LUX-2

The Pod

Ken Pence

Amazon

Copyright © 2022 Ken Pence

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Cover design by: Cover art Amazon Stock Images
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America

Thanks to my brothers Richard & Tom Pence for encouraging me to write. We have shared a lifelong love of sci-fi. This book is dedicated to all the visionaries out there who know that humans are just a small blip in the universe.

Thanks to all you lovely people that like to still read.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Afterword

Acknowledgments

About The Author

Books By This Author

Foreword

This is a work of fiction. Any semblance to real people and events, in this story, is purely coincidental and characters do not represent any living persons.  The young man in this story wishes to keep his name out of the news.

Lux Blakely is headed to college at Georgia Tech. Because of his AP scores, where he received over 65 semester hours  of college credit (and his father pulling in markers), he is going to start as an undergraduate junior. He is signed up for Aerospace Engineering. Prissy is getting to enter as a sophomore in Computer Science.

Lummi is simply the digital creation by Anna, their AI, Prissy and Lux. They have convinced the world that she is a real person even though she is just a video creation. They are funding their college, Lux's research, with the money from social media.

Chapter 1

Lux looked out of the truck as Ner and Stan (his father’s Army friends) drove him to Atlanta so he could go to his orientation for starting school at Georgia Tech.

Ner glanced over at Lux sitting calmly on the ride from Huntsville. “We need to go to your new building first, don’t we?”

Lux looked up. “Yep. I need to make sure it’s set up right and check out the computer security.” Lux looked over at Stan. “You’re going to show me how the security system works – right?”

“Then we’ll get you set up at your apartment at Hayes House. An apartment as a freshman?” Stan said.

“Uhm. Not really a freshman though they require me to go through freshman orientation.  I’m really a junior in the undergraduate sense, but I’m also in a joint Master’s program.”

“No kidding,” Ner said. “What is your major?”

“Aerospace engineering,” Lux stated.

Stan laughed. “Who would have guessed?”

They talked on and off on the way. It was only 290 kilometers (180 miles) but getting through the lunch traffic in Atlanta was awful. They finally arrived at the newly leased property. They pulled into the back of the property off the 500 block of Spring Street NW. Anna had leased the back first floor of a three-story building a ten-minute walk from his dorm apartment and the aerospace center on campus. The back of the building had an automatic rollup door. They pulled up and saw that there was a bit of interior parking. Lux wanted to know who else had access.

He looked around and saw unobtrusive cameras and lighting. There was an auxiliary, 25 kW generator vented to outside plus 10 kWh Tesla Powerwall3 lithium battery backup. He walked into the ‘lab’ after he unlocked the steel door and the lights came on automatically. He looked around and smiled back when he realized he had 465 square meters (5,000 square ft) of floor space. His 3D nano-printer, CNC, PCB Prototyping system, large format 3D titanium printer, and several different polymer 3D printers. He went over to the computer system and saw it was an upgrade even over the one his dad used.

Ner, Stan and Lux quickly emptied the truck but they didn’t know what to make of the big blue balloon? He took out computer backups and some of the memory modules. Lux plugged those in and booted up. The memory transfer would take 24 hours because there was a petabyte of data. It was near 1 pm so they locked up and walked two blocks to Sweet and Fresh and had burgers and fruit tea. It met their hunger needs and they didn’t want to eat anything else, anytime soon after that junk.

They returned to the lab and Stan went through all the other security features, locks, power supplies and backups, then gave him a list of other tenants (lawyers). He showed him the power and water hookups/cutoffs and the fire extinguishers/sprinklers. He showed him the Taser armed robot dog and fentanyl-dart armed drone. Stan had Lux register on all the biometric security devices. They spent 90 minutes after lunch setting up everything and going over the security features. They piled back in and went to the dorm apartment.

Hayes House was a bit of a change. He found room 215 with the help of a snarky resident advisor, Bruce, who begrudgingly gave him a key. He didn’t do that until he saw Lux’s name on the list and Lux’s passport. It took five minutes to unload his items. Lux quickly made his bed and packed the drawers in his room. He had towels with him and he put those out. It took longer to find the wifi password than to unpack. He had his slate and his backpack and his knives.

The two men looked around. “You sure you’re okay?” Stan asked. “We’ll need to report back to your dad. “Any message you want us to give him?”

Lux looked around the room. “Tell my dad this is definitely going to prepare me for a career in space.” Lux grinned.

“Why is that?” Ner asked.

“After this room… a space habitat will seem roomy,” he said and chortled.

Both men started laughing. Ner said, “I’m glad you didn’t bring that big balloon of yours then.”

“Why is that?” Lux asked puzzled.

“We wouldn’t be able to shut the door up here,” he said with a straight face.

Lux gave them a hug before saying goodbye.

He had planned out what he wanted to do but he didn’t have his BuzzCard to give him access to the campus bus system or the food on campus yet. He thought he’d get that tomorrow during his FASET (Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environs of Tech) Fall Transfer Orientation. The regular freshman class was already on campus but the upperclassmen would be rolling in over the next few days. He decided to order a big pizza and have it delivered. He went downstairs to wait.

He walked downstairs and sat down in the lobby so his pizza wouldn’t be hijacked. Bruce, the RA, came over since he was sort of prowling around.

“What are you waiting on?” Bruce asked.

“A large pizza. No way I can eat it all. Why don’t you join me?” Lux asked.

“Okay,” Bruce said. “You know freshmen never get assigned to this dorm.”

“I’m not a freshman,” Lux said with a sly grin. “I’m considered a junior,” Lux said as a guy carrying a pizza box came in. Lux walked up to him. “Pepperoni, Canadian bacon, onion, and pineapple for Lux. I’ll be ordering a lot from y’all,” he said to the delivery guy. “What’s your name?” Lux gave him $10 cash.

“I’m Rob. That’s too much.” Rob said. “Oh. Here’s your soft drinks.”

“Oh no. I’ll give you this each time. It’s worth it to me so when you see my name – think – good cash tip!” Lux said grinning.

“Thanks… Lux,” the delivery guy said. “You’re a student here?”

“Yep. Thanks again.” Lux said and took the pizza into the kitchen and motioned to Bruce.

“That smell’s good,” Bruce said. “A junior?”

“Yep. Aerospace engineering. Now I need you to pay for the pizza,” Lux said.

Bruce stepped back. “I don’t have any money. I thought…”

“No. No.” Lux interrupted. Tell me about yourself? What’s your major? Where are you from? I want to know about you. I don’t know anybody here and you’re already an RA. That’s pretty cool.”

“Really. You think so?” Bruce said.

“Heck yeah,” Lux said. “Is there anyone here already? We have enough for one more.”

Bruce had already gotten some plates down and had a couple pieces selected. He had already started chowing down as Lux pulled down some glasses and poured two drinks. “I’m a junior computer engineering major.”

“Wow,” Lux said. “Cool. I knew you rocked when I first met you. I doubt I’ll have the time to get in a minor but could do a thread even though I have six semester hours toward that already. I have the equivalent of CS 1301 and CS 1331.”

“Where are you from?” Lux asked as he enjoyed stuffing himself. Another guy came into the kitchen, got a plate and helped himself. “Who are you?” Lux asked and laughed.

Bruce tried to talk but his mouth was totally full. “This is…”

“Jeff,” the guy said and stuck out his hand to Lux. “You are the culprit to blame for this ambrosia.”

Lux laughed, “I’m Lux up in 215. Nice to meet you, Jeff. What’s your major?”

“Junior in Industrial Engineering. You?” Jeff said between mouthfuls.

“Junior standing in Aerospace,” Lux said.

“Kewl beans,” Jeff said. “Did you buy the pizza?”

“Yep,” Lux replied.

“Thanks. A lot of us usually do that as a group on Fridays here.”

“I’ve got the transfer orientation in the morning, but I’m not sure where to go. They accepted me as a joint junior/Master’s program.”

“Wow. You’ll be going to the engineering transfer orientation tomorrow then. I’m one of the transfer student tour guides. Meet me down here at 6:30 and I’ll treat you to breakfast, since you fed me tonight. Meet you here in the lobby at 6:30 Eastern and wear comfortable shoes.”

“Super. Thanks Jeff. I’m going to hit the rack and let my dad know I got here okay.”

“Your dad didn’t bring you?” Jeff asked a little taken aback.

“He had a couple of his buddies bring me. He’s working on some big problem that cropped up. See ya in the morning.” Lux said and ran up the stairs to his room. He texted his dad on his phone.

Hey dad. Got here and settled in today. Good dorm room. Everything within biking distance. Will let you know about classes when I register. May not be able to get into them all because I’m so late. Hope you resolved that problem. Love Lux

◆◆◆

US Army Space & Missile Defense Command – Huntsville, Alabama

Captain Haskins finally wondered what their hypersonic aerospace expert had discovered. He sent a query on the secure link and Paulus Blakely’s image popped up on his screen.

“Hello Doctor Blakely. Captain Haskins at Space & Missile Defense again Sir. Any idea about that alert?”

“Actually, I have had a bit of luck. It looks like a mapping program. The returns came from irregularities on the surface of the craft – if it was a craft. It would have to be faster than anything I’ve seen before. It may have mapped a chunk of area northeast of the base. Let me know if you see anything like it again. It’s mainly away from the base but it appears to have gone from treetop level to 15,000 meters. That’s a big volume,” Paulus said.

“Volume – not area,” Haskins said.

Paulus realized this guy was smart. “Volume because you registered it flying away from you fast and didn’t see it coming toward you. Then it does it again a fixed distance south. Later it does the same thing at a fixed distance higher in elevation and repeats the fixed south intervals. It was mapping a volume and maybe had a rough spot that showed on a turn.” Paulus paused. “That’s what I think.”

“Thank you doctor. I’ll file the report and see what they say up-the-chain.”

Paulus laughed. “I know how that’ll go. Link me in if it happens again.”

“Will do,” Captain Haskins said and disconnected.

◆◆◆

Hayes House Dorm – Georgia Tech – Orientation Day

“Hi Lux. Right on time. Let’s walk over and get a decent big breakfast at the Athletics Center.”

Jeff pointed out the freshman dorms and fraternities on the way. “Most of the on-campus places to eat are way south of us or west of us.”

Lux was taking it all in. He was noticing a lot of girls on campus in the summer, and found that was distracting.

The food in the athletic center wasn’t bad. Jeff told him to load up a tray and he’d treat. They sat down and enjoyed a great breakfast. People seemed a bit surprised at his age but thankfully didn’t make a big deal about it. They then had to walk a long way west to the instructional center for the start of FASET. Everyone was packed into a large auditorium and had a generic welcome and explaining about the resident guides. They left this area to tables outside that had alphabetical names in sections. Lux picked up a neck lanyard from a very pretty coed and then headed to get his BUZZ Card. They were given group numbers and assigned guides.

Lux was happy to find that Jeff was his assigned guide and the group of twenty were all engineers. They walked through the Undergraduate Learning Commons where they’d have some of their classes and then trekked a huge loop through most of the different engineering buildings for biomolecular, industrial, civil, sustainable, chemical, mechanical, computational, aerospace (finally), and Engineering science & mechanics.

All the groups converged on the Tech Green to have them go over the maps they were given and then they were led over to the West Village Commons for a lunch. Lux went to the Panda Express and ordered. He used his Buzz Card and it worked! Several of the other students weren’t so lucky.

He was looking for a seat and he saw Prissy!

“Hey Prissy! How’s it going? May I join you,” Lux said as he plopped down at the side of her table. She looked down a bit embarrassed. There were four other girls and a young middle eastern guy.

“Hi Lux.” Prissy said and swallowed big. “These are some of the freshmen I’m rooming with.”

Lux looked at them all and they had kind of forced smiles.

“Is he your little brother or something?” the guy said.

Lux thought the guy looked maybe 18 or 19 and the girls all looked about the same except for Prissy. The girls are tittered at the guy’s comment and Prissy blushed.

“We went to the same school,” Prissy said still looking down.

“Are you all in engineering?” he said to the girls and turned back to Prissy. “What dorm did you get in?”

She looked up briefly. “I’m in Towers Hall. I got a lucky break and one foreign student didn’t show up, so I got her spot. These are the roommates in my room and next door.”

One of the girls spoke up. “I’m Bridgett. Where do you stay? You’re a student here?”

Lux laughed briefly with a big grin. “Yep. Nice to meet you, Bridgett. I’m a student here. I’m a junior in Aerospace Engineering. You’re going to really like Prissy – she’s really good at coding and computer science. I’m in 215 Hayes House.”

“Hayes House? That’s coed and mainly for upperclassmen. How’d you get that?” the guy asked.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name. You are?” Lux said.

“I don’t have to answer questions from a child,” the young man said.

“He goes by Darius,” Prissy said.

“I think I’ll call him Dick. That also starts with a D and is more fitting,” Lux said staring at the young man who had his jaw clamped shut and was turning red around his ears. “I’m also in the duel Masters program. I suppose that’s why.” Lux stated with no emotion showing on his face as his finished eating his meal.

Darius leaned over the table and shoved Lux’s drink over at him but Lux was out of his seat before any of it got on him. He picked up his tray and stepped back from the table.

“Nice to meet you ladies,” Lux said. “Good to see you, Prissy.”

Lux went to put up his tray and Darius shot up to follow him put the tray up. Darius came up behind him and grabbed his shoulder with his left hand and drew his right fist back to hit him. Lux spun to the left (counter-clockwise) and kicked Darius in the lower intestines with his left foot without spilling any items off his tray. Darius was bent over heaving while Lux cleaned off his tray and walked off to meet his group for the afternoon sessions.

Bridgett leaned across the table toward Prissy. “Why did he grab Lux? What just happened to Darius? Is Lux really in a duel undergraduate/master’s program in aerospace?”

“Yes. He’s really smart, has a bunch of patents too,” Prissy said.

“Wow,” the girls all said finishing their sodas. Prissy sat up a little straighter.

◆◆◆

All the groups met in different rooms in the instructional center and were given the information on how to meet their advisor and register for classes if they hadn’t been able to do so previously. Since Phase 1 registration was in the Spring and Lux hadn’t been admitted then – he had to register for classes and meet his advisor.

Lux logged in and was pleased he could set it up. His phone buzzed and he verified the two-factor authentication that allowed him into the system. He pulled up his records and was pleased all his 64 semester hours of AP credit had transferred as well as 8 hours from his high school. He was able to get into most of the courses except ones that had conflicting meeting times.

He went to see his assigned advisor, Professor Chen, in the Guggenheim Building. His office was about as far South of his dorm as you could get. Lux looked him up and even though he was still an Assistant Professor – his resume was still impressive. He got to the assigned office number and one student was still waiting in the hall. Lux decided he’d introduce himself to the big guy. He looked like a football player he was so big.

“Hey. I’m Lux. Have you met Dr. Chen before?” Lux asked and the guy nodded. “What’s he like?”

“He’s okay. His English isn’t that good but he's a good professor. Had him for Fluids. He knows his field well. I’m Tom Barfield. You're already a Junior? He’s got Juniors this year. Transfer?” Tom asked.

“Yep. Guess I look a bit younger than most juniors,” Lux said with a big smile.

Tom laughed. “I see you are the master of understatement. I’m sure there’s a fascinating story behind that but I hear the telltale signs of ‘get out and let more of these pathetic humans in’. I’m housing in the Mark apartments. Where’d they stick you?”

“Hayes House,” Lux said.

“Hayes House is good. I’ll look you up.” Tom got up as a tall female that looked like a blond model came out of the office.  Lux saw Tom hesitate a moment and then walk in. The girl looked down at Lux sitting against the wall, backpack beside him, smiled and walked down the hall.

Fifteen minutes later, Tom came out. “Nice meeting you, Lux. Tom Barfield, The Mark. You’re in Hayes House.” Lux nodded and scrambled to the door.

Lux stood in the door. “Lux Blakely, Professor Chen.”

Professor Chen gave out the weirdest laughs like someone had taught him how they laughed in the South. “Mister Blakely. I don’t know all of my advisees, but I do know about you. Professor Helmann said you’d be my advisee for a few years.” The professor looked uncomfortable for a few moments and then said, ‘Come in. Come in. Sit down. Let me pull up your registration and see what classes you’ve picked.” He pulled up Lux’s screen:

AE 2010 Thermodynamics and Fluid Dynamics          4 Hrs

AE 2220 Dynamics                                                                        3

MSE 2001 Engineering Materials                                          3

AE 2610 Intro Experimental Methods in Aerospace  1

AE 2611 Technical Communications for Aerospace                         Engineers                                                                                             1

ECE 3710 Circuits and Electronics                                        3

AE 4361 Space Flight Operations                                           3

“Eighteen hours is a lot of hours,” Professor Chen said. “Paulus Blakely is your father?”

“Yes sir,” Lux said wondering how Professor Chen knew of him.

“I used his research in my dissertation,” Chen cleared that question up. “I look forward to working with you, young man. Do you really think you can handle eighteen hours?”

“We’ll see. Does my schedule look doable?” Lux asked.

“Doable? You mean feasible? Yes. No eight o’clock classes and no Friday classes. These are grouped together too. None on the other end of campus. Have you figured out the Passio Go app for the Stinger buses? Got your books?”

“Yes sir. I downloaded all my textbooks today. The bus system seems well designed,” Lux replied.

Professor Chen leaned forward. “Make sure you give yourself extra time getting to class. The bus system estimates can sometimes mislead you. Anything else? Set up an appointment with me if you need to drop a class or something. See you in class Wednesday. I teach thermo.”

“Great. Tom Barfield said you were a good instructor.” Lux said and gathered up his slate and stuffed it in his backpack. He headed for the clubs and student organization displays which would end his day. There were lots of martial arts groups on campus. The Brazilian Capoeira was based on a martial art that slaves practiced disguised as dancing because fighting practice was outlawed. He wasn’t built for it. Hapkido was okay but it varied by instructor and he was underwhelmed. Tai Chi and Wushu were ruled out. He was torn between Muay Thai Kickboxing and Krav Maga. He asked both if they had sparring and the Muay Thai instructor laughed at him. Krav Maga seemed a better bet.

The Krav Maga instructor was an ancient big guy, almost 50. He reminded Lux of Tai Bo guy, Billy Blanks. He ran a session on Tuesdays in the Campus Recreation Center.

“What are you looking to get out of this?” Troy asked.

“I need to stay in shape as I get bigger. I’ve practiced with knives and single sticks. I need to spar and work on feints and blocking. I need people to work with so I’m not just hitting bags and manikins,” Lux said.

“Everybody in my classes is bigger. I don’t have a kids’ class,” Troy said.

Lux snorted in amusement. He looked around. “Everyone I’d have to fight is going to be bigger than me. I’m not worried about anyone near my size. That’s not a problem.”

“Come by class,” Troy looked at him and admired his spunk. “We’ll see how you do.”

Lux didn’t tell him he was always armed with at least a rattan single stick and one knife.

Lux was exhausted by the late afternoon. The tension and unfamiliar surrounding were tiring. He went to the Brittain Dining Hall and had a filling meal. His Buzz card worked. He had no incidents and went back to his dorm. He didn’t have his first class until Wednesday so he decided he’d ride over to his lab off campus and see if Anna had transferred herself to a functional form.

◆◆◆

563 Spring Street NW – Lux’s Lab

It only took five minutes by bike from his dorm to his lab. He went in the back door and walked into the lab. It seemed pretty dark and desolate. He took a deep breath to see if the computers would boot up properly. He hoped the data transfer of Anna worked. It seemed like an inordinate amount of time before the monitor flickered on. The screen was blank and then a stick figure with an arrow pointing to it labeled ‘Anna’ walked onto the screen. Lux was crushed. “Anna. Are you there?”

The screen flickered again and Anna’s avatar walked out wearing an old-timey nightgown and sleeping cap. She was stretching and yawning. “Why’d you have to wake me up?”

Suddenly there was a ‘poof’ and Anna was there in a cheerleading outfit with hands on hips. “OH. Come on. Can’t a girl have a little fun,” she said. “I was just yanking your chain a bit. I’m fine. This computer has more processors than your dad’s old one. I can actually do a little more. I have good bandwidth access – better than home in Huntsville even.”

Lux let out a big sigh. “I was worried that you would…” Lux said but Anna interrupted and she’d never done that before.

“That’s sweet. I’m fine. Are we going to make more Lummi videos?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know. Have you explored what you can do now? I need you to find a way to help my dad with his hypersonic issues. He needs some way to form a non-physical barrier when flying in atmosphere. I was thinking some type of plasma or magnetic shield,” Lux said.

Anna put on a pouting face. “I want to do more Lummi videos.”

Lux laughed. “I like doing them too but we have problems with people not remembering her in the different places she’s been seen.”

Anna’s avatar looked thoughtful as she stood there stroking her chin. “What if I could hack all the cell phones in the venue? A weekend show night somewhere where Lummi sings?  We could record video for all of the people from their phone position in the club. I could even video the other people. I’d have to have someone videoing inside the club first so I’d have to scan for new uploads.”

Lux wanted to do more videos but this seemed a bit ambitious. “So, you’d scan for someone posting videos from inside clubs, then monitor them when they were doing it in real time, capture the addresses and locations of all their phones within the place, then craft movies from each position. “

“Yep,” the avatar said. "Plus I could capture some of their side talk."

“I need help on a way to create a plasma layer on my dad’s rockets so they could go further and without the heat buildup punching through dense atmosphere. It might get rid of the sonic boom too. It’s the adiabatic pressure like in a diesel engine – the fast compression causes the heat. Maybe you could study how the Russian data on the high-speed torpedoes go so fast under water with supercavitation,” Lux stated.

Anna grimaced. “Stealing the show would be more fun.”

“Think adiabatic pressure non-physical force fields instead,” Lux demanded.

Anna’s avatar stood there with a big frown. “You’re no fun. Okay. I’m on it.” Anna’s avatar started walking away, then stopped and turned around. “Classes start the day after tomorrow. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“I’ve got my first Krav Maga class tomorrow night in Studio C but I’ll come over tomorrow morning after my workout. I need to set up a place to practice my knife throwing and knife forms. I don’t think they’d let me practice with real knives in the Campus Recreation Center.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow,” Anna said.

Lux checked the security system – walked through the lab and headed back to Hayes House.

◆◆◆

Lux found some sparring manikins and heavy bags to punch and kick until his arms and legs couldn’t do anymore in the student recreation center. He then went through a couple of his single stick forms too. He ran 12 laps on the suspended running track and then showered. He biked back to his Spring Street lab.

Anna’s avatar seemed to have made some progress since she didn’t need to eat or sleep.

“What have you discovered?” Lux queried.

“I think it’s possible to make a thin layer of plasma that would extend back over the outside of the shell of a vehicle but that would cut off your communications completely with the outside. It would also effectively make you blind unless you could somehow use your magnetic camera. I will still keep looking at other alternatives. There are many companies and nations working on plasma shielding. I think your idea like supercavitation is good though. I will let you know.”

“Thank you, Anna. I think I’ll practice my knife throwing but I want to print a new kind of shock knife. I’ve seen one this guy in Canada designed, but it’s pretty lame, and WAY overpriced. It’s a simple high voltage shock circuit with two wires around the edge that arc when you push a button. I designed one last night that switches on by body capacitance. I’m going to print out two right now. It’ll take a couple of hours but the circuits boards and knife body won’t take long.”

Lux started the 3D printers going to make two copies of the polymer knife body and the two controlling circuit boards. He took the knife targets he had brought from Huntsville and moved them so he wasn’t at straight on. He strapped on his leg and back scabbards and made sure the mats were laid out on the floor. He turned on the interior cameras to record and practiced his draw and throw, time after time from the same distance until he hit exactly where he wanted. He would then move to a different distance and angle. The purpose was to draw and throw with no discernable telegraphing moves. It had to be smooth and flawless, like Iaido with a katana sword.

He was working up a sweat again so he decided to bike back after lunch at another uninspiring off campus restaurants. He went back to his room when Tom Barfield approached him.

“Thought I’d come over and see how you were doing. What’d you do in your last day of freedom?” he said with a big grin.

“Worked out. Went to my lab. Printed a few things. Ate supper at an uninspiring off campus eatery. Going to take it easy tonight. Saw some stuff at the CRC (Student Rec Center) that I’ll go see tonight. You?” Lux asked.

“Going to read up on upcoming classes. Lots of professors assign stuff before the first day. See you later,” Tom said and bounded up the stairs.

Lux went up to his room and took out his old white gi and a white belt he had a few years back. He thought he’d put it on so people would think he was a total newbie.

◆◆◆

Krav Maga for Beginners – Studio C – Student Recreation Center Georgia Tech

Lux got there thirty minutes early. Ner had told him ‘on time’ means ‘fifteen minutes early’.   Lux had found an online liability waiver for those under 18 and had Anna sign his father’s name and date it. He wore his groin protector, loose pants, athletic shoes, workout top. He had his striking gloves, forearm/shin protectors, and good headgear in his backpack. He came into the room, stepped out of the doorway to the side and scanned the room. He turned to the instructors and nodded. His set his backpack off to the side and started his standard stretching warmup.

The instructor came up to him and said, “You’ll have to just watch the first class because you need a liability waiver and receipt for the class fee.”

Lux turned to his backpack and brought out two sheets of paper – the waiver and a receipt for the class payment. He handed them to the instructor with two hands and head lowered.

The instructor looked at them – coughed a couple of times and then said, “Welcome to Krav Maga,” the instructor said.

“I’d like to speak with you a few minutes after class if that’s all right?” Lux stated and the instructor nodded. He clapped hands to start the class.

The instructor had them line up by height and began his spiel. He talked about how he practiced many different styles of martial arts and how he had put them together. He explained how he was Gold certified in Krav Maga and had blackbelts in everything but plumbing. Lux took it with a grain of salt. Ner said to ask if he’d be willing to give private lessons and spar – if he would say ‘yes’ and was decent – ask for those private lessons and pay what was necessary. If he said ‘no’ – thank him and never grace his door again. Find someone else.

The class started on where to hit – the vulnerable areas of the body and then how to aggressively strike with the hands, elbows and knees. They then practiced getting away from a rear grab. The techniques they showed wouldn’t work for him but Lux thought he could get to his leg sheath and stab the subject in the thigh to release. They then shoved each other against the wall in a straight arm choke. They were taught to throw an arm straight up, turn in 90 degrees and drop their elbow. They were then to use the same elbow to strike the face and then repeated knee strikes to the assailant’s groin. It wouldn’t work as taught if the attacker had bent elbows but it was good practice for Lux in any event.

They learned to kick from the ground and get up away from their assailants. They were taught to yell – “CALL THE POLICE! and GET AWAY FROM ME! All and all, it wasn’t a waste. When the class broke up – Lux went to the instructor and asked, “Sir. Do you give private lessons?”

The instructor, Troy, leaned back and looked down at Lux. “What do you want to learn specifically?”

“I need several different people, so I can practice knife fighting. I can’t legally carry a firearm for about a decade. I have a new practice knife I’ll be patenting soon; I think. Do you or any of your students want to see it? I have it with me and I have some training.”

“Let’s see this new knife,” the instructor said with incredulity.

Lux went and pulled out two knives and two sets of protective goggles. He handed the knife to the instructor.

The instructor looked it over and felt the blunt end and jabbed his palm and ribs. “It looks fine but I doubt you can patent this as it’s not very different from other ones on the market.”

Lux grinned a bit evilly. “Turn it on then but watch out about the tip and sides. Think of it a knife so sharp it will slice your finger off if you test the blade. The power goes up the harder you grip it.”

“I flipped the switch. It’s not arcing or anything like the Shock Knife I’ve seen,” the instructor said. He touched the edge of the knife to his pants and then pushed a little. “Muther!!!” he yelled and jerked the knife and leg away from each other. “It felt like it cut me through my pants.”

“It works through most fabrics unless you’re wearing a wetsuit. If a sharp knife stab or slash would cut through the fabric, the electrical current will seem to be projected through the clothing. Gripping tighter raises the power on this model.”

“Mother of…,” this is outstanding. “I’d like a license to sell this for you,” the instructor said. “The other product is mainly hype and people don’t react as with a real knife after the first couple of times using that other one. How much does this cost to produce? Who made these?”

“I made them today. Material cost is about $15 dollars. Uses common polymers and circuits. Machinery to make them is very costly but that could be outsourced. The other product sells the hype safety features. That’s why they charge almost a thousand dollars for their product. There would be liability issues,” Lux thought a moment. “I have a way to find dealers. I have some training. Spar with me. I want private lessons if you can beat me or I yield. I will grant you a license if you beat me. I will pay a reasonable fee to you and others to teach me if you beat me or I yield.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” the instructor said. “What happens if you somehow beat me?”

“No license as you aren’t more skilled than I am. I wouldn’t need private lessons then. It would be a good way for you to decide who should sell the knives. Don’t let people sell them that aren’t better than you or as good. You’d get a portion of their license too,” Lux said. “Shall we?” Lux asked giving the second set of goggles to the instructor and putting his on.

Troy took a deep breath and blew it out fast. He took a deep breath, held it and let it out slow. He nodded and put on the goggles.

Lux tried to remain calm and remember what Ner had taught him. Ner had said there are many people that claim to be good at knife fighting but have never done any. Troy dropped into a position that looked like he was not one who just ‘claimed’.

Lux had his left arm up loosely to block and strike but his arms were about a foot shorter than Troy’s. Troy didn’t act like he took Lux for granted. Lux saw a slight weight shift that Ner had shown him people do before they feint a knife strike and then do a thrust kick.

Troy struck out with a kick to Lux’s gut but Lux had anticipated it and sidestepped and slashed at the leg. Troy grunted and landed off balance. Lux slashed at the inside of Troy’s upper arm but Troy slapped his arm away. Troy back-slashed toward the right side of Lux’s neck but Lux slap blocked his slash. Lux stumbled back. He had to block a stabbing attack and blocked another slash before Lux got a lucky hit on one of Troy’s fingers in his blocking hand.

