Gray Panthers: Battle for Earth (12 page)

The team that investigated the suicide was more interested in the rare old .357 than anything else.  The security footage made it appear that Dan and Abdul were trying to get the gun away from Scotch for his own good.  The overworked coroner took one look at the body and confirmed it as a suicide, case closed.

San Diego, California

18 December 2127

“The engines have been tested.  The crew has put through every simulation we can think of.  The last of the equipment has been delivered and stored.  The entire crew has started to come together and work cohesively.  We are ready for our initial shakedown cruise.  We are going to cruise to Hawaii. If no problems are detected, we will then go to stage two and go for low earth orbit.  Third stage will be to go for an orbit around the moon, then return to Earth.  If the authorities are unhappy with our achievements, do we have a back-up location to call homeport?” Butch asked at the end of his abbreviated status report.

“We have arrangements made with the government of Brazil.  So, if uncle sugar tries to interfere with us we have a safe port.  We were going to have the ship registered with the Liberians, but could not bring ourselves to do it.  The Nike will have US registry,” Dan continued.

The crowds around the San Diego dry dock were in the thousands.  Many old style navy uniforms identified past crewmembers of the Enterprise in the crowd.  The VIP stand was filled with past commanders of the Enterprise, eagerly looking over the ship noting the many changes.  Government dignitaries looking bored, but wanting to have their name associated with the event because of all the money the reconstruction of the Enterprise had contributed to the local community.  A band played a medley of patriotic songs, as visitors continued to arrive.  The sky turned gray as clouds closed out the sun, and rain was thick in the air.  The wind picked up as the crowds continued to wait in anticipation.  Butch looked out at the crowds and the weather and thought it was going to be an outstanding day.

Dan began to address the crowd as the crew of the Nike marched by in stiff formation. All the members were dressed in gray jumpsuits; a Gray Panther on their right arm, and on their left, a patch of Nike, a half-naked woman with wings.  The crew ended their march when they assumed their positions on the deck of the ship.  Dan finished his speech as he received the message the ship was ready.  Taking Juanita to the edge of the ship, he handed her a bottle of champagne to break over the bow.  The bottle shattered as the noise of the ship’s thrusters could be heard.  The crowd did a collective gasp as the ship rose up, instead of sliding into the water.  Dan and his close associates laughed hilariously watching the crowd as the Nike, after lifting 20 feet into the air, maneuvered over the bay.

  Butch watched the crew around him as they worked like a well-oiled machine.  The excitement was contagious.  “Continue reverse motion, begin turn to port,” Butch ordered.

“Continue reverse motion, begin turn to port, aye,” the pilot parroted, acknowledging his orders.

“Full stop ahead five knots, then make for open water.  All crew prepare for acceleration, clear the decks,” Butch ordered as he watched the crew hurry to get inside the ship.  The bridge, instead of having windows, had special monitors with smart technology.  When a person looked at the screen, they saw what was outside the ship in that direction from their viewpoint.  Anyone not knowing this in advance would never notice.

“Sir, decks are clear, ship is ready for sea.  No local traffic,” the XO informed the captain, a smile plastered to his face.

“Pilot, assume direct heading for Hawaii, increase climb 30 degrees until we are at 1000 feet then level out and increase speed to 500 knots,” Butch ordered, as the outside of the ship seemed to tilt.  The grav plates continued to do their job making everyone feel like they were straight and level, with no sense of motion detected. 

“Ship’s crew.  This is the captain. We are under way to Hawaii.” From throughout the ship a loud roar could be heard as the crew cheered for their ship.

“Well I’ll be danged. The ship is flying,” Dan spoke into the microphone as the crowds watched the ship climbing as it grew smaller in the distance.  The occupants of the VIP stand began to cluster around Dan. There was renewed interest in the ship, as Dan apologized and left them with his press secretary, as he and Juanita escaped toward the limo.

