The Flight Part Two©
It had taken up to the holidays to do the build. Then the state offices were closed over the holidays, and eventually it was back to work. One precaution David had taken was to install a surveillance camera in the garage with real-time connection to the internet, so any motion would be recorded and so he could check on it during the day. He didn’t install any sort of alarm system, just a simple camera and electronic box that plugged right into the garage power and phone lines. "A setup like that is less likely to be noticed, if there really are people looking for this," David had said. "And if they really are professionals, then they will be able to get around it just like any other system," Dick had countered.
David called Dick to arrange a follow-up meeting the last week of January. "Sounds good," Dick had said. I’ve finished all my research, and I’ve been practicing on the simulator program on my laptop."
"Me, too," David said. "Be careful not to use anything connected to the internet, just in case," he had warned. "We can’t be too careful. If it turns out we’re just being paranoid, then so be it. This means too much."
That Saturday morning, they met at David’s house. If everything was a ‘go’ then they wanted to have access to the car.
After the usual pleasantries, "Have you driven the car," was the first question Dick asked.
"Twice this week, during daylight. I’ve only used it to run errands. Nothing where it was out of my sight," David replied. "Even with the extra weight of the fusion and antigrav stuff it’s a blast! And I knew it had to be regularly driven to maintain the health of the batteries."
"I guess that’s OK," Dick replied. "If anyone at the levels we suspect is interested in this car, then they would know who we are and where it is being kept anyway."
"Right, and with what I found out, we may or may not need to be paranoid," David said.
"Why is that," Dick asked. "Tell me what you’ve got."
"OK. First, I dug up a pseudo-science article that was recent and dealt with Zero-point energy. Then I sent it to my contacts at NASA and DARPA and elsewhere on the pretense of wanting to write a solid rebuttal. I casually asked them to tell me all the projects they knew of (or had heard rumors of) dealing with advanced energy sources and /or propulsion methods. You were copied on that one.
"Yes, I got it," dick replied.
"Well, that seemed to hit a hot button. I got a lot of responses. It seems nobody likes pseudo-science in our business." David held up a file of e-mail printouts. "After weeding through most of them, I was getting disappointed, though they were interesting," He continued "would you believe NASA has a department whose job it is to research wormholes?"
"Like in star trek?" Dick Responded, surprised.
"It statrted out that way," David replied. "but it seems now they are looking to build something like out of the movie stargate." Anyway, most of them didn’t really relate, but then I ran across one that hit the bulls-eye. Listen to this!"
Dick leaned forward in his chair and put his elbows on the table. David pulled out a printout and began to read.
"This is from a friend from college who went on to get a doctorate at MIT, then went back to NASA, where she had co-oped. They have her tuning spaceship engines and thrusters, and that includes plasma and electric thrusters for satellites, as well as the ion engine used on deep space one, so she’s familiar with advanced propulsion systems and the research into them that goes on in government."
"Hi, Dave," he began. "Been a while. Ever find out what thickness was originally used for the skin on that forward fuselage section? I still think they needed at least 0.050. What you wrote strikes a chord with me. We haven’t ever looked into anti-gravity that I know of, but would you believe wormholes? There’s actually a little known branch of NASA looking into it – who knows what they really do. Waste tax dollars, no doubt. Anyway, fusion power is another story. Of course there are the official projects, but I found out some time ago that they are all based on research done by one man, a Dr. Robert Maloney. Seems he was a research assistant to Einstein, Fremi, and the others during development of the fission bomb. He went on to work with the development of viable fission power plants. After Three Mile Island, though, he devoted his work efforts towards fusion because it was safer. He convinced DARPA to fund his project, and they did for a long time, because it really didn’t cost too much compared to the benefit they stood to gain. That’s where the official facts break down. The only other thing I know was he lost funding and moved to a big ranch that was supposed to be in Oklahoma someplace. The rumor is that he said he was on the verge of a big breakthrough and asked for more funding to build a prototype, but by then oil was cheap again, and people had forgotten about TMI, so it was denied. According to the rumor, he was kept on with DARPA and NASA doing research on other projects, but continued to work on his fusion technology whenever he could. His developments after that point included some propulsion innovations for spacecraft thrusters. We still use those today. The rumor is that at retirement, he had enough cash secreted away to build the prototype on his own. Never heard of him in the news, though, and you’d expect him to be pretty popular if he'd developed something like that."
"That jibes exactly with what I’ve found out," Dick began. "Honest Bob gave me directions to the ranch, and it is still for sale. On the pretense of considering purchasing it, I asked around at the sales office. Seems it was from the estate of one Robert Maloney, who died unexpectedly a short time ago. I also checked with the coroner’s office. They said Maloney died of a heart attack, nothing unusual, though I know there are drugs that can initiate a heart attack and leave no trace. But they did at least check for small puncture wounds, and found nothing. According to the courthouse records, he bought the property back in 1980. In 1982 he added one improvement to the property – a large barn."
