There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 24

"Good, that means I'm getting back to normal. Let me call William, and I'll tell him we are taking the spacecraft out for a walk. He can call the press. They can come here to take a look at it, after the engine is in. Please don't break it."

"If I drop it, I'll make sure there are two children underneath it."

"If my sister heard you say that, she would strike you with a lightning bolt."

"Teddy threatened me today. She and I had a little talk. I said to her, "You are willing to kill 70 people, including yourself, because you are not happy with the way I talk about you. If you want me to die, let's do it in a car accident. There is only one problem; you would be in the child seat behind me. Are you absolutely sure, you would survive? Be nice young lady, I have a temper too."

"She hasn't said anything unkind about me since."

**************

When William made the announcement that the spacecraft was being moved outside Monday afternoon, every one was giddy. Finally, they would be able to see the real size and scope of what they had been working on for nearly 4 years. Emails were sent out to all former employees to advise them of the event and to tell them that this was what everyone had been waiting for, "This was going to be the short test flight."

William was concerned. "Are you sure we are ready for this Even?"

"Absolutely, we are 10 million pounds underweight at this point. If she won't fly now, we have a problem. It's better to know that now than in December."

"Why are we that far underweight?"

"We haven't put the 6 million pounds of water into the exterior shell yet. The other 4 million pounds is spread out among assorted group of items, but trust me it's there."

"I trust you Even; if I didn't, I wouldn't be in this project."

********

Monday morning the floor of the hangar shined like the floor of the new car showroom. No one was taking a chance that one of the six Sledhandlers would puncture a tire and unbalance the spacecraft.

The spacecraft could move on its own bearings, but no one wanted to take a chance on having to change those huge things here on Earth, because of some avoidable mishap.

Each bearing was the size of a medium size truck tire, and they weighed 2300 pounds each. There were 24 of them at the end of each of the six struts that held up the spacecraft. The machinists were warned; during the year they went to school, to put them in correctly the first time. You do not want to have to change them here on Earth because one of you screwed up. It will be the worst two weeks of labor you will ever work in your entire lives."

************

No one walked on the outside perimeter of the spacecraft as it finally began to move; they all walked underneath it. They marveled at its immense size, because now it was not just something they were working on a small part of, now this was their spacecraft, and the world was ready to see it.

It was 25 times larger than the space shuttle. It was a huge 'Black Beach Ball, with little glass eyes all around it. Then there were the ears, and they folded out and in perfectly. Gray did a perfect job on these. When the electronic arrays were in place, and folded close to the spacecraft as possible, the covering would help them stay intact, as we passed through the dense atmosphere of planet Earth, and into the calm of outer space. Once there, the spaceship could tumble like a bowling ball and it wouldn't matter.

The sledhandlers coaxed the huge machine towards the steel reinforced concrete pads that were made for it by Colonel Jack Daniels and his crew. Each pad was 24 feet long by 24 feet wide by 10 feet deep, with a concrete strength of 18,000 psi.

As each huge machine reached the center of its mark, the driver flipped on his lights leaving the other drivers to adjust their positions accordingly. From lift off to touchdown, it took 367 minutes to move the huge spacecraft 1973 feet. (329 ft. per hr./ 6 hrs. 7 min.)

After two hours into this agony, Janice grabbed my hand, felt my pulse, and threw the blood pressure cuff around my arm.

As she looked at the numbers I begged her, "Please don't tell me its bedtime."

"Doc, if you don't calm down, I'm going to have to put you out. You are over all your limits. I know how stressful this is for you, but I don't want you to have a heart attack. Close your eyes and try to relax. I'll take your numbers again in five minutes. If they are this bad, I'm not going to have a choice, I'm going to have to put you to sleep."

"Let's go inside the hangar Janice. I'll find a chair and sit in the shade."

"Good boy Doctor, I'm proud of you."

"I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for my terrible trio."

"Is that what you're calling us now, "The Terrible Trio?"

"You may not get a recording contract, but on Christmas day, when this ship leaves the ground, you are going to get a Christmas present you will remember forever."