Two hours later Dan started to receive news from the office that the Navy, and a half dozen other government agencies were placing enquiries with Gray Panther Enterprises.  Dan laughed as he wondered which ones would be the best example of idiocy.  His lawyers had ensured the ship was registered as both a ship and experimental aircraft.  On board the ship, in addition to the crew was a team from the FAA, to certify the ship as airworthy.  The pilots, captain, and XO all had commercial airline pilot licenses; in addition, the captain and XO had their Master Mariners License Unlimited Tonnage. Unlimited Masters Certificates, as did half the senior officers. 

“Captain, we seemed to forget something,” the XO announced to the captain.

“What would that be Mr. Erickson?” the captain asked back, hiding his puzzlement.

“The crew from the FAA is still in your cabin waiting to be told when we launch,” Red laughed.

“We’ll go around them and bring them to the bridge. I have a feeling they will not be happy,” Butch answered.

The FAA chief, having gone over the specs of the ship for weeks did not believe the ship was airborne.  He knew that the windows were in fact monitors, and assumed they were running a simulation. 

Butch looked at the adamant bureaucrat. “Pilot bring us to a stop; hold position, hold altitude,” Butch ordered.  The Pilot confirmed the order coming to a full stop.  “Mr. Murphy, it is a little breezy outside but you have my permission to go out on the deck sir,” Butch said, a smile on his face, yet no humor.  "XO, if you will do the honors please."

Red un-dogged the first hatch and opened it. While opening the second hatch he almost lost his grip on it as a gust of wind tried to take it from him, and the wind swirled into the bridge.  Murphy headed toward the hatch then realized he was not the victim of a prank as he saw out. The initial shock gave way to humor, induced by his love of all things flying.  "This is fantastic," Murphy nearly shouted as he tried to grab his companions to go out on the island with him. 

Butch and Red smiled at each other knowing they had the FAA official on their side, for the sheer love of flying.  Murphy appeared on the monitors looking back at the bridge, a huge smile on his face as he nearly danced.  Returning to the bridge he laughingly thanked the captain, and apologized for doubting him.  The engineering officer approached to give the FAA officials a tour of the ship while underway.  Before leaving, Murphy confided in Butch that most of his team had volunteered for the extraordinary step of coming along on a test ride.  Their willingness had nothing to do with their jobs, but instead a free ride to Hawaii. He then lowered his voice and said that if everything continued to look good he would ensure the Nike passed in all categories.  His one last question noting the present altitude was what the ceiling was for the ship.  Butch initially withheld the first reply that came to his mind, which was the moon. 

"Well Mr. Murphy we had not planned to attempt it on this trip, but if it makes your job easier, I believe we can take her up to the ceiling for you, but no walks on the promenade,” Butch grinned as he answered.  Murphy was infected by the smile and simply said, "Let's see what she can do."  The entire bridge crew tried hard not to appear listening as they followed every word, then grasped what would come next. 

Butch grabbed the microphone, "Attention. This is the captain. We are looking good, we have been asked to see what the Nike can do, so we will be going to our ceiling, and perhaps some maneuvering.  That is all.  How are we looking XO?"

"Captain, we have no traffic to our South recommend course of 180 true, and climb 45 degrees, speed 1000 knots until we get to 125,000 feet.  Then resume our heading for Hawaii at 300 knots as we do a slow descent,” Red answered. 

"Very good, pilot.  Did you get that?" Butch asked.

"Sir, course of 180 true, climb 45 degrees, speed 1000 knots until we get to 125,000 feet.  Then resume our heading for Hawaii at 300 knots as we do a slow descent,” the pilot replied.

"Very good, engage now,” Butch ordered.

The ship again felt no sensation of movement as the ship climbed at 45 degrees.  Mr. Murphy again began to think it was a joke until he looked at the instruments.  Amazement once again overpowered him as he thought of the size of the ship and the maneuvers it was doing now.  "Mr. Murphy, I believe we should make this more interesting for you.  XO, when we get to the ceiling let’s launch a shuttle.  The crew has not had the opportunity to do that in negligible atmosphere." 

"Yes captain. I'll notify the Shuttle section to prepare to launch two shuttles. I suggest we offer our guests the opportunity to be part of flight history,” Red replied.

