A Disruptive Invention

A novel by Peter W. Shackle

A Disruptive Invention

Amazon Edition

Copyright 2011 Peter W. Shackle

Amazon Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Fact

Scientists try and explain everything which happens in nature in terms of forces. The gravitational force for example makes an apple fall from a tree. There are three others – the electromagnetic force makes the motor work in your vacuum cleaner and the so called strong force and weak force hold atoms together. For the last thirty years a few physicists have been theorizing that there ought to be a so-called fifth force. This would cause an electric current to repel gravity. The consequences of being able to repulse gravity at will would be civilization shattering. Over and again someone thinks they have found it, yet when the experiments are refined there is nothing there. It has never been found - yet.

Chapter 1

John Sykes’ alarm clock sounded and he slammed it off. He was waiting for it to ring. His face was haggard and drawn. That was one hell of a night, he thought to himself. He staggered slowly down the hallway of his one bedroom studio and winced at the sight of the slender, shirtless figure with bleary eyes and uncombed long hair that he saw in the hall mirror. Moving on to the kitchen he set his electric kettle on to make some coffee.

At that moment the phone rang. “Hello?”

“John, I called you yesterday, why didn’t you call me back?” said his mother.

Twenty eight years old and I’m still getting worried calls from my Mom. I should be grateful. I love her really.

“I was busy Mom, I’m sorry.”

“I’ve been worried about you eating properly.”

“I’m fine Mom. Don’t worry about me”

“Why didn’t you call me yesterday?”

“I was busy Mom. I was doing an experiment here in my apartment and something extraordinary happened. I was lost to my thoughts and couldn’t think of anything else,”

“Did you get those socks which I knitted for you yet?”

“No mom, I’ll tell you the moment that they arrive. Mom- I’ve really got to get ready for work. Let me call you tonight.”

“Well don’t forget I love you Johnny.”

“OK Mom. I love you too! I’ll call you tonight.”

John poured hot water into a cup and mixed in a spoonful of instant coffee. Did I really see what I thought I saw? It should have been impossible. But I saw it twenty times. He gobbled down some cereal and got ready for the day.

As John drove the short two mile commute to Lighting Enterprises, he agonized over the quandary that he was in. It doesn’t make any sense. But if it was real it would change the world. Nobody will believe me. I’ve got to get some help – somebody who is strong technically to collaborate with. But if I tell anyone I’m going to get laughed at. My professional standing will be shot.

“Morning, Heather,” he grunted as he went past reception.

“Hi John,” responded the receptionist with little excitement at the vision of the lanky long haired geek walking by. John threaded his way into the engineering laboratory. It was a cavernous room the size of a small supermarket, with work benches and desks arranged in rows along its length.

“Hi John,” called out a tall young man in blue jeans and a pink polo shirt. “That fix which you suggested for my filament circuit is working like a charm!”

“Morning John!” exclaimed a short man in green jeans and a brown shirt. “I could sure do with some more of your insights into how to get my boost circuit going right – when you have got a moment.”

John felt a warm feeling from the appreciation of his disciples in the engineering lab. Some of the stress feeling from the terrible night before started to fade away.

He came to a bench where a burly young Chinese man, Fred Huang, was working hunched over an oscilloscope with an experimental circuit containing a fluorescent lamp beside it. The oscilloscope looked like a small TV screen with squiggly lines upon it, showing what was going on inside the circuit. The lamp suddenly flashed on brightly and then went out again after less than a second. John slipped off his jacket and threw it over his own bench nearby. “How’s that new ballast circuit going, Fred?”

“Works like shit!” snapped Fred in exasperation. “Every time I power it up, the lamp ignites and runs for a split second and then the whole thing shuts down completely.”

John squinted at the waveforms on Fred’s oscilloscope screen. The tiredness from his rotten night’s sleep made the images blur. “You know, I think you have got the software screwed up. Maybe you should get Judy Chen to check it out.”

Fred looked at John knowingly, “I think you just want a chance to flirt with Judy and ogle her big tits! It seems like every problem I have is always an excuse to call Judy over here so that you can get an eye-full. Her broken English bugs me.”

John bristled, rising to the bait. “In these microprocessor controlled products the software tells the circuit how to behave and controls almost everything. Quite likely if you have it out of adjustment then the operation of the whole thing is wrecked. Look, Judy is down the other end of the lab and she just finished on Henry’s bench. Now is your chance to get her over here to help.”

Fred squirmed at the suggestion that he had messed up, and peevishly threw another barb at John. “Well, how come you know exactly where Judy is in the building and what she is doing?” he said softly. Then he shook his head, acknowledged defeat, and pragmatically yelled out: “Hey Judy – can you help over here for a minute?”

Judy Chen glanced across the big laboratory and a glimmer of understanding flickered momentarily across her flat oriental face. She acknowledged Fred with a peremptory nod and smile.

As she walked down the next aisle between benches carrying a laptop under her arm, she serenely surveyed the rows of benches with development projects like a teacher contemplating the progress of her students. About 5’8’’, she wore a short skirt and a loose fitting safari vest. As she crossed the laboratory, ten pairs of eyes followed her, trying to imagine the curvaceous figure concealed under the baggy safari vest that she habitually wore in order not to get hit upon by amorous young engineers.

She changed course and walked round to where John and Fred were pondering over Fred’s miscreant circuit. “What’s problem?”

“Well, just watch,” responded Fred.

He powered up his circuit. Once again the light came on with a bright flash and then went out.

“OK,” said Judy with a faint smile.

“Let me have talk with her.”

“With her?” queried John. If only she didn’t have a boyfriend.

“Yes –with her,” said Judy in a soft but firm voice. “All these systems are female.”

With that she opened up her laptop, and put it down on Fred’s bench. Then she took a yard long cable that was dangling from the laptop and plugged it into the center of Fred’s circuit.

She punched a few keys and looked at the screen of complicated computer code. “O.K. baby, I understand,” she murmured. She looked up at Fred with a half-smile. “Igniting one of these fluorescent lamps is like girl making out with a boy who gets excited too easily – If the lamp ignites before the filaments are hot, then the inverter has already given everything it has and there is nothing but frustration. What you must do is slow down the initial advance and then things will keep going.”

Damn she’s so smart. Any of the guys would be quoting equations and measuring energy flows, and she can interpret the whole thing in terms of human relationships! John glanced at Fred who was blushing a little.

She typed away at the keyboard. “I’ve slowed down initial turn on and now she’ll be much happier. O.K. baby – everything fine now.” John and Fred looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “Try again now,” she ordered.

Fred toggled the power switch and the lamp attached to his circuit grew brighter and brighter and then stayed on at full brightness.

“There – happiness is long satisfying ignition,” said Judy smugly.

Oh, would I like to ignite with you.

She unplugged her laptop. “Your new software saved on server as file 8-10-10, OK?”

Its now or never, while she is feeling triumphant I’ve got a chance of a sympathetic ear.

“Hey Judy – I need a coffee from the break room – could you spare a few minutes to talk about a problem of mine?” said John hesitantly.

Judy looked at him curiously. After a moment’s reflection she replied, “Sure, I haven’t had my morning tea yet.”

Chapter 2

In the breakroom, staff from all departments were milling around, putting their lunches in the fridge, fixing coffee and tea and generally socializing. Judy put a bag of green tea in a cup of hot water.

Whatever has John come up with now? She thought. They sat down at a side table. They looked an odd pair, John with his round face, long brown hair and ruddy complexion, and Judy with her shapely figure, black hair and infectious smile. None of the staff gave them a second glance because everybody in Lighting Enterprises knew that John was the inventor and the source of the company’s break-out products. They had often seen him with Judy the intuitive interpreter who could write the code to make John’s visions come into reality. When they got together to work good things usually came out of it.

“So what’s problem?” said Judy.

John seemed to be fidgeting awkwardly and kept staring absentmindedly at Judy’s chest.

Come on John, there is nothing to embarrass you. I’m covered up in my lab camouflage. “Did you have a nice weekend?” she said, trying to put John at ease.

John suddenly sucked in his breath and plunged in to what was on his mind. “Last night I was fiddling around in my home laboratory trying to build myself a fancy metal detector - a magnetometer. I had wound wires into a coil about four inches across, in two halves because I did not have a single bobbin big enough to hold all the turns I needed. I simply glued the two coils together so that the total turns were right.” John paused and sipped his coffee, lifting his eyes to look Judy straight in the face. “When I put some battery power to the coil, I felt it twitch in my hand. Now you know that an electrified coil can only move itself in response to something magnetic, like another coil or a piece of iron. But here on my table there was nothing magnetic around and yet the coil twitched.” He gesticulated with his hand to exemplify something moving sharply upwards.

“Acting on a hunch I put it on my kitchen scales. When I turned on the power, the weight changed from 2.5 oz to 2.3 oz. Now, when you join a battery onto a coil like this it produces a magnetic field, which means a region around it which will attract or repel a magnet or a similar coil, depending on which way up they are. I realized then that I had joined the coils up back to back instead of front to back so that they counteracted each other’s magnetic field and produced no magnetic field at all.” As he spoke he moved his hands in the air, first putting the palms together and then putting the palm of one hand against the back of the other.

“So I joined them up normally and then the effect disappeared. I fiddled around for the whole evening doing it over and over again, and I am convinced that it is reproducible. It happens either way up, but not when the coils are on their edge. Do you have any clue what could be going on?”

Oh my god. Nobody has ever seen anything like that before. That’s not in any of the textbooks. Trust John to blunder around half drunk and come up with something that nobody in the world has ever spotted before. “John, I never heard of anything like that. That’s way outside my expertise. Are you sure you not been drinking? Like at that frat party when you were a physics senior and I was a new grad student. I can remember how after you had a few beers you took over a computer and made it burp and swear.

“Do you remember Tony Shepard, the physics teacher? Now he would be a good person to ask – he knew about all kinds of weird stuff. I’ve got his phone number - he and I once went on date when I was a grad student and he was teaching solid state physics classes.”

“I remember Tony Shepard,” groaned John. His face flickered with conflict as he seemed to be thinking over the pros and cons of Professor Tony Shepard.

He’s really good looking. I adored that thick blond hair with the sharply chiseled features and pointy nose. I wouldn’t mind seeing him again now that I’m all alone.

“Let me call him,” said Judy.

She reached into her safari vest and pulled out a cell phone. “Hello Tony? It’s me Judy Chen from your physics class – you remember we saw that art exhibition together? Yes – that’s right. Look I have strangest story here. My friend John Sykes – he was in your physics class too – has done this amazing experiment in which he puts an electric current through a coil and somehow its weight appears to change. It blows my mind away because magnetic coils shouldn’t have anything to do with gravity.” Judy smiled and chuckled at some witty remark that Tony must have made. “Could you come over and look with us and explain what’s going on? … Well could you call me back and we could fix another time? OK – talk to you later.”

Turning to John, she continued: “He has a reception at the house of his department head, Professor Jones, this evening. He is going to check his calendar when he gets back to desk in a few minutes." Judy stared solemnly at John “I guess that’s all I can do for now. We should get back to work.” That’s a pity, I would have liked to have seen Tony again.

John looked crushed. He rested his face in his hands.

Judy sipped her tea and reflected upon the priorities of her job stack. The moment of quiet was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She snatched it from her pocket. “Hello … well tonight would be great – we fix you dinner. John, give me your address.” John scribbled his address on a napkin and slid it over. “It’s at 79 Oakwood Street, right near the campus … say 7? Great. See you then.” Looking at John, she said “It turns out that Tony’s reception is next week. So I have arranged for him to come to your place at 7p.m. tonight.”

“I owe you Judy,” said John. “I can see Miller staring at us from across the lab. He knows my present project doesn’t have any software and thinks we are wasting time.”

“Let’s get back work,” said Judy.

“Yes, before the old curmudgeon starts creating,” said John. “See you around 7 tonight, OK?” Judy nodded and smiled. Whatever is a kermugon?

Chapter 3

On his way home John stopped by Panda Express, the fast food chain, and picked up a small feast for his guests. As he drove home, his mother’s words from his childhood were running through his mind: “Make sure that everybody has plenty to eat and drink! Anticipate their every need so that they feel comfortable in your home!”

When he got home John looked around his apartment. This place looks like shit. It was littered with books on electronics and physics. Stuff was strewn everywhere, perhaps a sign of a creative but disorderly mind. He mentally compared his disorganized apartment with his parent’s neat little farm in the Iowa corn fields. This made his thoughts flash back to the way other children looked at him in school because he could not help getting the top grades in science and math. There was his speech as valedictorian of the school at the school graduation. His first sight of the enormous blue pyramid at Cal State Long Beach where the physics department combined his loves of physics and astronomy. The pain on his parents faces as they took out a mortgage on the farm to pay for his college tuition. As he worked around the apartment, picking up litter and vacuuming the living room floor, John felt an agonizing tension. Suppose I made some mistake in my experiments last night? Suppose there was some amateurish oversight which Tony might ridicule me for? John cringed at imagining Tony pointing out that the whole effect which he had seen was the result of a silly mistake. I’ll have to admit that I did it by joining the coils together wrongly in the first place –that’s bad enough, he thought. Then his fears were heightened a step further: He could humiliate me in front of Judy. The more he agonized over the situation, the more he realized that he had already taken an irrevocable step which was going to affect his professional standing, one way or another, forever. He thought about having a shot of whisky before his guests arrived to calm his nerves. Then he remembered his mother’s warnings that it was rude to start drinking before guests arrived – it was always obvious and looked terrible. He braced himself for a rough evening.

Chapter 4

As Judy drove across town to John’s house, her mind was haunted by the memory of the last time she had been with Tony Sheppard, several years before. Coming as a student from Beijing, Judy had been awestruck at the sight of the blonde hair of Professor Tony Shepard. Back in Beijing, she had mainly only seen pictures of blond haired people and had rarely seen one in real life. For her, standard hair was black, strong and coarse. “My engineering in Beijing has been all down and dirty power transmission,” she had told her counselor. “I need some experimental physics to learn the fundamentals of what is really going on.” Tony Shepard ran the experimental physics lab.

Only days later she was looking uncharacteristically helpless as she stood with Tony in front of a gleaming piece of physics apparatus. “I don’t understand how to put the crystal in this X ray crystal goniometer thing,” she said.

“Let me explain the whole apparatus to you,” started Tony, instinctively smiling as he eyed her bright smile and curvy figure.

Judy artfully got Tony to guide her hands as she learned to operate the apparatus. Somehow her body was snuggled up against his.

“Could I maybe have your phone number in case I have trouble with the write up?” she asked as he finished, dreaming of being able to touch that thick, fine blond hair and run her fingers through it.

As she thumbed through the local paper that night, Judy spotted that there was a special exhibition of classical Chinese paintings on at the Long Beach Museum of Art. Her fingers flew to Tony’s number in her cell phone. “Hey Tony, this is Judy from your physics class. I have just noticed that there is an exhibition of famous Chinese paintings on at the Long Beach Museum of Art. I know about some of the artists. Would you like to share it with me?”

At the other end of the line Tony seemed pretty responsive. “That’s a lovely idea Judy! Let me pick you up at 7p.m. on Saturday and we can go and check it out.”

On Saturday evening Judy was fussing around as seven p.m. approached, brushing her long black hair over and over again. Owning only two sets of clothes, it was not a huge decision deciding what to wear, and she had put on her blue jeans with a red top. What little money she had for clothes came from her evening job as a waitress, which came naturally to her since her mother managed a restaurant. She gathered her hair into a pony tail and tied it with a rubber band at the back. Her room mate Xiaohong watched with a combination of amusement and envy.

The bell rang from the front hall way where Tony had arrived to pick her up. Xiaohong walked uninvited with Judy to the hallway out of curiosity to see what Tony looked like. When she saw him, she said in Mandarin: “I like that beautiful blonde hair!” Judy shook her head dismissively and trotted proudly across to greet Tony. She was shocked when he greeted her with “Ni Hao,” the Mandarin greeting meaning “Hello.” She was embarrassed in case he had understood Xiahong’s remark. “I did not know that you can speak Mandarin,” she said in Chinese.

“I’m sorry, I only know one word of Chinese, and that is “Ni Hao,” said Tony with a grin.

Relieved, Judy accompanied Tony back to his car parked outside the dorm.

While he drove to the art center, Judy chattered on about what they were about to see. “This exhibition all about the works of Qi Bai Shi, the famous Chinese artist. I first learned about him at Beijing tech and I have been taken with his work ever since. I think that his work is the very foundation of contemporary Chinese art. He died back in 1957. It must have cost fortune to rent all these paintings.”

When they arrived, Judy was ecstatic at seeing the painting, “Autumn” showing some brightly colored red fall leaves. Adjacent, was a picture of a classical Chinese house placed spaciously in front of a mountain backdrop. Judy was transported almost into heaven to see it. If truth be known, having been away from her motherland for six months at this stage, she would have gone into ecstasies over almost anything Chinese. She was profoundly home sick, which really did not make her the best romantic company. Tony seemed to have an inkling of what was going on in Judy’s mind. Dutifully and courteously he escorted Judy around the exhibit, and when they came out after a couple of hours he ceremoniously drove her back to the dorm. “I really enjoyed being with you,” he said. “Maybe we can get together again some time?”

“I’d like that,” replied Judy, and as she got out of the car outside the dorm she pecked him on the cheek, which is what she had gathered from American movies was the appropriate thing to do. I had really meant to see him again, but then Wentao Zhai became head chef at the restaurant. He was so cute. I thought we would share our lives together, until that new bitch came along last month.

Chapter 5

That evening Judy and Tony arrived at John’s place at the same moment. Tony’s eyes lit up at the sight of Judy, and they exchanged a brief hug on the street outside John’s apartment.

As soon as they were inside Judy asked John: “What is curmudgeon?”

Laughing, John replied: “That means a grumpy old fart who spoils all our fun!” He handed everyone a beer and spread out the dishes over his large coffee table in front of his easy chairs.

Tony Shepard was delighted to see his favorite egg rolls. Panda express chicken egg rolls! Man am I hungry. About six feet tall with dramatic blue eyes, he was born in Minneapolis with an English father and a Norwegian mother. Why did I wait so long before seeing Judy again? She’s so smart and so beautiful. She makes every other girl I ever knew look silly by comparison. I can’t stand talking with people who aren’t like me. The trouble is most girls lose interest once they talk to me. I guess that’s why I don’t have a girl friend. She’s different – we can talk technical things together.

“So what were you trying to do with these coils John, when you first noticed this effect?” he inquired.

“I was starting to assemble coils for a magnetometer – I was going to build a little metal detector with some fancy features,” replied John. “I needed to wind one wide coil but I did not have a bobbin wide enough to hold all the turns of wire which were needed. So, instead I wound two coils on the narrow bobbins which I had available and then glued them together.” His face was momentarily pained. “By mistake, I joined up the two coils so that their magnetic fields exactly cancelled each other out, instead of helping each other. All it should have produced was heat. But when I connected it to a battery and put current through those coils, I was sure that I felt the assembly twitch momentarily. I’ll show you after we have finished eating.

“Perhaps, the strangest thing of all is that when you put the assembly on a weighing machine and turn on the power, the weight goes down from 2.5oz to 2.3 oz. If you stand the coil on its side nothing happens, and you get the same result whichever way up the coil is.”

“I’ll bet that the magnetism from those coils is just attracting the steel parts in the weighing machine and causing the dial to move.” proclaimed Tony confidently.

“I don’t think so,” said John. “I checked with a flux meter which measures magnetic field and the coil assembly really was not producing any. In any case, the next thing I did was to reverse the connections so that the two coils aided each other and produced a magnetic field. When they were joined up like this there was absolutely no effect at all.”

Tony was suddenly feeling cynical. The last time I saw John was in the practical physics lab where he had tangled up the cords in an Atwood machine for measuring gravity. I wonder what kind of screw up he has made now? “This is bullshit John!” he exclaimed. “You must have confused something. If there is no magnetic field then there can be no effect. OK, you have my attention, let’s see this experiment work!” This is embarrassing. How can I explain a mistake without hurting his feelings?

The three of them gathered around a side table where John already had the apparatus set up. Tony stood with his arms folded, a figure of cynicism.

With dexterous hands, that had now done this many times before, John put his special coil on the kitchen scales and turned on the power supply connected to the coil. “Look, when I turn on the power the reading on the scales goes down by a fraction of an ounce. Now if I put it on its edge, I can turn the power on and off and nothing happens. Now I put it down the other way up and when I turn on the power the reading on the scales goes down a bit, just like in the first place. If I reverse the electrical connection between the two coils, then nothing happens when I turn the power on and off.”

Tony’s heart pounded. This is impossible. It can’t be happening. “Whoa!” he exclaimed. “That’s not supposed to happen. With two coils joined up to oppose each other all you should get is a bit of heat coming out of them.”

He bent over with his hands on his knees and stared hard at the coils. The hairs on the back of his neck were giving him a creeping sensation. His mind reeled back to a meeting with his Cal State head of department Professor Jones about a year ago. I had made a name for myself with that paper in Physical Review Letters on electron–electron pairing mechanisms already when I was an undergraduate. Just my luck that the schmuck Jones insists on reviewing every paper from the department before it gets submitted. I had been studying electron force fields for five years at that point, and nobody else in physics would have dared cross me. It’s obvious from combining relativity with classical electrodynamics that the fifth force should happen, but that prick Jones blocked it.

“I can’t let you submit this paper, Tony,” Professor Jones had announced somberly. “I agree that all your equations are impeccable, but your own references show clearly that nobody has ever found a trace of the fifth force that could be measured reproducibly. In the face of this experimental situation, you will have our department being laughed at if this paper is released.”

“I think the experimentalists have all been doing something wrong,” argued Tony “The reasoning is infallible – it must exist.”

“Tony –I am sorry but the answer is no! I cannot give you permission to publish this. Why don’t you go and do some more work on the robust electron-electron pairing mechanism? That is what made your reputation in the first place and there is plenty more work to be done in that field.”

“I will think about it,” frowned Tony as he left his boss’s office. He never did publish that work, and he still felt the pain of injured pride as he thought about it now.

“Have you ever heard of the fifth force?” he asked John and Judy.

They looked blankly at him. Tony continued, thinking back to his controversial paper.

“It’s an interaction that has been hypothesized to happen between moving electrons, in other words an electric current, and gravity. For about thirty years now theorists including me have been pointing out that to be consistent with the rest of physics this repulsion ought to exist. People have looked many times, but even though they saw small effects, whenever the experiments were refined, the effects vanished.

“I am wondering whether what you are seeing here is a manifestation of the fifth force. I suspect that everybody else has been looking for it in the wrong way. What you have done here is completely the opposite of what every engineer or physicist has done for the last 150 years. What everybody else in the world has done is to wind coils so as to maximize the magnetic field produced. You have done the opposite- by mistake you have made a coil which produces no magnetic field at all. In conventional theory it should merely produce heat and nothing else.”

Judy had been quiet through all of this, but now she was struck with enthusiasm.

“It sounds to me you are saying that by completely cancelling out the magnetic field, John is allowing fifth force revealed,” she said out of sheer intuition.

“Yes, that fits in, that’s it!” said Tony. “I have an insight. If all it takes is to cancel out the magnetic field, then if we do it more effectively the result of it will be enhanced. Do you have any Litz wire around?”

“Sure, I was going to use some 12 strand wire for my magnetometer project.” said John.

Tony furrowed his brow, looking intense. “If Judy’s intuition about the fifth force is true, then the more you cancel out the magnetic field the better it will work. You could make the current go back and forth inside a length of Litz wire – up one strand, then down the next, so that all the way along the magnetic fields are exactly cancelled out.

“You could join together adjacent strands at each end so that electric current would go from one end to the other and then straight back so that all the magnetic fields were exactly cancelled out. With 12 strand Litz wire you could have six to and fro conductors. Then you wind a coil with this special wire so that when you pass current through the windings it goes round and round to the inside, and back, six times over, with all the magnetic fields being exactly cancelled out all the way through.”

John’s face lit up. “Maybe you could have a drink and watch some TV for half an hour. I think I can put that together with the stuff I’ve got here.”

“OK” said Judy, “I can handle that.” She stretched out on the couch and made herself comfortable in front of the TV. Tony settled into a lazy boy recliner. “How about the news?” she asked Tony.

In the course of half an hour’s fiddling John assembled a coil the way Tony had imagined with every element of wire having an adjacent piece carrying the same electric current in the opposite direction. If Tony’s idea was right there should be no magnetic field regardless of how much electric current went through it.

Finally John announced: “We’re ready to rock and roll!”

The other two leapt from their seats and lined up beside the table.

Just as before, John put the coil flat on the weighing machine, and set about joining the wires to the DC power supply which he was using instead of a battery. Turning to Tony and Judy, he said: “Ready?”

“Go for it!” said Tony. John joined up the wires. Instantly the coil lifted up one side off the scale pan and set itself nearly on its edge, tilting just a few degrees to one side.

Tony felt a chill run through his body. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed. This feels like a scene from a paranormal movie. John was trembling slightly, Judy looked dumfounded.

Tony felt the hairs rising on the back of his neck. This must be what the fifth force looks like – no wonder that nobody has recognized it before.

“Please tell me what going on,” pleaded Judy.

Tony became very serious. His pulse was racing now, because he recognized that this could be a pivotal moment in human civilization. Now I am going to be able to show Professor Jones who really understands physics!

“It’s like this,” blurted out Tony – his mind was churning furiously now as he thought out the ramifications of what he had just seen and the inevitable conclusions that followed. “The fifth force happens when an electric current is moving in a gravitational field. It is repulsion, and depending on the current it is supposed to be very strong. What Judy’s intuition is telling us is that when the electric currents are allowed to interact with each other to make what people call a magnetic field, then the repulsion of the fifth force is cancelled out. What we know as a magnetic field is the cancellation of the fifth force.

“The more magnetic field the currents are allowed to produce, the more exactly the fifth force is cancelled out. Throughout all of technology history people have been winding coils so as to enhance the magnetic field as much as possible. John has just done the exact, perfect opposite of what everybody else has tried to do – by mistake he has made a coil which produces no magnetic field at all.

“The fifth force repulsion that is produced depends on the orientation of the coil with respect to the gravitational field. When the coil is turned sideways, there is no gravitational field going through the coil and so there is no net force. So the sideways position which the coil is in right now represents a minimum energy configuration. It cannot get completely up onto its edge because as it approaches the vertical position the force fades away. Any physical system will naturally move to its lowest energy configuration. We already did the experiment in which we turned the coil upside down and the effect still happened. So that means that we can use alternating mains current instead of DC to power the coil and it will still work just the same.

“Look, there is another crucial experiment which we have to do. Tie that coil down to the weighing machine with scotch tape so that it can’t rotate. That way we can get a calibration reading of how much anti-gravitational force it is producing.”

John nodded, and without a word he turned off the power to the coil so that it flopped down and then placed it in the center of the pan of the weighing machine. He looked pensive and preoccupied. Tony saw a momentary shudder run through John’s body. John went across the room and came back with a spool of scotch tape. He carefully taped under the pan and across the coil so that it was pinned firmly to the weighing machine.

He turned the power back on to the coil, and the dial of the weighing machine slammed down from 2.5 ounces to BELOW the zero point. The three of them stood staring, stunned at what they had just seen.

Tony spoke slowly, deliberately, almost like he was sleep talking: “That coil can stand a lot more power than you are putting into it for a few seconds, before it gets too hot and melts. Just for a few moments, turn the power right up.”

John obediently twisted the knob on the power supply, and the entire weighing machine with the coil attached, lifted up off the table. He quickly backed off on the control knob and it fell down again with a thump.

Tony stood there looking dazed. Either I’m going to become famous like Einstein or I’m going to be exiled from the scientific community like Pons and Fleischman, and I have no clue which. He felt that his career had just become like a space shuttle five seconds after ignition – it could either go into orbit or blow up, but nothing in between was possible.

Judy exclaimed “Guys – this is cause for celebration. We can found a company to exploit this and become rich. I’ll zip down to Ralphs supermarket and get a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.”

Chapter 6

The next evening the three met at Tony’s apartment. Here the furnishings were neat and modernistic, in dramatic contrast with the jumble of stuff in John’s place. John, Judy and Tony sat around a low coffee table, each cradling a glass of red wine.

“There is a good chance that this effect could justify venture capital financing to start up a new company,” said John. “Then I would not have to be pushed around by Miller anymore!”

“If we start a company then when it goes public we would all get rich – I would never have to worry about money again,” mused Judy.

“If I can analyze what is going on here then I’ll become famous and get a Nobel prize in physics,” said Tony. “I propose a toast – to freedom, riches and fame!” The three clinked glasses together and reflectively sipped their wine.

“If we did that then we would all have to give up our jobs – and it would be hard to get new jobs if things didn’t work out,” said John. “If you stop and think about it even for a moment, we might be able to make aircraft without wings, helicopters without rotors and even space ships using the fifth force. Maybe once we have gone a bit further it could be an easy decision to give up our jobs. But I am frightened at the thought of what effect this could have on the world as we know it. Everything from elevators to airplanes to satellites could change – this could be very disruptive to our civilization. I can’t think if things would be better or worse, but they would sure be different.”

“If you earned as little as a university teacher, then giving up your job would be an easier decision!” responded Tony. “I’ve given this phenomenon a heck of a lot of thought since last night, and I’ve come to a few conclusions. To go to the next step we need to at least make the drive current ac, so that we can control the thing easily. I think it needs to be driven by a constant current, and I’ll explain why in a minute.”

John interrupted: “We use ac constant current circuits for most of the electronic ballast circuits that I work with. It’s easy; you just use a big inductor or capacitor to limit the current and then vary the frequency to adjust the current. You can control the frequency with a microprocessor, so that you can make it respond in smart ways if you want to.”

“Sounds familiar to me.” said Judy, with a smile.

“Well,” Said Tony, “Left to itself, one of those coils will just tip over into a vertical position like we saw. So we have got to find a way to stabilize them in a horizontal plane. If we have four of them, placed at the corners of a square say, then if the thing starts to tip over then we can sense it and adjust the power to the corners to straighten it up again.”

“I’ve got an idea,” said John. “We could use two of those miniature gyroscopes like they have in cameras and binoculars, one sensing an X axis and one a Y axis, and simply feed back the signal so that the power was adjusted to keep the thing level. You can buy a complete gyroscope in a tiny integrated circuit package. Nowadays all these image stabilized cameras and binoculars are keeping the image steady in just that way.”

“That’s a classic control loop - I know how to program that!’ chipped in Judy.

“My biggest concern is with conservation of energy,” said Tony. “The power has got to come from somewhere and the only possible place is your power supply John. That’s why I want to run these things with a constant current. The power going into it relates to the voltage times the current so if we monitor the voltage across the coil then that gives us a reading on how much power it is taking. We can control the thing by turning the drive current up and down, which Judy can do by programming the frequency.

“ I predict that if we apply just the right current to one of these coils so that it hovers, then we increase the current so that it starts to move upwards, we will see the voltage across the coil increase. In other words it will be sucking energy out of the battery or whatever is running it. Conversely, if we push it downwards, we will see the voltage across the coil decrease in a proportionate way. In my theory, when it is going down rapidly you could even extract power out of it, rather like the regenerative braking in one of those hybrid cars. But I think that is a much more advanced game than we are in right now.”

“This has a lot of implications,” reflected John. “I had been thinking that these things could just float up like a helium balloon, but what you are saying is that it is going to take energy to move it up after all.”

“Right!” replied Tony. “You can’t get something for nothing! Suppose you have a vehicle which weighs say, 2000 pounds, comparable to a small car. I calculated this afternoon that if you had say, a 1 kilowatt power generator or inverter, that’s just over a horsepower, driving the coil, then the 2000 pound vehicle could move upwards at about 11 centimeters per second. That’s not exactly like a rocket; in fact it is much more like a helium balloon. On the other hand some cars have 300 horsepower so if you had a lot of engine in there you could move it around fairly swiftly. I’d been imagining that you could travel to outer space like this, and indeed I think you can, but you sure can’t use an internal combustion engine because there is no air out there to mix with the fuel.

“What we might be able to do would be to use a small fossil fuel engine to get up through the atmosphere. Then unfold a huge solar panel which would power it up from there. It would be smart to have some good sized batteries to tide you over in case you were moving into the shadow of the earth or something.”

“You guys are way ahead of yourselves!” joked Judy. She was trying to be light hearted and merry, but her powerful intuitive powers were ringing alarm bells with the message that the consequences of what they were discussing might be comparable to global warming. “Maybe this Merlot doing something to your brains. We can’t test any of these ideas until we drive coil with constant ac current, and see if voltage really change when it moves, like Tony supposes. How long will it take to build constant current inverter that we control?”

“I think I could just tear apart a self-oscillating electronic ballast and clip capacitors in and out to tweak the frequency,” responded John. We could do it in a primitive way tomorrow night at my place.”

“Just one thing,” worried Judy. “If what we are talking about is even half way true, then this thing worth fortune. The venture capitalists who invested in Lighting Enterprises would kill to get invention like this under their control. Can we all swear to secrecy, please? Nobody except us three know about this! If it really is this easy, then it is incredible, like unbelievable, that nobody has spotted this effect in last hundred years. I’ve still got worried feeling that we are kidding ourselves!”

“Yes, I think we should keep it secret. Secrecy and tomorrow night, my place, eight o’clock,” replied John.

“Secrecy and eight o’clock it is,” chimed in Tony.

As they made their way home that night, each of them wondered about the possibilities of what they had just seen. Maybe it was all just an illusion. Judy wondered if John could have been tricking them. It was good to keep it secret, because absolutely everybody would laugh at the thought that they had stumbled across the fifth force. Any technologist could easily lose credibility by embracing such way out ideas. She had never even heard of the fifth force before yesterday.

Chapter 7

The next evening Tony and Judy drove towards John’s place under the dull grey skies of the “marine layer,” - low clouds produced when the hot air from the California deserts comes in contact with the frigid Pacific Ocean. Locals called it “The June Gloom.” To Tony these dark fast shifting clouds symbolized mystery and uncertainty. The conflict between the hot air of the desert and the cold air of the ocean was in his mind a metaphor for the conflict he felt between the established expectations of the physics community and the theories that he was forming in his mind to explain John’s experiments. The resulting dark clouds symbolized trouble! When they got to John’s place, John had already dismembered an electronic ballast so that its high frequency output current could drive his special coil. Before they got started the three of them shared a Hawaiian pizza and Coke.

John told the others: “I had a terrible dream last night. Vehicles powered by the fifth force were fighting each other. Robbers were using them to drop down from the sky and steal people’s property. It was an awful experience. Every time I woke up, then when I went back to sleep the dream came back.”

“I’ve not been sleeping well, either,” said Tony.

“Nor me’” chimed in Judy.

“Let’s get down to business and see if this thing will tick,” said Tony, trying to seem lighthearted, as he munched on a slice of pizza and washed it down with Coke. Even though he was trying to display the cool demeanor that he thought would be becoming for a physicist, he inwardly felt as excited as a child about to go for a carnival ride.

“The only ballast I could get my hands on was one for driving a regular office light,” remarked John. “I think it should work, I have juiced it up a bit but if I tailor something just for the purpose it might work a whole lot better. I’ve brought home my work scope so we can get a good look at the voltage across the coils and see what is going on.”

John methodically joined the parts together for the now familiar experiment. “We ought to think of a name for these coils,” he remarked.

“How about Warp Drive?” responded Judy instantly. ” I’m a Trekky and to me that’s obvious.”

“Well I disagree,” countered Tony with a smile. He enjoyed trying to make light of the moment even though his fingers were tingling with excitement. “The Star Trek warp drive was a matter-anti-matter reactor. It was supposed to have limitless power. This thing is about as potent as a helium balloon. How about just calling the power units anticoils? To me that symbolizes how they are the antithesis of any coil ever made.”

“OK, anticoils it is,” chimed in the other two, nodding supportively.

John had taken an upright kitchen roll dispenser, and placed the anti-coil over it so that it rested with the pole going through the coil so it was not possible for the coil to tip. Now, it could only move up and down. He connected up the dismembered electronic ballast to the power line through a variable transformer. This allowed him to smoothly adjust the power up and down. He had put in outsize current limiting capacitors so that much larger currents than normal could come out of the output. After joining up the wires, he hooked up his work oscilloscope across the terminals of the anti-coil. This allowed the waveform of the voltage across the coil to be seen as a wide green band going across the screen. With trembling hands he slowly turned up the voltage from the variable transformer. The three of them stared expectantly at the voltage waveform on the scope. A wider band meant more energy going into the coil, and a narrower band meant less energy going in. Eventually the power was sufficient that the anti-coil started to lift itself up the shaft of the kitchen roll dispenser. When it got half way up John grabbed it with his hand. “Now watch the scope!” he instructed the others. “I’m going to push it down now!” As he did so, the wide horizontal line on the scope became less wide for a moment, and then resumed how it was. “Now let’s see what happens when I let it go up,” said John. He let go of the coil and allowed it to start rising slowly up the shaft. As he did so, the green band on the scope became slightly wider.

“That’s just what I predicted!” Tony triumphantly exclaimed. “Your ballast is putting out a constant current, so the voltage across the coil is telling you how much power is going into it. When you are pushing it down the voltage decreases, meaning less power is going into the coil. When you let it rise, the voltage rises, meaning that the coil is sucking more power out of the inverter to provide the energy needed to levitate it.”

“I think I’m a believer!” said John.”How about you two?”

“Me too!” exclaimed Judy.

“And me!” affirmed Tony.

John said: “I’m ready to work towards giving up my job to start a company to make fifth force flying vehicles. Will you two join me?”

“Count me in!” replied Tony.

“And me!” affirmed Judy.

John raised his palm high in the air and high fived Judy and Tony.

“Let’s sit down and talk about this!” said Judy. “We need think about what comes next.”

John babbled out his thoughts in an excited uncontrollable stream: “The next step has to be to build a system that has four anti-coils, one at each corner. Then we’ll need a couple of miniature gyroscopes to sense the orientation, if the thing tips, then it automatically corrects itself. We need to have four inverters, one for each coil, and a microprocessor control system to sense the outputs of the gyroscopes. This will command the output from the inverters. It will need to have a big battery on board to power up the inverters. Let’s write software that will keep the thing horizontal, and control the inverters all together to move it up and down. We can use a model airplane RC system to do that.”

“Not so fast!” interrupted Tony. “For the same current from the inverters, the levitation force will be proportional to the area of the coil – in other words to the square of its diameter. The larger the area of gravitational field contained by the coil, the larger the force. This means that we want the coils to be as big as possible. How about having five coils – a big one going around the whole vehicle for lifting, and then four smaller ones which stop it from tipping over?”

“Now you’re talking,” chimed in John, slapping his left palm against his right fist.

“Do you realize what you describe?” exclaimed Judy. “When I was a child my grandmother had an old book around by a guy named George Adamski. He claimed to have photographed so called flying saucers. They were round vehicles. On the underside there was a ridge or rim right around the edge like the big outer coil you are describing. The underneath was flat except for four round bumps sticking out – the attitude control anti-coils! I remember that there were windows on the top for the pilots to look out of. What you describe will look just like Adamski’s flying saucer!”

“Oh lord!” sighed John. “If people notice that, then nobody will ever take us seriously. Let’s not mention that again, and discourage anybody who gets that idea in their head.”

“We must plan out what do,” said Judy. Money and value were never far from her mind. She continued: “We need to patent all these ideas. We need to raise money and form a company. With a dramatic idea like this we can be very, very rich. I know a guy in Silicon Valley who formed a company to make RFID tags like they use for security in stores. He is millionaire now.”

“How can we ever get the money to do that?” worried John. “I know it costs ten or twelve thousand dollars to get a patent written.”

“We could negotiate with a patent attorney and get him excited so he will work for share of company,” said Judy.

“But we can never get him excited if we don’t have something to show!” replied John.

Tony adopted his lecturing style as he was still trying to be formal and correct even though his body was over and over again getting the creepy feeling that came to him when he came to understand a profound physics theory: “We are using a huge amount of imagination. To us we are already building flying vehicles, but anybody else would see nothing but a coil bouncing up and down on a kitchen roll holder. If we are going to get anywhere we have to build something that would convince anybody.

“Especially a venture capitalist. If all you have is an idea, then they will not assign much value to that and they will own 95% of the company. But if you have something that works a bit already then the risk is taken away and you can end up owning even as much as half the company. So I think that we need to do just what John said – construct a model, just a couple of feet across, which has self contained batteries and inverters, has enough smarts in its software to stay flat, and can be controlled up and down with a model airplane radio control unit. Now that will be a demonstration that will convince a banker to give us money. Then we won’t need to convince a patent attorney because we can just pay him normally.”

“Let’s think about how much will cost,” said Judy.

“A circuit board for the inverters will set us back maybe four hundred dollars,” replied John. “Then all the Litz wire for a two foot diameter anti-coil and four small control anti-coils will probably be at least another two hundred. The parts for the microprocessor, memory, inverters maybe another hundred. Radio control gear about another two hundred. Maybe a hundred for the gyroscopes. By the time you consider a frame to mount it all on – let’s use balsa wood - and glue, fasteners etcetera to hold it altogether then we are talking about roughly a thousand dollars. And it will take a lot of evenings to design all that.”

“And a lot of evenings to write code to make it stay flat and go up and down!” chimed in Judy.

“Let’s have a toast,” said John.

Tony hastily dug out a bottle of Merlot from a cupboard and poured a small drink for each of them. “Here’s to freedom, riches and fame!” The three clinked their glasses together.

As Tony left John’s apartment that evening, he looked up at the moon faintly visible through the fast moving low clouds of the marine layer. He felt alternately excited and fearful, realizing that he was about to give up on his comforting, familiar surroundings and start an adventure into a future as unclear and shifting as the moon he saw through the fast moving low clouds.

Chapter 8

It was a fine fall morning as John, Tony and Judy were loading a big suitcase size box into the back of an SUV at the Hertz depot beside San Jose Airport, California. They had taken a morning flight up from LAX. John was carrying a briefcase containing a business plan. They had appointments to see five venture capital firms that day, all located along Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. John had bought a book entitled “Business Plans for Dummies” which he had with him in the car, and had it on his lap as he sat in the front seat. He had created the name “Electrolev” for the company, symbolizing the association of electronics and levitation. He was planning to ask for $20M, and had worked out a business plan for how they could get to the stage of pilot production for a simple helicopter replacement vehicle. Mentally he had already almost given up on his regular day job. To make the next step towards fulfilling his dreams he had to persuade a venture capitalist to invest the money that would make Electrolev a reality. This could be the day when his dreams were made or broken.

“What’s the first address?” asked Judy, who had taken the driving seat.

“It’s at 2800 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park,” said John in a matter of fact way. Inwardly he was trembling with tension, but he was putting on an outward poise in order to be uplifting to the other two.

Judy punched away at the Never Lost GPS for a minute or so. “There, that should do it.”

I hope nobody at Lighting Enterprises notices both Judy and I being out at the same time, John thought to himself as they drove along. I’ve put so much work into this Electrolev project that I feel more like an Electrolev employee than a Lighting Enterprises person. John visualized himself sitting in an office marked “President” while Judy and Tony had adjacent rooms marked “V. P. of Engineering” and “Chief Technologist” respectively. I feel so out of place wearing this pin stripe suit and with my hair cut short. Still, Tony looks impressive in his pin stripe suit and Judy is really neat in her tan pants suit. It shows her figure much better than that safari vest that she wears around work.

As they drove along John thought back over the events of the last six months. My apartment looks like a cross between a carpentry shop and an engineering laboratory. I’ve never been so short on sleep in my life. Tony has been a stalwart keeping up our spirits and bringing the light of understanding. Judy’s coding of the micro has been incredible. The three of us have been working like one person, doing things that none of us could have done alone. Judy has this unbelievable intuition for how things work. If only I could get through to her on a personal level. She is nice to me, but she always seems to be more attentive around Tony.

“How did we choose this first guy we are going to see?” asked Tony.

“Well, they all say that they fund technology startups,” responded John. “and I think that we are just that. People say that it is a work of art to fit together your ideas with somebody who is interested in financing that kind of technology. So we need to be very patient and not be miffed if they are not impressed. The good news is that every one of our appointments is at addresses on Sand Hill Road. Two of them are at this first address #2800. It must be a great big office block stuffed full of bankers.”

They were soon driving down Sand Hill Road, a wide street flanked by big leafy trees. On either side it was just possible to discern huge office buildings nestled in amongst the trees.

“Last night I looked up this place on the internet,” remarked Tony, trying to make conversation. “The rent for an office here runs over $100 per square foot. Regular offices around Long Beach come for $2.25 a square foot by comparison.” John whistled and Judy said “Whoa!”

“You have arrived at your destination,” announced the NeverLost. Since it had a female voice and it was a Hertz car, they had already named the voice “Hertzel.”

“Thank you Hertzel!” replied Judy in a calm, controlled voice.

They walked in and found their way to the suite of Berrin, Jones and Partners. They had been told to ask for Jim Meeching who was the associate with the job of appraising their business plan. They each carried a brief case, and John and Tony carried the big box between them. Asking for Jim Meeching, they were shown into a small conference room. After a few moments Jim Meeching walked in, introducing himself to them. He handed out business cards, and John immediately felt awkward because he did not have an Electrolev card. To John’s surprise, he did not look like a banker, wearing Dockers slacks and a correspondingly soft green golf shirt. John felt a bit silly since compared to him they were too formally dressed.

“John, I would like you to go over the business plan that you are proposing,” commanded Jim.

John had already opened up his laptop, and he turned it around to show the presentation that he had prepared.

“We have discovered a powerful force of nature that has lain undiscovered for the last 150 years. We have a special way of winding coils that can make them use this force to repel gravity, so that they can act as a levitation unit for an aircraft. These aircraft can be used for almost anything that a helicopter could be used for, except that there are no whirling blades and no noise. We think that it will cost about $5 million to make a first man carrying prototype. We then think that we will use another $15 million to get flight worthiness approvals and construct a small low capacity factory that will be capable of making about one unit per month. We believe that we can sell them for about $6M each, and they are actually quite inexpensive to build, no more than about $1M in parts and labor. They are much simpler than a regular helicopter. …”

Jim interrupted: “Are you trying to tell me that you are planning to build a helicopter without rotors? We are just not into that kind of thing. Our idea of technology is to find a case where some engineers have already developed some new technology like a faster memory, or a brighter LED, and are looking to set out by themselves to found a company to develop it. I am sorry, but I think that I would be wasting your time if we went on any longer. We are really only interested in solid state technology.”

With that he slowly stood up. “I think that we should stop there. I really appreciate you coming here to tell me about your ideas, and with such a dramatic invention I am sure that you will have no trouble in getting the funding for Electrolev.”

Having half expected this reception, the three of them stoically made their way out to a large atrium that was shared by many of the suites in that building. They sat down at a small table with armchairs around it.

“He did not believe, John,” said Judy. “Our next appointment in another suite of this same building, right?” John nodded.

Judy continued: “Well, let’s try and do this one different. Before you say a word about business plan, let’s just open box and operate the model LeviStar right there in the room. That will set the tone for the meeting. After that we won’t have to beg them believe us.”

“Yes, of course!” chimed in Tony.

“Great idea! It seems so obvious now,” exclaimed John. “Our next appointment must be upstairs, it is in suite 324. How about wending our way up there?”

A few moments later they arrived at the reception of Jones, Cohen and Brown. John said to the others: “These folk are supposed to be interested in technology – period. They have two billion dollars under management.” They were once again shown into a small conference room near the reception. Since they were early, because their last interview was so short, they knew they would have time to kill.

“Let’s get ready to do it right,” said Judy. Tony and John started unpacking the box which they carried. Annette consisted of a square of balsa wood struts, about two feet across. A large circular coil took up its entire perimeter. Just inside the outer coil were four orientation coils each about the size of a small tumbler for drinking. They were placed symmetrically. The center was taken up by some kind of power electronics circuit which involved one huge transformer and four smaller ones, plus numerous small capacitors – little postage stamp size film capacitors in abundance, plus at least five large electrolytic capacitors which were the shape and size of a cotton reel. All these were mounted on a greenish colored circuit board. All around it were packed rows and rows of battery cells, little cylinders about the size of a flashlight battery, all standing on end in order to take up less space. Underneath the circuit board were hundreds of tiny little surface mount components, so small that they were almost like texturing on the lower surface.

John and Tony carefully and slowly lifted Annette out of her box and placed her in the center of the conference table. John then retrieved an RC control box with a long antenna, joysticks and levers from the box, and the pair of them carefully stowed the empty box against the side wall of the room.

“Let’s rehearse it,” said Tony. Judy picked up the RC controller, and then flipped a tiny switch on Annette. A couple of red and green LED lights on the circuit board lit up in response.

“Here goes,” said Judy. She gingerly operated the levers and after a moment Annette started lifting up off the table and rising towards the ceiling. Then it changed direction and started descending. It went up, and down.

“I wish that we had time to implement inertial stabilizer loop,” murmured Judy. “We knew that all we could hope for was something that moved up and down, and we need inertial stabilizer implemented to hold still.” Using her delicate feminine touch she coaxed Annette to come to a halt about two feet above the table. “That should convince anybody,” said John. “Put her down and let’s wait.” Judy obligingly landed Annette with a slight thump on the table.

“At least the horizontal stabilization loop is working like treat,” said Judy. “She’s staying flat like pancake.”

They sat there with John nursing his seething thoughts for a few moments, and then the door opened and a short balding man wearing a black suit and a blue tie came into the room.

“Hello, I’m Tim Hetherington,” he said, “I’ve got some background in physics and so the partners asked me to come and meet with you today.” He shook hands with each of them, and John felt a lot more comfortable just because he was dressed in the same way that they were.

“I’ve read your business plan,” he said, “but I would really like to hear it from you personally.”

John took his chance and broke in. “We would like to start out with a demonstration,” he announced. He glanced at Judy, who picked up the RC controller and broke into a serene smile.

“This is LeviStar version A. We call her Annette,” she said. With that she fiddled with the controls and Annette slowly moved up off the table. With courage and skill born of necessity, Judy adjusted the controls so that Annette moved about two feet off the table and to a good approximation became stationary in the air above the conference table. It actually took her a huge amount of judgment to get Annette to come to a halt, but Tim had no idea. Judy knew that with a simple feedback circuit and an inertial sensor, she could make the microprocessor do what she was doing so delicately with her fingers.

Tim looked totally stunned. “Tell me what I am seeing,” he requested with his voice tones giving away his excitement.

John replied: “This is a working model propulsion system which demonstrates LeviStar technology. It has one prime levitation coil, which we call an anti-coil, and four smaller orientation anti-coils to keep it horizontal since naturally it would turn up on its edge. We are driving the coils from audio frequency inverters controlled by a microprocessor which senses miniature gyroscopes. If the structure tilts by even a fraction, the gyro sensors tell the microprocessor to order up a correction to bring it back flat again. The radio controller is adjusting the overall power going into the coils, and that’s all actually. It has a lot of batteries inside to power the whole thing. When it is holding fairly still like this, the power consumption is relatively small, like about 10 watts. When it moves up, it takes in power corresponding to the energy needed to move that amount of weight through the distance involved. When it moves down, less energy is taken, and if we had the necessary regenerative circuitry like you have in a hybrid car then it could even reclaim the energy used to lift it in the first place. This simple prototype does not have any regeneration circuitry, and it simply uses less power when it is coming down.