Gordon walked over to me, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, what do you think dad?"

"It's a little smaller than I thought it would be."

"Smaller, it's huge dad. It blocks out the sun."

"It was just a test. I wanted to know how you felt about it. Have you made a decision in reference to Holden?"

"Yes, dad, I have. I've decided to stay here with him."

"You see, I told you with the passage of time you could make a decision that would suit you. Your mother will be so pleased."

"Why will mom be pleased?"

"She will only have one child to tend to, not three."

"You're full of crap dad. Mom would miss me."

"So I guess you don't think I would miss you?"

"This is so freaking hard dad."

"What are you finding so difficult Gordon?"

"If I give my patent to Holden, it means I've lied to other people, and you know I try never to lie. What would happen if Holden holds the world hostage because of that patent? I wanted it to be used for good, not for some frivolous reason."

"What do you consider a frivolous reason?"

"Buying a 200 foot yacht, so you can waterski behind it."

"What have you seen Holden doing that would make you think he would do that kind of thing? What has he done in this house over the last few months that would give you that idea?"

"I love Holden dad, but he is still a baby. Who knows where he's going to go when he grows up?"

"Holden already knows where he's going, and he knows it specifically. I heard him talking with Richard, and he has plans that would astound you. He is more advanced than you were at his age. I'm not worried about him, and where he is going, and neither should you."

"Thank you dad, thank you very much for your help."

"Who me, I didn't say a thing."

****************

"Hello dad, Gordon said you wanted to see me."

"Yes, but normally on an occasion like this, I get to see your husband and my grandchildren. Might I ask where they are?"

"My husband is inside the spacecraft playing. Your grandchildren are playing with your son and future daughter-in-law. Is that all right, or would you like me to go get them?"

"Grab a chair; we have to talk for a minute."

"Okay dad, I'm all ears."

"We both know that's a lie, but I shall continue. You made a promise to yourself that I would like you to break before we leave in December. You said you were going to give your patent for the Magnetic Drive Engines to the University of Chicago, because they were so close to getting it that you felt like you stole their work.

I for one know you did not steal their work, and so does William Zabo. He went up there well after your engines were common knowledge, and they still had not figured it out. He had to show them the way to do it, and the professor kicked himself in the ass when he realized what he did wrong. They were still going in the opposite direction. William asked the professor what they were finding out going that way. He said they had found many exciting possibilities going in that direction, but nothing specific had come out of it yet.

I would like you, if you can see your way clear, to give your patent for the Magnetic Drive Engines to your brother Holden. He has very exciting and very specific plans for his future. If you were to stay here, you would enjoy going along for the ride with him. At his age, he is already further advanced than Gordon was. I know what Holden's plans are, because I overheard him talking with Richard about them. He doesn't know that I know, so please keep my secret.

Again, this is only a request. It is not a demand. This is completely and totally up to you. Whatever you decide, there will be no repercussions either way. It's just something I am asking you to think about."

"Now I'm going to find my grandchildren. Come on Delicious let's go I want to see both before it starts to rain."

"Not so fast Doctor Luck, give me your arm."

"I'm fine Janice, trust me."

"I'd rather trust my meter."

"You can take him Mrs. Thyme. He is just under his limit. Try to keep him calm, I won't be far behind him."

"He has always been a pain in the ass. Why don't you give me the syringe, and the next time he pisses me off, that's where I'll stick him."

"I would love to do that, but one woman got so pissed off with her husband she took the syringe and injected him in his eye. He fell asleep, but he lost the eye. The law says we can't give out syringes anymore."

"Can I go see my grandchildren before it rains?"

"Yes you may, but it's not supposed to rain today."

We found my grandchildren playing with Zoie and Gordon. Zoie had Teddy by her fingers as the little wonder child was trying to walk. Newton and Gordon were throwing a frisbee to each other, and both of them were very good at it. Apparently, it had a lot to do with physics, and both of them were very good at physics.

After 15 minutes of playing with both my grandchildren, I announced that I was going into our spacecraft and hoped they would all join me, because it was going to rain.