"Very good idea Red. Would you care to escort Mr. Murphy to the launch bay, and take command of the mission?  Simple launch, then 20 minutes loiter, then return to ship."

Smiling Red had Murphy accompany him to the launch bay as the rest of his group met there.  They quickly strapped in as the crew chiefs reviewed the shuttles with the pilots before being informed they would come along for the ride and sit with the FAA passengers.  There was only an initial clunking sound as the shuttles started engines then, turning on the passenger-viewing screen, giving the passengers the same forward view as the pilots.  The launch bay had been evacuated as the elevator lowered, depressurizing the bay.  Red followed the blinking white lights until instructed to stop and lower the shuttle onto the elevator.  The grav plates pulled the shuttle firmly as it rose up.  Once on the deck the grav plate released its hold on the shuttle as Red waited for permission to launch.  The Nike was already at 125,000 feet and cruising at 300 knots.  Red received the call.  "Hammer one, Hammer two in place ready for launch."  Red then requested permission to launch.  As part of the short mission brief, they had decided to launch at immediate 800 knots, going vertical then looping down under the Enterprise, then dropping to the deck and then back to the ship.  The launch, thanks to the inertial dampeners combined with the grav plates reduced the flight to no sense of movement at all other than watching the viewing screen as many of the passengers stared in wonder. 

    “Well Mr. Murphy, what do you and your team think of our girl?” Butch asked as they finished eating dinner in the ship’s cafeteria.

“I think that the shipping industry and the airlines are going to be very afraid of your ship and what it represents captain.  Is it really affordable for Gray Panthers to modify a ship like this?”  Murphy asked.

“I believe the return on their investment will be very beneficial.  After we return to the states we will evaluate this cruise then prepare for our next cruise to the moon.  We will be arriving in Hawaii around 6:00 P.M.  We have a luau planned for 8:00 P.M. You
and your team will be our guest since you were on the maiden voyage of the Nike.  We also secured hotel reservations at the Royal Hawaiian.  We will be departing at 11:00 A.M. and will be arriving in Arizona at 1:00 P.M. Our flight plan was approved to fly to the factory then land there.  There will be transportation available to take your team wherever they need to go.  Do you have any questions for me? Anything else you need?”

“I ordinarily would not believe that statement, but from what I have seen I can believe it.  I guess that’s why you have an entire area devoted to growing crops in the hold.  Will this be a base station on the moon?” Murphy asked.

“It is a possible plan for now, but I think we will end up with an underground station, with the Nike providing backup until everything is operational.  We have mining technology that can carve up huge caverns that do not need any reinforcement.  The material from that is turned into sand-steel for building.  We have reactors that produce clean energy and do not have any problem waste.  They have already tested them out near our factory.  We have lighting that works quite well for growing and it will not take long for the caverns to be self-sufficient.  We will, in time have our own underground eco system.  I would appreciate if you did not mention that to anyone just yet.” Butch answered.

“I guess I will not be invited for that trip,” Murphy said.

“We did invite NASA, but they laughed us off.  I have a feeling by the time we return home they may have changed their minds.  May I ask how your report will go?” Butch asked.

“I’m surprised you’re asking. I was informed it was going to pass brilliantly. That’s why I volunteered to observe. I wanted to be the first to raise the BS flag. However, I think you passed brilliantly across the board.  My entire team shares that view,” Murphy replied.

“I’m sorry someone’s putting the screws to you.  I had no idea anything like that was happening.  We have a good ship and we are proud of it,” Butch replied.

"Captain to the bridge" came from the PA, allowing the captain a welcome retreat from the embarrassment of the conversation.

"Captain on the Deck" was announced as Butch entered the bridge.

"Report" was all Butch said as he sat in his command chair.

"Sir, we have been challenged by the USS Enterprise,” the XO stated with a smile.  "I confirmed our IFF is working correctly and have been in radio contact with the Enterprise.  They tracked our earlier maneuvers and are suspicious.  Their alert aircraft have already painted us and will be in visual in a few minutes.  Any orders captain?”

"Continue on course and let's see what happens.  This should be interesting."