“We know that this technology can be scaled. In fact the bigger it is, the better it works. We think that it could completely replace helicopters as we know them today. We could make vehicles with the function of a helicopter which would be five times cheaper. Beyond that, the possibilities are enormous. The levitation mechanism can work right up into outer space. We haven’t proved it yet, but we believe that such a vehicle could be powered up into space and then return while reclaiming most of the energy used in its ascent, provided it had big enough batteries.

“Since it can go into space without the need to achieve orbital speed, then these vehicles can replace the whole satellite industry that we know today, providing the same function for a tiny fraction of the cost. The power needed to hold a thousand pound satellite in position 100 miles above the earth would be only about 100 watts. This can be provided by using solar cells, so the vehicle could stay up indefinitely. Best of all, you could bring it down for servicing any time you wanted to.

“I hate to think about it, but if this technology was incorporated into a fighter aircraft, then it could take off and land from a helicopter landing pad. The aircraft carrier would be obsolete.” John was warming to his theme, which he had been dreaming about for months, but Tim interrupted him.

“John, I had read your business plan before you came in here, and actually it is lacking in a certain amount of financial detail and planning. However, that is more than made up for by the dramatic nature of the discovery that you intend to exploit. You have made me a believer already!

“If you could be so patient, I would like to go and fetch Mr. Moshe Cohen, one of the senior partners, to see your demonstration and to meet you.”

“Sure, go ahead”, rejoined John.

When Tim left the room, the three exchanged high fives and broad smiles. Judy carefully brought Annette down onto the table.

Outside in a private office, Tim was meeting with Moshe Cohen, the senior partner. “These Electrolev people have what I judge to be the kind of invention which makes a dislocation in civilizations. They have found a way to make a vehicle levitate with quite a small expenditure of energy. Market wise, it displaces the entire satellite industry. It makes helicopters obsolete. It makes aircraft carriers obsolete. They are here asking for $20 million but I reckon their plan easily has a net present value of $10 billion.” Moshe was a balding, sixty something year old man with thick pebble glasses. He was wearing dark blue slacks and a light blue polo shirt, which contrasted strangely with Tim’s neat suit. Moshe spent his life looking for ideas that would upset the status quo, and everything Tim said resounded well with him.

“Why don’t you introduce me?” he said to Tim.

The pair of them re-entered the conference room where the three were waiting patiently. “This is Moshe Cohen, the senior partner,” explained Tim. “Could you show him your demonstration please?”

“This is a scale model of the working parts of the product which we are proposing, sir,” explained John. “The most important innovation is a scheme for overcoming gravity under power electronic control.” He nodded to Judy, who then gave a masterful performance by powering up Annette to so that she rose three feet up off the conference table, and stopped almost still about three below the ceiling.

“This technology allows a vehicle to rise to a height limited only by the amount of energy that can be stored in it. It can remain stationary in height with only minor amounts of power – for example, this model is using about 10 watts to remain suspended over your conference table, and essentially all of that is just from power losses in its power converters. Vehicles made this way can replace helicopters, but they can also travel into space in theory. The immediate application is for law enforcement and anti-terrorist operations. Beyond that they can replace satellites and the space shuttle. Sometimes we think the applications are limitless.”

“Couldn’t you make a Jetson’s futuristic car out of it?” asked Moshe naively.

“Well, we thought of that, and the answer is, not right away,” said Tony. “You see, once you levitate a vehicle you have lost all that convenient steering and braking power that comes from traction with the ground. Such a vehicle would be a whole lot like one of those airboats they use in Florida, or maybe one of the hovercrafts that the marines use. It would not be too good at stopping or going round corners. If you had a street full of them, it would be hard to stop them all from bumping into each other like dodgem cars. That’s why we thought that the first application ought to be for helicopter replacement. The capability to go up into space and come back while reclaiming all the energy on the way down is an immensely powerful feature.

“We have calculated that these things work better the bigger you make them. The implications of that are incredible. It can replace the space shuttle, in a sense. This is because one of these vehicles, which are called LeviStars, can easily go up into space and return, without wasting energy. However it would not be achieving orbital speed, and so it could only visit another LeviStar parked up there. If it was big enough, the parked vehicle could have its entire top side covered with solar cells and that would provide enough energy to hold it levitated.”

“How much of this have you proved?” queried Moshe.

“It’s all theory, except for this demonstration.” answered John.

“Which is very convincing,” rejoined Moshe. “Could you people excuse us for a few minutes?” With that he and Tim drifted out of the room and reconvened in an empty conference room next door.

“It’s sensational!” exclaimed Moshe. “How is the business plan?”

“It sucks, by itself,” said Tim. “They are financially naïve and inexperienced in what it takes to do a revolutionary technology development. We must insist that they take on board a seasoned person to look after finance and administration of the company while they give birth to this new technology. I think that what will happen is that after a few more stages we can easily get a 500 million dollar contract from NASA to bring the technology into reality. After that, the company will be placed right at the heart of the new aerospace industry. I will personally advise them on how to recruit really good technical people. We can easily hire the best from MIT. We are going to have to teach them about secrecy and discretion, and that will be a bitter pill for them to swallow.”

“I suggest you offer them 50% ownership”, said Moshe. “Make sure that they get to understand how good that deal is. At all costs I want them taken off the street – they are probably planning to go the length of Sand Hill Road and you have got to head that off.”

“I’m on it – I know what to do. If it’s OK with you I’ll become their liaison person at JCB!” said Tim. Moshe nodded and smiled faintly, and walked away. Tim walked round the corner back into the room with John, Judy and Tony. “I have good news for you, ………………..” he began as he closed the door behind him.

Chapter 9

John, Judy and Tony were employees number one, two and three of a real company called Electrolev. They had all resigned from their regular jobs and now to make a reality of the company they had to find some physical premises for Electrolev. Steve Harmann, employee number four, had joined them with the title of Chief Operating Officer.

Steve’s eyes blinked as switches clicked and bright high bay lights overhead glared on, sweeping away the gloom inside yet another warehouse building. Steve’s last job had been as president of a company dedicated to building memory chips, which had been acquired by one of the big semiconductor houses in Silicon Valley. Steve had been paid off largely in stock, but with the condition that he could not sell more than 10% of it per year. This gave him a certain degree of financial independence, however he had a big ego and had been carefully looking around for a new assignment which could use his previous experience and have the possibility of making even more money. Electrolev fitted that bill nicely. The moment that he saw Annette performing her demonstration flight, cash registers started to go “ka-ching” in his mind.

On this day the four of them had been touring around the Long Beach area with Sadie Nguyen, a realtor who specialized in industrial premises. Sadie had them all loaded into a minivan as they toured around prospective locations. Steve was 45 years old, and from his perspective John, Tony and Judy were almost children. All the same he recognized their talent and had already come to respect them sincerely. He had been introduced to them by Tim Hetherington, and thankfully everything had clicked psychologically between Steve and the three. Steve was about five foot eight tall, and of a substantial but not fat frame. His dark brown hair was thinning a little in the center, and distinguished streaks of grey were starting to show up on his temples. He had already taken upon himself the task of facilitating the work of the three at Electrolev, and was using his vast experience in running a company to take every administrative detail upon his own shoulders in order to free up the three to focus upon LeviStar technology.

Sadie enthused: “This place has 10,000 square feet, and they are asking for $0.56 per square foot. It is approved for as much as 1400 square feet of office and laboratory inside the warehouse. You have got a nice big yard outside, with two gates to adjacent streets, and there is a ten foot security wall all around the yard. With the market being soft like it is at the moment, you could probably get it for $0.52 per square foot.” She was a professional at this work, and managed to sound enthusiastic about every single property.

Steve did not have any personal knowledge about technology, since his education had consisted of a degree in economics from UCLA followed by a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. All the same he was devouring every word he could glean from the three about the nature of Levistar technology. They had decided that Electrolev would probably go through several stages as it grew, and they were planning to find some premises for the first two years. None of them wanted to move, except for Steve, and he was essentially resigned to the necessity since he could see full well, perhaps better than the other three, what the possibilities were. Electrolev was paying for his relocation from Silicon Valley to Long Beach. His children were already grown up and at college, and as long as he stayed in California his wife Suzanne was philosophical about relocating in the name of career advancement.

This was the eighth warehouse they had looked at today. Steve was starting to feel weary and suspected that his three younger colleagues were as well. After a while the succession of large warehouses was starting to become a blur. As they arrived at this one they had stared at the grey painted security wall with some razor wire over the top, and tried to imagine the sign “Electrolev” on the side of the building. Trooping along behind Sadie, they surveyed a clean concrete floor with a vaulted insulated ceiling high above. Intense high bay lamps dotted the ceiling. On the side nearest the frontage road, an area of the warehouse had been walled in and nine foot ceilings had been suspended from above along with a mass of air conditioning ducts. On the other side, a huge roll up door led out into the courtyard surrounded by the grey painted cement brick wall, and to one side of this another smaller roll up door opened up onto a loading dock where trucks could back up and deliver things from the street.

“Could you excuse us for a moment?” Steve asked Sadie.

Sadie gave a professional smile and nodded: “Of course,” she said.

Steve gathered John, Judy and Tony around him. “I think the important thing is for us to quickly find someplace so that we can get on with our business. With all the money that you have from JCB we can easily afford to fix this place up however you want. We can build workshops in the warehouse area and laboratories in the office area. We can extend the office out to 1400 square feet, and once the inspector has gone nobody will notice if we double that as long as we tear it all out when we leave. I suggest that we make an offer of $0.50 per square foot and see what the reaction is. Times are hard right now, and you never know, by this time tomorrow we might have a home for Electrolev.” The others nodded sagely, and Steve guessed from their expressions that they would have agreed to almost anything. They went back to Sadie.

“We want to make an offer for this place……..,” began Steve.

Chapter 10

Christmas music was echoing through the Electrolev building as Julie Redbridge happily arranged ornaments on a huge Christmas tree in her reception area. About five foot six with blonde hair and a freckled face, Julie was a single mother living with her Mom, Dad and one year old son in nearby San Pedro. She was happy to have found a regular, secure job only a few miles from home. The bright lights of the tree were visible from outside through the wide glass front doors of the building, and contrasted strangely with the grey painted walls topped with razor wire that surrounded the courtyard.

At that moment Steve Harmann came into the reception area followed by one of the lab technicians. “Julie, I need you to join the orientation session in the main conference room for the next hour. Adrian here can mind reception for you while you are away.”

Julie walked past the warehouse area towards the conference room. On her right technicians were installing workbenches, a lathe, and machines for milling, coil winding and for grinding ferrite cores. Further back, workers were fussing over foot square green circuit boards on a conveyor belt that were automatically progressing through machines which put on glue dots, applied chips, dried the glue and automatically soldered them all together. At big tables on one side, a row of patient workers was fitting in large capacitors and transformers to the boards.

Julie joined a dozen other new employees filing cheerfully into the conference room. Everybody was in a holiday season mood, and since this was in the depths of a recession they were all especially happy to have their new jobs just before Christmas.

Steve sat them all down around the conference table and stood up at the end of the room. “Now you should have all read your paperwork already, but let me just go over a couple of highlights. First of all you are each owners of this company. Each of you has options to buy shares which amount to 0.1% of the company, presently valued at 10 cents per share. Obviously this only becomes meaningful if the company is successful and goes public. We in the management all believe that it could easily be worth a billion dollars in five years from now. We can replace the space shuttle and the satellite industry. If that were the case then your 0.1% shares could easily become worth ONE MILLION DOLLARS for each of you! But this is only going to happen if you put in extra effort. We expect you to be prepared to do just that, to come in early and to stay late!

“Secondly, you each must sign a confidentiality agreement which forbids you to say anything about company business to anybody who has not signed the same agreement. This is really serious stuff, because the knowledge that we have inside this company is what will make your stock options valuable. If it leaks out, it is like your money in the future leaking away. If you are not comfortable honoring this agreement, you should leave right now.”

The assembled crowd of about ten men and women, mostly between 20 and 40 years old, looked at each other and then nodded soberly back at Steve.

Steve continued: “If your mother-in-law or whoever really needles you about what is going on here, you can say that we are building equipment for helicopters. In reality nearly everything that you see in this building is consistent with that story. Now, in truth, what we are developing is a new kind of propulsion system that could really be used in a helicopter type of vehicle. This technology is tremendously valuable, and if you knew how it really worked you might be a target for industrial spies. So believe me, for your own safety you really don’t want to know all the details of how this technology works.

Just to make sure that you are believers in what we are doing, I have got here a scale model of one of our propulsion systems. I am going to give you a quick demonstration of what it’s about.” With that, he heaved a cardboard box onto the conference table and lifted out one of the Annette models. He flipped the switch on top of it, and then operated the RC controller so that it lifted clumsily off the table and rose to the ceiling, then bounced and descended precipitously down close to the table before rising slowly again. Then it abruptly changed direction and thumped down onto the table. “Look, I’m not very good at flying this thing.” joked Steve. The assembled new hires looked at each other and at Steve, eyes wide and some with gaping mouths.

“Holy shit!” exclaimed one young black man.

The meeting droned on, and eventually they all signed papers and started wending their way back to their work areas. Julie looked curiously into the workshop area as she went by, where she saw John talking with a girl technician in a white coat. She caught a snatch of the conversation:

“You need to shorten the end strands to different lengths so that when soldered together they end up well apart from each other” instructed John. “After that you solder each pair together. Then we tape the end you just soldered onto the center of the bobbin like this….”

As she walked through the office area, Julie saw Judy in a seminar room lecturing eight young men and women, each of whom had a laptop computer on the table in front of them. She was pointing to a block diagram on a whiteboard as she spoke. “The most basic function going on in this software is horizontal stabilization loop. The program continuously goes around it, and then after each iteration we have an interrupt to accommodate other functions. We monitor the batteries, and make sure that the temperatures of the coils are within specification………………….”

Further down the corridor, she saw Tony’s office with the words “Chief Technologist” over the door.

“Hi Julie,” greeted Tony from his doorway. Tony nodded and smiled at Julie as she went on her way back to reception. “It really makes me feel good to see the company growing like this,” he remarked to the two new physicists, Ian and Jim, that he was working with. Turning back to his white board, he continued with his orientation talk. “The easiest way for you to understand what is happening in this system is to remember the principle of conservation of energy,” he lectured. He had been out of his university teaching position for three months now, but he still carried on as if he was inculcating students.

“I have only come to realize in the last few weeks that we have not paid proper attention to the issue of how to bring one of these vehicles down from a great altitude. With the quality of anti-coils that we now know how to make, they are locked solidly into the gravitational field. So if a vehicle comes down a long way at high speed, our regeneration circuits will reclaim all that energy and overload the battery, unless it is uneconomically huge. So I now realize that we have to implement some kind of scheme to dissipate a lot of energy in a hurry.

What I want for the Delia generation product is that we will install about 50 kW of halogen lights on the underside of the vehicle. Then if it has to come down a long way, fast, we can automatically turn on the lights and discharge the battery in a hurry. All that excess energy can then be just radiated away from the vehicle as light energy.”

Ian interrupted: “You know, that reminds me a heck of a lot of driving my hybrid down a big hill. You can look at the screen and see it regenerating and regenerating, and all the while the battery is getting more full. Then suddenly the battery‘s full right up and you can feel the car abruptly lurch forwards down the hill. A fraction of a second later the vehicle changes into a low gear to try and use engine braking to replace the regenerative braking that you just lost.”

“That’s exactly it!” exclaimed Tony. “Only imagine if you were at 50,000 feet up and your battery just became full! There is no engine braking to save you then. On the Delia vehicle we are going to install a parachute, in case of a catastrophic failure, but the normal response to a battery overload will be to turn on those fifty kilowatts of lights on the underside.”

“That will sure look spectacular at night!” mused Jim thoughtfully. “It would be just like one of those flying saucers in a science fiction movie.”

Tony’s face clouded over. “Don’t ever talk about that again!” he ordered sternly. “I am afraid that with that association investors will not take us seriously and it could prevent us from raising money.” Jim and Ian looked at each other, shocked by this severe response from their new boss.

Chapter 11

Tony was driving through the widespread suburbs of Long Beach on his way to work and although he missed his career at Cal State, the excitement of Electrolev was consuming him. He found it gratifying to have a decent salary as chief technologist of a high tech company instead of the pittance paid to university teachers. He was also starting to really enjoy the company of Judy Chen. With his role as chief technologist and her role as Vice President of Engineering, they had to spend lots of time working together. It was now spring time in Long Beach. In the center medians bright multi-colored poppies on stems twenty inches high, known as Icelandic poppies, were packed in shoulder to shoulder making a riot of color. Hanging baskets of pansies were suspended from the overhangs of porches.

This morning John had planned a meeting with Tony, Judy and their managers to talk about the functionality and software for Barbara, as Judy had named their first manned vehicle. If Barbara was a big success then their future funding and growth to a company that could go public was assured.

The group gathered together in the Electrolev main conference room. John, who had the title of president and also acted as head of power electronic engineering, had brought along his system design manager Terry Entmann with him. Electrolev had a similar culture to some of the older Silicon Valley companies in which anybody was allowed to come to any meeting. All meetings were advertised in advance.

John stood up and welcomed everybody to the meeting. “Thank you all for coming. I think you know how important Barbara is going to be for Electrolev. Once we have demonstrated manned flight, then it is agreed that we get another $20 million of funding which will allow us to develop the next generation vehicles Charlotte and Delia. So this milestone is crucial to the progress of the company. I propose that we meet every week here at this time from now on until we can record the first manned flight. I know that Tony has a lot of thoughts to share on how he would like to do things, so Tony why don’t you lead off?”

Tony stood up in front of the white board: “These are the principal features that I want embodied in Charlotte,” he commenced.

“This meeting is to plan Barbara!” interjected John.

“We can discuss them both together!” replied Tony brusquely.

“Regenerative descent – this means Terry is going to design a whole new set of power conversion circuits to extract energy from the anti coils and put it back in the battery. Judy will have to write software to manage this process.

“Then I would like to see a vertical axis inertial stabilizer function installed. So the operator can now operate one lever, if he pulls it back…”

“He?” interrupted Judy.

A smile flickered across Tony’s face. “If the operator pulls it back, then the vehicle starts to move upwards, and conversely if it is pushed forwards then the vehicle starts sinking down and regenerates energy.”

Over the last several months Judy had been developing a new more assertive image compared to the safari vest camouflage that she had always worn around Lighting Enterprises. Today she was wearing a short light grey skirt with a close fitting black sweater that emphatically outlined her considerable bust. “That’s a huge software development” she said. “Charlotte can have it but not Barbara.”

Undeterred, Tony continued his unfocussed dreaming: “Next, we have to give it a propulsion system. I think that certainly by the Delia generation we ought to have a jet propulsion unit on board, but for Barbara and Charlotte that is the least of our concerns, and all we need is some way to make it move forwards, turn and stop. So what I propose is that we have something like a big leaf blower on board, with a system of valves so that the jet can be directed backwards for moving forwards, frontward for slowing down, and downwards for doing nothing in particular. We can put a kind of vane in the middle of the front and rear facing jets to allow it to turn.” As he spoke Tony outlined untidy shapes on the board to illustrate his thoughts.

“We ought to have a gas gauge and an altimeter, as well as temperature gauges to keep an eye on the heat in the inverter and the anti-coils.

“For safety the operator on Barbara needs to have a parachute. From the Delia generation when there is an enclosed cabin I want the whole vehicle to have a big parachute in case of catastrophic failure. For the Charlotte generation onwards I want to have at least a 10KW array of lights underneath to discharge the battery in a hurry if it has to come down fast. But for this Barbara vehicle since there is no power generation on board then we don’t have to worry about battery overload.”

John seemed to be consumed with jealousy and attempted to rein in Tony’s imagination: “All these thoughts are my ideas anyway and since I’m the president of this company I want us to keep focused on our immediate objective - the purpose of Barbara is to demonstrate the manned flight which is our next financing milestone. To develop and debug the regenerative descent will be a huge hardware and software task. I want to postpone that until Charlotte. That will minimize our risks in achieving the Barbara milestone.”

“Yes, but I’m the only one who really understands what’s going on!” retorted Tony. “My opinion counts too!”

“Barbara will not have regenerative descent!” insisted John in thunderous tones. For a moment everybody sat there in stunned silence.

Finally Ian broke the tension. “Do we need to hire a pilot?”

“I did think about that,” said John quickly, trying to gain control of the meeting. “It turns out that if it weighs less than 254 pounds then the vehicle is classified as an ultra light, and you don’t need a pilot’s license. So any of us can try it out. By the time we get to Charlotte and Delia we will probably have to have a professional test pilot.”

Judy spoke up: “Can we agree that your leaf blower propulsion will just have mechanical linkages? – We are going to have our time cut out implementing vertical feedback loop as well as horizontal stabilization loop, and for Barbara I sure don’t need the hassle of controlling a system that will get dumped for the next generation!”

John nodded: “I think that makes good sense. I have got a new mechanical engineering manager called Fred Beller starting on Monday and that will be a good project for him to organize.”

“Let’s get into detail now and define the systems and interfaces,” proposed Tony, leaping in before John could get a chance to try and lead the meeting. John’s face reddened slightly as he controlled himself. Tony guessed that John felt that starting by defining the systems and interfaces was a good idea but believed that he John ought to have said it. Both he and John were secretly trying to impress Judy.

“I think that’s a good idea!” interjected John, trying to show ownership of the initiative.

Judy put her hands behind her head and leaned back into her chair with her gaze focused attentively upon Tony, who was starting to ramble on, sketching out proposals for the interfaces between the power electronics and the software. Judy continued to stare deeply at him. For a Chinese girl that shock of fine blond hair had an almost mystical quality. She kept having that fantasy of running her fingers through it. She was quite oblivious of John ogling her figure from across the room.

Chapter 12

As the meeting emptied out, Julie the receptionist came up and spoke to John: “Dan Smuthers, the patent attorney, is here to see you.”

“OK, I’ll see him in my office.” responded John. Moments later Julie was ushering Dan into John’s office. Dan was a short, plump man with a bushy moustache. He was dressed in a neat business suit which he thought was appropriate for visiting clients. He was 38 years old, and just the year before had broken away from a big law firm to start his own patent law practice. For him every client was important, and he positively oozed enthusiasm. He was a well skilled patent attorney, with degrees in both electrical engineering and patent law, and he had worked for five years in the US patent office as an examiner.

“Tell me about the invention,” began Dan.

John patiently went over the story of the discovery of the fifth force and the formation of Electrolev. To get a patent on the technology so that nobody could copy their inventions was crucial for the future value of Electrolev and their stock options. If other companies were able to make competing LeviStars, as they planned to call the vehicles, then the value of Electrolev would be hugely decreased. If Dan could not find a way to write a patent to protect their invention it would be disastrous. John called Tony on the intercom: “Tony, I have Dan Smuthers the patent attorney here to talk about writing a patent on our technology. I want you to meet us in the lab for a demo and then start the work on the patent with him.” John and Dan walked over to the lab and together they showed Dan a demonstration of Annette. After the demo John excused himself and the other two went to Tony’s office.

"Inside a patent the part which describes the invention is called the specification. With all the information that you have given me I can easily write one up for your invention,” said Dan "but the truly hard thing for a world shaking invention like this is to imagine the claims. They are the legally binding part of a patent in which you stake out just what it is that is different to everything that has gone before. It is rather like staking out a piece of land in the land rush. I did a quick piece of research before I came here and one thing which I did find was this Ellman application 2009/0214884 which does actually describe a vehicle which levitates itself against gravity by electronic control. So he has already described something a whole lot like what you are doing. Now I suspect that he may never have built one, unlike you. One of the funny things about the US patent system is that an invention normally does not have to actually work to be granted a patent. In Europe it is quite different; there it has to actually work. So this application already being out there is going to cramp my style for making broad claims, even if it has never been built and even if it does not work.

“I will think hard about it when I get back to the office, but my first thought for a claim would be any device which repels gravity using an electric current. That would be a pretty hard claim to get around. Ellman seems to be using vibrating crystals to repel gravity, and so I should not have much trouble arranging that our claims do not read upon his invention. So nobody should be able to copy your invention.”

“Now that all sounds encouraging to me!” exclaimed Tony with relief. When shall we next meet?”

“I can get back to you with a draft in about two weeks.” Said Dan, standing up to end the meeting.

“I’ll see you out,” Tony remarked.

As they walked to the door, they passed Judy in the corridor, who said: “Could I see you in programmer’s room when you are free?”

“Sure,” responded Tony. “Give me a few moments.” He saw Dan to the front door and shook his hand as he left. Then he wandered back to the programmer’s room, where there was a large conference table at one end and a mass of elegant cubicles with orange colored fabric walls. Judy had an oversize cubicle at the front on one side. Inside the cubicles further back one could just see the programmers hunched over their huge video screens. “Hi Judy! What’s on your mind?” greeted Tony.

“I’m worried about the Barbara system concept,” started Judy. “Barbara is supposed to demonstrate manned flight in a LeviStar for first time. But I would not want to trust my life in it the way it is now. Just think about it – you have got five anti-coils and five inverters. If any one of them fails then whole thing hits deck.” With her concern serious and apparent, Judy was very animated and as she gesticulated to make her point, her body moved in a way that Tony found really sensual. Since they were trying to discuss a serious issue, this was profoundly disturbing for him.

After a second’s distraction, Tony found his voice. “I agree that this is an extremely serious issue. However we have got some powerful motivations here. The moment that we can demonstrate manned flight in a LeviStar, then we can justify another $20M of funding to carry Electrolev on to the next stage of making history. In reality we have gone through 50% of the first $20M that we had, and even though we have been brilliantly successful we shall be out of business in a few months if we don’t demonstrate manned flight. So John is right, for our business purposes, Barbara just has to fly!”

“I’m worried, Tony,” said Judy, almost tearful because she felt so conflicted. If truth be known she was distracted by Tony’s shock of fine blond hair and she was feeling the same conflicting emotions that Tony had just overcome.

“Let’s go to the workshop and see how the progress on Barbara is going,” he said.

Together they walked through the building to the laboratory area in the warehouse where Barbara was being assembled. Barbara looked a lot like a giant version of Annette, except that at the center was a seat, with a kind of joystick in front of it, a foot pedal, and levers beside it reminiscent of a garden tractor. Wooden 2X4 pieces replaced the balsa wood struts that were used in Annette. “Tell us how it is going,” said Tony to the two men technicians who were threading wires around the vehicle.

“Well, we are waiting for the number 3 and 4 inverters from the PCB shop, and of course nothing is going to happen until we get some software,” said the first technician, glancing at Judy. “All the anti coils are assembled, and we are still trying to get the leaf blower ducting put together.”

“The leaf blower?” queried Judy.

“The simplest way to get a powerful air jet was to literally buy a big leaf blower from the hardware store,” said the technician. “The next challenge is to organize the ducting to control it.” While he spoke, Judy absent-mindedly moved closer and closer to Tony until their bodies were just touching. “Would you care to chat about the safety issue at my place this evening?” inquired Tony solicitously.

”Sure,” said Judy, without a moment’s hesitation. “What I think we ought to do is have 100% redundancy. A fixed wing aircraft can glide down if engines fail. A helicopter can let the rotors auto rotate and then change the pitch at the last moment so that it can land without engine. But Barbara will fall out of sky if any one element fails. Would you want to be 50,000 feet up in that kind of vehicle? What I think we ought to have is two of each anti-coil, and of each inverter that drives it. We need dual processors and a complete back up power supply system!”

“I agree!” assented Tony. “but let’s put all that in Charlotte. Just like John said about the regenerative descent, If we try and put it in Barbara it will set us back months. Why don’t we discuss it further over at my place this evening?” Judy nodded and they both went back to their work.

Chapter 13

That evening Judy turned up at Tony’s apartment around 7p.m. Even though they had been working together with John continuously for the last few months, it was in fact the first time that she and Tony had been alone together outside of work since that infamous date when they went to the Long Beach Art Center together. Judy was actually feeling guilty about visiting a single man alone in his house. Her mother had taught her that it was completely immoral for a good Chinese girl to be alone in a house with a man. She reasoned to herself that Dr Sheppard was a respectable senior staff member of the company. All their colleagues knew her and knew Tony as well. With so many common acquaintances it would not really feel as if they were alone. In any case they would often spend many hours alone together working out the control systems for Barbara.

Tony was still wearing his work clothes but Judy had been back to her shared apartment and had changed into a loose fitting short black skirt fashionably cut at about mid thigh, with a thick belt, and a closely fitting bright red top. She was wearing a red and black necklace. She appreciated bold bright colors, and the shining red was uplifting to her spirits. She pushed into the back of her mind that her mother might not have approved of the glamorous underwear that she had put on. She never even thought consciously about why she had chosen that underwear or about the dab of perfume that she had put on her chest. Tony was bustling around his kitchen, grilling steaks and preparing French fries and a green salad.

“Would you like a glass of Chardonnay?” he asked solicitously.

“I’d love one,’” replied Judy. “This has been a rough day for me. I already told you about all my fears concerning Barbara, and besides that I have got a personal problem as well.”

“What’s the matter?” inquired Tony sympathetically.

“It’s my roommate Sarah,” said Judy. “She has got really serious with her boy friend Tim and he is in the apartment almost all the time now. They are starting to carry on as if it was their home and I am just a lodger renting a room in the place. It’s really embarrassing for me. It doesn’t feel like it’s my home any more at all. I have my own bedroom and that’s about it. They both love sports and the TV is constantly tuned to tennis matches. I would rather be watching the news and current affairs myself. Even though nobody has said anything, I think that they really wish I would move on somewhere else and leave them to have the apartment as their own home. It’s really annoying in the morning when there are three of us wanting to get showered and get going, all needing to use bathroom. Since he is a guy he has to have it all himself and he spends hours shaving.”

They both sipped their Chardonnay reflectively for a few moments.

“You know, I have a complementary problem,” reflected Tony. “This apartment which I moved into when I got a good salary from Electrolev is really costing me more than I can afford, and my bank account seems to get lower and lower every month. I know that I’m pretty hard to get along with, and that’s the reason why I haven’t even tried to get a roommate. I can’t stand having people around me who don’t have the same education background as myself, and if the truth be known there are not many of those anymore. I’ve got a spare bedroom here with a bed and a dresser already. If you would move in here with me then you could share my rent payment and that would be a huge help for me. From your side it would solve the Sarah and Tim problem. We would each have our own bedroom. At least I don’t like watching sports on TV myself, but with all the money I would be saving, we could each have a TV in our room. We could car pool to work at Electrolev every day and that would save even more money.”

Judy sipped her Chardonnay and reflected upon these ideas. She was of considerable intellectual stature herself and she knew that she would have no trouble keeping her end up vs. Tony. However Judy realized that there was a huge gulf between her Chinese cultural background and his Western upbringing. Unlike Tony, she was pretty tolerant of other people’s intellect or lack of it, and was the type of person who accepted others as they were. The image of her mother’s face telling her to make sure that she was never alone in a house with a man kept running through her mind, making her squirm. If she were to share a rental with Tony, how would she ever conceal the fact from her mother? Imagine if her mother phoned and Tony answered the phone! “How much is rent?” she inquired.

“I’m paying $1,100 a month, and we could divide that in half,” replied Tony.

“My half of the rent is $500 a month now, but I think I could manage $550, especially with the money I would save with car pooling,” responded Judy.

They both sipped their Chardonnay. The effect of the wine on an empty stomach was releasing in Judy’s mind the bothersome vision of running her hands through that luxuriant blond hair. Tony sneaked a glance at the voluptuous curves of Judy’s breast through the tight red top and felt an instinctive feeling rising within him and overwhelming all the thoughts of the planning for Charlotte and Barbara that had been the ostensible topic of this evening’s meeting.

“Can I see your spare room?” asked Judy cautiously.

“Sure,” replied Tony.

They got up and he led the way across to a doorway on the other side of the living room. The room was about 12’X12’, which was a handsome size for a Long Beach apartment. It had a window with horizontal blinds looking out on the tree lined street and a closet with sliding doors along one side. A single bed took up one side of the room, and beside it was an oak bedside table, a lamp, and an oak dresser with a mirror. The beige carpet from the living room continued across into the bedroom. The walls were in pastel colors which would have been tasteful to western eyes but actually Judy would have preferred the bold, intense colors that she remembered from her childhood. She momentarily admired herself in the wall mirror and straightened the line of her red top. As she looked at herself in the mirror she visualized her mother standing behind her. I am an adult now and this is not China, I can do what I like, she thought.

“OK, I’ll take it,” she said, after a moment’s reflection.

Then she had a cautious thought: “Tell you what, could I try sleeping here tonight just to see how it feels? I can give Sarah a call and tell her I will be back tomorrow.”

“Sure, if you can put up with the mess I will be happy to have you,” said Tony.

Judy looked around the apartment which to her looked spotless and immaculate. More immediate physical needs came to her mind. “I’m starving – what are you cooking out there?”

“I’ve got T-bone steaks and French fries, with a mixed salad to go first,” answered Tony.

“I’d rather not have the salad,” announced Judy. “Back in Beijing the water is not safe to drink untreated, and so through my whole life I have never had any fruit that is unpeeled, or any vegetable that has not been boiled. I just can’t bring myself to eat a raw vegetable. I know it’s silly but that’s how I am and I can’t change myself.”

“Maybe I can open a can of chicken soup to have as a starter?” suggested Tony.

“That’s more like it!” responded Judy.

Over dinner, they chatted about software, and about Judy’s worries concerning Barbara. They dreamed a little about what Charlotte and Delia were going to be like. Together they were sharing and building a vision of how the world was going to be changed by Electrolev.

After dinner, they cleared up and then Tony suggested that they go for a walk along the Pacific Ocean waterfront just a mile away. That evening there was a bright moon, and the sometimes fierce Pacific breakers were subdued to an intermittent rumbling. Amongst a few other evening walkers, Tony and Judy were only conscious of each other, the moon, the breakers and the beach. The wine they had been sharing made it seem a dream like experience for both of them. They talked about Tony’s childhood, and the things that had impressed him in Cambridge, UK while he was doing his post-doctoral fellowship there. Judy spoke about her time with Professor Wang at Cal State Long Beach, and her parents who she still called on Skype nearly every morning, when they were going to bed in China. Finally at around 10 p.m. they got back into Tony’s car and returned to his apartment.

“I can lend you a few things to help you overnight, said Tony chivalrously. “I have got a new toothbrush which I have not opened yet, and a spare pair of slippers. I have an old dressing gown that you can use to go to and from the bathroom.”

“Thank you, you so kind, I’ll take all of them,” said Judy with a smile.

Tony gathered up the slippers, the toothbrush and the dressing gown and gave them to Judy along with a set of clean towels. She set them on the bed in the spare bedroom.

“This has been such a lovely evening that I can’t bear for it to end right now,” remarked Judy. “Do you have any of that Chardonnay left?”

“You bet!” replied Tony. “Let me go and see to it.”

“I’ll get ready for bed,” announced Judy.

Moments later Tony came back into the living room with the Chardonnay, and Judy emerged from the spare bedroom wearing Tony’s dressing gown. They sat down on the sofa together and Judy curled up her feet on the sofa inside the soft material of the dressing gown. She could not push the thought of her mother and the strictures of her Chinese upbringing out of her mind, but being alone with Tony like this felt so secure, so comforting in every other respect.

“This evening together by the Pacific was just magical for me,” said Judy.

“And for me too,” replied Tony.

“Here’s to Electrolev!” he proposed.

“To Electrolev!” rejoined Judy.

They both sipped the wine. Judy stretched out on the sofa and the dressing gown gapped open revealing a long bare leg. Tony thought maybe it was intentional, since she stared at him with a Mona Lisa enigmatic smile. In her mind she was running her hands through that thick golden blond hair. As the Chardonnay warmed Judy’s stomach, the thoughts of her mother gradually were no longer a conflict in her mind. After all, this was a different country and a different era to her childhood.

After reflecting for twenty minutes or so on how pleasant the evening had been, they agreed to retire to bed. Tony apologized that he liked to lie in bed and read the prestigious physics periodical, Physical Review, for fifteen minutes before going to sleep. This is how he kept up to date on the latest physics publications and it helped him settle down to sleep. So for this reason he would be making rustling noises for a little while. Also because he was used to living alone he liked to sleep with the bedroom door ajar.

“I like mine closed,” rejoined Judy.

The apartment had been in darkness for only a few minutes when Tony heard a faint knock on his bedroom door. “Hello, Judy?” said Tony into the darkness. The bedroom door moved a little. By the light of his bedside lamp he could see Judy, still wearing his dressing gown but with the tie hanging down so that the front gapped open to reveal her curvaceous body and bright red underwear. Her uplift bra and tight fitting thong stirred Tony’s imagination, and certainly distracted him from the Physical Review. “I’ve got a much better idea than the Physical Review for way to help you get off to sleep!” she announced. Judy shrugged off the dressing gown and climbed onto the bed so that she was kneeling over Tony with her breasts in front of his face. Gently, she took the Physical Review from Tony’s hands and put it on the bed beside him. Giving in to her own fantasy, she ruffled her hands through Tony’s fine blond hair, and then she lay on top of him and engaged him in a long passionate kiss. The Physical Review fell onto the floor with a resounding thud, but neither of them even noticed.

Chapter 14

It was now summer in Southern California. In Long Beach the oceanfront was crowded with families enjoying the hot sand and the cold surf. Little children screamed and romped in the waves. Athletic young people in wet suits were bobbing off shore waiting for that special big wave to come surfing in upon. In the city, Jacaranda trees with their startling lavender blue blossoms decorated boulevards, and underneath them were Lily of the Nile flowers, each having a six inch ball of sky blue flowers on a long stem.

The first manned LeviStar flight was planned for the next day, and John was to be the test pilot. Everybody knew that this milestone was critical for the continued funding of Electrolev. The tension in the company was palpable. When John arrived at Electrolev that morning, the first thing on his mind was to check in with Judy to ascertain the status of the software for the first manned test flight. He stopped in the doorway of Judy’s giant cubicle. “How’s my software doing for tomorrow, Judy?”

Judy looked up from her computer screen with a faint preoccupied smile. “Morning John, I am going to load software revision B28 for tomorrow - its simple and robust, and has worked flawlessly on the last ten or so tethered flights in warehouse.”

John tried to overcome his tension and force a smile. “Could we get together to go over the Charlotte battery management software soon?”

“There is no need -I’ve already planned all the flow charts with Tony, I’ve put them up on the server in battery subsystem folder. I’d be delighted to get your comments.”

John was stunned by this declaration. “Since I’m in charge of the power systems then don’t you think that perhaps I should have been part of that meeting?”

Judy stared at her computer screen and continued to type. “Sorry – we thought that because you had so much to worry about being President you would appreciate us just taking care of it.”

John leaned against the panel beside the doorway and tried to look merry and relaxed. “Since we are going to put regenerative descent into Charlotte, how about you and I having a brainstorming meeting to plan how to do it after work at Mimi’s restaurant tonight? Since it’s work then it would be legit for the company to pay for it.”

Judy continued typing and staring at her screen. “I’ve got plans for tonight, John,” We have plenty time during working hours to plan that stuff.”

John moved over to Judy’s desk and leaned over the top of her computer screen. “That regenerative software is going to need some serious new thinking. Wouldn’t it go better with a glass of wine and some soft lights to stimulate the creative juices?”

Judy’s feminine intuition switched on as her eyes came off the screen and bored right through John. “How is it going with that new girl you met in the internet chat room?”

John squirmed inwardly at her piercing gaze. “She ditched me. She was an English major – really we did not have much in common.”

Judy sighed faintly. “I figured as much,” Abruptly her eyes flashed and her normally soft voice assumed a harsh resonant tone: “John, I do not want have a working date with you – get it?” At that moment Steve Harman walked past and they both nodded and smiled good morning to him. John, trying to look dignified, started to retreat out into the corridor. “OK. Perhaps somebody got out of bed the wrong side this morning.” Judy continued typing without looking up again.

John was making his way back to his office when Steve Harmann stuck his head out from his room: “There are a few presidential things that we ought to discuss,” said Steve. John groaned inwardly. He much more enjoyed being power engineering manager than he did being president. Steve knew all about how to run a company, but John knew all about LeviStar power engineering, and John had the title of President. He sat down in Steve’s guest chair.

Steve had taken upon himself the task of shouldering the entire administrative burden so that John, Judy and Tony could focus all their energy upon the technology. He was working hard to make sure that they had everything they needed to make his and their stock options grow in value as much as possible. “One issue is, we have been going long enough that we need to make some rules about what holidays the company observes. I suggest that since we have people working so long and hard anyway, that we make a total of ten holidays per year. July 4th is coming up soon and everybody will want to know what days they have off.”

John stretched out in the visitor chair. “You have all the hardest questions! Maybe we should go along with your suggestion for ten holidays. You can figure out which ones they are going to be.”

Steve ticked off an item from the list on his desk. “The next thing is, we need to do something about security. At the moment anybody can walk in off the street. Now we have grown to 26 people, then once they are in the building most of us do not know if they are a new employee or what. We have got some big secrets in this place which we really ought to protect.”

“What do you suggest?” responded John.

“Well, step one, I think that we ought to have a security guard man the doors once the receptionist is gone, and be here through the night. I know that we can get a security company who will look after all the staffing issues, so all we have to do is to arrange training and pay a monthly fee. Then I will get a laminating machine and make ID badges for us all so we can recognize other employees.”

“That’s great!” nodded John in a disinterested kind of way.

“The next thing is,” continued Steve, “We need to get our computer network properly secured and backed up. Up until now the programmers have been managing the network on a part time basis, but it’s tough for them whenever we add a new staff member and all the email and stuff has to be fixed up. So I would like to hire an IT person who can shoulder the responsibility for the whole computer network thing. Especially I want to get some tape backups set up in the computer room.” He pointed to the glacial room hosting the servers which was just across the hall from John’s and Tony’s offices. “It really needs somebody to take responsibility for securing all our data. If you think about it, the entire knowledge of Electrolev is on those servers and if there was an earthquake and the whole building came down, then we could lose everything. The job for the IT person would include taking a backup tape home each night so that there was always a copy outside this building.”

“That’s really good thinking,” replied John. “Let’s do it immediately."

Steve cleared his throat. “The last thing is that a company which has more than 15 employees in California has to have all the managers complete sexual harassment training. It’s really tough when you are a manager, especially the President like you are, because almost anything which you say to a member of the opposite sex can be misinterpreted and used against you. For example, I accidentally overheard your conversation with Judy this morning, and in my opinion that was classic sexual harassment. If you were a tech in the lab it would be bad enough to say something like you did, but as the President of the company you have to almost walk on water. And what I heard this morning would have sunk Jesus Christ!”

John turned red in the face. “But Judy and I go back years and years!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, but now you are the company president and she reports to you as VP of engineering, everything is different. I want to arrange for all the staff to take one of those on line courses over the internet, and it would set a good example if you could lead the way and tell everyone that you have taken it.”

“Steve isn’t this ridiculous?” asked John. “I would not harass a fly let alone a female member of staff.”

“John, believe me, in this day and age we all need it. You have to follow just a few simple safety rules like, you never make a joke in the presence of a woman and you never have off campus meetings alone with a female subordinate. You’ll soon get it, wait till you have had the training.”

John momentarily buried his head in his hands. “I am really starting to have reservations about this president job,” he murmured.

With the last item crossed off his list, Steve relaxed back in his chair. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. How is Barbara coming along?”

John’s face brightened. “Well, tomorrow is the big day. We are going to try out manned flight on Barbara for the first time. I’m going to be the pilot, although I had to fight off Judy to get the job.”

“What are they doing out there with all those steel ropes?” asked Steve.

John’s demeanor changed and he became vibrant and enthusiastic: “Well, what is going on there is calibration and burn in. That means we are measuring how much lift is coming out of the anti-coils over a whole night, and making sure that after a long period of operation the operation is stable. We have left Barbara with the inverters running all night long. The wire ropes are joined onto a stress meter which tells us how much lift it is producing. Come and have a look.” The pair of them walked out of the office area and into the warehouse workshop where Barbara was two feet off the floor under bright lights, tied down to the concrete floor by steel ropes. John pointed to a big red digital meter. “You see, she has been producing 500 pounds of lift in excess of her own weight all night long. All the inverters and anti-coils should be pretty well burned in and stable by now. Her batteries could sustain this for about two hours, but for burn in she has been plugged in to the wall. We are going to try her out at 10a.m. tomorrow.”

“What’s going on over there?” inquired Steve, pointing across the warehouse laboratory.

“That’s Charlotte,” explained John. Our new mechanical engineering manager Fred Beller really laughed at our wooden 2X4 approach in Barbara, and so he has used his CAD machine to design a professional aluminum airframe for Charlotte. No more wood. It’s all aluminum struts and girders. He is not here now, but when he comes by have him give you a tour of all his innovations. The south bay has a lot of aerospace industry and because of them there are lots of metal suppliers and workshops who can build practically anything between them. So Fred just sends out his drawings and a few days later the parts come in. The best thing is that the suppliers have not got a clue what it is they are building.

Electrically I can tell you that Charlotte has double redundancy for everything, so any one component can fail and the system will still keep flying at least. Barbara is somewhat of a wing and a prayer – if anything fails then the whole thing piles in. I shall really be praying tomorrow, I can tell you.

“I know that Judy has lots happening on the digital side. She has two much bigger processors working in tandem. To get it all going just 3 months after Barbara is going to be a real struggle. Charlotte will have vertical inertial stabilization for the first time. That means that you can pull up on the height control and she goes up, and stops still when you let go the lever. With Barbara and Annette all you are applying is power, and to get it to go up the right amount is sheer skill. Also the really big thing is that Charlotte will have regenerative descent for the first time. So we can reclaim the energy used in going up when she comes down.”

“That all sounds fantastic,” enthused Steve. “OK if I come along for your maiden flight tomorrow? – I can bring along my movie camera.”

“Sure,” shrugged John. “The whole company is gonna be there anyway.” The pair of them walked back into the office area.

Chapter 15

The day of the Barbara test flight started out with a low overcast, but by 10a.m. the sun was starting to break through intermittently. The back yard of Electrolev was enclosed by a ten foot high grey brick wall topped with razor wire. Inside the yard was a large parking area on one side, and the other side was relatively clear so that trucks could come and deliver things to the receiving dock at the back of the building. As ten o’clock approached, without any particular signal, people started drifting out into the courtyard. Everybody was there - programmers, the physicists, the power electronics engineers, Fred Beller the new mechanical engineering manager, technicians and even Julie the receptionist had momentarily deserted her post. At the edge of the receiving dock Steve Harmann was setting up a camera on a tripod. Tony and Judy stood close together by the wall of the building. Although John did not want to acknowledge it, most people in the company had come to accept Tony and Judy as an entity now. The assembly technicians rolled out Barbara, which was on a big skid, using a hand fork lift.

Judy walked over to Barbara with her laptop. “Let me take last look at how the processor is running before she does anything.” She plugged in her laptop under the seat of Barbara, and inspected screens full of status reports. “It looks as good as ever can be to me!” she said to John, who came up just then.

John was wearing a white hard hat with an Electrolev logo hastily glued on the front. “Well, it’s now or never,” he joked. Raising his voice, he pronounced: “One small ride for John Sykes, but one great leap for Electrolev!” There were no chuckles from the crowd. Everybody knew that to achieve a manned flight was vital to the Electrolev business plan. The value of everybody’s stock options was going to hinge upon this test. If it was successful then in government terms they could qualify as “Technology Readiness 6” and it might be possible to get a lucrative government contract, as well as venture capital money for a big factory. The increase in the value of their options from this would offset the diluting effect from another round of financing. A failure would mean a lessening of the expected value of their stock options.

John sat down on Barbara’s simple tractor seat and buckled up its lap seat belt. He pressed a switch to power up the inverters. Then very gently and carefully he pulled back on the yellow lever beside the seat which controlled the power to the inverters. Barbara had nothing but a simple power control, unlike the inertial control which was planned for Charlotte. So it would be very hard to make Barbara stay still. With another nudge from the control lever, Barbara lifted a few inches off the ground, and then rose to about two feet while John delicately pushed the control back and forth to try and hold it at a fixed height. A cheer broke out from the crowd of assembled employees. Many of the staff clapped. Next John lowered Barbara down onto the ground. “Let’s start the air blower!” he commanded the assembly technicians. One of them strode over and without hesitation pull started the blower motor, which was mounted on a corner next to one of the anticoils. The crowd saw a momentary puff of faint blue smoke and a high pitched whining noise. Once again John gingerly pulled back on the yellow inverter control lever, bringing Barbara up to a height of about two feet. Then, as everybody watched with bated breath, he slowly pushed down on the right foot pedal which opened up a rear facing air jet. The left pedal operated a corresponding duct for a forward facing air jet, which was intended to act as a brake. Barbara started to move slowly across the courtyard with John perched nervously on top. When it had gone about five yards, there was a sudden crackling noise and smoke started pouring from the anti-coil that was next to the air blower motor. A chorus of girlish screams came from the assembled crowd. Two of the assembly technicians collided with each other with one of them being knocked over as they rushed to fetch fire extinguishers.

Tony shouted “John – get off there!” Then the front of Barbara dropped abruptly and the anti coil that was already smoking emitted a brilliant flash as it hit the ground. John was wrestling with his seat belt amidst the flames. Ian Smith heroically rushed towards the wreck with the intention of helping the pilot, but just as he got there John freed himself and leaped off his seat, flipping off the main power switch as he jumped. Ian reached through the smoke and cut the engine of the leaf blower, picking up a minor burn on his wrist. Barbara was now fully on the ground with smoke pouring from the number 4 anti-coil. Part of the wooden 2X4 frame was starting to burn.

Judy and Tony rushed over to the shaken John: “Are you alright?” asked Judy breathlessly.

Tony put his arm around John and escorted him to the side of the building. “You had a close call there, are you hurt?” The assembly technicians finally came back with fire extinguishers, which quickly doused the flames. Everybody else stood still, horrified, with the sound of women sobbing and men cursing, for a few moments, until Steve called out:

“OK everybody, let’s get back to work!”

Slowly, Fred, Steve, John, Judy and Tony gathered around the charred wreckage of Barbara in a circle.

“It proves my point that we have got to have redundancy!” insisted Judy.

“It proves my point that a wooden structure was a bad idea – it should have been aluminum,” said Fred.

John put his hands to his cheeks, looking solemnly down: “I can see what happened now. The vibration from the blower motor caused the anticoil wires to chafe against their supporting mounts so that the insulation was worn through and the electricity could spark directly from one turn of wire to the next. These anticoils generate hundreds of pounds of force and the Litz wires are very delicate. We need to cushion them so that they can withstand all that mechanical stress. The vibration from the blower motor was the last straw. It seems so obvious now but I sure did not see that one coming.”