“Muther,” Troy said shaking out the fingers of the near miss. He refocused and then did something and Lux grunted as he was touched across his bicep (that stung), under his armpit (that darn near paralyzed him) and yelled “YIELD” with Troy’s knife tip right at his throat.

“I guess you’re getting a license as soon as the patent goes through,” Lux said. “How much do you charge by the hour?”

“How friggin’ old are you?” the instructor asked.

“Ten,” Lux said.

“Damn,” the instructor said.

Chapter 2

Lux got up early and worked out at the CRC. He got his 12 laps in and showered and had breakfast. His first class was with Professor Chen for Thermodynamics and Fluids. He was accustomed to having Anna there to help him but he had read the assignment last night. It didn’t seem very hard. He made his way to the Guggenheim Aerospace Building. He got there early still and plopped down in a seat.

The first thing the Professor did caused him to be a little uncomfortable. Dr. Chen started in the back and worked toward the front. He had everyone give their name, year/major, and what languages they used where they were fluent: computer, spoken, and what 3D modeling apps they used. This finally progressed to the front, and Lux was the last. The room got quiet.

“I’m Lux. Junior aerospace engineering. Fluent spoken – I guess: English, Mandarin, and Spanish. Hindi, French and Portuguese are close. Computer languages: Java, JavaScript, Python, CSS, and C++, oh, and Rust. 3D modelling apps: AutoCAD, Solidworks and CREO.”

The class was silent. Professor Chen nodded and smiled nervously. After a brief pause, he said,
“Let’s get into Thermo. This class is the core of half the designs you will see in mechanical engineering and aerospace.” He went on to finish the 1.5-hour session and gave them all assignments to read with homework.

A guy in the back walked up to Lux as he was putting on his backpack. “I hate little braggarts, you little twerp,” he said and walked away.

A girl looked at the retreating student and introduced herself. “I’m Shirley,” she said. “Forget Kenny. He just has a hard time getting this stuff,” she said. “What class do you have next?”

“Hi Shirley. Space Flight Operations. Yep. Just up a floor,” Lux said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she said. The girl had no accent but looked oriental, possibly Korean.

He went to the next class and it was nearly the same, but it would be really useful to Lux when he ever put other packages into orbit.

The Space Flight Operations was really exciting and useful. It covered mission operations, satellite ground tracking problems, and even interplanetary mission operations – the gamut. He thought it’d be adding a lot that would be hard information to gather otherwise.

He grabbed a lunch and then went to his third Wednesday class. It was handy that these classes were 90 minutes twice a week. Engineering Materials was in another building, close to where he would eat lunch on class days Mondays and Wednesdays.

He had supper after class and rode his bike over to his Spring Street lab. He locked up after entering and saw Anna was active.

“Hi Anna. Would you package up Slazh™ – the electric knife I designed? Register that trademark too. List the existing Shok® Knife as ‘prior art’. My design is an order of magnitude more effective for training because the shock penetrates thin clothing and you don’t have to push a button to activate it. I’ll be letting my Krav Maga instructor, Troy, purchase a license too. He should be able to recommend other licensees. Troy would have a reasonable profit margin – you negotiate a contract for that. Set up production after we get our patent and suggest different distribution models and modules to expand productivity. Give Ner the same licensing deal but without needing to buy it if that’s possible. My patent lawyer, Lucas, will be able to help.”

“I’ll be practicing my knife draws and throws. Did you get anywhere on the plasma layering?” Lux asked Anna.

“Go ahead and do that first. While you train, I will research more. I have a few leads.”

Lux worked on his ‘draws and throws’ and started on his ‘throw and rolls’. The judo or Parkour type rolling techniques kept him from being injured on the thin floor mats. He stopped before he got too sweaty and went and clunked down in his desk chair. He leaned back, closed his eyes and refocused on ways he considered to create a plasma coating on a vehicle in atmosphere. “Anna. What have you come up with?”

“What is your ultimate goal here? I don’t want to neglect ideas that might be useful.”

“Anna. I want a vehicle to be able to move in dense atmosphere, like the Russian, upgraded Khishchnik torpedo works, going hundreds of kilometers an hour under water using supercavitation,” Lux explained.

“That torpedo ejects a powerful froth of cavitation bubbles in the nose that cover the outside of the torpedo being pushed through the froth using rocket propulsion. You want a vehicle going through the air – atmosphere being just a less dense liquid than air - to have the equivalent of a non-material covering protecting the skin from the temperature. You want to reduce drag to make it easier to fly through air. Did I summarize what you desire?” Anna asked.

“Yep.”

“Here are several possibilities. Create a concentrated plasma field in the nose, high voltage plasma using a high frequency surface effect on the outer skin, or magnetic fields along the skin. NASA is currently looking at superconductors to form magnetic shields around deep space craft to protect passengers from radiation,” Anna said.

“Hmm. Not exactly what I’m looking for but I’ll sleep on it. Gotta’ go.”

He had Thursday classes coming up. AE  2220 Dynamics which was just a next step up from statics. It was just the study of dynamics of third-order iterative methods of quadratic polynomials. Crip stuff – just math. It was a good refresher and easier than studying by himself – so – no sweat.

Then he had his first lab. AE 2610 Introduction to Experimental Methods in Aerospace, which was fun practice. It was followed by tedious writeups after doing simple experiments. Fun and good practice.

After that, he had another one semester hour course: AE 2611 Technical Communications for Aerospace Engineers. This was another basic course in how to use graphics and plots, technical writing, effective proposals, and giving technical presentations. Nothing earth-shattering in the course, but it was a way to buff up skills to be more professional, and the tips were worth the time.

Last (but not least) class for the day was ECE 3710 was Circuits and Electronics. He’d hoped it would be more advanced than it was but Ohm’s Law and Kirchhoff’s Law were basics in any class on electronics. If he took Psychology courses – he’d have to study Freud, he thought. It looked like the frequency analysis of circuits would be a good refresher for him. He’d ask the instructor if he could test out of the course if it got too tedious.

Lux felt he could tolerate the schedule pretty well. He finished his weekly homework Thursday evening and Friday was a going to be free day. He worked out Friday morning. He used some weights because at ten he needed to be concerned with more strength and endurance than worrying about getting ripped. He figured he’d build muscles later in puberty. Prissy texted him and he invited her to bike over to his lab for lunch Friday. He told her he’d meet her over at her dorm.

◆◆◆

Towers Dorm – Georgia Tech Campus

Lux rode his bike over to Towers and Prissy was waiting just outside with her bike.  Some of her friends outside started kidding her about Lux being her boyfriend and they both sprouted a little color in their ears from the taunting. Prissy gave a little strained smile and Lux just kept his face neutral. The half mile to his lab on Spring Street only took five minutes.

“Wow!” Prissy exclaimed. “This is yours?” she said as she looked around the building inside. “I see where you practice with your knives. Have you gotten Anna transferred?”

He grinned at her and motioned her inside his inner sanctum.

Anna’s avatar was on the screen as Prissy walked in. “Hello, Ms. Hunnicutt. How are you finding college?”

Prissy dimpled with the prettiest smile and did a little curtsey toward Anna’s camera, “I’m really enjoying it. The girls in the dorm are treating me really well – much better than high school. I suppose I’m not a threat to them though they freak a bit when I tell them I’m already considered a sophomore.”

“Sophomore? I thought you had enough hours to be considered a junior. Why’s that?” Lux asked.

“Some ‘foofaraw’ about missing some minor prep course. They were adamant about me being a sophomore instead of a junior but I could still graduate in two years if I get all the courses completed,” she answered.

“How do the guys treat you?” Anna’s avatar asked with a sly grin.

“Pretty well until they find out I’m 14. They get standoffish then. I heard one of them say ‘fourteen will get you twenty’ but I don’t know what that means,” she said.

Anna’s avatar looked at Lux. “I’m not the one to tell her.”

Lux stammered a bit, “It… it means if they have sex with you, they would get 20 years in prison,” he answered with his whole head turning red.

“Oh,” Prissy said. “Hmm,” she said, taking it pretty much in stride. “Anna. How is Lummi doing?”

“She has accumulated over 2.8 billion views. That isn’t even counting the CNN interview. They have been trying to reach us daily since the interview aired,” Anna replied.

“What are we going to do now?” Prissy asked.

Lux laughed. “I thought you were scared off of doing more? Lead-in show in an Atlanta bar?”

Prissy looked surprised. “How could we pull that off?”

“Anna has some new capabilities it seems she can hijack news local broadcasts of a few of the local television stations that have poor cybersecurity standards. She can take the first shots of the reporter and then duplicate that reporter from previous broadcasts. She can take the first shots and add to their recording in the remote pickup truck. It wouldn’t be on the camera memory,” Lux explained.

“That’s freaky. What about all the people in the bar? They wouldn’t see her or remember her because Lummi was never really there. What about them or getting someone to introduce Lummi? We couldn’t do it?” Prissy thought it was getting pretty complicated.

“Anna? You think you could pull this off?” Prissy inquired.

“I’ve been researching it. I’ve found the club near campus and the group that is playing there Saturday night. It’s the highest rated local bar near campus. I figured how to tap into the co-located Crown Castle telecom towers nearest the nightclub and get all the individual phone locations. I can add videos to all those phones. I can even add friends to their videos so they can have video of each other recorded on their phones. It’s only 4 kilometers from here,” Anna informed.

“What TV station would we use and how would we do it?” Prissy asked.

“How about we have Lummi call Carol Matthews at CNN? Anna. You up for that?”

◆◆◆

Office Carol Matthews – CNN Atlanta

“Carol! I’ve got Lummi on the phone,” Jennifer said excitedly as she rushed into Carol’s office. “She needs us to do her a favor!” Jennifer was practically bouncing with excitement.

Carol motioned to give her the phone. “Hi Lummi. Where are you? What can we do for you?”

“Need you to see if you can help a friend of mine at WSB-TV…never mind who. I’m planning to do a local singing event - 8pm sharp at the Terminal West in Atlanta this Saturday. I promised him an exclusive. He’s a low man on the totem pole over there and they won’t believe him. Would you call over there and see if they would send a remote crew over there tomorrow night…I’d owe you one if you could do that for me?” Lummi said.

Carol looked at Jennifer and covered up the phone. Jennifer was nodding up and down. “Sure. Happy to do that for you. Our ratings bumped up a bit with your interview. I feel we owe you. Can we do more with you in the future?” Carol asked hopefully.

“Always. You’re the best. Thank you,” Lummi said and disconnected.

◆◆◆

563 Spring Street NW – Lux’s Lab

Prissy and Lux grimaced. “Think we can pull this off?” Lux asked.

Prissy shook her head. “We’re gonna’ be charged with everything but electricity when they find out.”

“I’m just thankful we’re still juveniles, and hope the minimum-security facility they put us in has internet access.” Lux grinned and they both giggled. Lux had sandwiches delivered to the back as they continued planning.

◆◆◆

WSB- TV News Desk – 1601 Peachtree St. NE - Atlanta

“Justin here. What have you got for us? Who are you?”

“Hi Justin. This is Carol Matthews at CNN Atlanta. We just had a call from Lummi and she said she was going to be in town tomorrow and wanted to help out a friend at WSB. She didn’t say who but promised him an exclusive.”

“How do I know you are who you say you are?” Justin asked.

“I called you from our office network phone. Who did it say was calling?”

Justin was floored. “CNN. No shi… sorry. Why would she want us to do anything? I know who she is. My daughter is a huge fan. I’ll let you talk. Go ahead,”

“Lummi said she’d be singing a set of songs at the Terminal West at 8 pm tomorrow night and wanted you to send a remote truck. She helped our ratings a lot and she said her friend was too low on the hierarchy to get a truck sent.”

“That’s a lot of us here. We’ve been taking a lot of heat because of inaccurate reporting so she’s probably right on point. I’ll do it. Thanks Carol.”

“Don’t mention it, Justin. We will, of course, want secondary rights if it’s a good story – okay?”

“I’m sure we can work that out,” Justin said. “Thanks again.”

◆◆◆

563 Spring Street NW – Lux’s Lab

Anna waved her arms to get Lux’s attention.

“Yes Anna. What is it?” Lux asked.

“Seems Carol called WBS already,” Anna explained.

“How do you know?” Prissy asked.

“They just added a remote investigative news crew to the schedule for Saturday night,” Anna explained. “I’m examining the remote frequencies they use and I’ve acquired all their passwords. I am going to use a Stingray, tower spoofer. Phones all constantly search for the strongest signal wherever they are. This device gives a stronger signal than the tower itself, catches their signals, and then passes signals to the tower. One of your large conventional drones carries one of the newer cell-tower spoofers. The tower we will spoof is pretty far away from the club. They’ll get better access through our device than they would from the tower itself. Any media traffic through that tower will go through us and we can add to it.”

Lux noticed the time had slipped away and they had planned the whole afternoon away.

“How about coming to Hayes House with me and have pizza? They have pizza every Friday there. I’ll make sure we have enough.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” Lux said.

◆◆◆

Hayes House – Georgia Tech

Prissy looked around the building. “This isn’t as modern as my building.”

Lux laughed. “How many roommates do you have?”

“Three,” Prissy said. “You have two?”

“Just me. I do share a bathroom with another guy but that’s it. We can even leave the toilet seat up.”

Prissy laughed. “Having a single room sounds wonderful – except the toilet seat  bit,” she smirked.

“Where’s this pizza you promised? Did you lure me here with false pretenses?” Prissy said with a grin over her shoulder as she walked around the lobby.

“Got you there, Lux,” a deep voice said.

“Jeff,” fist bumped his friend. “This is Prissy. Let me introduce you to Jeff – Industrial Engineering.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said.

“How do you know this rogue?” Jeff said. “I was his tour guide for transfer FASET.”

“Ah,” Prissy said and laughed at Lux being called a rogue. “We were in school together in Huntsville.”

“What’s your major?” Jeff asked.

“Computer engineering,” she said. “Is that our pizzas?” she said indicating the delivery guy with a stack of six boxes.

“Rob. Welcome back,” Lux said snagging the boxes and sliding Rob a $20.

“Thanks Lux,” Rob said with a huge smile as he headed back out.

“Already on a first name with the delivery people?” Prissy said, impressed.

“Securing food and shelter are very high on my priority list?” Lux said with a grin holding his hand out at shoulder level to show importance.

“Where am I on that list?” Prissy said on the spur of the moment.

Lux held his hand over his head and then blushed.

There was a rush as the other Hayes House residents swarmed in on the pizza feeding frenzy.

“Better grab what you want now,” Jeff said. “It disappears very fast.”

One guy at the pizza boxes was scooping them all out. Lux pointed him out to Prissy. “This is Bruce, the RA for here.” Lux said and used his distraction to let Prissy snag a couple of pieces.

The feeding frenzy and introductions digressed to rambunctious discussions. It was a lot of fun. Lux escorted Prissy back to Towers Hall. He told her he’d come by at four pm on Saturday.

◆◆◆

563 Spring Street NW – Lux’s Lab

Lux and Prissy arrived at the lab about 4:30 Saturday. The band had accepted the $10,000 for a 20- minute lead-in local singer whether she showed or not. They were really suspicious until they saw $10K pop up in their account. Anna had arranged that little intervention and it took a while to complete. The band said they would announce ‘a local singer that may or may not perform’. Anna was primed she said but Anna wanted to know which songs they wanted Lummi to sing. They finally decided on four songs that could showcase Lummi’s talent and had the dry runs that afternoon. Prissy and Lux had'Lummi' practice with a music synthesizer keyboard that the performing band would use. They had paid a band setup crew $2,000 to make sure the keyboard and wireless microphones were setup and ready.

They ate a delivered meal from Twisted Kitchen – Midtown. They had a couple of Italian Wraps that were pretty good and they devoured them even though they were so nervous. Lux had locations of all the phones at the venue and Anna had mapped them out to the stage. Anna had control of the lighting controls, the Yamaha Flagship Synthesizer, the microphones on stage. All the phones were going through their Stingray tower spoofer.

WSB-TV showed up at 7:50 pm and their crew was running down the brick lined halls and all the old gears on the walls until they made it to the studio. They had been ordered not to use any lights so that saved lugging the extra battery packs. There were about 450 people inside and there was a susurrus of conversations going on. The crowd was very calm and patient. Performers, they knew, were often late.

The lead singer of the Shadow Mongers strutted out at 7:59 and tapped the microphone. “Everyone. Tonight, we were asked to give 20 minutes to a warmup local singer who, I am told, is talented. We’ll let you judge. My instructions were to ask you to point your phones toward the stage. Now, I’m supposed to ask you to close your eyes for 30 seconds – just thirty seconds. Come on – extra entertainment. The lead singer walked off and as soon he was off the lights went out except for emergency exit signs.

There was a tap – tap on a microphone. Please keep your eyes closed for few more seconds because I’m hoping this will help you remember me. My name is Lummi. There was a swell of excitement in the crowd and you could hear a guitar being played off to stage left. Suddenly this beautiful female voice started singing ‘Bubbly by Colbie Caillat’. The range was so much different from Colbie but the audience sighed when they heard it. The lights stayed out but many still were videoing from side to side for the whole three minutes and twelve seconds of the song. Then music stared coming from stage right as the synthesizer started playing ‘Because of You by Kelly Clarkson’.

The lights came on as the synthesizer kept playing and the singer never stopped until three minutes and forty-two seconds. The synthesizer made some adjustment noises and everyone heard a chair scooting up. “Hope you’re enjoying my singing,” Lummi said but no one saw her. “How about an Adele song? I like to use songs from the best.” The synthesizer starting playing and Adele’s song, ‘Someone Like You’, had so much emotion in it some of the people in the audience were teary eyed.

The song ended and Lummi’s voice came back on. “That song is so sad. I need a strong song. How about ‘Who Knew by Pink.’ There were cheers from the crowd. A guitar started playing with and some percussion came from the synthesizer.

“This song is poignant for me. Try to remember me. She started singing and her voice filled the hall. The synthesizer played along with the guitar from the other side of the stage.

Her voice broke a little at some of the lyrics. The one’s that pierced the audience’s soul were and there was more emotion in every line she sung. Her voice sounded practically crying in some verses.

I wish I could touch you again

I wish I could still call you friend

I’d give anything…

Still, you said forever

I’d keep you locked in my head until we meet again…

I won’t forget you, my friend.

That last kiss - I’ll cherish

Until we meet again.

And time makes it harder

I wish I could remember

But I keep YOUR memory

You visit me in my sleep

My darling

Who Knew?

My darling

My darling

Who knew?

My darling

I miss you

Who knew?

WHO KNEW?

Lummi’s voice came back on, “I’m Lummi. Remember Me.”

People in the audience started clapping and some just looked around bewildered. The Shadow Mongers lead singer came back on and said. “Now that was something wasn’t it. That girl can really sing. Our regular show will start in 30 minutes giving you time to have a couple of drinks before we come on.”

People started looking at their phones and realized they had recorded quite a bit of Lummi’s concert. They startled at the high-fidelity video they had taken of the beautiful girl. It was all from their perspective in the studio. It even showed the heads of the people in front of them in most cases. People in the back went up to ones in front of them and said they had seen them videoing. Did they get good shots and they had video too? Soon everyone was checking their phones and many had video that followed Lummi around the stage as she played guitar.

The WBS-TV reporting crew was angry. What was this? They realized they got zilch. The main reporter stood outside their remote truck and said, “Lummi is a no show at the Terminal West here in Atlanta. This is Jason Brown, reporting for WBS-TV. As they climbed in the truck – their remote guy, Simon, said. “That was a weird ending you just did. That was some great video you got there. I’ll bet they put you in for an ASC award for this one.”

“Quit jerking me around,” Jason said. “Frank and I are tired. Did you get 30 seconds worth of stuff from the inside we can show while we’re talking about the disappointment of the crowd or something?”

“You’re weird. Here’s your feed,” he said and started playing the concert. Lummi walked out and started talking and playing the guitar. “That didn’t happen,” Jason said.

“What are you talking about? I got the whole concert with people videoing some of it too.” Simon said. “Damn,” Jason said as he and Stew, the videographer, watched the recorded concert. Fifteen minutes later they wiped the sweat off their foreheads.

Jason grabbed the videographer. “Let’s see if we can interview anybody coming out.” He nodded and they went over to where several people were hurrying out. “WBS-TV news. Were you just inside watching the show?”

The guy and gal nodded. “Did you see Lummi perform?” he asked.

“They both held up their phones and said, “See,” the guy said and started playing his recorded video of Lummi standing in the center playing and singing. A woman walked across the camera view.

Jason turned to the woman. “Did you get any video?”

“Yes,” she said. “I didn’t get any video while I went to the bathroom but I got good shots after I sat back down.”

“What did you think? Would you come here again?” Jason asked hoping he wasn’t crazy.

“It was great – what a show!”

Jason tried a few more and got similar odd answers. If they had recorded videos they were from their perspective in the club and all showed Lummi singing. They talked to others who videoed snippets and they had someone videoing in front of them. Jason asked if they got videos and was surprised when the people in front of them showed they had videos too.

“Let’s wrap this up and head back to the station. I bet we can get this on 10 pm news if we hurry.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW Atlanta

Lux and Prissy sat waiting to see what WBS-TV came up with and soon saw the story briefed at 10 pm. It featured Lummi in Atlanta at a Local Venue. The story was short and talked about how Lummi opened for a local band to the surprise of a 450-person audience. Then it showed clips from some of her songs. The Bubbly segment was great and showed her range and talent with a guitar.

They high-fived. Lux had retrieved his drone minutes after Lummi’s portion ended.

Lux escorted Prissy to Towers Hall and went to crash back at Hayes House. He was mentally exhausted.

◆◆◆

Carol Matthews office – CNN - Next day

Jennifer came over to Carol’s office. “My god. Did you see that story on WBS-TV last night? It was a jumble but I called them this morning and they said they got all 20 minutes of it. Gods. Just what they got was excellent video. Their guy is going to get some kind of award.”

Carol said, “Do you think we should get rights to sell that? It’s good quality. Should we call Lummi?”

“I don’t know?” Jennifer said shaking her hands back and forth in indecision.

John came in. “You mean WBS-TV got the whole concert piece. I bet it would sell. You ought to call her.”

“Oh my god,” Jennifer said as she looked at her forwarded phone number. “It’s her. It’s Lummi.” Jennifer shoved the phone over to Carol.

“Hi Lummi. This is Carol. Liked what I saw on the news and I couldn’t have done it without you. Are you able to receive revenue outside of CNN? Great. I’ve sent over a signed royalty sharing agreement with you and WBS-TV. You would get 25% of any royalty. There is an account set up for WBS-TV also. They get 25% too. I set up a blind account for me for the rest. IF you’d handle setting that up as I have to travel again. Interview again later? Will this work for you?”

“I don’t know Lummi. Our lawyers usually set this stuff up.”

“It’s okay Carol. I had my lawyer look at it. Check to see if your home address is correct. I’ve already signed it and it specifies you’d get the money for setting up the streaming sales and handling distribution. Jennifer and John could be your employees if you want to form an LLC. I’ve already sent Jason Brown a contract too but he’ll have to do it for the broadcast company since it was during his normal employment duties.”

“Thank you, Lummi.”

◆◆◆

WBS-TV Day after concert – News Desk near Jason Brown

“Hey Jason. You've got a call here. Girl says she ‘Yummy’ or something like that. You want me to take it? She sounds cute.”

Jason scrambled over to the desk phone. “Hi. Jason Brown here. Who is this?”

“Hi Jason. This is Lummi. I just emailed you a royalty sharing agreement where Carol Matthews and WBS-TV will share 25% of the royalties each. I sent you the signed agreement and Carol will set up the distribution and streaming and you don’t have to do anything except your name and Stew’s will be on the credits. Since you were on assignment for WBS at the time, the money will go to the station but you and Stew will be on the credits. I figure you’ll be able to go to any broadcast group after this little bump. Thank you for videoing that for me. Stew may get an award.”

Jason was wracked with guilt and confusion. “I didn’t really see you. Stew doesn’t remember taking any video. I hate to take credit for something I didn’t do.”

“You did it all right but I’ll let you in on a little secret – well, it’s not a little secret. When people come close to me - they forget. It’s some weird effect I have on most people. The cameras remember and I try different things but it’s a close area effect. My parents abandoned me when I was about five because they didn’t know who I was and kept pushing me away - because they didn’t remember me.”

“That’s horrible,” Jason said appalled at the mental imagery of that.

“I’m sort of reconciled to that now.” Pause “Thank you for doing that for me. It makes me feel… alive.”

Jason was stunned. Hell yeah, he was going to claim she was there. This would definitely boost Stew and his career. “Thanks for the opportunity, Lummi. I liked your singing.”

“Thanks Jason.” Pause. “Bye now.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW

Lux had had a good workout. He went to his lab to improve his knife throwing ability. He had gone in to make sure Anna followed through with his instructions. She played back the conversations she had with Carol and Jason. He was amazed at how well she had done.

“Any progress on the plasma shielding?” he asked.

“I haven’t had any significant breakthroughs. I will probably need help from you - organics,” Anna’s avatar smirked.

“Let me know if we have any crisis, will you? Has anybody been able to crack our financial trail yet? I’ve been moving money around between several shell corporations in the US and Panama. It’s not quite as easy since they passed the Corporate Transparency Act in early 2021 but the politicians carved out so many exemptions, we’re able to handle it.”

“How much do we have in liquid assets?” Lux asked.

“Several million easily accessible. Twenty-one million currently. We’re about to be granted the patent on the Slazh™ knife with the new expedited patent process. The extra Halbach thruster arrays were finished and sent to that alternative address. I’ll have them delivered here Monday evening if that’s convenient.”

“Thanks Anna. I’m going back and read up on future assignments. It’s tedious but required.

Chapter 3

Monday started out slow. He was in Campus Recreation Center doing his morning run when a runner came up fast from behind and kicked his foot making him fall, but he rolled, so it didn’t damage him badly though his shin hurt like hell. He didn’t recognize the guy or his friend at all. They looked like some upper classman – maybe Persian descent. He looked around and didn’t see any cameras on the upper track, so he kept running while exaggerating his injury with a bad limp. He looked like he’d barely make it to the exit but the same guy and his friend would be continuing around in a few seconds.

Lux tried to act enfeebled and bent over – never glancing back in the direction of the two runners. When they got close and the one who had kicked his foot before changed direction toward him. Lux jumped up in the air and completed a classic side kick to the guy’s solar plexus. The air whooshed out of him and he started gasping for breath.

Lux stood in a defensive stance with palms out in front of him. “Why did he kick me, last lap?” Lux asked the second guy.

“I didn’t see anything!” the guy spit the statement out like it was a prepared response.

“That answer is not going to hack it. What do you think you should do to get out of this incident without injuries?” Lux asked.

“He said you beat up his friend in the cafeteria the other day. He’s a fraternity brother to Darius,”

The guy said. The guy he kicked was still gasping for breath and holding his chest.

“Did Darius tell you he knocked over my drink and when I went to put up my tray, he grabbed my shoulder and drew back his fist to hit me? Did he mention that?” Lux said focused on both of the two. “What’s this guy’s name?”

“This is Ahmad. We’re ΒΘΠs,” guy two said.

Lux grabbed Ahmad from his side by his windpipe. He leaned in and whispered in Ahmad’s ear. “I don’t start fights but I will finish them. Stay away from me or mine. Do you understand?” he said with a snarl and the man nodded.  “Leave me, alone.” Lux said and jogged off to take a shower in his dorm. He certainly wasn’t going to do it here.

◆◆◆

Monday classes. Monday classes are the same everywhere. They try your soul. Lux enjoyed the classes even though it didn’t stretch him academically. He kept thinking about his father’s problem and the problem with his drone. He had flown it fast enough that adiabatic heating and sonic booms should have become a major problem. The vehicle essentially travels so fast that it compresses the air. His dad needed a way so the atmosphere would slip around his father's vehicle without touching the surface. Why had his drone performed like it had? He was walking out of his last class when Tom Barfield came up to him.

“Ah. Zombie mode I see. Women? Money? Career? That’s what I think about. You?” Tom said.

Lux grinned. “Sorry. Thinking about? None of that stuff. I’m not old enough for most of those problems,” Lux snorted.

“What then?” Tom asked.

“Adiabatic pressure issues in hypersonic flights in atmosphere. You know. Same old stuff.”

Tom laughed and his deep happy laugh cheered up Lux. “No money problems? Wealthy parents?”

Lux took his banter in stride. “Nope. I get a bunch of royalties from my patents. Girls. I figure I’ll need to get a little further into puberty before I go wild – getting there I guess – not there yet.”

Tom said, “What’s on your agenda tonight?”

“Homework and working on that hypersonic problem,” he said.

Tom rolled his eyes. “You ought to get out more too. Hear that Lummi was at Terminal West this last weekend. Do something like that.”

“I’ll do that stuff when I’m 18. Remember that’s still in my far future,” Lux snorted.

“Oh yeah. Well. Do something,” Tom said. “See you later.”

“K,” Lux said. “Bye.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW

He practiced his thrown knife accuracy. He was getting a lot more penetration along with being able to hit the bullseye. He also practiced his kali knife forms, but didn’t like carrying his three-knife scabbard on campus. He took off the heavy scabbard, so he only wore his one small knife, and his electric prototype Slazh knife. He wanted to have it for Krav Maga tomorrow night.

Lux looked at Anna‘s avatar in the monitor. She had her hand up like she wanted to ask something. “Okay, Anna. What is it?”

“I can’t really figure a way to create a plasma to protect your drone or vehicle but I have a question for you. When you designed your drone – how did you eliminate the sonic boom?” Anna asked.

“I don’t understand,” Lux said. “I designed it to handle high temperature but I didn’t do anything to quiet a sonic boom. I didn’t think of it.”