"A barn?" David interrupted. "A retired scientist who wants to develop antigravity propulsion powered by fusion builds a barn when he has a perfectly good workshop space in his garage? That makes no sense."
"That’s what I thought, too," Dick said. "So I checked with the neighbors. They said he did it himself, and seemed to do a good job, but that they really didn’t see the need, either. Then one of them mentioned that he remembered an awful lot of dirt being excavated for that barn. Thought he was putting in a basement or something – quite unusual for a barn, and even more unusual for Oklahoma."
"We need to see inside that barn," David said with conviction, "but let’s put that on the back burner. So far, it looks like this is all genuine, and that no one knew the good professor was working on a mad scientist project. Though I do admit that it could have been covered up."
"Yes," Dick responded, shifting back n his chair, "but if there is some sort of conspiracy, then they surely would have made off with any suspicious electronics, even if they didn’t know what they were. After all, it’s not that difficult to break into the luggage compartment of a Fiero. They have contests for how fast you can do that right next to the folks that race to take the engine out of a VW bug."
"Right," David replied. "So let’s approach it from that angle, but cautiously, for now. That means no one is looking for it, and that we can ‘experiment’ freely."
"So let’s go!" Dick said.
They walked out to the garage, and opened the door. The EV already seemed to be eager to fly – it already had that capability on the road.
When they were safely belted in, Dick fired up the computer, while David fired up the electric drive.
"Did you find the checklist in there with the help files?" David asked.
"Yep. I’m pulling it up now," Dick replied.
"Electric drive system" Dick read.
"Engaged" David Replied.
"Batteries"
"fully charged"
"Engaging reactor startup routine – watch the ammeter," Dick said.
David’s eyes were glued on the ammeter while Dick engaged the software controls that allowed a startup of the reactor.
"We’ve got a small drain," David said. "Now a larger drain – 200 amps, seems to be steady. Wait, here’s a surge. 800 amps. 900. 950 and it seems to be peaking. Dropping off now, 700, 500, 300, now down to standby levels. Wait, now its…reversing?"
"That’s it! That’s it!" Dick cheered. "The reactor’s working! It’s producing power and recharging the batteries!"
"So, how much power can this little unit produce, anyway?" David asked.
"It should be around 50 kW," Dick replied.
"Well, let’s not just sit here, let’s test it out." David said. We’ll go with our original plans. No one is at work today, so we’ll go to my office. The big parking lot and remote location are perfect to initially test the flight system. If we stay close to the ground, we’ll even look somewhat normal."
"OK," Dick replied. I’m anxious to monitor the reactor under load."
They proceeded on the same route they had taken previously, up highway 169 to 86th st. north, and over to Whirlpool drive, to the deserted parking lot of the large aerospace manufacturer. This drive was taken at a more sedate 75 MPH tops, and without leaving 3rd gear. They parked in the middle of the lot with the systems running.
"How’d we do?" David asked.
"Not bad at all," Dick replied. "The software lets the batteries cycle to about 30% discharge before filling them up, but comes on line in a ‘helper’ mode when the current draw exceeds 500 amps. It’s a really good complement to the system, and I can imagine how it would limit voltage sag in a drag race. Something like this might get that little white datsun into the 10’s."
Dick was referring to the current top NEDRA record holding vehicle, out of Portland.
"Heh. If we wanted to, we could probably beat him without the reactor." David replied. "OK, what’s the next step?"
"All systems check out. Are you ready?" Dick asked.
"Ready and eager," David replied. He deployed one joystick from the console, and another from the armrest. "The left is for translation, the right for rotation, correct?"
"Right," dick replied. "and the flight instruments are all integrated where the engine instrumentation was, so you can see the basics, as well as the GPS data, correct?"
"Right," David said. "Engaging anti-gravity system!"
David applied a bit of upwards force to the left joystick. The car shuddered a bit, but did not lift off the ground. He applied more force, and the car creaked as it adjusted itself.
"Nothing seems to be happening," Dick said. "Try it again."
David applied more force. The car seemed to shudder again, then it felt silky smooth, like they were resting on air.
"Doesn’t seem like anything is happening," David said. "Want me to try more?
"I wonder if that noise was the suspension," Dick said, and leaned out the open window.
"Holy Cats!" He shouted. "We’re a foot off the ground and still rising! I didn’t even feel it! Try some translation!"
David applied some forward translation. The car slowly and gently glided forward.
"What kind of amps are we pulling?" Dick asked ecstatically.
"Only about 20," David answered.
He proceeded to practice gliding all over the immense parking lot like a skater in an empty ice rink, complete with pirouettes and spinning glides. By the end, David was able to glide the Fiero over the lot at will. They ascended up to a yard at times, but never went any higher, in order to avoid suspicion.
While David practiced flying, Dick worked with the field projection controls. At one point, he had David hover motionless, and piloted the car around the lot himself, by manipulating the electromagnetic shields and repelling or attracting the various light poles and the building.