Tony said thoughtfully: “We got all the technical know how and understanding from Barbara that we needed to. The only thing we don’t have is a manned flight demonstration. We could always take Steve’s movie and edit it to just show the first few seconds. That would convince the investors that it was real.”

Steve was unconsciously wringing his hands. “We need another round of investment in three months. I am sure that just with the pictures we took today that we could get money, but the question is on what terms. Without a real manned flight the investors would put a lower value on our business plan and all our stock options would get diluted.”

John momentarily closed his eyes and then opened them and clenched his fists. “If we could get Charlotte assembled and working in two months, then that would do the trick. With a working Charlotte then we could get our next round of investment without much dilution of our options.”

“You want a dual processor, regenerative descent and a vertical dimension stabilizer loop all programmed and working in two months?” said Judy cynically.

John said: “Perhaps if we all worked flat out, like 12 hours a day for six days a week, then we could get it done. As a fall back we could have the regenerative power circuits built but just not use them if the software is not ready. The vehicle would still fly. The same thing goes for the vertical inertial stabilizer loop. We would fly it by hand just like Barbara and Annette if the software was not ready. Just leave the option open to bypass the vertical loop.” The others looked at each other. They all saw visions of favorite TV shows, time with spouses and all the other good things of life disappearing from their daily routine.

Tony especially valued his private time for thought and research; it had been part of his life style for the last ten years. “Do we really have to do that?” he questioned. “Surely what we have already is so sensational that the VCs will be standing in line to give us money.”

“I’m going to be here!” said Judy firmly. “Its only for two months and its in all of our best interests.”

“Then I’m for it too!” said Tony grimly.

“Count me in!” agreed Fred.

Each of them understood the wisdom of John’s desperate proposal. Any other choice would have involved loss of face to each other, their families and the staff, which was unthinkable because they all believed so intensely in what they were doing.

“If you are all going to be here then the rest of us are committed too,” said Steve. “I’ll call a company meeting tomorrow and tell everybody.”

Chapter 16

The next morning at Electrolev all 26 people in the company were jammed into the conference room. With only 12 chairs in the room, half the people were standing, shifting uneasily from one foot to another. With old world courtesy most of the seats were occupied by the women. Everybody was uncomfortable because after yesterday’s fiery crash of Barbara there could only be bad news of one form or another. The last to arrive were Steve and John, grim faced.

John stood at the head of the table. “You all saw my hair singeing experience yesterday. Obviously that was not supposed to happen. The good news is that before that ever happened; we got all kinds of calibration measurements out of the lift system so that we now know even better how to design a Levistar. The other good news is that it finally sunk in to us that we are producing hundreds or hopefully soon thousands of pounds of lift from little delicate threads of wire. It is obvious to us now that all these threads have to be rigidly fixed in place and supported in a compliant fashion so that they can’t be damaged by vibration like you all saw happen with Barbara yesterday. From now on each anti-coil is going to be potted in silicone elastomer. So we learned a heck of a lot from Barbara’s test flight. Another piece of good news is that we have movie footage of Barbara moving under her own power, and we can use that to reassure the investors to stick with us.” John paused and his brow furrowed. He looked around caringly at the crowd of anxious faces. “But here is the bad news: we are not just burning Levistars but also burning cash at a serious rate and more than half of the original investment been used to get us to this stage. We are having trouble getting all the supplies we need – for example Barbara used as much Litz wire as is produced in the whole USA in a month, and to get more we are having to bring it in from China, by air, which is incredibly expensive. Our big problem is that we are due for another round of financing three months from now. Let me reassure you, our present investors will for sure stick with us just on the strength of the Barbara flight video. But if we have not done what we said we were going to do then as far as they are concerned, we have started down a slippery slope in which we lose credibility. And when you lose that it means that they put less value on our business plan, which means that all of our stock options become worth less than what they would have been. The difference could easily amount to a hundred thousand dollars each for most of you, and even more for people like me who started off the whole thing.” Some people gasped, and the assembled group looked at each other uncomfortably, waiting for the really bad news.

John paused and took a deep breath, trying his best to make his normally dorky voice come out deep and resonant. “There is one path left to us that can preserve our credibility, and that is to get Charlotte flying before we run out of money. I think that we can do it, because nearly everything that we need is already on order. But it means that we have to assemble Charlotte and write the software to make it go in just two months. To do that, we will all have to make a sacrifice. I want every person in the company to work twelve hours a day, for six days a week, for the next two months. I will be the first one here and the last to leave each day. That way we can get done in two months what we were intending to do in three months. We will start tomorrow morning at 7a.m.! Any questions?”

There was a shocked silence, then several hands shot up. A young woman in a white coat spoke up: “I have to pick up my son from the child care at 6 p.m.! They don’t stay open any longer than that!” John cleared his throat. “There are bound to be some more situations like this. We need to use the resources of the company to overcome the problem. Steve, I want you to work with each person who has a scheduling problem and find the best solution you can. The full resources of the company are there to help – we can probably help with temporary childcare and the like for just two months, but we can’t find temporary people to wind anti-coils or assemble inverters. So everybody who has a personal problem with the schedule go and see Steve after this meeting and he will work something out.” Steve nodded.

A male technician put up his hand, “Are we going to be paid overtime for all this?”

John frowned. “Everybody here is salaried so I am afraid the answer is no. Just think how in reality the value of what you get from your salary is going to be dwarfed by the value of your stock options when we go public.”

Julie Redbridge put up her hand. “I can barely manage on my salary anyway, and not to be there to look after my baby for four hours a day will be crippling. Surely you could move my shift and have a temp stand in for four hours a day. After all, its easy to find someone to be receptionist for a few hours a day!”

John nodded at Steve: “Steve, can you look into it please?

“OK, let’s get back to work everybody!”

Without any spoken word, John, Steve, Tony and Judy hung behind when the rest of the group filed out of the conference room. “How did I do?” John asked the others.

“You did the trick!” commented Steve.

Tony looked troubled. “We may have trouble getting all the material together in time for Charlotte in just two months’ time.” Looking at John he said: “Let’s get together with Beryl the purchasing manager ASAP and go over the scheduling of all the parts and material. We may have to find alternatives for any stuff that won’t make it in time.”

That evening Steve told his wife Suzanne about the two months of 12 hour days.

Suzanne folded her arms. “Are you nuts? – We’ve got five million dollars in our Ameritrade account and you are planning to work like a slave at Electrolev! This is supposed to be our greatest time with the kids away at college and we can do whatever we please! Are you sure that this is not some kind of hoax?”

“Suzanne, I really believe in this project,” replied Steve, slipping his arm around her shoulders. “This invention is going to change all of civilization as we know it. Only one in a million people have an opportunity to be in on something as dramatic and meaningful as Electrolev. Why don’t you come in to work sometime in the next few days and we can give you a demonstration of one of the Annette modules. That will make a believer out of you! Really this Barbara incident was just a temporary glitch and when Electrolev goes public we are going to be fabulously rich!”

Chapter 17

There then followed a period of all work and no play which most of the Electrolev staff forgot about afterwards with no trouble at all. Each of them was getting up extra early, usually before dawn, and staying till 7p.m. meant that it was getting dark again by the time they left. They had a great sense of camaraderie and shared purpose. Everybody in the company would come by the laboratory workshop to see the progress on Charlotte during the day. Fred Beller came into his own, coordinating the work of purchasing, electrical design and the fabrication of inverters and anticoils.

About half way through the two month dash Steve came into the warehouse lab. What a sight he came upon! The whole frame of Charlotte was already together, about twelve feet in diameter. Steve remembered his conversation with his wife last month in which he had explained how this project was such a rare opportunity to make a difference to the world. Looking at the scene before him, Steve felt that already all that sacrificed time and those long hard days had been worthwhile. As he walked in he saw Judy, clad in blue jeans and a red sweater, climbing over the frame and into the pilot’s seat and pushing a jump drive into a socket, while Fred Beller was going all around the vehicle snapping on flexible steel wires which were anchored in the concrete floor. Steve saw that the stabilization anticoils were now encased in aluminum cans about the size of a gallon paint container. Each one was filled with silicone elastomer and tightly screwed together, with thick leads coming out the top for the electric power. They had sturdy lugs for mounting them onto the airframe. Judy was plugging her laptop into Charlotte and surveying the software status. Steve marveled at the progress that had been made in the last four weeks. Two sets of four stabilization anticoils were now assembled on top of each other at the corners of an octagon. Around them the big main lift anti coils were laid in a channel having the form of a twelve foot diameter polygon – almost a circle, which surrounded the main frame.

Judy flipped some switches on the control panel and looked at Fred: “Ready?” Then she saw Steve standing watching and smiled at him. “Hi Steve - I’m working on developing the vehicle control software. We had a horizontal stabilization loop going great on Barbara, but now the challenge is to have that running at the same time as vertical inertial stabilization loop, all on same processor. What that means is that when we pull back on yellow height control here, instead of merely applying power it will move Charlotte up at a steady rate, or down as the case may be. Best of all, if you have the control stick dead vertical then it will put her in park – it will stop dead at that height. The hard part is that the horizontal stabilization loop is running at the same time on same processor, trying to keep the thing flat and level. OK! Here goes!”

Fred jumped back away from Charlotte. He winked at Steve. “Stand back, she might not have got it quite right yet.” Judy pulled back on the vertical yellow lever beside the pilot’s seat very gingerly. Charlotte rose up about a foot, with Judy sitting on top of it. Judy moved the yellow stick back to the vertical position. Charlotte came to a stop where it was a foot above the ground. Then it twitched sideways slightly, then back more strongly the other way, and started jerking backwards and forwards like a bucking bronco ride at an amusement park. Judy quickly flipped off the power switch and Charlotte flopped down onto the shock absorbed rubber caster wheels which were underneath it, with a couple of bounces.

“That’s what happened last time,” said Fred wryly. Judy grinned and stuck out her tongue at him, and retrieving her jump drive she unclipped her seat belt and clambered off Charlotte onto the floor.

“It’s tough one, but we get it right in few days,” she said as she disappeared back into the building. Steve and Fred smiled at each other. They both believed she would.

“Have you seen Charlotte recently? – I can give you a tour,” offered Fred.

Without waiting for an answer he climbed up onto the chassis of Charlotte in his blue jeans and stained polo shirt. “Do you like it? I think that it looks so much nicer now that we have got all the inverters and processor circuits covered up.” He lifted what looked like a floor panel on the top surface to reveal rows of electronic transformers and capacitors, plus a blur of smaller parts on circuit boards. “I’ve got all the batteries mounted in a big circle outside of the electronics and inside of the main anticoils. We are having trouble getting these huge batteries – it seems that we are in flat out direct competition with the electric car makers. Everybody wants lithium ion batteries but we have had to put up with nickel metal hydride ones because that’s all we could get on this accelerated time frame.” He lifted up another panel towards the outer part of the structure, showing neat rows of cylinders stacked end up in a battery compartment. “John says that Delia is going to have to have a battery management system to make all these cells pull together, but to do a quick demo with Charlotte I am personally doing a mix and match operation to select cells that will work together.” He wiped his hands. “Do you like it?”

Steve was actually choking up with emotion at the realization of so much ingenuity and so much hard work and cooperation coming together to make Charlotte in such a short time. Embarrassing tears flooded his eyes causing him to wipe his face with a tissue and blow his nose. “It’s awesome,” he replied, with total sincerity.

“We assemble the anti–coils like this,” explained Fred. “The coils come to me already bound into shape and then I put them in their containers and fill the containers with the silicone fluid which then sets into rubber. So that way all those delicate wires cannot be damaged by lifting forces and vibrations. The main lift anticoils are shaped like polygons and are placed one on top of another and bolted to the main aluminum frame. Each one is capable of lifting the whole vehicle. You can see I have made the whole structure out of aluminum alloy – it’s a far cry from the wooden 2X4s used in Barbara. The leaf blower used in Barbara is replaced by four electric ducted fans running off the main batteries. They are positioned to blow left, right, front and back. The joystick allows the fans to be operated in combination so that propulsion air can be sent in any desired direction for accelerating, braking or turning. If you push the joystick in a given direction then the fan operates on the appropriate side to push the vehicle in that direction. That small steering wheel beside the joystick controls the directional vane at the back.”

Steve would drop by the warehouse every day at the time he knew Judy would be testing software, and in the days that followed he saw the same sequence of events followed over and over again. Gradually Fred lengthened the leashes on Charlotte so that Judy was able to move it around, under its own power, anywhere in the warehouse, from floor height to ceiling height. Finally Fred had the leashes set so long that the only constraint was to stop Judy bumping her head on the ceiling or Charlotte accidentally crashing into a wall. Landing it appeared to be a work of art, much as with a conventional aircraft. Sometimes Judy would put it in park just two inches above the ground, which was as close as she could judge it, and then cut power and just drop the last little distance. Other times she would power it downwards at as slow a speed as the software would allow, and then cut power when she felt the wheels touch. Finally the stabilization loops seemed to be working flawlessly. No matter what combination of commands was given, Charlotte remained flat and steady, and went up and down as commanded. At the last minute Fred built directional vanes into the jet of the rear thruster fan, a lot like he had seen on Florida airboats in the Everglades, to achieve some rotational control. Finally he called a meeting in the main conference room with himself, Tony, John, Judy and their group leaders. They went over their checklist of things to fix or postpone. Two months had gone by since the all work and no play regime was started, and the toll was showing on all their faces.

Steve’s voice was stoical. “This looks so good to me that I think we ought to get Tim Hetherington from our venture capitalists JCB to come and witness the first manned flight of a LeviStar.”

“Yes, I agree,” said John, and the others nodded. “This will constitute the milestone that triggers our next round of financing. Our next step will be to get some premises where we can manufacture the Delia product.”

When Tim heard the news he said that he would be there at Levi Works the very next day.

Chapter 18

The next day dawned clear and sunny, which was normal for a fall day in Long Beach. The sky was blue from horizon to horizon, with a light offshore wind. Excited assembly technicians pushed Charlotte on its casters out into the Electrolev back yard. Tim Hetherington, the venture capitalist, was installed in the seat of honor, a deck chair in the center of the loading bay which gave a grandstand view out over the whole yard. On either side of him were Steve and John, both wearing suits in honor of the occasion. Tony, wearing blue slacks and a light blue dress shirt, was nervously moving around the yard getting in the way of the technicians who were taking readings off the batteries, testing the communication link and making sure that all the inspection hatches were battened down. Almost everybody in the company was present somewhere, either standing in the yard or discreetly peeking out of windows and doors. After two months of 72 hour working weeks everybody wanted to know that their efforts had been worthwhile so that the company could move on. The crowd reverberated with anxiety tinged with camaraderie. Everybody remembered John’s disastrous test flight on Barbara. Suddenly there was a murmur of voices as Judy came striding out of the building. She was wearing the same hardhat that John had worn, with goggles over her eyes. She had on a figure hugging yellow one piece jump suit, and on her back she had a parachute pack. Waving to the assembled staff, she clambered onto Charlotte. Snapping on a lap belt, she fitted a cell phone earpiece and microphone over her head and called the Electrolev main telephone line as had been arranged. Julie the receptionist patched her through to John, and their words were relayed out over speakers in the court yard so that everyone could hear.

“Can you hear me?” came Judy’s voice over the speakers.

“I sure can,” replied John’s voice.

“OK then, let’s get this show on road,” said Judy. “First of all I am going to test the vertical levitation and park feature.” There was a moment of silence and anticipation as everybody held their breath. Judy gently pulled back on the side yellow lever for a moment, which caused Charlotte to rise up to about twenty feet, at which point she set the lever upright again, thus parking Charlotte, silent and stationary, twenty feet above the ground. “The vertical stabilization loop is working a treat,” said Judy’s voice over the speakers. Tim Hetherington stood up in awe and delight. A ripple of applause and delighted voices spread around the yard. Next to him Steve was recording everything on a movie camera. “Now I am going to try out the fan drive,” announced Judy. With no sound audible from the yard, Charlotte then started slowly moving forward. They had practiced this numerous times in the warehouse, so at least to the Electrolev people this was no surprise. “Now I am going to try a corner,” said Judy, as Charlotte came over the wall of the courtyard. She operated the directional vane and Charlotte turned round, but still drifted slowly in the same direction, so that it was actually moving sideways just outside the property. Judy pushed the joystick sideways against the drift and Charlotte clumsily straightened out, now moving at right angles to the original direction roughly over the line of the perimeter wall. “She corners like shit,” Judy’s voice reverberated over the loudspeakers. “Here goes again,” This time Judy got the hang of using the directional vane to set Charlotte slowly rotating, and then just using small puffs from the rear thruster to make it move in slow circles, roughly around the courtyard. The assembled employees applauded and cheered. “I need some space for this thing,” announced Judy. To the amazement of some and the horror of others, she pulled back on the yellow side lever and Charlotte rose straight up to five hundred feet in about ten seconds. A ripple of delight, astonishment and fear ran through the staff crowding the yard.

“Come in number 1 – your time is up,” announced John over the phone link, with everybody listening.

“Yee-Haa!” came the reply. “Now let’s see how fast this thing can go!” With that Charlotte started to move faster and faster off to the south. Electrolev was situated in an industrial area south of Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, in reality no more than a mile from the Pacific. “The ocean looks great from up here,” came Judy’s voice. “I can see the Queen Mary!”

“Judy, this is a bad idea,” commented John’s voice. “Please come back. Charlotte has no flight navigation equipment on board.”

“Oh, all right,” responded Judy’s voice. “Don’t forget that Charlotte designed to take about as long to stop as to get speed up in the first place – so it needs a few moments.” Charlotte was by then a fairly small dot in the sky. This was a moment that the assembled employees would never forget. It gradually slowed to a halt, then turned around and started to get larger again as it returned towards the plant. “Where are you?” said Judy.

“A bit more to your right,” came John’s reply.

“I see you,” said Judy. Charlotte came right over the plant and came to a halt. “This parking gear really works great,” said Judy. Slowly Charlotte descended from the sky. Judy found it hard to get down exactly into the courtyard because nobody had thought to plan for the pilot to see immediately below. So she brought Charlotte down in stages with John coaching – left 50 feet, forwards 40 feet etc. Eventually Judy landed Charlotte in the middle of the courtyard, where it hit the ground with a mild thump and bounced on its suspension, to the delighted applause of all the assembled employees.

“This is magnificent!” said Tim in jubilation. “Can you give me a copy of the movie to show the partners?”

“Of course,” said Steve. “Let’s go inside and I’ll see to it. “

“I must shake the hand of your pilot” said Tim. With Tony and John following, he trotted down the steps beside the loading bay and made his way across to where Judy was climbing off Charlotte. He pumped her hand vigorously. “Well done, well done indeed Judy! This is going to change the course of world civilization!”

Judy pushed back her goggles, smiling from ear to ear. “You are welcome!” she said.

Tim went back to Steve and the pair of them walked indoors conferring together.

Judy looked at Tony and John: “We have got to fix that steering. That thing is a disaster to steer. That’s the reason I went up high in it because it wallows around all over the place. When you use the directional steering vane, you can start the thing spinning and then you need to apply the opposite thrust to get it straight again.”

Tony replied: “Yes, it’s obvious now that we are going to have to set up a gyroscope to detect rotation and automatically apply thrust to control the angular position, just like we do with horizontal control and vertical control. “

“Oh no!” exclaimed Judy. “Another freaking control loop to program!”

“Let’s celebrate!” said John. “How about a pizza lunch party for the whole company? We can celebrate getting back to normal working hours.”

“Yeahh!” exclaimed Tony. Tony and Judy briefly hugged each other.

They went inside leaving the technicians to fuss over Charlotte. Inside they encountered Steve holding a piece of paper. “Tim just left” he said. “I’ve got a commitment for another $20 million. The closing is in one week’s time!” The four of them exchanged high fives.

“I shall really enjoy calling this next company meeting!” exclaimed Steve.

Chapter 19

In the company meeting the next day, Steve was the first to speak. “Yesterday’s test flight was a success in every respect.” He momentarily paused while the staff applauded. “Especially great was the fact that JCB has now committed to invest another $20M so that we can start building a factory.” One again he paused for applause. “Tim was so impressed with our achievements that they have increased their appraisal of our business plan so that the value of our stock options will not be diluted. You have all done a fantastic job to get Charlotte flying successfully in just two months. So starting this evening we can all go back to a normal working day again.” He paused briefly until the ensuing cheers and clapping died away. “With all this money from JCB we are going to buy or lease a factory building well away from anywhere where we can build and test prototypes in privacy.” At this point Steve was astute enough to see several staff members exchanging uneasy glances.

“Did you see this morning’s edition of the Long Beach Press Telegram? We are famous!” shouted out Julie Redbridge, the receptionist, waving the paper excitedly in the air.

John felt a deep empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Famous was the last thing they needed. His mouth went dry. “Can you share it with us?” he croaked.

Julie obligingly handed over the newspaper to John. “I’d like it back please, that one is real history!”

John read out the front page news. “Unidentified flying object seen over Long Beach. At around 10.30 a.m. Tuesday hundreds of people in South Long Beach witnessed a round object moving silently through the sky at low altitude. Accounts of its size varied, but most people agreed it was the size of a small aircraft. Stewart Longbeam, a retired sailor, took this photograph from the porch of his Long Beach home on East Appleton Street.” John stopped and held up the paper showing a blurry round outline seen against some trees. “Long Beach airport confirmed tracking the object for a period of eight minutes during which time it recorded speeds of up to 100 miles an hour. It was originally moving out to sea but after three minutes it changed direction and came back inland. It suddenly vanished from the radar screens in an area south of Pacific Coast Highway. Traffic along Ocean Boulevard was briefly brought to a halt as motorists stopped to gape at the apparition. Meteorologists said that possibly the phenomena could be explained by local cloud formations associated with the marine layer. A spokesman for Long Beach Airport said that they had seen similar things on radar before and it was usually traced to the activities of ultra light aircraft.”

John paused and looked at the employees assembled in the conference room. “Every one of you has signed a confidentiality agreement concerning our activities. If any of you get into a discussion about this, you should say that you personally saw nothing. We must not let any knowledge of our work leak out of here. If anybody asks you what Electrolev is doing, the answer is that we design and manufacture helicopter parts. OK? We have not had our patent applications clear yet and at this time we are still learning every minute of every day about LeviStar technology. We learned an enormous amount from the test flight yesterday, which will help us to make superior products in the future. With your help we are going to make the helicopter obsolete, to be replaced by a quieter and more efficient LeviStar. The longer we can carry on learning about this technology without anybody else competing with us, the more that all of your stock options will be worth. One day in the future there will be a public announcement and Electrolev will go public. That will likely be about five years from now.”

John stepped back from the table and gave Julie back her paper. She was immediately surrounded by staffers wanting to see it for themselves. Steve stepped forward, glowing with pride and happiness. “At 12 noon today we are having a pizza celebration lunch on the company. Everybody make sure to be here at 12 noon!”

Behind him Judy and Tony stood close together, and momentarily exchanged happy, fulfilled smiles as the meeting broke up.

John and Steve stood together as the employees filed out. John was still shocked by the newspaper report. “We probably had a close call on that one. Judy should really have known better than to do what she did. She was only supposed to go up twenty feet and fly around the yard. Can you get working on our new facility right away? It needs to have both lots of empty space and preferably a manufacturing capable building already there.”

Steve looked thoughtful. “It will have to be a long way from here. Some of us may have to move. We’ll keep this place as an R&D location for a while, but it will be a pain if there is a hundred mile commute between the two halves of the company. I am afraid that many of the staff may not want to move.”

John looked resolute and determined. “Maybe we are making history here, Steve. We could be going to change the world. We have to overcome these issues as best we can, and hopefully remain ethical. The big issue is going to be the stock options.” Steve nodded and they drifted thoughtfully out of the room.

After the meeting, Julie the receptionist called the security agency that provided the night guard. “Hello, this is Electrolev. We are changing our working hours again – we are going to be working from eight a.m. till five again from now on. So that means we will need your guards to come on duty at 5 p.m. and be responsible until 8a.m. each day. Yes, today is the first 5 p.m. day!”

At the end of the day she cheerfully greeted Hippelworth, known to his friends as Hippy, the fifty year old black man who came dressed in the uniform from the security agency, complete with a peaked cap marked “SECURITY”. Hippy owed his job to Electrolev’s desire for security, and he was one of the most enthusiastic staff members even though he was a contractor and not even an employee. His vocation was to make sure that all those helicopter parts were safe through the night, and safe they would be. He carried a Nextel with a push to talk link to his own dispatch desk to report in as necessary. He and his shift replacement were expected to call in every two hours. “How are you doing Julie?”

“I’m real happy to get back to normal working hours, It’s been a nightmare finding carers for my baby during these two months.” responded Julie.

“You have a great evening, then, Miss Julie,” said Hippy as Julie departed amongst the other employees streaming out.

Chapter 20

Adrik Rumenik stared at his computer screen showing the news report in the Long Beach Press Telegram about a UFO over Long Beach. He had a three year assignment as an air force attaché at the Russian consulate in West Hollywood. His job description was to read and relay back to his boss in Moscow every scrap of information about the activities of the United States aerospace industry in general and the southern California part of it in particular. He dutifully scanned every newspaper and magazine, and recorded every news bulletin on radio and TV for any snippet that could be remotely helpful to the cause of his country. Like for example, a sudden recruiting drive in say, Palmdale, home of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, which could relate to some important new program starting. Equally significant were sightings of new and strange aircraft. These aircraft were often seen momentarily in the skies long before their official existence was admitted. The major powers are engaged in a constant technology race, and anything that is published or openly released is fair game for imitation. Adrik had to industriously attend every presentation on aviation technology that was open to the public, with the expectation that from crumbs of information that he gathered, whole loaves of intelligence could eventually be assembled. He was an official member of the consulate diplomatic staff and was expected to conduct himself scrupulously legally – overt intelligence only was the accepted basis of his deployment at the consulate. For anything else, there was Igor.

Adrik knew that just north of San Diego was the General Atomics plant at which new unmanned aerial vehicles were being developed. Some of these, he knew, were supposed to have stealth technology. Most were not very big, and there were rumors of some very small ones in development. Could this sighting have been a prototype of a new kind of predator aircraft? Perhaps somebody was trying out new stealth technology and then something went wrong? Then there was SpaceX corporation in El Segundo which was supposed to be developing rockets for transport to the International space Station – but who knows what they might really have going on?

Adrik was convinced that it was his professional responsibility to get to the bottom of this UFO sighting. In line with his restriction to overt activities only, he phoned up Ted Siegel, a retired newspaper reporter who consulted as a private investigator in his retirement. “I want you to dig a little deeper into this UFO sighting for me. Find people who actually saw it and interview them. Talk to shop keepers and anybody else you can find who knows somebody who knows somebody else who saw it.”

“I get it,” replied Ted, “you just want to know what’s going on. That’s right up my street. Give me a couple of days!”

When Ted came back with his report later that week, Adrik was astounded. Enough people had seen the object going up and coming down from different angles that he was able to triangulate with very little error that it had originated from a new helicopter technology company called Electrolev in Long Beach. Ted had even spoken to people in bars who were family members of Electrolev employees and who confirmed that some kind of important test flight had taken place at Electrolev that day. Adrik was now even more intrigued. If new helicopter technology was afoot then it was seriously his responsibility to make sure that everything known about it was recorded. It took Ted just another day to come back with the names of the principals of the company – John Sykes, Judy Chen, Tony Shepard, Steve Harmann and their biographies. There was a public record of the investment in Electrolev by Jones, Cohen and Brown. A loose tongued relative of an employee had confirmed that Electrolev had flying vehicles of some kind on the premises.

Adrik took a drive around Long Beach and looked at the Electrolev plant, photographing it from all directions. He rented a helicopter and paid to have it fly over Electrolev so he could take photographs of the place from the air. The next morning he reported to his boss back in Moscow: “There is apparently a new aerospace company formed in Long Beach to make helicopters. They made a test flight last week over the city of Long Beach which demonstrated that their prototype is completely silent. This could represent an important break through in helicopter technology.”

His boss was frighteningly intense: “A silent helicopter? This could have devastating implications on the battlefield! I need evidence at once! Use Igor, do you understand?”

Adrik was a highly educated young man with a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Moscow. He was the one who could know what was or was not new technology, but he was limited to overt intelligence gathering. For everything else there was Igor. Igor had the job description of cleaner and handyman for the consulate. However he had a skill set which covered the full range of covert intelligence gathering activities, and it was for special missions like this that he was employed, so that diplomats like Adrik did not have to dirty their hands or risk doing anything illegal.

Adrik sat down and explained the situation to Igor, who was a squat man about five foot five inches tall, with a swarthy complexion and thick black hair. He made a strange companion to Adrik who was six feet tall and had light brown hair and a graceful frame that had won him many prizes in college athletics. “That’s easy,” responded Igor. “Tomorrow night I will procure a false ID and rent a truck. I will first sneak into the building and explore it while you wait outside. If I can find anything resembling a flying vehicle then I will take lots of pictures of it. If it seems small enough to lift we will quickly open the gate, go in and load it onto our truck, and take it off to a storage shed that I have down near the port of LA. By tomorrow you will have all the evidence you need. Obviously we must not be recorded. I know how to disable security systems and cameras, but just in case we will take firearms. Nobody who sees our faces can be allowed to live!”

Adrik gulped at this thought. He was a gentle person, deeply in love with his fiancé Lara who he went back to see in Moscow every three months. He was a recent graduate who had only had this assignment for a year and the thought of killing somebody just to find out about new helicopter technology shook him. He protested to Igor, who came back with: “Our boss uses code words, Adrik. When he says I must have evidence, use Igor, this is exactly what he means. In our line of business we simply do what we have to do and don’t think about it.”

Chapter 21

A few days after normal shifts had resumed, Hippy was sitting flipping through newspapers at the reception desk at around 9.30 p.m. when he thought that he heard a tiny sound. Since he was pretty stiff from sitting still so long anyway, he picked up his Nextel and called in to his dispatcher: “14 to base – I’m going on patrol now.” With that he picked up his giant metal flashlight and slowly started his routine tour of the premises. Most of the office area could be seen at a glance from near the reception, and that was obviously all quiet. He knew that some nights Tony Shepard was likely to be working in his office until late in the night, but he was not there now. Then in the computer room opposite the offices of John Sykes and Tony Shepard the backup tape drives were likely to be whining and whirring on and off all by themselves through the night. Moving across the office area, he opened a door which led out into the large laboratory and workshop where parts were constructed and some quite large contraptions, about which he had no clue, were to be found. The warehouse area had dim lights kept on all through the night which facilitated his inspections. Suddenly he was shocked because one of the big rollup doors from the warehouse out into the yard was open. He had been round all these areas soon after all the employees had left and he knew full well that this door was closed at that time. Then in the darkness of the yard he was suddenly able to see two men, wearing dark clothes, pushing one of the pieces of equipment which was on wheels, out towards a flat bed truck which certainly did not belong in that yard.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath, and hastily closed the office area door behind him so that the light did not attract attention. He then pulled out his Nextel and said in a hushed voice: “14 to base. Burglary in progress at Electrolev premises. Police needed immediately.”

“Roger that,” said the dispatcher. There was a moment’s silence while Hippy watched the men struggling to load the machine onto the back of their truck. Evidently it was heavy and they were struggling mightily, first lifting up one corner, then the next, and then concentrating their effort on picking up the opposite end. “Number 14: police are on their way,” said the dispatcher.

Officer Roger Peterson was patrolling Pacific Coast Highway in his cruiser. He was a ten year veteran of the Long Beach police department and was musing about why he was staying in the department because of the hassle he sometimes got from his bullying sergeant. The problem was that if he moved to another police department he would lose all the pension rights that he had accumulated. Because of that he stayed. His call sign was 7 Mary 3. Suddenly the dispatcher came on the radio: “Seven Mary 3 from dispatch - burglary in progress at Electrolev, number 430 Pacific Avenue. Backup is also en route.”

Officer Sam Prentice had the call sign 7 David 12. He was patrolling Pacific Boulevard and thinking about the fact that his shift was due to end in two hours. He would not get much sleep that night because he had committed to an early shift the next morning in order to help out another police officer who needed time in the morning for a school meeting. Sam’s wife was a registered nurse and they had two pre-school children who would be tucked up safely in bed when he got home. Suddenly he heard dispatch call: “7 David 12: burglary in progress at 430 Pacific Avenue. You are backing up 7 Mary 3.”

Sam knew that 7 Mary 3 was the call sign for Roger Peterson who he knew well; they had attended a police family barbecue together on the last July 4th with their families. Sam gunned his cruiser, knowing that he could get to that location in less than one minute. He turned on his flashing lights but not his siren, so as to increase his chances of making an arrest. As soon as he got to 430 Pacific Avenue his practiced eye saw a big gate for freight trucks wide open, with a severed chain hanging limply through the links – an obvious victim of a bolt cutter. Inside the yard he could see a white flatbed truck parked, facing the gate. Following standard procedure, Sam parked his cruiser right across the gateway to prevent anybody from driving out of the premises. He picked up his microphone: “7 David 12 10-23.”

“10-4,” came the terse reply. Over his shoulder he could see the flashing lights which he knew to be Roger hurtling towards the same scene from the other direction. Pulling out his 9mm Beretta service weapon, Sam leaped out of his car and strode briskly into the yard, flashlight in one hand and gun in the other. He heard Roger’s cruiser screeching to a halt behind his. Suddenly he saw men behind the flatbed truck working with some kind of machinery. “Long Beach Police department – put your hands in the air and face away from the sound of my voice!” he commanded. Suddenly he was overcome by an overwhelming pain in his chest and he was on the ground. He did not instantly realize that he had just been shot.

Roger got out of his cruiser and the first thing he heard was a gunshot and then he saw Sam collapsing on the ground. Since the intruders did not know yet that he was there, Roger leaped towards Sam’s cruiser for protection. Long Beach police cars had ballistic shields in their doors and this was one of the safer places to be in such an emergency. He sat himself in the driver’s seat. In this position his whole body was protected behind the bullet proof door. He pointed his Beretta out between the open door and the body frame. He heard the engine in the truck roar to life, and the truck started accelerating towards him. Since this was clearly a life threatening situation, Roger started shooting at the windshield of the truck, which he could dimly make out above the glaring headlights. He fired four rounds but it made no difference. In three seconds the truck slammed broadside into the police cruiser, thrusting it to one side and across the street with a tremendous crash and screeching noise as the wheels of the cruiser were pushed sideways across the street. The truck took off towards Pacific Coast Highway. Despite all his training, Roger was so stunned by the impact that he did not even get the license plate number.

Moments later Hippy came rushing across. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Roger was hurting from all kinds of places but he seemed to be functioning. “Probably,” he responded. “Give me a second,” Then he grabbed the radio microphone in Sam’s cruiser and called in to dispatch. “7 Mary 3 to dispatch. Officer down. Roll an ambulance to my location and send me backup. Two unknown suspects in a white flat bed truck – unknown make or model traveling northbound on Pacific Avenue towards PCH.” Then he leaped out of the car, and ran towards the fallen body of Sam Prentice.

Chapter 22

As the next morning dawned, police were blocking off Pacific Avenue at the two adjacent crossroads, and had draped yellow crime scene tapes across the driveway of Electrolev. Steve Harman was in the yard talking with Lieutenant Witham of the Long Beach police, while other officers prowled around the yard and the street looking for clues. “What is produced at Electrolev?” asked Witham.

“We make technology for helicopters,” said Steve without hesitation. He pointed at the slightly battered structure of Charlotte which was still in the middle of the yard where it was dumped unceremoniously on its end when the burglars dropped it. “This is one of our most secret prototype products, and I am sure those crooks were trying to get off with it.”

Witham looked suspiciously around, which was actually his habitual manner but was very unnerving to people he interviewed. “These were probably not your regular petty thieves trying to get money for drugs. We have already ascertained that they were wearing latex gloves so that they did not leave fingerprints. And to try and immediately shoot their way out without making any attempt to run elevates this to a much more serious level of crime. How valuable was the machine they were trying to steal?”

Steve thought inwardly 8 billion dollars but instead he replied: “It has no commercial value. It’s just a laboratory prototype. I think that they were trying to steal technology know-how from us.

“How is the police officer who was shot?”

“He is in critical condition in hospital. Look, I think that you people need to seriously upgrade your security if you are attracting this kind of attention. You could put in some really strong steel doors at the gates and more razor wire over the tops of the courtyard walls.”

Steve nodded his head thoughtfully. “You’re right, I’ll get on to it this morning.”

Later when the staff came in, Steve held a meeting in the conference room with John, Judy and Tony. He told them what he knew about the events of the previous night, which had already been described factually on the Channel Seven news. “I am going to upgrade our security one level,” said Steve. “There will be a steel gate across the front door with a camera and a remote control so that the receptionist can buzz people in from inside. Then I am going to have steel bars installed inside all the windows. The outside gates will be replaced with heavy steel ones operated by automatic motors, and we will have more razor wire put along the tops of the courtyard walls.”

Tony replied: “After what happened last night nobody is going to question all that! How about some internal motion sensors and TV cameras? That kind of technology is quite cheap these days.”

Steve nodded approvingly. “That’s a good idea! We can have monitors for all the cameras at the receptionist desk, and the motion detector status panel can be placed there as well. That way the guard knows instantly if anything moves in the place. By the way, was Charlotte harmed much by her ordeal?”

John answered: “She seems to be dinged about a bit and looks wretched in places, but we can probably have her fixed up in a couple of days. Right now we are using her as a test bed for fixing the angular stability control – you know the problem that Judy drew to our attention on the first outdoor test flight.”

Tony looked briefly at the others, and then said: “Can we change the subject now?” The others nodded patiently, looking wonderingly at Tony, who continued: “Our patent attorney received a letter from the United States Patent Office this morning. Everybody knows that they will not accept patent applications for perpetual motion machines without a demonstration – that’s pretty obvious because nobody has ever made a perpetual motion machine. What neither our attorney nor it seems anybody else knew is that they have a similar rule for levitation devices. So what they are asking is that we come over to Washington and prove to them that it actually works!”

John immediately came back with: “How about you and I taking one of the Annette prototypes over there and just show them. One demo will convince the bastards!”

Tony felt instinctively that this was not the greatest idea. “I think that the fewer people who know about this technology the safer we are,” he said. “If we take one of the Annettes over to Washington there is always a chance of it getting lost. If we are successful then there are going to be maybe ten more people who know what the true nature of our technology is.”

“That’s a really good point,” responded John. “but I think that we ought to play by the rules. Surely the patent examiners are sworn to secrecy about these things? I want us to go and convince them. The value of the company is going to hinge upon the patents which it owns, and this one is the most fundamental one of all. In any case we intend to use submarine patent techniques to stop the patents from actually issuing until we are ready. With all the improvements we are making every day, like the stabilization loop techniques and the methods for assembling anticoils, we are going to have no trouble at all in keeping a stream of continuation patents going.”

The others nodded reluctantly. Responsibility of the kind they were having thrust upon them meant making decisions without having complete knowledge of the situation, and this was stressful to all of them. John however seemed to be growing in stature and authority as he warmed to the role of president of Electrolev. The others had noticed that he walked in a more upright manner and seemed to have greater confidence as each day went by. By contrast Tony and Judy seemed to be more involved with each other as the weeks went by, and would spend hours talking over the minute details of anticoil technology. Although nobody discussed it openly, almost everybody imagined that the pair of them were living together most of the time, especially since they would turn up in the same car on some mornings and then leave together as well. As her relationship with Tony had grown, Judy had become more stylish and assertively feminine compared to her previous demeanor at Lighting Enterprises. She had achieved for herself a reputation for intuitively anticipating problems. Her influence had grown especially after she almost predicted the fiery crash of Barbara.

Judy sat up straight in her chair and looked around at the others. “I have concern that we ought to discuss here and now. Our business plan hinges around making replacement for helicopters. But in our discussions in the last few days it is clear that you all believe as I do that the anticoils will work outside the earth’s atmosphere – in space. This gives different dimension to things. The space shuttle is obsolete, spy satellites are obsolete. Every kind of satellite is obsolete because LeviStar vehicle with solar panels could hover say, 50 miles up indefinitely. It could be brought down for servicing when you wanted. So this thing has international geopolitical ramifications!” She paused, momentarily self conscious at using such long words. As Judy and Tony had become closer, Judy had taken to wearing increasingly sexy clothes, and today she had on a tight black sweater which emphasized her considerable curves to perfection, especially when she sat up straight as she did at this moment.

John, Tony and Steve sat with attention riveted on the point Judy had made.

“Are we sure it will work in space?” interrupted Steve, his voice brittle with tension.

“It’s all theory,” answered Tony. “In the evenings I have been working on a physics theory of what goes on. It seems like you can explain what happens with just a small modification of Einstein’s relativity theory. If that genius could have seen a LeviStar I am convinced he would have built the fifth force right into general relativity. It’s just that until now almost nobody except a few way-out theorists like me even dreamed that such a thing could happen.”

“So you mean that we do not really know whether it will work on up into space or not?” queried Steve.

“You are right to ask the question, Steve,” continued Tony. “We have been building up all these hopes and dreams with the expectation that we do understand what is happening, and that expectation suggests that if a vehicle has enough energy packed into its batteries, then it could get itself right up into space. You can easily calculate that for a given weight, you need a certain amount of energy to get to a given height. Batteries only hold a certain amount of energy, so if you know how much energy per pound a battery contains you can pretty easily calculate how high it could ever go, without any vehicle to lift.”

“Well how high could a cell phone battery lift itself?” questioned John.

“Most cell phones today have lithium ion polymer batteries,” replied Tony. “In theory one of those could lift itself about 30 miles in the extreme case where there was no weight to lift except the weight of the battery itself. You can do better out of a lithium manganese dioxide non rechargeable battery, which is about one half the weight for the same amount of energy. One of those could take itself up to about 60 miles. Obviously in that case it would be a one way journey”

“So that’s why you spent all that money on lithium manganese dioxide batteries!” exclaimed Steve.

Tony grinned: “If we really load up an Annette model with batteries then the batteries will be about a half of the weight. So if we used lithium manganese dioxide ones it might reach 30 miles if we were lucky. What this all says to me is that if we were planning a space going vehicle, it would have to have its own power generator on board – maybe a nuclear reactor, for example. Remember that the amount of gravitational field our anticoil couples to goes as the square of the diameter, so the bigger we make it the better it works.”

“Let’s be realistic Tony,” interjected Judy. “You are getting too far ahead of things now.”

“OK, being realistic,” continued Tony, “I reckon that if we took one of the Annette models and put in so many lithium manganese dioxide batteries that they were half of the weight, then it would have enough energy to get to about 30 miles. I would lighten up the airframe as much as possible, for example use aluminum instead of copper for the Litz wire.”

John looked anguished. “We really have to settle the point - It could make an enormous difference depending on whether we are going to just replace helicopters or replace the whole aerospace industry. It’s like the difference between huge and huge squared. I think that we have no choice but to get the matter resolved. Let’s take one of the Annette generation units, retrofit it with lithium manganese dioxide batteries, and add a radio transponder to it so that when we transmit a radio signal to it, then it will send back a ping. If we measure how long it takes for the ping to come back then we will know how far away it has gone.”

Tony immediately adopted the idea. “I have an instinct that we ought to put some kind of external covers on it to protect it from cloud condensation, cosmic dust, and all that sort of thing. Probably just some thin film wrap would do the trick. How long do you think it will take to get one ready?”

“I reckon about two weeks,” said John. ‘We already have the good batteries around in sufficient quantities and all we have to do is to retrofit one of the Anettes with a transponder and add the external covers.”

“Have we got another one for the patent office?” queried Tony.

“Well, we have two of them right now. We can take one to the patent office next week and prepare the other one with a radio pinger to go up the following week,” answered John. Suddenly he remembered to act presidential. “We’ve discussed a lot of action items in this meeting – let’s get on with it! Tony – you let me know when we get to go to the patent office!” With that he stood up. After a moment’s hesitation, the others looked at him, noting his newly found authoritativeness, and went back to work.

That evening after most of the staff had left, Hippy was manning the front desk and Tony was poring over equations on the side table in his office. Judy was the only other person left in the office suite, and around 6.30 p.m. she packed up her laptop into her bag and walked down the corridor to check Tony’s status. This was a recurring piece of theater which happened on so many evenings. Tony would get so engrossed in his analysis that he would simply forget about going home. During the day time Judy and Tony would usually have both of their cars at work. Then if they left together, one car would stay in the Electrolev yard, safely inside the walls and watched over by the security guard. If Judy was unsuccessful in persuading Tony to leave then she would just take her own car home and Tony would follow later.

“Honey – it’s time to go home!” announced Judy.

Tony was poring over the papers on his side table with a look of rapt concentration. He swung round his swivel chair, acknowledging Judy with a smile.

“It’s your turn to cook tonight!” said Judy, sweetly.

Tony looked pained. “I’m just starting to get somewhere with these relativistic transforms.”

Judy knew that this could be the lead in for a delaying tactic, so she brought a little more persuasive power to the discussion. Putting down her briefcase with its heavy laptop inside, she straightened the hem of her sweater, pulling it tight across her chest, and sat down on Tony’s lap. She draped her arms around his neck and engaged him in a long passionate kiss.

“You know, I feel like having an early night tonight,” she murmured. She wriggled a little so that her mid thigh length skirt revealed most of her left leg. She started another lengthy kiss, and Tony unconsciously started to enjoy fondling her breast through her sweater. At that moment they were both startled by a discrete “Ahem.” It was John, who had been fiddling around with circuits in the lab outside in the warehouse unnoticed by anybody.

John stood with folded arms, an indignant expression on his face. “I really think that you two ought to be a bit more discreet!” Both Tony and Judy noticed that he was blushing. “It is not dignified and appropriate to your position in the company to behave like that on the premises,” he said sternly. “I’m off now, so I’ll see you tomorrow.” John strode over to the front desk and asked Hippy to open the back gate, and then walked smartly out into the backyard without looking at them again. Inwardly, John was seething with discomfort. He secretly admired Judy’s sexuality from a distance, and worked really well with her professionally, but had never got anywhere with her romantically. On a personal level, he regarded Tony as a sexual rival, on the other hand he respected Tony’s intellect. To see them together in a way that he could only dream of was particularly galling for him. Steve’s admonishments about sexual harassment were running through his mind If I did that I would be had up for sexual harassment, he grieved to himself inwardly.

Back in the office, Tony said to Judy: “I feel awful about that. John is such a nice fellow and he is doing a damn good job as president of Electrolev. I just hate to embarrass him like that”

Judy replied: “I respect him too. He is such good looking guy. He needs nice honest girl who make him happy. Maybe I will make party with some of my old room mates and invite John along. Jenny Wu has just had breast implants and that should get John turned on – she shows them to everybody and likes to get guys to touch them to prove how realistic they are!”

“I seem to have lost my concentration,” said Tony. “Let’s get on home shall we?” With that they too asked Hippy to open the back gate and they slowly walked out hand in hand to the parking lot, deep in thought.

Chapter 23

Tony and Dan Smuthers the patent attorney were driving into LAX airport for the flight to Washington. They had one of the Annette prototypes, securely packed in a cardboard box, into the back of the car. They had solved the problem of not letting Annette out of their sight by purchasing a seat for the box. Together they lugged the cardboard box containing Annette, which was 3’X3’ by 1’, across the multi story parking lot and into the terminal. Each of them carried a substantial brief case which also contained overnight things. They were going to stay at a hotel in Washington that night, visit the patent office in the morning, and return that day. As anticipated, they had to do a lot of talking at the TSA inspection. The officers insisted upon Annette’s box being placed inside a huge scanning machine which had a red light on the top. The agent pressed a button and immediately the red light started flashing and a siren blared out, causing everybody in the check in hall to turn and stare. Out of nowhere, four helmeted men in khaki uniforms appeared with M16 rifles and surrounded Tony and Dan, who felt a sense of panic rising inside them. Was some government agency determined to steal their invention? Dan’s face clearly showed that he was feeling the same panic. Dan looked at Tony who stared back at him in disbelief. It was a moment that seemed to last for an eternity. Then one of the inspectors turned off the alarms and commented to his colleague “Maybe that sensor element needs cleaning again!” Turning to Tony, he explained: “We are going to put your box on the table but we have to open it, you are not allowed to touch it.” Tony looked at Dan and rolled his eyes. The M16 toting guards backed off slightly while Annette was carried across to an inspection table. The officer donned latex gloves and ever so slowly started to open the box.

“We are going to miss our flight at this rate!” commented Dan to Tony.

“What is this thing?” asked the TSA inspector.

“It’s my work - a prototype electronic device for use in helicopters,” responded Tony. The TSA inspector was clearly uncomfortable and called over his supervisor. Together they looked over it, under it and through it with bewilderment. They tried pushing it and prodding it to make sure it was not anything dangerous. “I guess it’s harmless,” said the supervisor, walking off to another station. The guards filed off behind a door on one side. Tony and Dan looked at each other and started carefully packing Annette and the RC controller back into the cardboard box.

Once on the plane, Tony took the aisle seat, Dan the center seat and the Annette box was placed up against the window. Dan and Tony chatted idly as the flight progressed.

“So how is it going with Electrolev?” asked Dan.

“We really have made a lot of progress this year,” replied Tony. “The biggest thing was the first manned flight a couple of weeks ago. We have learned all kinds of stuff about how to control these vehicles. As you know, they are inherently unstable, and can only remain flat and steady by virtue of the computer sensing its orientation and correcting it back to be flat. As recently as the first test flight, we learned what should have been obvious, that if you start one of them spinning, it will tend to carry on spinning until you stop it. So just this week we have put in a gyroscopically controlled feedback loop which stops the device from rotating unless the driver is twisting the joystick. It sounds simple, but it has consumed six programmers for a week to make it work simultaneously with keeping the device flat and holding it at a desired height.”

Dan nodded sympathetically. “Wow! It must be a tremendous strain on you all learning so much so rapidly. Does everyone of you all have official lab notebooks and all the procedures for recording these inventions?”

“You bet – but all the same it is a strain. Especially for the last two months because we put everybody on a 12 hour day, six days a week in a big push to demonstrate manned flight before our money ran out. I felt like a wreck at the end of it. But it was all worth it to see Judy going through the air in the first manned flight!”

“That Judy seems like a real livewire. It must be fun working around somebody like that.”

“Fun is only half of it. Nobody else knows this, but Judy and I are planning to get married next year. Please don’t tell anybody else – I am afraid it would complicate our lives at Electrolev if anybody else knew. I know I can rely on your discretion – right?”

“Absolutely!” said Dan. “My lips are sealed.”

Tony continued: “Talking of discretion, we are worried about people at the patent office knowing about the anticoil principle. Can we really trust them?”