“You realize that your drone didn’t make 100 sonic booms when it was flying back and forth near your house," Anna said."It was mapping the magnetic fields from treetops to 15 kilometers altitude. No sonic booms reported. You would have heard them. What effect of your design caused that?  You also flew it supersonic, at up to 8 km/s (almost 18,000 miles/hour). Mach 23 in atmosphere? I think you somehow have solved your problem. Now you need to find out how you did it.”

"It must be a cold discharge plasma or electrostatic effect from the high frequency of the Halbach arrays," Lux said, trying to puzzle out an answer. "Maybe a skin effect when I raised the cycling rate but it wasn’t fast enough for that." Was it the ultracapacitors or the more passive side of the Halbach arrays? he thought. He didn’t know. It could solve all his father’s problems but his father didn’t believe him about the Halbach thrusters. Dad’s never going to believe me. I need to figure this out by himself, he thought stubbornly. Prissy doesn’t know anything about this project. The adults, the school, and the military would yank everything out of my control if he let anyone know. Dang.

He finished his homework, said goodnight to Anna and headed back to Hayes House.

◆◆◆

Enroute to Hayes House

The ΒΘΠ members were outraged some ten-year old had ‘beat up’ two of their members. Never mind the reasons. Beta Theta Pi’s were a strong fraternity on campus. They knew Lux’s route and five were waiting on him.

Darius stood in the bike’s path as Lux rode up. Lux turned the bike sideways and laid it down so they would have to come around the ends of the bike to get to him.

“You little twerp. You tricked me in the cafeteria and again with AHMAD in the CRC – not going to happen here. We’ll teach you to be more respectful if you recover from this beating,” Darius sneered.

Lux pulled the Slazh electric knife from its scabbard. Darius stared at the knife for a second and then started laughing. “It’s not a real knife. Look how dull the edges are… come on brothers,” he said with a bit of disdain.

Lux concentrated on his would-be attackers and gripped the knife as tight as he could to raise the voltage as much as he could. He was going to make them feel it. Obviously, the frat guys were not accustomed to beating people. The two on his right rushed in to grab him. Lux jabbed the first in the crotch and he howled when the pulse of electricity hit him. Attacker two got jabbed under an armpit and hollered before he was poked on his neck a split-second later. He screamed and backed off but not before Lux was grabbed around his neck from behind. He pointed his shocking knife back and jabbed that guy’s inside thigh and then slashed the arm around his neck. That guy let go.

Lux thought he was doing okay until he was smashed across the top of his head with some little bat. That strike had only glanced off the top of his head. He pulled his real knife from his leg scabbard. He rushed toward the guy with the bat who backpedaled – surprised his victim would come at him. Lux slashed bat guy’s forehead with his real knife. The guy put his hand up to his forehead and felt the blood.

“Drop the bat or I’ll kill you,” Lux snarled. The blood was running down into his eyes, so he dropped the bat and backed up.

Darius appeared with a handgun pointed at Lux’s head. “Drop the knife you little shit! We’re gonna’ mess you up.”

Lux dropped the knife and held both hands in front of him with palms out. Darius motioned Lux to the space between the dorms with the handgun.

“Hey Darius. I didn’t sign up for this. Let’s go, man,” attacker one said. The others were backing away.

“Go ahead if you don’t have the guts for this…” Darius said as he swiveled his head to the others. “You guys…”

Lux used the distraction to strip the gun out of Darius’s hand and a shot fired. Darius and the others all froze. “You guys going to throw away your lives for this dick. Expelled? Felony records?” Lux kept the gun on Darius as he went back and picked up his knives and put them back in his scabbards. “Huh. A Glock 26. They make these 22 kilometers from here in Smyrna, Georgia. Campus police will be here in a few minutes. Which is it?” he asked. “Expelled and prison or kicking this loser out of ΒΘΠ (Beta Theta Pi)?”

The first attacker said, “I wondered about this. Ahmad said Darius tried to punch you in the cafeteria after knocking your drink over at a table. I didn’t believe him.” He turned to Darius. “A friggin’ gun.” He turned to the other frat guys. “Darius is the problem. Not this kid. Can we go?” he asked Lux.

Lux dropped the magazine out of the gun and jacked the chambered round out of the gun. He tilted it toward the streetlight and made sure the chamber was empty. Pulled the trigger and swung his right-hand fingers up and pulled back the slide a smidge. He grasped the slide lock, pulled down and stripped the slide off the top of the receiver. He took out the guide rod and threw it to his side.

He took the barrel and stuck it in his pocket. He threw the slide as far as he could and plastic receiver in the other direction. He made sure the barrel was secure in his pocket.

The frat guys all ran off with Darius trailing behind looking confused. The Georgia Tech Police Department were no slouches and two officers were running in Lux’s direction. He picked up his bike and had his lanyard ID out on his chest. He just waited until they ran up to him. He was sitting up on his bike.

“Hey kid,” the first officer said and looked him up and down considering him as no threat. “Did you hear a gunshot?”

“Yes, Officer. I’m Lux Blakely a junior in Aerospace Engineering.” He held up his ID. “I think the shot came from around the ΒΘΠ house. I just stopped right here on my way back to Hayes House. There were some guys out but I only recognized one guy – I think his name is Darius.”

“Thanks kid. We’ll come talk with you if we need more. Lux Blakely at Hayes House…right.”

“Yes officer. I’ll head there now if you think it’s safe,” Lux said. Lux hadn’t had the most opportune interactions with police back home, so he was a bit leery.

The two officers got on their radios and ran toward the ΒΘΠ house.

◆◆◆

Tuesday classes were interesting. Lux thought it was slightly better than studying on his own because the instructors did share stories that enhanced the lectures. The students here did seem to ask questions about ideas that were unclear but they hadn’t gotten into unknown areas or areas of knowledge that were theoretical. He finished supper at Ferst Place and headed back to Hayes House where a Georgia Tech officer was waiting for him.

“You must be Lux. I’m officer Dowd Hampton. I need to ask you a few questions. Is that all right with you?”

Lux had been told to never talk with the police by his attorney, R.V. but he felt he had no choice here. “What can I do for you officer?”

“Were you out last night about 9:30 pm when you heard a shot?” Officer Hampton asked.

“Yep,” Lux said.

“Do you carry a knife with you?” Hampton asked.

“A gunshot? I heard a gunshot. I spoke to an officer. I explained that I had seen a man, Darius, around the ΒΘΠ house. I explained I lived here – at Hayes House,” Lux explained.

Officer Hampton sat back and waited knowing that silence was a good way to get subjects to start talking, but this kid sat there just staring at him.

Finally, Lux said. “Officer Hampton. I’d be happy to sit and entertain you but I have to go to my Krav Maga class at the Studio C.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Hampton said as Lux got up.

“You didn’t explain why you wanted to know,” Lux said. “I think we’re done.”

“I know you were arrested for a felony assault as a juvenile in Madison County near Huntsville.”

“Did it show that my charges were thrown out and the complainant was charged with multiple felonies after we produced videos of the incident?” Lux asked.

“No,” the officer said almost inaudibly.

“Did you catch the person that fired the shot? Is it safe for me to ride my bike across campus?” Lux asked.

“Students found pieces of the gun; so that gun will not be used again,” Hampton responded.

“I’ve got to go to class,” Lux said and started up to his room.

“You’re not telling me as much as you know,” Officer Hampton said.

“I’m ten. I’m a junior in college. I have a lot of people tell me that,” he said and went up to his room.

◆◆◆

Krav Maga Class – Studio C – Campus Recreation Center

Troy was in rare form tonight. He showed a number of new techniques and some of them could be used by someone Lux’s size. He went up to Troy after class after most of the other students had left. “Two hundred an hour but I don’t want to have to come here because of parking,” Troy said.

“One fifty an hour at my lab. 563 Spring Street NW. Call me when you’re near and you park inside – covered parking,” Lux said.

“One seventy-five an hour at your place. Saturdays. My last offer,” Troy countered.

“Done. Time - whenever is convenient for you,” Lux said, “Thanks. I liked those release moves you showed tonight. I think I can even do that technique.”

“When do you think you’ll get the patent on your knife?” Troy asked.

“My patent lawyer says it’s in the ‘Rocket Docket’ expedited process. We don’t have too many claims so we understand about four months from last week.”

“Great,” Troy said thinking about how much money he’d make.

◆◆◆

Professor Helmann’s Lab - Wednesday afternoon

Professor Helmann was a bit put out that a student, even as promising a student as Lux Blakely, had sent him a non-disclosure to sign – saying he needed the professor’s help with this invention. Lux said he didn’t know where else to turn. Helmann knew the feeling but didn’t like the impropriety of the request. The non-disclosure was pretty draconian too but he knew his father, Paulus, and Paulus was never one to be anything but serious. He had signed it and sent it back since he thought he could break the agreement if need be. It did seem to be professionally worded however. Lux said he’d be here at three and had asked to have the lab cleared.

Here he comes on his bicycle pulling a silly balloon behind him. He sighed hugely. Students were always coming up with ideas that were new to them and they thought they were new to everyone else. He’d see. Lux came in and checked the lab with a little handheld scanner he had from a case on his bike.

“Is that a counter-surveillance scanner?” Helmann asked incredulously.

“Yes professor,” Lux said. “This is a big deal, sir. I’m not going to lose control of this research. I’m ten years old, sir. Sir. What do you think would happen if I invented something that could totally change the ability of humans to move to space at any speed in or above atmosphere?”

“Other than it’s impossible. It would be…it’s impossible so it’s not an issue,” Helmann said.

“Sir. Consider the possibility,” Lux turned and stared at the professor after circumventing the room. “You know anything significant would be ripped from my control in seconds.” Lux put the scanner back in the case.

“I don’t have time for foolishness, no matter how smart your father thinks you are,” Helmann says.

Lux exhaled hugely in disgust. “I’m explaining this the wrong way,” he said and went over to remove the string from his ‘balloon’.

“Hey, don’t let that balloon go up to the ceiling. It’ll be hard to get down or I’ll have to pop it,” Helmann cautioned.

“It’s not a balloon professor. It’s a drone,” Lux said feeling dejected. Lux set the parameters for the drone and it shot from one end of the lab to the other and then returned straight back to the center.

“That’s impossible. How fast can it go?” Helmann asked.

“In atmosphere or in space?” Lux asked.

“Both,” Helmann asked.

“I can tell you how fast I’ve had it go from experience with this one and with another I built.”

“Yes. You got me. I’m paying attention now. Nothing is too fantastic,” Helmann said.

Lux snorted a laugh and said sotto voce, “Don’t bet on that.” He paused. “In atmosphere I’ve had this one fly Mach 23 from treetops to 15,000 meters (50,000 feet) altitude for hours. Out of atmosphere – I had one travel from 250 kilometers (125 miles) orbit to 540 kilometers (335 miles) orbit and then to 35,863 kilometers (22,414 miles) in geostationary orbit. Going from 540 km to geostationary – my vehicle went 23 kilometers a second. Coming back to my home – the vehicle went 30 kilometers per second (67,000 miles/hour) before I cut off thrust and let it burn up on reentry. I never considered why it burned up on reentry before. It must be because I turned off the thrusters.”

“That’s impossible. What does this use for propulsion?”

“It uses an effect I discovered when studying the Earth’s magnetic field and when cycling a Halbach array. I know how the ‘fuel less’ thruster works. That’s not why I wanted to see you. I can’t figure out why it can go so fast in atmosphere with no sonic boom or experiencing adiabatic heating. I think it’s similar to supercavitation but with some type of static or magnetic field.”

Helmann stood there with his mouth hanging open. He closed it with an audible ‘clop’.

“Let me show you my magnetic camera that started all this foofaraw,” Lux explained.

Lux showed Dr. Helmann the magnetic field videos that Lux had stitched together, both the ones out to geosynchronous orbit and the 100-kilometer cube he had mapped near his house.

“What does your father think of all this?” Helmann asked. “No wonder he sent you here.”

“He doesn’t believe me. He just saw the videos and thinks it’s all fake. I didn’t have an assembled drone when I showed him the videos. I can do fake videos but these aren’t,” Lux said blushing a bit in embarrassment. “I haven’t measured the thrust but it is considerably more than I anticipated. The cyclic rate of the Halbach arrays is an important attribute. I need your help storing this safely without us getting killed for the secret and measuring thrust and why in heck’s name – it must have some type of cold plasma effect that protects it in atmosphere.  Not producing sonic booms and Mach 23 in atmosphere are crazy attributes,” Lux said.

Helmann looked at the boy with some concern. “Don’t put anything in email about this and I will contact your father. Wait. Don’t get upset. We’ll get him here. Send him that same non-disclosure you sent me and I’ll call him right now. I have his number.”

“I don’t want him here. He’ll take this project from me. He is having issues with the work he is doing,” Lux said really upset. He didn’t want his dad involved but his dad was the best one to figure this out. “I don’t have a security clearance.”

“It just so happens,” Professor Helmann said proudly. “I can get you an expedited Department of Defense (DoD) clearance since you are my student. Those clearances usually take a year or more. Since you invented this tech – I think I can get it expedited. How are your classes going? Anything challenging?”

“Dr. Chen’s class is the only one that has things I haven’t seen before. Why?” Lux asked suspiciously.

“I want to make provisions for you to test out of your junior and senior classes. Do you think you could do that? How long would it take you studying on your own or with tutors to prep? You’ve seen the undergraduate courses you’d have to take in the Spring and the next two senior semesters after that?”

Lux thought about it. He’d miss out of classes and making friends. He’d be even more a loner but he could do more. “Yes sir. I imagine about a month per semester. Four months at the earliest. I have a lab off campus,” Lux said.

“Did your father fund a lab for you too? That’s surprising,” Helmann said.

“No. I paid for all of this myself. I pay full out-of-state tuition. I have independent funds of my own. I can also purchase any equipment you want without having to go through school bureaucracy. I have a couple hundred square meters of unused floor space for it in my lab.”

“The equipment we need might cost a million dollars or more,” Helmann said looked apprehensive.

“Not a problem professor,” Lux said and Helmann looked shaken.

“Send me another of those non-disclosures and I’ll call your father. We can’t store this device on campus. Too many people use this facility. Do you have security at your lab?” Helmann asked and was incredulous when Lux answered affirmatively. Who was this kid?

“Okay. Let me know what you want to do. I’ll take this back to my lab for now and send you that form so you can forward it to my dad,” Lux said before resetting his drone and towing his ‘balloon’ across campus.

◆◆◆

Blakely House – Huntsville

Paulus was surprised getting a call from Helmann. He was afraid Lux had done something horrible or gotten injured or expelled. He had imagined so many dire things for his young son. “Hi Issac. To what do I owe the honor of this call?”

“I cannot talk about it over the phone but it will mesh with your work. I need you to drop everything and come here for a few months,” Helmann said flatly.

“You know I’m working on some things here. I can’t just up and leave,” Paulus said.

“You work remotely…right? This will… you know what Lux showed you that you thought was fake. It’s real and more than you can imagine. You need me, and your son, to puzzle through some mysteries. You will regret this your entire life if you don’t come. I’ve encouraged your son to test out of the rest of his junior and senior classes. We think we can get through that in four months.”

“He must be taking crip classes if he can do that,” Paulus said.

“Anything but – you don’t know your son very well, do you?” Helmann said. “You’ll be getting a non-disclosure that is separate from the university here. Sign it. Send it back. It will only enhance your clearance. Your recommendation letter helped me get this job years ago – this is the best payback you’ll ever get.”

◆◆◆

FBI Counter Intelligence Section

Collier came to Sarina’s office. “Hey boss. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) just got a request in for a student at Georgia Tech.”

“Collier. I’m busy. What is the connection to us?” Sarina asked.

“It’s for Lux Blakely from the Aeronautical Engineering Department chair at Georgia Tech. The kid has made some breakthrough that has national security implications according to the professor. We also got notice that his father, Paulus Blakely, is temporarily moving to collaborate.”

“Crap. What now? The NSA has been sniffing around his dad for a while. How old is this kid?”

“Get this, boss,” Collier said. “The kid’s ten years old. The application says he may finish his undergraduate work this year. Holy hell. It’s the chair that says there are national security implications and it is imperative that they finish this as quickly as possible.”

“Keep the line open on this one,” Sarina said and finger combed her hair a few times.

◆◆◆

Office of Personnel Management

Retired Sergeant Ralph Thompson had wanted to keep a hand in after he did his twenty-five and out doing burglary investigations. Joining OPM was a way to double dip without having to draw his gun or get sued. He hadn’t liked all the increase in weapons related offenses in Billings, and his wife wanted him out of Montana. The juveniles were running wild there. This was better. He asked people questions. He usually didn’t ask the references much since they would just say how nice the person was. The initial references were good to find other people who weren’t references. That’s where he’d find the nitty gritty about somebody.

He essentially wanted to know were they a low, medium or high risk for flaws in their personality. This latest case was weird though. He wasn’t sure how he’d handle it. Ten years old and a junior at Georgia Tech. He had met with Professor Helmann who had a Top Secret, Secret Compartmented Information clearance. This kid was supposed to have invented something that had national security implications. The kid had a felony arrest record that would have immediately washed him out until he looked into it and talked with the judge. The judge had nothing but the highest praises for the kid and the complainant in the case was just convicted for, not only falsely accusing the kid, but also assaulting his own younger brother.

Then he found out he’d actually been stopped by a county officer but the officer was in the wrong and father/son didn’t sue – that which was surprising. He did his usual credit ratings check and got another shock. The kid had 810 credit rating. It wasn’t 850 (the max) only because he’d only been alive for ten years. Lux had been receiving royalties for inventions for five years. Wow. He doesn’t drink, Ralph thought. No problems with women, Ralph laughed at the thought. Guess he can’t be charged with staying up past his bedtime. Ralph went over to the Georgia Tech Police Department.

He asked around if anyone had heard about any incidents involving Lux Blakely on campus. One night shift guy said he had talked with the kid on a night when they had had an on-campus shots fired call. An officer said the kid was a witness. Ralph thought that guns were even here on campus, too.

He asked if he could see the report. They gave it to him with the student names marked out due to FERPA regulations even though it was obviously talking about Lux. The subject said he saw one person he recognized, named Darius, with several ΒΘΠ frat members. The report said the subject was uncooperative when asked if he carried a knife. Ralph chuckled thinking of the detective – strike that – the campus investigator was asking the kid if he carried a knife when a shot was fired. The report said they found everything but the barrel of the gun disassembled. When they traced the gun’s serial number back to the owner – it belonged to ‘Farhad Angha’, whose son, Darius, was a student and a ΒΘΠ. Seemed like a slamdunk approval here. Ralph found he was impressed with this Lux kid.

◆◆◆

Georgia Tech Campus – Early September

Dr. Chen was upset. “Why are you doing this Lux? I thought you liked my class.”

“I do professor but I have to test out of your class. I can’t explain why but it wasn’t my decision.”

“Very well. I will not easy on you. I will give you a test that will truly test your knowledge of thermodynamics and fluids.”

“I would expect no less from you professor. I just hope I can explain in the near future.”

◆◆◆

West Village Dining Commons – Georgia Tech

“Hey Lux,” Prissy said. “Haven’t seen you in a while. What’s been going on with you? I hear rumors every now and then, but they’re really odd. I had some detective guy come talk with me about you for some type of clearance. This isn’t about Lummi, is it? When are we going to do another video?”

“Whoa. Slow down Prissy. I just finished a week of testing. I’m fine, just exhausted. One of my professors is trying to get me a security clearance. That’s all. It’s not about Lummi, but I don’t know when I’ll have time for more videos. What rumors? People never tell me rumors about me.”

“Let’s see. You jump out and ambush fraternity guys because they won’t let you into a fraternity. I thought that one was neat. Another one - you got a gun and threatened the ΒΘΠ house. That was a solid rumor. You got arrested for cutting your initials into people with your knife. Oh – the best one – you threaten your professors so they’ll give you easy tests so you can get out of going to class,” Prissy said. “My roommates and I always are listening to ‘what is Lux doing’ rumors.”

“How am I threatening my professors? I doubt I strike fear into the hearts of professors, when I hardly come up to their shoulders,” Lux said.

Prissy started laughing and snorted some juice out her nose. “Oh, gosh. That’s gross,” she said wiping her face. “No. You threaten them by saying they abused you and you’re going to turn them in.”

Lux face palmed. “Dang. Those are pretty bad. Glad they don’t cover all the nefarious stuff I really do,” he said and grinned at her. “I just finished testing out of all my classes for this semester. I’m slated to take next semester’s courses at the end of this month. My dad’s coming this week too so he can work with Professor Helmann – not sure how I feel about that.”

“Eeww. That sounds horrible,” Prissy said. “Isn’t that against school policy or something?”

“I’m sure it’s against accreditation rules but I know that when there’s enough money or pressure; people find loopholes to work around the rules. That’s what they’re doing with me. What about you? Any news I might be interested about?”

“I’m signed up for a hackathon next month. That ought to be fun. Computing engineering keeps me busy. I’m learning more about syntax than I ever wanted. Oh! You remember that Darius guy that turned over your drink?” Prissy said leaning forward.

“What about that guy?” Lux said frowning.

Prissy whispered. “Darius Angha was expelled for bringing a gun onto campus. Rumor said the ΒΘΠs kicked him out too.”

“Didn’t know his last name. Not surprised. That guy must have been raised in a barn.”

Chapter 4

Early evening Hayes House – Georgia Tech

Someone knocked on his door. Lux opened the door and Bruce was there. “Hey man,” Bruce said. “This guy says he’s your father and didn’t know which room was yours. I thought I’d make sure.”

“Thanks Bruce. Yep. That’s my dad behind you. I appreciate you checking first though – thanks.”

Paulus stood just outside the door for a moment until Lux got over his shock and motioned him in. It was one thing to know that his father was invited to come; it was another to see him here.

“Hi dad. I’m glad you came. I have a problem that is the solution to your issues I think,” Lux said.

“I got your note and people have been trying to use plasma shielding for decades. Nothing new in those thoughts. Appreciate the sentiment but don’t appreciate you tricking my friend. Is he really trying to get you a security clearance?” Paulus said.

“Why’d you come if you thought I was ‘tricking’ my professors? I resent that comment by-the-way,” Lux said.

“I came to see if I need to jerk you out of school here. Maybe I’ve been too lenient. When your mom died, I tried my best…” Paulus said.

“Stop it. Just stop it! Did it ever even cross your mind that I’ve made a discovery that will shock the world or are you so…what’s the word…egotistical… that you think your thoughts are the best thoughts on some topic in the world. Pull me out of school – I can’t do anything since I’m a child.

I will run away. In California I can petition for emancipation at fourteen. You can keep me locked up somewhere but I would fight you. I will get my majority and I will make sure you never see me again if that’s what you make me do. Are you so stupid that you won’t even try to see what I’ve done? Do you think I’m here by accident?” Lux was red-faced and crushed that his father thought he was a fake.

“I should have never let you file those patents or have your own finances. Come with me son. You can come back another year. You’re coming home with me,” Paulus reached out to grab Lux but Lux hit a nerve center in his arm – hard. Paulus arm went numb. His father stood up and Lux pushed him so he tripped over the chair and sprawled on the floor.

“Dad. I am going to my lab right now. It’s at 563 Spring Street NW. If you don’t come there tonight – you will never see me again until I file for emancipation. I’ll leave if you come with anyone else. 563 Spring Street. Goodbye dad,” Lux said and ran down the stairs and got on his bike.

Paulus sat on the floor stunned. He didn’t know what to do. Should he call the police and report a runaway? Lux wasn’t a runaway. He was a student registered at the university. Should he call juvenile services? Should he get a psychiatrist or psychologist to talk with him. Hell. He was torn. He couldn’t have actually come up with something, could he? Paulus knew he worked on Mach 15 hypersonic missiles. He was having a hard time thinking about all those videos his son had showed him. He’d go to his son’s ‘lab’. What would that be like? He wondered what he had put there. Paulus knew Lux had enough money to do anything he wanted.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Lux was stomping back and forth. He was so mad and upset. He was crying. His dad had betrayed him. He’d need to fry all the memory cores and designs. His designs and data would be a month out of date. He’d packed his backpack.

“Anna. My father may be coming here. I’ve got backups of you through last month. I don’t want you to even show the ‘dumb Anna’ to him. I’ll try to convince him but I’ll take the drone with me if I have to run. If he brings anyone else, I’ll run too.”

Anna didn’t say anything. They had planned a bug-out scenario if he was raided by enemy agents or something like that. Lux was crying as he worked. Lux had thrown a tarp over his drone and had multiple straps and ropes so it wouldn’t slide off. He floated his drone out into the covered parking near one of the rear rollup doors. It was just hanging there. Lux wiped his nose on his sleeve and attached his backpack to the bottom of the drone with the straps.

He saw his father getting out of his car at the side of the building. He felt relieved when he saw his father was alone but he saw he was talking on his phone and that disturbed him. Why didn’t his dad come to the door instead of just standing there? Then two police cars rolled in with their lights off and his father went over to talk with them. Lux was so angry. He put on a heavy winter jacket, a second pair of waterproof rain pants over his others, a knit cap, gloves, a scarf, and his goggles. He walked under the floating drone and stuck his arms in his backpack straps. He took a loose strap loop and, sort of, sat on it so his arm straps wouldn’t have to support his whole weight. He automatically rolled up the rear door while directing the drone to go out and up into the night air.

The drone made almost no sound unless you were right next to it. Lux rolled the door down with his garage door opener. Anna had instructions to flash erase all the memory if the lab was breached. Lux directed the drone to take him 50 meters straight up and moved directly over the building.

Lux called his father. “Hi dad. I’m sorry you chose to not believe me and you brought the cops. I’ve turned on tracking on my phone. I will share my location with you for an hour or so. Let me know when you have it on. If you breach my lab all the data cores will be wiped.”

“This is silly Lux. This shows your location is right in this building. Come on. Come with me. Let’s go home. You’re just spoiled. I should have never…”

“Dad. Shut up a second. The GPS shows my X and Y coordinates. Not my Z coordinates.”

Paulus looked up. Lux waved. “You have some type of balloon or something. You’ll get yourself killed.”

“Stationary balloon dad? Winds pretty strong up here. I suppose the US government will put me in seclusion somewhere. I was thinking the US government will hide me from you with what I’ll show them. They’ll believe me. Goodbye dad. I’ll let you track me for a while. I’ll try to stay in the lower atmosphere though I’ve had this drone up to 15,000 meters before when I was mapping magnetic fields near our house. Bye dad.”

Lux didn’t know how fast this jury-rigged carryall could go but he was going to see what it would do. He headed for Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The wind was cold but it only became painful if he went over 400 km/hr (250 mi/hr). He figured he could get there in hour and 20 minutes at this speed. The clothing flapping wasn’t too bad and flying at low altitude kept him alive – he wasn’t comfortable.

◆◆◆

Eglin Air Force Base – near midnight – Radar

“What’s the issue airman?” Sergeant Alvarez asked.

“Sergeant. Bob Sikes General Aviation reports an unidentified vehicle approaching from the NNE at 216 knots (250 miles/hour). It’s headed this way and has no transponder and does not answer hails.”

“Damn. Scramble Ready two. They’re on rotation,” Alvarez ordered.

◆◆◆

Enroute to Eglin Air Force Base – Lux at one kilometer (bit over 3,000 ft)

Lux thought he was doing fine until a jet came swooping by him it rocked him back and forth in his little cradle of straps. He reached up and turned on the bicycle flasher he had in his backpack. Lux had looked up Wikipedia information on the base while ‘hanging around’. Lux called the Base Operator at (850) 882-1110. They answered quickly for midnight.

“Eglin Air Force Base. How may we direct your call?”

“I am near Eglin at approximately 1 kilometer altitude at 400 kilometers per hour and one of your jets almost hit me. I need to be met with someone with a Top-Secret Security clearance – better yet Sensitive Compartmentalized Information level. Someone from the 96th Test Wing, the Air Force Research Lab, or the 20th Space Control Squadron. I’ll hold.”

“I don’t know who you’re kidding kid, but get off this line.”

“Is General Dobbs still the commanding officer? You better get someone on the line or my death is going to be on your hands. Alert the tower if nothing else,” Lux pleaded.

“All right kid but only because there’s nothing going on.”

◆◆◆

Tower Elgin AFB

“Sergeant. I’ve got the base operator on line. He says he has a kid on the line. The kid says he’s at one kilometer and coming at us at 400 kilometers per hour.”

“Isn’t that the same thing we just scrambled Ready Two over?” the sergeant answered.

“Yea sarge,” the airman said.

“Have the base operator transfer the call to here,” the sergeant said. “…and get me back in touch with Ready Two.”

“Ready Two. What is that thing? Don’t hit it.” The sergeant turned to the airman. “Switch that call to me here.” “This is Sergeant Alvarez. Who am I talking with?”

“Hello sergeant. Your jet almost hit me. I need to be met by someone who has a Top-Secret Security clearance – better yet Sensitive Compartmentalized Information level. Someone from the 96th Test Wing, the Air Force Research Lab, or the 20th Space Control Squadron.”

“What?! You’ve got to be crazy.” The sergeant said and listened to Ready Two.

“Ready Two. I saw a person hanging from a… something. Wait. He just saluted me and is headed straight down to the field. He has a little flashing light on. Request orders. The - whatever - is headed right for the tower.”

“Return to base Ready Two. The – whatever is hanging in the air just outside the tower. It’s a little person.”

The airman turned to the sergeant. “Sarge?”

The sergeant turned to the airman. “Who would have a top-secret clearance that we could contact? I don’t know anyone.”

“The base commander over the 96th?” the airman queried.

The sergeant grimaced. “That’s what I thought too.” The sergeant dialed the number of his lieutenant.

The lieutenant called the captain. The captain called the major. The major called the lieutenant colonel. The lieutenant colonel called the general and explained a garbled version of the incident.

“Tell this kid – I’ll meet him in Building 600. Colonel. What’s the level of your security clearance?” General Dobbs queried.

“TS/SCI sir,” Lieutenant Colonel Rankin replied.

“Good. Come with me. Bring a couple of security officers. Be there in 30 minutes,” the General ordered.