"Dad, there's not a cloud in the sky, it is not going to rain today."

"Okay, but I feel it in my bones. It is going to rain here today, and soon."

"Fine, we will go into the spaceship with you. Maybe I'll even find my husband in there."

When they reached the command level on the third floor, we found everyone who would be at those positions tomorrow, studying each display as if their lives depended on it. On the far left side sat Grayson Thyme studying his display, even though none of his instrumentation was on the ears yet.

We walked up behind him, and I asked, "Well Doctor, how do we look?"

"Confused, very confused; I'm not getting any readings at all."

"Could it be because your instruments are still in their boxes, in the warehouse?"

"That could definitely be the case Doctor Luck. I'll look into it when we get back to work Thursday. We will be busy all day tomorrow, and doing a debriefing on Wednesday. Besides that, you are not going to get any more work done today, because it's going to rain."

Delicious said, "Gray it is not going to rain today. It's beautiful outside."

No sooner had she finished her sentence, then there were two large claps of thunder in a row.

She turned and looked at me. "It's just thunder dad. It doesn't mean it's going to rain."

"Gray when it starts raining, I want you to scatter people all over the ship to verify there is no water intrusion. If there is, have them mark it, and move on. We will fix it another day."

"Okay dad, we will check everything from top to bottom."

Delicious was turning red. "You two brainiacs are out of your mind it is not going to rain today. I would bet my second born child on it."

Jennifer laughed at her. "You just want to get rid of Teddy. If you were positive it's not going to rain you would've bet Newton."

"I take that back, I'll bet Gray instead."

"Hey, what did I do?"

"You sided with my father, and said it was going to rain, when you know it's not going to rain today."

"It is going to rain today, I can feel it in my bones."

"You men, and your bones. I'm leaving, come with me Newton."

"I think we better go with her, otherwise she's going to drown."

Zoie said, "I guess Delicious didn't see those Cumulonimbus clouds growing to the southwest of us today. If the upper level winds are right, we are going to get wet."

"I didn't know I was going to marry a meteorologist. Tell me, how much do you know about meteors?"

As my son recovered from the pain inflicted by his fiancées elbow attack, I said to him, "Gordon when are you going to learn to think first, and talk second."

"Soon dad, Zoie is getting very strong, and as soon as she hits me, I remember your advice. It's a little late getting to my head, but I remember. Soon I will remember it before I get hit, and get out of the way."

"There is an even better way than that Gordon. Censor what you're going to say, into something you won't get hit for saying."

"It's time for us to leave, it's going to rain very soon."

"Dammit dad, for the last time, it is not going to rain today."

"Watch this Gordon, and learn."

"Delicious, you're absolutely right. It's not going to rain today.""

**************

We ran the last 20 feet into the hangar, because it wasn't raining. It started as hail the size of quarters, and that disturbed me as I watched it build up on the top of my spacecraft.

Then came the punishing rains, out of the southwest, as Zoie had predicted. The winds built up to at least 70 miles an hour, and probably more. Our spacecraft sat there without moving, just as I knew it would. There were no surfaces for the wind to grab onto, so it stood there bravely, and took everything the storms had in them. The winds howled, and the rain pounded down for over an hour before the sun reappeared.

I waited impatiently for my phone to ring, to get the results of Gray's inspection. When it did, my hand shook so bad Jennifer had to hold it still for me to answer it.

The excited voice on the other side of the phone yelled, "Dad, she is as dry as a bone. She is wonderful."

"What did you expect Gray, you knew there was no shoddy workmanship put into that boat of ours."

"How can you not be excited over what she just went through dad?"

Jennifer pulled the phone away from me and answered him. "Don't let him fool you Gray. He was so nervous I had to hold the phone for him, because his hands were shaking so badly."

"Thanks mom, I'm only a scientist, he is the engineer. I'll beat him up when I see him."

"No you won't, because I have a better idea."

"Should I ask you what is?"

"Just listen Gray, and you will understand."

"Janice, it's bedtime."

I started to say, "Please, I don't want.."