“You don’t have to worry. Those guys have taken oaths and vows which make any confidentiality agreement you could draft look silly. I know because I used to be one of them. So secret information leaking out of the patent office should be the last thing that you need to worry about. Actually I haven’t been to the USPTO myself for more than five years. The last time I was there they were located at Crystal City, a few miles away. They outgrew that place and have taken up more grandiose premises on Dulaney Street since then. Also I need to forewarn you that these examiners are a pretty erudite bunch of fellows – so give them respect. They work under extreme pressure and after two years from their hire date about a half of them are gone.”

The flight continued uneventfully on to Dulles airport. Tony and Dan took a cab to the Embassy Suites hotel in Alexandria, close by the Patent and Trade Mark office for their ten a.m. meeting the next day.

In the morning, they took a cab to 600 Dulaney Street. Upon entering the building, they went through a time consuming procedure of having an individual photographic ID badge prepared for each of them.

Dan was happy to put up with this. “You should make sure you hang on to that, because you can use it for ID checks in airports and such like and it saves dragging out your wallet and driving license over and again.”

Finally they were shown to a conference room near the entrance. The room was empty when they sat down, and over a period of ten minutes a committee of about ten examiners gradually filed into the room. They were all men, about half of them appearing to be Asian. Tony and Dan overheard snatches of conversation as the examiners chatted amongst themselves. “Last week they had us look at a magnet motor that was supposed to produce energy from nowhere. Now we have to look at a magic carpet that can lift itself off the ground! Do they think we have nothing better to do?” Dan and Tony exchanged glances.

After fifteen minutes an older man came into the room, and Tony guessed from the sudden hush that he must carry some weight in that building. “I am chief examiner Smith of the United States Patent Office.” He looked hard at Tony and Dan. “We have a long standing policy of not accepting patent applications that are so extraordinary that they would be rejected by the body of modern science, unless the inventors can produce a working model of the invention. So I now invite you to show and explain the invention to us. All of these gentlemen are qualified examiners of the USPTO.”

Tony stood up. However Dan motioned him back and said: “We are most grateful to you for the honor of being invited here. Give us a few moments and we will make the demonstration that you have in mind.”

Tony then carefully opened the tie fasteners around Annette’s box, and opened the lid. Then he slowly lifted out the Annette prototype and placed it in the center of the conference table. He next pulled out an RC controller box with an antenna, and switched on both the Annette prototype and the control box. A few LEDs started glowing green and yellow on the Annette circuit board. “Gentlemen, this is a prototype model of a levitation device made using the fifth force principle described in our patent application. It uses a large coil here round the outside which does the actual levitation, and four smaller coils here inside the larger one which are used to stabilize the device, since such a system is inherently unstable by itself. There is a microprocessor in the center which is orchestrating this balancing act, calling out a correcting signal every time a gyroscope sensor detects a minute shift from the desired level configuration. This particular model is not capable of doing anything except to go up and down, but obviously that is very important.” With that Tony gingerly pushed one of the tiny levers on the RC control box, and Annette started to rise up from the table. When it got to about three feet up, Tony attempted to stop it but overshot the mark so that it started coming down again. After a couple of tweaks on the control levers, he had Annette hovering almost stationary over the conference table at a height between two and three feet. He looked up from his concentrated task and scanned the faces of the assembled examiners. “Any questions?”

The examiners were sitting there dumbstruck. Some had jaws dropping open, while others had gone glassy eyed. The examiners looked at each other in silence for a few moments. Chief examiner Smith stroked his chin with his hand. “Is that all it does?”

“What more do you want?” rejoined Dan.

“OK, I agree that your demonstration is very convincing,” said Chief Examiner Smith. “We will go ahead with an examination of the invention. I will write up minutes of this meeting and send you a copy.”

“Thank you, sir,” replied Dan courteously. The meeting broke up.

Afterwards outside the patent office steps, Tony and Dan finally looked at each other and each of them cracked into smiles and then laughter of delight. Dan held up his hand high in the air and Tony joyously slapped it to give him a high five right there outside 600 Dulaney Street.

Chapter 24

The next morning back at Electrolev, Steve, Tony, John and Judy gathered again in the conference room as soon as they all arrived, around eight a.m.

Steve was burning with impatience. “Well, how did it go?”

Tony was looking unusually debonair, with neatly pressed tan slacks and a brown golf shirt. He was clearly buoyed up by yesterday’s triumph. “We wowed them! You should have seen their faces when the Annette lifted off the table! I was wishing I could have had a camera there! The chief examiner said “Is that all it does?” and Dan said: “Well how much more do you want?” After that he gave in and that was the end of the meeting. The whole thing only lasted about 20 minutes.”

Steve and John pumped his hand vigorously saying “Well done, well done!” Judy proudly remarked: “I knew you could do it!” and gave him a little hug.

“How are things coming along for our space shot?” asked Tony, looking at John. John was looking discomfited at the sight of Judy and Tony embracing in the company conference room, and his face showed it for a split second. Then he recovered and assumed his professional poise: “We finally received the last of the lithium manganese dioxide batteries yesterday. We have torn out all the RC circuitry to save weight, and used the space to put in a radio pinger circuit. We have dangled a little antenna down underneath her to transmit the pings back to base. Now the whole thing has been wrapped in plastic to keep out moisture and dust on her journey. The inverter controls are jammed at permanent full power, so the moment it is turned on it will take off for the sky! The technicians are checking her out now in the warehouse – she is tied down for her own safety, and we have operated the inverters for just a few seconds at a time – obviously we don’t want to use up any more of the battery than we can help. This morning we are going to take the radio transmitter a mile away down by the shore, and check that we can measure the ping response time to get the distance.”

“That sounds great,” said Tony enthusiastically.

“I’ll drive you down to the beach!” offered Steve. “You never know, I might see some bikinis!” They all chuckled. “We can start loading your car right now,” said John, and they walked out together.

Steve drove a red Corvette, and today he had the top down. John piled the oscilloscope and radio transmitter all into the tiny back seat area, and the two of them set off on the one mile journey to the beach. It was a work day morning, and the schools had just gone back, so there were only a few mothers with infants playing there. The Pacific Ocean looked magnificent as usual, with huge breakers crashing down on the beach. They found a small beach parking area, and started unloading all the gear. John plugged a portable inverter into the cigarette lighter of the Corvette, and quickly connected the scope and the radio transmitter together. “OK, now we are in business!” he remarked to Steve, who was hopefully scanning the empty beach. A particularly thunderous line of surf crashed down. John pressed a button on the radio and the electronics went “beep”. He looked at the scope readout. There was nothing there. Then he pulled out his cell phone and called Electrolev. “Adrian? This is John. I’m not getting any response from Annette. He listened to the technician back at Electrolev for a moment. Well switch it on then!” John pushed the pinger button again and once again the apparatus beeped. He peered at the scope display. “I’ve got it!” he exclaimed – “1.1 miles just like it should be! OK, you can switch it off now.” And with that he shut off his cell phone. Looking at Steve, he said: “It looks like we’re in business! – let’s get back.” With that the two of them started packing the gear back into the Corvette and made their way back to the plant.

After lunch the technicians were carefully setting up the Annette on a table in the Electrolev yard. Everybody knew what was going on and was aware of the importance. Ian and Jim the physicists were talking quietly in the shade of the warehouse overhang. Fred Beller was moving around, directing everything that actually happened. Steve Harman was setting up his movie camera on the loading bay edge, as he did before when Barbara and Charlotte were tested for the first time. Julie the receptionist and several of the programmers were standing just outside the back door of the building, enjoying the sunshine. John, Tony, Judy and Fred gathered around the table upon which the modified Annette was standing, wrapped in plastic film. On another table just adjacent stood the radio transmitter/receiver and the oscilloscope, and the big TV antenna connected to the transmitter/receiver was now pointed up at the sky.

“I really do believe that this thing will go up 30 miles,” said John. “Maybe we shouldn’t waste a perfectly good unit in this way.”

Judy looked at him intensely. “We have already had this discussion. There is only one way to prove it will work in space and that is to let one go.”

Tony slowly shook his head in a worried fashion. “If it goes up thirty miles, then I worry about where it is going to come down,”

John fiddled with the radio controls. “Don’t worry, I think I’ve got that one covered! The wind is offshore at ten miles an hour today, and we are only about a mile from the Pacific. So if it is up there for more than six minutes it is going to be out over the Pacific and we’ll never see it again.”

“Is the radio pinger online?” asked Tony. John nodded. “Then let’s do it!” he exclaimed. John reached out and clicked a switch on the outside of Annette. It silently lifted up off the table, accelerating quickly to what looked like a highway speed, and then seemed to move more slowly as it went up towards the puffy low clouds. It became smaller and smaller in the sky, moving straight upwards. All the assembled people craned back their necks to watch it, some with binoculars. After about a minute it vanished into the wispy clouds and disappeared from sight. There were a few seconds of clapping and some of the group exchanged high fives.

“What’s the altitude?” questioned Judy.

John was poring over the radio transmitter/receiver. “Just over 1 mile.” The assembled group relaxed and took seats on boxes, some beach chairs and old packing crates which were in the yard. Some had expressions reflecting a sense of foreboding that if this space shot was not successful, the company would still be valuable but only to a fraction of the extent it would have been with success. Others looked firm and resolute and seemed to be confident that a successful result was inevitable, meaning that their new technology would displace most of the existing aerospace industry. After a while most of them drifted away leaving just Tony, Judy and John alone. They continued to watch the oscilloscope screen for what seemed like forever.

“Five miles,” reported John. They exchanged glances, and looked at each other exchanging nods and reassuring smiles. About ten minutes went by. The hot afternoon sun was baking but a cool sea breeze kicked in which was refreshing. Tony and Judy stood close together, casually watching John at the oscilloscope. They seemed almost as interested in each other as in the ongoing experiment. John briefly looked up from his instruments and snatched a glance at them. A momentary expression of anguish flickered across his face. He pressed a button on his instruments and a sharp “ping” noise came from the radio receiver. He peered at the display screen and called out: “Ten miles.” He studiously recorded the time and the distance.

Fred stuck his head out from the building. “Hey – you guys like some Pepsi to keep you awake?” The answers were strongly affirmative, although falling asleep was the last thing they feared. Tony and Judy sat down beside the instruments and the three sipped their Pepsi and chatted about the technicalities of the radio pings as another ten minutes dragged agonizingly past.

Steve came out from the building. “Where is it now?”

“20 miles,” replied John.

Tony looked at the others. “Are you convinced now?” They nodded.

“It’s real enough,” said John. “At 20 miles there is only one hundredth of an atmosphere – that little device has left the earth and is in near space now.”

Chapter 25

“A freaking elevator is going up south of LA! Captain Chu! – I need help over here!” exclaimed Jesus Rodriguez, a radar operator at Vandenberg air force base. Vandenberg air force base has the task of monitoring events in space above the western USA, above the 50,000 foot level which is controlled by civilian air traffic control. So this covers satellites, missiles and military flights.

Chu the supervisor strode across the dimly lit room. “What is it?”

Jesus pointed his finger at the huge monitor display in front of him. “What do you make of this echo? At an altitude of twenty miles it is moving upwards steadily at 70 feet per second, about 50 miles per hour. It looks like an express elevator that came loose! I first noticed it ten minutes ago.”

Chu grimaced in disgust. “The system must be on the blink again. Mezinsky – use scanner B to look at the space over the coast 200 miles south of here!”

Another operator worked with his keyboard and mouse and after a few moments he reported: “I can see a small echo at an altitude of 21 miles rising at about 50 miles an hour. It’s about 180 miles south of here, just south of LA.”

Chu pulled out a cell phone like communicator and spoke into it: “Major Evans, we have an airspace intrusion south of LA - you ought to see it!”

Moments later Major Evans came into the room and converged on Rodriguez’s station like a heat seeking missile converging on a plane. He was a burly figure, bespectacled with a regulation military buzz cut. The three stared at the screen in astonishment tinged with disbelief. “Are we sure that the system is not malfunctioning?” said Evans.

“Yeah – system B is tracking it also,” responded Chu.

Evans furrowed his brow. “I have never seen anything like this in my life before, and I have been watching these screens for twenty years now!”

Chu nodded. “A balloon would be slowly drifting up at a fraction of that speed, and even the biggest ones don’t get to 21 miles. No aircraft can fly at an altitude of 21 miles, and in any case an aircraft cannot go straight upwards. If it was a rocket it would either be accelerating while the engines were burning or decelerating once the engine quit. Also, that is part of Orange County and nobody is authorized to launch from that part of the world. That thing is simply going up like an elevator!”

Evans repeated thoughtfully: “No balloon could go up at that rate. No aircraft could fly at that altitude. Any rocket would be either speeding up or slowing down, and for sure going far faster. This is something we have never seen before. This defies every law of physics that I have ever learned!”

Chu scratched his head pensively: “Do you remember a few months ago when there were reports of a UFO over Long Beach? – Well that is exactly where you are getting this echo from. We had better pass this up the chain of command – something strange is going on in Long Beach. Let’s contact the Los Angeles Air Force Base – maybe they know something about some new technology development.”

Unknown to the Electrolev staff, Colonel James Harper from the Los Angeles Air Force base had been quietly investigating Electrolev for the last few weeks ever since Judy had produced the UFO headlines in the Long Beach newspaper. James had the specialty of strategic technology studies – the responsibility to be able to identify what is or is not important and to tell the air force about the important things. One of his functions in life was to act as the eyes and ears of the Air Force in the technical community, and the UFO reports in Long Beach had piqued his curiosity. Using a private investigator, he had gradually put together information from the funding of the company, and gossip from the local population, and had come to the conclusion already that what was going on at Electrolev might be of interest and critical importance to the United States Air Force. That afternoon he was already on his way to knock on the door of Electrolev when he had got that phone call from Vandenberg telling him that a solid object was rising like an elevator into space from the south side of Long Beach.

Back at Electrolev, the staff was gathered round in a conference room gloating over the time and distance data recorded from their space shot. Judy was grinning from ear to ear and dancing lightly from foot to foot. “We’re gonna be rich!” she chanted to herself.

Then Julie the receptionist appeared in the doorway: “Urgent phone call for the President of Electrolev – he says it’s the United States Air Force!”

John, Tony, Steve and Judy immediately gathered around the speakerphone in John’s office.

A resonant, deep voice barked out over the phone: “This is Colonel James Harper of the United States Air Force Los Angeles Air Force base. I was on my way to visit your premises this afternoon when I got a message that a solid object had been observed slowly rising up from your location through the altitude of 20 miles. The least of your problems is that this is a danger to aviation and aerospace activities. I think we need to talk about things. How about ten minutes from now?” The four looked at each other with wincing, grimacing expressions.

“OK – We’ll see you in a few minutes,” said John with a voice cracked with emotion. He put the phone down and looked at the others, rolling his eyes. The four of them conferred briefly together. It felt like things were going out of control. They felt almost like they were on the wrong side of the law, which had never been their intention. There was no time to plan or decide what to say.

In a few minutes a black Lincoln pulled up outside the building, and a tall man dressed in crisp Air Force blue uniform came to the door, which was cracked open ready for him.

“Welcome to Electrolev, Colonel Harper,” said John, waiting by the door. They walked quickly into the Electrolev main conference room, followed by Tony, Judy and Steve. They all sat down. For a few seconds Harper looked at the four of them, taking in what he saw. They each introduced themselves and exchanged business cards.

Harper started talking, rather excitedly, in a way which contrasted with his stiff and starchy appearance. “We have radar equipment at Vandenberg Air Force base which can monitor everything moving in United States airspace. Anything which is not a balloon and which goes up twenty miles is pretty conspicuous, to put it mildly. Even Long Beach Airport reported it. Especially when it goes straight up relatively slowly and steadily much faster than a balloon but without anything like orbital speed, and just keeps on going up into space like an express elevator run amok! Is it right that you people originated this object today?” The four nodded in a guilty fashion, like children being lectured by the school principal.

Harper cleared his throat. “Let’s set the scene a little bit here. I have been keeping an eye on your activities ever since you set off all those newspaper headlines about UFOs around Long Beach. Put that together with what you have done today and the result is epoch changing! A technology that can propel an object slowly up into space like an elevator has civilization shattering implications! It would mean that most of the space vehicles that we use today are obsolete! Since it flew right through the atmosphere and out into space, then whatever it was you created can replace helicopters, airplanes, satellites and rockets – the whole United States aerospace complex has just become obsolete! An invention like this has potential to destabilize the world balance of power! Whatever country owns this technology will have the power for complete global domination! Anybody with the resources of Electrolev will be able to operate in space! From a military point of view this is a situation that is going to require careful management and control otherwise international mayhem could be let loose. If this situation is not managed, nations will be set against nations and the whole economic and military order of western civilization could be reset!”

The four sat there silent, barely comprehending the seriousness of Harper’s words. Outside the sky had become grey and the room was becoming darker.

“We just wanted to make a few bucks,” said Judy weakly.

Harper dropped his lecturing tone and became more conciliatory. “I want you to start off by telling me what is going on here. I represent the research and development function of the United States Air Force and very likely I could benefit your company a great deal. I have brought a confidentiality agreement with me which promises that the United States Air Force will respect the confidentiality of whatever you tell me. I suggest that you sign it and then start from the beginning, and tell me the whole story.”

Three hours later, John, Judy, Steve and Tony were still sitting round in the Electrolev conference room with Colonel James Harper. “That’s quite a story!” he said. “Didn’t it ever strike you that this thing might have national security implications?”

Judy answered, slowly and uncomfortably. “We saw it as helicopter replacement, and our entire business plan hinged on this assumption. It was only recently we realized that these vehicles could be space going. And even then, as Tony pointed out, this was all theory. Today was the first time one of our vehicles left earth’s atmosphere. Up until now, it was dream.”

“Well I hope that it doesn’t turn into a nightmare!” rejoined James. “I am going to write up a report on all this and confer with my bosses in Washington. I’m going to see if we can’t get some help for you in this work, quickly. But that is going to take me a couple of weeks, which is lightning fast by Washington standards. Meanwhile I am worried about your safety and security here. Other people could put two and two together the same as I have and easily realize that there is something going on here which is disruptive on a world scale. What sort of security do you have in this place?”

Steve took a deep breath and proudly recited his recent enhancements: “We have got steel gates, an interlocked steel door at the front entrance with buzzer, steel bars at the windows, and eight TV cameras plus motion detectors scattered around the building so that a person at the front desk can watch everything. We keep a guard on the premises all night long.”

James nodded approvingly. “Well that should keep you safe for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, until I come back, no more test flights, OK?” They all nodded. Only John spoke: “Yes SIR,” he replied, with a mocking emphasis on the SIR.

Harper smiled faintly. He stood up. “I will be back in two weeks!”

After James left, Steve said to the other three: “I will get in touch with Tim Hetherington of JCB and tell him what has happened today. We have got to keep them informed.”

The others nodded and they left to go home.

Chapter 26

Back at the Russian consulate, Adrik Rumenik squirmed as he talked with his boss over a secure line to Moscow. His boss was frustrated with him. “Adrik, it is great that you found out about this new silent helicopter development. But now that we know it exists you owe it to our homeland to get all the details. I want it now! I have given you the services of Igor. If you cannot get the details then I will find somebody who can! Understood?”

The phone line clicked off. Adrik sat at his desk and thought about the conversation which he had just had. His boss was mad at him, and had made it quite clear that his advancement in the diplomatic corps was going to be seriously threatened if he did not send back information about this new threat. His boss was concerned that the advent of a silent helicopter on the battlefield could have devastating repercussions. Perspiration dripped down his face, even though the room was cool and dry. “Igor, we need to meet about the Electrolev situation,” he called into the office intercom.

Igor arrived a few moments later, smiling reassuringly and carrying a stick-on moustache and beard in his hand. “Don’t worry, I have a plan!” he reassured Adrik. “I been watching Electrolev close, and they are very security conscious at present. But their weak spot is security guards - hired contractors. The staff can have no idea who the guards are. So tomorrow night we will get you into the building disguised as the night guard. Only you have the education to know what the plans of an aircraft look like. Take this little document camera. Once you are alone in the building for the night, you can browse through the building with it. Maybe if there is a good system of passwords it might take some trouble to get into the computers, but at worst you may have to copy out some hard drives to get all that you need. Take this gadget too. You just plug it into a computer and it will copy out the entire contents of any hard drive inside. If anything goes wrong, nobody must live who see your face. So you will have this in your pocket.” He took out a laser sighted Glock 19 from his pocket and laid it on Adrik’s desk.

Adrik recoiled. “I can’t stand to hurt anybody – surely it’s not worth that!”

“Adrik, I know that you ranked top of the diplomatic corps class of 2009 in firearm training! I talk to my boss too about this silent helicopter. If we don’t deliver the goods then we will both be looking for a job! Don’t worry, I will deal with the real guard and give you a nice uniform and the guard’s car. All you do is walk in and introduce yourself as guard. When you done I meet you in Ralphs round the corner, we dump the car and it’s over. We both get promoted! Take this moustache and beard – I have chosen the color to nicely match your hair.”

Chapter 27

At four in the afternoon the next day Hippy opened the door of the garage attached to his little ranch. He backed his tan colored 95 Corolla down his short driveway as he did every day when he went to work at Electrolev for the night. This time he had to pull up short, because there was a large silver colored sedan parked right across his driveway. The hood was open and a squat man with a goatee beard and moustache was delving into the engine compartment. Hippy put his car in park, leaving the engine running, and got out to speak to the man. “Hey man, I’ve got to get to work and you are blocking my way!”

“I almost got it going again – if you can help for few seconds I’ll be out of here.” replied the man in a strange European accent. “Just hold this for a moment?” he said, thrusting an air filter cover into Hippy’s hands. Then while the guard stared wonderingly at the exposed engine compartment, the car owner swiftly went around him moving towards the open trunk of the car. As he went by Hippy he appeared to clumsily bump into him.

“Ow – that hurt” cried out Hippy. Then in no more than a second his eyes rolled up and he crumpled down onto the grass. Without a moment’s hesitation the man picked up Hippy and dragged him into the back of the silver colored sedan. He quickly slammed the trunk and the hood, and another driver who was sitting there all along smoothly drove off in the car. The man with the goatee beard climbed into Hippy’s car, which had the engine still running, and pausing for a second to operate the garage door closer he drove off smoothly down the street after the silver sedan which was already disappearing from sight.

At five o’clock that evening, Hippy’s car turned into the parking lot of Electrolev and Adrik, complete with beard and moustache, emerged resplendent in Hippy’s uniform. He walked into the reception and introduced himself to Julie. “Hello there, I’m from the Soderman security agency. Hippy has a bad cold today and I’m here as his replacement. I’ve never worked here before so you had better show me where everything is.” Adrik was carrying a plastic supermarket bag which appeared to have his break time meal in it.

Julie was anxious to get home; she was tired and hungry at the end of the day. She had on her mind to get milk and tomatoes from the supermarket for the family evening meal. “Well, the main thing you need to know is where all the keys are, here. You can see the main gate to the yard from the camera here, and this button opens and closes it. Once more or less everybody has gone you can close the gate and then this is the only way people can get in and out. This button buzzes the lock on the front door to let people in, and you can see who it is on this camera here.” She gestured to a small TV screen on which you could see the employees streaming out. “Over there on the desk is a list of emergency contact numbers in case anything happens. Around eleven each evening the cleaner turns up and you need to let him in, and keep half an eye on the cleaning. That’s about it; I guess that your replacement turns up around midnight, right?”

Adrik nodded enthusiastically: “Yes, that’s right.”

Julie gathered her pocket book and headed for the front door. “You have a nice evening!”

Inside the offices, Tony was in his room with text books spread out all over his desk and side table. A huge white board took up one side of his room, and it was covered in inscrutable physics equations using Greek letters and calculus symbols. Tony was standing in front of the chalk board with a marker crayon in his hand, and seemed to be writing in an extra term to one of the equations.

At that moment Judy breezed into his office, carrying a briefcase and wearing a leather jacket. She looked like somebody all set to go home at the end of the day. “Honey, how about taking break and coming home to dinner?” she said, enticingly.

Tony was totally possessed by the equations on his white board. He was miles away. He pointed to the squiggles on the board. “This extra term which relates gravity to a moving charge has been missing in conventional theory, and that is what represents our fifth force. The wonderful thing is that under all normal circumstances its integral comes out close to zero – which means that it normally makes no difference. This is why nobody has noticed it for the last hundred years. Yet it has been there all along – doing nothing and making no difference until John came along and did the complete absolute opposite of what every electrical engineer has done for the last century. I think this is the secret of how an anticoil works.”

Judy nodded sympathetically. She understood the general idea that the physicists had to get a handle on how the anticoils worked, but all the details that Tony was going on about were just techno babble to her. “I’m going to do a Kung Pao San Yan tonight!” she said, temptingly sliding her arm around his waist.

“I’m sorry, but this is at a really critical point,” replied Tony. “Could you just put some aside for me in the fridge and I’ll microwave it when I come home? - I’m convinced that with just one or two more transformations I’ll have a design equation for an anticoil!”

Judy snorted quietly and marched out of the room.

Gradually the offices became quieter as everybody went home. Adrik, who had been sitting quietly at the guard station dutifully not drawing attention to himself, was feeling increasingly nervous. His Nextel had buzzed which meant the office was trying to check in with him, and this represented a threat of discovery. He ignored it. His palms were sweaty and his mouth was dry. He walked slowly round the premises, looking out for helicopter technology. As he came to the doorway of the main hallway his attention was caught by the sight of Sarit Venkitaman the IT manager. She fiddled around for a few moments in the computer room opposite Tony’s office, looking at some screens and typing something in from a keyboard, and then he saw her come out and close the glass door of the computer room behind her. She did not notice Adrik standing still in the shadows at the end of the hallway. Adrik heaved a sigh of relief. The last employee had gone home, and there in Sarit’s computer room was a bank of tape drives and a fireproof tape vault box. Adrik relaxed. He was already thinking ahead to his coming week with Lara in Moscow and to a glowing future in the diplomatic corps. He walked back to the guard desk, watched Sarit leave on the monitor screen for the back yard, and then operated the switch to close the automatic gate.

Adrik settled down at the guard desk. He knew from the notes Igor had provided him that he was expected to stay at the desk mainly and to patrol the building about once an hour. Now that he had spotted the computer room with the tape drives and backup tapes, he realized that this was going to be the key to his future career. He was still tense for fear that the security office would follow up the unreturned call and feared that Sarit or somebody else might have forgotten something and come back, so he was reluctant to make his move immediately. Dipping into the supermarket bag which he had brought with him, he enjoyed the meal which he had prepared for himself. He was just munching into the apple which was his dessert when he saw a big spider climb up the side of his desk and on to his papers there. Taking a tissue from his pocket, he carefully enveloped the spider in the tissue and carried it out to the front door, which he momentarily opened in order to drop the spider on the doorstep outside. He watched with satisfaction as it scurried away.

After closing the door, he decided that this was the moment he had to act, and he took out some wipes from his lunch bag and carefully wiped off any surfaces around the guard desk that might have had fingerprints. Then he pulled on latex gloves and made a bee line for the computer room. Opening the door, he went across to where the tape backups were, and starting with the tape vault box, he put every tape he could find, including the ones in the backup drive bank, into his plastic supermarket bag. He was quite oblivious to Tony still poring over his white board in the room opposite. Suddenly Tony seemed to wake up from his dream and became aware of the guard in the computer room. “Hey - what do you think you are doing?” he demanded.

“Look up there,” said the Adrik pointing to the ceiling at the end of the office. Instinctively Tony glanced to the end of the office, and in that split second Adrik pulled out the laser sighted Glock 19, set the laser pointer on Tony and pulled the trigger. Tony crumpled to the ground amidst a pool of blood. With his pulse racing, Adrik continued picking up every tape cartridge in sight. He paused and looked at Tony’s bleeding body for a moment. He leaned over and looked at Tony’s face. For a moment Tony’s eyes flickered and he was looking into Adrik’s eyes. Adrik pulled out the Glock 19 again, but then he looked into Tony’s eyes and put it away in his pocket. Acting on an impulse he picked up Tony and slung him over his shoulder. Carrying Tony and the supermarket bag, he staggered out of the front door with his face as white as a sheet. With a trembling hand he tossed his guard’s Nextel radio onto the lobby seat as he went out through the door.

Chapter 28

The next day was chaotic at Electrolev. Steve had been called in the middle of the night when the relief guard from the security company could not get in. When Steve arrived at the building, he had been the one who found the blood in Tony’s office and called the police. Now he was positioned in the front entrance turning away most of the employees, telling them that Tony had been attacked and kidnapped and that the company was closed for the day. Judy had found out what had happened when she got a phone call from Steve at 1a.m. that morning. At first she could not believe what Steve said was true, and then she had dissolved into helpless tears.

Steve was talking with Police Lieutenant Witham in the front Lobby when the officer’s police phone rang. “Oh no, that’s all I need – follow standard procedures and keep me informed!” said Witham into his phone. He turned to Steve:

“There has been a murder – I wonder if there is a link here – did you ever hear of Julie Redbridge?”

“She’s our receptionist,” exclaimed Steve. He had been up all night with hardly any sleep and was shaken to the core with these dramatic events. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Somebody shot her in the head as she left her home this morning,” said Witham. Then he thought for a moment and came back with: “Didn’t you say that you had a night guard all night? Well he has vanished too, then.”

“I saw his tan Corolla in the parking lot this morning,” said Steve. “I did not think anything of it at the time.”

Witham called out to one of his men: “Smith – check out a tan Corolla in the parking lot – it goes with the night guard who vanished last night.”

Smith went out into the backyard where several police cars were already parked. Pulling on latex gloves so that he would not contaminate any evidence, he went first to Hippy’s car and checked that the doors were locked. He peered in through the windows and inspected the empty passenger compartment. Pushing a button on the radio on his shoulder, he said: “Xtango 44 I need a locksmith at the Electrolev plant immediately. Have him ask for Officer Smith.”

“10-4,” came the terse reply.

Smith then went to the trunk of his patrol car and pulled out an object like a flat balloon known as an air wedge, plus several long metal rods. He walked across to Hippy’s Corolla and started pushing the air wedge little by little in between the driver’s door and the body of the Corolla at the back top corner of the door. Then he started pumping away at a rubber bulb which dangled from the air wedge. Little by little the steel door started bending away from the body to make an air gap. Once it was more than an eighth of an inch wide, he pushed an angled steel rod in through the opening and skillfully maneuvered it until he could press the door unlock button. Then he grasped the door handle with his gloved hand and opened the door. There was nothing of remark inside the car. At that moment a white cargo van pulled into the Electrolev yard. It had the words “Keymasters Locksmith” painted in huge letters over the side. The driver slipped out to the ground and said to Smith: “I’m Pedro Sanchez the locksmith. I’m looking for Officer Smith.”

“That’s me,” replied Smith. “I need you to open the trunk of this car. This is a crime scene and I want you to put on these latex gloves so that you don’t contaminate any fingerprints.”

Pedro pulled out some tiny stick like tools from his shirt pocket and immediately stuck them into the trunk lock opening of the Corolla. He seemed to be pushing them back and forth and twisting as well from time to time. After about two minutes of this activity the trunk suddenly popped open with a loud click.

Pedro stood back. Smith shouldered him out of the way. He peered into the trunk where the body of Hippy was curled up. He skillfully pressed and prodded the body, and quickly came to the conclusion that it was long since dead and cold. “Holy crap!” he muttered – “another murder!”

Pedro interrupted him. “Could you just sign here please?” he said, proffering a clip board to Smith who quickly signed it.

“Thank you that will be all.” said Smith, dismissing him.

Smith ran inside to tell Witham the news.

Back inside the building, John had just turned up. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

“There have been attacks.” Steve replied. “Tony was shot and apparently kidnapped from his office last night, Hippy has been killed nobody knows how, and Julie was shot as she left her house this morning.”

John’s face turned white. “Let’s go in and talk,” was all he was able to say.

Inside in Steve’s office the two sat together, stunned for a moment.

John mumbled incoherently about the injustice of it all for a few moments. Then finally he asked: “Has anything been stolen?”

“Not as far as I can tell – everything seems normal to me.”

Steve was trembling a little from the stress, as he reached into his desk and pulled out the business card for Colonel James Harper. “I think we had better give this guy a call, maybe he can help us with security.”

John, white as a sheet, nodded weakly.

Steve called Harper using the speakerphone in the office and told him everything he knew that had happened. “This is so tragic,” exclaimed James. “I am truly sorry for your loss. I’ll be there about midday with some security for the company.”

True to his word, Harper arrived at 11.55 a.m. with a Humvee containing two guards in camouflage uniforms and peaked caps and armed with M16 rifles. They looked as if they seriously knew how to use them. One was stationed behind the front desk, and one in the back yard. Harper, Steve and John sat down in the conference room. They had hardly sat down when Judy arrived, her face tear stained. Her clothes were crumpled and she looked wretched. “I could not bear to be alone anymore,” she said, “this company is like the only family that I have in the USA and it is comforting to be here with you all.”

Steve said to her: “As well as Tony being attacked and kidnapped, Julie and Hippy were murdered last night. This is a very serious situation. That is the reason why Colonel Harper has got these security guards here.”

“Oh no!” responded Judy, with tears rolling down her face.

James Harper was feeling deeply concerned. If the truth be known, he had anticipated exactly this situation, but he had thought that Steve’s razor wire and interlock doors would have protected them for two weeks. Obviously he was wrong, and far larger forces were unleashed than even he had been thinking about. “My guess is that this was an attempt by a foreign power to get hold of the Electrolev technology. They were not trying to especially assassinate the Electrolev personnel. I reckon that those people who were killed must have got in the way somehow. I will bet that all they were after was information. But that they wanted at any cost. Are any computers missing?”

“Let me go round the building and check,” replied John.

Steve, Judy and James chatted fretfully for a few minutes while John went around the building. Judy said pleadingly to Steve: “What do you think has happened to Tony, Steve?”

Steve was troubled verging on distraught. “Judy, I don’t know how to put this, but there was an awful lot of blood in his office and a bullet mark on the wall. I just don’t know what to think.”

Judy buried her face in her hands and sobbed. James Harper looked on in silent sympathy. Steve excused himself and called a temporary agency to get a new receptionist for the next morning. He also called the security company and told them that Hippy had been found dead and that they would need to make arrangements for tomorrow.

After a few minutes John came back to the conference room where James, Judy and Steve were waiting. He was trembling slightly. “I’ve been all round and every single computer in the building is as it should be. But what is missing is the backup tape collection from the computer room. Every single tape cartridge has gone, even from the tape drives!”

“Do you back up your network every night?” inquired James.

“Every single night we do incrementals, and at the weekend when things are quiet we back up the whole thing.”

At that moment Lieutenant Witham came into the conference room. “Could you excuse me please?” he said politely. In his latex gloved hand he was holding a Nextel phone. “This was found on the seat in your lobby – does it mean anything to you? Also another curious thing – the body of your security guard was missing his outer uniform clothes!”

Steve answered for them: “That’s a very ordinary Nextel and there must be a million like it. But the Nextel people could tell you in a flash who it belonged to. As for Hippy’s clothes being missing…. ,“ his voice faded away.

Witham interrupted: “If somebody took his clothes to impersonate him that would have been a way into the building. The only person who would have noticed the difference would have been Julie, and she was mysteriously shot early this morning. As for Mr. Shepard, he was here late last night, right?”

Judy sobbed uncontrollably. “He loved his work so much that almost every night I had to drag him away to come home. Last night he was convinced that he’d found the secret of how our products work and whatever I said or did I couldn’t get him to come home. So I left him here and went home to fix dinner by myself. If only I had persisted and dragged him off home! He would have still been with us today! I feel like it’s all my fault that he’s gone.” She sobbed hysterically and Steve put his arm around her shoulders.

Witham continued: “So Tony Shepard was the only person in the building apart from whoever took Hippy’s clothes.”

“I just found that there has been a theft,” said John, his hands tightly clenched into fists. “I looked all around the building and found that every single computer back up tape is gone. Somebody has taken a copy of the entire knowledge and information base of Electrolev!”

“Where were they kept?” responded Witham.

“It’s all kept in that room over there, just opposite Tony Shepard’s office.” said Steve, wearily. He was really distraught, a man working on his last reserves of fortitude.

“And Tony was working there last night, right?” continued Witham.

“Yes,” nodded John. Judy nodded, big tears running down her cheeks.

“Well that shows a pattern to me,” said Witham. “Hippy probably saw the perpetrator before he got mugged for his clothes. Julie would have been the person who handed over the keys of the building to the person in guard’s clothes. Tony Shepard was sitting right opposite the back up tapes. So every single person who saw our suspect is dead or missing. It is a definite pattern, although it is a very sad and hard one for Electrolev.”

Steve, John and Judy wearily shook their heads and looked at each other. Judy buried her face in her hands.

James Harper had been silent through all of this, but now he spoke vehemently, in a voice brittle with tension: “Even though there is no defense contract yet, the work in this building is of critical national security interest. It is of vital importance to the United States of America. That’s why I have just had armed guards posted here 24 hours a day until further notice. From what you have said I am now convinced that some foreign power wanted the information about what is going on in this building. And now, unfortunately, they have it.”

John sat up straight and looked at the others: “I am determined that Electrolev is going to carry on. I know Tony would have wanted that. We are going to overcome all this horror. We have an invention that is going to change the world and nothing is going to stop us while I am alive.”

Chapter 29

After the night of attacks, life at Electrolev was in a turmoil. The very next day Steve and John called everyone together for a meeting in the main conference room. The pictures of famous aircraft on the walls, like the Wright brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, which had previously seemed aesthetic and reassuring, now seemed to be stark reminders of the consequences of disruptive change. While they waited, John’s eyes rested upon the Kitty Hawk scene and then his imagination moved on to World War 1 fighter planes, to mass bombings of cities in World War 2 and to the dropping of the first nuclear bomb. He felt nervous and uncomfortable at the obvious analogy with his own work. In the background of his mind the attacks upon three of his friends weighed heavily upon him. All the staff was nervous, glancing round uneasily, worried beyond measure about their own personal safety and the thought that they might become the next victim of an assassin.

John stood up first of all, his face pale and holding onto a chair back for support. “I am going to let Steve explain things first of all. You will probably all understand that I am feeling totally distraught because three of my dear friends have been attacked largely because of this technology that I have invented. You can only imagine how that feels.” With that statement he sat down again.

Steve then stood up, his face straight and unsmiling, his voice tight and self controlled. “By now, you probably all know something of what happened yesterday. All of us are traumatized by the deaths of Julie and Hippy and Tony’s shooting and abduction. Since I have been at the center of things I think that I am in a position to give you a clearer view of what happened than you may have got from the TV news. The amazing fact that we have now to accept is that in this building we have an important new technology that is likely to change the course of world history. Because of this another country has gone to extreme lengths to find out what we are doing. The United States Government now realizes the importance of our technology and that is why we now have armed guards from the Air Force police here 24 hours a day.” Many of the employees gasped and shivered, murmuring amongst themselves.

“Unfortunately some other foreign power came to the same realization, and as demonstrated by yesterday’s events, they were totally ruthless about stealing the Levistar technology. All they really wanted was to get hold of our backup tapes, which contained every secret that we have. From what I now know, I am convinced that a foreign agent killed Hippy just to get his uniform, and then came here masquerading as the night guard replacing Hippy. Late in the night when he thought the building was empty, he went to get the tapes. Unfortunately for Tony, he was working late and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The agent apparently shot Tony and kidnapped him. The only other person who knowingly saw this agent was poor Julie, and for this reason he chose to murder her as well, to completely cover his tracks.”

“The reason that I am explaining all this is to make it clear to you that it is not the staff of Electrolev who are being targeted. Even though at the moment you may reasonably be feeling petrified, in fact you are not in any imminent danger. Instead some foreign power was prepared to stop at nothing to get our secrets. Anybody who threatened that objective was attacked. Hippy, Julie and Tony were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now you can see that the Air Force have placed some serious security on the premises, and I am assured that shortly they are going to think of something even better. So for the time being I am convinced that you and your families are safe at home, and here at work you are also safe thanks to the Air Force police.”

“What I do have to impress upon all of you is that for the time being you should not talk about where you work or what you do at all. It’s best if nobody knows that you work at Electrolev and what we do here. If anybody already knows that you work here, simply insist that we just design helicopter parts. If somebody asks about the Humvee parked outside, it is because some of these parts are military helicopter parts.”

Ian, the physicist, put up his hand. “Why should we stay here and wait to be killed off? I could go and get a job as a school teacher and have a nice peaceful life!”

Steve answered with a voice heavy with persuasion: “I have already explained that nobody wants to kill anybody. It’s just that we have some unbelievably valuable secrets in this building. This means that all your stock options are even more valuable than can be imagined. Remember that if you leave before the company goes public or is sold, the stock options become worthless. I want everybody to just sit tight and think about the likely value of their options for the time being. In no more than a couple of weeks we will have worked out a real solution for everyone’s personal security with the Air Force.

“I shall be calling another meeting in a few days when I know about arrangements for remembrance meetings and funerals.

“I can really feel for those of you who knew Tony, Hippy and Julie as I did.” He looked at Judy with her face buried in a handkerchief and sobbing uncontrollably.

Terry Entmann the systems engineer put up his hand. “I am going to miss Hippy because he was always so cheerful and sympathetic to me when I went home in the evening. I once mentioned to him how my wife had a problem with MS and he would always ask after her and inquire how it was progressing.”

Judy’s software manager Cynthia then put up her hand. “Julie’s little boy was born at almost the same time as my son, and I am going to really miss talking with her about child rearing issues.”

Jim Telham the physicist put up his hand. “Tony was almost like a father to me. I learned so much from him. I am sure that he would have wanted us to finish this story that he, John and Judy had started. We have got to get our courage together and carry on – I feel like we have a role to play in world history.”

Steve looked around expectantly. Nobody else raised their hand.

“I understand how everybody is feeling shaken after yesterday’s terrible events, and so this seems like an awful time to introduce a new face, but now it is my duty to introduce you to Terry Mettle. Stand up Terry! John, would you like to tell us about Terry and how he was chosen?”

John stood up, gulping to control the stress in his voice: “Now that the vehicle we are planning, Delia, is going to weigh 10,000 pounds, we are legally required to have a qualified test pilot. Terry is a professional helicopter test pilot with lots of experience. Right now he does not know how a LeviStar works except that it can replace a helicopter, and I am looking forward to teaching him all this in the next few days.”

Terry stood up. He was a thin man about five foot six with a lined face and thick brown hair, dressed in tan colored Dockers slacks with a short sleeved shirt and moccasin style shoes. Terry was looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Obviously this is an unbelievably difficult situation for everyone in the company. On the other hand I love being a test pilot and I am really looking forward to being a part of this exciting new company!”

Steve stood up for a moment. “The events of the last day and night have been unbelievably tragic for us. You all know how after the first threats against us I upgraded our security in every manner that I could think of, and yet it still was not enough. In the midst of our sense of grief, I cannot but reflect that since some other country has stolen our secrets we are now engaged in a race against persons unknown to develop this new technology. So it is doubly important that we continue with even more dedication to our projects. We all have lots of things to get on with, so let’s press on. If anybody has any personal concerns come and see me privately. As soon as there is any further news I will call everybody together again.” The assembled staff looked at each other and expressions of fear and bewilderment flitted from one face to another. They were anxious, petrified and aghast at all that had happened in the last day and a half. They slowly filed out of the conference room, their faces dark with foreboding.

Chapter 30

The next day John, Judy and Fred Beller sat down with Terry Mettle to explain to him what Electrolev was all about.

“Can you tell us about your career Terry?” said Fred.

“Well, I originally got a degree from the United States Air Force Academy and then I did helicopter training at Stead Air Force base in Nevada. I worked for a few years as a helicopter rescue pilot at Vance Air Force base in Oklahoma, and then I left the Air Force and joined Boeing as a test pilot. I took this job at Electrolev because my wife got a position with Northrop Grumman in the area. She is an aerospace engineer.”

Terry cleared his throat: “Early this morning I had my first chance to try out Charlotte inside the courtyard. It was awesome! I only went up about six feet, but it sure made a believer out of me! However, I’m convinced that you have got to change the controls. The LeviStar is just like a helicopter, and it needs to have the same set of controls. A right pedal should turn it right, a left pedal turn it left. Then that big lever which makes it go up and down is what helicopter pilots call a cyclical control, and it should be on the left side of the pilot seat. The joystick which makes it go forwards, backwards and sideways is what helicopter pilots call a collective control and that should be in front of the pilot. If you configure it this way then any helicopter pilot can immediately fly the thing.”

John nodded sagely. “That makes perfect sense Terry. We will do that. Fred, why don’t you share the plans for Delia with us all so Terry can see what we have in mind?”

Fred’s stock in trade as a mechanical engineer was his 3 dimensional design software, with which he was a master. Fred opened up his laptop and dazzled them with 3D images of what Delia was going to look like. There was Delia from on top, Delia rotating slowly, Delia in cross section, Delia from the inside.

“Fred, that’s like dream come true!” exclaimed Judy. For a moment the hideous memories of Tony’s kidnapping were displaced by some positive thoughts and excitement, making her eyes sparkle. “How big is it?”

“About 25 feet in diameter. It will weigh around ten thousand pounds, and be able to carry another thousand pounds of passengers and cargo. The inverters will have fifty kilowatts capacity. The cabin will have seating for four, and will have a simple utility area with a kitchen and an aircraft type toilet. The regenerative descent will be fully implemented; however batteries do not exist that can take it all the way into space. Instead it will have modest batteries that could take it up a few miles and a small jet turbine on board in the center which will deliver gases to the lateral thrusters, and also generate electricity for the inverters.”

“I think I can guess the answer,” mused John, “but tell us what happens if you are making a regenerative descent like a hybrid going down a hill, and suddenly the battery is full?”

Fred nodded and grinned: “We have got 50 kW of lights on the underside of the vehicle which can quickly burn up the excess energy that the battery cannot hold during a regenerative descent. We will use halogen lamps that will get rid of the energy both as heat and as light. So much of the bottom side will be covered in incandescent lamps. On the top side, the entire upper surface is covered in solar cells, which will provide at least twice the energy needed to keep the vehicle hovering. So the idea is that during daylight it can recharge its batteries, and then run off batteries during the night period. In this manner it can remain hovering for days at a time.”

“Can it go in space like space shuttle?” asked Judy, breathless with excitement.

“Yes, the cabin will be fully pressurized and at altitudes where there is insufficient air to run the jet turbine, we will use hydrazine thrusters located close to where the four air thruster jets are positioned.”

“How do I get in and out?” asked Terry.

“She’s got a retractable shock absorbed undercarriage, and I am proposing that she stand high enough that the crew can enter through a hatch in the center underneath. Watch.” Fred pressed a few keys and an undercarriage unfolded from beneath the image on the screen and the aircraft settled down on a flat surface. The group sat there stunned, since despite all the discussions nobody had seen Fred’s 3D images of Delia before. “Any questions?” asked Fred cheerfully.

Terry Mettle put up his hand. “Fred, I feel like there is an elephant present in the room which everybody is ignoring. It’s obvious to me that Delia is what everybody calls a flying saucer type of UFO. Yet nobody is saying that or even mentioning the fact.”

Fred responded: “We all have known that, Terry. Tony was pretty funny about it and he basically forbade anybody from mentioning the fact. So, yes, we have all known that for some time. Unless we pervert the design to conceal the reality, that’s what it is.”

John spoke up: “We have had to contend with some physical realities with this vehicle. Litz wire is heavy and expensive. For a given amount of wire you can couple with the most gravitational field by having a round shape – that’s just a fact of geometry. Any other shape will be less efficient. So the main anti coil is a big circle round the outside. Then because a single anti coil is inherently unstable, you need four smaller ones pretty much in the same plane to apply nudges to keep it flat and steady. They take up space, and so it’s most effective to have them mounted on the underside where you see them, which frees up space inside the cabin. Delia regenerates energy coming down just like a hybrid car going down a hill, but we can never have a battery big enough to hold all the energy released when you come down from space. The only option is to have a huge array of lights which can radiate away all the energy as light and heat. They have to be on the underside because the whole topside is reserved for solar cells. So yes, by an incredible coincidence, Delia looks just like the popular concept of a UFO. It’s kind of embarrassing and we try not to mention it.”

“I understand,” said Terry, “but I can’t help thinking back to when I was a kid and I read a book called “The UFO Phenomenon.” It scared me stiff at the time. The cover page looked just like Delia with this huge array of lights underneath.”

“I get the same feelings,” said Judy “My mother back in China had a book by a guy called George Adamski with pictures of things that looked like Delia. At the time I thought they were all fake.”

“I have already been having talks with the Air Force,” said John. “We can absolutely rest assured that we are going to be getting a huge Air Force development contract to pay for all this – it will probably be so big that we will be hiring sub contractors to build important parts of the system for us.”

Judy then opened up with her burning question for Terry: “How can I get to be helicopter test pilot?”

“Well, it’s fairly straightforward really,” said Terry modestly. “First you go to a basic helicopter flight school. There is one fairly close by in Compton. Then once you are certified as a regular helicopter pilot you can go to a helicopter test pilot school. There is one up in Canada where they have a flying computer simulator that can replicate almost any variation on the theme of a helicopter. But why do you want to be a test pilot when you have just hired me?”

John explained: “Because Judy and I have pretty much given birth to these vehicles and we are so incredibly involved with the technology, we want so much to be able to legally fly them just sometimes. We obviously don’t want to do your job, but the gratification of being able to control a LeviStar even for a few minutes you just can’t imagine.”

Terry replied: “Well, in that case you can start at the Compton helicopter school next week. I know the chief instructor there and I can give you a recommendation. Once you have got a license all you need is fifteen years experience and you can do my job!”

Chapter 31

It was a cool fall day in Washington as Colonel James Harper drove towards the defense department. Boulevard trees were showing autumnal gold, yellow and red colors. On his mind was the report that he was going to make to the top levels of the administration concerning Electrolev. He had been preparing for this moment for the last two weeks, and had a collection of obligatory power points ready on the laptop in his briefcase. The story that he had to tell was so stunning that he was conflicted between wanting to keep his personal credibility on the one hand, and wanting to make sure that the government truly appreciated the threat that he perceived on the other hand.

James Harper had graduated from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and then after flight training he was a co-pilot and aircraft commander at March Air Force base in California. He had then worked as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force base, and after a stint as an analyst at the directorate for strategic plans and policy he was promoted into his present position as a technology coordinator at the Schriever Space Complex in Los Angeles– basically the eyes and ears of the Air Force in the scientific community. He normally reported to the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at the Wright –Patterson Air Force base, but on this occasion the main recipient of his report was to be the Director of Defense Research and Engineering at the Department of Defense.

He was fully aware that this was likely to be a pivotal moment in his career – for sure his life would never be the same again. On the other hand it seemed clear to him that the world was never going to be the same place again, either. As he strode through the Pentagon hallways James reflected upon the irony of his situation – he was normally involved with assessing incremental new techniques like nanotechnology, where he had to get his audience to use their imagination to think about subtle changes in technology that might emerge. In this case a grossly disruptive technology had emerged in Long Beach of all places, and he would have to work to minimize the embarrassment that it had not come out of any of the billions of dollars spent on Air Force research. It was clearly his job to correct this and to get Electrolev and its activity to become part of the establishment.