“Building 600 with two security officers in 30 minutes,” the colonel replied and went to finish getting dressed.

Lux got a call. “Sergeant Alvarez here. The base commander will meet you in 20 minutes at Building 600. Do you need directions?”

“Thank you, sergeant. Don’t need directions. I have WAZE.”

◆◆◆

Building 600 Elgin AFB

“So where is this kid?” the general asked. “Your ass will be grass if you got me out of bed on a wild goose chase.”

“No idea sir. With you on retribution if this is some kind of wild prank. Don’t know about this either. It sounds impossible.”

Lux had been hovering over building 600 for a few minutes. It looked like whomever was going to arrive had arrived. “Thank you for seeing me,” Lux said and hovered off the ground in front of them until they were sure to see him floating and then set down in front of them. He slid out of his harness and adjusted it so it would stay stationary. He started stripping off his goggles and clothing until he was standing in his school clothes. He rushed over to the senior looking guy with his hand out. “General Dobbs?” Lux asked after shaking the person’s hands.

“Were you sent here son?” General Dobbs asked.

“No sir. Sorry. I just did a quick Wikipedia search on my way here from Atlanta.” Lux looked at his watch. “A bit less than two hours ago. I’m Lux Blakely, General. May we go indoors. We might be drawing too much attention here sir.”

The general looked discomfited but directed his driver to gather the clothes. One of the security officers started pulling on the straps hanging down from the drone but it stubbornly stayed in place. Lux laughed and the general, the colonel and his aide turned to look at the man pulling on the straps to no avail.

“No need, Sergeant?” Lux said and the drone followed Lux into the building like a puppy. “Is there a small conference room where I can brief you on what this is all about? I’m sure you have millions of questions.”

“Right this way, son,” the colonel directed.

“It’s Lux, sir. My father is Paulus Blakely. He is one of the research scientists that works on hypersonic missiles for the Department of Defense.”

“So, this is one of your father’s creations,” the general said.

“No sir. It’s mine alone. My father thinks it is impossible. I invented it. It uses the Earth’s magnetic fields with an ancillary effect I discovered for propulsion. This drone has traveled Mach 23 in atmosphere, and has no sonic boom. I’ve personally had a 12U satellite launched into orbit from 200 kilometers orbit to geostationary orbit and back. Coming back from geostationary orbit the satellite reached 30 km/second.”

“That’s impossible,” Colonel Rankin said.

“Since it happens. It seems to be possible,” Lux retorted.

“How did you do this son…Lux?” the colonel asked. The general was quietly sitting back observing the interchange.

Lux pulled out his student ID and passport. He handed them to the general. “I just finished my first semester at Georgia Tech? I’m a junior in aerospace engineering.”

“My semesters never ended in September. What’s with that?” the colonel asked.

“The semester isn’t over for everyone else. Professor Helmann, the chair of aerospace engineering made me test out of all my classes. I’m supposed to test out of the spring semester at the end of this month and my two senior semesters during November and December,” Lux explained.

“That sounds improbable too. Why are you here?” General Dobbs finally asked.

“You have facilities here that we can test some of the limits of this drone. I can study and take tests remotely from Georgia Tech. Let me allow you to do a short test so it will give me, and you, some credibility. I want to show you Mach 23 in atmosphere with no sonic boom. Would that convince you?” Lux asked.

“What would you need?” the general asked only because he saw this kid fly, hanging from this thing.

“Need a phone charger and some type of generic wireless charger. Needs about an hour to charge. It has enough charge to do the test but I’d rather it would be fully charged. I’d also need people with a top-secret security clearance observing the radar. Professor Helmann at Georgia Tech just had me go through the process for a Top-Secret SCI background check by the Office of Personnel Management. Just finished but don’t know if it’s been awarded. If you’ll get me the chargers, I’ll charge this drone up,” Lux said a little loopy from fatigue.

The general turned to the colonel as they walked out of hearing of Lux. “What do you think?”

“General. I’d say it was impossible, but I saw him drop down from the sky. The pilot in Ready Two saw him flying at 400 KPH. The tower personnel saw him floating outside the tower. I can’t believe there is no sonic boom but I’d like to have some proof under our belt before we go any higher on this. This might be the only way we’ll get any of the new stuff instead of it going to Groom Lake. This kid is ten but he’s some kind of genius. Dummies are not in aerospace engineering - not at Georgia Tech.”

“I’ll send my aide to get him the chargers. That guy can find anything in no time. Leave a security guy inside, one outside and get some food sent over for everybody. I want as few people to see him as possible, since so many have seen a lot already. You. See if that ID is for real at Georgia Tech. Get Professor Helmann on the phone. Wake his butt up. They got me up this morning – payback.”

◆◆◆

4 am Eglin AFB – Florida

The general was in the tower with Lux. The drone was above building 600 where it could be seen but not touched by anyone. “Show me the route you want it to take,” Lux asked the general. “Make sure you are recording all this or people won’t believe you. What altitude do you want this at? Doesn’t matter to me. Dense air or thin? Both? General – you pick the route.”

The general snorted and drew it out on one of the screens with his finger.

“Just say go when you’re ready sir,” Lux said.

“Go,” the general said half expecting nothing to happen.

“Damn sir,” the radio operator said. “That thing hardly has a radar signature at all. It only shows up as it turns,” the operator explained. “First leg is complete sir,” he said a minute later. “I show we hit Mach 24 sir. Downward leg. Damn. Sorry sir. Mach 23 at 1,500 meters,” the operator said amid gasps from the observers. “Mach 20 straight up sir. Damn. Third leg (one minute later) 11.7 km/second sir.”

“You mean kilometers per hour?”

“No sir. 24,000 miles per hour for you, old school guys. 11.7 kilometers per second. No sonic boom.”

“Okay Mister Blakely. Bring it back here,” General Dobbs said.

“General. It’s coming at us at Mach 23 sir,” the tremor in his voice was audible.

Lux slowed it and stopped the drone so it just hovered outside the tower, in plain view of all there.

“I meant back to Building 600 Mister Blakely,” the general said.

“Oops. Sorry sir,” Lux redirected the drone back to the 600 building.

“Why isn’t there a sonic boom? Why can it go so fast in atmosphere?” the colonel asked.

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked Dr. Helmann to help me. These test runs will give us support for more research. Who funds most of your research? I would like to work with your group in the future. I’m not sure I’ll be able to choose you, but I’d like to help on future projects,” Lux said. “I much rather be here with you than at Groom Lake, Nevada.”

Colonel Rankin spoke up, “Usually Lockheed, Boeing or General Dynamics have a hand in our grants. They generally come through DoD grants. DARPA wants prototypes in six months and they get a few.”

“Young man,” General Dobbs said. “I can’t tell you how this may help your country but it took some guts to fly down here. Nobody can deny that. Your father has been on the phone with us all morning. Now I really know why you really flew down here. I couldn’t deny you were here. We’re going to fly you back to Georgia.”

“General. Thank you for putting up with me. It’s hard to get people to believe when capabilities are as crazy as my drone. Thank you.”

◆◆◆

Dobbins Air Force Base – Marietta, Georgia (20 minutes NNW from Georgia Tech)

Paulus was angry at his son. He supposed he should have believed him and he still had his doubts. He had no idea why he had to come out to Dobbins Air Force Base to pick up his son. Luckily, the post guards had his name on the list when he showed his DoD ID. The MPs escorted his vehicle right onto the air base next to where the planes land. An Air Force Colonel came up to him when the car stopped.

“You must be Paulus Blakely. I’m base commander Colonel Mathisson. General Dobbs at Eglin said to give you and your son royal treatment. Honored to meet you. Your son must have really impressed the General. Your son should be landing any moment now,” the Colonel stated.

The airman standing off to the side pointed south. “There they are sir. They just turned final.”

Paulus was stunned. “What kind of plane is that?” Paulus asked.

The airman spoke up again. “That’s a F-15EX. Wow! That’d be a fun ride. What’s that jet pulling?”

The colonel squinted and exclaimed. “He’s pulling some kind of balloon thingy. That’s odd. I’ve seen prop planes pull banners but never a fighter.”

The fighter taxied over there way and shut down where it was directed. The ground crew ran up and put a ladder against the side The canopy raised and the pilot came out and helped the small passenger out. Lux was wearing a small flight suit and carrying a helmet under his left arm.

“Hey look General. That balloon is following him,” the airman said when he saw the ‘balloon’ moving from behind the plane.

The plane’s pilot was walking beside Lux and he looked back but kept walking up to the colonel. The pilot stood at attention and saluted the colonel. The colonel returned the salute. “Captain Pierce, Colonel. General Dobbs sends his regards and Colonel Rankin wants you to call him. He said you two were in the Air Force Academy together.”

“Thank you, Captain. Did that balloon follow you the whole time from Eglin?”

The captain started laughing. “Only during the times Lux wanted it to. When I bragged about the F-15; he had that thing zoom away from us or go straight up. I’m not supposed to talk about that sir. Sorry. Security.”

“Welcome to Dobbins, captain. We’ll get you refueled and on your way.” The colonel turned to Lux. “General Dobbs said you can keep that suit. It’s never been used since it’s too small for any pilots or trainees they’ve had.”

“Thank you, sir. Has my dad been any trouble? I can’t take him anywhere without him acting his age,” Lux said and then ran up to his dad and gave him a big hug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you son. I was worrying too much about my own problems. You’ve done a lot of growing up when I wasn’t watching, it seems.”

“Yep,” Lux said his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“What are we going to do with that?” Paulus said indicating Lux’s drone. "It really isn't a balloon, is it?"

“Nope. Oh. I’ll just send it to my lab,” Lux said and typed out some strings of commands on his phone in three minutes of intense concentration. The drone flashed straight up into the sky and was out-of-sight in a second.

The airman, the pilot, the gate security people, the colonel, and Paulus stood looking with their mouths hanging open. Lux turned them all and said, “You didn’t see anything. It’s a breach of security to talk about anything you saw that was unusual. I’m sure you’ve seen strange stuff before. Thank you for your hospitality. I have to get back to school for more exams.”

Lux and his dad were escorted off the base.

◆◆◆

Ride Back to Georgia Tech

They rode for a minute or two in silence until Paulus spoke up. “I believe you son. It hit me when you were above me and waved goodbye.” Paulus said. “It shook me to my core that you would leave, still hating me.”

“I never hated you. I was crushed that you didn’t believe me and wouldn’t even try to listen. I don’t tell you everything but I don’t lie to you. I felt betrayed and hurt. If I tell you something happens – then it happens. All the videos I showed you are real.”

“I still find it hard to believe. I thought you were so wrapped up in your fake video you had become unhinged. I thought you were living in a fantasy you were creating for yourself, and I didn’t think your drone was real,” Paulus said. “I’m still not sure.”

“I flew to Eglin in an hour and 20 minutes and hovered just outside the control tower until they agreed to get the base commander to meet me,” Lux replied. “Four hundred kilometers per hour isn’t too bad being exposed to the wind. We tested the drone that night at different altitudes and routes.”

“You recorded it on radar?” his father asked.

“We recorded it traveling Mach 24 in less than a minute. It never caused the sonic booms that most supersonic planes cause. None at all,” Lux said. “That’s why I went to Professor Helmann in the first place. I’m comfortable with the propulsion but have no clue why it wouldn’t burn up at higher hypersonic speeds.”

“Wait a minute. I saw your satellite burn up over our heads when it entered the atmosphere,” Paulus asked. “How fast was that going?”

“It wasn’t the speed that caused that one to burn up. I figured that out,” Lux said. “the speed burned it up for another reason.”

“If it wasn’t speed. What was it?” Paulus asked.

“It was going 30 kilometers per second but I turned off the thrusters before it hit atmosphere. I wanted it to burn up because it was being chased.”

“Chased?” Paulus asked for clarification.

“Yep. A military satellite tried to capture it when my satellite was in geosynchronous orbit.”

“We have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?” Paulus said as he dropped Lux off at his lab.

Lux rolled up the back door and the drone appeared from where it was resting on the roof and went inside. Lux took it into his lab proper and then reset all the security. He opened the drone to start recharging.

Lux went back to his dad’s car and they rolled out to drop him back at his dorm. His father had rented a short-term furnished apartment in Mid-Town.

Lux felt more at peace than he had felt in a while as he got back to the Hayes House.

◆◆◆

20th Space Surveillance Squadron – Space Delta 2 - Eglin Air Force Base

Lt. Colonel Alfred Mayes was angry. “Major. Find out what that alert with Ready two was a couple nights ago. I can’t believe they wouldn’t talk with us about this incident. I thought when we took over those three GEODSS sites in 2020 that this inner-service rivalry would be trivial. Now I see they look down their noses at us – AT US! Well two can play that game. They’re required to report the cause of any alerts to us as well. Find out.”

Half a day later:

“Well, Major. What did you find out?” Lt Colonel Mayes demanded.

“Nobody is saying much but the rumors are crazy as to be unbelievable,” Major Kearnes said.

“Go ahead, Major,” the colonel said. “I’ve heard everything. Nothing will surprise me.”

The major laughed. “Sir. They said some kid flew into Duke Field on some contraption and the scramble fighter saw the kid flying – at guess this – 400 kph.”

“Yeah. That’s strange. So, somewhere between a Cessna 172 and twin prop Cessna 441. What kind of plane was it?”

“No sir. It wasn’t a plane and had no visible propulsion. Wait sir. Rumors get weirder still. They run everyone out that has less than a Top-Secret security clearance,” the major continued.

“Go on,” the colonel said getting more and more interested. “Who are they?”

“General Dobbs, sir. Then some testing in the dark going on, but the radar techs won’t say one word. They shut down talking completely. I even pulled in a few favors and no one would say anything. One guy who wasn’t involved in any of the testing said he heard two others talking. He heard ‘Mach 24’, but when they saw him near them; they clammed up.”

“Anything else? Mach 24? No sonic booms the last few nights,” the colonel said with raised eyebrows.

“They sent the kid somewhere in a F-15EX, the day before yesterday.”

“Wow. I’ll call Space Operations Command at Peterson Space Force Base and see if they’d heard anything,” the Lt. Colonel said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Chapter 5

Peterson Space Force Base – Space Operations Command

Lieutenant General DeAnna Bost took the call from Lieutenant Colonel Mayes from the 20th down in Eglin. “What can I do for you colonel?”

“Do you know about any high-speed atmospheric tests here at Eglin or over us? We just heard the rumor of a one three nights ago at three or four in the morning.”

“How fast? Were there significant sonic booms?” General Bost queried.

“No sonic booms and some kid involved. Don’t know anything about the kid or the type or size of vehicle. It’s been reported to have no visible means of propulsion,” the colonel said.

“How fast? In atmosphere or above?” the general asked.

“We assume in atmosphere and the only velocity we heard in rumors was Mach 24,” the Colonel said a little sheepishly. “I know it’s not much to go on but would you ask around your folks for you, Colonel.”

◆◆◆

US Air Force Space Surveillance Network - Schriever Air Force Base – Colorado

Day shift General Stewart looked at the ‘watch for’ notice from Lt. General Bost. He called everyone in the room to his attention. “This is from Lt. General Bost. We should be alert in regards any unusual high-speed vehicle tests. Look for any vehicle without a visible means of propulsion. Any vehicle going Mach 24 in atmosphere. Eglin Air Force Base may have a ‘kid’ involved (unspecified).”

Tech 4 Susan Esrilla spoke up. “General. Remember that incident a few months ago with the 12U sized satellite.”

“Yes. Remind me,” General Stewart said.

“Sir. Lux Blakely. A ten-year-old kid from Huntsville had made a 12U sized satellite. We clocked it at 30 km/second. It had no visible method of propulsion. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

“Very good Esrilla. Send me our report on that. I’ll forward it to General Bost. I’ll make sure you get credit for the research on this report. The Guardians are looking for NCOs and your time in grade makes you eligible. I’m going to make that recommendation.”

“Thank you, sir.” Tech 4 Esrilla felt ecstatic. Sergeant rank would be a big bump for her career.

◆◆◆

Peterson Space Force Base – Space Operations Command

Lieutenant General Bost read the report. It surprised her because it was rare that a ‘watch for’ notice came back so fast. This Lux Blakely kid had made some breakthrough that let him, a ten-year-old, send a satellite to geostationary orbit. It had come back at 30 km/sec. Not the fastest a human probe has flown since a solar probe once went 100 km/sec. This craft the boy made had no visible means of propulsion. Why had Space Force Lieutenant General Frank Parsons ordered them not to talk about it? It must be really, really hush hush. Should she call him? She could use a secure connection. She’d do it.

General Bost went to her communications staff and had them set up a secure line to Lieutenant General Frank Parsons. He was senior to her only by time in grade but that counted. She knew she couldn’t talk openly even over a secure line. She’d have to play it by ear.

“General Parsons. How are you?” General Bost said. “This is DeAnna Bost. It’s been a while.”

“DeAnna. It has been too long. Call me Frank. What’s going on? What do I owe for the honor of this call? Nothing bad, I hope.”

“No. No. Just wondering if you can tell me about a new type of very fast vehicle that doesn’t use conventional propulsion?” Bost asked.

“DeAnna. I would tell you about anything that would affect you. I can’t talk about our hypersonic programs. You know that. Tell you what. We’re expecting some breakthroughs this year. I’ll bring you in on it. People violated OPSEC if they gave you information not covered by what they’ve been told. Let’s have lunch together at the next general staff meeting. Okay?”

“Okay. Thanks Frank. I’ll try to seal any leaks,” she said and cut the connection.

She fired off a memo to 20th Space Surveillance Squadron – Space Delta 2 Eglin Air Force Base.

*Do not discuss the incident(s) you queried me about as it is a violation of OPSEC.

She fired off another memo to the commander of the US Air Force Space Surveillance Network.

*General Parsons was angry that you violated his orders to answer my query. I was reprimanded for asking questions about the incident. Do not discuss it anywhere. Take no further action.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW

Lux and Professor Helmann had made no headway in figuring out how the drone kept from making sonic booms or burning up in the atmosphere. They had built a heavy frame cage around the drone and put load cells around it. They had moved sensors around and applied the magnetic ‘thrust’ from the cycling Halbach arrays. They did get excellent readings about how much thrust they would get going forward, up/down, sideways, and reverse. This varied a bit as the Earth’s magnetic field varied wherever they were. They moved the testing frame to higher elevations in buildings (secretly), but hadn’t put it up in aircraft.

They calculated the mass of many different aircraft and then the velocity increases if the new propulsion system was bolted to the plane. They did realize that the thrust could be enough to speed up all current aircraft, and increase their range exponentially.

◆◆◆

Lux was prepared to take the tests for the 22 semester hours by the end of September as planned, but Professor Helmann had said he needed to meet him in his office earlier because he’d run into a big problem. Lux imagined lots of terrible scenarios but he realized that wasn’t going to help him figure out how to resolve anything.

Lux was about burnt out from all the studying anyway. Professor Helmann called Lux into his office.

“Hi Lux. I’ve got some bad news and you’ll need to make some decisions. Your father tells me he’s reconciled with you but he still has misgivings about whether the drone works like you think. How do you feel about it?” the professor asked.

“Working with you is okay. I’ve had no luck yet with figuring out why my drone doesn’t burn up. Dad decided the trick I used to work around the magnetic fields and get thrust was because I didn’t know it wasn’t possible. I found a saying that fits, ‘if you think it’s impossible, it will be’. What’s the bad news?”

“We can’t test out on the courses with exams. Good news - They did credit you for the exams for this Fall semester even though it violates giving credit for more than nine hours of advanced standing. Good news – since you were doing well in classes; they will let the registrar record the grades you made on the exams instead of just a satisfactory (S) on your grade point average (GPA). Good news – you made straight A’s – so you have an ‘A’ GPA. Bad news - We can’t take more advanced standing tests in place of classes. What do you want to do?”

“What are my options?” Lux asked. “Why did the school stop allowing what we are doing?”

Helmann sort of scrunched up his face and looked like he tasted something really sour. “Let me explain a bit about universities. They fiddle with their internal rules all the time and have a lot of wiggle room if they’re progressive. We would be breaking internal rules and changing our policy. That requires we notify ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology). They set standards for schools. Georgia Tech could have its accreditation threatened. I’ve already put myself out on a limb, as is.”

“So, I can go to normal classes and I get credit for the Fall semester already. Can I get into the Spring semester classes now and take the normal final exams?” Lux asked.

“You want to sit through the classes that would normally be your Spring semester of your junior year now?” Helmann said incredulous.

“Sure! I like the classes. The classes are interesting to me and I always learn more than the basics for the course. Working with the other students is fun too. I know! I could also just take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and do well enough to just start the Master’s program. I bet you could get me in those classes without the professor’s objecting but I’d rather go to class.”

“All right then. We have seven weeks left in the semester,” Helmann suggested. “You’ll have to go to class today. Refer your professors to me. Try to catch up on all homework so two assignments for each class. You need to go to class right now. I showed some of the designs you had done for the thrust testing sensor setup and the Assistant Professor for ME 1670 Introduction of Engineering Graphics and Design and he said, ‘Heck, he could teach the class. That’s a professional 3D design. Get him enrolled in my class and I’ll have him give one lecture. I’ll give him credit for the class.’ So, give a lecture. You’ve got that class coming up in an hour.”

◆◆◆

ME 1670 Intro to Engineering Graphics and Design – Prof. Armin Thresh

“Class. Today we have a guest speaker. Lux Blakely,” Professor Thresh said.

“Hi gang. You may not know me but I use a lot of this stuff. I started out using PTC Creo and then went to using SolidWorks… they’re similar in how they want you to pay through the nose for a license.”

“You can’t have been using it long!” someone in the back shouted and the class laughed.

“Nope. I used my first 3D modelling app seven years ago. I started using CATIA last year to design a 12U CubeSat satellite. I had the satellite put in orbit by SpaceX last spring.”

“B-S!” someone shouted. “How old are you?”

“I’m ten,” Lux said not quibbling.

“That would mean you were… three when you started using 3D modelling apps,” said the sarcastic voice in the back.

Lux started laughing. His eyes were glistening with tears he was so amused. “Sorry. Sorry.” He pointed to the guy in the back who had an ME logo on his laptop. “You just ruined the rumor that MEs can’t do math.” He grinned big and everyone laughed. “Okay. Okay. Let’s do a challenge. Someone, suggest which software you want me to use: Creo, SolidWorks, or CATIA.”

A girl in the back said, “CATIA.”

“Ah ha,” Lux said. “Now I discovered through nefarious means which one gives you the hardest time using,” he said and everyone laughed. “Actually, I’m trying to distract you because it takes so-o-o-o-o long to boot up even on a fast computer. Most of that time, by-the-way, is to make sure you don’t have a bootleg copy of their software and your computer is fast enough to use their stuff. In addition, you get nasty dialog boxes if you aren’t connected to the internet. Now what object would you have me draw?”

“An apple,” one said.

“An agricultural engineer, I presume,” Lux said. “How about a difficult to make handcrafted manufactured item…more complex?”

A male in the back yelled, “A sword. A katana,” he said.

Lux nodded and started and drew the rough shape and then started crafting the slight curve and the point, curved to sharp end. “The blade lengths are about 60 centimeters (24 inches) and this one had a squarish tang to protect the hands. The samurai used two hands on the grip.” Lux said and started overlaying pieces of wood covered a diamond shaped wrapping on the hilt. “The wrapping is called ito and was usually made from stingray or shark (called Samehada). He then drew the sharpening on the sharp side of the blade. He made the lighting reflection and shadowing on the blade.”

“How does a ten-year-old know how to draw a katana?” said the voice of the student in the back.

“I read a lot and this is a sword I admired when I was younger,” he said.

The joker in the back said, “Last week!” and everybody laughed again.

“This sword is known as the Honjō Masamune named after a general. He gained the sword after a battle in 1561. I added the handle wrapping for what it might look like.”

“How could we follow that? That was way too fast for us to follow,” the girl in the back said.

“Exactly,” Lux said. “I just emailed the files to Professor Thresh. He can post them for you to copy step-by-step.”

“Show us something else you have done. Something real – not some fictitious sword,” the heckler in the back said showing the snark behind his so-called humor.

Lux pulled up the patent application he had just submitted. “I just got confirmation on my patent of this 3D printed training knife I invented. It shocks through clothing. Here are the Gerber files for making the circuit board that goes in it. You can also look up some of my other patents that pay for my schooling here,” Lux said. “My first patent was five years ago. I see its time to head to my next class. Y’all are a fun group. Thanks for letting me present today. Professor. Thanks.”

“Good job Lux. I’ll make the class recreate the sword as an assignment for the next class,” he said and a few students who overheard him groaned.

Professor Thresh turned to the students who groaned and said, “You won’t find that sword on Chegg.com/study either.” (*chegg.com/study is often used by college students to find homework solutions in college).

◆◆◆

AE 3030 Aerodynamics

AE 3030 Aerodynamics was a two-hour class twice a week now. Lux went into the back and sat down. Professor Amherst came in and looked over the class and zeroed in on Lux in the back. “Mister Blakely I assume,” she intoned.

Lux sat there and nodded at her. He was nervous but tried not to show it.

“Are you going to say something young man?” she said.

“I’m sorry. I misunderstood. My name is Lux Blakely. Yes. I thought your question was rhetorical.”

“Are you trying to be smart with me?” Amherst questioned squinting her eyes.

“No professor.”

“You realize that I will give you no free ride. I didn’t like being pressured by the department chair,” she said as the class watched the spectacle of their teacher lambasting this little kid.

“That is certainly your prerogative professor. I turned down going directly into the graduate program because I want to learn what the undergraduate classes can teach me,” Lux said thinking this teacher had never heard the adage of praising in public and chastising in private.

The teacher actually snorted like a horse and shook her head like she was clearing. “We’re looking at how viscosity affects boundary layer effects. Mister Blakely. Describe laminar and turbulent flow?” she asked to see if he was up to snuff on the topic.

“Laminar boundary layers are when a moving viscous fluid comes in contact with a solid surface, and a smooth, non-turbulent layer, forms in response to the action of the viscosity, and the non-slip condition on the surface. Fluid velocity will increase with distance from the surface for a bit. Turbulent boundary…” Lux said but was interrupted.

“That’s enough, Mister Blakely. I assume you know what a Reynolds number is? At what number does turbulence appear?” she asked.

“2300,” he answered. “Reynolds numbers are dimensionless numbers that are equal to (density times the diameter of the passageway times the velocity of the fluid) divided by the viscosity of the fluid) (density * D * flow speed) / viscosity),” he said and a couple of the students in the back of the class clapped because they’d been singled out by this professor before. The professor glared and the clapping stopped abruptly.

The rest of the class was fine and they went over Momentum Integral Method, Thwaites Method, Head’s Method, Squire-Young formula for drag, empirical methods for transition estimate, and Michel’s Criteria. Lux thought it was a great review for him and he noted things he didn’t know.

When the class was over the students filed out and Lux went to talk with the teacher. “Ma’am. I’m really interested in the calculation of viscous resistance in a far wake. I hadn’t looked at that in relation to anything but naval vessels. Thank you for pointing that out.”

“Don’t think you can curry favor by sucking up to me after class young man,” Professor Amherst said.

“I have an ulterior motive ma’am. I have a hypersonic problem I haven’t been able to solve and it’s driving me crazy. It’s like an itch I can’t scratch,” Lux said.

“Is this that BIG project Professor Helmann is working on and won’t tell anyone about?” she said seeing Lux’s surprise. “I’m faculty. We have rumor mills too.”

“I can’t talk about it. I can be thrown in prison if I do,” Lux said and the Professor looked less stern and more intrigued. Lux looked down being embarrassed.

“If you’re thinking about far wakes at hypersonic velocities you might be thinking about sonic booms,” she said and Lux jerked his head up. “I knew it. That old dog. No wonder he’s been hoarding this one.”

Lux looked like he was going to panic. Professor Amherst was sharp as heck to make those inferences. He started looking around to see who was listening.

“Don’t worry Mister Blakely. I won’t let on to Little Ernest that you said a word. Welcome to Aeronautics.”

◆◆◆

COE 3001 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies

The next class was COE 3001 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies. They were covering the shear stress in beams at this point and the professor had a PowerPoint slide up and was reading each line to the students. The PowerPoints were taken right out of the textbook. Lux realized that he could use this class time to do the homework for his other classes. When the end of the class came around, Lux singled out a neighboring cute coed and asked her, “Is he always this boring?”

She laughed. “This was one of his better days. You won’t believe how boring he can be.”

Lux laughed and said, “If I was dying and only had a day to live – I’d hope to be in his class.”

The co-ed looked truly appalled when she asked, “Why in the world would you want that?”

“Because one hour in his class is like forever…” he said with a straight face and finally grinned.

She started laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. She finally calmed down enough to breathe normally. “Sally,” she said and held out her fist for a fist bump.

“I'm Lux,” he said grinning and bumped fists.

“See ya Lux,” she said looking over her shoulder.

◆◆◆

The next day after his workout and breakfast was going to be five and a half hours of classes.

His first class on Thursday was an eight o’clock AE 3140 Structural Analysis class. This was 3D beam theory, energy methods, buckling of structures and the like. They were just getting into semi-monocoque structural design and sizing. This intrigued Lux because that was the how his drone was made. The outer shell of his drone was supported by an internal ‘skeleton’ of supports and braces.

Lux talked to the Professor about making his outer shell out of a supercapacitor on his satellite after class and explained the hybrid carbon blended material. The instructor seemed supportive but wondered if skin rupture would cause a fire or explosion. The instructor didn’t even know Lux was new to the class. Lux had lunch and then headed to his next class that had him excited.

AE 3330 Introduction to Aerospace Vehicle Performance class was next. Professor Withers was teaching the class and was discussing orbital maneuvers; particularly, Hohmann transfers. Withers was not amused when he heard Lux snicker in the back of the class.

