field, Joshua.” Everyone turned to Taffy and she blew out a breath before continuing, “It won’t stop missiles or other solid objects.”
Joshua smiled, “You’re right. But it will stop powerful blaster beams.”
Grady was shaking his head and Joshua turned to him, “There is a limitation on how this technology can be used, Grady.”
“What do you mean?” Grady asked as his brow furrowed.
“It won’t work on a large scale. New Britannia’s warships and the Colony Carriers are too large for this to function.”
“Then what good is it?” Rory asked.
“The Garrion Fighters are a perfect size to incorporate this technology. This gives them a chance to survive inside a huge enemy formation,” Noel announced.
“What about the Super Rabbits?” Taffy asked.
Joshua and Noel turned to her. “We can coat the rabbits and with this new field, they can be our scouts inside our enemies’ territory,” Taffy explained.
Hessy shook her head, “If you put emitters on the hulls of the rabbits and Garrions, they will lose their stealth properties.”
“Not if we have the robots inside the ships producing the field, Hessy.” Joshua replied.
Hessy’s head went back, “Is that possible?”
Noel nodded, “Yes. One will be at the front of the ship and the other at the back. They’ll connect and produce the field inside the ship and it will extend outside the hull. It won’t be used under normal circumstances and would only be activated under combat conditions.”
• • •
Candy and RJ were sitting in chairs listening to them discuss the new technology and Candy turned to RJ, “Thank you for coming with me.”
“I wasn’t going to allow them to take you without me, Candy.”
“Why?”
RJ shrugged, “We’ve been friends since the day I was born. One of my first memories was you looking down in my crib laughing. You’ve always been a part of my life, Candy. I would never allow you to be harmed if I can prevent it.”
“What could you have done against those guards? I can take you in a fight.”
“That was true at one time, Candy. But things change.”
Candy smiled, “Ooooh? Is that so?”
RJ sighed, “Candy, I’ve been working wit
h Captain Lu on my combat skills since I was ten years old. He stopped training me when I was fifteen saying there was nothing more that he could teach me. I could have taken out those guards before they could react.”
Candy stared at RJ and blinked, “You’ve never told me about that.”
“I asked you if you wanted to join me in physical training and you turned me down.”
“But you didn’t tell me it was hand-to-hand combat training.”
“You were too busy being a social butterfly at the time to even ask about it. I don’t need as much social time as you.”
Candy stared into RJ’s eyes and sighed, “Thank you, RJ.” RJ nodded and turned back to the meeting.
• • •
“So, how do we put this new technology into the Garrions, Joshua?”
“There’s still some work to be done but we at least know the process will function, Grady. Once we’ve got it perfected, you and Taffy are going to have the robots modified to produce the field.”
“How difficult will that be?” Taffy asked.
“Small emitters will have to be manufactured for them and a change in their software is required.”
Grady looked at Taffy and she shrugged, “It won’t be as hard as you think, Grady. We’ll have the robots modify each other once we’ve sent the new software to them. Since only the Garrions will be using this technology, it can be done within a few months.”
“Taffy, I want Bob and Robby updated with this technology.” Taffy frowned, and Grady added, “We’re still using the Rex Rabbit.”
“I also want our robots modified, Taffy,” Rory interjected. “The Roo Rabbit is still our personal vessel.”
Taffy shrugged, “All of the rabbits will be modified and coated so we can use them as scouts.”
“They’re not fast enough to be used as scouts, Taffy.”
“Grady, all the rabbits need is a two-stage gravity thruster system. That can be done quickly. We need to start taking a look at what’s happening out there in enemy space.”