At the meeting was Joe Helman, the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, Major General William Smith, the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, General Alfred Brooks from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Fred Thomson, Director of the National Security Operations Center, and Dr. Jim Lowman an SES level research manager from the NSA. The room was packed full of credentialed officials with medals and crisp blue uniforms.

“Electrolev first came to our attention last October, when they test flew a manned vehicle over populated areas around Long Beach,” started James. “They made local newspaper headlines and produced a panic concerning UFOs.”

“What were they doing test flying over a populated area?” came the sharp response from Al Brooks.

“Sir,” responded James, “This is not a conventional aerospace operation. Their set up is much more analogous to the Segway people mover company. They are just a bunch of enthusiastic young engineers who had no clue that what they were developing had national security implications. In fact the pilot of the vehicle did not even have a pilot’s license.” Some of the assembled luminaries rolled their eyes while others buried their face briefly in their hands.

“O.K. – go on!” commanded Joe.

“Let me explain briefly what they have discovered,” James commenced. “They have uncovered a force of nature which amazingly has lain hidden in full view for the last 150 years……” James went on for ten minutes, concisely explaining the fifth force and LeviStar technology.

“So you can see that the whole concept of needing orbital velocity to go into space has become obsolete. Our whole industry of satellite launchers is not needed any more! Now I have spent some time thinking out the implications of this new technology, which go like this,” he said as he started up his powerpoints.

Reconnaissance and law enforcement: It can hover at any altitude for indefinite time periods.

It makes our present surveillance satellites look obsolete.

A bomber version of a LeviStar could operate at 100,000 feet out of range of all anti-aircraft functions, and remain stationary over a target as long as needed.

A fighter version of a Levistar could take off from a helicopter pad. Aircraft carriers are obsolete.

Cost effectiveness: Levistar technology is cheap compared to a missile or conventional aircraft. Hence: a reusable way to transport stuff into space and to leave it there, without the phenomenal expense of putting things into orbit.

James turned off his power points and stared grimly at his audience.

“This has all been good news up to now, but I am afraid that we have some bad news to take. Last week, just two days after their unmanned vehicle went up into space, the Electrolev factory was broken into. An intruder shot the Chief Technologist who was working late alone there that evening, and while he took the body, he otherwise stole nothing but the backup tapes from their internal computer network. The obvious implication is that this was an agent from a hostile foreign power. Some other country, and I do not know who it is, presently knows as much as we do about LeviStar technology.”

The assembled group gasped and groaned. Joe Helman grimaced and pounded his fist on the table.

William Smith said one word: “Fuck!”

Muttered words like, “Oh shit,” could be heard as the group looked at each other for support. There was a period of agonized silence while all of them thought through the implications of this.

Finally Joe Helman spoke: “It is clear that the United States is now, against our will, going to be involved in a technology competition analogous to the space race in the middle of the 20th century. The key to that space race was the staff of the German rocket technology center at Peenemunde. I propose two immediate measures:

We relocate all the Electrolev staff plus anybody who has knowledge of what the LeviStar technology really consists of, to the security of the Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, just as we did with the German rocket scientists in 1946. There we have 2000 scientists and engineers who can make this thing happen in real time.

We need to start a no holds barred, all out program to develop and militarize the LeviStar technology. I will talk with the Secretary of Defense about a budget, but believe me; this project is going to get anything it needs to keep us ahead of our enemies.”

William Smith was quick to chip in: “I support that initiative, I don’t think we have any alternative. It will need at least a billion dollars.”

“Something else is going to have to be wound down to pay for all this – maybe that new bomber we were just funding yesterday?” said Fred Thompson.

“We are going to have some congressmen on our necks if we do that,” remarked William Smith.

“Don’t worry, I know how to handle that,” said Joe Helman, thoughtfully. Then he continued: “Al Brooks and Jim Lowman - I want you two to co-ordinate this whole thing and make sure it happens at light speed. Keep me briefed on the progress. I will make sure that the President is apprised of this situation. Thank you, gentlemen.” With that Joe stood up and left the room for his next appointment, his face grim. The remaining group looked at each other in silence, each realizing that they had become a part of history.

Chapter 32

It was just a few days later that James Harper came to visit Electrolev accompanied by General Alfred Brooks from the Air Force Research Laboratory. They sat down with John, Steve and Judy. Tim Hetherington was also present. The Electrolev staff sat around stony faced, not sure what to expect. After everybody was assembled and seated in the conference room, Alfred Brooks opened up the meeting. “You are probably aware by now that the product which Electrolev is developing at this location has national defense significance to an extreme degree. This is the reason why we have armed guards posted here 24/7. However, the United States Government is so concerned for the security of this technology and the people who are familiar with it that we are now convinced that two things are necessary:

We wish to place a development contract worth initially one billion dollars with Electrolev for the accelerated development of the LeviStar technology. I believe that you do not have the experience or resource to run such a huge project here, and so we are expecting you to subcontract the work to a team of companies that we shall provide for you. Even to do that you will need to hire some personnel experienced in management of giant projects, just to be able to work with these subcontractors effectively. Your function will be to advise and explain how it works, what is possible and what is impossible. We are still selecting who your subcontractors will be. You can rest assured that they will be chosen from the very best of the US aerospace industry.

As you have already discovered, unfortunately, being in possession of such potent secret technology without appropriate security precautions is personally dangerous for the participants. Normally such projects are classified as secret or top secret, and most people do not know that the project exists, let alone who is working on it. So safety comes from anonymity. We are going to have to get all the staff who actually know what LeviStar technology really is vetted for secret clearance, and instructed in handling secret information. Unfortunately, the outside exposure that has already taken place has “let the cat out of the bag” so to speak, and so it will not suffice to apply secrecy procedures retroactively. Instead what I want to do is to relocate Electrolev to the safety of the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. There you will be free to come and go, but for a few years you, your families and your whole company will live in the security of the base, where there is restricted access. While you are there, some of you principals of the company whose names have appeared in print publicly might like to have new identities for your own protection. We have a very special case with Judy Chen, because she is not a US citizen. But I have a solution for that if you will come and see me privately afterwards, Judy.”

Steve was the first to respond: “There are a lot of details to be worked out – what about people’s families and spouses?”

Alfred Brooks replied: “With a billion dollars to work with you can solve all those problems. The general idea is to make sure that nobody is harmed financially. For example, if spouses have to give up their jobs we should compensate them with the equivalent to what they were earning for a few years, until they can settle into the Alabama community. We may have to make all kinds of special arrangements. You may be aware that the United States did exactly the same thing in 1946 when all the rocket scientists from the Nazi war effort were relocated to Huntsville in very similar circumstances. We are already converting a block of offices in the Redstone Arsenal into apartments for thirty families. The accommodation will be provided completely free to the individuals at taxpayer expense, for about five years. After that it is to be expected that it will be safe for the people to move into regular residential areas around Huntsville. Quite apart from the security aspect, the big attraction of that city is that there are about 2000 scientists and engineers present who already know how to make an aerospace program move as fast as humanly possible. What you will have to do is to sort through the present employees of Electrolev for their level of knowledge and classify them according to how much they know, and therefore how much of a danger their knowledge represents to the USA and to themselves. For example, your receptionist who only knows people’s names may not need to move, but the purchasing person who knows exactly what materials were used to build a flying vehicle will likely need security vetting and to be moved.”

John and Judy were sitting there looking ashen. Steve was fidgeting uncomfortably: “How long have we got?” he asked.

“Well, I would like the security vetting people to start work tomorrow, and I would hope that one month from now everybody who is going to move will have been identified and will be ready to go. Obviously you will use third party relocation services so that people will be able to just walk away from their homes here. Some may need storage facilities, and some may need to buy new furnishings. Everything like this can be provided for. You can get a relocation contractor who will arrange all the details for you. We will have the closing for the contract in one week’s time, by the way.”

After the meeting, Alfred Brooks and James Harper sat down with Judy to talk about her citizenship issue. The problem was that the principals involved in the LeviStar project would all need to have a top secret clearance, which is not available to a non US citizen.

Alfred Brooks began: “Judy, would you like to become a US citizen?”

She replied without hesitation: “You bet I would!”

“Then that simplifies things,” said Alfred. “I propose that I simply recruit you into the United States Air Force as a second Lieutenant at the Los Angeles Air Force base. Your duties will be to do whatever I tell you, and I will tell you to work as the V.P. of Engineering for Electrolev. That will take a few days to put through. Then under executive order 13269, since you are a member of the US armed forces and there is a war on then you are eligible for essentially instantaneous naturalization as a US citizen. That way your path will be clear to get a top secret clearance.”

Chapter 33

The next four weeks were a time that everybody forgot about as quickly as they could because it was not at all a pleasant experience. Instead of thinking about their design work, all the technical staff were constantly preoccupied with the appraisals on their houses, what schools their children would be attending in Huntsville and a myriad of practical details. In Huntsville, at the Redstone Arsenal, a complementary high pressure project was underway as an office block in the Sparkman Center which had only recently been finished was torn apart again and hastily turned into thirty units of on-base apartment housing. A large hangar was being retrofitted with offices and laboratory space for the Electrolev staff to work in. Since the climate in Huntsville was much less benign than that in Long Beach and in any case a huge expansion of the activity was planned, a hundred thousand square feet of air conditioned space was prepared for labs and offices.

As Colonel James Harper knew more about the project than anybody else, he was promoted to Brigadier General and given authority to manage making the LeviStar project work. He and his wife were among those moved to Huntsville. He was seconded to the Research and Development Evaluation Command at Huntsville, known as RDEC. His first task was to assemble a core group of scientists and engineers to interface between the Electrolev staff and the chosen contractors. He started by sending out a broad agency announcement to all the major candidates for subcontractors. He explained to them that an advanced vehicle capable of near space travel and atmospheric operation was to be developed under conditions of extreme urgency. He described all the relevant areas of expertise – power electronics, airframe construction, battery technology, software and system integration, and requested for suitably qualified individuals with a secret security clearance to volunteer for secondment to RDEC. He chose the most senior and experienced people first, and then used them to help assemble the specialized teams. In most cases a complete group came all together. Jim Lowman from the NSA, who was an SES level manager, helped structure the reporting lines. John and Judy flew in from California twice to brief the group on the new technology.

It was now December and it was after one of these visits that John and Judy used their rental car to drive around the vicinity of the Redstone Arsenal to get the feel of the area which was to become their home for the next few years.

John was driving. “It’s amazing how different this place is to Long Beach,” exclaimed John. There is so much agricultural land. In a way it reminds me of my parents place in Iowa.”

“Uh-huh,” said Judy with a shrug. I don’t like the way everything seems so messy and unkempt. You would never see overgrown vegetation along the roads in Long Beach.” In the months following Tony’s disappearance, Judy had become increasingly bitter and negative. She knew that most people were guessing that Tony was dead. She was performing her work function but she was certainly not a fun person to be with. Her whole life felt as if it had lost its purpose, and she only saw the negative sides of things. Her conversation hinged around the things that she disliked, which seemed to be many, and hardly ever got round to things that she liked, which were few and far between. A few miles from the Arsenal, they came to a cross roads with cotton fields on one side and newly erected industrial buildings on the other.

“What’s up with that stop sign?” complained Judy.

There was a stop sign facing them, which seemed to be strangely deformed. The center of it was missing and the remainder was pockmarked with dents.

“I think it’s been used for target practice!” replied John

“Oh my God!” was Judy’s response.

Suddenly they saw coming towards them a monstrous agricultural machine of some kind. It had arms and levers all over the place, and as it came towards them it took up the entire width of the road. A huge array of square tubes stuck out in front of it like the fingers of a giant hand. John swiftly made a right turn and the monster machine went straight over the crossing and continued on its way.

A little further down the road they saw a muddy field with a sign up saying “New Homes - $125,000 dollars.”

“Look at that,” exclaimed John. “I’m used to seeing numbers ten times bigger than that for any house, let alone a brand new one!”

“Maybe we should head back to highway?” suggested Judy. So John obligingly turned the vehicle around and headed north back towards route 565. On their right they saw woods posted with the words: “Defense Department live firing range – keep out.”

“These guys are really serious about security,” said John as they drove along. When they reached route 565 they turned east, and being Californians deep down they immediately felt more comfortable driving along an interstate highway, which they instinctively thought of as a freeway. Soon on their right they saw a huge array of rockets standing proudly beside the road. It was the United Space and Rocket Center. “Hey – We’ve got to see that!” exclaimed John. Judy shrugged and they turned into the Space and Rocket Center and joined the throng of tourists looking at the model space shuttle, the Saturn V rocket and other exhibits. “I think I am starting to understand why we are here,” said John. “If this represents what Huntsville is about then I feel like we belong here.”

“I not sure if we really belong here,” worried Judy. “I guess it does not really make any difference anyway, since here we are going to be, but let’s take a look and see things a few miles north.” So they drove about ten miles north, and found the countryside becoming increasingly rural. People were living here with much more space around their homes than anybody from Long Beach could have ever imagined possible. Even though there was lots of space, the lots were not well kept by California standards. They saw several homes where the grass in front was growing four feet high, and in each case there seemed to be an old rusting car buried in the middle of the long grass. Some of them were jacked up, others had wheels missing and yet others had gaping windows. Compared to the neatly manicured mini-homes of Long Beach it was a shocking scene.

“They say that they have about two thousand Ph.D.s in science and engineering living here,” mused John. “I wonder if this is how you have to live in Huntsville?”

“I worry if there is something about Alabama that makes you want to live in a big mess,” said Judy. “Maybe people living here all had Ph.D. degrees from Ivy League universities long ago and after ten years in Alabama, this is what you become?”

“I have another theory,” said John. “Tony once told me how he had worked for a year in Cambridge England, where there is an elitist university in the middle of an agrarian area. In that place you apparently had two completely different populations living in the same town, speaking theoretically the same language, but altogether ignoring each other. It was like the two populations inhabited the same space but each was oblivious to the existence of the other. My suspicion is that is just what is happening here – same deal.”

“I have been wondering how we are going to continue our helicopter training down here,” said Judy.

“I think that there is an army program right on the Arsenal that we can enroll in,” said John. “I heard that they have five helicopters stationed on the base.”

John and Judy thoughtfully drove back towards their hotel. Crossing Highway 565 as they went south, they found their way onto Wallace Avenue and shortly on their right they saw a sign: “Galaxy of Lights – open at 5.30”

“Everything here seems to have a space theme,” remarked John.

“Let’s get back hotel,” replied Judy. “The Holiday Inn gave us ticket for a free drink in bar. That will help us sleep and then we have to get up for early flight in morning to get back to civilization.”

On the plane back between Dallas Fort Worth and LAX, John and Judy were sitting in adjacent seats. John was writing a report on his laptop and Judy had idly flicked through the flight magazine for a few minutes before her eyes closed and she started napping. As her breathing became more rhythmical, she slowly leaned over until her head came to rest on John’s shoulder. For John this was rather delightful, and he studiously continued his word processing until Judy was woken up by the call to fasten seat belts and stow tray tables for landing. She looked at John with a moment of confusion. “Was I sleeping on your shoulder?” she asked. John nodded with a faint smile. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Please excuse me.”

Chapter 34

It took only four weeks, which felt like an eternity, but eventually Electrolev and all its principal staff were relocated into Huntsville. Nobody suffered financially. In fact the relocation packages were so generous that those left behind were in most cases disappointed. It was in early January that the core group of Electrolev gathered for the first time in the giant conference room of their new Huntsville premises to have a “Delia Meeting.”

All of them had continued to think about the project even while all their activities had been suspended for a couple of weeks.

John led off the meeting: “Welcome to our first Huntsville Delia meeting!. Isn’t it nice to talk about work again as opposed to flight schedules and real estate appraisals? Who wants to go first?”

Terry Mettle raised his hand. “I have a problem, and a possible solution. I have been test flying the modified Charlotte here inside the hangar, and although I am delighted with the helicopter type controls that we have got working now, there is still an issue. In fact it is essentially the same one that Judy highlighted on her first test flight. You can use the foot pedals to turn Charlotte round in the direction that you want to go, but she still keeps going sideways in the direction that you were going. You have to lean the cyclic stick over to one side in order to get her back going in a straight line again. The good news is that this works, eventually. The bad news is that it feels awful to a pilot. Most aircraft don’t keep going sideways once you have turned them around. I have been discussing this with the physicists and with John and Judy, and what I would like to see implemented is an inertial sensor with some integration software, so that the processor will know that it is going sideways at X miles per hour, and without you having to tell it, it will automatically command corrective thrust until that motion stops.”

Judy responded: “Well, we did discuss this, but it is not piece of cake. To start with I have to integrate outputs from inertial sensor to derive speed as distinct from acceleration. This integral will tend to accumulate errors so we will have to work out some way of automatically zeroing the thing out when we think it going straight. I am convinced that some extra hardware would be helpful while in atmosphere – like vertical stabilizer. So it is do-able, but it will take a lot of programming and a few experiments. The good news is that the only extra hardware is the inertial sensors – one X and one Y, and of course another freaking control loop to program. Plus maybe small vertical stabilizer. Now we are here in Huntsville I am looking forward to getting a ton of help after kick off meeting tomorrow, so manpower should not be problem. So basically the answer is, YES - we are on it.”

“Who’s next?” inquired John.

Ever since Tony’s shooting and abduction Judy’s mood and attitude had been growing darker and more negative, and it came out now: “Me” she said loudly and firmly. “This set of concepts that we put together for Delia has a god-awful flaw right in the middle, and I can’t believe I am only one to see it!” There was the sound of sharply drawn breath around the room. John’s face was a picture of fear and shock. Judy looked around, almost sneering at the assembled technologists. “Imagine that Delia accidentally fly into a thundercloud with immense turbulence and get tossed around. Suppose that she got turned up on edge like a penny balanced on a table. In that position none of the anti-coils would have any linkage with the gravitational field. The entire power system of the vehicle would be out of action! That sucker would start diving down edge first and there would be no mechanism that we have planned to stop it! It would plunge into ground at a thousand miles an hour or whatever speed it could get to! How’s that for problem?”

The Electrolev audience sat there stunned partly shocked by Judy’s negative attitude and partly shocked that such a fundamental problem could exist and nobody had noticed it before, when they had already got to a point where the United States Government had just invested a billion dollars in the project. Their collective self confidence, which had been verging on arrogance, was pricked in a serious manner.

Ian Smith was the first to speak up: “That’s a really good point, but I think we can fix it. Supposing we can detect the situation we just need to have some little thrusters on the top and bottom sides which can automatically push it back towards the right way up. Then the regular controls will stabilize it as usual. Let’s call it “Judy’s nightmare,” by the way.

Terry Mettle spoke up: “In the atmosphere, we could regain control if only it had horizontal and vertical stabilizers like an aircraft.”

John chimed in: “From the software point of view, to have thrusters that could be used in the same way whether it was in the atmosphere or out of it would be a huge simplification. All we would have to do would be to detect whether it was in or out of the atmosphere, and activate jets or hydrazine thrusters accordingly. Hydrazine thrusters are little controllable rocket engines that are ideal for turning around a vehicle in space. I will take personal responsibility for making sure that Judy’s nightmare is built into our plans.” He turned to his system design manager Terry Entmann: “Terry – can you take ownership of Judy’s nightmare please!”

The meeting went on for three hours. The concerns and status of each person and group were patiently heard out until everyone was working together on the same page. When all the business was conducted, John made the announcement that everyone was waiting to hear.

“As many of you know, we are here in Huntsville for the purpose of getting our efforts amplified at least ten fold, maybe a hundred fold, by a cadre of contractors which is being assembled as we speak. Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. we have scheduled the very first meeting with the whole team of contractors. This will be a pivotal moment in the whole project, when we should all see for the first time the difference that a billion dollars can make. So please be here on time, all of you.”

Chapter 35

The following morning promptly at 10 a.m. the Electrolev staff gathered in the Huntsville RDEC conference center. The room had been set up with rows of seats in a semicircle around a front table, with seating for about for about ninety people. A large projector screen had been set up with a place for laptops to plug in to share graphic presentations. The lavishly furnished accommodation with carpeted floors and oak paneling was a far cry from the austere conference room at the original Electrolev facility. About forty men and women who the Electrolev staff had never seen before filtered in to the room. Everybody was wearing conspicuous ID badges.

James Harper came across to John Sykes and suggested that he be seated at the front table. “I think that we will spend the first hour just getting everybody acquainted with who’s who and where the project stands, and then after that we can get on to who does what. I have got the buses waiting outside.”

When people seemed to have stopped arriving, James stood up and spoke: “Ladies and gentlemen, since I am probably the only person who knows everybody here, I will handle introductions. In case someone missed it, I am Brigadier General James Harper of the United States Air Force, and I am the co-coordinator for the LeviStar project. First of all I want to reassure all of you that everybody here has a secret clearance or higher, so you may speak freely. As a starting point I wish to introduce John Sykes the President of Electrolev, who was the person who first realized the LeviStar technology.”

John stood up to polite applause, feeling both proud and shy. “Good morning everybody. I first want all of you to see Levistar technology with your own eyes. We have got a demonstration ready for you to see in the Electrolev hangar, so please step into the buses waiting outside to get over there.” When the buses arrived at their destination, everybody followed John inside. “I would like you all to stand near the wall over here,” announced John. Everybody clustered along the walls, with the crowd buzzing with murmurs of excitement. “This is Terry Mettle our test pilot.” Terry nodded and smiled. “Since we first started developing this technology we have been through a series of models. The first model that actually flew was A for Annette, and then the first attempt at a man carrying vehicle was B for Barbara, which did not work too well. In front of you here Terry is just getting into the vehicle that we call Charlotte. We are using Charlotte as a flying test bed to refine the technology. Our first intended product is code named Delia, and it is still on the CAD screens at present. You will see it when we get back to the meeting room. It is intended to be a surveillance, reconnaissance and rescue vehicle that should be attractive to security forces. All the things that we are learning from Charlotte are going to be incorporated into Delia, and you will hear all about that shortly. Terry, why don’t you go ahead and give a demonstration.”

While John had been talking Terry had been strapping himself into Charlotte and flipping on the inverters. “This prototype that we call Charlotte is nothing but a flying test bed for developing the technology,” repeated Terry. Then he pulled back on the collective lever and the vehicle with him on it rose six feet up in the air. He pushed the collective stick back to its vertical position. The assembled crowd of engineers who had never seen anything like this before stood there awestruck, unable to believe their eyes. “We have organized the controls so that intuitively they are like helicopter controls. I have got a collective stick here, and foot pedals which control the orientation. I can use the foot pedals to turn the vehicle around.” As he said that Terry made Charlotte silently rotate in midair in front of them. “Its propulsion system is all coming from batteries in the Charlotte generation, but the intention is that Delia will have a small jet turbine for use in the atmosphere and that will provide both electric power and thrust. When the vehicle is standing still like this, it is using only about 200W to maintain its position. If it goes down, much of the energy which it used to go up gets reclaimed and goes back into the batteries.”

Exclamations of “Oh my God!” and “Holy shit!” came from the crowd.

Terry continued: “On this version we have got a small electric blower which can be ducted out from whichever direction I choose. It gets operated by the cyclic control which is in front of me. I can move the vehicle around however I choose. With that he ponderously moved Charlotte, still at six feet in altitude, down the length of the hangar and back again. In the audience standing against the side wall of the hangar, the new team members were watching mostly with expressions of awe and wonder. The people were obviously staggered at what they were seeing and were murmuring excitedly amongst themselves. The Electrolev staff who had seen it all before were looking radiant and fulfilled, smiling proudly at the sight of all their dedicated work being appreciated. The exception was Judy. She was standing there with her thoughts miles away, thinking back to walks beside the Pacific Ocean with Tony. She looked sad and wistful.

When Terry was in front of the audience again he continued, “I can move it up to a height which is only limited by the capacity of the batteries, and then remain where I am with very little power being consumed. One of the nicest features is that I can put the collective control into park like this, and the vehicle just stays right where I put it.” At this point he was shouting from one hundred feet up near the roof of the hangar. Then he descended slowly and put Charlotte gently down on the floor. “If one can provide power and thrust, the vehicle can operate in near space. With a vehicle that has a pressurized cabin, you could take it up to 100,000 feet and just park it over a location of interest. We have learned that the bigger you make it the more effectively the thing works. So a large vehicle could have the top side just covered in solar cells and that would provide enough energy to keep it parked there indefinitely. Since today’s batteries could not hold the energy needed to lift themselves into space then for Delia we are proposing that the engine will provide a lot of the energy to take it up, so that when it comes down, the batteries will not be able to hold all that energy that is released and so we will dissipate excess recycled energy using a huge array of lights underneath.”

John reclaimed control of the meeting. “OK, thank you Terry. Now I am sure that all you engineering types are going to have some questions, so let’s answer them now while we have got Charlotte here to illustrate the answers.”

“How high can it go?” came from a balding man wearing a polo neck sweater.

“That all depends on how much energy you can store in it,” answered John. “A lithium polymer rechargeable battery can only hold enough energy to lift itself about 30 miles, and with the vehicle to lift as well you can only expect a fraction of that. However, if you run a power generator of some kind on board then you can go right up to the edge of the atmosphere. Then batteries can take you another thirty thousand feet. What I have at the back of my mind is that these vehicles work better the bigger you make them. I could conceive of a big vehicle with a small nuclear reactor on board which could just keep on going forever.”

“How fast can it go?” asked a young man wearing tan slacks and a brown shirt.

“Well, it all depends on how much sideways propulsion power you give it. While it is inside the atmosphere you can have a problem with the slipstream deflecting the vehicle up or down. For that reason Terry has suggested that we might as well put small vertical and horizontal stabilizers on Delia to help steady it and help it go in a straight line. Which reminds me, one of the issues that we only thought through yesterday is the fact that a vehicle like this could perfectly well travel sideways, and this could be a bit embarrassing. So we are planning a software function and sensors to detect this and correct it so it can normally only move in the direction that it is pointing.

“Something that I forgot to point out to you is that this mechanism is inherently unstable. Charlotte only stays flat in the way that you just saw because we have got software control loops constantly pushing it into a horizontal position. Also all its lift comes from the earth’s gravitational field, so if the vehicle ever got tipped over by accident then it would have no lift at all and would fall out of the sky. We are presently planning sensors and thrusters specifically to react to this circumstance. In the same vein the basic operation requires five inverters to operate, and if any one of these failed then again the vehicle would fall out of the sky. This is the reason why all these critical functions have redundancy built in.

“I suggest that we all go back to the meeting room now and we can go over more questions back there.”

Chapter 36

Back at the conference room, James Harper had each of the Electrolev staff stand up and explain what they did and tell their titles in the company. This took about 40 minutes. They all looked strangely Californian with the men having longer hair and the women wearing clothing which seemed tremendously casual and bright compared to the short haired, buttoned down appearance of the Huntsville residents. Next James asked the newly seconded experts to introduce themselves and their groups.

“Harold, let’s start off from where you are and move around in a circle,” commanded James.

A middle aged man with receding hair and a white shirt with grey slacks stood up. “Hi, my name is Harold Trimpop. I was the software manager of the group who wrote all the software for the last upgrade of the B2 bomber. I have a degree in EE from Caltech in 1985 and I have been writing software for flying vehicles ever since. My parents were part of the group of German scientists and engineers who came to Huntsville in 1946 and I was born here in Huntsville. So I really understand how you Electrolev people are feeling coming to Huntsville like this. I have brought with me my group of 25 programmers, who are all nearly as experienced as I am. Stand up gang!” At this point 25 men and women with ages between 25 and 45 stood up and smiled self consciously. Judy, Irena and Cynthia stood up and cheered, waving their hands in the air and crying out: “Whoo hoo – way to go! Yeah!”

Next a woman of about 40 with short cropped hair, tight fitting grey pants and matching grey top stood up. “Hello, my name is Tanya. I have a MS in power electronics from Georgia Tech and my bachelor’s degree was from Moscow University. I have brought with me a group of ten power conversion specialists. Our last assignment was the power converters for the FAST satellite system. Stand up people!” Seven young women and three men stood up and bowed and nodded. John Sykes and Terry Entmann stood up and clapped their hands above their heads, accompanied by cheers from the rest of the Electrolev staff.

The next person to stand up was a portly man of about fifty, with thinning fair hair. He wore white slacks and a brightly colored shirt. “Hello, my name is Anthony Elter. I do systems integration which means that I put together the airframe, the engines, the software and make it all work. I have brought my group of five system integration engineers with me. Our last task was the VH1 presidential helicopter. Stand up and take a bow fellows!” Everybody from Electrolev applauded the five men who stood up. “By the way James – you just made me realize – there is nobody here who does engines!”

“You are right Anthony,” said James Harper. “I’ll get that fixed by next week!”

Anthony sat down and a bearded man of about 40 years old stood up. “Hello everybody, my name is Reginald Tellman. I manage a group of 12 designers who design airframes. Our last assignment was the HH47 helicopter. Stand up people!” Seven men and five women stood up and waved at the meeting. Fred Beller and his mechanical engineer stood up and whooped and cheered and made more noise than had been made for any other participant while the rest of Electrolev applauded.

John stood up, his spine tingling with the excitement coming from the realization of how his efforts at Electrolev were now being amplified with resources from the whole United States of America. “The one thing that has not been mentioned in this meeting is that three months ago, the security of Electrolev was breached and the entire knowledge base of the company was stolen. Especially horrible was the murder of two Electrolev employees in the course of the robbery, and the shooting and abduction of Tony Shepard our first Chief Technologist, who was the fiancé of Judy Chen here. We believe that another nation, and we have no idea who it is, has all the knowledge about LeviStar technology that we had at that time.” The assembled engineers looked sad and some shook their heads. John continued: “So I believe that we are in a race to develop the vehicles that will give the USA the capability to come and go inexpensively to near space, before somebody else gets ahead with that technology.”

Anthony Elter put up his hand. “I am concerned that we may be making life unnecessarily hard on ourselves. I have already seen that Delia is a vehicle that can be suitable for terrestrial security and rescue functions, and also is capable of near space missions and surveillance. In truth these missions are quite distinct. For example, we are going to make a vehicle that could do air sea rescue ridiculously expensive by putting on board hydrazine thrusters that can function in near space.”

James Harper interrupted. “Let me answer that one. In a moment we will review Delia and its plans. I think we all have to recognize that this is a rapidly developing new technology and that at the moment our motivation is to get ahead in the technology race. So in the viewpoint of the Air Force, Delia is really just another test bed to demonstrate and develop the science. I am expecting that from this test bed there will be developed reconnaissance vehicles, rescue vehicles, police vehicles, fighter vehicles, bomber vehicles and so on. The possibilities are enormous. The whole nature of western civilization is about to change, and we are going to be the agents of change. It is an awesome responsibility. The threat that must drive us is the possibility that some other power seizes these capabilities before we do.”

There followed a few moments of silence as the whole room reflected somberly upon these words.

Finally John spoke up. “That’s a tough act to follow James! We have a lot of information to share in the next few days, so let’s get right to it with a review of the Delia project as we presently visualize it.” With that he put a PowerPoint slide up on the screen from his computer. “These are the main characteristics and specifications for Delia.” The screen showed these words:

DELIA

Weight 10,000 lbs

Inverter peak power 50 KW

Maximum altitude 110,000 feet

Maximum speed 1000 mph at high altitude

Cargo capacity 1000 pounds, in addition to crew facilities

Seating for 4 people.

Simple galley and aircraft type toilet allow for lengthy missions

Access hatch underneath, and emergency hatch on top in case it is ditched in water

Battery capacity sufficient to lift vehicle 30,000 feet

Regenerative descent capability

Jet turbine provides 100 KW maximum power, including thruster power and generator power.

Hydrazine thrusters for operation in near space.

Pressurized, climate controlled cabin

Avionics package of transponder, radio, radar etc

Camera for ground surveillance

Upper surface covered in solar cells will allow indefinite parking in near space,

Lower surface covered with incandescent lamps to allow energy to be dissipated radiatively

Whole vehicle parachute intended to save the crew in case of some catastrophic failure.

“This is here for discussion,” said John. “What I have not laid out is the software needed to make all this happen. As we proceed you will come to realize that this vehicle is inherently unstable. If the computers fail, it can fall out of the sky like a stone. Those of us inside Electrolev do not like to talk about it very much, but we learned all this the hard way. I literally got my butt burned when there was a system failure on the Barbara generation vehicle and I was the pilot. That was when we found out about the need for redundancy. It was lucky that bird was only two feet up when it happened!”

Anthony Elter put up his hand. “I think that you ought to bear in mind the possibility of unmanned vehicles, because left to itself Delia or its successors could stay up there literally forever. This technology is ideal for an unmanned vehicle. Somebody could really be controlling it from Colorado or wherever while it was hovering over Afghanistan.”

James Harper nodded seriously. “I think that you are right. I am already starting to plan out the developmental and strategic possibilities for this technology and that is an excellent one. There is no reason for a vehicle that could keep going for six weeks to return to ground after 3 days just because the crew toilet is full up. A UAV version of this is certainly on the cards. I will work that into the plans. That would be a surveillance only vehicle.”

John carried on: “Let’s get into the details now. Fred, would you like to put up the Delia drawings as far as you have them please.”

The meeting carried on for the rest of the day, with assignments being detailed and plans made to convene again in three days time. The next meeting would just be for the group leaders.

At the end John said to Harold Trimpop: “A few of us from Electrolev are planning to eat out tonight – would you and your wife be able to join us? “

“I would be delighted!” rejoined Harold. “And I know of just the place. Can we meet up here at 6 p.m.?”

John nodded and set about getting a group of his colleagues together.

Chapter 37

At six the dinner group was gathering in front of the Sparkman conference center as arranged. Steve Harmann was there with his wife Sarah. Harold Trimpop brought along his wife Hanna. John and Judy were there with a dignified professional relationship.

Harold announced: “I have made a reservation for us at the Biergarten Café. It’s only about 15 minutes away – we can all fit in my Dodge Caravan.”

When they arrived at the restaurant, Judy was immediately distracted by a display of classic dolls in an adjacent store window. “Now I have never seen anything like that in Long Beach!” she exclaimed. Then she saw a model gingerbread house in the window of the restaurant: “Oh, look at that – It’s so cute – it must have taken days to make it!” John and Steve exchanged glances – Judy had been so morose and depressed in recent weeks that it was heartening for them to see her expressing some pleasure at something. The loss of Tony had been hard on all of them but Judy’s ongoing state of mourning was dragging them all down, despite their sympathy.

When they were seated in the restaurant, Harold started off by saying:

“We can all relax and enjoy ourselves for as long as we like tonight, because there is no work in the morning!”

“What are you talking about?” queried Steve.

“I was watching the weather forecast before we came out,” explained Harold, “and we are going to get one to two inches of snow overnight. Neither the city or Madison County has any snow clearing equipment, and so when it snows the roads are a complete disaster. Also the population of Alabama never has a chance to get any practice at driving in the snow. So if you put all this together then the safest thing to do tomorrow morning is to just stay in bed!”

Judy interjected: “I haven’t seen snow since I was in Beijing – I’m looking forward to this!”

Hanna replied: “Well make the most of it because most likely it will all be melted by evening. At least it will not mess up our weekend!”

Sarah chipped in with: “I have once been skiing in the Sierras, but I have never actually experienced snow falling around where I live!”

Steve was trying to keep up a lighthearted conversation, and put in: “Where I was living last year you could go skiing in the morning and then go surfing in the afternoon, provided you drove fairly fast in between!”

John and Judy nodded sagely. “That’s southern California for you!” commented John.

While they all looked at the menu, Harold said: “Of course their Schnitzels are absolutely great, but my all time favorite is Bauernfrühstück. It translates as “Farmer’s Breakfast”. If you eat a plate of that then you will not be hungry for the next day and a half! All the same, leave some room for their incredible torte!” As he spoke Harold pointed to a huge glass display case on one side of the restaurant, filled up with mouth watering cakes.

Once they had all ordered Harold led the conversation again: “I wonder if you all realize how we are reliving history?”

“I’m not much of a historian,” said John. “What are you talking about?”

Harold continued: “At the end of the World War II the United States realized that the global projection of power was going to hinge upon the rocket technology that the Germans had developed at the Peenemunde research center. In the United States Government there were people who had the vision to understand that the major events of the next century – satellites, journey to the moon and planets, were all going to hinge upon the new technology from Peenemunde that only a handful of people understood at that time.”

“So you see analogy between that handful of people and we Electrolev people – we are the only ones who understand LeviStar technology the same as the Peenemunde engineers were the only ones who understood rocket science?” queried Judy.

“Exactly!” proclaimed Harold. “Back in 1946 they relocated the entire body of engineers from Peenemunde here to Huntsville where they could work safely in the protection of the Redstone Arsenal. There were 118 engineers and their families who moved here all together to follow a dream, and the whole United States space program has resulted from them following that dream. The similarity between what happened then and what is happening right now is incredible.” John felt the hairs on his scalp stirring as he reflected upon the way that history was repeating itself.

“Those 118 families brought with them a lot of German culture,” went on Harold, “which exists here in Huntsville to this day. This restaurant that we are sitting in tonight is here because there were German people brought here who knew how to cook, and a population of people who were looking for authentic European cuisine. So for you to be enjoying this German food here tonight symbolizes powerfully how history is repeating itself – all over again!”

Again John felt the strangest sensation as tiny hairs rippled all the way down from his scalp and down the length of his back – the physical manifestation of the realization that he was a part of world history and simultaneously reliving it.

The meal at that restaurant that evening was great for everybody present. As they stepped out into the parking lot the first tiny fine flakes of snow were coming out of the sky. Suddenly there was a deep rumbling like distant thunder. “What on earth is that?” queried Sarah.

“Oh, don’t take any notice!” exclaimed Hannah. “The Arsenal has a duty to test all the munitions built for the armed forces, and to do that they have to explode a few of them. We hear it all the time. You’ll get used to it after a few months!”

Chapter 38

During the following months Fred Beller got a good team work relationship going with Reginald Tellman and his group. They used workshops both inside the Arsenal and outside to procure the components for Delia. For the engine an auxiliary power unit (APU) of the kind used on aircraft was chosen because it was readily available. Its exhaust was ducted out on all four sides of the vehicle, and sideways thrust was produced by throttling off the ducts as needed. For maximum forward thrust, just the rear facing jet was left open. After three months the airframe structure of two Delia prototypes was starting to be put together in the hangar. One innovation was to replace the heavy copper wire previously used for the coils with anodized aluminum Litz wire. This was shipped in from China.

The Electrolev staff were slowly adjusting to life in Alabama. For those of them who had only lived in Southern California before, the environment in which the overnight temperatures were below freezing was startling. Also they found the bare deciduous forests which surrounded the Arsenal in winter to be depressing after the environment of evergreen palms, ficus trees and jacarandas which lined the streets in Long Beach.

It was on a Sunday morning towards the end of March that John appeared at the door of Judy’s apartment with a bunch of flowers. He rang the door bell at 10 a.m., and when Judy appeared he announced: “I remembered that today was your birthday, and so I’ve brought you some flowers!”

Judy was wearing a robe and fairly clearly had just got out of bed to answer the door. “That’s so kind of you”, she answered. “I didn’t know that anybody here knew my birthday.”

“I was wondering if you would like to come out for dinner with me this evening to celebrate? I have found a terrific Chinese buffet which is nearly up to Long Beach standards,” continued John.

“OK, it’s a deal.” rejoined Judy. “I’ve had to cook my own Chinese food the whole time that we have been in Huntsville and it will be a pleasure to have some one else cooking! I’ll see you at say, 6 p.m.?”

That evening as they drove away from the Arsenal, their spirits were lifted as the setting sun illuminated the blossoming redbud trees which were dotting the landscape. Here and there forsythia bushes provided a brilliant splash of yellow color which made a vivid contrast. Even though they missed the ficus lined boulevards around Long Beach, they could not help admiring these dramatic colors which were the early signs of Alabama spring. Judy was wearing the tan pants suit which she originally bought eighteen months before for visiting venture capitalists. It was sturdy enough for a cool Huntsville spring evening. John was wearing a blue blazer and charcoal grey slacks, which for him was amazingly dressed up. Judy was feeling probably the most positive she had been since the loss of Tony six months before. However John was stressed out by his responsibilities as President of Electrolev and the strain of managing the Delia technology. His own specialty was power electronics, and he constantly had to make far reaching decisions about aeronautics matters for which he had no training at all. True, any expertise that he needed was available at the snap of a finger, but the strain was telling upon him.

Over dinner they chatted about their work in the Electrolev hangar, which had almost become their whole world.

Judy shared her experiences: “Would you believe that those Huntsville programmers started making control loops simply allowing the speed of the processor to determine when the next calculation was done? I had to practically hit them over the head with a 2X4 to insist that they set up a real time clock with interrupts so that updates happened when they were really needed!”

John also had experiences to share: “Would you believe that the Russian power electronics manager was determined to make the systems so that you could shoot a bullet through them in any direction, and the thing would keep running. – I had to insist that since we were building double redundancy that this was not necessary!”

“Well, if I was flying Delia I would not mind that it could be shot through and keep going,” rejoined Judy.

“Yes, but that concept would have doubled the weight! – that auxiliary power turbine is already the heaviest thing on board, and the flush toilet is the next heaviest single line item in there! We just could not afford to double up the weight of the power electronics when there was already a redundant design,” continued John.

Both of them were feeling the weight of the responsibility of steering a billion dollar operation. The truth was that basically everything was progressing beautifully by normal development standards. Problems were being fixed as fast as they were recognized, and the Electrolev core staff was a good six months ahead of the rest of the team in their thinking, which gave them a god-like status. In Huntsville the term “Rocket scientist” was hallowed. You never used the word lightheartedly in say, a theater or a restaurant, because there were sure to be ten of them within earshot. In the same way, amongst those who knew, the term “Electrolev engineer” had come to have equally as much cachet.

As the meal progressed, with multiple trips back to the food tables, even Judy had to admit that the cuisine at the New China Buffet was genuinely Chinese and right up there with Long Beach in its authenticity.

After the meal John started driving them back towards the Arsenal or “The Base” as many people locally called it. Judy was feeling warm and satisfied from an infusion of genuine Chinese food, and she said: “Why don’t we stop off at Publix and get a bottle of chardonnay, and you can come back to my place so that we can reminisce about old times?”

John obligingly made a small detour and stopped off at Publix. He swiftly slipped into the supermarket only to return all grumpy a few minutes later. “It’s not legal to buy chardonnay in Alabama on a Sunday!” he reported.

“Well let’s just have coffee at my place,” said Judy. “We can still spend a little while reminiscing and maybe catch up on the people we used to know at Lighting Enterprises.”

Since everybody from Long Beach was housed in one big office block converted into apartments beside the Sparkman Center, the route to Judy’s apartment was also the way to John’s place. It was somewhat like being in a college dorm, which was a joke that got stale after the first month.

“Come on in and make yourself at home,” said Judy. “I wanted to look modern and fashionable but these heels are killing me! Give me five minutes while I get changed into something more comfortable.”

John sat there gazing blankly around. Even though the Electrolev gang had been there for three months now, he had never been in Judy’s place before. Judy had been distinctly prickly and hard to get through to the whole time. He had been imagining that Judy had been really close to her software managers Cynthia and Irena all this time, but now he was not so sure. Maybe I’ll get lucky tonight he mused as he sat there. He gazed around at the walls. They were not blank, as in his apartment; instead they were covered in picture after picture of Tony. There was Tony teaching physics classes, Tony at his desk in the old Electrolev building, Tony on the beach, Tony as a teenager, Tony punting in Cambridge. John had always respected Tony but never regarded him as a hunting partner. Where women were concerned Tony was too handsome while John was too nerdy. If John had been more advanced in his thinking he might have treasured Tony as a decoy, but instead he just saw him as competition. Worst still, recently disapeared competition about whom one can speak no ill.

Judy came back into the room carrying a huge photo album. She had put on loose fitting blue jeans and an oversized sloppy sweater which was really quite appropriate for the chilly Huntsville spring evening. “I’ll go and put the kettle on for coffee,” she remarked. “How do you like your coffee – milk, sugar?”

“Just a little creamer and no sugar,” replied John.

Judy sat down on the sofa beside John, which caused his pulses to quicken several percent right away. It was longer than he cared to think about since he had been that close to a girl, let alone Judy who he had admired from a distance for a good two years now.

Judy chattered on: “Look, I’ve got a class photo taken at Cal State Long Beach. See – there is me and over here is you! Then here is a snap taken in the R&D lab at Lighting Enterprises – there are you over there and here is me. Do you remember old Miller?”

“He was something I would always have rather forgotten,” responded John. “As far as I was concerned it was obvious that we should have been developing light emitting diode drives, but instead he was determined to make the world’s most perfect electronic ballast for fluorescent lamps. I used to say: “Fluorescent lamps are passé, we should be doing LEDs!” and he would just reply that they were way too expensive and would never become real lighting.”

“I had problems with him too,” confided Judy. “It seemed that he had a daughter my exact age, and he seemed to think that this gave him a license to put his hands all over my shoulders. I couldn’t stand it.” Just then the kettle boiled. Hoping to change the thread of the conversation, John said: “I’ll do it!” and he went off and mixed up the coffee.

When he came back bearing the two cups of coffee, he studiously sat down just close enough to Judy so that there was slight contact between their bodies for a moment. Judy leaned forward to sip her coffee, and as she sat up again she unconsciously shifted a few inches to one side, making a meaningful gap between them.

Judy launched into her photo album again. “Here is a picture of Tony and I down on the beach a year ago,” she said. “Isn’t the sunset beautiful? We propped up the camera on Tony’s tripod and let the camera do it on automatic. Then here is a picture of us at the Los Angeles National Forest. Doesn’t he look handsome? Tony and I were so happy together. I had never loved anybody in that way before. You can never believe the void that it has left in my life when he was killed.”

“I really thought he was a great physicist,” opined John. “Apparently just before he was shot he was working on an extension of relativistic electrodynamics that would have made the fifth force clear and obvious. Ian and Jim have copied down everything that was on his white board at the moment he was shot and taken, and even though it looks right to them they simply cannot work out where it goes next. It is like having a key to a door but not being able to find the lock to put the key in.”

“He was so kind, so gentle,” said Judy. “Look, here is a picture of him with Steve’s little puppy last October. Animals would just relate to him so naturally.”

“He had such a magnificent insight, too,” said John, not knowing where the conversation was leading and starting to wish for an exit strategy.

“He knew about so many things!” said Judy, warming to her theme. “You could talk about art, music, whatever you liked, and Tony would always have something insightful to say.”

John glanced hopefully at his watch. “You know, I’ve got an eight o’clock meeting with Steve Harmann and Tim Hetherington in the morning. Tim is already in town actually, and Steve is taking him to dinner this evening. But I have got to be there bright and early in the morning, so I really had better be getting off to my place.”

“I’m sorry,” replied Judy. “I had so much more to go over. You and I have been through so much together. Perhaps we can carry on another night.”

“Of course, I would love to,” said John. And with that he rose, and remembering that she was his V.P. of Engineering he respectfully shook her hand, and let himself out to walk through the building to his apartment.

Once he had left, Judy put on her pajamas and slipped into bed still holding the photo album, which she surveyed as she slipped off to sleep.

Back in his apartment, John too changed into his pajamas, set the alarm for the morning, and got into bed. He delved into his bedside table to find a copy of Popular Science which he mused over as he settled down to sleep.

Chapter 39

As the year wore on, Delia 1 and Delia 2 gradually started to take shape in the Electrolev hangar. By the time that June came around, the Alabama summer heat and humidity was starting to show their real strength. Fortunately the hangar had an enormous air conditioning system, and so by late morning most days the hangar doors were kept closed.

One day in early June Tim Hetherington came to Huntsville to see the progress of the JCB investment. John and Steve were showing him around. With the billion dollar air force contract on the books, the accounts were of quite minor interest, and the main topic of conversation were the Delia prototypes taking shape in the hangar where they were standing.

“What you are looking at is the outer skin, which keeps the pressurized air on the inside,” explained John. “At the very beginning we already put in the big tanks for water, jet fuel, hydrazine and large items like the auxiliary power unit and the crew toilet.”

“Those wheels look pretty spindly,” remarked Tim.

“Well, that’s because this vehicle does not have to land at hundreds of miles an hour like an aircraft,” explained John. “It comes straight down gently like a falling leaf, and the undercarriage only has to take quite minor straight line forces. All the same you would never believe how much discussion there was about what principle to use. You can see what we finally settled on – the two back wheels are non directional, while the front wheel is just a caster which lets you push the vehicle wherever you want to. It really only gets used when the ground crew are pushing it around. It was Fred who finally made the casting vote to have it that way. Come up on this scaffolding and I can point out the main features to you.”

When they had climbed twenty feet up on a scaffold adjacent to the Delias, Tim said: “I can see a whole lot of structure on the top side – what on earth is it all?”

“Any unused space on the top side is covered in solar cells to generate electricity,” answered John. “That explains the fine structure which you are seeing. In the center is the air intake for the auxiliary power unit, and a little in front of that you can see the four square windows for the crew to see out of. There are windshield wipers on the middle two since Delia is going to encounter weather just like any other flying vehicle. The whole thing is about 25 feet in diameter. Just behind the windows you can see all the radio antennas. That stubby little fin at the back is a great help for maneuvering in the atmosphere.”

“How does the crew get into it?” asked Tim.

“Even I know the answer to that –it’s underneath!” exclaimed Steve.

“Let’s go back down to the floor,” suggested John.

Once they were down there, John continued: “You can get in through this little ladder here underneath the cabin.”

“Why are there so many lights all over the underside?” asked Tim in bewilderment.

“They are to get rid of energy in the form of light and heat when it comes down a long way fast,” explained John. “Think about how the thermal tiles on the space shuttle get red hot when it comes down. Well, Delia has an analogous problem except that the energy appears in the battery pack inside as the energy from coming down is converted into electric charge. We get rid of it by burning all those lights and radiating the energy away.”

“Can I see inside?” asked Tim.

“Sure”, replied John. But they are a bit empty right now – we are still building the inside. The group gingerly climbed the aluminum ladder into the cabin.

“Here you can see the seats for the pilot and co-pilot,” continued John. “There are two passenger seats behind. In the center is the APU, mounted vertically, and at the back you can already see the toilet and the galley. In this lowered region of ceiling around the APU there is a huge parachute for the whole vehicle in case of a total failure of the power system. You can see storage lockers all around the periphery near the edge – for example, there is going to be an emergency kit with screwdrivers and power tools so that the crew is not helpless in case of emergency.”

“Where do you put the ladder when you take off?” asked Tim.

“It goes in those clips on the ceiling,” responded John. “In case the craft has to be ditched in water, there is another hatch on top, and the same ladder will allow the crew to get up to that top hatch to get out.”

“This is really thrilling!” exclaimed Tim.

“You are not the only one who thinks so,” said Steve. “You may have noticed all the passes we had to show to get in here. So many people who work on the project all want to make a tour like we are doing that they have had to seal off the area and post armed guards around it.”