“Who are you? What are you doing in this class?” Professor Withers demanded. “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry Professor. My name is Lux Blakely. I registered for this class and have a lot of work to catch up on by coming in mid-semester. I chuckled because you are covering Hohmann transfers. I happen to be very familiar with those and was pleasantly surprised. I meant no disrespect.”

“Nevertheless, you interrupted my thoughts. Come up here and explain Hohmann transfers,” Withers commanded.

Lux didn’t bat an eye and walked over to the side of the room and picked up a step stool and a couple of dry erase markers. He tested the markers and turned to the class. “Hohmann transfers were invented by a German scientist, Wolfgang Hohman, in 1925. Dude was smart since humanity didn’t put anything in orbit until Sputnik 1 was put in orbit in October 1957. Hohmann transfers are a fuel saving maneuver to get from a circular orbit to another circular orbit. Let me draw it. It’s all based on energy changes.”

Lux drew a circle and colored it in. “Assume this is the Earth,” he explained. “This is your spacecraft in orbit around the Earth.” He drew a circle around the Earth. “You want to go from 540 kilometers orbit to a geostationary orbit of 35,863 kilometers.” He drew a much larger circle depicting a geostationary orbit. “How do you get from this low Earth orbit to the higher orbit?”

Someone in the front raised their hand and Lux pointed to them and nodded. “You’d accelerate.”

“Exactly. You’d accelerate and increase your Delta V (∆V),” Lux said. “This would, if you timed it right, put you in an elliptical orbit.” He drew an ellipse between the edges of the two circles. “Now. You are going in an ellipse when you get to the level of the geostationary orbit. How do you keep from continuing around and around in an elliptical orbit?” he asked.

Another student raised a hand. He pointed at them and nodded. “You’d need another burn to decelerate.”

“Exactly. You’d need an acceleration burn and a deceleration burn to use the minimum amount of fuel. How would you calculate the transfer period from lower to higher orbit? Professor. Do you want me to show how to calculate the period for a two-burn transfer?”

“Go ahead Mister Blakely. I’ll stop you when you mess up,” Professor Withers said.

“Okay folks. You need to know a few more terms. Periapsis is the point in the orbit where the distance between the bodies is minimal.” Lux drew a dot on the 540 km orbit circle. “This is where you fire up your spaceship to go to a higher orbit. “Apoapsis is where the distance between the bodies is maximum.” He drew a dot where the ellipse and the geostationary orbit converged. “Apoapsis is where you want to be when you have decelerated to the velocity in geostationary orbit.”

A student in the class asked, “What if you used more fuel? Could you fly straight to geosynchronous orbit?”

“Let’s look at what we have. The lower orbit at 540 kilometers altitude we’ll call the parking orbit. We would be going 7.591 kilometers per second. The radius of the Earth + the parking orbit = 6,918 km. Geosynchronous orbit is 35,863 kilometers. So, a = (35,863 + 6,918)/2 = 21,390.5 km.

We speed up 2.360 kilometers/second to 9.951 km/s. The orbital speed at geosynchronous orbit is 3.072 km/s.”  (**see https://www.satsig.net/orbit-research/delta-v-geo-injection-calculator.htm )

A student asked. “Then - The higher orbit above a planet the slower your velocity?”

“Yep. Good observation,” Lux answered. “We see that the two burn Hohmann transfer takes right at 5.33 hours. I have experienced this in practice with a satellite.”

Professor Withers finally came to life. “Where have you experienced any of this, Blakely?” she said sarcastically.

“I’d rather not say, Professor,” Lux said.

“You shouldn’t have brought it up then,” Withers said.

A student asked, “You never answered my question. Can you do it faster?”

“Yes. Remember the 5 ½ - hour estimate was a burn to speed up and coast until the deceleration burn.  I’ve had a satellite, one I built, do it in much less time,” Lux said. “It wouldn’t go straight but it would be a flatter arc. (https://www.psatellite.com/hohmann-transfer-but-faster-optimizing-for-fuel-and-elapsed-time/ )

The student that had asked the question earlier, made another comment. “You built a satellite?”

“Yep. I built a 12U sized CubeSat and had SpaceX launch it from Boca Chica, Texas last spring,” Lux explained.

“Those CubeSats are released in LEO orbit only, Blakely. Stick around after class. Class dismissed,” Professor Withers stated.

Lux came up to the professor. “Yes sir.”

“Why did you lie to the class? I haven’t seen anything in your record here about any satellite you built,” Withers intimated his doubt.

Lux opened his laptop and showed the launch documents SpaceX had sent him. Lux pulled up the video from his satellite at the 200-kilometer orbit.

“What’s this video showing? “This is showing video during the launch when the satellites are in storage on board. There is no view of outside. What are those wavering colors? Are those magnetic fields?”

“Yes sir. I have provisionally patented a new type of camera that shows the magnetic fields around us. I should have the formal patent in a couple more months. The initial orbit was at 200 kilometers altitude. The satellite is going 7.784 km/second. On the second orbit, I transferred it to an orbit of 540 kilometers. As I finished the first orbit at 540 kilometers – I inserted it into geosynchronous orbit.”

“That’s impossible. You said it was a 12U sized satellite. I know that’s small. It doesn’t carry enough fuel for that,” Withers stated.

Lux just smiled.

“Why is nothing in your file about this if you aren’t lying?” Withers said.

“I was a freshman in high school when I made that satellite,” Lux said.

“You said you built and launched that this last spring. My records and roster show you as a second semester junior in aerospace,” Withers said.

“Yes sir. They are correct. I’ll make up the homework from the first part of the semester. I’ll turn in the upcoming assignment and one earlier assignment each class so I’ll have done them all done by the end of the semester,” Lux explained.

“I’ll be watching you, Blakely,” Professor Withers said.

“Thank you, sir. That was fun today. I look forward to learning more,” Lux said seeing the look of consternation on the professor’s face. Lux was determined to misinterpret any negative intent.

◆◆◆

He had two Thursday afternoon classes. The first was AE 3530 System Dynamics and Vibration. He had tested out of the pre-requites of dynamics and differential equations. It was more complicated formulas. They were covering 1st and 2nd order Dynamic systems when he looked at the formulas on the board. He had studied to test out of this so he didn’t expect any grand challenges until he walked in and noticed two Beta Theta Pi’s on the back row.

The professor was a laid-back guy with shorts and a Hawaiian shirt with bright yellow patterns all over it. Professor Darren Tinker had been a rocket scientist at NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center working on nuclear rockets. The professor was not daunted by math. It was Dynamics on steroids and it was clear Tinker knew what he was doing. He explained everything and a lot of the formulas made sense. It was like a breath of fresh air to Lux. He lapped it up as it might clear up some resonance issues he was handling when cycling the frequencies of his Halbach array thrusters on his drone. The frat guys talked between themselves a lot but didn’t seem to show any animosity toward him. The professor said he was okay with turning in a future assignment and a past assignment each class until he caught up. They had a test next Tuesday but he wasn’t worried about that at all.

◆◆◆

The last class of the day (and the week) was AE 3610 Experiments in Fluids and Solid Mechanics. The professor was a tall, handsome man with short hair and ebony complexion. Professor Alexander Jones was a research professor. He taught this class as if doing his duty while totally distracted, and despite that, still did a good job. He noticed Lux immediately and came over to him.

“You’re way behind in the lab reports. Are you familiar with the equipment in here?” Professor Jones asked him.

“I have most of the same equipment or some newer models in my own lab off campus,” Lux said looking around. “I can work with all this equipment. Do any of the students need help?”

Jones scanned the room and indicated a pleasant girl with pretty, tight braids in the back left workbench who was sitting by herself. “Wendy there, has a hard time working with anyone else and I think she’s struggling. Can you help her? We’re doing orthotropic properties of composite materials now.”

“So, Hooke’s Law and linear algebra?” Lux asked.

Professor Jones nodded. “Please try.”

Lux walked over to her. “Hi. I’m Lux. Professor Jones sent me over here to work with you. Guess we’re partners until the end of the semester. Like your hair,” Lux said. He had a feeling she would bristle if he started spouting off about plasticity and how orthotropic materials have two planes of symmetry.

“Did he send you over to help me?” Wendy asked with a look of disgust.

“Nope. He said you’d catch me up to speed. What’s that on your computer? I’ve seen that math before in some of my other classes, but I never remember,” Lux said.

“I’m struggling myself and then some little guy hits on me,” Wendy says and let out a long sigh. “He’s out to fail me.”

“You think I was hitting on you. Thanks. No one ever told me that before. I’m just ten. I don’t think he wants to fail you. He said you were really smart but just distracted right now,” Lux said.

“You’re really just ten. Man. I’m doomed,” Wendy said and started laughing. Soon, Lux was laughing too.

“Definitely. We’re doomed,” Lux said and they started laughing again.

Wendy was explaining things to Lux, and showing where she got stuck. He would ask questions that would help her get on the right track. They actually finished the task before the class ended and wouldn’t have to do it as homework. She seemed happy as the class ended and ran out of the room when the class was dismissed.

Professor Jones came up to him after class. “You two seemed to hit it off. Did you teach her?”

“Nope. I had her teach me. Then, I just asked questions. It’d be a real putdown to have some little kid come in and start telling you how to do stuff. She’s smart as all get out, but she just missed a few ideas that weren’t clear to her. It’ll be fun this semester,” Lux said.

“Work with her the rest of the semester and I won’t make you do all those assignments you missed. Professor Chen mentioned you were worth the trouble,” Jones said.

“Thanks. I heard you do research, but I didn’t see what it was about. What’s your passion?” Lux asked knowing that professors were often forced into areas of research because they couldn’t get grant money to do the research they really wanted.

“I’m working with Professor Simmons on a project that’s winding down. My passion is in small electrically powered vehicles that move people through the sky. I grew up reading about such things in my dad’s Sci-Fi, but it hasn’t worked out as I hoped. Then the NASA SATS (Small Aircraft Transportation System) came along but that got defunded five years later. It’s why I got my PhD. I wanted to be able to go to my garage, roll out my vehicle and fly to work or another city.”

“What’s the problem? Money? Energy density seems to be getting there as are the composite materials,” Lux asked.

“Even DARPA isn’t throwing much money into transportation, but land transportation is saturated. We’ll have to go up from the surface to increase the radius above the Earth in order to move more people. Roads are over their rated capacity already. The number of cars on the roads doubles every ten years. Atlanta will have 8.6 million people by 2050.”

“I’d be willing to fund a research project with you if you can get a security clearance. I’m willing to pay the indirect costs and your full salary for a couple of years if I can get you added. If you’re willing to let me treat you to dinner, I can rough out more details without telling you too much,” Lux inquired.

“I have no lab space on my own right now,” Jones said downcast. “What kind of project would it be?”

“I can’t give you any details but it’s why I’m in school here and my project checks all your ‘I wish’ boxes,” Lux said.

Chapter 6

Lux spent Friday doing homework. He did two assignments back and his upcoming assignments, in every class. He only emerged from Hayes House for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was delivery pizza.

Saturday morning after workouts and breakfast saw Lux back at his lab on Spring Street. Lux saw Prissy approach on her bicycle at the back monitors of his security system. He opened up the rollup door and she pulled in.

“Hey Prissy. How are classes going?” Lux asked.

“They’re okay. They’re not very challenging but some of the stuff is new. Can’t see much use for a lot of it in the real world though. I came here because I was bored.”

“What do you want to do? Something with Lummi. Have you checked how the video of Lummi’s from WSB-TV is doing?” Lux asked.

“Yeah. It’s sort of leveling off. I’ve made about $1.6 million overall with just my part of the royalties from ALL the videos. I had an idea that I think would be fun to do,” Prissy said with a huge grin.

“Make a music video?” Lux asked.

“Eww. That’s a good idea but this is different and would put Lummi in the news. When do rap stars and movie stars make the news?” Prissy said.

“I don’t know. Divorce cases,” Lux said and Prissy shook her head. “When they get arrested?”

“Yes,” Prissy said. “What if the arrest is illegal?”

“What do you mean by illegal?” Lux asked.

“What if someone had put a date rape drug in her drink. She gets wobbly and goes outside. She gets in a car outside that’s unlocked. Then she gets a driving under the influence (DUI) charge with a blood test. A breath test shows zero but she smells like alcohol. Blood test shows nothing.”

“Where did you get this idea?” Lux asked.

“There was an article in my news feed I saw yesterday and it got me thinking. I’m not sure Anna could get into the records of all the databases we’d need to do this thing,” Prissy said.

“Now we’re hacking the police department. Where did the honest Prissy go? Who is this new ‘take a risk’ girl? We’ll have to check with Anna. Anna? Have you been listening?”

Anna’s avatar frowned. “You’re asking for a lot more than you ever had in the past,” Anna said.

“The modeling of Lummi drunk should be easy. What’s so hard?” Lux asked.

“At least you didn’t ask if I could get into voting records in the state. That IS locked down. I can’t get near that stuff but police departments are usually easy because they are sloppy. Some sections of a police department are less secure than others,” Anna explained.

“What’s so different? When we did the nightclub show we had a lot of moving pieces. What would we have to do here?” Prissy asked.

“Just looking in it briefly there are many pieces. We have police body cams from different sectors, breath alcohol test results, no driver’s license, the hospital drug screen blood test, then the Rohypnol positive test, radio call system, booking mugshots system, fingerprints, jail intake, committing magistrate,” Anna explained.

“Anna. You’re a whiz. Can it be done? We can always make a music video like Lux suggested,” Prissy said.

Anna’s avatar had her wearing big, black rimmed glasses while she was sitting at a desk studying at a computer screen. A ‘Give Me a Few Minutes’ dialog box popped up on the screen.

Prissy walked over to the framework around Lux’s drone. “What’s this?” Prissy asked.

Lux got a little nervous talking about this with anyone. “It’s possibly going to be a drone sometime in the future. My dad is up here last week helping me with it but he had to go back to Huntsville this weekend. We didn’t make any progress on what we were trying.”

“What’s it going to do?” Prissy asked.

“I want it to map magnetic fields. That’s what I originally designed it to do,” Lux explained.

“I can do it!” Anna said. “I found a station with very slack security."

“What do you think the sequence would be like?” Lux said as Prissy pulled up a chair. Lummi was shown in a car. The police came up and pulled her out. She was clearly out of it. They fast forwarded through the steps – all the way to being placed in the jail. “That looks great. Let us know when it’s complete. We’ll need to have someone call the news line to report the arrest.”

“I will look for a period when the officers take a break or some other period. I have modeled the patterns of their normal behavior and this behavior will fit into their normal routines. They make a lot of DUI arrests – many that are questionable. I’ve found a pair that target Latinos and Blacks exclusively and their patrol area demographics are on 23% Black and 10% Latino,” Anna said.

Lux turned to Prissy. “My Krav Maga instructor is coming over in a minute so we can work on knife fighting. You’re welcome to watch. I can show you how to throw a knife afterward if you want.”

“I saw those targets in the garage. They looked pretty beat up. Sure. If you don’t mind, I’d like to watch. I see stuff in the movies all the time but it’s so fake,” Prissy said.

“See. Look in the rear monitor. That’s Troy. He’s my instructor,” Lux said as he unlocked the rear door.

“Hi Lux. Let’s warm up and you’re going to have to be faster with your footwork since all your opponents will have more reach and strength than you. Who’s this?” Troy said looking at Prissy.

“Troy. Meet Prissy. We went to school together back in Huntsville.”

“Nice to meet you, Prissy,” Troy said warmly. “Warm ups Lux. We’re on the clock. Stretches to the ceiling. Young lady. Join us for this part,” he motioned and Prissy joined in with a grin.

“Stretch to the ceiling, hold, now down to the floor with knees straight. Good Prissy. You’re much looser than this guy,” Troy said and chuckled. “Again. Two more times. Now raise your elbow and pat yourself on the back. I call this the ‘FBI technique’ because I used to be in local law enforcement. Push your elbow back with your other hand. Swap and do the other side.”

Troy continued. “Reach behind your head with both hands and pull your head forward. Now push your head to one side – now the other.  Now – lunges. Back straight and step out with knee over your foot. Twist at the waist – now right arm fully extended and lift the heel of your back foot. Same with the left arm. Okay. Strengthening. Shake out your hands like your fingers are on fire. Now bend your fingers back with your opposite hand – swap. Put the back of your right hand in the palm of your left hand. With your left hand – grab the base of your right thumb and bend it down to stretch your right wrist. Swap.”

“More wrist stuff,” Troy said. “Put your right elbow in the center of your chest with fingers toward you. Put the knuckles of your left hand on the knuckles of your right hand. Now – with your left hand push the knuckles of your right hand until it begins to hurt – hold – stop. Swap. Now pick up the hammer. Lunge right circles. Spiral in. Two more. Hammer in left hand – lunge and left circles. Spiral in. Two more. That concludes the warm up. Hammers down.”

“Slazh knives now?” Lux asked.

“Yes. I hear you got the patent,” Troy said.

“News travels fast. Yep,” Lux answered. “I’ll give you the licensing agreement after practice,” Lux said and handed Troy the practice knife. “That’s your demo knife. I’m working on local manufacturing in the US. Looks like we can get them manufactured for about ten dollars each. Marketing is fifteen more. Sale price around $100 with access to the training video you make. I’ve got an agency lined up but we can choreograph.”

“Liability?” Troy asked.

“I’m having my lawyers prepare disclaimers and warnings. I’ll have a web site built. We’ll use similar language to competitors but get liability coverage for me, you and other distributors,” Lux said and lunged with his knife toward Troy. Troy continued talking like nothing was going on and casually slapped Lux’s hand on the inside of his right wrist and Lux’s practice knife went flying.

Troy thrust just short of Lux’s throat.

Troy picked up Lux’s knife and tossed it back to him. “You concentrated on where you were going to strike. That can be a good feint. You look at one area and strike somewhere totally different. Let’s go over the striking points again. You’ll have to get better than you’ve been. Explain to me the major striking areas. Show me.”

Lux explained and demonstrated, “Go for the major arteries and nerve clusters: brachial (arm), median (inside upper arm), ulnar (side of arm opposite the thumb), radial (thumb side), carotid (sides of neck), subclavian (under the inside of the collar bone), femoral (sides of the groin/inside thighs), throat, eyes, heart, stomach, and kidney. Generally, an assailant is not stopped immediately so you must weaken and stay away through loss of blood or nerve function.”

“Let’s spar to a disabling cut. Knives on. React like the strike disables that area. Often it is a loss through attrition,” Troy explained. “Go for it.”

Lux kept the knife hidden with the blade against the inside of his right wrist holding it like an icepick. He lunged forward but was hit two times by Troy and grunted from the shock.

“Don’t hold it like that generally. You need to compensate for your lack of reach. Keep the tip pointed at my face. Attack if I get distracted and get inside my reach. Expect to be cut somewhere. You’ll have to accept a cut or two. Where’d you feel my cuts from the shocks that time?” Troy asked.

“You got me on the back of my right forearm and as I pulled away; you hit my left median nerve area,” Lux explained.

“What would that have done?” Troy asked.

Lux thought back. “I could still use my right arm but may not have been able to open my hand. My left arm would be useless and I could bleed out in half a minute if worst case.”

“Try again,” Troy said.

Lux repeated and had a few feints that semi-worked but Troy had a major advantage in reach and experience. But Lux was getting better. They finished with throwing knives and Lux was getting particularly good from most distances up to 6 to 7 meters. Troy sat and read through the licensure agreement while Lux showed Prissy how to throw a no-spin knife. She was pretty good.

Troy came back. “Looks good. There are a couple of places I need to talk to the lawyers about. I like the part of the contract that says I can select those persons to sell the knives. Having them fight me will keep my skills honed and make sure they are competent. Royalties look good. I’d like to sell fifty knives for $100 each than 5 knives for $800. Ours are better made and should last longer. Ours are more realistic – no sparking and can simulate cuts through some clothing. I’ll let my lawyer look at it and talk to your lawyer. You did a bit better today. Bringing a girlfriend makes you perform better,” Troy said laughing quietly.

Lux blushed looking at Prissy who was pretending not to listen.

Troy left and Prissy came up to Lux. “When do you think Anna will start the process?”

Lux looked at Anna’s monitor and it showed her in front of six screens looking at flowing text and GPS locations. Lux said for her to keep at it and he was going to escort Prissy back home.

“We ready to head back? Will Anna be okay doing this by herself?” Prissy asked.

“Yep. Ready to go and Anna will be fine,” Lux said.

They talked on the way back and decided that Anna would be fine and the arrest would be better early in the morning.

◆◆◆

Sunday morning Next day - Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Lux skipped his workout, ate a light breakfast and headed over to his lab. He asked Anna how it went. Her avatar showing two monitors instead of five. Anna’s avatar turned to him and showed him not only the police body cam camera footage of the arrest, but also questioning, handcuffing and intoximeter breath test, taking her in front of a committing magistrate, and then taking her to the hospital. There was footage of her demanding a blood test for Rohypnol (date rape drug) in addition to her blood screening for drugs. There was a photo of her mug shots and fingerprints. There was a view of her in jail. Anna showed where Lummi was entered in the database for the holding cells.

Lux had Anna call WBS-TV News line from an anonymous number.

“WBS-TV News. What news do you have for us?’ the pleasant female voice said.

“I just saw that ‘Lummi’ girl you did a story about. She got arrested for DUI last night but she wasn’t drunk or anything. I’ve never known her to drink. She got roofied at a dive bar and wobbled away before the guy could do anything and got into some stranger’s car that was unlocked when the cops found her. She disappeared after she was booked. Police will give you the run around. I’m going to wait an hour before I call all the other stations.” Anna disconnected.

“Are you really going to wait an hour before calling the other stations?” Lux asked.

“No. I called every station in and around Atlanta at the same time and varied them all a little with different people calling with different information. Some reporters, I gave the name of the hospital where the blood was supposedly drawn for the drug tests and the date rape drug test. The hospitals all have the results in the system. The police have the results of the tests. The police station has body cam footage that leaked to the press. The dispatchers have recorded calls. Some of them I gave more details on who ‘Lummi’ was.”

“We’ll see if they’re on the news tonight,” Lux wondered how old he’d be when he got out of prison thinking about all the laws he must have broken. All criminals must think they’ll never get caught. He went back to the design for Professor Jones.

◆◆◆

Hayes House downstairs Lounge – Sunday afternoon

“Hi Prissy. Glad you’re here. Come to watch the news with me?” Lux said with a smile and handed her the popcorn.

“Yep,” She said and twittered a laugh. “Has the news started yet.”

“Nope. You’re just in time. It’s coming on now,” Lux said.

The station gave its normal lead-in. “Breaking news! Singer ‘Lummi’ was falsely arrested for DUI after being roofied in central Atlanta. Later in the newscast. Two men were shot… the rest of the lead-in covered the stories they were going to cover after the first set of commercials. The pair waited anxiously with the muted TV ready to unmute, when the regular broadcasting came back on.

The story explained that the singer ‘Lummi’ was arrested leaned over in a car when police showed up. The body cam footage showed the police being professional but the camera picked up Lummi saying hospital…roofied…no alcohol. The camera footage showed Lummi taking a Breathalizer 9000 test for alcohol and the technician shaking her head that it was negative. Later bodycam footage showed Lummi in the hospital taking a blood screen for drugs, and Lummi asking to test for Rohypnol (a date rape drug). This drug makes people incoherent/looking drugged or drunk and affects memory. “WBS-TV could not obtain the hospital’s written reports but the test indicated was positive for the date-rape drug. ‘Lummi’ was booked as a non-compliant prisoner and the TV station received a copy of the mugshot.”

“WBS-TV has confirmed that the police say they have no Lummi person in custody. We will follow-up on the story as it develops.

“I think we should alert CNN. Don’t you?” Prissy said.

“We did this morning, already,” Lux said.

Prissy punched Lux lightly. “Shame on you,” she said grinning hugely.

◆◆◆

CNN Carol Matthews office – Monday morning

Jennifer came in. “Did you see it? Tell me you saw the news last night.”

Carol shook her head and looked puzzled. “I had three glasses of wine and went to bed early. What’s up?”

“It’s Lummi. The Atlanta PD arrested her for DUI because she acted drunk and had climbed into a stranger’s unoccupied car to hide from whomever roofied her. Someone on the PD leaked the bodycam footage, her mug shots, and her hospital blood test that showed she’d been roofied. Someone leaked her curled up in the corner of a holding cell. Now they can’t find her.”

“My goodness. Get John and see what you can find. I’m not sure I can do a story because I’ve already earned $17,000 from royalties, of just my piece of her nightclub act at Terminal West,” Carol said.

“That sounds like we ought to do MORE to help her. Wow,” Jennifer said.

◆◆◆

Lux barely made it to his evening meal because Prissy kept texting him. He was too busy to call her back but she was waiting in the lobby of Hayes House when he finished dinner.

She ambushed him when he came in and practically dragged him to a quiet corner. “Have you been watching the news? They are going to start an investigation of the Atlanta PD for the arrest of Lummi. We need to do something. Let’s go to your lab.”

Ten minutes later they were pulling up the news feeds. “I wanted them to concentrate of the roofied part but they are going to crucify the officer and the jail staff for losing her. Can’t we do something?”

Lux shrugged. “Anna?”

“I’ve been simulating the results of what we did and a month from now does NOT look good. There could be some street violence, even riots because of prior police conduct the Atlanta PD is trying hard to change. I do have a possible solution but we’d have to do it today,” Anna explained.

“We could have some distant footage of a bench trial where the Assistant District Attorney and a Judge receive evidence from the hospital. I can portray a doctor giving the judge the reports from the negative drug screen and Rohypnol positive test. We can make the judge and district attorney’s office the good guys. Lummi could go on video and give a short statement. She would thank the police department for taking me away from a dangerous situation and getting her to the hospital quickly and getting tested. Then have her thank the judge and DAs office,” Anna said.

“Can you add those records to the court system? Lummi would need the names of a Judge and an Assistant District Attorney that were working this morning,” Lux asked.

“Done. Judge Blevins and Jeffrey Ridings handled the case. They had a brief break because the judge has a bladder problem. Shall I be Lummi and call Carol Matthews at CNN?” Anna asked.

“Anna. Is it my imagination or are you getting smarter?” Prissy queried.

“Miss Hunnicutt. The situations you and Mister Blakely have thrown at me are rapidly expanding my capabilities. Having faster processors and less restrictions has enabled me to expand a bit. I’ll make that call and I’ll be listening for comments, in case I need to change my behavior during the call,” Anna said.

◆◆◆

CNN – Office of Carol Matthews – Late Monday afternoon

Jennifer came rushing into Carol’s Office. “Pick up on line 3. It’s Lummi!”

“Hi Miss…Lummi. How are you doing after your ordeal?” Carol asked.

“It wasn’t that bad because the police got me away fast and took me to the hospital. Is it possible for me to do a Zoom interview with you and you record it? It’s a statement of what happened and to absolve the system of blame. I’d make it short,” Lummi said.

“Sure,” Carol said. “I’ll send an invite text to your number with a code. Will that work? Give me five minutes.”

“Okay. Bye,” Lummi cut the connection.

“Let’s see what Lummi looks like 15 hours after being drugged,” Prissy said.

The image of Lummi appeared in Anna’s monitor.

“Hair should be like you just washed it. More tousled. More. That’s good. Add a bit of dark circles under her eyes. Let her scar stand out a bit more. That’s good,” Prissy said.

“Those officers won’t remember any of that so thank the officers for getting you away from that situation and taking you to the hospital. Thank them for getting you before a judge and prosecutor so they could throw the case out after presentation of documents proving you weren’t on drugs or any kind, had no alcohol, and showing that you had a date rape drug from your soft drink in your system. Give a short how to keep from this happening to you talk. Okay?” Lux suggested.

“They just sent the invite. Here we go,” Anna said.

“Hi Lummi. How are you doing after your ordeal?” Carol said.

“I’m better now, thank you for asking Carol. I was pretty foggy headed for a while. I though t I might have to run for congress.”

Carol laughed, “You’re obviously better. Are you resentful?”

“Not really. I’ve had this happen before in Tangier. I about didn’t get away from there alive. I was at a dive bar here Saturday night with associates. Someone slipped a ‘roofie’ in my soft drink. I felt woozy almost immediately and stumbled outside and hid in the first car that I found unlocked. The Atlanta Police found me and I looked wasted but they took me away from the bar and to a hospital in a little bit. They drew blood and found that I wasn’t on any drugs. I got the hospital to test for Rohypnol, one of the date-rape drugs, and test showed positive,” Lummi explained.

“But the police fingerprinted you and took mugshots and put you in a holding cell. How’d you get out? I saw you curled up in a holding cell,” Carol retorted.

“I was coming out of it in the morning and they took me before Judge Blevins and an Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Ridings for a preliminary hearing. A doctor from the hospital showed up at court and gave the judge the reports. After the judge saw the negative drug screen and positive date-rape drug findings, he dismissed my case and turned me loose. The doctor said he’d give me a ride to where I’m staying. No injuries. I’m thankful to law enforcement and the court system in Atlanta,” Lummi said.

“You’re not angry? You’re not going to sue?” Carol asked.

“That wouldn’t help anyone. Keep control of any drink you have. Ask for an unopened can or bottle. Don’t drink it if it tastes funny. Stay with people you know. I violated that last rule and paid the price.”

“Thank you. Lummi,” Carol said. “That was good. Do you want to talk about Tangier?”

Lummi said, “NO!” and the color drained from her face and she rocked back with a grimace.

“Sorry. Sorry. Thank you for calling me, Lummi. I’ll air this as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Carol. Bye,” Lummi cut the connection. “How was that?” Lummi asked with the top of both hands under her chin and a naughty grin on her mouth.

“Masterful. I started to feel sorry for you,” Prissy said and Lummi bowed.

◆◆◆

Tuesday – Georgia Tech

Lux was leaving System Dynamics class when he heard two students talking behind before they left the class. “Did you see where the Atlanta PD arrested that girl Lummi here this weekend?” one coed said.

“Really. What for?” the other coed questioned.