On the drive back to David’s house, the question came up as to what to do with all of the discoveries they had made, and how to introduce it to the world.
"I think that decision is made for us," David shouted in alarm. "Look up ahead!"
Just ahead, a dump truck had entered the traffic flow immediately in front of a gasoline tanker with only a couple of feet to spare, forcing the tanker to swerve. He struggled with control, weaving back and forth a few times, trying desperately to keep the tanker from tipping. On one of the swerves, he collided rather hard with the offending dump truck, forcing him to overcompensate and begin to flip over, blocking the highway.
David had begun braking already, but they both knew that while a collision with the dump truck might be avoided, that wouldn’t matter if the tanker exploded. David already had the flight controls in hand. "Use the field emitters in forcefield mode!" He said. "Try to make a bubble around the tanker!" Dick valiantly worked the controls.
The little car leapt into the air, leapfrogging over the overpass, and startling a few vehicles bound for the nearby zoo in the process. Once past the overpass, they saw the tanker sliding on its already heavily damaged side. There was already a trail of spilled fuel. At the first spark, it’d be all over.
David turned to Dick "Can you enclose the tank, or should I make a run for it?" He demanded.
"We’re protected. Just hover over it," Dick responded.
Against all logic, David hovered over the tanker, moving with it as it hit the road on it’s side. The expected explosion and fire came, but only took up a hemispherical volume encompassing the trailer, and produced only a dull thud. The ‘bubble’ persisted until the fire was extinguished.
"We did it!" Dick shouted with glee.
"Not so fast," David responded. There are already onlookers, and I see the police coming. The fire is out and the tanker driver is in the clear. Can you operate that cloak you said should be possible?"
"Shouldn’t be a problem," Dick replied. "I've been practicing."
"Get on it," David said. "Or there are going to be a lot of questions asked that we aren’t ready to answer."
"In the meantime, how about getting us outta here!" Dick responded.
"Already working on it," David said.
The little car swooped away quickly, flying at an angle to the grid pattern of streets to make it difficult to follow them. David headed in the opposite direction from where he wanted to go. Instead of south Tulsa, he headed Northeast, towards Claremore. As they crossed highway 20, he glanced at the ammeter.
"Looks like the reactor is performing as advertised. We’re maintaining 30% depth of discharge or less. Small comfort unless we can lay low pretty quickly, though."
"Already taken car of," Dick replied. According to the readouts, we’ve been invisible to radar and even the human eye for the last minute."
"Really? Let’s land for a minute and check," David said. "You can’t tell from inside the car. Everything here looks the same."
They floated to a landing in the strange compound just past Keetonville hill. David hopped out to check, and the car immediately seemed to disappear except for what seemed to be a gaping hole in the air, with the inside of a car visible inside. The interior was visible through Dick’s open window, though.
"Looking good, Dick," David said. "But roll up your window so the field is continuous over the surface of the car, and let’s skedaddle back to my house."
They ascended just in time to see a highway patrol car rush past on the highway. Was he looking for them?
"I wonder of they want to thank us or arrest us," Dick wondered out loud.
"Probably both," David said. "They’d have no ground to hold us, after all we did stop and render aid, but if they found us, we’d never see the car or the technology again, and I’m afraid nobody ever would."
"Agreed," Dick said. "As successful as this little test was, we need to keep this under wraps until we discover how to introduce it to the world."
The flight back was uneventful. The car was piloted into the garage and was only uncloaked once it was inside. It was then left for the reactor to recharge the batteries and automatically shut down. They turned on the news first thing upon arriving, just in time to hear the news anchor saying "tragedy was narrowly averted earlier today, as a tanker truck filled with gasoline overturned and nearly exploded, but for the timely intervention of an unusual looking aircraft. Eyewitnesses say that a car that was only a short distance behind the wreck as it occurred took to the air and projected some sort of force field around the tanker until the flames were snuffed out. Authorities downplayed it, suggesting that the aircraft was probably a passing military helicopter, and a fire retardant chemical was used. They cautioned witnesses not to jump to conclusions, as the incident happened in a matter of seconds, and details could easily be confused. Authorities continue to search for the aircraft, which left towards Claremore after the incident. The National Guard officially denies any involvement…"
"Phew!" David sighed in relief. "Guess it worked."
"Yeah, too close!" Dick remarked. But now that we know it all works, what do we do with it, and how? That’ll need to be answered before we take this car out again without the cloak on. It’s too distinctive!"
"Really. How many fieros can there be in Oklahoma, anyway?" David replied. "There can’t be enough for us to blend in, that’s for sure."
"One thing is for sure, though," Dick replied. "If anyone is watching for this car, they’ll come out of the woodwork now. We have to be extra watchful."
Dick left to return to Stillwater shortly thereafter. Neither would forget the harrowing events of the day, but they could not help but wonder if this was only the beginning.
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