“One last thing,” said John. “Underneath these floor panels is all the electronics that makes it work.” He lifted up a floor panel and revealed a seemingly endless expanse of electronic circuits under their feet.

As they climbed down the ladder onto the hangar floor, Tim had another question. “What are these four big lumps on the underside?”

“Those are the stabilization anti-coils,” explained John. “Remember that the main lift is coming from that great big coil all around the outside. But that is inherently unstable, and the whole thing can only remain level because of continuous nudges which it gets from these four smaller coils underneath, orchestrated by the main computer.”

Tim went away satisfied. Very few of the JCB investments were able to show such dramatic progress.

During the spring Terry Mettle once caused a sensation on base when he took Charlotte out for a flight around the Arsenal. Since the grounds encompassed 38,000 acres this could have potentially been quite a lengthy journey. He had hoped that by keeping under 100 feet he would have not been noticed, however a number of base security personnel reported this strange flying object hovering over the Arsenal. They were smart enough to guess immediately that this was some hush hush new flying vehicle, and so there was no panic.

Sergeant Coldman of the Redstone security force had a strange interview with his commanding officer, Colonel Smith. “Concerning this report which you submitted today describing a flying vehicle hovering over the base: first of all this was excellent reporting, and you will receive a commendation for vigilance in the course of duty. Secondly, you will now believe that you never saw anything today. I think that you have been in the security forces around secret advanced development activities for long enough in your career that you will understand this situation!” Smith paused, awaiting a response.

“Yes, sir.” responded Coldman.

When Terry returned to the hangar James Harper had been waiting for him. “I think that we had better have a meeting to talk about planning in-air test flights,” he said. “How about tomorrow at ten in that small conference room 2?”

At ten a.m. the next day there was gathered James, Terry Mettle, Fred Beller, John, Judy and Anthony Elter. James sat at the head of the table in an authoritative manner which let the others know that something pretty serious was on his mind. John had a faint sinking feeling in his stomach.

“I expect that you all heard how Terry’s test flight yesterday caused an undue amount of excitement on the base,” commenced James. “Fortunately half the people here have got secret clearance anyway, and the security guards guessed that this was some new aircraft system being tested and did not panic especially. Even so, there can easily be people without any screening on the base. All you need is to show your driving license for ID to get in here, and lots of vets come in here just to go shopping at the commissary or to use the medical facilities. As far as we are concerned these are just regular citizens and the more people get a glimpse of the Delias then the more the project is endangered. So I think that we had better work up a plan for discreetly doing test flights.”

Anthony Elter spoke up. “In our circumstances I think that there is only one option. We can test it in complete privacy at Homey airport.”

“Where is that?” asked Fred in bewilderment.

Anthony explained: “It’s a highly secure airbase in Nevada that the Air Force uses to test out planes which it simply does not want the rest of the world to know about. From our point of view it is ideal. They have got a 23X25 mile piece of desert where absolutely nobody goes. The airspace over it is closed to everybody, even military pilots who do not have special permission. There are hangars and buildings there which we can use for setting up and adjustments. Then when the time comes, the Delias can fly out for the first time in complete privacy. They have a huge runway at Homey, just like here at Redstone. Delia should fit inside a military transport. So we can just roll her into the back of one here at Huntsville and roll her out in one of the hangars at Homey. Then we can try her out as much as we like in complete privacy. Everybody who works on that base has a secret or higher clearance. I expect that you will need to be there for a week or so at a time while we are doing test flights. They have a daily commuter flight in there from Las Vegas. So you can stay in a luxury hotel there, and fly in each morning to work at Homey and then back to Vegas to whoop it up in the evening. Most groups really look forward to their time spent testing at Homey.”

“That’s amazing!” said Judy. “How come we never heard about such a place?”

“Well, you may have heard about it under a different name,” said Anthony. “In days gone by people used to call it Area 51.”

Terry looked at Judy. Judy looked at John. John swallowed hard. “Oh my god!” he muttered. Then he said: “Well I guess we have to do what we have to do, but I have spent the last two years trying to get away from this flying saucer thing and every time I do then it comes back to bite me.”

“Wow, I never thought of that” said James. “What an amazing coincidence. You know there is all kinds of folklore about UFOs being seen around Homey, or area 51 as it has been called. It’s not surprising really since every really new and secret flying system goes down there for flight testing. I have never even been there myself, but inside Air Force R&D they advertise their facilities and it has always sounded great to me. They have every conceivable kind of computer, radar and radio capability, and there are underground quarters where you can stay which they claim are quite comfortable. But it would be hard to compete with Vegas and so I can see why they have that morning commuter flight.”

John shook his head sadly. “We will do what we have to do,” he affirmed.

Chapter 40

It was in August that John, James, Judy, Steve, Fred, Terry and Anthony met in the hangar to review the progress on the Delias. Anthony started off: “It’s really been amazing how much of the hardware we have been able to copy from other existing systems. For example the pressurization, heating and air conditioning systems are really all just copied straight out of the Space Shuttle.” Outside there was a tremendous thunder clap. The lights in the hangar flickered. Suddenly outside a siren could be heard wailing. “Tornado warning!” remarked Anthony. ‘We have all got to go to the tornado safe refuge area.” Fred, John and Steve all felt their blood turn to ice, while Judy feigned indifference. “Follow me!” said Anthony. They all trooped into a rather small area where there were massive concrete walls on three sides, and by chance the floor level was actually below the adjacent ground level outside. There were probably fifty people cramped into that small space, all looking self conscious at taking refuge in that fashion. Fortunately after only five minutes the sirens stopped and everybody was able to get back to work.

John attempted to get things rolling again. “Fred, tell us where things are up to.”

“At this point all the major systems are physically installed in the airframes. All of the pieces seem to work separately, which is nearly a miracle, since Anthony tells me that this hardly ever happens. We have got redundancy for everything – for example the main processor could fail and its twin could take over everything for as long as needed to perform a reboot. There are two jet fuel tanks, two hydrazine tanks, even two water tanks. Come on inside!”

The seven of them clambered up the short ladder into Delia 1. They stood proudly around the pilot seats, which were in front of an absolutely huge display panel. Fred turned a key in the dashboard, and numerous lights came to life on the massive console. On the main screen, different parts showed information about the altitude, velocity, temperatures of critical parts, etc. “One of the really fun features is the surveillance camera,” said Fred. He pressed a soft key below the display and immediately a section of the display showed an image of the floor underneath the vehicle with part of the ladder visible. “From twenty miles up you can read a newspaper on the ground when you use full magnification. Anthony, you tell us how it is all working together.”

“One of the biggest features has been getting all the software to work simultaneously with itself and the hardware,” declared Anthony. “As it is right now, you can lean the cyclic control stick over to whichever way you want and it will move smoothly in that direction. The software which detects sideways motion seems to work just as you would want so that in general the vehicle will execute a corner maneuver pretty much automatically if you use the foot pedals to turn it. Terry has been driving it around the hanger to prove that. Of course, the one piece of software that has not been tried out is the routine for recovering from Judy’s nightmare in which the vehicle somehow gets set exactly on its edge so that all the regular flight controls are deactivated and the vehicle plummets down. What I am thinking of doing is setting up a gantry with ropes so that we can suspend a vehicle while it is running. Then we will use a crane to forcibly tip it on its side and see whether it will recover itself to the right way up. One stage beyond what Judy dreamed, we will tip it completely upside down. The software people have written a series of routines which will turn it the right way up again completely automatically. We will test that with the same gantry, ropes and crane.

“Over on this side we have the toilet, just like in a commercial aircraft, and next to it the little galley – there is a sink with running water, a microwave oven, a fridge to store food and a storage cabinet for supplies. This little cabinet here contains a tool kit that might allow some level of emergency repairs in flight – you have got patches to close a meteorite hole, and there are pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers and even an electric power drill with a small selection of drill bits. So if something goes wrong during a mission you will not be totally helpless. Over here the space low down to the floor where there is little headroom is all taken up with storage lockers where you can keep pressure suits and other gear which you will rarely need. There are lightweight blankets there to make it comfortable for the crew to sleep during extended missions. Terry, would you like to share what you have been learning?”

“My experiments have been constrained to what I can do inside this hangar!” said Terry. “I admit that it’s a huge one, but if you are a pilot then that cramps your style to say the least. I have been studying the cornering ability especially. It really does corner nicely now, within the limits of the hardware. If you swing it around then the software automatically stops the sideways drift as fast as the hardware is capable of, which is probably all you could ask for, except for one thing. When you go round a corner fast it is comforting if the floor tilts slightly so that at least roughly gravity still feels like it is pointing straight down. When you are in an airliner you take it for granted these days that when the pilot goes round a corner he tips the floor exactly enough so that it feels like gravity is still straight down. Think about those times when you glance up from reading a book and discover that the ground looks to be somewhat beside you instead of below you. At the moment, in contrast to this, Delia behaves just like a car running on four wheels – as you go round a corner; she stays absolutely as flat as can be. That feels quite strange. You can turn the vehicle round, and the computers immediately figure out that it is going sideways and start pushing thrust in the direction to get you going straight again. That is great, but it feels weird for the pilot and passengers. So my request for the software people is, can we please adjust the horizontal stabilization loop so that it automatically tips the floor sideways when you are going round a corner, so that it feels as if down is towards your feet?”

Everybody looked at Judy. “Sure we can do that – eventually. But that is a big one to do and it will take everybody for several weeks to get that one going, and then we will have to recheck that we have not screwed up some other function. I don’t think we can do that before the first test flight at Homey. By the way, when exactly is that?” She looked at James.

“Unfortunately everything at Homey is super important or it would not be there,” said James. “I have managed to reserve the facilities for a two week spell at the end of September, about four weeks from now. I really am worried about how we are going to transport the Delias up there. We should have thought about that before we started constructing them here. Back in history when the Saturn rockets were being built, they made a special aircraft which used to be known as the pregnant guppy just to move the rocket parts that were built here. Luckily Boeing recently built three outsize cargo planes called the Dreamlifter for moving the parts of their Dreamliner around amongst their world wide factories. So I am in the process of negotiating with Boeing to get the use of their B747LCF Dreamlifter aircraft to move the Delias from Huntsville to Homey. The Air Force has a lot of influence with Boeing, especially for national security issues, so I am expecting that I’ll be able to manage it. Delia is 25 feet across, and the Dreamlifter has a width of 27 feet, so with care we will just be able to fit it in.”

After this the meeting was climaxed by Terry and Judy taking Delia 1 on a trip around the hangar at an altitude of twenty feet. Fred and Anthony sat in the back while John, James and Steve watched from the side. When they came back, Fred remarked: “That APU sure is noisy. It’s only a few feet behind you as you are sitting there! I am going to look into designing in some serious soundproofing otherwise we will all have to wear earplugs when we are inside.”

Judy said: “All the same - I just love it. This is my kind of transport!”

James broke in with: “Well I should hope so, because it has cost $200 million so far!”

At that the meeting broke up and they all made their way out through the sweltering midday heat to the cafeteria.

Chapter 41

Four weeks later it felt as if the summer heat and humidity of Huntsville had been going on forever. Most of the Long Beach contingent had never experienced anything like it before. Even though the Electrolev hangar was air conditioned throughout, in the large open area where the Delias had been assembled, the temperature still seemed uncomfortable to West Coast people. The locals commiserated with them, and said: “You just have to kind of take things slowly when there is this heat and humidity!” Even the leaves of the trees around the Arsenal seemed to be drooping limp and lifeless by the end of each day. The temperatures were often around 95F, and although the western deserts have much higher temperatures, it was the 80% humidity that was the real killer.

Steve and James had arranged that the personnel working on the project were going to travel to Homey via Dallas and Las Vegas. Since the accommodation available at Homey was little and barrack like, Steve took the initiative of getting rooms for all the staff at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. John, Terry Entmann, Judy, Cynthia, Irena, Terry Mettle, Fred, Ian Smith, Jim Telham, Harold, Tanya, Anthony and Reginald were slated to go. After a lot of arm twisting, a Dreamlifter was freed up to make the 1500 mile trip from Redstone to Homey airport. Terry Mettle managed to get a seat on the flight deck of the Dreamlifter and was the only member of the LeviStar team to actually fly with the Delia prototypes.

When they were loaded into the Dreamlifter, Fred had the loading team make use of lifting loops which he had thoughtfully provided at four points on the Delias periphery, which allowed them to be conveniently lifted with a small crane. They were also used to tie the Delias down inside the Dreamlifter hold.

The Electrolev team flew into Las Vegas on a Sunday, having spent almost the whole day getting there. After the sweltering summer humidity of Huntsville they luxuriated in the dry desert heat. They all took cabs across to the Paris Hotel and checked themselves in. John had suggested they get together at the Café Ile St Louis for dinner at 7.

During dinner, John went over the travel arrangements: “We are all booked on a charter 737 flight which leaves McCarran airport – the EG&G Airlift Terminal, at 7am every morning. Now your average taxi driver may not know where it is, so I have written down instructions for you all here. As he spoke he passed around a stack of papers with maps on them. The Airlift Terminal is on the edge of McCarran airport close to the junction of E. Hacienda Avenue and Haven. The driveway is on Haven close to the junction. The sign outside will just say EG&G Airlift Terminal, and the airline that will be taking us is called JANET. It is only a small terminal, and once you show your Air Force ID badges and tickets the airline staff will help you find the flight to Homey. You had better get there sharp or you will be left behind. I heard already that Terry and the Delias got there safely and the Delias have already been wheeled into the hangar which they have assigned to us. There is supposed to be office space for us close by with phones, computers and anything else which we might need. They have workshops there which can provide almost any mechanical adjustments that we need. After tonight you are all on your own for meal arrangements. The good news is that Electrolev is new enough that we do not have any rules yet on acceptable expenses. So here is a warning – we can all have a great time here while the Delias are debugged, but if somebody goes and buys a $50 bottle of champagne then we will end up being forced to have a strict allowance for what is OK – so be warned! The flight back leaves from Homey airport at 5. If you miss it then you will have to spend the night in the barracks there.”

The following morning they all assembled uneventfully at the airlift terminal and caught the Janet flight to Homey airport. Upon arrival they were greeted by an Air Force representative who showed them where their offices were to be, which was right adjacent to the hangar where the Delias were housed. He himself had only just viewed the Levistars for the first time, and even though he had obviously seen a lot from working at Homey, the amazement showed on his face. After an hour fiddling around getting security badges for the airport facility, a brief meeting was called in a conference room adjacent to the hangar, at which the base staff were introduced and it was explained what services they could provide. John explained the nature of Delia without explaining how it worked. Delia was apparently rather rare in its need for the hydrazine which it would use for its high altitude tests, but they had proudly laid on the capability. A shuttle over to the Janet airways terminal was to leave the hangar at 4.45 each day to get everybody back to Las Vegas for the night. During the meeting the sequence of tests was planned out:

Low speed low altitude maneuvering

Test maximum speed possible at low altitude

Test pressurization and climate control systems by rising to 10,000 feet.

Try out regenerative descent from 10,000 feet.

Test horizontal flight speed at 10,000 feet

Test out the cornering ability at low altitudes, flying a circuit around the airport.

Test altitude capability to 50,000 feet, testing pressurization and climate.

Regenerative descent, using the incandescent lamps to dissipate energy.

Test altitude capability to 80,000 feet,

Shut down the APU and rise to 100,000 feet using the batteries.

Test out parking at 100,000 feet.

Take vehicle to 30,000 feet and then halt the inverters to simulate a total power failure.

Operate the big safety parachute and test parachute descent.

Test out the ground surveillance camera from 80,000 feet.

With two vehicles available one could be executing the tests while the other was being serviced and adjusted. It was anticipated that minor tweaks to the software especially would be conducted all through the testing. There were many empirical parameters in the control software which had only ever been set up inside the hangars at Huntsville.

Terry Mettle was positively glowing during the presentation and it seemed as if he was walking at least an inch taller than normal.

The tests proceeded amazingly smoothly, since it turned out that the flights around the hangar had been truly effective in their debugging. It was towards the end of the morning on that first day that Terry was taking Delia 1 around and around the Homey airport, simultaneously testing out forward speed and cornering. Two veteran controllers in the control tower, known as KXTA, were watching with unbridled amazement. They were soon joined by a curious crowd of Air Force officers, including Brigadier General James Harper, who nobody had known was going to be there. Delia 1 zoomed around and around the airfield, at a speed of what looked like about 300 miles an hour. The first controller commented: “Working here at KXTA I have seen speed, and I have seen power – but look at that baby go – it has no wings and it’s flying!”

James commented wryly: “That is the least of what it can do – that vehicle can go up into near space. It can stay there as long as you want like a stationary satellite, and then come back down again! It brings a whole new dimension to the projection of air power which we are still exploring.”

Leaning over one of the controllers he said: “Could I speak to the pilot for a few seconds please?” The controller obligingly handed James a microphone from his desk and flipped a switch to activate it. “Terry – this is James – I am in the control tower with some Air Force observers – could you bring Delia over here to the tower and just stop outside the window for a few moments please?”

Terry’s reply must have come over the controller’s headset, since he said: “He’s coming over.”

Outside Delia slowed down to a walking speed over the airport, and then slowly and cautiously slid across the airfield towards the control tower. Finally it stopped right opposite the observation window.

“Maybe you can demonstrate the parking gear for our visitors?” said James into the microphone.

Delia became stationary, locked at a fixed point in the air immediately opposite the tower.

“I can patch him onto a room speaker for you.” said the controller, pressing buttons on his console.

Terry’s voice came over the room speaker: “If you folks will excuse me I am scheduled to do an altitude test next.”

Delia then started moving upwards like an express elevator, and after a minute was a tiny spec in the sky above them.

Right behind Harper, a short man resplendent in gold braid and medals and wearing an Air Force peaked cap, spoke up. It was General Norbert Sorts the General of the United States Air Force. “Harper – this is outstanding work! You have handled this whole situation masterfully – in only sixteen months you have brought this technology from a laboratory curiosity to a vehicle that we can use! Congratulations Major General Harper!” The pair shook hands. “There is just one thing,” remarked Sorts “Wouldn’t a few guns or missiles be helpful?”

“We are discussing all of that sir!” reassured Harper.

Back at the test hangar, Terry brought Delia 1 down softly right outside the front of the hangar. Seconds later he jumped out of the bottom hatch. “Anybody know the way to the lunch room?” he asked, happily. The Electrolev team crowded around him, shaking his hand and patting him on the back.

In the afternoon, Terry and John together took Delia 2 up to 50,000 feet, and then put the vehicle in park. They shut down the APU and the cabin became eerily quiet. Over the radio they spoke with Judy on the ground. “We are parked here now,” said John. “Isn’t this cool?”

They tried out the surveillance camera and gleefully watched people walking around down below on the airfield.

Next they started a regenerative descent. This had been tried out before in the Huntsville hangar from a height of 30 feet, but this time it was for real. They watched the diagnostics on the screen, not unlike those on a hybrid vehicle, which showed energy flowing back into the batteries. When they were about 20,000 feet from the ground, the batteries were close to full.

“Can you see our energy dissipation lights?” said Terry over the radio.

“Wow you are really bright!” came the reply back from Judy.

The tests continued for the whole week. On the Saturday morning at around 8.30, Judy’s hotel room phone rang. It was John. “Hey Judy, since we are here in Vegas and there is all kinds of entertainment around, would you like to come out to see a show and have dinner this evening? Maybe we could carry on the reminiscing about old times that we never finished on your birthday? We have been working like slaves here all week and we might as well give ourselves some kind of reward.”

“Do you have anything in mind?” asked Judy.

“Well, how about some kind of variety show and then a dinner at an Asian restaurant?” responded John.

“OK, let’s do it. But I doing a Hoover dam tour with the girls tomorrow so we had better not be too late.”

“I’ll fix something up and let you know when to meet,” said John.

Chapter 42

John had chosen a classic Las Vegas variety show. It was supposed to include comedians, clowns, acrobats, a magician, a singer and of course since it was Las Vegas, some topless girls. John put on a tan suit, but with no tie, and Judy was wearing a neat black sleeveless zip front seamed satin cocktail dress. After spending nearly a year in Huntsville they were scared that they might have become unduly conservative and were anxious to appear modern and sophisticated.

The show was really entertaining, and did a lot to take their minds off the tension of making a reality out of Delia.

At the point where the topless girl dancers appeared on stage, John was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle and then looked at Judy and felt uncomfortable because she seemed to be blushing under her yellow Chinese skin. The moment quickly passed and they were soon roaring with laughter at the comedian who followed.

After the show they took a cab back to the Paris Hotel where John had made a reservation at the Ah Sin Asian style restaurant, out of deference to Judy’s cultural heritage. Over dinner the subject of Delia’s software naturally enough came up. Judy started out with one of her famous: “I am worried about something” themes, which by now could cause John to have a reflexive gagging because so far every one of them had turned out to have a reality. “I am worried about the software revision that Terry has asked for to incorporate tilted cornering,” she started out, causing John to momentarily choke over the chardonnay that he was sipping.

“Right now we are on generation 6 of the Delia software, and that is such a far reaching change that I am planning to start all over again with new generation 7 software. My hang-up is, that if we want to bank the vehicle over when going round a corner, that we have taken away some of the lift from the main anti-coil and the vehicle will start to sink down. The moment you start tilting it then all hell breaks loose – the very basis of all the calculations and control loops is undermined.”

At that moment the waiter delivered their Pu-Pu platter, and trying to get the conversation back to more personal matters, John lifted his glass and said: “Here’s to Chinese culture!”

“To Chinese culture!” rejoined Judy supportively.

Not wanting to rebuff Judy’s concerns totally, John suggested: “Maybe we could help by modifying the hardware instead – we could mount the vertical inertial sensor on a gyroscope so that it always stayed flat when the vehicle was tilted – that way you would not have to mess with the vertical stabilization loop at all.”

Judy’s worried face unclouded. “Now you are talking – maybe hardware engineers are quite useful after all!”

Then she raised her glass and said: “Here is to hardware engineers!”

The meal proceeded on cheerfully enough, although John’s face dropped for a moment when he saw the bill. “I sure hope that Steve is having a good meal out tonight,” he said. “I have got this deal going in which he signs my expense reports as President and I sign his as the Chief Operating Officer - I would feel really awkward if it turned out that he was eating at McDonalds tonight.”

They were feeling distinctly merry and under the influence of the wine when they left the restaurant. John said: “I have got a bottle of wine up in my room – would you like to join me and we can reminisce about old times for a bit?”

“Sure – I’d love too,” replied Judy. “It feels like it is too early to stop the evening already.”

Back in John’s room John uncorked the wine, which was actually champagne, and then he proposed a toast to technology.

“To technology!” said Judy, raising her glass.

Together they sipped their drinks and stood before the window, contemplating the myriad flashing lights of Las Vegas below them. John was feeling distinctly heady, and his body was pulsing with the excitement of being so close to Judy. Her black cocktail dress clung to her figure emphasizing the curves of her hips and her breast. Judy too was feeling emotional after the glamour of the show and the evening in the romantic restaurant. Finally, with the satisfaction of having seen Delia fly, the memory of Tony had slowly fallen away from her consciousness like the disappearing shadows at the moment of dawn. She undid a tie at the back of her head so that her black Asian hair fell down over her shoulders. She felt as if her life had a new beginning. “Aren’t you going to kiss me?” she said, looking close into John’s face, smiling gently and slightly tilting her head.

Without putting down his drink, John put his other arm around her waist and they kissed passionately.

“Let me put some music on,” said John. He walked over to the entertainment system and fiddled for a few moments to find some soft music. He sat down on the edge of the bed with his drink and Judy stood in front of him, grinning mischievously like a teenager. “What did you make of those topless dancers in the show tonight?” she asked, smiling broadly.

“Well, frankly I have never seen such huge breasts before,” replied John. “It’s incredible how those girls could have so much breast and it would stay protruding out like that without any bra!”

“I can beat that easily!” said Judy, with a musical lilt to her voice. Saying that she slowly unzipped the front of her cocktail dress, and pulling apart the top she revealed her own ample bosom. She leaned over John, still sitting on the bed. “You can touch me if you like,” she murmured before she planted her lips on his again.

After that kiss Judy straightened up and with a slight sigh zipped up the front of her dress. “You know, I have just remembered that I am supposed to be going on trip to see the Hoover dam in the morning with Cynthia, Irena and Tanya. I have got to get up in morning! But I have really, really enjoyed this evening with you. Let’s plan on doing it again next time we come to Vegas for test flights!”

John stood up, looking and feeling distinctly rumpled, not to mention let down. He respected Judy, having worked around her for two years at this point. Suddenly her words came back to him from a moment two years before in the laboratories of Lighting Enterprises, when they were talking about organizing the software to ignite fluorescent tubes: “For the software to Ignite one of these fluorescent lamps is like girl making out with a boy who gets excited too easily – If the lamp ignites before the filaments are ready then the inverter has already given everything it has got to give and there is nothing but frustration! What you must do is slow down the initial advance and then things will keep going!” He felt that he had gained an understanding of her over the years, and he knew now that she was likely to be a part of his life in the future. Apart from her personal attractions, she was his V.P. of engineering at Electrolev and he needed her professional contributions to keep the show running. If they had a falling out it could be the end of Electrolev as they had known it. Together they had sometimes mused on the value of their Electrolev stock options, and the answer was in the hundred million dollar range if ever the company went public. “Of course,” he replied. He walked to the door with her, and they exchanged a lingering kiss before the doorway.

“I really enjoyed this too,” said John. “I can’t wait for the next time!”

Chapter 43

When Monday morning came round, everybody on the Janet commuter jet was comparing notes on their weekend in Las Vegas. Harold had won $420 on a slot machine, and had managed the strength of mind to stop gambling right there. Fred had lost a lot of money gambling and was looking very straight faced; however he would not tell anybody the details. First thing when they arrived they all gathered in the conference room to plan out the week ahead. Their flight back was on Friday evening, and the Dreamlifter was booked for Saturday morning to return the Delias to Huntsville.

Anthony and Reginald were both anxious to do some serious testing at 100,000 feet, in other words, in near space. “This is the real payoff for LeviStar technology,” said Anthony. “To be able to remain stationary over a place in near space, out of range of aircraft and cheap missiles is the holy grail of surveillance technology. This is the point at which we will have pretty much made the whole satellite industry obsolete. Can you imagine that if we made the vehicle using stealth technology, that you could not only see everything below but also be invisible to ground radar? Nothing in view on the ground would be secret anymore. With continual surveillance, you could wind back a film and see where terrorist bomb makers came from, for example. So I think that we ought to verify Delia’s capability at 100,000 feet – we’ll be making history basically.”

And so it was that around midday Monday Delia was fuelled up with full tanks of hydrazine for the first time, in addition to the jet fuel for the APU. Terry and Judy were chosen for the mission. They were to wear pressure suits in case of emergency loss of pressurization, but they were not intending to put on the helmets unless some threat was apparent. Instead of rolling out Delia, for the first time Terry lifted her up about a foot and then retracted the undercarriage right there in the hangar. Then he slowly taxied her out onto the tarmac outside. John was monitoring the radio communication channel in the ground control room. Being a dutiful test pilot, Terry got clearance from the control tower and then pulled back on the collective control to send Delia moving vertically upwards. Inside it felt rather like starting out in an elevator, but then once a steady speed was achieved there was no sense of motion. Delia rose at about one mile every two minutes, so it took about half an hour to rise up to the seventy thousand foot level at which the APU could no longer be run. At this point they paused and checked over all the instruments, especially the battery charge. With a fully charged battery, they then carefully powered down the APU. The vehicle became almost silent except for a few ventilation fans for the air conditioning and cooling for the computers. Even though Fred’s sound proofing had been pretty effective, it was actually a relief not to hear the drone of the APU anymore. Of special interest was the amount of energy that they were picking up from the solar cell array on the roof. As planned, it was more than twice the power needed to hold Delia stationary at a fixed altitude, which meant that she could in reality remain there night and day, charging during the day and running off the batteries during the night.

“Ready?” asked Terry.

“Go for it,” said Judy. She pressed the microphone button for John down below: “We are going on up to 100,000 feet.” Terry once again pulled back on the collective control causing Delia to start rising again. She had been equipped with a radar altimeter as part of her avionics package, and so Terry and Judy were able to read out the height as she progressed upwards.

Judy pressed her microphone button: “This is a fantastic view up here. The sky is all black now, and we can see the curvature of the earth. The atmosphere looks like a blue haze over the planet. I wish you could see it. I am going to take pictures.” She had been equipped with a superb camera system for the purpose, and made good use of it as they ascended, in between keeping an eye on the instruments. “By the way, the main anti-coils are running at 55C, which is just what we had planned. We are at 90,000 feet now and we are down to 25% on the batteries.”

After a few moments more the radar altimeter read 100,000 feet and with a sigh of relief Terry put the collective control into park.

“That’s funny,” remarked Judy. “What’s that spec over there to our right?” Both she and Terry craned over to the right and peered into the blackness of near space. A tiny spec, charcoal grey and only visible because it was outlined against the bright glow of the atmosphere below them, could be seen.

“Is it a satellite?” said John over the radio. “No way,” answered Terry, “a satellite would be going at 18,000 miles and hour while we are literally stationary. It would be gone by in a blink and in any case would be burning up because there is still a little air up here – the pressure is roughly one hundredth of an atmosphere.”

“Let’s go and take a look!” said Judy. Talking into the microphone, she said: “We are going to move over a couple of miles to investigate whatever it is we are seeing. My guess it that it is some kind of weather balloon. Can you ask the radar people if they can see it please?”

“Roger that,” replied John. “Be careful.”

Terry energized the hydrazine thrusters for the first time in near space. They had been well tested on the ground in Huntsville, but inside the atmosphere they were nowhere near as effective as here in near space. He gingerly operated the collective to start a regenerative descent, swung the vehicle around with the foot pedals, and nudged the cyclic control to start Delia moving in the direction of the spec. Judy put the camera in full telephoto mode and started clicking away every few moments. After no more than a minute they were within about a hundred yards from the “spec”.

“John –are you holding onto your seat?” inquired Judy into the mic. “Yes, I’m here.” replied John. “And by the way, we are following you on radar and there is nothing there except Delia.”

“Well I have news for you!” announced Judy into her microphone. “We not alone up here. The spec we saw turns out to be another vehicle like Delia except twice as big, I am estimating fifty or sixty feet across. Terry – describe it while I take pictures.”

Terry continued: “Instead of being round it is octagonal. Its surface is charcoal grey which reminds me of stealth technology. I am just going down slightly below it, and the underside has four protruding cylinders just like Delia, except they are square. On top there is a whole semicircle of windows where we have the four little ones. I am underneath now and I can see a hatch near the middle. Now we are rising up again and I can see a small forest of antennas sticking out the top. Whoever is in there must have a fear of being out of communication!”

All the while Judy was snapping away with the camera. “Are you really sure there is nothing on radar? This thing looks solid to me!” she said to John.

“No nothing. You had better stay away from it,” said John. “It must be from some foreign power. Can you see any sign of guns or missiles or anything like that?”

“Nothing at all,” said Judy. “But I was just thinking that if this thing has been here long, it will have been photographing everything we did on Homey airfield. So much for secrecy and privacy!”

“We are moving away now,” said Terry. “Just a moment, that thing has started some kind of thruster jets going and it is taking off to the west. Its going faster and faster. It is only a spec again now! Now I’ve lost visual contact!”

“Let’s continue our test and bring you down safely back to Homey,” commanded John. “I think that is enough excitement for one day!”

Terry suddenly realized that he was shivering, even though the instruments recorded that the cabin temperature was 72°F. He looked across at Judy, and she was looking white as a sheet. Being the well trained test pilot that he was, Terry carried on with the plan and set Delia on a steady descent path. After going down 40 thousand feet, the batteries were 90% full and the power dissipation lamps automatically turned on so that the descending vehicle could just be seen from the ground if you knew where to look. Half an hour later Terry was guiding Delia across Homey airport to their hangar. Following up on the style demonstrated in his departure, he took her down to eight feet in altitude and slowly scooted her into the hangar where he lowered the under carriage and then gently put her down on the ground.

After they had wriggled out of their pressure suits, Terry and Judy joined the entire Electrolev contingent in the conference room for a debriefing. Mysteriously, James Harper showed up. There was a computer projector there as part of the equipment, and Judy plugged the camera she had been using into it and without any discussion started a slide show going. Everybody was breathless guessing what they were going to see, and they were not disappointed. Picture after picture of the other flying vehicle came on the screen. It was, as Judy had described, of the general same type as Delia, but much bigger. Where Delia’s skin was white metallic aluminum, this vehicle had a black or charcoal grey matt finish to it. It had nine square windows at the front, and a little stubby fin at the back quite similar to Delia. You could see thruster orifices around the edges. Just as Judy had commented, one could clearly make out the outlines of four rectangular anti-coil cylinders on the underside.

“I think it is clear that another foreign power has this technology, and worse still that they are already using it to spy on our progress, not to mention every other top secret project going on at Homey airfield!” said James. “I will have to report this at once back to the Pentagon in Washington. My guess is that this project will have to be amplified hugely now that we have confirmation that we are not alone in the race. The sobering part is that whoever it was seems to be using stealth technology of some kind. From this confrontation we now know roughly what their capability is, and unfortunately they have a good idea of what ours is. How did all the rest of the test go?”

“Well, we curtailed the full series of tests once we found we had company,” said Terry. “However, all the controls worked flawlessly. The hydrazine thrusters seemed much more powerful in near space than when we tried them on the ground, just as you would expect. All the avionics and controls worked to perfection.”

John stood up. “Let’s reassemble our test schedule and see what we can get done during the rest of the week.”

Chapter 44

On the flights back to Huntsville, the recurring topic of conversation was the identity of the other vehicle which Terry and Judy had photographed up in near space. John, Fred, and Anthony were seated in one row, while Judy, Tanya and Cynthia were in the row behind.

“I would not be surprised if it came from Russia,” said Anthony.

“How about North Korea?” suggested John.

“Maybe China?” proposed Fred.

“No way, they wouldn’t pull a dirty trick like that!” came Judy’s voice from the row behind.

“It might even have been extraterrestrial,” mused John.

“I have seen a lot of airframes and that one looked awfully earthlike to me,” replied Anthony.

“It was so incredible that we could not see anything on radar at KXTA,” said John.

“That’s nothing, I’ve seen it all the time with stealth vehicles, replied Anthony.

On the Monday afternoon James called a meeting for all the managers of the LeviStar project. Steve Harmann was also invited. James started out by presenting the situation as he saw it:

“I have been discussing our situation with the intelligence community over the weekend and this morning. Those pictures which Judy took have been looked at so many times that you would not believe it. People have been analyzing the visible structure of all the welds and rivets, the way the windows were assembled, plus hundreds of tiny details. From this we are now convinced that this vehicle was of Russian origin. One analyst in the CIA is even convinced that he knows which factory in Russia it came from, as given away by certain finishing techniques that only they routinely perform. It is also apparent that at this time, with the combination of near space capability and stealth technology, they essentially have free run of United States “near space.” This is much more powerful than orbital reconnaissance capability because with the camera being stationary and so much closer, we believe that they would be able to even read what numbers somebody was punching into a cell phone, from up there in the sky. What’s more, if they were not satisfied with what they were seeing there is nothing to stop them from temporarily dropping down five miles or whatever it takes to get a really good look at whatever they were interested in, then to swiftly retreat back up into near space where aircraft could not get at them. So we in the defense community see this as a major threat to the security of the USA. We have planned a number of counter measures, and most of them do not concern you directly. Since you all have top secret clearance I will mention the activities which will relate to your work.

"There is a crash program being put in place to develop high intensity radar that can home in on the tiny radar cross section associated with one of these stealth vehicles. This activity was underway anyway, but now the work is being trebled in funding.

"We are using some known double agents to send out the information that the Delias have been armed with air to air missiles, and that a whole squadron of them is being deployed to patrol US near space, with especial coverage of all security sensitive installations. We are also leaving the misinformation there for spies to find that we have perfected a new electromagnetic pulse technology that can befuddle the onboard electronics of a LeviStar and cause it to drop out of the sky. This we hope will discourage further spying missions.

"Now I know that the Delia project has been going at light speed by defense procurement standards, getting from the lab to a space going vehicle in only 18 months. However the National Security Council or NSC has had an emergency meeting over the weekend and they are totally incensed by the realization that Russian vehicles potentially carrying nuclear weapons, let alone cameras, are now moving about invisibly over the USA and furthermore we have no way to detect them, and even if we did then we have no way to neutralize them. They have asked if we can go faster, but they soon realized that we are already going dangerously fast. We think that the Russians must have cut a lot of corners to get that great big vehicle flying around up there so quickly. Tanya will vouch that the Russian aerospace industry is very strong in power electronics, and they are known to be really good in airframes, so that even if they are only half way decent in software engineering that explains how they managed to get there ahead of us, maybe by only a few weeks.

"The NSC has instructed that we double the expenditure on LeviStar technology immediately. Some other previously important activities are being displaced and we intend to place a contract for a LeviStar interceptor vehicle which I know you have already code named Frances, with a big aerospace contractor in Burbank, California. They are going to produce a squadron of these near space interceptors to have them operational over all our major centers of importance in twenty four months. My expectation is that they will be just a larger version of Delia but without the camera gear and having extra sensing equipment plus missile capability. The United States Air Force wants Electrolev to license the LeviStar technology to this new contractor at customary rates for aerospace technology. You are expected to tell them everything you know about how to make a LeviStar. The first group of engineers has already left California and is en-route here to Huntsville to start their training tomorrow.

"Now I will entertain questions!” he remarked with a faint smile.

“How long will they be here?” queried John.

“It’s not fixed yet, you can discuss it between you. But my expectation is that the first objective will be for them to get a scope of the assignment. Then you will probably set up training classes and working meetings to effect all the information exchange that is needed to take place,” replied James.

“You know, there are a lot of us homesick Californians here who would love to have a few business trips to Southern California!” said Steve. “Maybe we can set up some of the meetings in Burbank – it can be just as cost effective as having them come to Huntsville.”

“That’s a good idea!” chimed in John –“When we are planning things I will try and work in as many trips to California for the Californians as I can.”

“I hope they realize how much software engineering in these vehicles,” said Judy.

“I dropped a lot of hints about that,” replied James, “so I don’t think that you will be disappointed. If there are no more comments, let’s plan a kick off technology transfer meeting in this room at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I do want to share another thought with all of you. I know that you realize the urgency and pressure of the situation. You have got the attention of the Secretary of Defense and the President. So you can rest assured that if there is any piece of equipment that you need and all that is needed is money to move this project along, you only have to ask. The money spigots are wide open at this point!”

Chapter 45

At lunch in the Redstone Cafeteria the next week, Steve, John, Judy, Fred, Cynthia and Irena along with Harold, Anthony and Reginald just happened to gravitate to one long table. There was no rule, or even a posted suggestion. It was just that common purpose and experience somehow drove them together. Tanya and her group had a Russian speaking table just adjacent.

John was chatting with Judy, Fred and Steve, his immediate neighbors at the table: “I had a call from Drew Miller, my old boss at Lighting Enterprises today. He told me that Lighting Enterprises is in deep trouble because of the recession. It seems that nobody is buying the products any more and the company has decided to shut down the engineering department for the time being as a means of survival. So Drew is networking and looking for a chance of an opening anywhere in the country. He was wondering if we had any opening for him!”

“Can you imagine that,” said Judy. “Having old Miller working for us. I can just imagine – Oh yes, please tidy up the components cabinet this afternoon, and all labels must be positioned the right side up in the drawers!” She giggled at the thought, and John smiled pensively.

“All the same, it tells you how bad the recession has got,” continued John. “Lighting Enterprises was a darn good company and if they are in trouble then it must be really bad out there. With all this Delia stuff I had plain forgotten about the rest of the real world economy during the last six months. With this billion dollar contract that Electrolev has, our company has been doing great.”

Judy changed the subject: “Irena, it sure looks like Ann Teller your senior programmer is going to have a baby some day soon. Something tells me – like the tummy profile?”

‘Yes, that’s for sure,” replied Irena. She and her husband Tom are tickled pink about it. It’s going to be a little boy, they already know. He must have been conceived here in Huntsville, which says something for the place!”

“I feel I ought to organize a baby shower for her,” said Irena.

“I’ve never been to a baby shower!” said Judy. “I would like to host it at my place. Could you show me how it’s done? How about in my place next Sunday? That way we all go shopping for her on Saturday.”

“OK, I’ll ask her if that will work for her. Nobody else has planned anything as far as I know,” replied Irena.

“You know, if it had been a girl they could have called it Delia!” said Judy.

“Get out of here!” said John. “That’s tasteless!”

The next Sunday afternoon all the women engineers and staff gathered in Judy’s apartment for the baby shower. Irena, Cynthia and Tanya were there, and they had enticed in about eight more lady engineers and staff, all of them associated with the LeviStar project. Being isolated there in Huntsville, with this common sense of purpose, there was a strong team spirit and a feeling akin to family amongst the Electrolev staff. Ann Teller was looking radiant. All the girls came in carrying parcels that ended up in a pile in the corner. As Irena came in, she looked around, and said to Judy: “Hey, you have redecorated since I was last here! Tell me about these lovely paintings!”

“Actually they all prints,” replied Judy. “They are all by great Chinese classical masters. This one with people playing flutes on boats tied up under red flowering tree is by Tang Yin. This one of woman wearing flowing Chinese classical robes walking on a path under palm trees is another by Tang Yin. I get such a feeling of peace and serenity from contemplating these graceful images. I really need that sometimes after a rough day of designing Levistars!”

“Don’t you miss the ancient history of your culture?” asked Irena sympathetically.

“Yes, but I keep the essence of it alive in my own spirit,” said Judy. “Also there is a different kind of history around here. For example there are places around here where you can find Indian stone arrowheads. Yesterday John and I went for a walk by the Tennessee River and we found this one. It might be an Indian arrowhead but I’m not certain.”

“I have so much trouble from allergies when I go out in the woods here,” said Irena.

“Yes, that’s right,” agreed Judy. “I heard that the Indians used to call this place the land of the sore head, for that reason!”

By now all the guests had arrived, and Judy set about fixing drinks and making everyone comfortable. The baby shower went on until long in the evening.

When everyone had finally left, Judy picked up the phone and called John: “I’ve just finished with the baby shower,” she reported. “Can we make some plans to do something next weekend together?”

“Well I want to see one of these tractor pulls that they have down here in the south on Sunday afternoon and evening,” said John.

“Ugh!” responded Judy.

“How about Saturday?” asked John. “Maybe I could come by and pick you up about 2 and we can go and explore around a bit, then have a meal in the Chinese buffet afterwards.”

“Sounds great to me!” replied Judy. “It’s a plan!”

Chapter 46

The following Friday morning John was walking slowly across the arsenal on his way into work. He looked around appreciating the pots of chrysanthemums and carved pumpkins with lights inside that people had outside their doors during October. As he thought about his workday to come, he reflected upon how what had previously been Delia meetings were now mostly broken up into power converter meetings, battery meetings, avionics meetings and so on. These were interspersed with the technology transfer meetings. Anthony Elter and Reginald Tellman presided over the airframe meeting, which tended to have more of a global perspective than most of the others, and so John had decided to join in this meeting today. The main topic of discussion was the climate control for Delia. The test flights at Homey had been carried out by doing little more than just seal up a crew compartment that was pretty much the same as an executive jet and provide breathing masks for the crew. This was good enough for an hour or so but had been just a temporary work around until they had time to do something with some real endurance.

As John sat down the meeting was already going.

“I think that we can copy most of the cabin control gear from the space shuttle,” Anthony was saying. “All that know-how is resident here in Huntsville, and we only have to ask for it. If we are lucky we can beg and borrow some ready made hardware.”

“You had better explain what it is all about,” said Reginald.

“There are a number of features. As the crew breathes air in the cabin, they remove oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. So we need sensors to measure these gases, and then a bottle of oxygen which can be used to automatically top up the oxygen concentration and a filter which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air as it circulates through. You need to remove water vapor from the air too, because otherwise it will condense in embarrassing places and mist up the windows, for example. There are ready designed bits of gear around to do all this, and we just have to pull strings to get our hands on them in a hurry.”

“We also need to think more deeply about accident recovery,” suggested Reginald. “It’s all very well having a patch to put over a meteorite hole, but that’s no use unless you can replenish the air. So we need a bottle of regular air mixture which can be operated manually sufficient to repressurize the vehicle say, three times over. You can get controllers with sensors so that normal air pressure is automatically restored. We could even leave it running permanently to top up for any leaks which might exist around the doors, for example. Then we need to hook it into the main control panel so that if excessive amounts of air are being lost an alarm can be triggered.”

“Sounds great to me,” said John. “How long will it take to get all this installed?”

“It will all depend on how much we can scrounge,” said Reginald. “I’ll know in a day or two and I think that we will have a good chance to have it working in time for the December test flight.”

Just then John’s cell phone rang. “Hello? Dad? What’s up – I am in a work meeting right now,” said John into the phone. “Who took Mom away? police? They said it was because of me? That’s ridiculous. Call up the county police and demand to know what is going on. I’ll give you a call from my place when I get home tonight!”

John felt a terrible sense of fear and foreboding creep over his body. “That was my father back on the farm in Iowa. He said that police came to the house and arrested my mother because she had knowledge of something that I had done!”

“That’s terrible,” said Reginald. “I expect it must be an awful misunderstanding and mistake.”

“Can you excuse me please?” John asked of his colleagues. “My parents have got a problem and they need my help. I have to make some phone calls.” Without saying anything more he swiftly left the room and returned to his apartment.

Back at his place, John called his father back again using his landline phone which was cheaper. “Dad, I’m in private back in my apartment now. Tell me what has happened.”

“We were just finishing lunch,” explained his Dad. “Suddenly there was a knock at the door and there was this man in what looked like a police uniform asking for Mrs. Sykes. He said that there had been an incident involving John Sykes in Huntsville and that he needed Mom to come and make a statement at the police station. He was insistent that I was not needed, and that she would be back in two hours. That was at one p.m. and now it is four.”

John was experiencing a creeping feeling all over his back as he heard this.

I called the county sheriff and the State Police, and neither of them knew anything about it,” continued his Dad.

“What are they recommending?” asked John.

“They are saying that it is a case of police impersonation and kidnapping,” said his father. “They are coming here to interview me in a few minutes, but I don’t know anything more than what I have just told you.”

John was remembering the shooting of Tony, and his fists clenched at the thought of what could be going on. “Well, keep me posted on what you learn!” he said. “I’ll keep my cell phone on me and charged up.”

He put down the phone and paced around his apartment, worried sick about his mother. Images of their modest little farmhouse back in the Iowa corn fields flooded through his mind. He thought of pivotal moments from his childhood when she had been there for him, always loving, always caring and always so proud of his achievements. To send him to University at Cal State Long Beach had been a tremendous financial strain for his parents, and when Electrolev finally went public John had every intention of repaying them for it. “I’m so proud of you, John,” his mother’s words went through his mind over and over again, driving him almost insane with worry.

Just then his phone rang. John snatched it up. “Hello”, he barked into the mouthpiece.

“Is that John Sykes?” enquired a voice with a heavy Asian accent that he could not identify.

“Yes, that’s me. Who is calling?” replied John.

“You can call me Adolpho. All you need to know is that I have got your mother here. Here – talk to him.”

“John – they have got me tied up in this place!” came his mother’s voice.

“That’s enough!” said Adolpho. “Now, your mother is going to be perfectly safe if you do what I say. I want you to bring me the complete plans for the Delia vehicle. You can put them onto disks. When I have got them, then your mother can go free, it is as simple as that. But if you say one word to anybody, then your mother is dead. Do you understand?”

“I don’t have access to the whole plans,” replied John. “Nobody does. The responsibility is compartmentalized and there are firewalls between the sections. Inside them It is further subdivided. If we want to work on interacting parts then people from the highest security level involved have to be present to put in their passwords. Even though I am the President of Electrolev, technically I myself only have access to the power electronic converters.”

“That’s too bad. You may never see your mother again,” said Adolpho softly. John was perspiring under his arms. He could feel moisture dripping down his body and his mouth went dry.

“Tell you what; I’ll exchange myself for her freedom. I have almost all the knowledge about Delia in my own head.” blurted John. There was a moment’s silence, and in the background John could hear his mother sobbing which wrenched at his heart strings.

“All right,” said Adolpho, “That is a deal. Be at the gate of the marina which is on South Shore Promenade in Baltimore inner harbor at precisely 6 p.m. tomorrow. Your mother will be there and she can go free if you come with me. Remember that you are being watched. If you say one word to anybody else then your mother dies.”

“All right then,” said John, his voice cracking with emotion. The line went dead with a slight click. John just stood there holding the disconnected phone, hardly able to move because he was so shocked.

Eventually he got up, went over to his computer, and looked up the route from Huntsville to Baltimore Inner Harbor. Then he selected some clothes for the morning and set his alarm clock for 4 a.m. He lay in bed and tried to sleep, but it felt like he was mainly tossing and turning as his mind went over the terrible conflict facing him.

Chapter 47

Saturday morning John got out of bed after the worst night’s sleep he had ever had, but quickly felt energized as he contemplated the challenge ahead of him. He put on blue jeans, check shirt and a leather jacket with white sneakers and headed out to his car. He drove a 2004 Camry which had a built in GPS. He spent a few minutes while the car warmed up in the cold pre-dawn air, typing in his destination in Baltimore. He waved a familiar salute to the guards at the gate of the Arsenal as he came out onto Goss Road and then turned north up Patton road towards highway 565. Stopping briefly to pick up a coke and egg Mac muffin, he settled into his long and fateful journey, squinting into the rising sun before him in the east. He was feeling determined and energized to do what he felt he had to do. He was hopeful that he was worth much more to the kidnappers alive than he was dead, and that somehow he was going to survive whatever lay ahead of him.

That morning Judy had a leisurely sleep in, and then after her morning shower she thoughtfully chose the clothes for her date with John that afternoon. She decided to put on her best designer jeans, together with a figure hugging brown turtle neck sweater and a pair of brown sneakers. She fixed herself brunch and skimmed through the Huntsville Times with WAFF droning on in the background.

By 2 o’clock she had everything tidied up and was sitting in happy anticipation waiting for John to turn up. She knew John to be a punctuality fanatic, and when 2 p.m. came round and he had not shown up, she called his apartment, which was only at the other end of the building. She felt a sinking feeling when there was no answer. After a half hour she walked around the building, looked and saw that John’s Camry was not there. So she pulled out her cell phone and called him. She heard the phone ringing and ringing, and then it went to the answering machine. “John – where the hell are you?” said Judy. “We supposed to be going out this afternoon and you are not answering your phone. Please call me!” Judy was feeling a sickness deep in her stomach. Something had gone terribly wrong. She thought back with a shudder to the disappearance of Tony, and winced inwardly.