“DUI…but…and this will freak you out. She’d been roofied. She got out of the DUI because she got the hospital to test for the date rape drug. No alcohol but positive for the date rape drug,” said coed one.

“Wow. She’s lucky. I had a friend that was roofied at a frat party, she thinks. My friend was raped but she never reported it,” replied coed two.

“I like Lummi. I saw the short set she did at Terminal West and she was great.”

Lux saw the girls notice him and they shut up abruptly. He went to his lab class. He hoped Wendy was doing better as he walked into class. Wendy saw him come in and smiled with a nod. He went up to sit beside her at their lab table.

“What are we doing today?” he asked.

“You better know, we’re doing stress-strain characterization of metallic alloys,” Wendy said.

“Yeah. I read the chapter and did the homework. You wanna see it?” he asked.

“Let’s compare it to mine,” she said and opened their computer together. “Yep. You did what I did first. You forgot to take this variable into account on your finite element analysis. Change that and run it again. See. Now it looks just like mine.”

Lux just nodded and listened as she explained their next assignment. Professor Jones came up to him. “Did she help you again?” Jones asked.

“Yep,” he said. “She’s got it.”

“Thank you,” Jones said. “Have you thought more about what we talked about last week?”

Lux took his backpack and unzipped a pocket in the front. He took out a little memory storage stick. He looked down at it and paused, seeming unsure. He looked up at the professor. He shook the drive while staring the professor in the eyes. “You can’t show this to anyone else. Parts of it are grayed out. Look through this. The outer shell is a composite supercapacitor. It holds four people. Imagine the passengers are comfortable from ground to 30 kilometers altitude. See what I missed in pressurization, humidity, HVAC, flight instruments. You’ll see a few extra instruments.”

“You designed this?” Jones asked.

“I need your help building this in my lab,” Lux explained.

“Are we trying to get FAA approval?” Jones asked.

“They would never let us build this except at Area 51,” Lux said.

“You’re serious,” Jones asked and Lux reached to take it back. “I’ll look at it and give you my honest opinion and won’t tell a soul.”

“You have it on loan until next class. Make sure you see me after Thursday’s class."

◆◆◆

The Krav Maga class went fine that night but left Lux no time to do anything except his homework. It was after his last class ended on Thursday that Professor Jones came up to him.

“Can you really get funding for this vehicle?” Jones asked.

“What do you think? What did I miss?” Lux asked.

“You left out TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System), radar, transponder, emergency beacon, navigation lighting, equipment for instrument flights when not using visible flight rules among other things,” Professor Alexander Jones said with many reservations.

“How about for passengers being comfortable in pressurized altitudes and with heating and cooling? You’re worried about making this vehicle legal with the Federal Aviation Administration rules. This vehicle is so outside all current categories that it makes most of those regulations look like the early regulations with automobiles. You have to have someone walk in front of your car with a red lantern. Connecticut made the first state speed limit of 12 MPH on city streets and 15 MPH on county roads.”

“We have to make it legal if we’re going to be flying it. What are the greyed areas? What are you using for propulsion?” Jones asked.

Lux sighed. “We need to make sure it can work at all before we start adding bells and whistles. I plan to fund this and have five million to invest as a start. I understand that seventy-percent of the cost of a project is the concept and design portion. I have some serious non-disclosures before we go further. If you’re able to apply for the grant I’ll write, we’ll proceed. I want this to look like a four seat multi-rotor aircraft. You in on it?”

Professor Jones asked a clarification question. “You’re going to write a grant so that that the university here will get 32.4% facilities and administration rate (indirect costs) as an off-campus grant. I’d be the principal investigator (PI) since I’m tenured and you’d be…?”

“I’d be your silent partner since I’m ten, but I’d be the co-PI. I’d specify paying two years at 100% of your salary if you wanted to avoid teaching. We’d work on this together while I finish up my undergraduate degree. I could use the grant for quite a few of my senior requirements. You’d need to sign the non-disclosure which has strict enforcement penalties. You want more time. I’m ten – I can wait.”

The corners of Brown’s mouth turned up at that last statement. “When would I see this grant?”

“When you sign the NDA,” Lux said.

“Do you really have the funds for this grant? Will your father let you?” Jones asked.

“Any funds are from my own investments and royalties. I was thinking three million would get us started. Any more would bring more attention than we want at this stage,” Lux explained.

“You could do that… and more?” Jones asked and Lux nodded.

Chapter 7

CIA Headquarter Langley, Virginia – Office of Ingrid - Senior Analyst

“Ingrid. You need to look at this report,” Brandt said.

“What ’ya got?” Ingrid said a bit distracted.

“You remember how we started looking at that Lummi girl in Paris, when she did that video and said don’t take pictures of government buildings,” Brandt asked.

“Yeah. It’s been a while and there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Refresh my memory.”

“Lummi was giving travel tips and recommended tourists should not take pictures of government buildings. Lummi said ‘don’t take pictures of buildings’, while giving the example of two American tourists taking pictures of the CIA Headquarters building in Paris,” Brandt explained.

“Ah yes. I remember. We thought Lummi might have something to do with our joint operation with French intelligence. That operation went fine though. What of it?” Ingrid asked.

“We tracked down the royalties from all of Lummi’s social media payments to a registered agent for a shell corporation in the Caymans. That registered agent was finally traced to another shell corporation in Panama that owned the one in the Caymans. We traced that one to an aged shelf corporation in Wyoming,” Brandt said with a look of triumph.

“Gads Brandt. My ears are tired from the tracing. Why do I care who owns them?” Ingrid asked.

Brandt snickered. “Lux Blakely and Prissy Hunnicutt. Ta da!”

“You spent a lot of effort and resources to get that information. Do they pay their taxes on the money? Are you saying we need to charge them with something?” Ingrid asked.

“Well. No. They pay above the mandatory rates but it’s not right with their ages. He’s ten and she’s fourteen. I ALSO found out they are both in college at Georgia Tech. He’s in Aerospace Engineering and she’s in Computer Science,” Brandt said. “They must be fronting for something at their ages.”

“Oh my!” Ingrid exclaimed. “We’re going to have to charge them for being super smart. They’re Americans from the South. Those type of charges could disrupt the world order! Glad you’ll never be charged with that, Brandt,” Ingrid said.

“You mark my words. They’re up to something,” he said seriously.

◆◆◆

Professor Ernest Helmann’s Office – Guggenheim Building Georgia Tech

Professor Ernest Helmann was perplexed. “I haven’t been able to get the funds I expected from the military. They won’t do anything without a demonstration and our agreement precludes doing that without your agreement. I had considered doing that but decided at the last minute not to do so. I thought you’d figure it out. What do you think we should do now?”

“I realize you need funding to continue working on this exclusively. We need to determine what is causing the no-sonic-boom phenomenon,” Lux explained.

“Obviously,” Helmann said with exasperation. “I couldn’t think of a theoretical basis for it behaving like it did. Obviously,” The professor said with a snort of exasperation.

“No. No. I understand that. We take away different features and see how it performs. I already know when my satellite when hits atmosphere it will burn up with the thruster inactive. Now, we only need to fly it at up to Mach 24 in atmosphere without the active hybrid material supercapacitor as the hull of the drone.”

“That takes time and money we don’t have,” Helmann explained.

“Professor. I’ve sent you a grant. It’s from me to the university for a off-campus project. We need to add Professor Alexander Jones as a Co-Principal Investigator with his salary for two-years. You would be co-PI with him and me. It would cover 50% of your salary to manage the project and claim credit. I thought three million over the two years would cover us. The grant is in your inbox,” Lux described.

“The minute you mention a no-fuel propulsion you would be shut down by the military and the press would be all over us,” Helmann said.

“Yep. Look at the proposal. We allegedly are building and testing a six or eight rotor electric VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) vehicle like one hundred other companies are doing. I already have a CGI (computer generated imagery) video of our design we could release. I have a series of drawing to release to show the improvements and the expected performance specs. The specifications would be non-spectacular as the tanks in World War I (WWI) shipped to the front lines described as water tanks. It’s a misdirection where you can get paid for working on this project.”

“I can see the logic in that. That would free me for other projects too. Would Professor Jones be willing to do that?” Helmann asked. “Your father said you had the money available and we wouldn’t have to involve the military.” Helmann paused a full minute looking thoughtful. “Okay. We’ll do it.”

“Great,” Lux said knowing that he wouldn’t get anywhere without Helmann’s approval. “Jones and I will build a fuselage mockup to throw people off. You and I can test the drone with heat sensors in the front end if we notice heating. It has enough power in the batteries to run without the supercapacitor for a while. I’ll try covering it with 3.18 mm (1/8th inch) thick aluminum 2024 (aluminum with chromium, copper and iron). Then I’ll try Titanium 5553 (which is titanium with 4.8% Aluminum, 4.8% molybdenum, 5.2% Vanadium, 3% Chromium, 0.35% Iron).”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll read over the grant proposal, make changes as needed, and then have Jones sign it,” Helmann said.

“Sounds good. Just send it to me and I’ll do the footwork getting it to the Deans office and Sponsored Programs offices.”

◆◆◆

Sponsored Projects Office – Georgia Tech – End of October

“Hey Shirley. Look at this one. This research project is weird. Dean’s Office has already signed off of it,” Denetria said.

“What’s weird about it?” Shirley asked, having seen some crazy grants over the last twenty years.

“What’s weird is the way it’s funded,” Denetria said.

“Looks like a normal grant to me. What is it? NIH, NSF, DHS, DoD, DARPA, NASA, SBIR/STTR, …some corporation?” Shirley expounded.

“None of those. It’s from a private citizen for three million. It’s supposed to be for an off-campus project using two professors and a student,” Denetria said.

Joel butted in as he was in a neighboring cubicle. He came around to the open side of Shirley’s cubicle. “I bet ten bucks its that Lux Blakely, who’s the student. He's just a kid.”

Denetria looked at the grant again. “It is. How’d you know?! What's this about a kid?”

“Uh huh,” Joel said. “He’s ten years old and he’s in Aerospace Engineering with Professor Helmann. Supposed to be rich from royalties from his own patents.”

Shirley turned to her coworker.  “Joel. How did you know about this kid? This is supposed to be all hush-hush stuff.”

“Nah. I listen to rumors on campus. It’s the only entertainment I can afford on my pitiful salary,” Joel said with a sarcastic grin.

The corners of Denetria’s mouth turned up and her eyes squinted hearing Joel pushing Shirley for a pay raise. “The student has a lab off-campus. Man. This kid must have a lot of bread to give $3 million to the school.”

“The school gets about 32% of the money. It’s for designing an electrically powered aircraft for short VTOL flights,” Shirley explained.

“That’s so last decade,” Joel said. “Nothing new really. Dozens of those last decade came and went with everyone building drones. You’d think the young people would have new ideas or something.”

Shirley turned to her coworkers. “Let’s process this thing so we can get the money.”

Denetria and Joel nodded and finished up the paperwork.

◆◆◆

Office of the Comptroller – Georgia Tech

“Here’s a hot one,” the office manager explained to her assistant. “We just got a transfer of three million from Your Luxy Day, LLC. Weird, it’s based in Montana but it’s good for the money. They transferred the money within a minute of its approval here. Their people are really on the ball. I’ll notify the PIs (grant Principal Investigators) that their grant was approved and the accounts are cleared for withdrawal.”

◆◆◆

Office of Professor Alexander Jones – Guggenheim Building Georgia Tech

Professor Jones looked at his email in shock. The boy had come through after all. He was a principal investigator on a million-dollar grant. He had looked at the design Lux had done, and it was extraordinary. There were minor things he would have put other places but it was preference more than a design flaw. Jones wondered how a ten-year-old could design things so well. They were supposed to meet in a few minutes to discuss the grant. Jones was feeling a bit pressured to be doing something different from the stated purpose of the grant. He did feel slightly reassured that he had two-years of salary built into this grant even though he had six more weeks of classes to finish and others would have to take up his teaching load.

Lux approached the office knowing that Professor Jones was having qualms about designing an aircraft outside the requirements of the grant. He hoped he could put his doubts to rest today. The professor’s door was open at his office so Lux knocked on the doorframe and Jones asked him to come in. Lux shut the door behind him without asking and Jones straightened up at a student being this forward.

“Afternoon professor. I take it you’ve seen the email we all received today about the approval of the grant,” Lux said and Jones nodded. “I also received your non-disclosure. Professor Helmann will discuss the National Secrets Act with you, I’m sure. Up to this point, I haven’t discussed or shown you certain aspects of the propulsion system I discovered. I want you to see some of the test results from my drone that is currently in my lab.”

“What are you talking about? You have a drone in your lab already?” Jones said.

“Yes. I’ve been working with Professor Helmann trying to discover how the drone was able to fly at Mach 24 in atmosphere without burning up, and without causing the normal sonic booms of craft exceeding the speed of sound,” Lux said while opening his laptop.

“That’s impossible,” Jones said with his eyes getting big and stepping back a little from Lux.

“That’s what they said at Eglin Air Force base two months ago until we did repeated tests on radar. They flew me back here in an F-15EX. I used the same propulsion system on a 12U satellite that I had SpaceX put into orbit last Spring,” Lux said to an incredulous Jones.

“You were in school two months ago?” Professor Jones said suddenly thinking this kid had lost his sense of reality.

Lux saw the look of distrust and mix of negative emotions on the professor’s face. “Here are some clips of videos from my lab off campus with Professor Helmann. We built a steel testing frame to measure thrust from my drone. It’s fully charged and we are starting at 10% power,” Lux explained. “I’ll stop it at different points and zoom in for you.” Lux started the video.

“I’m Professor Ernest Helmann and I’m here with Lux Blakely (a small hand waved in front of the camera), who invented this marvel. We’re testing thrust against the Earth’s magnetic fields present in this lab in Atlanta.” Lux paused the video and he could see Jones take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Lux knew the professor was getting over his doubts. Lux restarted the video. “We are using the battery pack on board his drone set at 10% power. The frame is riveted to the reinforced concrete floor with 20-centimeter expansion spikes. Now at 10% power we are showing right at 100 kilograms of forward thrust. Now 20% power, we have 1800 kilograms of forward thrust. Now 30 % power, we have 2250 kilograms of forward thrust.”

Lux stopped the video and explained, “We only got 80% more thrust as we increased each ten percent in power. It was when we increased the Halbach array cycling rate that we got huge increases in thrust. I’m going to skip to that part.” The video sped forward until it came to a marked spot.

Helmann was speaking again. “Looking at the Earth’s magnetic fields as the cycling changed, which helped us visualize what was happening.”

Alexander Jones sat up. “What did he say? Watching the magnetic fields? How did he do that?”

“Oh. Sorry. I just received the patent on a magnetic camera I invented about seven months ago. I can show you that later. You should see the magnetic fields around the Earth! They’re a lot different than we theorized they’d be,” Lux said, and pulled out the improved magnetic camera from his backpack and handed it to Professor Jones. He showed him how to turn it on and focus it.

Jones pointed it around the room and saw the waves swirling and rippling through the surfaces around him. Jones had a rare earth magnet on his desk (NdFeB). Jones marveled at the interaction with the magnetic fields around him and the magnet in his hand. “You invented this too?”

“Yep. Come on. Plenty time for that later, as my dad would always say. Now the video shows the thrust measurements with an increase in cyclic rate at 10% power,” Lux said. The video started and the steel frame shrieked as the metal began to bend and they had to shut it down. Lux explained. “At 8% power and 2000 cycles per second we hit our max forward thrust for this setup.”

“That’s wonderful to get that much thrust,” Jones said.

“You don’t understand. Our test setup almost flew apart. We could have increased power and cyclic rate further but we didn’t want it to punch a hole in the wall or us. We still don’t know why it can go so fast without sonic booms. I have the thrusters for our vehicle in my lab but we need more tests to eliminate factors. We are replacing the hybrid hull in this drone with aircraft aluminum and titanium to see if it heats up in atmosphere at high velocity.”

“You don’t expect our vehicle to carry humans during our project, do you?” Jones asked.

“I flew to Eglin Air Force Base from here, hanging from a harness from my drone. It took an hour and twenty minutes so I averaged about 400 kilometers an hour,”  Lux stated.

Professor Alexander Jonesstood there with his mouth hanging open. “Wasn’t that crazy and reckless. Why in the world would you do that?” he said in an unbelieving tone.

“I wasn’t being childish? I was desperate. My father brought the police with him, and he was going to jerk me out of school until I was eighteen, thinking I was delusional. He wouldn’t believe anything I told him, until he saw me floating over his head. I flew off, and he saw me disappear. Having the base commander of Eglin Air Force base in Florida call him a couple hours later made him realize it wasn’t my imagination. He still didn’t believe me, and still had doubts seeing me get out of an F-15EX at Dobbins. Me, in a flight suit with my drone following behind me,” Lux explained.

Professor Jones started laughing and couldn’t stop. It wasn’t funny. Yes, it was. It was more of a tension release then anything else. He started hiccupping. It took him a while to get back to stable.

◆◆◆

Professor Helmann’s Office – Georgia Tech

“I see everyone is here,” Professor Helmann said. “Dr. Jones. Is your video connection, okay?”

“Call me Alex. It’s fine.”

“Lux? You, okay?”

“Alex,” Lux said hesitantly. He thought it sounded weird calling him that instead of Professor Jones. "Alex and I replaced the outside hull of the drone with Titanium 5553.  We also installed better temperature sensors which will reduce thrust power after reaching 650°C (1202°F),” Lux explained.

“Why’d you pick that temperature?” Jones said acting as the devil’s advocate.

“That was the engine cowling temperature on the SR-71 reconnaissance plane. If it gets that hot, we know it must be the hybrid ultracapacitor material that’s causing the heat resistance,” Alexander said.

“Where can we test this?” Helmann asked. “We don’t want too many questions and we don’t want observers.”

“I know someone that is getting a commercial drone license, would never tell anyone, and is totally trustworthy. I’ll have to see if she will do it before we test though,” Lux said.

Everyone reluctantly agreed, as they didn’t have better suggestions, and they didn’t want the military appropriating their research.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab - 563 Spring Street NW Atlanta

Lux brought up Anna. “Anna. I need Lummi to get a drone license. I think we need an exemption to fly a drone over Lake Lanier at night. Suggest four hundred feet altitude. There is some ridiculously slow speed allowance. We’ll only be doing several thousand kilometers per hour faster than that.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. When do you want to do it?” Anna asked.

“How soon can you get it done?” Lux asked.

“Let’s see,” Anna’s avatar was stroking her chin with her head tilted back. “Okay. I went to the License Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA). Lummi has her license now. The drone I bought is now registered. I actually bought one, so you can show it if someone asks. Carry it with you. I applied to fly it at 11 pm this Saturday though LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability). Part 107 was requested for a Lake Lanier exemption. Looks like we got it.”

“I’ll have Professor Jones with me so we get the GPS readings for heading, speed, and distance. I expect we’ll get adiabatic heating at the front of the drone over Mach 4 but we’ll see.”

◆◆◆

Lake Lanier – Recreation Center – Drone Test with Titanium hull

Lux rode with Professor Alexander Jones and the drone. Lux was talking with ‘Lummi’ over the phone through Anna. Anna was also controlling the little commercial drone they had bought too. They had to pay $150 for the special drone test exemption. They let Lux’s original drone shoot up to 150 meters and hover there. Anna sent the little commercial drone up to 100 meters and had it hold stationary in case they got unwanted attention. Lux gave Anna the ‘go’ to test the drone’s speed and heating effects.

Lux’s drone was invisible that high and took off. The craft had just reached 1240 km/hour (770 mph) when there were two loud booms. “Keep it going until we get heating or I tell you to stop,” Lux ordered.

Soon, there were several sonic booms over the lake. “We started getting seriously heating at Mach 4 and I shut down at Mach 5,” Anna told Lux. “Uh oh!” Lux said. “Park police are headed our way with their blue lights on. Send our drone home – subsonic. Let ‘Lummi’ talk to the cop, but I’ll keep the speaker on. You control our other drone as I suggest.”

“Evening folks. I’m Officer Boudoin. Awful late to out with someone so young. Let me see some ID. What are you people up to?”

“Up to? We have a permit for a drone night flight here. I’m an Aerospace Professor at Georgia Tech,” Jones said and handed the officer his license and school ID.

“This your son?” the officer inquired.

“This is my student, Lux Blakely,” Jones said and shined his flashlight at Lux’s ID when he handed it to him.

“What are you doing out here at night that you can’t do in the daytime?” the officer asked not giving the IDs back.

Jones started to answer but Lux cut him off. “Lummi is testing the control to a commercial drone. It’s the type that hides the controller. Have you ever heard of her? She’s a kind of famous singer.”

“She’s the one that did that show on WBS-TV. She’s really good. What is she doing?” the officer asked. “My daughter is crazy about her.”

“She can see us but we can’t see her. She is practicing staying hidden. She hates being seen without makeup. Tell you what,” Lux said, “I’ll put her on speaker, and she’ll land the drone wherever you want. You can tell her anywhere, and she’ll land it, if you don’t show her picture.”

“Hi Officer. Your name?” Lummi’s voice came out of Lux’s speaker.

“I’m Officer Boudoin, Miss. Could you land your drone on the hood of my car? I’ll light it up with my spotlight so you can see better,” the officer said.

“I was listening in the background when you were talking with Lux. What’s your daughter’s name?” Lummi’s sweet voice asked.

“Doris,” the officer said. “Did you happen to see what caused those booms over here?” he asked.

“Could it have been a flight of jet fighters? Do you think they were flying to Dobbins? They’d never tell us why they’re flying supersonic. Here comes the drone. Get your camera. I don’t want to scratch your paint,” she said as the little commercial drone touched down gently on the officer’s patrol car.

“Wow. Good job. I’d love to see you. Just so I could tell my daughter?” the officer said.

“I’m looking at you from a long way away,” Lummi said.

“Binoculars, and controlling a drone! Wow! Good landing,” the officer said, handing back Alexander’s and Lux’s IDs.

The officer turned off his overhead flashing lights and left the two standing there as he drove off.

Alexander asked, “Who’s this friend of yours? This Lummi who not only happened to have the drone license, but also got us a permit to fly at night over Lake Lanier, even though it has been closed for the last few years?”

“Look her up on the web. She’s a singer, and one of those ‘influencer’ people. She’s done shows around campus,” Lux said.

“A flight of fighters to Dobbins?” Alexander snorted in disgust. “She’s very accomplished at lying, it seems.”

Lux let out an exasperated sigh. “Now we know that the hull of the drone has the most to do with its odd behavior at speed. The hybrid ultracapacitor protects it from adiabatic compression in atmosphere somehow. It would have burned up tonight if it went much faster.”

“She didn’t have to lie to the officer,” Jones said.

Lux took a hand and was rubbing his eyes in tiredness. “The guy would have never let us go. There would have been an inquiry. It would drag in the school. The military might have gotten involved with the sonic booms. Really. That went pretty well. We supported the proposition that it’s the probably partially responsible for no sonic boom. Would it be nice if you could coat planes with that stuff and have no sonic boom?”

Professor Jones didn’t say a word, but just grumbled the entire way back to Lux’s lab. When he let Lux out, he finally asked, “Why’d she ask the officer what his daughter’s name was? Was she just playing him?”

“No,” Lux said really hurt. “Lummi just wanted to send her an autographed ballcap.”

Jones drove off as soon as Lux shut the door.

◆◆◆

Thanksgiving Holiday Break

Lux had his dad come pick him up at school and ferry him back to Huntsville. They talked on the way back. Lux explained the Lake Lanier test and how the drone created a sonic boom with a titanium hull. He explained that over Mach 4 the front of the drone got over 650°C at Mach Four.

Paulus saw something was troubling Lux. “What’s bothering you? Something is?” Paulus asked when Lux was still quiet.

“Professor Jones was there and a police officer came up and talked to us. He wanted to know what we were doing and I had Lummi talk to him over my phone. Lummi was running the big drone and another little one as a cover,” Lux explained.

“Uh huh,” Paulus said indicating for Lux to go on.

“I had had Lummi fly faster than the speed of sound and then continue to heating. That’s why we know about the extreme heating above Mach Four and the sonic booms,” Lux explained.

“Uh huh,” Paulus said indicating for Lux to go on.

“I turned on my camera and let Lummi land the little drone on the officer’s car.”

“Uh huh. More fake videos,” Paulus said indicating for Lux to go on.

“I explained that Lummi was a social media person trying to stay out of publicity who wanted to fly a drone without people seeing her. I implied she was flying using binoculars. Lummi told the cop that ‘she saw a flight of fighter planes she thought might be flying to Dobbins, and said they’d never tell us why if we asked’. Jones wanted to tell the guy everything, but I thought it would invalidate our permit and cause way too much kerfuffle,” Lux explained.

“Kerfuffle? Where did you learn that word? Why do you think he’s upset?” Paulus asked.

“I’m in college, dad. Jones knows my friend, Lummi lied,” Lux said. “He also thinks our grant will do more than we are saying. He has some guilt thing going on.”

“Do you feel guilty?” Paulus asked. “You know,” he paused. “With all your fake videos?”

“I ask myself that all the time and I usually say ‘No’. I ask myself what would have happened if I told the truth,” Lux paused. “This research stops if I get stopped. There are too many people that would use my age, in a heartbeat, as the excuse to stop me. This research could be used as a terrible weapon. We need to know more but my latest ideas make me suspect it’s going to take me down other avenues.”

“How so?” Paulus asked.

“I don’t think it’s a purely electromagnetic effect that we’ve ever seen before,” Lux answered with his head tilted back and eyes closed.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Home – Huntsville, Alabama – Prissy’s Visit

“Any excitement while you were at school?” Prissy asked Lux after riding over to his house.

“Nah,” Lux said. “Not really. Just finishing up all this semester’s classes.”

“I’m taking 18 hours, and it’s really tough. How many hours are you taking?” she said.

Lux was having a little trouble concentrating because Prissy was growing up and was filling out over the last half year. He took a deep breath to calm himself but her honeysuckle cologne was dizzying to him.

“Are you okay? You look distracted,” she commented.

“I’m thinking about Lummi,” he lied. “We ought to have her do an original music video and maybe a few songs.” He was very distracted.

“Yes!” Prissy said. “I don’t know anything about writing songs though. Do you think Anna knows anything?”

“Anna? You’ve been listening to us. I know computer bots can write music, but can you?” he asked.

“You want Lummi to make a music video or ten? Right? I’m hoping I get a cut of these,” Anna said.

“Sure,” Lux said. “As long as you pay taxes on it and keep it legal.”

“What would you want her to sing? Pop something with a catchy dance number and beat. Something fast and unique. Catchy might mean types of earworms but not bad ones. Something like that? You two do some fleshy stuff and I’ll see what I can come up with,” Anna said.

Lux and Prissy blushed furiously when Anna said do some fleshy stuff. Lux attempted to break the awkward silence. “What was the hardest stuff you’re covering this year?” he asked.

‘Definitely CS 4510 Automata and Complexity Theory and CS 3630 Robotics and Perception. Those two are bears,” she said.

“Good instructors?” he asked.

“Goodness, yes!” she said. “They are so much past high school stuff and all the stuff I’ve studied before Tech. Those teachers both spin off on tangents that are really interesting. One professor brought in another guy that was visiting. He talked to the class about quantum theory for computing and then the guy lost me with Lie Algebra, but it was so cool to have it to be on the cutting edge.”

“That really sounds like fun,” Lux said. “Anna. You have anything for us?”

“Not yet,” Anna said. “Check with me tomorrow. I’ll work on it tonight. I could crank something right out but it would be like a worn-out rock star cranking out an album of stuff no one wants to hear. It’s more complex than I thought. Tomorrow,” she said.

Chapter 8

Back at Lux’s Home – Huntsville, Alabama

Paulus greeted Lux when he arose for breakfast. “How about you cook tonight? I’ve been eating my own cooking for months.”

“Okay dad. The school meals aren’t bad. They made me feel at home by burning the buns on the grill and oversalting things,” Lux said with a grin. “How come you cooked all the extra bacon and eggs and toast? Is this a celebration?” Lux asked.

“Not exactly. We have company coming over. Ah. Here he is,” Paulus said and went to open the back door. Lux had been oblivious to security since he got back and hadn’t looked at the monitors.

His father opened the door and Ner stepped in.

“Ner!” Lux said and rushed over and gave him a big hug.

“Whoa partner! I’m not back from the dead. Your dad suggested I might want breakfast and add a touch up of your skills,” Ner explained and headed to the full plate Paulus had just put on the table.

They hobnobbed for a bit while Ner inhaled his food. “Good,” he said with the last mouthful. “…and I didn’t even have to cook it,” he said.

“Oh. You’re single again?” Paulus asked.

“Yeah. I’m kind of hard to live with… her loss,” Ner said with a sigh.

“Appreciate you coming. See what you can do for Lux if you would,” Paulus said.

Lux and Ner went outside like old times and started doing the stretching and basic warmup strikes.

They then moved over to his throwing knife targets. Lux pulled and threw his knives while moving. Each one hit the targets in the center with a solid ‘thwock’.

“Whoa! Someone’s been practicing. Much better. Show me throwing at different distances,” Ner demanded.

Ner was impressed when Lux could hit from every distance he tried. “You have been practicing. Now, let’s see your knife fighting,” Ner said and brought out some wooden training knives.

Lux laughed. “Not those. I patented these to use, instead,” he said and pulled out a case containing two black polymer knives. Lux showed him the switch to turn them on and where they could be recharged with a phone charger.

“What’s so different about these? I’ve seen gimmicky shock knives before,” Ner said.

“Slash through your pants or stab your chest. Umm. I’d suggest you hold it lightly because the harder you grip it – the more current,” Lux cautioned.

Ner tried it on his leg. “Momma Mia! That hurt. Through the pants? How did you do that?” Ner stabbed his chest lightly. “Frak! I’m not doing that again.”