I felt the needle pierce the skin of my neck and watched as Jennifer finished her phone call. She smiled at me, and I saw her lips say the words 'Good Night Darling', as my eyes closed. This was not funny. I did not like this one little bit, but how could you argue with people who saved your life, and were helping you get stronger every day. I had not progressed as fast as the Doctor's initially thought I would.

We had a fierce argument over the fact they did not want me to continue working because of it. The result was I kept my 'Terrible Trio' with me until my departure date. I even asked Tammy and Janice if they wanted to come along on the adventure of a lifetime. Janice immediately said, "No Way."

However, Tammy said, "She would think about it."

When she mentioned it to her parents, they told her in no uncertain terms that they would throw her in a mental institution, before they allowed her to go into space.

Therefore, Tammy turned us down also.

Unfortunately, Hannah did not fit into the profile, and I told her that's why she couldn't come along. She understood.

*****************

119. First Flight

On Tuesday morning, a little after 4 AM, in a well lit, but isolated area of the Houston docks, a tugboat pulling a huge barge, tied up at a pier. The captain and his crew did not go near their cargo. Instead, a crane lifted the lead sealed box over the top of a specially designed nuclear transport train that was sitting on a siding, and lowered it inside. The cables detached automatically, and the doors on the top of the train were lowered and sealed. A neutral gas was pumped under pressure to the inside of the train, to check for any radiation leakage. There was none, and the gas was extracted.

Due to US regulations, the train was restricted to a speed of not more than 20 miles per hour, because of its cargo. The track it was taking was cleared between Houston and Temple. The 165-mile trip was going to take just under nine hours. The Southern Pacific Railroad was not going to have a nuclear accident on its hands today.

At 5:10 AM, under heavy security, the nuclear train began leaving the yard. This was a very dangerous part of the trip, because there were many times when it had to change tracks, and go through sidings to pass other trains that blocked the main line. It took nearly 45 minutes to clear the congestion, and get on the main line that would take it to Temple.

Once they were underway, the conductor, and the engineer never took their eyes off the track ahead. The trains speed was always under the posted speed limit, and the tracks had been checked the evening before. However, all that was needed to cause a catastrophe was for one vehicle to try to cross the tracks at the last moment, and everyone, within 50 miles, would lose.

No one wanted to open the nuclear containment car, near a residential area, to see if its contents had been breached, because the results would be horrific. It would be catastrophic, if there was a breach, and the train continued traveling to Temple.

The engineer sounded the trains' horn one mile prior to any intersection or dirt road crossing. He continued to sound it, until he passed that point.

This was against company policy and Federal Noise Regulations. However, when you are carrying nuclear material, all those restrictions get thrown out the window, and safety becomes the 'Imperative.'

****************

The train arrived, without incident, 9 ½ hours later. The flatbed truck, and the huge crane were in position to relieve it of its contents. The top of the nuclear transport car opened, and two men moved into position to guide the hooks on the end of the cables, into the eyebolts on top of the lead box.

The Crane took up the slack, the two men gave the thumbs up sign and moved out of the way.

The Crane operator lifted the box out of the train car and onto the flatbed truck without a problem. He gave the cables some slack, the hooks released. He pulled them up and out of the way. As everyone paid attention to the flatbed and secured the engine to it, the crane operator, and his two assistants safed the boom, and the cables, and drove to the NEST.

Once Delicious was happy that the engine was safely attached to the flatbed, she climbed into the police car, and told the sergeant that they could leave anytime he wanted.

Sergeant Bertolli lined up his car, with the centerline of the two-lane highway, got on his radio, and said, "Let's light them up boys."

Delicious could hear every Texas Ranger start their engines, with a roar.

Not to be left out, the truck driver started his huge diesel engine, with a louder roar.

Sergeant Bertolli turned on his flashing lights, and proceeded down the highway at a brisk 25 miles per hour. The road was straight as an arrow, with very few bumps worth worrying about.

Sentry trucks were a quarter mile ahead of us on both sides of the road, with their yellow flashing lights blinking away. This was the safest stretch of road in the State of Texas at this moment, and no one was going to change it