Acting on instinct, she went round to the apartment where James Harper and his wife were living. She rang the bell and James’ wife Betsy answered the door. “Hello Judy – you look so upset – whatever is the matter? Come inside and tell me what’s going on.”

James was also home and he and Betsy sat down on their sofa across the coffee table from the distraught Judy, She explained the whole story of the date they were planning for that afternoon which meant so much to them, and how John did not show up. His Camry was missing, and even though his cell phone was ringing, John was not answering.

James looked really serious. He knew the history of Electrolev as well as Judy, and it was not for nothing that he had brought all the Electrolev staff to live inside the Redstone Arsenal, surrounded by razor wire fences and armed guards. Knowing John and Judy well as he did by now, and respecting their personal integrity, he knew that something must be seriously amiss. “I have never told you this, but we have pretty good security here inside the Arsenal. Every vehicle going into or out of the base is photographed. Every land line phone call into or out of the base is recorded. So we can have quite a bit to go on.” He picked up a phone and dialed through to the base security office: “Hello – this is Major General James Harper – the President of Electrolev here in the Arsenal has vanished from his apartment. I want to review phone records and entry/exit records for him for the last 24 hours.” Turning to Judy he said: “Let’s get over to the base security office.”

James and Judy drove together in James’ car the short distance across to the security office. The officer in charge, Randall Binks, was a short man with the conventional military buzz cut and the uniform of an army captain. The time was now 3 p.m. on Saturday. He started working on the phone records himself, and assigned a subordinate to look for entry and exit records for John Sykes. It took only a few minutes before the three of them were listening in horror to John’s conversation with Adolpho. A few moments later the subordinate came across with a picture of the front of John’s Camry, time stamped 5.45 a.m., with John waving to the guards in his familiar fashion as he left the gates.

James said: “In Baltimore it is one hour ahead of Huntsville time so it is 4 p.m. there. We have got two hours to do something. I am going to get on to the Baltimore police to see if we can head this thing off.”

Judy said: “Excuse me, I am not feeling good. I need to go and rest.”

Binks immediately said: “Thompson – drive her back to the Sparkman Center please!”

Back at her place, Judy immediately called Terry Mettle. She explained that there was a problem because John had gone missing. “Can I come over and see you?” she requested.

“Of course,” replied Terry.

At his apartment, Judy explained the whole story. It was now 3.15 “I want to take Delia across to Baltimore to rescue John`!” said Judy. “But we can’t just fly off in her,” replied Terry. “You are supposed to file flight plans. I got torn off a strip for just flying Charlotte around the base, let alone Delia. We would both be thrown off the project for pulling a stunt like that!”

“If we don’t do it there probably will be no project!” responded Judy. Her voice was rising to the point where she was practically screaming at Terry: “Those bastards did away with my Tony last year and now they have got John! I’m not going to let them get away with it! Delia is the most advanced surveillance and rescue vehicle in the whole world. We can watch what is happening and rescue John if there is a chance. If you don’t fly me then I am going to take Delia 1 myself. I know that she is fully fuelled up and ready to fly!”

Terry looked torn and conflicted. He knew and respected Judy and John. He knew the rules that he was hired to abide by. His muscles tightened all over as he thought through the conflict and realized that he could not be loyal to both parties at once. “OK, I’ll do it for you and John,” he said. “Let’s get over to the hangar right away!” The two of them left the apartment block at a jog, running towards the hangar half a mile away. They showed their badges to the guards, which had the highest possible clearances on them, and once inside Terry went and started up Delia 1 while Judy opened the hangar doors sufficiently to let a Delia through. Then Judy quickly climbed inside with Terry, pulled up the ladder and slammed the hatch door. Terry lifted Delia up a couple of feet and slowly taxied her out through the open hangar doors. It was now 3.30 p.m. as he retracted the undercarriage.

“We can minimize the problems with airspace by going up to 50,000 feet, outside the areas used by commercial aircraft, and transmitting a transponder ID corresponding to a military experimental flight.” Said Terry. “At least that way we will not be outraging the civilian air traffic controllers for more than a few moments, and it will take a while for the military to cotton on to the fact that we are not authorized.”

With the Auxiliary power unit humming, Delia made its usual elevator imitation as she smoothly rose up for 15 minutes. At 3.45 p.m. she reached 50,000 feet and Terry applied full forward thrust. Since Delia was not using wings in any normal sense of the word, she was able to slip smoothly through the sound barrier as she moved up to her full cruising speed of 1000 miles per hour. The ride inside was slightly bumpy because even without wings, weather systems outside could still buffet the little vehicle from time to time. Both Terry and Judy donned seat belts. It was around 4.30 p.m. Huntsville time, 5.30 p.m. Baltimore time that Delia was on station over Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Chapter 48

Judy plucked up her courage and called up James on her cell phone. They had just kidnapped a vehicle upon which $200M had been spent so far in development, which should have been bad enough to feel guilty about. “James, this is Judy. I have taken Delia 1 for a test flight and we are over the Baltimore Inner Harbor parked at a height of 50,000 feet. I think I might be able to help rescue John. We have got the South Promenade Marina on our surveillance screen and we can see everything. The sun is just setting here but we have got a really good view of the place.”

James was amazingly unflappable. He did not even comment on the hijacking of Delia. “I’m in contact with the Baltimore police. The bad news is that tonight they are having a swat team formation practice in Riverside Park, and there is hardly anybody left on duty for regular law enforcement purposes. The good news is that Riverside Park is only about a mile away from the South Promenade Marina. They have sent an officer in a patrol car over to the parking lot by the Marina, and he is stopped by the toll booth at the entrance. He can’t see anything unusual going on but he is staying on station there.”

“Yes, I can see the patrol car,” said Judy.

After a few minutes she exclaimed: “There is a tan colored car pulling into the parking lot. He just got a ticket from the toll booth. That could be John!”

“I’ll pass that on,” responded James.

“Now he has got out of the car and gone across to the gateway leading into the Marina. Hey, two people have just got out of a car parked right adjacent to the Marina edge and are walking across to the gateway. I can see the police officer leaving his car and going towards them. Something must be happening, because he has suddenly stopped short of the gateway.”

Meanwhile down on the ground, John had walked across the parking lot to the Marina gateway and immediately saw a Korean looking man dragging his mother coming towards him. The man said: “I’ve got a gun here. Give me your hands and let me cuff them so I know you will not disappear.” John offered his arms together and the man who he now realized must be Adolpho swiftly snapped nylon ties around his wrists. “OK Mrs. Sykes, you can go now,” said Adolpho. Then looking up he saw the police officer coming towards him. “I have got a gun! You stop right there or I will kill Mr. Sykes,” shouted Adolpho. “Mrs. Sykes, get out of here!. Officer – go back to your car or I will kill him”

The Baltimore police officer started backing towards his car, talking rapidly into a microphone on his lapel. When John’s mother reached him, he bundled her into his patrol car. Meanwhile Adolfo prodded John with his gun onto the walkway of the Marina, and after a short distance he said: “Get into this,” gesturing towards a small speed boat tied up at one of the berths. He quickly undid the boat, started the motor and slowly backed the it out of the berth. After a few seconds he engaged forward gear and gunned the engine to push the boat out into the main shipping channel, with John sitting forlornly near the front, his hands secured with the nylon ties.

Inside the patrol car, officer Zuckman was talking with John’s mother. “Tell me quickly what is happening,” he commanded.

“That man Adolpho seems to work for some foreign government. He wants the design information for some secret flying gizmo that my son John is working on at Huntsville. My son did not have it to give to him and so he agreed to take my son for me. Now he has taken my John off in that boat God knows where.”

“I saw he had a gun,” said Zuckman. “Did he have any other weapons?”

“Not that I saw.” said John’s mother. “But I thought he was a thoroughly nasty piece of work. Japanese or Chinese or Korean or something like that.”

At that moment four more squad cars pulled up beside them. It was the swat team, still wearing their gear after the training in Riverside Park. Zuckman got out of his car to explain the situation. In addition to Mrs. Sykes’s explanation, he added in the information from James Harper that John was an engineering contractor of crucial national security importance.

The sergeant in charge of the swat team, Randy Delton, grasped the parameters of the situation swiftly: “Our only chance to do something might be to pick him off as he goes by Fort McHenry,” said Delton. “Let’s head over there. I want the snipers deployed along the river bank as soon as we get there!” With their sirens wailing and strobe lights flashing, the swat team set off down Key highway and Fort Avenue which ran parallel to the shipping channel for the mile and a half journey to Fort McHenry.

The fort had been built in pre-revolutionary times to control access to the Baltimore harbor area by hostile naval forces. It commanded a point where the channel which led out into the Chesapeake Bay narrowed down to a mere 500 yards. Any vessel traveling in the middle was only about 250 yards from the shore of the fort. As the swat team howled down Fort Avenue, they gradually overtook Adolpho in his boat who was proceeding as fast as he could down the shipping channel. His destination was a small submarine lying submerged, waiting for him, about a mile away. The swat team roared into McHenry park and rolled their patrol cars across the grass to take up positions right at the waters edge, no more than 250 yards from any passing vessel.

Meanwhile, up above in Delia, Judy and Terry were watching this whole scene in horror on their video monitor from a height of 50,000 feet.

Judy said: “If we are ever going to be able to make a difference, this is the moment. Let’s start going down there and we can work out what to do once we get there.”

Terry looked askance at her, but knew of Judy’s reputation for predictive statements and made another difficult decision to follow her instructions. He put Delia into a descent at about 100 miles per hour, taxing the regenerative circuits to the limit and blasting energy into the underside lights as the batteries quickly became fully charged. It was now 6.10 p.m., and the sun was just dipping below the horizon.

Down in the boat, John was alert and watching for any opportunity to help himself now that his mother was free.

“Sit next to me!” ordered Adolpho. He understood hostage situations quite well, and he knew that as long as John was close to him that any sharpshooters on the shore would be deterred from trying to gun him down. John reluctantly crawled through the fast moving boat to Adolpho’s end close by the outboard motor. Lying on the floor near Adolpho’s feet, he gazed up at the darkening sky and saw a vision that made his heart leap. There was a cluster of bright lights right overhead, getting closer and brighter as every second passed. It could only be Delia! John wriggled himself up into a sitting position beside Adolpho.

Back on the shore, Randy Delton was with his three swat team snipers watching through his binoculars from the waters edge. “They are too close together!” he said decisively. “We can’t get the suspect without risking the hostage.”

John glanced up again at that cluster of lights in the sky, closer and brighter as every second went by. With a sudden convulsive surge of energy he thrust down with his legs and threw himself over the side of the boat. Adolpho immediately throttled back the engine and wheeled round to go back to John. Standing up in the boat, he pointed his gun down at John in the water. “Take this rope and come back to the boat or I will shoot you! I’ve got nothing to lose!” he said, throwing a rope with a life ring attached out towards John.

Back on the shore of Fort McHenry, Randy Delton was watching all this through his binoculars. “Shoot now!” he commanded. “Get him while he is stopped and they are apart!” The three snipers started firing. Each 50 caliber sniper rifle had a tremendous kick back so they could only regain their aim after about five seconds, but the second shot went right through Adolpho’s chest and he fell lifeless into the water.

Chapter 49

Up above in Delia 1, Terry and Judy were still plummeting down. They were watching the events on the boat in the shipping channel on the huge screen of the surveillance camera. Although they could not hear the rifle shots, they had seen John fling himself with his hands bound into the water. Then they saw Adolpho standing pointing his gun at John, and suddenly he plunged over the side of the boat and the water was full of blood. With a thrill of horror and relief, they guessed what must have happened.

“The police on the shore must have got him!” said Terry. Delia was at about 2000 feet and slowing down. Judy picked up her cell phone and called James again: “John is in the water. The kidnapper has been shot by police on the shore. We are going down to get John. Tell the Baltimore police to close their eyes and see nothing.” She abruptly hung up, and busied herself opening the bottom hatch in Delia to reveal the water underneath, with the empty boat and the floundering John clearly apparent down below.

Back on the shore, Randy Delton received a call from James.

“This is Major General James Harper of the United States Air Force. We know that you have just killed the captor of one of our key defense engineers. You will get an Air Force commendation for your work. This engineer is of extreme value to the United States and we are going to use a top secret silent helicopter to retrieve him from the water in the next few seconds. For reasons of national security I am requesting you not to report what you are about to see. OK?”

“Yes sir, I understand,” replied Randy.

He went across to his snipers: “Hey guys gather round. I have just been notified that we have saved a key US government engineer from a kidnapping. The US Air Force is about to use a top secret silent helicopter to retrieve him, and we are requested not to report anything that we see. Is that clear?” The men nodded and then turned round to watch with heightened interest. Their attention was repaid as they saw Delia come swooping down out of the sky and hover a mere foot over the water where John was floundering around.

Inside Delia, Judy was kneeling beside the open hatch and calling out detailed directions to Terry at the controls: “Forward two feet. Left one foot. Down a foot. OK, put her in park and come help me.” Through the hatch John’s head was momentarily visible. He knew that help was coming and as best he could he was doing survival bobbing. He was no expert swimmer and with his hands tied in front of him and all his clothes on, it was difficult and he was only having limited success. The result was that he was swallowing an awful lot of water. Just as Judy got Delia positioned over him, he disappeared under the water for a few moments. Then he bobbed back up again and lifted his bound hands towards Judy. She grabbed his wrists by the tie and Terry leaned over and seized John’s arm at the same time. They hauled the half drowned John between them in through the hatch and onto Delia’s floor. “OK, I’ve got it- you get us out of here,” commanded Judy to Terry. Terry leaped back to the controls and set Delia to her maximum rate of rise. Judy pushed John to one side and slid the hatch door into its position as part of the floor.

Out on the shores of Fort McHenry, the swat team sniper squad looked at each other in disbelief as they thought they saw this saucer shaped thing drop out of nowhere, descend onto the figure struggling in the water, and then rapidly ascend into the dark evening sky having apparently retrieved the figure that was in the water. The abandoned boat and the bloody patch of water remained. Randy commanded his squad: “OK guys, we saw nothing, OK?” The three swat team snipers variously shook their heads and wiped their eyes in a gesture of disbelief.

Meanwhile, inside Delia, John was on the floor, spluttering and coughing and trying to get his breathing back together again. He was cold, drenched and miserable, except that he was happy to be inside Delia and free from Adolpho. Judy had grabbed the emergency tool kit from a storage locker, and dexterously used a pair of pliers with a cutting edge to remove the nylon ties around John’s wrists. As he lay on the floor and opened his eyes, he perceived Judy in her wet tight brown sweater kneeling over him. Her nipples were clearly visible through the wet tight sweater. “John Sykes – I love you!” said Judy. “Don’t ever do this to me again. I lost one man to foreign agents already in this life and I don’t want to lose another one!”

“Thank you – I love you too and I’ll try,” said John with a faint smile, as a warm thrill went through him to hear Judy’s protestation of love, despite his drenched clothes. Judy bent over him as she knelt and engaged him in a long, passionate kiss. John’s arms came up and hugged her gently; clearly he was enjoying the moment. Just then Terry glanced back: “Hey Judy, I did a first aid course a while back and that is not how you do mouth to mouth resuscitation!”

Judy sat up and grinned at him. “Well, it sure worked!” she exclaimed.

“Thank you Terry – you saved my life back there!” commented John as he sat up dripping.

“You are welcome,” came the reply. “We’re at 50,000 feet now, and I’m setting the GPS to lock onto Huntsville.”

Judy dragged out some blankets from the storage locker and John took off his wet outer clothes and wrapped himself in blankets for warmth.

Judy sat herself down in the flight engineer’s seat next to Terry, and John wrapped in his blankets sat in one of the second row seats behind them.

“John, I hope that you realize we have broken every rule in the book to come and extricate you like this,” remarked Terry.

“I know, I am so grateful to you guys,” replied John. “It was a terrible situation. Imagine if it was your mother that had been dragged off like that.”

“It would be nice if nobody knew we did this, but I had to talk to James to coordinate with the police,” said Judy. “This is going to be awfully embarrassing. I am scared that they will never trust us again. I am supposed to be a second lieutenant in the US Air force and I could be court-martialled for breaking all the rules like this.”

“Let’s just hope that we can sneak Delia back in without anybody noticing,” said John wistfully.

During the 45 minute flight they chatted about the things they had learned on this first real life saving mission using Delia.

Terry said: “I realize now how by making Delia both capable of flying into near space and operating in the atmosphere, we have made her not too great at doing either. When we were retrieving John back there, it was obvious that what we really needed was to open up the whole side of the vehicle and to have an overhead winch like they do on air sea rescue helicopters. Then we could have just winched him in and pulled him in sideways onto the deck – it would have been a heck of a lot easier.”

“But of course that enormous hatch would be a problem when there is no air pressure outside,” responded Judy. “I guess it is fairly obvious that the world needs an air sea rescue LeviStar that makes no pretensions of going into space. In the same way we ought to have a space going LeviStar that does not even try to do air sea rescue. Without all the pressurization systems, air cleaning and recirculation systems etc. the air sea rescue vehicle could be a heck of a lot cheaper and simpler.”

John commented: “For surveillance purposes we really don’t even need a crew. We could design a LeviStar that was optimized just for surveillance as a remotely controlled vehicle. It could stay over a country, hovering at 100,000 feet for weeks at a time, and then be called down to lower altitudes to do surveillance on a specific place as needed. The one thing we don’t have in Electrolev at the moment is a marketing person. Maybe we should hire one, and his first job ought to be to plan out all these products and get government contracts to develop them.”

“You’re right! Let’s talk to Steve about hiring a product planning and marketing person,” replied Judy.

Delia hummed smoothly back to Huntsville.

Chapter 50

When they arrived back at Huntsville, the door to the Electrolev hangar was already open and all the lights were on. Terry dropped Delia 1 down to about 2 feet off the ground and scooted her smoothly into the hangar, where he lowered the undercarriage and gently set her down on the concrete floor. They opened the hatch and lowered the ladder, and started descending into the hangar. Right opposite Delia 1 Major General James Harper was standing, arms folded across his chest and with his normally smooth pink complexion looking red and even blotchy in places. As usual, his Air Force general’s uniform was impeccable and gleaming. “I want to talk to you people,” he yelled. “Stand right here,” he said, pointing to the ground right in front of him and using a voice more like you would expect from a sergeant major than a major general. He lined the three up in front of him like recruits at boot camp, with John huddled in his blankets trying to look a little dignified. “You have just appropriated a piece of public property for which the American taxpayer has shelled out $200 million dollars. You did not tell anybody until it was too late to do anything about it. You have jetted across the United States without declaring any flight plan, and subjected a piece of top secret military equipment to the risk of being observed by the general public. John Sykes – you had better realize that the United States government has counter intelligence forces who could have dealt with this situation a thousand times more skillfully than you did, even if your motives were well meaning. In future if any of you receive any threats you are to tell me immediately. We can easily arrange for James Bond types who are trained for this kind of thing to solve the whole situation with much less risk to the United States than you caused. Do you understand?” John nodded ashamedly. “As for you Terry Mettle, you piloted this vehicle without any of the necessary clearances or flight plans, and caused chaos in the military air traffic control system. I had to personally intervene and explain that you were on a classified mission of national security importance to stop the national guard from intercepting you and shooting you down! Second Lieutenant Judy Chen!” He emphasized the words Second Lieutenant, “I suspect that you were the instigator of this whole episode, and you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. If this was not a matter of national urgency then all three of you would have your security clearances downgraded for an extended period. You all have pilot licenses of one kind or another and by normal standards you deserve to be grounded!

“I have had to personally intervene at the highest levels to prevent all these things from happening and used up a lot of my personal political and credibility capital in the Air Force to do this. THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! Do you understand?” The three stood there and nodded, muttering: “Yes sir”.

Harper walked over to John and hugged him. “Welcome back son, I am glad you are here!” he said quietly. Then he turned to Terry and Judy, and without saying a word he shook hands with each of them and looked them steadily in the eye. He then turned and walked briskly out of the building.

When John got back to his apartment, he toweled himself down and changed into fresh dry clothes. Then he called his mother’s cell phone. Amazingly she responded at once. “Hello John?”

“I’m so glad to hear you Mom. Are you alright? Where are you and what is happening?” asked John.

“The Baltimore police have been questioning me over and over again almost like I was a criminal!” replied John’s mother. “I think that they have almost finished now. They told me that you had been rescued.”

“Are you free to go?” asked John

“They just want me to sign some statement saying what happened to me, so then as soon as I’ve read it I’m free to go.” said his mother.

John was clicking away at his computer while they were talking. “There is a US Airways flight that leaves Baltimore at 8.30 a.m. in the morning. It can get you here to Huntsville just after midday Sunday. Let me book you on that and then you can come and see how I live here. Can Dad come?”

“I would love to come and see you,” said his mother, “but even I must not be away for very long because this is peak harvest season on the farm. It’s out of the question for your father to come.”

“OK, let me fix up the flight,” said John. “You get a taxi to the nearest hotel that has a room and then in the morning just get yourself to the airport. Do you still have your pocket book with all your credit cards and ID stuff?”

“Yes, I have everything because I originally thought that I was going to the police station.” responded his mother.

“OK, well stand by for another call in a few minutes after I have fixed up your flights.” instructed John.

“OK, I’ll watch out for your call and look forward to being with you,” replied his Mother.

Chapter 51

At midday on Sunday John was there at the airport security barrier to meet his mother. She was a wiry sixty year old with graying hair and wearing blue jeans with plaid fleece toggle jacket. Coming through the airport corridors she was impressed by all the prestige adverts for aerospace companies. Then in the main hallway was a beautiful model of the international space station. John was waiting for her behind security and greeted her with a relieved hug.

As they walked out to the parking lot, John updated her on what had happened to him since those few fleeting seconds when they had seen each other in the parking lot beside the inner harbor at Baltimore. “That guy Adolpho had a little power boat parked at the Marina, and he took me off in it down the harbor channel towards the Chesapeake. As we were going along, I looked up in the sky and I saw one of our prototype flying machines high up above in the sky. So I knew that my friends were coming to rescue me. Then I managed to jump over the side of the boat into the river. Once I was in the water Adolpho stood up and was pointing his gun at me, and luckily the police on the shore were able to get a bead on him and shot him dead. Moments later my friends who you will meet today came down out of the sky and pulled me out of the water, to bring me back here.”

His mother said: “What on earth are you working on here John?”

“It’s a new kind of secret flying vehicle for the Air Force,” replied John. “I can’t show it to you even though I would love to, but the general idea is that it’s a new kind of helicopter. In fact my friends used one of them to pluck me out of the water after Adolpho was shot. They work a lot like a helicopter.”

John and his mother went first to his apartment on the Arsenal so that she could freshen up a bit, and then they went for a quiet lunch at Landry’s seafood restaurant near the Arsenal. Coming from Iowa, seafood was something special, and John’s mother thought that fish would be healthy for her. Over a long meal John told his Mom all about Huntsville and what it was like. They talked about Electrolev and John’s hopes that it would be able to go public in a few years, so that he could repay his parents for all the money that they had spent on his education. John’s mother was a farmer’s wife first and foremost .This was peak harvesting season and so after lunch they drove out into the Alabama cotton fields and looked at the harvest in progress. John’s Mom had never seen cotton growing on bushes before, and was just fascinated to see the little white fluffs, the size of a crab apple, all over the bushes stretching out into an ocean of white as far as the eye could see. They saw a huge harvesting machine cutting the bushes and pressing the cotton into big cubes, about five or six feet across, which were then left in the empty field to be picked up later.

Next they went to visit the United States Space and Rocket Center. John’s Mom was awed at the size of the Saturn rocket, and to actually see a piece of moon rock. That evening John had arranged for them to have dinner with Steve Harmann and Sarah, and Judy. Ever since that dinner party at the Biergarten restaurant when they had first arrived in Huntsville, John had retained a sentimental memory for that restaurant, so he chose to go there again. During the evening they went over the famous history of the Germans in Huntsville and how they had all been brought there to make the new rocket science happen in the space race of the fifties and sixties. John’s Mom was really thoughtful when she realized how history was repeating itself, and she looked wonderingly and proudly at John as she realized that he must be mixed up in something that was again going to change history. She felt reassured and soothed to see John and Judy so happy together. As usual Steve and Sarah made merry company. They still mourned for their earlier life in California, and Sarah explained that she would probably never get used to life in Huntsville with its sticky summers and cool winters. However Steve went over the huge financial benefit that they would all have once Electrolev went public and they all nodded sagely and agreed that what they were doing was worthwhile.

The next morning John and Judy saw his Mom off at the airport so that she could carry on helping out with the harvest back on the family farm. “Bye Mom – remember I love you!” said John as he hugged her goodbye.

His Mom shouted over her shoulder as she went on into security: “Don’t forget I want you both down on the farm for Christmas!”

“We’ll be there!” John and Judy responded together, smiling at each other and squeezing hands.

Chapter 52

One morning in November John was walking towards Steve’s office. The preparations for the mid December test flights were buzzing through his mind. As before, he needed to arrange reservations greatly in advance for Homey Airport and the Dreamlifter, but since the episode in which a stealth vehicle from another country was found over Homey airfield, he had found that he was able to commandeer essentially any resources which he needed for the LeviStar work. It felt essentially as if the whole resource of the USA was pushing behind him, which was an intoxicating feeling. He felt invigorated and alert, able to cope with anything that life might throw at him.

When he got to Steve’s office he started out with: “It’s pretty obvious now that a whole range of LeviStar type vehicles is going to be needed. The USAF has already got the Frances program underway in California. Then the experience of rescuing me from the Chesapeake in Delia brought home the point that a LeviStar air-sea rescue vehicle would be fabulously useful. With no downdraft from rotors, rescue out of the water could be so easy. We could make a vehicle with a waterproof underside, and a platform that would open out on one side with a winch like they use in the helicopters. There would be no need for pressurization and hydrazine thrusters, so it could be a pretty cheap vehicle. We could probably use a ducted fan a lot like Charlotte had. We could even make a fold down platform onto which we could pull people instead of hoisting them up. Then there is the next truly obvious requirement, which is an unmanned surveillance vehicle. It would be sent up to 100,000 feet and just hang around in the area until it was needed. Then it could come down to low levels to take pictures and take off back up again until it was next needed. There would be no need for pressurization and climate control since there would be no crew. So I can see two more immediate, huge, development contracts. If we proposed these to the US government then there is no way that they could say no to any of them, unless they tried to pretend that the world had not changed.”

“You have got me convinced!” rejoined Steve. With all these contracts in hand our Electrolev stock options would quadruple in value! From the economic side, the longer this technology stays secret and we can legitimately develop it without competition, then the more Electrolev and our stock options will be worth. I can guess where this conversation is leading – you want me to go recruiting again and find a marketing/product planning/contracts person, right?”

“You got it, Steve!” exclaimed John. “We have been doing all this so far just using inspired engineering, but the time has come when we should start planning a company for the next hundred years!”

Steve mused: “It’s going to be tough interviewing people without them being able to know what it is we do.”

“Maybe we can pull people who already have secret clearance who do this kind of work for big defense contractors?” said John.

“Yes, that’s it.” replied Steve. “I’ll get a headhunter going looking through the likes of Boeing and Northrup Grumman and see if we can find somebody suitable.”

It was a week later that Steve introduced John to Michael Doherty. Michael had a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, and after that he had worked for 5 years on administrating defense contracts for the Air Force. He had been head hunted out of that by Boeing to work on contract proposals for the USAF, and had now amassed five years experience doing this work. He was a US citizen, but he had a lilting Irish accent inherited from his mother who was an immigrant from Ireland.

He was flown in from Seattle over the weekend, and on Monday he was there in Steve’s office, intrigued and even a little amused. “The story I have been told about a secret air vehicle system that needs new government products planned with ultra priority is mouth watering,” he began. “But I’m a bit vague as to what it really is, like a fighter, or a helicopter, or a bomber or what.”

“The important thing here is that you already have a top secret clearance for military vehicles,” replied Steve. “I’m going to let our President John Sykes tell you all about the technology in a few minutes. For me the important thing is to explain to you about the stock options. As well as a competitive salary 20% above what you get now, the compensation includes stock options corresponding to 1% of the value of the company. When you have finished with John, you will realize what that means.”

After a few more routine exchanges, Steve took Michael round to John’s office nearby. Judy was waiting there with John.

“This is Michael Doherty,” introduced Steve.

“I’m John Sykes, President of Electrolev and this is Judy Chen, our V.P. of engineering,” explained John.

They all sat down, and after reassuring himself about Michael’s security clearance, John told the whole story about LeviStar technology and the possibility of vehicles that could operate in near space and return to earth at will. He did not explain how it worked, just what it did.

“It’s clear to me that this invention has changed the whole nature of our civilization,” concluded Michael. “The fleet of near space interceptors to guard air space above the USA is only a beginning. After that there will be troop transports, assault vehicles, etc. The marines’ hovercraft assault craft are immediately obsolete – what is the point in bouncing over the waves when you can skim right over everything. Did you say that this thing works better and better the bigger you make it?”

“Right on!” said John

“In that case you can envisage aerial battleships. Then there are civilian applications.”

“Yes but the trouble is that right now the real nature of the technology is top secret,” said Judy. “Eventually it will be public knowledge and then will come all the civilian products. At the moment though the technology is secret and protected and so only military products. This situation will certainly not last forever because we know that another foreign power has the know how. Sooner or later the technology is going to leak out. We have not told you how it works, but I can tell you that fundamentally it is not much more complicated than an internal combustion engine. It is amazing simple!”

“Well, if you will have me, count me in on this!” enthused Michael.

Electrolev interviewed three other candidates that week. However none of them had the background fit and excitement with the technology that Michael displayed. Two weeks later the soft spoken man from New York with the Irish accent was part of the Electrolev team.

Chapter 53

It was now the beginning of December. The next set of Delia test flights at Homey airport was scheduled for the second week in December, again for two weeks, so that they would finish just before Christmas. Michael Doherty had worked out his notice at Boeing and had rushed down to be with the Electrolev team at Huntsville for the week remaining before the principals all left for Las Vegas. He was planning to organize his relocation while everybody else was away working on the test flights. It was Monday morning and John was showing him around.

Together they entered the hangar where the Delias were housed. Delia 1 was standing on its wheels on the left, while Delia 2 was parked about six feet off the ground on the right. It was running off batteries so it was essentially silent, just hanging there in thin air.

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Michael when he realized what he was looking at.

“What is going on here is the testing of the closed system environmental controls that we just implemented last week,” explained John. “Ian Smith and Jim Telham, our two physicists, have volunteered to be locked up inside Delia 2 for two days to try out the climate control and the experience of being in near space for a prolonged period. So they are inside there right now. We have got a Skype video link set up using our Wi-Fi system so that we can talk to them.”

He walked across to a computer on a table close by Delia 2: “Hello guys, how is it going in there?” he asked.

Ian and Jim appeared on the monitor screen: “We are doing pretty well, considering that we only started this gig three hours ago,” explained Ian. “John has found that he forgot his toothbrush but apart from that we are doing great. We will need to get reclining seats installed in here so that people can sleep on them if necessary. We have brought in a couple of air mattresses to sleep on for now. It’s funny how we went and planned that people could live in here for say, four days, and yet we never thought of arranging anywhere for them to sleep. We have got a galley here, two days of tasty meals and an airline style bathroom, but we never were smart enough to plan beds! Fred is going to get reclining seats like in international first class on an airline put in on Friday, before we all leave for the test flights.”

“That’s a really good input!” said John “At least we have learned something from having you locked up there! I’d like to introduce Michael Doherty, He is going to be doing product planning and marketing, getting us organized for the new Electrolev products that are going to happen in the near future.”

“Welcome aboard Mike!” exclaimed Jim.

“Thank you! I’m looking forward to working with you all and this exciting new technology!” said Michael in his Irish accent.

“Did you come from across the pond?” asked Jim.

“No, I’m a New York native but my mother came from over there,” he replied.

“Mike, I would like to give you a demonstration ride,” said John. “I have just got my test pilot’s license after a year and a half studying, and it’s actually legal for me to take the controls. Come on over here to Delia 1 and I will give you a trip around the hangar. Can you open the doors for a while so we can run the APU?” He called out to a nearby technician. The pair of them climbed up into Delia 1 and John closed the hatch. Mike sat in the flight engineer’s seat while John sat in the pilot’s seat.

“It flies just like a helicopter,” said John. He pressed a few buttons and then used the collective control to lift Delia 1 two feet off the floor.

“One of the neatest features of the technology is that you can park it anywhere you like,” he said, operating the collective. “That can range from here to 30 miles up in the sky, or even higher in theory.”

Next John used the cyclic control to move Delia 1 gently around the hangar.

Mike was impressed to the point of being overawed. “Wow – this is truly mind boggling!” he exclaimed.

John put Delia 1 back where she was parked, to the relief of Terry Mettle who had just walked in. He had been getting a bit possessive concerning the Delias recently. It was true that he had tremendous skill at maneuvering them compared to anybody else, but then John and Judy had only got their test pilot licenses two weeks ago and obviously nobody else could get close to him in Delia flight hours.

After John made the introductions, Terry said: “I’ve got an idea that I want to bounce off you. Next week when we pack the Delias into the Dreamlifter, why don’t we forget the ramps and the ropes and just move them into the hold under their own power? I am sure that I could do it if there were other people around to do the final positioning of the vehicle in the hold! If you think about it, I can lift one of those Delias into the hold and position it much more neatly and quickly than could be done with all those hoists and ropes!”

“That strikes me as a darn good idea,” said John. “Why don’t you go and talk with the logistics people about it. It could save just a huge amount of trouble compared to all the fuss that we had to go through last time.”

After lunch in the cafeteria where Mike met all the rest of the team, John organized a meeting with all the managers to talk about Mike Doherty’s assignment. He led off with an introduction: “Mike is here because with all that we have learned from the Delia program it is obvious that it is time to start planning the future Electrolev products that we can now see are needed. Judy has been kind enough to give names to these products, and Michael’s job is to make a reality of them. Number five will be Elaine, which will be an air sea rescue vehicle - no space going capability, no pressurization, just a simple rugged vehicle for pulling people out of awkward places. Number six will be Frances which will be a near space capable interceptor, with the mission of policing the near space airspace of the USA. Frances could be a whole lot like Delia, but will have armaments of some kind to be determined. Number seven will be Giselle, which will be an unmanned vehicle, capable of parking in near space over some chosen location for months at a time, and then coming down closer to earth for surveillance purposes as needed. Giselle’s main payload will obviously be an optical system. Michael is going to be starting a series of meetings to plan out what is possible for these vehicles in order to put together proposals for the Air Force. The first meetings should be in about three weeks time when we all get back from Homey. In the meantime Michael is going to be moving himself here from Seattle.”

John was just on the point of dismissing the meeting when Harold Trimpop put up his hand.

“Yes, Harold!” said John

“Since we are all here together at this moment, I have something that I want to put on the agenda for our time at Homey,” said Harold.

“My group was totally intrigued by the idea of the seventh generation software that Judy conceptualized, in which the LeviStar tilts over when it goes round a corner, but without falling out of the sky. I could not stop them from thinking and talking about it, and as a result a really elegant concept for realizing generation 7 vehicle control software is on the table. We have even gone so far as to use it to run Delia around the hangar a few times, so we know that it mostly works and is stable. So the next thing would be to try it out at speed and at altitude. I would like to put this on the list of things to achieve while we are at Homey. What I have in mind is that just as an experiment, we will separate the two processors which normally back each other up, and have a switch to select one or the other to control the vehicle. One side can have gen 6 software which is tried and tested, and the other side can have gen 7 software to be tried out. So if anything goes wrong we can flip the switch and instantly have the gen 6 software back again.”

John glanced at Judy, who nodded, and he said: “Right, I’ll make sure it’s on the agenda. That’s a fantastic achievement if it works – it is so complex that we never thought it would be possible in less than a year.”

“Ah, but the way we have done it, it is very simple and elegant. Come by the programming area sometime and I can run you through the flow chart!” replied Harold.

With that the meeting broke up. John and Judy lingered behind.

“I’m going to be flying out there on Sunday,” remarked John, thinking about the flight testing expedition to Las Vegas. “How about you?”

“Me too, I’m on the morning flight through Dallas Fort Worth.” replied Judy.

“Maybe we could share a hotel room in Vegas,” suggested John.

Judy looked at him with her special impish smile which usually meant that she had a few things going on in her mind which she did not choose to share. She was learning to control John in subtle ways that he did not even realize yet. “I really want to spend lots of time together with you and go out to see stuff in Vegas, but I’m a person who likes to have her own private place to retreat to. Also I know from when you fell asleep on my couch once that you snore and that would drive me crazy!” she drew close to him and put her arms around his shoulders. “I love you dearly but all things in good time!” she remarked enigmatically.

Chapter 54

That weekend the Dreamlifter came in on the Saturday. Following through on Terry’s suggestion, the Delias were loaded into the hold by having Terry fly them in under their own power. Technicians inside guided the vehicles to the exact position by pushing and pulling with their hands, and the loading procedure that took several hours before was accomplished in a half hour. At first the technicians would try and lift the vehicles by say, an inch, with their hands, and the result was that the vertical stabilization loop would just push the vehicle firmly back where it was. It soon sunk in that although they could easily push sideways, the only way to get the Delias to move up and down was to call to Terry in the pilot seat.

The same procedure was followed in reverse at Homey airport where Terry first started the inverters driving the anti-coils to lift them up an inch and then started up the APU once each vehicle was pushed out of the loading hatch of the Dreamlifter.

On the Monday, the first order of testing was to try out the gen 7 software. Terry took the controls of Delia 1, and Harold was strapped in beside him as flight engineer. He had already configured the two flight processors to operate separately – each one received all the sensing inputs but only the selected one was allowed to control the vehicle. He had already tried this out with the vehicle tethered in the hangar back at Huntsville, so he knew full well that it was basically going to work. Once the clearance was given, they took Delia 1 up to 5000 feet and parked her there. Then with fingers crossed, Harold flipped the switch which moved control over to the processor running the gen 7 software. “OK – you are live with the gen 7 flight control software,” said Harold, his voice being relayed down to the anxious team below in the hangar. “Have fun!” he commanded.

Terry cautiously put Delia 1 into forward motion, and then after a few seconds he applied pressure to the right foot pedal. Delia 1 obediently banked over to the right and executed a graceful arc in the sky. Terry kept her circling. The software had precisely adjusted the angle of the deck so that it still felt as if down was towards the floor. “That’s awesome!” remarked Terry. Harold in the flight engineer’s seat felt that it was just like being in a commercial airliner. Down on the ground the team was watching through binoculars. In the KXTA control tower the controllers were chuckling: “Look at that test pilot – he is like a kid with a new toy!”

Next Terry put Delia 1 back in a straight line, and then pushed alternately left and right. Delia 1 traced out a sinuous path through the air, winding gracefully back and forth while exerting only the most minimal G forces on Terry and Harold. “I’m tickled pink!” said Harold. “That’s just how I imagined that it was going to be.”

Then Terry took Delia 1 up to roughly 500 mph and tried turning it left and right. Since she only had limited amounts of left and right thrust it could not turn on a dime, but within its limits it dutifully banked over and gave Harold and Terry as comfortable a ride as possible.

“It is going to take a while to test out that every capability still works the same,” said Terry. “Let’s take her down again and make sure that she will still land OK.”

“I feel pretty relaxed about that,” said Harold, “because I put her up and down a dozen times inside the hangar.”

“To me this feels so good that I never want to go back,” said Terry. “It used to be that whenever you went round a corner it felt like your head was being pulled to one side and you instinctively leaned your head over just like a motorist going round a corner. Now everything feels just like in an aircraft, is the only way I can explain it.”

When they got back to the hangar nearly everybody in the Electrolev team crowded around, wanting to hear first hand how it felt. John and Judy were practically burning with excitement, because they had each got their helicopter pilot’s license in the last two weeks after following the army training course at the Redstone Arsenal. Today would be the first time that they could legally fly the Delias. Pulling a little bit of rank, John twisted Harold’s arm to load gen 7 software into both Delias, although with Gen 6 software still in reserve in the second processor. Then for the first time both Delias took to the air together. Separately they flew solemnly around the airport at about 500 feet, John was in Delia 1 with Harold and Judy was in Delia 2 with Terry. After a few minutes, they flew into tighter and tighter turns until they were flying in a circle of about a hundred yards diameter, opposite each other at about ten miles an hour. “Wow – this is so much fun!” exclaimed John. “Well these two vehicles have cost about $200 million each,” said Harold, “so maybe we had better get back on with some work.”

“I guess you are right,” chuckled John. “For me this has been the most fulfilling moment of the last two years.” With that he broke off from the merry go round formation and slowly and gently brought Delia 1 back to the hangar, with Delia 2 following smoothly behind.

Chapter 55

When they came back to the hangar James Harper was waiting for them with a grim look upon his face. “There has been an international incident which affects us,” he said tersely. “I need to have all the Electrolev managers in the main conference room in five minutes.” John looked at Judy, and then at Terry and Harold. Feeling bewildered, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach, obviously something was terribly wrong and Electrolev had just got to a stage where everything was going wonderfully right. They had no choice but to round up the managers and get everybody herded into the conference room. Around the table were John, Judy, Terry Mettle, Harold, Terry Entmann, Cynthia, Irena, Fred, Ian, Jim, Tanya, Anthony and Reginald. Their faces were tense and drawn, because such an abrupt meeting was essentially unknown in Electrolev culture. Something quite extraordinary must have happened and nobody had a clue what.

James Harper did not keep them waiting. “There has been a communication from the Russian Embassy this morning. A space vehicle of theirs has become stranded 20 miles over the North Atlantic with four cosmonauts on board. There has been some kind of failure of the systems on board, and they are stuck completely stationary at a height of 20 miles at about 34 degrees 25 minutes north and 48 degrees 13 minutes west. It is about 3660 miles from here.”

John looked solemn and tense: “I can guess the answer, but what does that have to do with us?”

“Apparently the vehicle in question is the one that Terry and Judy encountered 20 miles over here on the very first high altitude test flight. One of the cosmonauts is the daughter of the Russian Premier. Their engineers went so fast developing that space ship that they only have this one vehicle, hence there is no way that they can stage a rescue. Apparently they will run out of air in 3 days at most.”

Judy practically exploded with rage: “Those are the rotten bastards that shot Tony, Julie and Hippy! How have they got the cheek to come to us asking for help? If they hadn’t committed that awful crime they would not be in the trouble they are in now. As far as I’m concerned they can burn in hell!”

James countered in a very controlled voice: “That is not our decision to make. The Russian nation came to the American nation asking for humanitarian help. Our government has to decide what to do. Our role is to provide accurate, reliable technical information on what is or is not possible.”

Full of emotion, Judy said: “I think it totally sucks! – they murder Electrolev employees while they steal American information, then get themselves into trouble with what they do with it, and have the temerity to come and ask us for help!” Judy buried her face in her hands and a handkerchief and sobbed.

John said: “We have got to know more about what has happened in order to know if it is possible to help them. To make a vehicle to vehicle transfer at 20 miles high is no joke. We have to know what the parameters are, for example what has happened. Do they have pressure suits and so on? Can we get a communication link through to them?”

“I will ask immediately,” said James. “Let’s break for ten minutes while I send that request through. Tanya, can you stay with me in case I need an interpreter please?”

James picked up the phone and made a few calls. Eventually he turned to John and Tanya, and said: “They have agreed to patch us directly through to the Russian vehicle. I am going to put them on speakerphone.”

With Tanya translating, John asked the Russian cosmonauts what the problem was. The voice on the other end of the line was female and came across with a soft, musical quality to the ears of the listening Electrolev staff. Apparently the vehicle had been developed so hastily that instead of having twin processors as Delia had, it only had one central processor to run the whole thing. In the case of Delia, if one processor did crash then the other could run the show alone while the one was rebooted. But in the Russian case they only had the one, and it had locked up in the park configuration and would not respond to any commands from the console. It would take five minutes to reboot it, and during that time the vehicle would be falling to earth like a meteorite in such a way that it could never recover control without burning up the anti-coils. The inverters were running off the solar cells and that aspect was stable, but they only had air left for three more days after which they would die. They were three days into what had been planned as a six day mission.

Anthony passed the question: “Do they have pressure suits?” to which the answer was yes, they had individual ones with an oxygen pack that could last for half an hour at a time.

Reginald asked the question: “What means of egress from the vehicle do they have?”

The answer came back that they had only one hatch underneath the vehicle.

“Can they depressurize the vehicle and open it?” asked Reginald.

“Yes, that is possible,” came back the musical, soft Russian female voice.

“OK – I think that we have all the information that we need,” announced John. “Give us a little time to think about it.”

They hung up the phone and looked at each other. Judy’s tear stained face was like a thundercloud, and everybody else looked strained.

Fred was the first to speak. “It looks to me like we could do it, James,” he began. “We would need to send both Delias up to get the four of them. Maybe Terry and Judy could man one and John and Harold the other. We have never tried out the Delias for a long journey outside the atmosphere before, and so my recommendation would be to stay at the highest altitude where we can still run the APU, say 70,000 feet, for the main part of the journey. The Delias can get roughly 1000 miles per hour at that altitude. Then turn off the APU and go up the last 30,000 feet using the batteries. That way we would minimize the use of hydrazine which we have not proved in yet for a long distance journey in near space. We know that the Delias maneuver around fine using hydrazine for short distances; we just don’t know how it would work out for a long journey. It looks like it would take about four hours to get to where they are.”

Reginald chimed in: “Yes, I think we could do it like that. We would need to take along pressure suits for our people and maybe some spares for the Russians in case of emergency.”

Anthony agreed: “Yes, I’m convinced we could do it.”

Everybody looked at John, disregarding Judy who was sitting there looking distraught and out of it. “I think you should tell the people in Washington that we could do it – Its possible for us to be there in about six hours, allowing time for fuelling and getting pressure suits and stuff together.”

“Ok, I want you to start making preparations as if you were going, and stand by for a signal from me from Washington,” commanded James. “If you think that this was a tough meeting then imagine what I am going to have to go through at the White House! I am going to be taking one of the Air Force executive jets straight to Washington. John – since you are the president of Electrolev you had better come with me.” With those words he stood up and with John following he abruptly left the room.

Chapter 56

A few hours later, Harper’s Air Force executive jet landed at Andrews Air Force base. The skies were grey and overcast and he and John briefly shivered as they crossed the tarmac to where one of the presidential helicopters was waiting for the short journey to the White House. They had been in communication all through the flight and knew that a presidential level decision making meeting was scheduled in about an hour’s time at the White House. They were to meet in the White House situation room.

James and John were shown into an empty room dominated by a huge long polished wood table. In the course of a few minutes the Secretary of State came in, then came Joe Helman the Director of Defense Research and Engineering accompanied by the Secretary of Defense. Minutes later the Director of National Intelligence came in. Finally the President sauntered in, looking comfortable and relaxed, and sat himself down at a place midway down the table. John intuitively perceived that he always sat there and that place had been left open for him by custom.

“Major General Harper, please give us a briefing on this situation,” led off the President.

“Sir, the Air Force has developed a new flight technology in the last two years. It allows, for example, a vehicle to operate in near space without orbital speeds, or even to be parked there and remain stationary for prolonged periods. If the vehicle uses stealth technology then it can be used for covert purposes. These vehicles are fundamentally inexpensive to build, compared to say, a jet fighter, and clearly the whole of western civilization is going to be eventually transformed by this technology. For example, such a vehicle can be used for police and anti-terrorist operations, able to move silently and to be parked in the air at any altitude from 1 foot to twenty miles. They are superb for surveillance and for say, air sea rescue.”

“At the present time the whole development project is proceeding inside the security of the Redstone Arsenal. Unfortunately, before we understood the ramifications of this new technology, foreign agents broke into the laboratories and seized all the fundamental information on the technology, shooting three US citizens as they did so. So we have known for some time that a foreign power was racing against us to exploit these discoveries.

“Two months ago we discovered a foreign vehicle of this type, using stealth technology, parked invisibly twenty miles over Homey Airport, our most secret Air Force test and development installation. At this time we did not know for sure from which country it came, and it departed at high speed once they knew that we were observing them.

“Now this morning we have had this communication from the Russian embassy asking if the United States would help rescue four Russian cosmonauts whose vehicle has malfunctioned and is stranded twenty miles high over the North Atlantic. One of the cosmonauts is the daughter of the Russian President. They will run out of air and die in two and a half days from now if we do nothing.

“I have ascertained that we have the capability to do this. A rescue mission could be on site in about six hours from a decision here.”

The Director of National Intelligence was the first to respond: “I am concerned that we send a wrong message here. The Russians go and break into our laboratories, kill Americans and steal our technology. Then they expect us to reward them by fixing the mess that they have gotten themselves into? To me this is rewarding the wrong kind of behavior and just asking for the same thing to happen again.”

That is surely how Judy feels, thought John to himself.

The Secretary of Defense said: “My concern is that already the Russians have established free run for themselves of the near space over the United States. We have got to send a message that we are going to control and police this “near space” just as we do our own air space. I am concerned that our whole industry of satellite technology has become obsolete overnight. We need to use this situation to get as much strategic advantage as we can.”

Joe Helman, the Director of Defense Research and Engineering spoke next. “It is apparent to me that this technology has the capability to destabilize the economic order as we know it. It is unfortunate that the Russians of all people, possess the technology almost equally to us. For the time being, the fewer countries that have the technology the more secure we are as we develop it ourselves. The situation is very analogous to the space race of the sixties which has culminated in the International Space Station that we have today, where we have essentially a partnership between the USA and the Russians. To my mind we should steer towards a similar situation, and do everything we can to prevent the spread of the technology.”

The Secretary of State then gave her thoughts: “At the present time we have all kinds of initiatives underway between ourselves and the Russians aimed at reducing tension and increasing cooperation. Before the present administration the Russian Air Force had started routine patrols of their strategic bombers in international air space around the USA. Today these patrols are becoming more infrequent. I would like to see the USA use this situation as an opportunity to foster more cooperation in the future. I prefer to see us turn a blind eye to the gruesome way in which they got themselves into this position. It has taken a lot of humility on the part of the Russian Government to come and ask us for help in this way. I would like to see that humility rewarded with the hand of friendship and cooperation.”

The Director of National Intelligence then spoke again: “That’s a good point. Taking all these points into consideration, I propose that we rescue the cosmonauts, but ask for a gentlemen’s agreement that:

1) each nation will refrain from using the technology for covert observation of the other, and

2) that each nation will do everything possible to limit the spread of the technology for the next few years.”

The Secretary of Defense then spoke again: “If we mount a mission like this it cannot be easily kept secret. In fact we can probably create good press for ourselves on the world stage by being seen to help another nation in their time of need. It can be just like in the sixties, when everybody knew that nuclear bombs existed even though all the details of the technology were kept secret. We will have to reveal to the world that LeviStar technology exists, even though the technology itself will remain our most closely guarded secret.”