“Body capacitance like a capacitance touch light switch. I use the squeeze feature that some phones have to increase or decrease the current. There’s a tiny bit of latency between the stab and the shock but if you can feel the push of the hard plastic, you will feel the shock,” Lux explained.

“Much more realistic and a lot less bloody. There’s no snapping electric arc which isn’t realistic. Shall we?” Ner asked.

They faced each other, holding the knife tip pointed at the other’s face. Lux had his strong foot back and left arm up, and ready to block. Lux did a feint to draw Ner in but Ner’s eyes opened wide when he realized that Lux was trying to sucker him into an attack. Ner waggled his finger at Lux but Lux struck out at the waggling finger and hit it before Ner could withdraw it. When Ner jerked back, Lux rushed and hit the inside of Ner’s knife hand wrist. Ner’s hand spasmed and he lost the grip on his knife. Lux struck under Ner’s right armpit and stopped right at Ner’s throat. Ner threw up his hands.

“Serves me right for taking your training for granted. Who have you been training with? You used a feint and an attack that are mainly used by more seasoned fighters trying to end a fight early, Ner explained.

“I met a Krav Maga instructor, Troy Reyes, who been showing me some stuff,” Lux said.

“He’s still around. Teaching Krav Maga now,” Ner chuckled. “He’s kinda’ one of those guys that’s teaching whatever is vogue. Oh. He’s good so you will pick up some ideas from him. I was surprised by how aggressive you are. Usually, a small person has to sucker someone into attacking them so they can counterattack. I won’t take you for granted again. Shall we?” Ner said and Lux only got an occasional touch after that.

“I yield,” Lux said again. “Show me that combination again. I bet I can surprise Troy with that technique and a couple of others you showed me.”

“Remember though…don’t show everything you know,” Ner cautioned.

“That’s the same as the two essential rules of business,” Lux explained.

Ner raised his eyebrows.

“The two essential rules of business are, first; Never tell everything you know,” Lux said and stopped talking.

Ner waited for him to say more and laughed when he didn’t. “That’s funny. You’re much better. Practice against as many different styles as you can and multiple assailants too. Cripple them and run though. Anything else happen?”

Lux described the attack by the five frat guys and how one of them had a gun. He explained how he’d disarmed the guy with the Glock and how he’d disassembled it. He also explained how the guy was kicked out of his fraternity and expelled.

“Keep an eye out. People will hold grudges for years for things that are ridiculous,” Ner said. “When will you have those practice knives for sale?”

“Should be in a few months. Troy will have a license to sell them. Promised him others could sell them too if they gave him a good sparring match. See him if you want to sell them. They will be profitable,” Lux said.

“He knows me. I’ll bet he’d let me sell them without a match,” Ner said with a grin. “I’ll be in Atlanta in late December. I’ll drop by and scope him out. It would be good for me. Love the design. Enjoyed it today. Say goodbye to your dad for me. I know he’s down in his lab.”

◆◆◆

Prissy’s 2nd Visit at Lux’s House – The Music Video

“Hi Prissy,” Lux said as he greeted her getting off her scooter. “You ready to see what we’ve got going so far?”

“Yes. Looking forward to what Anna has come up with,” Prissy said. “Do you think we’ll have anything people will want to watch?”

They went down to Lux’s workshop and brought up Anna. “Anna. What do you have for us?”

“Let me let Lummi tell you herself,” Anna said and Lummi appeared walking down a dark and dismal street with malfunctioning street lights and sad looking people.

Lummi was humming a tune, but the only words she said were ‘Make It Better’. Another guy joined her and started humming the tune too. It had a good beat. More people started joining her as she skipped along. They all danced together. Lummi started singing about the cruelty of the world with a sad expression. A man was beating his wife as the group slowed and everyone around was sad. Lummi made a motion and the man started serenading his wife with the same ‘Make It Better’ song. A little girl was being mean to a dog and Lummi made a motion. Then the girl looked happy and started playing with the dog.

An old woman was being taunted by gang members before Lummi made a motion and the gang helped the old woman carry groceries and helped her up her steps. A politician was giving a speech to a sad looking group before Lummi made a motion. Then the scene transformed into the politician helping the homeless off the street, giving haircuts, giving keys to large new apartments. The song pushed that you can be sad and pathetic or helpful and happy. Its key theme was the beat and tune that seemed to make the words stick in your head – Make It Better.

Lummi finished skipping down the street as she walked off in the distance and the city was shiny and fresh behind her.

Prissy and Lux both clapped. A new view appeared and Lummi was a doctor examining a bloody young man. She would examine his head trauma and the scene of what happened to him would appear. She would examine an old scar and the view would change to a younger man who had been beaten with a baseball bat. She looked at an old x-ray and it would zoom to the scene even earlier, to show where he was stabbed. Then the haunting music to ‘Flashback’ started and Lummi swirled about the young man’s bed.

The scene turned to one when the young man was a boy about twelve. His father choked on a piece of meat and died in front of him. The music ‘Flashback’ swelled and it showed the boy a bit younger. He was going to a night class and his friends enticed him to go break windows instead of going to a night class. Lummi danced in and stopped the music and rewound the view. This time she directed the boy – not to breaking windows but to a night CPR class. She danced across the scene. Then her song sped up – her hopeful music showed the boy saving his father with a Heimlich maneuver. The video showed a baseball game and the boy hitting a homerun. Lummi’s singing got faster and Lummi hit a new range. ‘Flashback’ showed the boy as a man in college. It reached the crescendo where it showed the new doctor in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. The song’s beat went slow and deep but the narrative told the story.

This video clearly showed the effect of poor choices ruining the rest of your life. It was pathos that turned to hope and joy and full of emotion. It was a morality play in a song. Prissy and Lux were misty eyed after seeing it.

Lummi showed up on the screen. “Something like this? I have more but psychological earworms and emotional earworms seem like a start.”

Prissy looked at Lux. “I think these are great Anna. Lummi. Your dancing was excellent. What about those extra dancers and characters? Are they all made up?”

Lummi looked concerned for a minute. “I thought about that, and then used real people. I made sure they were having a rough time of it before adding their names to the credits. I added the music videos to their online resumes and gave rave reviews from others to help them get jobs. I also sent them non-disclosures signed by them with healthy paychecks. I thought it’d help them out. They won’t dispute it’s their signatures. Lummi left them a personal note saying they wouldn’t remember her but she’d remember them.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lux said. “Can anyone trace us?”

“I don’t think they can. It should be impossible but who knows about computers these days?” Lummi said.

◆◆◆

CNN Office of Carol Matthews

“Did you see them?” Jennifer said coming into Carol’s office.

“Did I see what? What disaster now?” Carol asked.

“No. Lummi just came out with two original music videos and they are great. I can’t tell you how good they are. I’m still humming the tune for ‘Make It Better’. “Flashback’ is the second one. It’s almost a Broadway play. They leave you with chills. Watch ‘em if you have a minute.”

Carol pulled it up and sat there with Jennifer watching them both. “Wow. Those are really good. Those would give a lot of other singers a run for their money.”

◆◆◆

Dobbins Air Force Base – 94th Airlift Wing - Office of Colonel Mathisson

“Did you file the final report on the radar sighting we had last month?” the colonel asked the major.

“That the intermittent contacts we got at Mach 4? Nothing is on anyone’s radar. Forgive the pun,” the major said.

“Just file it in the inactive file. That it?” the colonel asked.

“There is one thing that’s weird. We had a Part 107 - night flight LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) permit issued for the same time period over Lake Lanier. The pilot was listed as ‘Lummi’. ‘Lummi’ is the name of a hot new singer. A police officer checked her out evidently and it was all good,” he reported. “They had a professor from Georgia Tech there monitoring, plus some kid.”

“Okay. Make a note of that with the Professor’s name if you have it. Headquarters says we’re too slack on discipline here. Make it look like we give a flip, at least.”

“Yes sir,” the major responded.

◆◆◆

Returned to Georgia Tech after the break

Lux and his father met with Professor Helmann and Jones on their return to the university.

“How was your break, Lux?” Helmann asked. “Any more thoughts on our issue?”

“I think so Professor. I don’t see this as a conventional electromagnetic effect. I think it’s some form of quantum effect but I don’t have the Lie Algebra like Teuber and Scheel used back in 2020. I’m going to be looking into it further,” Lux said.

“Perfect name for the math you would use,” Professor Jones said.

“Beg pardon?” Helmann queried looking at Jones.

“Lie Algebra,” Jones said sarcastically. “I think he just makes stuff up.”

“Excuse me Alexander. What are you implying?” Paulus said gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

“Implying? No. He flat out lied about this grant. He wasn’t honest about the type of propulsion it uses. It doesn’t use fans for lift. It’s all fake. Every bit of it and somehow you fell for it. I won’t have this child ruin my academic reputation,” Jones said. “I’ll bring this before the provost.”

Helmann calmly said, “Very well Alexander. We will drop you from the grant. Unless I’m mistaken; this is all the research you were to be doing in the near future. You will therefore increase from teaching three student courses a semester to teaching five courses in the Spring, as do the non-research faculty. Your reputation will be untainted. I will personally have you lose your security clearance and have you charged under the National Secrets Act should you breathe a word about this technology.”

The color drained from Professor Jones face. “You can’t do this to me,” Alexander replied. “I’m in the right!”

“I think you’ve concluded your business here, Professor Jones,” Helmann said.

Helmann asked Lux. “He was with you at Lake Lanier, wasn’t he? He saw the drone tests?”

“He was right there with me, professor," Lux explained. "He saw the drone go up and come down. I doubt he could see it flying that high at night, but he must have heard the multiple sonic booms as it flew overhead.”

“Professor Helmann. I hope you can protect me from this guy. People that see their way as the only way, can be destructive,” Lux expounded.

“Thanks for dropping by to see me, Lux. You’re doing fine in your classes I’m told,” Helmann said. “Don’t worry about Jones. Half my faculty are prima donnas.”

◆◆◆

AE 3610 Experiments in Fluids Class

Wendy gave Lux a big smile when she saw him back in class. “Hi Lux,” Wendy said with a big smile. “Did you go home for Thanksgiving?”

“Yep. Went back to see my dad in Huntsville. We had Thanksgiving dinner homemade from Heavenly Ham. I think my dad will be eating leftovers ‘til Spring semester,” Lux said.

“How come Professor Jones is glaring at you? I thought you were tight with him,” Wendy asked.

“He’s got his panties in a twist. We were on a grant together and he decided he didn’t like the way it was being handled,” Lux said.

“I’ll help you on this lab. Don’t worry,” Wendy said. “I’ll do this one perfectly so he can’t do anything but give you an ‘A’.”

“Thanks Wendy,” Lux said and almost tearing up because Wendy was now trying to help him.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

“Anna. Your counterpart in Huntsville did a fantastic job on the Lummi music videos. They are moving up the charts,” Lux said.

“We actually collaborated,” Anna’s avatar said with a silly grin.

“I didn’t know you could do that. Are you still recording what happens around me on my phone?”

“Yes. I captured all the drama in Professor Helmann’s office. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t want him to have any plans showing anything confidential. Can you replace all the design files so it shows a conventional six rotor vertical lift aircraft? Show the Halbach thrusters as being additional battery packs instead. Check his email and see if he’s sent any files to anyone. If he has – hack their files and erase everything. Anything else you can think of?” Lux asked Anna.

“Yes. I’ve ordered the framework to add six rotors to the transport vehicle you are currently planning. We can have the main framework shell together in a week or so. I’ve ordered the hybrid carbon fiber supercapacitor to form the shell with your design. If he causes problems, we can drop the lift rotor arms after we are ‘exposed’ by Jones if he comes by,” Anna explained.

“How long before we get all the components to build the real vehicle?” Lux asked.

“It looks like around the end of January,” Anna reported. “It’s harder to get the propellers and rotor motors than your instrumentation panels and batteries. I’ve looked at quantum effects and you may be right. I don’t know why coupled harmonic oscillators could produce the effect they do? You organics do have an advantage when making leaps of intuition.”

◆◆◆

Final Exams – Georgia Tech

Lux took his exams along with the rest of the masses at Georgia Tech but he felt little of the pressure. His only speed bump was in AE 3030 Aerodynamics with Professor Amherst. He noted on the final exam that what she was asking for was unlikely – he wrote a bit of explanation that stated if she was asking for one thing – the answer would be ‘X’ but if she was indeed asking for the other – the answer would be ‘Y’. He got 105/100 on the exam. He got a 4.0/4.0 GPA in spite of Professor Alexander Jones writing snide comments on Wendy and his lab paper, that he thought she did most of the work. The fact that he could do this level of work in his sleep seemed to elude Jones of late.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring St. NW – Atlanta

Lux had just finished all his exams and he was waiting for his dad to pick him up. He was going through the quantum mechanics. He felt that unproven physics was mainly theology more than science however. It was hard to translate equations into reality. He left his computer open to the equations when he saw a party approaching his side doors. He went to meet them.

“Hello Professor Jones. Who have we here?” Lux asked indicating the other four people.

“These are people that have an interest in our project,” Jones said.

“Well folks. Professor Jones is leading you astray I believe. I was there when Professor Helmann removed him from the project,” Lux said. “What can I do for you people?” Lux asked.

“I’m Lindsay Poindexter,” the senior woman said.

“Nice to meet you Ma’am. Do you have a title? What can I do for you? Did Professor Jones tell you he had a top-secret clearance and this project has Top Secret status? It’s one of the reasons it’s off campus. He’s violated his oath and will lose his clearance and be subject to prosecution for telling you anything about it. I’m sure he’s upset that he’s lost his grant salary, but he was the one being belligerent,” Lux said. “What is it that you intend?”

Jones spoke up. “I intend to show them this farce of a project.”

“I have yet to know who these people are? Ms. Poindexter would you introduce the people with you?” Lux said.

“Certainly, young man. I am Dr. Lindsay Poindexter. I’m the Provost of this university,” the woman said expecting more reaction from Lux who just nodded. “Do you know what a provost is young man?”

Lux chuckled. “You are a high-ranking administrative officer here. Do you understand what violating a top-secret clearance will mean for Dr Jones?”

The provost spluttered a moment. “He just told us you were a fake.”

“That’s good. He won’t have to be arrested, with all the negative publicity that entails. Do your colleagues have names?”

“Yes. Sorry. This is Dr. Madelaine Fuller, and Professor Darren Tinker.”

“Oh. I see you back there - Dr. Tinker from System Dynamics. How’d I do on your exam?” Lux asked.

“You made an ‘A’, Lux…highest in the class. Good work. I was drafted for this…venture,” Professor Tinker said.

“In that case. I will be happy to guide you around. You must turn off your phones before your entry and Professor Jones is specifically prohibited from being on this property. I own the lease. He can stand outside but he is not allowed inside. He has no intellectual property here. He created no intellectual property. I funded this project in which 32% of the millions goes to the school,” Lux explained. “Will that be sufficient for your purposes?”

“Quite,” said the provost as she turned off her cell phone as did the others.

“I did contribute. I looked at your designs,” Jones said. “I went with you to Lake Lanier.”

“Professor Jones. You are getting near to violating the National Secrets Act. This way people,” Lux said as he escorted the people inside.

Lux looked at the monitors and saw Professor Jones standing outside like a lost puppy. Lux showed them the frame for the four-passenger vehicle and the six motors and rotors in crates around the room.

“You’ve really progressed with this project. What is the difference in this project from the myriad of other small aircraft projects currently out there?” Tinker asked. “We were under the impression that it was all some type of scam.”

Lux snorted. “Jones said we couldn’t do what we planned. He was a boat anchor on the project. We have enough issues with the technical issues and logistics without a ‘nay sayer’ who would just hold us back.”

“What can you tell us about this project that is not for print?” The provost asked.

“It won’t cost the university a dime. We will be foremost in the world within two years with fast, personal air transportation. This project deals with very fast electrically powered flight that lasts longer than anyone else on the globe – anyone. It is a spinoff of the satellite I had SpaceX launch last spring. I can show you the paperwork but not discuss the details. Do any of you know anything about a 12U size spacecraft?” Lux asked.

Tinker of course did and explained it to the group who were impressed. They walked over to Lux’s computer which briefly showed the formulas.

Dr. Fuller exclaimed. “What are you doing with quantum mechanics? I thought you were a junior in aerospace.”

“Disregard that professor. I don’t want to lose my clearance. I am currently a rising senior in aerospace if what Professor Tinker informed me is correct. Here is the paperwork for my satellite launch from Boca Chica with SpaceX.”

The people all looked at the paperwork, looked at Lux, and looked at the vehicle frame and rotor motors. They trooped out together. Lux’s dad arrived an hour later after Lux had practiced throwing knives to vent some of his anger at Professor Jones. His father was sympathetic but felt Lux had handled the crisis as well as possible.

◆◆◆

Holiday break – Lux’s Home – Huntsville, Alabama

Paulus had jumped back into work in his lab and left Lux to his own devices again. He felt lonely in the first time since forever. At school, there were always people ginning around. He decided he’d see how Lummi was doing.

“Anna. How are your songs doing?” Lux asked.

“Both ‘Make It Better’ and ‘Flashback’ were both in the top forty hits and moving up the charts," Anna explained. "Social media had started playing them and I had arranged contracts with streaming services,” Anna said.

“I guess you should make some more songs. Those were great. Ones that are sad or sappy or happy are all good. Make some romantic stuff. I guess. I don’t know about much of that. There’s a lot of stuff out there like that,” Lux said.

“I don’t have personal experience with any of that either. I guess I could do what other stars do since I’ve got two hits. I could make ten crappy songs and make an album. I thought albums were when you had to listen to ten crummy songs just to hear the two good ones,” Anna said.

“You are so funny, Anna. Just come out with some more songs, if you can. Those first two songs were good. Any glitches with the real dancers you used?” Lux said and Anna ignored.

“Have you locked down your courses for next semester? Is Jones teaching any of them?” Anna asked.

“No. Jones isn’t teaching any of them. Professor Chen helped me register for these courses for the first semester of what will be my senior year. He listed them for Anna.

ECE 3741 Instrumentation and Electronics Lab         1 Hrs

AE 3531 Control System Analysis and Design               3

AE 3340 Design and Systems Engineering Methods  2

AE 4532 Spacecraft Flight Dynamics                                  3

AE 6451 Electric Propulsion (Helmann’s approval)    3

AE 4352 Space System Design                                                 3

AE 4610 Dynamics and Control                                           2

“The electric propulsion course is so I don’t have to take Jet and Rocket Propulsion and my dad probably wants me to take it but it would kinda’ be like taking a class on how to make a wagon when everyone else is going to be making race cars,” Lux explained.

“Humans are weird. Why do you have to take courses where you know most of the material? Many of those courses have bleed over that is covered in other courses,” Anna queried.

“We have to take the course to certify to others, that we know the material. We do this, so others know we have ‘certifications’ and ‘qualifications’ and ‘degrees’,” Lux explained.

“So, that explains adding another feather to my cap or a certificate on the wall. I understand that military people say someone with a lot of certificates on the wall, has a ‘love me’ wall, as kind of a disparaging remark. I’m still trying to figure out many of your foibles. I suppose it boils down to “it is done this way because society expects it this way.”

◆◆◆

William Morris Endeavor (WME) – (Music Talent Agency) Beverly Hills, California

“William Morris Endeavor (WME), This is Sydney. How may I direct your call?”

“Hi. I need to you to find me a body double. How do I go about doing that?” the caller said.

“Just a moment. Mrs. Sutler will be right with you.”

“Jane Sutler,” the woman answered. “What can I do for you? To whom am I talking?”

“My name is Lummi. I need to find a body double for a five-year exclusive contract,” the caller said.

“THE Lummi! The singer? Five-year contract? Just a moment. You’ll need to talk with Mister Hirschfeld. Just a moment,” Sutler said.

“Amin Hirschfeld. How may I help you, Miss? Lummi?” he said a little flustered.

“I need you to find a body double for a five-year exclusive contract. I need her for a travel to Europe and Asia where I will pay all reasonable expenses, and for appearances around the US. Language proficiency isn’t required but is preferred. Give me your email, and I’ll send you, my requirements. How much to look through any prospective doubles? Looks are more important than everything else right now,” Lummi said. “Please send me photos and requirements and we will come to some arrangement. Here’s my email link for you. Yes. Thank you."

"We’ll get right on it,” Hirschfeld said and turned to his secretary after he disconnected. “Jane. I think you are prescient. It was such a good idea to find body doubles for some of the newest stars and celebrities. Do we have a file on a ‘Lummi’?”

“Yes, Mister Hirschfeld. She a famous new singer and dancer. You ought to look her up. I’ll get you the file.”

Chapter 9

Return to Georgia Tech – Meeting Prissy at the Library

The return to Georgia Tech was anticlimactic. The new classes looked like they’d be interesting and fun. Lux was still meeting with Troy, the Krav Maga instructor. The knife sales were taking off but Lux was just letting Troy handle those right now. The William Morris Endeavor (WME) music talent agency had sent files on ten potential body doubles but Lux was planning to get Prissy to go through the files with him. Lux had done a quick peak and a couple were pretty close. He planned to meet Prissy at the library.

“Hey Prissy. How was break?” he asked.

“I was ready to get back to school,” she said. “What’s the big secret? Why can’t we meet at your lab?”

Lux looked down, a little embarrassed because his lab was now secret. “Umm. It is kind of secret. I got a grant and some of the information is secret. It’s nothing we’ve been doing so we’re fine on all that. I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Prissy looked interested. “How’s Lummi doing? I saw she had ‘Make It Better’ in the top ten now, and ‘Flashback’ was up to the top twenty.”

Lux put the folders he had printed off for her to look through.

“Oh. What a good idea. You contacted a talent agency? Great,” Prissy said.

“Yep. The William Morris Endeavor (WME) out of their Beverly Hills Office,” Lux said.

She looked at the professional dossiers. “How much did this cost just to get this?” she asked.

“First; I had to get a non-disclosure from them. This,” he indicated the dossiers, “Cost $10,000. They would have charged more but they got a professional ‘Lummi’ dossier with her favorite foods, music, skills, languages.”

“Oh,” Prissy said. “I want to see that too. Did Anna put it together for you?”

“Yep. Mostly. Go through those and pick your top three and we’ll see the three you pick and mine. I won’t say anything because I don’t want to prejudice you.”

Prissy went through the files carefully making cute noises as she looked at each one…well, Lux thought she sounded cute. She separated out five, then two more. She turned up the three she had picked.

Lux looked at them. “Those are the ones I picked too. You know more about makeup than I do.”

“Which one looks best to you? Number 2 here looks best to me,” Prissy said.

“That’s my choice also. Number 1 here has the best talents though,” Lux said and flipped open her file. “She speaks fluent French, did seven years of ballet, and can sing. Number 2 speaks Spanish. Number 3 speaks Mandarin.”

“Which one should we get?” Prissy asked.

Lux got a funny gleam in his eye. “We hire them all and several dynamite makeup artists. We use them in different situations. I’ll set it up if you think it is worth it. I’ll contact the agency. How would we use them?”

“I think they should have a trial run. You come up with a place to be seen by the paparazzi. Can you find a makeup artist? Send them one of our standard non-disclosure agreements – one of the really harsh ones. I’ll send you the ‘Lummi’ file. It has closeups of her scar, ankle tattoo, dental records, x-rays, and even fingerprints that Anna put together.”

◆◆◆

Towers Hall – Shared Dorm Room of Prissy Hunnicutt

Prissy liked to study before bed in her dorm while the others girls were out. Evelyn was a friend that had recruited Prissy into the Phi Mu (ΦΜ) sorority on campus. The girls were all pretty and sweet. They’d taken Prissy under their wing since she had just turned 15. Evelyn doubly so. Evelyn treated her like an younger sister.

“What are you concentrating on?” Evelyn asked. She was studying also but got up and walked over to check it out.

Prissy was concentrating so hard she didn’t see Evelyn until she was looking over her shoulder.

“Who is that?! Is that Lummi? How did you get pictures of her? Goodness. Let me see that!” Evelyn exclaimed. “I am such a fan. She’s great!”

Prissy muted the screen with a sick feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t tell her the truth and the values of Phi Mu were love, honor, and truth. “I can’t tell you Evy.”

“I’m your sorority sister Prissy. We have to share. You just have to trust me,” Evelyn said.

Prissy thought furiously. She knew she’d have to tell her something. “I’m secret head of the Lummi International Fan Club.”

“No way! No WAY!” Evelyn screamed while trying to not disturb about the other students on the floor. “When did this happen?” Evelyn asked.

“When she did her first video. I guess I’ve been one of her earliest fans,” Prissy said.

“Do you know how she got the scar?” Evelyn said.

“Sure. Didn’t you see the CNN interview?” Prissy said.

“Prissy. College kids don’t watch news broadcasts,” Evelyn said.

Prissy pulled up the Lummi Interview on the web and started playing it.

“Gosh. There she is. Let me hear it. How could I have missed this?” Evelyn said. She was misty eyed when the video finished. “That’s so sad. Is that for real? Her own father cut her with a knife because he couldn’t remember who she was. Terrible.”

They talked until late.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta, Georgia

The shell of the four-person transport pod was taking shape. Right now, it only looked like a keel on a shelf raised about ten centimeters (4 inches) off the floor. The keel had four oval loops coming out and over. The Halbach thrusters were essentially in the same positions as in the drone but they were all larger. The thrusters were all wired to disable their function, until closer to testing and takeoff. The batteries were installed and attitude control gyroscopes were larger and placed differently according to System Dynamics calculations. Lux had found that bits and pieces of his classes were useful.

Lux had finished his work for the day on the Transport Pod and he went over to the test stand set up.

He had a small Halbach array thruster on a test stand with sensors. He had everything from infrared to terahertz recorders. He could detect x-rays, alpha, beta, and gamma rays. He had a setup to record Kirlian images of coronal discharges around the thruster. He even had his magnetic Hall-effect camera setup along with a conventional visible light camera. He also had two small sections of the hybrid supercapacitor material covering the thruster. He thought he would turn on a mini-version of the drone and see if there was some emission of discharge that would be detectable. He needed to know why his drone could go so fast in atmosphere without burning up. The obstinate lack of a detectable phenomenon was driving him nuts.

Professor Helmann and his father had been stumped so far or they just weren’t telling him what they found. He didn’t think they were any further enlightened than he was. It was like being able to see the wind but not know what the wind was. He prepared all his sensors and got Anna ready to record. He made sure the mini-probe was firmly attached to the heavy table and turned on the control module to the Halbach thruster. It seemed ordinary electromagnetic radiation passed through the ‘surface area’ with just a minor time delay – minor latency. The more energetic radiation, the less likely to pierce the area. X-Rays and gamma radiation did not pass through at all.

He cycled the thruster to 500 cycles per second. He recorded the forward thrust effect. He recorded how the pulsed cycles reoriented the Earth’s magnetic field, like he theorized. He noticed the Kirlian photography showed a streaming effect across the surface of the graphite ceramic-polymer hybrid material of the supercapacitor. Lux turned off his thruster and made sure he had a fire extinguisher. He attached one of his sharp throwing knives to a wooden pole with some duct tape. He rolled a polycarbonate shield up beside the test table with his spear probe clamped to the side of the cart.

He restarted the thruster. He wanted to see the change in the Kirlian pattern if his knife could prick through the hybrid material. Lux had the shield between him and the thrust test. He got the knife up almost to the surface and it looked like it wouldn’t do anything. He pushed the cart with the spear probe forward but it wouldn’t go further. He leaned against the cart but it wouldn’t move forward. He decided to increase the power but the knife wouldn’t move forward. Since he was recording all this, he decided to increase the power to maximum and the cycles per second too.

He could hear the table clamps straining to rip loose, so he shut everything down. He was looking at his knife on the pole and noticed three fingers width at the end of the knife was just gone. It wasn’t melted off or abraded with friction – it was just gone. Lux played the visible recording and watched the knife just push against nothing. There was no effect on the Kirlian photography. Different portions of the knife disappeared when he increased the power and when the cyclic rate changed. None of the X-ray or Gamma sensors recorded radiation at all.

Lux turned on the thruster again and videoed an object being jabbed toward the skin. Lux had Anna optically measure how far away from the surface he could get with organic and inorganic materials. He tried a hot dog and had the distance mapped out before he tried putting in his finger. Matter would not get closer than a set distance at a specific setting. The faster the cyclic rate - the further from the surface the shielding effect was noticed. Matter of any type (organic matter loosely defines hotdogs, Lux decided) would disappear if it was in the range of the field (or whatever that effect happened to be). Lux realized it was 2am and he had classes in the morning. He disabled his thrusters and headed back to the dorm for four hours of sleep.

He was not fresh in the morning and dragged through the day. He had managed to navigate his first two classes before he rolled into AE 4342 Space System Design. Lux was supposed to be working with three other students.

“Hey Lux. Dang. You look like something the cat dragged in,” Dennis said. “Don’t guess we’ll get much help out of you today. Suppose we’ll have to step up today. You gonna’ be, okay?”

“Fine Dennis. I just stayed up too late working on a project for Professor Helmann,” Lux said, not seeing Professor Trenton behind him.

“What were you doing for Dr. Helmann that it interferes with this class? I didn’t realize he was teaching this semester. Is this something that has to do with Professor Jones?”

Lux wasn’t feeling too hot. He had never been this tired before. He was having trouble focusing on Dr. Trenton’s questions which he tried to answer. He felt he was at the bottom of a well. “The project is a top-secret grant. It’s how I got my top-secret clearance. I made a big breakthrough last night,” he said with his voice getting weaker and weaker. “…proving the existence of dimensional planes,” he said and collapsed.

◆◆◆

Emory University Hospital – Midtown – 550 Peachtree Street NW

Lux woke up with an IV in his arm in a dark semi-private hospital room. He couldn’t remember what happened. He remembered being in Space System Design and then nothing.