Finally the President spoke: “I think the strategic situation is clear now. If we rescue the cosmonauts we will definitely build goodwill with the present Russian administration because it is their Premier’s daughter who is up there. This will surely help Madame Secretary’s goodwill initiatives. We don’t have time for any kind of treaty, but in the circumstances it looks like an auspicious opportunity for a gentleman’s agreement – no mutual surveillance in near space and no proliferation of the technology without joint consent. That can only be to our advantage and we cannot make the situation any worse than it is. So to my mind if we perform the rescue then we don’t have anything to lose, and we will certainly gain some benefit for the near term. Madame Secretary, will you attempt to put these understandings in place?”

“I will try my best,” replied the Secretary of State. “Getting a gentlemen’s agreement with people who may not have the concept of a gentleman is likely to be tenuous. But if we go ahead with the spirit of generosity and everybody realizes that this deal cannot be enforced except by appealing to honor, then we will most likely get something out of it and we have almost nothing to lose. Give me an hour to conduct talks and I will get back to you.”

“Thank you everybody!” said the President, announcing the end of the meeting. “Be ready to regroup here in about an hour when the talks have been conducted.”

An hour later the meeting regrouped. The Russians had agreed to the gentlemen’s agreement and the mission to rescue the Russian cosmonauts was approved by the United States President.

Chapter 57

Back at Homey airport the word came through at 5 p.m. Monday that the rescue mission was authorized. At the White House John and James were immediately helicoptered back to Andrews Air Force Base to take an executive jet back to Homey airport. John took the opportunity to nap during the five hour flight. At area 51, most of the LeviStar staff had stayed over for the night to make sure that the Delias were checked out as thoroughly as possible ready for the rescue mission. As soon as John got back to the LeviStar hangar, he discreetly took Judy aside and asked her how she felt about the mission.

“Shitty!” was the straightforward answer.

“Would you rather not be flying on this one?” asked John.

“I really could not put my heart into it,” said Judy. “You have other people who can make a crew. Both you and Terry are qualified to fly the Delias. If something really testing happened I would not feel as committed as the mission demands and might demoralize the rest of you. It’s best if you go without me. But please take care! I’ve lost one man in my life already and I don’t want to lose another!”

“Don’t you worry – We’ll be really careful” said John. “Maybe you can man the communication link to keep in touch with us as we go along. The Air Force satellite radio can keep us in contact the whole way.” John and Judy embraced for a few moments and John seriously felt that he would rather be there on earth next to the tender feel of Judy’s body than anywhere up in near space. However his sense of duty prevailed and he bustled off to work on preparations and planning for the journey.

John chose for Delia 1 to be manned by Terry with Harold, and John himself piloted Delia 2 with Tanya as the flight engineer. They loaded up the galleys with food sufficient to keep four people going for 24 hours in each vehicle. Pressure suits had been hastily flown in by NASA and quick lessons on using them were conducted. These were the Advance Crew Escape suits known as ACES used on the space shuttle, each having a back pack with 30 minutes supply of oxygen for the wearer. Five pressure suits were packed in each vehicle, so that there could be one spare in case of emergency. All night long preparations and checks continued, and each of the crew members was finally able to don their ACES in under an hour. Harold loaded the avionics of the Delias with data maps to allow their GPS systems to lead the way directly to where the stranded craft was located, and then back again to Homey Airport. The galleys were loaded with cans, dried foods and bottled water, all of which could stand a brief exposure to the almost total vacuum of near space. Anthony performed a close scrutiny upon a simple valve going right through the pressure hull that would let all the air out of Delia and into space when it was needed to depressurize the vehicles. Finally at first light Tuesday the two Delias set off, simply rising vertically up to their planned flight altitude of 70,000 feet. Since a mid air collision was something which nobody needed, they deliberately traveled about two miles apart, just in visual contact. For the first time they were using strobe lights and John and Terry set their transponders to reflect a United States Air Force aircraft.

Although there was little air resistance outside, the APUs were not highly powered by aviation standards and it took about half an hour to build up to their cruising speed of 1000 mph. They planned a similar length of time to slow down again at the other end.

The next three hours were uneventful and boring as they sat there and watched their instruments for progress. After three hours they started the slowing down procedure, and in each vehicle they took turns where one person kept watch while the other wriggled into the ACES. Finally after four hours they were within 30 miles of their target, and each of them only had to pull down their helmet and turn on the oxygen to be ready for exposure to vacuum. They shut down the APU and enjoyed the relative silence in the cabin. They had been using aircraft to aircraft radios to talk to each other through the journey, and now John, feeling tingling and tense, tried to be very professional as he imagined a pilot should be and inquired of Terry: “Delia 2 to Delia 1, are you ready to go up now?”

“Let’s go John!” came back the reply.

Each of them pulled back on their collective controls and commenced the long rise up to 100,000 feet just using the batteries. It was still day time and they were picking up a useful amount of energy from the solar cells on the roof. It had been pre-arranged to use a certain frequency to contact the stranded cosmonauts, and for the first time Tanya did this now. Speaking in Russian, she used the radio to call the Russian vehicle which they knew carried the code name Sofia. “Delia 1 to Sofia! We should be within 20 miles of you now. Can you hear me?”

“We hear you loud and clear,” came the terse response, this time in a man’s Russian voice.

“Can any of you speak English?” asked Tanya.

“We are two men and two women here. One of the women, Valentina, can speak English.”

“We are coming for you in two vehicles, Delia 1 and Delia 2 which contains me, Tanya, the only Russian speaking person. Delia 1 will come to you first. So make sure that Valentina gets transferred to the first vehicle, Delia 1.”

“Understood!”

“Please make sure that you have strobe lights and your transponder operating so that we can see you visually and on radar.”

Suddenly the word “Sofia” popped up on the radar screens of the Delias.

“They must be over there to the left,” said Terry.

“I can see them,” called out Harold sharply. “they are still about a mile above us over on the left. We are going straight for them using the thrusters.”

Tanya continued making arrangements. She had never done anything like this before, but with her technical knowledge of the Delias and her bilingual Russian capability, she was proudly fulfilling a very unique role: “Please get your pressure suits on ready for transfer. Have you got a rope or strong cord in the vehicle?”

“Yes, we have a rope by the hatch with a winch for rescue lifts.”

“In a few moments when we are there, we will want you to open the hatch and dangle the rope out by thirty meters or so. We will open our emergency roof door and will come up underneath you. We will attempt to capture the rope and trail it inside our ship. Then we want you to slide down the rope and into our vehicle.”

“Understood. Tell us when you are in position.”

Looking out of the windshield, Terry could see Sofia looming large in front of him, seemingly dwarfing the 25 foot diameter of Delia. Sofia must have been at least 60 feet across. With slow patient nudges and taking full advantage of the inertial stabilizers, Terry coaxed Delia 1 right underneath Sofia.

“OK Delia 1 is in position now,” said Tanya. “We are going to close our helmets and depressurize our vehicles, which may take us 5 minutes. Then we will open the hatch and look for your rope. We want you to close your pressure suits and depressurize the vehicle now, so you can put out the rope.”

“The reply came back: “There is a problem. It was never anticipated to depressurize the vehicle deliberately. We have no valve to let the air out.”

John and Terry muttered curses under their breath. Tanya and John conferred hastily in Delia 2.

“Tell them that they are going to have to smash a window to depressurize the vehicle so that they can open the hatch,” ordered John.

Tanya was calm and professional: “We only have 30 minutes of oxygen in our pressure suits, so there is no choice but to proceed. Close up your helmets and then use any tools you have to break one of the windshields!”

“We are doing that,” came the response.

Watching from Delia 2 off to one side, John and Tanya watched with anguish as they saw the cosmonauts hacking at their cabin windows with what looked like a crescent wrench. Even though it was not his life at stake, John winced at each blow against the windows.

“The windows are very strong, but we try hard,” came the message from Sofia.

John could see them take something quite large, maybe a metal toolbox, and hurl it desperately at the windshield. Even with this assault, the windshield held – it was very strong armored glass intended to be indestructible.

“Tell them to stop,” commanded John to Tanya. Tanya dutifully relayed the message. “We have to try something else quickly. We have all got our pressure suits on now and we only have 30 minutes to get them out of there. He swallowed hard. Talking sternly to Terry, Harold and Tanya, John said: “We have got a power drill in our tool kit. I will bring Delia 2 over on top of Sophia and then we can use the power winch to lower me down on to its roof. I can use the power drill to make holes in the roof which will depressurize the vehicle. While I put Delia 2 into position on top, Terry, you and Harold get Delia one in position underneath their bottom hatch so that you can receive them as soon as the pressure is released. Tanya – you explain to the cosmonauts what we are going to do.”

While Tanya talked excitedly in Russian to the cosmonauts, John piloted Delia 2 over the top of Sophia and parked it just five feet above its roof. At this point he noticed that Sophia actually was not completely stationary but seemed to be drifting slowly to one side. “Tanya – you can lower me down on the winch and then work the controls and watch me on the surveillance camera,” ordered John. Grabbing the power drill and putting in the biggest drill bit, about 8 inches long, he opened up the bottom hatch. The winch cable came with a large loop at the bottom. Sitting on the edge of the hatch opening, John put his foot in the loop, and steadied himself against the floor of the vehicle. Tanya operated the winch control levers and slowly lowered the cable down towards Sophia. John, with his foot in the loop at the end of the cable, clung to the cable with one hand and clutched the drill in the other. After a few seconds he was standing on the roof of Sophia. Gingerly stepping out of the wire loop, he immediately bent over and started drilling away at the nearest bit of roof. The hardened steel bit went through the aluminum alloy with only a few moments of drilling. John could see gas venting out of the hole immediately. Without a moments hesitation, he started drilling another hole, and then another.

Moments later, Terry in Delia 1 reported: “They have got the hatch open and have dropped a rope down now.”

John, crouching on the roof of Sophia, looked around for a few seconds and with horror saw that Delia 2 with the cable dangling below had drifted off a few yards to one side, with the cable now out of his reach. For a split second John saw his whole life go spinning past before him, and he marveled at how he got from the secure farm house in Iowa to being stranded on the roof of a Russian Spaceship, perched 20 miles up over the North Atlantic. “Tanya – I think that you have forgotten something – like me!” remarked John with deliberate sang froid. Delia 2 slowly started moving towards him, and after a few moments he was able to grasp the cable again and put his foot in the loop. “OK – I’m on the cable – winch me up,” said John. There was an anxious pause while Tanya moved in her clumsy pressure suit from the flight controls to the winch controls. Then the cable started moving up and seconds later John was back on the floor of Delia 2.

“Harold is opening our roof hatch,” reported Terry.

Harold opened the valve releasing the cabin air into space. Their pressure suits ballooned up. Impatiently he tried right away to open the roof hatch, but it took quite a bit of shoving to pull it open because there was still a small amount of air remaining in the cabin and holding it shut. After a minute of heaving and perspiring inside his pressure suit, Harold had the hatch open and he was staring out of the gaping hole looking at the underside of Sofia. A small ladder was clipped to the ceiling next to the hatch to facilitate emergency exit in case of water ditching, and Harold carefully took this down and swung it into position under the hatch. It was hinged close to the edge of the hatch and could be locked against the floor. Climbing up the ladder, he looked around for the rope. “Forward ten feet.” he called out. “OK stop! – I’ve got it.” He pulled the rope down inside Delia 1’s roof hatch, and holding the rope tight he beckoned hastily to the cosmonauts peering out through the bottom hatch of Sofia. The first cosmonaut came out of Sofia’s hatch feet first and holding on to the rope slid down it into Delia 1’s roof hatch, landing almost on top of Harold who hastily retreated. He pulled the rope tight again and then without any hesitation a second cosmonaut did the same thing. Harold next climbed up the ladder and threw out the rope. Then from the bottom of the ladder he swung shut the roof hatch and bolted it. “OK, let’s move over and let John in,” he excitedly commanded to Terry. Inwardly he felt a tremendous surge of relief, but he continued to maintain his professional poise. They had used 15 minutes of their precious 30 minutes of ACES oxygen.

John quickly slid in Delia 2 underneath Sofia to repeat the performance. Meanwhile Harold operated the controls to fill up Delia 1 with air again. As the pressure rose, their pressure suits which had been ballooning out, slowly crumpled down to normal size. Reading the air pressure gauge, Harold could see that the cabin was finally back to normal pressure and with a sigh of relief removed his helmet, and told the others that it was safe to do the same. Out of the windows they could see the last cosmonaut descending into Delia 2 and somebody inside throwing out the rope just as Harold had done. The vessel moved slowly to one side to make some clearance away from the stricken Sofia.

Inside Delia 1, the astronauts wriggled out of their pressure suits and shook hands with the cosmonauts. They found that they had rescued Yuri and Valentina, who were ecstatically happy to be there. The Russians were wearing close fitting white full length underwear under their pressure suits. Over in Delia 2, the new guests were Olga and Ivan, who enthusiastically pumped the hands of their rescuers. Although the other three cosmonauts could speak some broken English, conversation proceeded with Tanya translating in Delia 2 and Valentino translating in Delia 1. Once they were all comfortably out of their pressure suits, the guests were asked to buckle up in their seats and the two Delias made a regenerative descent down to 70,000 feet again, where they could restart the APUs. Then they set course for Homey airport.

As they went along, Tanya in Delia 2 and Harold in Delia 1 behaved like cabin staff on a plane, and courteously served water and snacks to the guests. The cosmonauts were slightly embarrassed at such hospitality. John sent a radio signal back to Homey telling everyone that the cosmonauts were on board and that all was well. Rules had been agreed in advance that no conversation about LeviStar technology was to take place, and considering the circumstances this put a considerable damper upon the conversation. The cosmonauts were obviously amused that the Delias had a regular aircraft toilet on board. Nobody liked to ask them what they had been used to.

When they got back to Homey airport, it was dusk on Tuesday evening and once they pulled into the hangar, the cosmonauts were quickly helped into cars to take them onto an Air Force flight directly to Washington, where they were to be handed over to the Russian embassy for repatriation. There was only time for a quick handshake and a “Thank you again.” John, Harold, Terry and Tanya exchanged high 5s and hurried wearily off to get the shuttle back to Vegas.

On the Janet Air flight John sat next to Judy, who was looking morose and depressed. Her face was tear stained.

“How are you feeling?” he asked solicitously.

“I feel shaken to my core,” replied Judy. “Last 24 hours has made me like relive my whole life over again. I feel sort of like orphan, battered around by forces outside my control. I feel lonely and insecure. Frightened that somebody will take you from me again. Please don’t ever leave me again!”

John, who at this point had been awake for most of the last 30 hours and had just conducted what many would have considered to be a heroic rescue in near space, privately felt quite sorry for himself as well, but he kept his thoughts to himself. “I’ll tell you what,” he said valiantly, “let’s have a nice dinner together in Mon Ami Gabi at the hotel when we get back, and we can really talk about things. We have done all kinds of things together recently but you have never told me the whole story about yourself and your family background.”

“OK, that would be nice,” said Judy. John was observant enough to see a tear run down her face.

Chapter 58

The Electrolev staff were allowed to book themselves into hotels of their own taste. John and Judy had chosen the Paris hotel again since they had really enjoyed the romantic ambiance last time and were hoping to repeat their previous delightful experiences.

A short while after getting back, they met up at Mon Ami Gabi and got themselves seated for dinner. Over a glass of burgundy, John led off the conversation: “I could see that you were pretty upset by this whole episode with the Russians,” he remarked.

“Well don’t you think I had a right to be?” responded Judy. “I was just starting to feel comfortable and secure in my relationship with Tony back in Long Beach when he was shot by that Russian agent and it simply tore my world apart. So now when this thing popped up it was all brought back to me. Suddenly I relive the worst day of my life.”

“Why don’t you tell me about your life before then,” invited John. Just then their waiter took their order which momentarily interrupted the conversation.

“My earliest memories are in a large village twenty or thirty miles outside Beijing. It had a defensive wall round it, kind of like what Europeans call a walled city, but there was nothing but a large village inside it.

"Our house was just like a hundred others made of brick and beside a concrete paved street. It had a corrugated iron roof and was not much bigger than garage of most homes in Huntsville. We did not have running water inside house. There was a stand pipe in the street outside. Just outside the house was deep drain down which water drained away, and there was a stone cover over it near our door. Just outside of it was flat concrete slab, and there my mother used to cook the most delicious soups over a coal brick stove.

"She did washing every day, and this was done in a plastic bowl filled with cold water. She would rinse the clothes out and wring them into drain, then hang them up on a clothes line beside house. There were always clothes hanging there, outside our house and everybody else’s too. We had to come out to stand pipe to wash our hands and to clean our teeth, right there in the street in front of house. By American standards of today it sounds strange, but we were so happy there.

"Sometimes I would go out and wander the country lanes, which were perfectly safe. You might encounter herd of sheep or farmer with a horse drawn cart. This must have been around 1990 that I remember, because I was born 1980.

"My father was teacher, and he had been banished in the Cultural Revolution to learn from laboring on farms. While he was there he met my mother, a simple country girl, and they fell in love. When the Cultural Revolution finally fell apart in 1976, they came back to village where he had been born, but my grandparents were gone. There had been so much chaos in the Cultural Revolution that nobody even knew what happened to them.

"My parents managed to settle down again in the village and my father was able to teach again. My mother got job in factory, and then later she worked in fine restaurant in big town nearby. She slowly developed into being the manager of the whole place, where she still works today.

"I always remember that village in my mind. It represents my roots, where I came from. In the main street there were grocery stores where there were fruits and vegetables piled up high above my size as a child. Stores with wonderful pastries behind glass screens, all set out on the street for everyone to see. By American standards of today it sounds poor, and yet we did not know different and we were happy and proud. We had a roof over our heads, a coal brick stove to keep us warm, and we were all well dressed. Most of all my parents loved me and were so proud of my achievements.

"When I was about twelve, I was doing so well in school that I was chosen to go to a special school for children who had potential to go to university. At the time it came easy to me, but when I look back it changed my whole life. I did great at school, because for me math and physics were just so easy while all the other kids had to work so hard. Then somewhere around 1995 somebody from the government came round and told everybody that we were to be moved into a giant high rise apartment building. We could already see.it on the horizon, a few miles away through the mist. My parents tried to make it a positive experience and did not complain. Looking back it must have been an awful shock for them. Almost for first time in their lives they had indoor plumbing, a kitchen and central heating. The heat was controlled by the government and was turned off on a certain day in the spring regardless of what the temperature was like outside.

"As soon as we were moved giant bulldozers came and the old village which must have been there for a thousand years was razed to the ground, removed completely without trace. Everybody thought this was progress, and I guess in a way it was.

“In the school I was star pupil. I got to go to top university in Beijing, Beijing Tech. I had to stay in lodgings there most of the time. Every few weeks I was able to take a bus home, to see my parents. My parents were so proud of my achievements. Even in university I was soon at top of the class.

"When it was nearly graduation time I was approached by Professor Wang from the Cal State at Long Beach. He came by looking for outstanding people to be graduate students and to work on his research contracts. I interviewed and was chosen. He organized my student visa and paid for my travel. That fall I was installed in a dorm at Cal State Long Beach as a graduate researcher. You can imagine how I cried when I had to say goodbye to my parents. I have only seen them once since, when Lighting Enterprises wanted somebody to go and visit their factory in Beijing and I volunteered to go.

“In Long Beach I was studying electrical engineering for a master’s degree and working on research contracts for Professor Wang. I did not have much money. Like several other Chinese there I got a job working for cash in a Chinese restaurant in town. They did not pay much, but there were no questions asked. I can remember once when state inspector of some kind came to restaurant. We all ran out of the back door and hid. There was just the owner left standing there by himself making out he could run this restaurant alone!

"This was the time when I first met you – do you remember we were in EE classes together. At that time I was a first year graduate and you were a senior year undergraduate. I especially remember Tony’s physics classes. To me he seemed so inspired. I somehow managed to persuade my counselor that I ought to do a practical physics class just so that I would have a chance to meet Tony in person, which I did. We only went out on one date together – I remember it was exhibition of Asian art which meant a lot to me although he was kind of bored.

"When it was time for me to graduate I saw advertisements for EE people from Lighting Enterprises, and I went and interviewed with old Miller. I must have impressed him I guess because I got job. And of course you were there as well. This was the time when microprocessor control of ballasts was becoming fashionable. I made a place for myself by specializing in the programming of them. I can remember working together with you then, for first time!

“Then you discovered fifth force. We all started Electrolev together with Tony. I had been on a one year practical training visa at Lighting Enterprises. I had only just got H1B visa going when we started Electrolev. I had to get my visa transferred to Electrolev, which was quite easy, because Steve is so good at that sort of thing. Then when James moved us all to Huntsville in order to get security clearance I had to become Air Force second lieutenant and through that an American citizen. That is a really huge step for a Chinese person because you lose your Chinese citizenship and there is no going back. I really envy Israelis and British who can have two citizenships at once.

“When we formed Electrolev I started to fall in love with Tony. Those were such happy days for me. Of course I had girl room mates. It is not the same as having a guy to go around with. I felt complete for the first time in my life. Everything I tasted and experienced felt good. It was greatest time in my life. Then you know what happened. Suddenly I was trying to carry on and make out that I was a whole person all by myself, but it was big lie. I missed him terribly, as I think you know.

“Since we have been in Huntsville you have been so nice to me. I have kind of come to depend upon you. Then when that wretch kidnapped your mother and I nearly lost you, I came to realize how much I had come to truly love you!

“I love you too Judy,” returned John. “You have come to be the most meaningful happening in my life. Together we have created Electrolev, and people are going to remember us for it centuries from now. I am really worried about your resentment over what the Russians have done. A clergyman who I used to know in Iowa once told me that if you keep that resentment burning inside you then it is going to burn you up from the inside and it will devour all of you. There will be nothing but a hollow mean shell left. What you need to do is to face it like it is as history. Then you say to yourself: “I forgive them.” You don’t have to forget, but if you forgive them then it does not matter anymore and you can get on with your life. You can focus on the present and constructive things like building up a lifetime of love together between us. That will heal you and make you into a whole person again.”

At that point the waiter came with their entrée. John had chosen the pork tenderloin and Judy the lemon chicken. They both reflected silently over the last few minutes’ conversation.

Judy said: “I think you are right about forgiveness, John. That is really wise thought. I am going to do that. You have got so many good insights in your character, tell me where you got them all.”

John almost choked over his pork, however he recovered his composure and tried to carry on. The truth was that John had a leaning towards being a loner geek. Talking intimately to a girl was a strange thing for him. He was much more accustomed to admiring them wistfully from a distance. He was actually wondering first how he was still able to keep going after being without sleep for about thirty hours, and secondly how he could have got himself into the situation of giving advice to a woman as seductive and appealing as Judy. The trouble was, that inside that sensuous woman who he had been ogling for the last few years, he now realized that there was in reality hiding a vulnerable little girl who he felt so sorry for and wanted desperately to help in her hour of need, which was obviously now.

John started off valiantly: “Well, my earliest memories are on my parents' farm in Iowa. It was a little farmhouse, with just three bedrooms, one for me, one for my parents and another for the odd guest. There were outbuildings where Dad kept the tractor and stuff like that. We mainly grew corn, but just for our own use we had chickens and all kinds of fruit trees and bushes, plus a garden plot beside the house where my Mom grew every kind of vegetable that you can imagine. They all used to harvest at once, and so she used to bottle them and put the bottles away in the basement deep under the house.

"There was always enough food there so that it seemed like we could have got by for a year just on what she had stored away. The walls were lined with bottles all the way from down here to up there,” he said gesticulating to make his point.

“Just like you I was a star in school, and because of that I was able to get a scholarship to study at Cal State Long Beach. I was in love with the place because they had a combined physics and astronomy department, and I had always had a leaning towards the stars and space. Once I went there for interview and saw that giant blue pyramid I was totally hooked. My Mom and Dad did not have much money, and I kind of took it for granted that they took out a mortgage on the farm to pay for me to go to Cal State Long Beach. I know that they are still trying to repay it, although the bubble in corn prices caused by the ethanol boom in the last few years has really helped them.

"While I was studying at Long Beach I was pretty much all by myself. I was so much into physics and circuits that I only socialized with a few other guys who had leanings like me. Needless to say I hardly met more than six girls the whole time that I was there. Even when I did meet one, I used to get so excited that I would not know how to start a meaningful conversation and just stare at who ever it was, quickly frightening her away. The truth is, you are the only girl that I have ever been able to have a real conversation with.”

Judy’s face softened and she reached out her hand to catch John’s hand across the table.

“I’m really impressed by that concept of forgiveness that you mentioned when we first sat down,” she said. “I’m determined to do what you say. Let’s build a life together. Electrolev is almost like a child that we have produced between us.”

“I sometimes have doubts about my current life style,” said John. “I really enjoy tinkering around with circuits and inventing things, and all this President stuff is an awful strain for me. Then I suddenly see how so many other people are depending on me and expecting me to lead the way, and I know that I have got to carry on. I think about it and realize that nobody else could do it as well as I can, so to walk away from it is not an option. Maybe once Electrolev goes public it will be different though. We are both going to be very rich, you know. Incredibly rich, actually.

"I keep wondering when we can go public, and all the time that LeviStar technology is secret it will be very hard to go public. But now that we have rescued the cosmonauts the whole world is going to want to know what happened, and I think that the government will have to reveal what we have been doing. So things may change very rapidly in the next few weeks.”At that moment the accumulated effect of 30 hours of activity, followed by a delicious meal and half a bottle of wine caught up on John. For a moment his head slumped down on his chest, although he recovered instantly and forced his eyes open.

“I think we had better get you to your room,” said Judy. “Your philosophy has really changed how I feel about life. I love you dearly. Let’s get you back to your room so you can sleep!”

John hastily signed off on the check and then with Judy guiding him he staggered back to his room for an amazing, dreamless nights' sleep.

Chapter 59

At Homey airport, the test flights continued steadily throughout the week. The gen 7 software was put through its paces in every kind of circumstance. One or two parameters in the software which measured exactly how much banking was produced under which circumstance were adjusted, but basically it worked flawlessly. High altitude operation involving parking at 100,000 feet using the solar cell array was thoroughly exercised, with Terry and Harold spending over 24 hours aloft at one point. The crucial tests using the emergency chute were conducted last of all, and worked just as expected. One feature of the landing was that there was a region which could have been predicted where both the horizontal stabilization loop and the parachute were working together. Delia did not hang quite straight from the cords,, the floor being tilted about ten degrees, but when the power system was turned back on the floor immediately became level again, even though the chute was billowing up above. This was really reassuring for the crew. This particular test session was only scheduled for a week because some new surveillance aircraft from Lockheed had been booked in for the next week a long time before hand. In any case, with Christmas approaching the team was keen to get back home to their families and there were no complaints at all about stopping the testing after only one week.

The following weekend the Dreamlifter came back as planned, and the team followed the now familiar route back to Huntsville. For John and Judy, traveling together, it seemed such an amazing contrast to go on Sunday from the Las Vegas terminal with slot machines and bars serving liquor, to Huntsville where the local supermarket would not even sell a bottle of wine on a Sunday. Even so they felt a certain sense of returning home and security as they made the short journey from the airport to the Redstone Arsenal. It was now roughly a year since they had moved to Alabama and just seeing the seasons through once gave them a sense of reassurance. Inside the Arsenal they actually felt comfortable knowing that there were armed guards at the gate outside.

On the Monday morning, Steve was all agog to hear from John the details of the rescue and how it had felt. He had been hearing about it by telephone, but still felt starved of details. “Did you see this morning’s Wall Street Journal?” he asked of John. Steve was holding the paper in his hand and so John did not have to explain that he did not feel he had enough money to manage to make it worth subscribing to the Wall Street Journal. He held the front page that Steve proffered to him and read the column. It was not a headline, but a column on the front page of the Wall street Journal commands attention. He read:

What is Sofia?

For the last week air traffic controllers have been receiving a transponder code from an aircraft located at 34 degrees 25 minutes north and 48 degrees 13 minutes west, a location in the middle of the North Atlantic. The transponder code was assigned to the Russian military and was given there the code name “Sofia”. The amazing thing about Sofia is that it is stationary at an altitude of 100,000 feet. Our science reporter observes that this must mean that Sofia is some kind of huge balloon, of a kind that has long been hypothesized as being possible to use for long term surveillance of the ground from near space. The mystery about Sofia is that without the transponder response, nothing is showing up on conventional reflective radar systems. In other words, Sofia is possibly a stealth vehicle. The other possibility is that the huge balloon is itself invisible to ground radar, and that there is nothing but a tiny transponder suspended from the balloon. If so, then the further mystery is why the Russians should have suddenly activated the transponder over the North Atlantic.

“Well, what do you think of that?” asked Steve. John replied: “I can remember that Tanya asked the Russian crew to turn on their transponder so that we could find them. Right after that they had this terrible problem with depressurizing the spacecraft, and not surprisingly they forgot all about turning off the transponder once they got the hatch open. I wonder if that is the last we will hear of this?”

John’s rhetorical question was answered on Tuesday. He was reading the news on the internet before work when he saw an article in the Washington Post:

Russian Premier Thanks the United States

The Russian Premier today publicly thanked the United States for its cooperation in returning safely four Russian cosmonauts who got into difficulty last week. There has been no corresponding announcement from the USA and so it is something of a mystery as to the circumstances of this rescue. The Russian premier appeared publicly with his daughter Olga who was apparently one of the four cosmonauts involved. He said that this gesture of friendship was going to usher in a new era of peaceful scientific cooperation and political coexistence between Russia and the United States.

John whistled and shook his head. That day in the Electrolev building, he said to Steve: “Did you see that article in the Washington Post this morning about the Russian premier?”

Steve replied: “I did not catch the Washington Post but I saw something in the New York Times reporting a press announcement in which the Russian premier appeared with his daughter and announced a new era of peaceful coexistence and scientific cooperation between Russia and the United States. It seems like this thing is really starting to move, if you see what I mean.”

On Wednesday morning Steve was following John’s example of scanning the internet news when he saw this report from the Washington Post:

Sofia mystery partially clarified

Investigative reporter Tim Owens of the Washington Post yesterday chartered a Cessna citation aircraft to investigate the mysterious Sofia space station. He was able to borrow an HD camera with telescopic lenses and image stabilization that is normally used for helicopter reporting of traffic and news, and took it up to an altitude of 35,000 feet over the North Atlantic. The camera was set up under the large sloping front windows of the jet looking up at the sky above. Knowing the latitude and longitude of the mysterious object Sofia that has been reported for the last ten days over the North Atlantic, he was able to go to that location and search the sky above for the enormous balloon that has been believed to be transmitting transponder signals with the call sign Sofia, from a distance of only 13 miles. Below is the image that he was able to photograph. Scientific evaluation of the picture suggests that it is a roughly circular object about seventy feet across. Four nearly square structures are apparent on its underside, which has a square hole just a little off from the center. This image deepens the mystery dramatically. For the last week scientists had been speculating that Sofia was in fact a monstrous balloon, floating over the North Atlantic. Now it is clear that Sofia is not at all monstrous, but is only seventy feet across and presumably quite dense. It is clearly constructed by the Russians using stealth technology so that it does not show up on radar screens. This raises the obvious question concerning the oxymoron of a stealth vehicle displaying a transponder response which clearly identifies its origins as coming from Russia. Our aerospace correspondent speculates that this event is probably unintentional, and that Sofia, whatever it is, is malfunctioning.

Thursday morning both Steve and John saw this report from the Washington Post. There was a picture of Ivan, Olga, Yuri and Valentina walking from a car and into the Russian Embassy.

Russian Cosmonauts enter the Russian Embassy in Washington

On Tuesday of last week a photographer took this picture of two men and two women getting out of a car registered to the US Air Force outside the Russian embassy. Our diplomatic correspondent has identified the young woman on the right as Olga, the eldest daughter of the Russian Premier. Olga is well known to be in the Russian cosmonaut corps and it is surmised that this group is the quartet of cosmonauts referenced to by the Russian Premier on Monday of this week when he was thanking the United States for the rescue of four cosmonauts and announcing a new era of peaceful coexistence and scientific cooperation. Investigative reporter Tim Owens now speculates that the malfunctioning object which is still broadcasting the transponder signal “Sofia” twenty miles over the North Atlantic is in fact the space craft from which Olga and her three companions were rescued. The coincidence between the announced rescue, the new era of peace and cooperation, and the appearance of the malfunctioning Sofia over the North Atlantic is too strong to ignore. There are two dramatic questions involved. First, does Russia have some new technology which allows it to park a stealth vehicle indefinitely at a height of twenty miles above the earth, without orbital velocity? Then secondly, does the United States have some corresponding technology which has allowed the US Air Force to apparently rescue the four cosmonauts from high over the Atlantic and return them to the Russian embassy safely?

When they both got into work on Thursday, John went straight to Steve’s office and said: “Did you see the Washington Post Report?”

Steve replied: “Yes I did. You know this could work wonders for the value of our stock options. The administration is soon going to have to admit that LeviStar technology exists and then Electrolev can be admitted to be the prime contractor, which will allow us to plan an IPO in due course. We could all get really rich at last.”

“I had been hoping for something like this,” replied John. “But now it is happening it seems almost unreal, like a dream come true.”

“Let’s give the administration the weekend to react and I bet we will get some announcement next week,” said Steve.

Steve’s pronouncement was indeed prophetic, since on Monday morning the Wall Street Journal trumpeted a headline which sent all their pulses racing:

Administration spokesman confirms US rescue of Russian Cosmonauts

On Sunday the US administration officially confirmed that the United States had indeed rescued four Russian cosmonauts from a now defunct space vehicle which is still broadcasting the call sign “Sofia” twenty miles high over the North Atlantic. Apparently the space station had malfunctioned in some way and the lives of the cosmonauts, including Olga the daughter of the Russian Premier, were in imminent danger. The United States Air Force under the command of Brigadier General James Harper mounted a rescue using hitherto secret space going vehicles which went up to the Sofia space station and evacuated the crew of four. The technology which allows Sofia to remain stationary over the North Atlantic has never before been described in scientific journals. The technology used by the United States to mount the rescue was also the same kind of technology which reportedly makes possible non orbital, low speed travel at altitudes of 20 miles above the earth. The existence of these new space capable flying vehicles has never before been admitted by the United States government. The spokesman said that there will be a media photo opportunity on Wednesday at Huntsville, Alabama in which these new flying vehicles will be shown to the media for the first time.

On Monday morning John rushed into Steve’s office and said: “What do you make of this morning’s Wall Street Journal?”

“Well, it’s great for our stock options,” replied Steve. “However you would think that James would have said something to us!” At that moment his phone rang. “It’s James,” he grinned. “Yes, I am available now, and John is here with me. He’ll be here in a few moments,” he said as he replaced the receiver.

True to his word as usual, James walked into the office a couple of minutes later. “Did you read this morning’s papers?” he asked, tensely.

“We sure did,” replied Steve with a smile. John was also chuckling inwardly at the apparent concern and discomfort on James’s face.

“We are committed to making a photo op presentation to the media on Wednesday,” said James, straightforwardly.

“As far as I can see you have got two choices,” said John with a slight smirk because he was feeling ahead of James. “Either we can host one team of reporters here on the Arsenal because it would be a security nightmare to have two hundred or more of them here complete with cameras, or else we can choose a location outside where we can accommodate all of them, and fly the Delias in there to be shown.”

“That’s just how I read it,” responded James. “I was thinking that the United States Space and Rocket Center owes us a thing or two to say the least of it. They have the floor space, parking and facilities to accommodate thousands of visitors there, and it is only about a mile from here. We could ask them to close the place for normal business for a morning. Also the historical exhibits of rockets and space station stuff there would make a great backdrop that the media would really love. Let me go and do some negotiating. I might have to promise them to have one of the Delias when they are finally obsolete, but I am almost sure that I can manage it somehow.”

James was successful, and following is a description of the presentation by Cable Network News during prime time that Wednesday evening.

Chapter 60

The presenter was the senior news anchor Roland Ritter, a white haired forty something man who had a news show in his own name every weekday night. The scene opened with Roland standing in front of an empty parking lot, on the other side of which could be seen the impressive rockets of the Space and Rocket Center which stand beside Highway 565 and are such a well known Alabama landmark.

“Tonight we bring to you a presentation of new United States technology of a truly stunning kind! You will have all heard during the last two weeks how the daughter of the Russian Premier and three other cosmonauts were rescued from their space vehicle twenty miles over the North Atlantic. The Russian space vehicle apparently malfunctioned in space, and the lives of the cosmonauts were in imminent danger. It has now been revealed that the United States Air Force was able to mount a dramatic rescue using a new technology space going vehicle of a kind the existence of which has never been disclosed before. Today we are here at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville to be shown these new vehicles for the very first time. In a matter of minutes two of these space-going flying vehicles are going to land here in this parking lot for us to see. As you can see, this event has attracted a good deal of media attention.” The camera scanned round to show easily five hundred news people complete with all manner of cameras. One anchor person after another was talking into their camera in the same way as Roland Ritter.

“Here they come now!” he exclaimed. The camera scans round to pick up the outlines of Delia 1 and Delia 2 approaching from the direction of the Arsenal. Stars and Stripes insignias had been painted on either side of the stubby little tail fins. There was a small green light on the right side and a small red light on the left . As they approached the fact that the whole underside was a mass of what looked like car headlights was readily apparent. The two Delias approached the parking lot at a height of about 100 feet and slowed to about ten miles an hour. Banking gently, they circled gracefully around the parking lot as if they were at the two ends of an invisible bar, for two laps, then they slowly moved down in front of the waiting cameras and stopped side by side about fifty yards apart. The pilots inside evidently put them in park, because they stopped exactly eight feet from the ground.

The audience could hear the low whine of the APU jet turbines on board, suddenly stop, leaving the Delias sitting there silently, eight feet from the ground. The audience was silent, stunned at what they were seeing. After about a minute, the undercarriage was lowered from beneath each of them, and then they settled down on their wheels as light as a feather. The bottom hatch opened up beneath each of them, and the built in ladders were dropped down to the ground. From the right one came Major General James Harper, who had his always resplendent uniform even more neatly pressed than usual, and from the left one came Steve Harmann wearing a smart business suit. All this showmanship had been rehearsed to a great extent the previous day, and each of them looked relaxed and amused. The pair walked up to a battery of microphones which had been set up in front of the army of reporters.

“Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Major General James Harper of the United States Air Force. I have been primarily responsible for coordinating the development of these new flying vehicles which we call LeviStars. My companion here is Steve Harmann, the Chief Operating Officer of Electrolev, which is the company that is the prime contractor on this project. We two are chosen to speak with you because neither of us knows how these vehicles work, and so we cannot accidentally give away any secret information!”

There was a faint titter followed by a murmuring from the throng.

“The vehicles which we just arrived in are called LeviStars as a type. These particular ones are the Delia class LeviStar. They can seat four people including the pilot, and we both travelled in the passenger seats on our short journey here from the Redstone Arsenal. We have chosen this location to unveil these vehicles because here we are surrounded by reminders of the past aerospace achievements of the USA, as we see this latest wonder that has now emerged from the Marshall Space Flight Center. These are the very vehicles that were used two weeks ago to rescue stranded Russian cosmonauts from the space station Sofia which is still floating somewhere in near space over the North Atlantic. You will see that they are capable of flight without using wings or rotors, and hence they can navigate effectively in near space. We see them as having a great future for all kinds of surveillance activities and rescue missions. The technology by which they work is highly classified at this moment and so for the immediate future these aircraft will only be used by the United States military.

I can now answer your questions.”

“Mike Thompson of the New York Times – To me these vehicles look just like flying saucers out of a science fiction story. Was there an extra-terrestrial involvement in creating them?”

Steve said: “Let me answer that one. The pilots sitting in those cockpits are red blooded American patriots. The technology was actually invented in Long Beach, California.”

“Roger Trueblood of ABC news – Can you fly these vehicles to the moon? “

James answered: “I am sorry but we cannot give you any operational capability information. What might interest you though, is that they have a galley and toilets just like an aircraft, also the seats are just like the first class seats on a big airliner. There is always gravity inside the vehicles which is very comfortable and pleasant.”

“Heather Turner of CBS news – how were the cosmonauts rescued from the Sofia space station?”

James answered: “Everybody put on pressure suits and both vehicles were depressurized. Then a rope was dangled down from Sofia into the topside emergency escape hatch which these Delias have, and the cosmonauts slid down the rope and into the Delias.”

“Roland Ritter of CNN – how do you fly the Delias?”

James replied: “The controls inside are exactly like a helicopter. Anybody who can fly a helicopter can fly one of these things.”

“Tom Margolis of the Washington Post – What went wrong on Sofia that meant it had to be evacuated in such a hurry?”

James replied: “We are not completely sure, but in general terms it was a malfunction of the flight control computer. These vehicles are what the aviation industry classifies as fly by wire vehicles - there is no way a human being can intervene if the electronics really do fail.”

“Alan Toper of the BBC – what makes these vehicles go up in the air?”

Steve Harmann answered: “I don’t understand all that scientific mumbo jumbo which is the reason why they sent me out here!”

“Harry Jones of NBC news – why do they have so many lights underneath?” James and Steve looked at each other. James said: “Let me handle that one – I don’t really know – maybe they come in handy for night operations.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I think that we have answered all the questions which are possible here today. So if you will excuse us we will now go back to our work. Thank you for your time and attention.” With that parting statement, James and Steve walked back to the two Delias and climbed aboard, pulling up the ladders behind them and closing the bottom hatches. Next both Delias lifted silently up two feet, and retracted their under carriage. Then they silently rose to about a thousand feet before they restarted their APUs and jetted off southwards towards the Redstone Arsenal.

The camera then turned back to Roland Ritter, standing holding his microphone with the rockets of the Space and Rocket Center in the background. “Well that is a truly incredible sight. We will now take you back to the studio where a panel of military, political and aerospace experts will discuss the meaning of what we have just seen.”

Chapter 61

In truth the two Delias were in the air for no more than two minutes after they left the press conference before they were touching down again outside the Electrolev hangar. Inside Delia 1 James shook hands with Terry Mettle who had been the pilot. Inside Delia 2, Steve shook hands with John and said: “We are clear to make that initial public offering now!”

All four of them exchanged high fives as they emerged onto the tarmac. “Great work guys!” exclaimed James. It was now just five days before Christmas and the Electrolev Christmas party was the main thing on everybody’s mind. Up until now access to even seeing the Delias had been strictly limited to need, but after the press photo-op the security was relaxed for a day. The Christmas party was to be held in the hangar that evening, with the two Delias present as a backdrop. Strictly speaking it was a LeviStar project party, since there were really two groups of people present, the original Electrolev staff who had stock options and the subcontractors who did not. Steve had made a point of seeing the Electrolev staff one by one to point out this sensitivity and ask people not to talk about it in order that it should not threaten the superb working relationship that had been built up. “If anybody mentions the word stock or stock options change the subject,” he had advised.

Rows of tables were set up across the hangar for the staff to sit at, and a sound system was set up to play Christmas themed music. With the recent success of the Sofia rescue and the press photo op that had just taken place, everybody was feeling in buoyant spirits. Judy and John had gravitated to a corner by themselves and were quietly sipping wine and enjoying the ambiance. John said: “The day after tomorrow I am going to drive to my parents’ place near Cedar Rapids Iowa to be there for Christmas. Remember that you already accepted my Mom’s invitation to come and stay over Christmas.”

“How far away is it?” queried Judy thoughtfully. “It’s about 750 miles altogether,” said John. “It will take all day to get there, but it’s worth it because there is no chance to get flights this close to Christmas. I thought of driving back here just before New Year.”

“I’d love to come,” said Judy. “Are you sure they won’t mind having me?”

“Mom and I have already told my Dad about you and he can’t wait to meet you. In fact he almost begged me to bring you,” replied John.

And so it was that John and Judy made the pilgrimage to Cedar Rapids for Christmas. As far as John was concerned it was the happiest Christmas of his entire life. Somehow experiences seemed to have more meaning when he was with Judy, and all their time together was filled with little jokes and merriment. Judy had never experienced life in a small farm house before, and for her it was quite a magical experience especially since there was not that much work to be done around the farm at Christmas, and so John’s parents were able to focus on being hospitable. There were sincere hugs and kisses all around when the two of them left for the long drive down south to Huntsville.

Early in the New Year another round of Delia test flights were planned at Homey airport. Since the existence of the Delias was now public knowledge and their flying capability was well established, for the first time the Delias were flown to Homey airport under their own power. One of the things on the agenda was to try out higher altitude operation in which a Delia was organized to park and gather energy using its solar cells before proceeding on to a higher altitude. Other tests involved running entirely on gen 7 flight control software on both the flight processors, as opposed to having the main one on gen 7 and the backup on gen 6, which had been done up until now.

On the Tuesday of the first week, John and Judy were to take Delia 2 up to 100,000 feet and thoroughly try out the gen 7 software using the hydrazine thrusters. They were both wearing blue astronaut flight suits. John was carrying a briefcase like pilots use for maps and flight papers. Pressure suits were packed in the vehicle in case of emergency, but for these low risk tests there was no intention of using them. Following by now standard procedure, they flew up to 70,000 feet with the APU running, and then used the batteries to climb up to 100,000 feet and parked. John called in on the radio: “Delia two to KXTA – we are now starting the gen 7 software exercises and we shall not be in contact for the next hour unless there is some problem.”

“Roger starting gen 7 tests and no contact for one hour,” came back the succinct reply from Terry who was acting as ground communicator.

John turned to Judy, and said: “Judy, you have made my life so happy in the last year that I would like this to go on forever! Will you marry me?”

Judy looked happy and thoughtful, as she strived to choose the right words from her small but effective English vocabulary. “Yes, I would love to!” she said. “I was honestly starting to worry that you never ask!” They both chuckled.

John dipped into the zip pocket on his flight suit, and pulled out a diamond ring. “I secretly found out your size when you were being fitted for pressure suit gloves,” he said. “Try it on – I hope it will fit perfectly!” With that he slipped the ring onto Judy’s finger. She was feeling taken back to childhood dreams of weddings and families, and was feeling quite emotional. For a moment a tear ran down her cheek.

“Hey, this is nothing to cry about!” exclaimed John.

“I know, but for a woman this is very powerful moment,” said Judy. “Do you realize that I am agreeing to put up with you snoring for the rest of my life?” she chuckled.

“Maybe the doctors can fix it,” said John. “I was anticipating that you would say yes, and I’ve brought along a bottle of champagne – shall we have some?”

“Absolutely!” said Judy.

John pulled out a bottle of champagne from his brief case and after carefully opening it without a pop, he poured out two measures of champagne into the paper drinking cups supplied in the galley.

“Here’s to us and to Electrolev,” he proposed.

“To Electrolev,” replied Judy.

With a grin, Judy looked at John and remarked: “You know, there are lots of things that we have never talked about.”

“Uh, huh?” said John warily.

Judy continued, with an enigmatic grin flitting across her face between words: “One of the traditions in Chinese families is that the parents eventually come and move in with their first married son. In my case my parents only had me and so the expectation falls on me. Of course right now they are happy enough back in China, my Mom has a good job running the restaurant and my father is just drawing the state pension. But some day I would like them come and live with us.”

John reflected for a moment, and then he spoke: “With all the money that we are going to make out of Electrolev stock options, we can easily afford to buy them a house right next to ours. If we are living normally in Huntsville by then, there are some lovely housing areas in the vicinity of Madison. I am sure that eventually we could get two adjacent homes, even if we need to have one built. So I don’t think that is a problem at all.”

“Wouldn’t you rather we returned back to Long Beach?” asked Judy.

“I think we could only do that if we chose to retire,” replied John. “The whole LeviStar activity is only just starting to build right now. Before long there are going to be thousands of people working on LeviStar vehicles, and the whole country is expecting you and I to lead them. Besides that, it is so much fun messing about with LeviStars. You and I really understand how they work and what needs to be done next, but for most people it is like black magic, or at least like what rocket science used to be in the sixties.”

For a moment that quirky smile flitted across Judy’s face: “How would feel about us having some little baby Sykes?”

“That’s great by me!” exclaimed John. “I love being around children, especially so I can have a legitimate excuse to play with their toys!” The pair of them exchanged warm smiles.

Judy once again lifted her champagne, and said: “To our LeviStar future”

“To our LeviStar future,” rejoined John.

Outside the stars were glistening in the jet black skies of near space. Below, the earth’s atmosphere showed luminous blue colors in the distance with white swirling clouds nearer by and the blue color of the Hoover dam below. John reflected for a moment on his journey to this moment. From the laboratory of Lighting Enterprises where he longed for freedom and ogled with frustration a beautiful but unattainable software engineer, to his present position as president of a company about to go public with an anticipated value of over a billion dollars and having as a fiancé the most beautiful girl he had ever met.

Judy finally felt secure and respected knowing that she had found a fiancé who shared her philosophy of life and understood her innermost feelings. She moved over to John’s seat and they embraced blissfully. They had already given birth to LeviStar technology between them and who knows what the future might bring. The sweetness of the moment was matched only by the beauty of the sparkling stars above and the glistening blue atmosphere below. Delia 2 floated silently and serenely over it all.

###################

CHAPTER 62

Bibliography

http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2628

Mentions that the fifth force can be an anti-gravity effect coupling in to electrons

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-9126268.html

Contains bibliography of references to the search for a fifth force

http://tech.mit.edu/V105/N58/force.58n.html

re- interpretation of the Eotvos experiment suggests a fifth force opposed to the force of gravity

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/06/science/is-there-a-fifth-force-in-nature-research-struggles-toward-an-answer.html

Description of various experiments to detect a fifth force which repels gravity. Some successful, some not.

http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=014&ACCT=1400000101&ISSUE=0904&RELTYPE=PSC&PRODCODE=00000000&PRODLETT=GA&CommonCount=0

Science finds potential fifth force of nature which affects gravity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_force

Wikipedia article about the fifth force

Also of interest:http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220090214884%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20090214884&RS=DN/20090214884

Patent application US 2009/0214884 A1 dated August, 2009 by Roger Ellman which describes the possibility of an electronically controlled vehicle which levitates itself against gravity.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of numerous people. First and foremost I wish to thank my wife Mary for putting up with many months of preoccupation during which she provided support and critical reading functions to allow me to make “A Disruptive Invention” happen. Numerous friends and relatives have contributed by reading drafts and suggesting ways to improve the story. Bärbel Dahlmann-Gsänger provided detailed editorial advice and Peter Rosch helped by contributing technicalities on police procedures and with insight on how to structure the story. Michael Shackle was profoundly encouraging throughout the endeavor. Hap Terrel provided invaluable guidance concerning the workings of defense contractors. My gratitude also to Helen Rosch, Christina Gordan, Jim Mindham, Craig Coates and Haidong Wang who worked as test readers and to George Du, Dr. Zhiqing Wu and Lillian Guo for providing insights into the experiences of Chinese immigrants in the USA.

About the author

Peter W. Shackle is a professional engineer and inventor living in Palos Verdes California. He has a Ph.D. in physics from Trinity College, Cambridge in the UK. A life senior member of the IEEE, he has authored 53 United States patents

To contact Peter W. Shackle, visit the website "ADisruptiveInvention.com" which contains more information about the writing of this book.

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