A young, female doctor came in and approached his bed. “You scared a bunch of people yesterday. We thought you had something seriously wrong with you when you collapsed on campus and they sort of overreacted. Guess it’s better to err on the safe side. It’s about 4am. We figured you’d wake up about now. I won the bet. I’m Doctor Reilly,” she said smiling at him.

“I think I just stayed up too late and then tried to stay awake all day with no sleep. I didn’t drink enough fluids and then it all hit me,” Lux said.

“Looks like that’s it,” Doctor Reilly said. “You slept seven hours. That’s against the rules in a hospital,” she said with a tinkling pretty laugh. “I’ll start the paperwork to get you released. Normally we’d keep you here another eight hours so we could run your bill up more,” she laughed. “That’s what people think but it’s really just gross inefficiency. Take it easy the next couple of days. Early bedtime and lots of fluids.”

◆◆◆

Hayes House Dorm – Georgia Tech

Lux had a ton of messages waiting for him. Lux barely was able to keep his father from driving down to come get him. His backpack went to the hospital with him. Most of the messages were ‘Get Better’. Lux was embarrassed that the school had sent out a notice that he was perfectly fine and in no danger. He knew that would bring a lot of attention his way. He saw a message from Dr. Helmann and he returned the message saying, ‘Breakthrough. Need to meet’. He noticed Professor Trenton wanted to talk with him after class Thursday.

◆◆◆

Two Days Later – Lunch time – Professor Helmann’s Office

“How are you feeling, Lux? Burning the candle at both ends? What breakthrough?” Helmann said.

“That’s a funny saying. I guess it’s an old one I’d never heard. My big breakthrough… I think I’ve discovered another dimension. I’m not sure what it is. Watch this video of tests from a couple of days ago.”

“Maybe it’s something else. I can’t imagine it’s another dimension,” Helmann said.

“There is a saying, if you can’t believe it’s possible, it won’t be,” Lux said. “You tell me what you think after you see this video,” Lux said. Lux didn’t explain that he was prepared to pull the plug on this grant and go ahead without anyone else.

Helmann studied the video. He watched it three times. “You can duplicate this effect?”

“I did it several times. There was no radiation. There appeared to be no electromagnetic effects anywhere on the spectrum. There was an alignment of the magnetic fields when the Halbach thrusters started. The Kirlian photography showed a corona but so does everything but it showed that corona separated from the surface by the distance I measured for ‘the effect’. I think we should call it the ‘Blakely’ effect,” Lux said.

“I should submit a paper so it will be published,” Helmann said.

“So that’s how you plan to play this? I take it you wouldn’t want me even as second author,” Lux said.

“No responsible, peer reviewed publication would publish anything from an academic without credentials. My doctorate says I am using the scientific method and this is in my field of study,” Helmann said.

“That’s interesting professor. You work in magnetic propulsion and interdimensional fields? What is your PhD in… your original Ph.D. Didn’t you get it here for Air Mobility and Flight Dynamics. Wasn't that with fixed wing aircraft? Your name and title should be on the paper or it would never be published. Shouldn’t it go second as you never developed any of the original work?” Lux expounded.

“But you’re only ten,” Helmann said. “No one would believe a child.”

“Excuse me professor. Do you submit your age when you submit a journal article?” Lux asked.

“It’s not like that, Lux,” Helmann said.

“I suggest you consider how much of our grant is from your effort and how much is by others,” Lux said. “I’ve got to go to class. I’ll see you around.”

Lux went to AE 4342 Space System Design class. Everybody greeted him and slapped him on the back. The girls hugged him. It felt good getting some positive reinforcement.

Dennis came up and grabbed him. “Man. You scared me. I thought I was gonna’ have to do all the reports by myself,” he said with a goofy grin.

Lux grinned. “Thanks for your heartfelt support, Dennis. I’d hate to think you had to do a portion the team’s work.”

The class went well and was interesting as it covered space habitats. Lux was packing his backpack when Professor Trenton came up to him.

“How’re you doing, Lux? You gave us a scare there. You said a few things that piqued my curiosity. Are you working on a top-secret project with Dr. Helmann?” Trenton asked.

“Why?” Lux asked.

“Helmann has a reputation for taking credit for student’s work. It’s how he got chair,” Trenton said. “He had a brilliant student about ten years ago that developed a new control system and Helmann took all the credit. The student graduated and Helmann wrote two more papers like he had developed the system himself. He didn’t even credit the student.”

“How do you know this?” Lux asked.’

“Dillon was my best friend. He went to work somewhere in Texas. Helmann wouldn’t write him a decent recommendation for a job unless my friend renounced any credit for the system he had invented,” Trenton explained.

“Thanks for letting me know. I think Helmann was preparing to do the same thing with me. Thanks for the heads up. It is top secret and it is entirely my invention. I’ll tell you about it when I’m able,” Lux said as he left class for the day.

Lux went straight to his lab. He started conferring with Anna. “Anna. Erase all access to Professor Helmann to this facility: physically and digitally. Can you get into his digital media? I gave him a memory stick of material. Did that have the root access tools in them?”

“Yes. I have had access to all his devices for some time. He has been writing a paper all day today defining a new phenomenon ‘he’ discovered,” Anna said.

“Here’s what I’d like you to do. Help me retrieve any materials he left here. Mark every bolt I need to remove. I don’t think he did that much. He was typically being busy ‘looking busy’. I was just so happy he was supporting me. It is so stupid. When he gets off his computer, I want you to erase anything related to this project that is not 100% his own work. Leave anything he typed himself. When a grant report is due – have it ready and submit it to the university. I don’t want him to have any access. He will claim he’s being barred from HIS project,” Lux said.

“You better finish your vehicle. We are going to need to run if this guy has been hiding his dark side so he could coast from your success.

◆◆◆

Later in the Spring Semester

Professor Helmann approached Lux after his Space System Design class since Ernest knew this class schedule. “You’ve been avoiding me. Haven’t you seen my emails?”

“Emails? I don’t know what you’re talking about. What emails? I’ve been working on my homework and working on our project. How far have you come on our project? How far along is that peer reviewed article you started?” Lux asked just inside the threshold of the classroom.

“Where are we on the vehicle?” Helmann asked.

“Are you planning to show it off soon or something?” Lux asked.

“You think you are so smart. I’ve figured you out!” Helmann shouted.

“Excuse me. What are you talking about?” Lux asked.

Helmann ranted. “Jones was right. This is all a fake.”

“Jones never said it was a fake. He said I should have explained the sonic booms to the police,” Lux said. “He also didn’t make scenes in the hall and break secrecy.”

“I’ll have you kicked out of school!” Helmann said.

“Excuse me. Where did that come from?” Lux said looking at Ernest like he had lost his mind.

“For cheating! For breaking the honor code?” Helmann said.

“Not sure I follow your reasoning professor,” Lux replied. “Are you trying to pressure me to let you, work on the grant, so you can claim credit for the discovery? This being a grant where you, have done no substantive work. A grant that I am paying for, where I also pay your salary, and you have produced no meaningful progress.”

“I did measure the thrust at different readings,” Helmann said defensively.

“You did read off what the sensor system I built showed while it was in the bracing frame I built,” Lux said. “I have video of every time you assisted me on my project. You have a total of almost 3 and half hours inside my lab. I am stopping payment on your portion of the project. Your money will instead go to the Aerospace engineering projects or however the Dean wishes. How will you graciously donate your salary to the school when you go back to teaching after this summer?”

“You’re just ten years old. I’ll get you for this, Blakely,” Helmann practically spit. Helmann spun on his heel and stomped off.

Trenton stepped back around the corner from inside having heard it all. “Whew! He is so full of it. That’s exactly what he did to my friend, Richard Dillon,” Trenton said. “Dillon was working on a new missile command and control system. Helmann took control of all his work. You ought to go to the Dean on him. He’s just going to keep doing what works for him. He’s a powerful person as Chair of Aerospace Engineering.”

“I’m just worried that he will expose my project.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Lux wasn’t satisfied that he had the region around the surface of his vehicle identified. He wanted to know if he could affect it with radar, or lasers, or kinetic projectiles. Redirecting the atmosphere was one thing, but he wanted to see what else was affected.

He purchased a commercial smoke machine and he added a strong exhaust fan for his shop. Lux didn’t want the other tenants to call the fire department so he never set it at anything but the minimum setting. He let a cloud of smoke surround his vehicle. He started the video and turned on the Halbach thrusters on a minimal setting. He could easily see the defined area off the surface with no smoke. Lux had had gullwing doors manufactured for the vehicle that would lock and allow him to pressurize the cockpit when he finally got it sealed. He liked how they looked on the Lincoln Navigator. His were a compromise between the Lincoln Navigator and the Diamond DA62.

Lux tested different frequencies of radar and noted if they gave a return or not. What was interesting was the fact that the surface actually slightly changed the frequency of the microwaves. Lux thought they could be detected by radar by causing an absence of returns if they flew through an area that normally gave strong returns. They would, at least, be able to see the lack of returns in a previous consistent swath. He had a 3KW laser cutting table that he used to shape materials. Fiddling with its mounting brackets in a very ‘do not try this at home’ technique, Lux was able to focus the laser on the surface of his test setup.

The laser looked like it lost some power somehow even when focused but it did penetrate. That’s not right, thought Lux. How could the control signals I sent go through that ‘area’ yet block other electromagnetic radiation from the outside. Maybe they still made it through but with a bit of latency? How could my magnetic and visual camera work? He had taken magnetic and visible spectrum video through the field but maybe the time synchronization was off slightly? Visible light made it through or the video would have been black. Something was going on. Would kinetic projectiles stop if microwaves and a laser are just weakened a bit?

Lux shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was so counterintuitive. He turned on the small test thruster with the sidewall facing him. It had formed a ‘surface area’ like his transport pod had done. The test unit showed that the smoke would not approach the surface. Lux took one of his throwing knives, made sure his video was recording, and threw as hard as he could. The knife hit the floor. Looking at the video in slow motion, the knife tip came to the ‘area’ and stopped. There was no transfer of momentum. It just stopped and then gravity took over and the knife fell to the floor. Weird.

Lux decided he might have a field that would not transfer momentum but communications and the visible spectrum worked after a fashion? He continued work on his transport pod. The Thompson Aero Seating Company had delivered the seating and the grey leather was supple and to spec. They had near turnkey designs he just had to tweak to deal with the high acceleration he expected. He had ordered an isobaric pressurization system from Pegasus International Aerospace that was going through restructuring. Lux’s AE 4342 Space System Design class became more and more relevant.

Now he had to make it so he could see from inside the pod, he thought. Lux finally managed to make eight holes in the Hybrid supercapacitor so he could put cameras to display on viewscreens inside. The distortion area (or whatever it was) seemed to continuously cover the surface of the pod as long as the large holes for the cameras and other sensors were under twenty centimeters in diameter. The difficult part was keeping the distortion area working around the doors. He could project /receive communications, radar, lidar, magnetic field density, forward looking infrared (FLIR), night vision, and visible light cameras.

◆◆◆

AE 4342 Space System Design Class

“Dr. Trenton,” Lux said as the class was letting out. “I have a proposal for you. May we go to your office. It’s just down the hall, isn’t it?”

“Sure, Lux. Come on,” Trenton said and grabbed his laptop and rapidly walked out.

They didn’t talk until they had entered Trenton’s office.

“I need your help,” Lux said. “It could cause conflict with Helmann. I’ve essentially banned him from my lab since he was no assistance at all. I think he will try to strongarm the school into giving him access to my project. He would roll all over me even though I am funding the entire project.”

“I heard him threaten you the other day outside my classroom. I actually wrote up a statement but Helmann actually did what he threatened to my friend Dillon. I’ll send that to you. Forward it if you think you need it. Is this what you wanted to talk with me about?” Trenton asked.

“Actually, no. I am building a four-passenger transport vehicle and I need help with the instrumentation and pressurization.”

“Are you following FAA guidelines for certification?” Trenton asked.

“No sir. I’m afraid I can’t tell you about it. I noticed you have a Top-Secret clearance. I will see if my contact with the military can include you in my project,” Lux said.

“You know it’s not easy to get security clearance, between different projects. Dillon got blamed for leaking information on his project with Helmann. Helmann took over,” Trenton said.

“Thank you, professor. I’d like to hire you as a subject matter expert. I’ll get back with you on this very soon,” Lux said and hurried on his bike back to his lab.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Lux rushed and pulled up Anna. “Anna. We have a crisis. I’m sure Helmann is planning to take over this project and use my attendance at the university as leverage to get me to comply. Do you still have tentacles into his electronics?”

Anna’s avatar chuckled conspiratorially while rubbing her hands together. “I do,” she said.

“Does he have any email he’s planning to turn me in for some nefarious deed I’ve supposedly done?” Lux asked.

“He has a draft of one he’s listing your faults. He’s marked out a lot of the versions,” Anna said.

“Does he have any character flaws that would make him ineligible for a Top-Secret clearance? Porn, gambling, sending information to foreign countries, friends with foreign nationals?” Lux asked.

“It just so happens that Professor Earnest Helmann has a female friend who is Israeli. His parents are Jewish and he has been corresponding with Eliana Mizrahi. He’s been bragging about this project. He also has a planned trip to Tianjin University in Shenzhen, China. He’s supposed to get an honorary doctorate there next month,” Anna explained.

“I think you should embellish some of his emails a bit. I’d like to report him as a credible, immediate threat to the security of the US. Report him to the FBI Counter Intelligence Section,” Lux explained.

◆◆◆

FBI Counter Intelligence Section

Collier came to Sarina’s office. “Hey boss. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) just got a report from that Georgia Tech project with the Lux Blakely kid. This is a real morass. It looks like that Professor at Georgia Tech gets students with promising tech, then threatens them and takes over the projects. We have corroborating report of an earlier incident when this professor did this to an earlier student. A Douglas Trenton, another TS/SCI holder reports an incident with Professor Helmann.”

Sarina asked for clarification, “What is his specific complaint? I don’t want to go off half-cocked at a ‘he said - she complaint’.”

“Little more than that. Professor Ernest Helmann has been corresponding with Eliana Mizrahi and bragging about his project – get this – a radical new propulsion system for hypersonic vehicles. Lux Blakely is listed as the inventor. Helmann also is the one that set up the joint university with Tianjin University and Georgia Tech. The city of Shenzhen is funding the trip for our good professor and he is getting an honorary doctorate there next month,” Collier explained.

“None of that is necessarily improper but that name, Eliana Mizrahi, seems familiar. Ah ha,” Sarina said. “Eliana Mizrahi is a known Israeli operative.”

“Whoa. I didn’t have the clearance on that. What should we do? Pull his clearance now or wait for him to dig himself deeper?” Collier asked. “The spy we know?”

“I think you ought to get a national security letter to investigate this Helmann guy,” Sarina clarified. “He’s certainly the key player in this leak. Look up Helmann and any connection to this Dillon from six years ago. Look at finances too.”

◆◆◆

Hayes House – Two days later

Lux opened his dorm door when someone knocked. Lux was surprised to see Bruce standing there looking intimidated. “What is it?” Lux asked.

“There’s a government guy downstairs that wants to talk with you,” Bruce said. “What’d you do?”

“Tell him I’ll be right down,” Lux said ignoring Bruce’s inane question.

Lux hustled downstairs and saw the supposed agent. Lux approached him. Lux didn’t try to shake hands because his father had taught him that no law enforcement officer wants to shake hands.

“How may I help you?” Lux asked waiting for the agent to show his credentials.

The man pulled out credentials which Lux inspected carefully in the brief time they were exposed.

“Special Agent Collier. How may I help you?” Lux asked again.

“Is there a place we can talk privately?” Agent Collier asked.

Lux indicated an adjacent alcove and went over and sat down so the agent could face the door.

‘Tell me about your project,” the agent demanded.

“Not happening, agent. How else may I help you?” Lux asked.

“I didn’t think that would work but I always ask that to see how loose a subject’s lips are about a topic. What can you tell me about Professor Helmann? Another professor has complained that he heard you threatened by Helmann.”

“He threatened to accuse me of cheating and violating the honor code. I was unclear what I was supposed to have done. He also told me all my work is a fake. I have the leadership at Elgin Air Force base that would confirm that my system works though they would not relate any details.”

“Why would Professor Helmann be threatening you?” the agent asked hoping to get a free flow of information.

“Professor Helmann is desperate to put his name, and only his name, on this technology. I invented the technology, developed the technology, and have paid all the development costs on this technology. He has not contributed any to the technology. He knows enough to release information to others. My concern is he will expose this technology to other countries. If other nations find out how dangerous this technology is to the status quo. We will need to worry about being attacked by all the other countries. It will be that disruptive,” Lux explained.

“You’ll have to do better than some nebulous threat. Can you give me one short sentence, that doesn’t give away the farm? I need some way to judge the magnitude of the threat,” the agent queried. “Dangerous tech is too broad.”

“Okay,” Lux paused. “This is not hyperbole. No need for fossil fuels for transportation and near unlimited speeds in and out of atmosphere cheaply. I have prototypes - now. Not soon. Now. Helmann is a threat. I need Professor Trenton approved to assist me on the project. He already has a TS/SCI clearance for some other project but it would help me a lot to get him approved for mine.”

“You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about Mister Blakely,” Collier stated as they both stood up signaling the interview was concluded.

Lux nodded and walked back to his dorm.

Agent Collier stood there watching him walk off. He took in a huge breath and blew it out.

Chapter 10

AE 4342 Space System Design Class

Professor Trenton was ecstatic in class. Trenton waited ‘til the other students flowed out at the end of class before approaching Lux. “What’d you do? I got notice from the engineering grants manager that I had been added as a subject matter expert on your grant for an overload adjustment in my salary. I’m earning an additional thousand a month take home with this grant. I also got approval from the DoD to allow work on your project. That never happens. When do I find out about the project? Why are they treating your project with such…I was going to say alacrity but then I thought you were ten?”

Lux face palmed and sighed. “I may be ten-years-old from Huntsville but we have been known to use four syllable words in an emergency. You want to come by my lab tonight? It’s at 563 Spring Street NW. Come to the left back door. Turn off your cell phone before you come in. I’ll give you the orientation briefing. We can usually get through it in about two or three hours.”

“It takes that long just to go through the orientation briefing?” Trenton asked.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Lux was testing the pressurization and it stayed at 8 psi for the old FAA standard. The higher pressure at 225 meters – Atlanta’s altitude above sea level didn’t leak into the transport pod. Professor Trenton was right on time at 6 pm. Lux greeted him at the door and walked him through the parking garage.

“Your lab is in this garage?” Trenton asked.

Lux laughed. “This indoor parking is in my rental space adjacent to my lab.” Lux looked at Trenton with raised eyebrows. “What kind of lab were you expecting?”

“I’m not sure. I realize you’re ten but I’m still processing,” Trenton said.

Lux shook his head. “Put any electronics in one of those lockers. Keep the key in your pocket when you’ve done that. Look at the camera with your right hand in that enclosure.”

“Fingerprints and facial likeness so I can get in when you’re not here? Pretty sophisticated,” Trenton said.

“Not really. This lets you come with me and registers you into the computer. The computer does register your likeness and fingerprints but also your iris print, facial and wrist capillaries under your skin. I quit using Legos as a test last year,” Lux said sarcastically.

They entered his lab and Trenton looked around. “Whoa. Some of this is better than what we have. Whoa! Nice laser CNC. Oh. Love your additive manufacturing units. Whoa! This is really nice. Call me Douglas. What do you do with all this equipment? Do you know how to use this stuff?”

“If you say ‘You’re only ten. I’m going to march your butt right out that door, professor. Yes. Of course, I know how to use all this equipment. I have twelve patents or so now. The license royalties pay for this equipment. Do you want to learn about this equipment and your possible part in that project?”

“Yes. Sorry. I’m just a bit shocked. What are you doing?” Trenton asked. “Do call me Douglas since I’m calling you Lux.”

“Okay. I have discovered a fuel-less propulsion system using magnetic fields. This method allows vehicles to travel at Mach 24 in atmosphere with no sonic boom. I’m building a four-passenger vehicle currently. Before you tell me it’s impossible – I tested my drone at Eglin Air Force base and we have radar confirmation. You look skeptical. Come over here. I built this frame to perform thrust testing with the drone. Inspect the drone. I’ll power it up in a minute,” Lux explained.

“You need me to help you make this thing fly with some magic propulsion system?” Douglas said.

“No. The propulsion and navigation work fine. Come over here. This is the transport pod. It seats four. I need you to help me keep the people alive in rarefied atmosphere in suborbital or orbital flight. Look over the pressurization system. I think it will hold 8 psi for 12 hours. I purchased a spacecraft air supply system because it has to remove the CO_2 and control moisture and heating/cooling in the cabin,” Lux explained while walking around.

“I see the tank. Is that a NORS tank from the Kennedy Space Flight Center? It’s huge. How much does it weigh?” Douglas was incredulous.

“Yep. Weighs 109 kilograms. I adapted this Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System to supply the air. It’s all the other things that takes to keep people comfortable I’ll need you to manage,” Lux explained.

“I don’t know what you think these will do but there is no propulsion system that does what you say. It’s impossible,” Douglas said. “I think you’re delusional. How do you see out?”

“I use cameras through the hull,” Lux let out a long sigh. “I go through this with every person I work with. I’m going to use a spare 12U satellite I made to convince you. Will you at least stick around long enough for me to prove it to you? Here is a phrase I want you to learn: If it happens it may be possible. Here is another one you better learn: It is impossible if you believe it is impossible.” Lux brought over a flat black rectangular block a bit over a foot long. It was 20 cm × 20 cm × 34.05 cm (7.9 in × 7.9 in × 13.4 in).

“That is a tiny 12U satellite,” Professor Trenton said.

“Hold onto it and you tell me what you think with a free flow of words. Don’t you dare let go,” Lux said.

“Okay. Starting now. It’s pretty heavy,” the professor said.

“Let me change a few parameters and you keep a good running commentary,” Lux said. Lux sat beside him with his slate and started changing the thrust direction.

“It feels heavier…much heavier…now it weighs about what it did at first…now much lighter, lighter. It feels like it doesn’t weigh anything,” Trenton said.

“Drop it,” Lux said.

Douglas looked at him funny with a side glance and then just let go. The black rectangular object just sat there, floating in the air.

“Push it,” Lux suggested. “I’ll set it to compensate. You will probably be able to move it if you push really hard.”

Lux just set his slate in his lap and enjoyed watching the good professor getting irked.

Trenton pushed it down and he could get it to dip down when he jumped on top of it and it moved toward the floor. As soon as he got off, the object zipped right back to the same spot. He started pushing it from one end but it wouldn’t budge.

“You don’t have the mass or traction to push it from the front. It has the most thrust in that direction. It’s weakest on lifting the way it’s set up and strongest for forward motion. One similar to this went to geosynchronous orbit. Returning to Earth, it was clocked at 30 km per second,” Lux explained. “You want to try it? I’ll set it on learner mode that won’t let you crash into things.”

Douglas nodded. He took the slate and looked at the control and moved the position to the far side of the room. The little satellite zipped across the room faster than he could follow and stopped just shy of crashing into a monitor. He then made it go up and it stopped just shy of hitting the ceiling. He then moved the cursor to right in front of his face and the device zoomed right in front of his eyes. The anti-collision feature stopped it from crushing his head and he sat down.

“Okay. I am a believer. You didn’t mean 30 kilometers per second, did you?”

“30 kilometers per second (67,108 miles per hour). The drone in the frame over there, was clocked at just over Mach 24 (18,000 miles per hour in atmosphere) at Eglin Air Force Base a few months ago,” Lux explained.

“This is real. No wonder Helmann wants to claim credit. Professor Jones was in this with you,” Douglas asked. “What’s his deal?”

“Jones was with me when we tested the drone in a different configuration that did cause sonic booms over Lake Lanier. A police officer stopped us and asked what we were doing and I misdirected the officer rather than tell the officer the absolute truth. I was not willing to tell him that our drone permit was covering a top-secret hypersonic drone,” Lux explained. “We are no longer working together.”

“They would have locked you up ‘til there were hypersonic vehicles, if you had tried to explain that. I’m exhausted. Emotionally tired. We can work on this together, Fridays and Saturdays. Will that work?” Douglas asked.

“Thank you, Professor… Douglas. I’m going to call you Professor anytime away from here though. Don’t want people to think I’m putting on airs. Is that the word? Airs? What does that mean?”

“It means you would be acting like you were better than other people,” Douglas said.

“That’s what I thought but I wasn’t sure. Thanks. I’ll see you Friday. 6:30,” Lux said.

◆◆◆

Office of Agent Paul Stoneham – FBI Counterterrorism Office – Atlanta, Georgia

“I am Dr. Ernest Helmann – Chair of Aerospace Engineering. I am here to see Agent Paul Stoneham,” he explained at the registration desk and an agent escorted him back to the office.

Agent Stoneham asked Dr. Helmann to sit down. “Explain to me this security problem, doctor. It sounds serious and we’ll have to take action immediately if the threat to the security of this project is as great as you indicated. We wanted you here to get the real story. You are here voluntarily and under no coercion…correct?”

“Yes. I am here on my own free will. I only called you yesterday. This kid is trying to take credit for my work on a new propulsion system. He is only ten years old and I’m not sure how much information he has released.”

“Has he released information already? To whom? When? Do you mind if I record this information…it sounds important?” the agent asked.

“No. Feel free to record anything,” Helmann was on a roll.

“When did you start working with this young man?” Stoneham asked.

“He started here last August,” Helmann said.

“Did you start working with him immediately?” Stoneman asked.

“Well, not immediately” Helmann said.

“When did you invent the prototype? This propulsion system?” Stoneham queried. “When did you invent the method to view the magnetic fields your propulsion system uses?”

“Last year,” Helmann said. “Did the kid say he invented it?”

“The grant wasn’t submitted until late September and not granted until October,” Stoneham said. “Did you authorize tests at Eglin Air Force Base?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Tests when? Where? For what?” Helmann asked.

“August. Last year,” the agent said.

“Do you know Eliana Mizrahi? How long have you known her?” Stoneham asked.

“I’ve known Eliana a little over six years,” Helmann answered.

When was the last time you spoke or communicated with her?” Stoneham asked.

“I spoke with her just the other day and I correspond with her all the time,” Helmann asked.

“Doctor. Tell me about Richard Dillon. Was he your student too? What research did you do with him?” Stoneham asked.

“Richard did some minor work on a missile command and control system for me. He leaked information on the project and I had to finish the work myself,” Helmann said.

Stoneham turned to the intercom and asked two agents to come in.

“Doctor Helmann. You are being charged with espionage,” Stoneham said.

“I demand to talk to a lawyer! You can’t do this to me. I’m the Chair of Aerospace Engineering,” Helmann demanded.

“Professor. You have frequent contact with an espionage agent from a foreign country and have repeated unreported contact in violation of your security clearance which you no longer have. We checked NSA records of your correspondence and file transfers with the Richard Dillon case and you transferred those project files to Eliana Mizrahi. I hope that $10,000 payment will be worth the twenty years or more you will spend in jail.”

◆◆◆

Office of the Dean of Engineering – Third Floor Tech tower - Georgia Tech

“We’re here to see Dean Brazwell,” Agent Stoneham said.

“Just one moment. I’ll get him,” Alice said and went back to the dean’s office. “Dean Rowe. Two FBI agents are here to see you.”

“Really! Alice. This isn’t a joke. No. Did you know it’s a felony to lie to an agent even in a non-sworn interview?” Brazwell said.

“I didn’t sir. I don’t suggest you lie, sir,” Alice said.

“Very funny, Alice. Show them right in.”

“Right this way gentlemen,” Alice said and escorted the men in and shut the door behind them.

“What may I do for you?” Dean Brazwell asked.

“Do you have a Lux Blakely, Ernest Helmann, Alexander Jones, and Douglas Trenton working on a project on campus?”

“I do, though I understand Mister Blakely runs a lab off-campus at 563 Spring Street NW. Is there a problem?” Dean Brazwell asked.

“It seems for various reasons, Dr. Helmann needs to be removed from all secure projects. He has been in contact with an Israeli operative. We are hoping no intellectual property has been released,” Agent Stoneham paused and then continued relating the security changes. “Dr. Jones is to be removed from his part of the current project and Dr. Trenton has been added to the Blakely project.”

Dean Brazwell was puzzled. “Why did you call this the Blakely Project? Dr. Helmann started this project according to most of my reports.”

“Dean Brazwell. According to all our information. Lux Blakely invented the technology and funded the development of the technology himself. He hasn’t gotten a dime from the government. I suggest you look at past work of Dr. Ernest Helmann and see how much work he has plagarized.”

◆◆◆

William Morris Endeavor (WME) – (Music Talent Agency) Beverly Hills, California

Amin Hirschfeld looked at the girl who was to double as Lummi. The photo made her look the part. The contracts were fairly easy to negotiate and it certainly made the agency a lot of money. He hoped the girl did a good job. He had no idea why she was to fly to a southern city, stay in an expensive hotel and then go to meet some college group. He would never understand the young generations but they were always offering challenges.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Douglas Trenton was a mad man, Lux thought. He worked like a whole ant colony. They hit it off incredibly well. Douglas had gotten what Lux needed and dived in. They needed an environmental system that could work in space – no problem. Douglas jumped in and starting setting up components and testing. Lux needed to control humidity and add CO_2 scrubbers – no problem for Douglas Trenton. The transport pod was becoming feasible. Communications and radar were an issue through the ‘area’ around the pod but they’d worked out sensor portals.

Another fascinating aspect about Douglas Trenton was,the man was a skilled pilot. He was certified as a CAT I & II, Airline Transport Pilot (ATP). He wasn’t current in his certifications but an ATP has a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight time with 500 of those at night. He had been a military pilot and had logged ten times the required hours but had given up the required number of landings and approaches under instrument flight rules (IFR) so he just wasn’t current.

Purchasing the Garmin TCAS/ACAS (Traffic/Airborne Collision Avoidance System) to go with the Celera 500L avionics package fit particularly well together. Lux knew that if he turned any of the system on, he would light up the sky. He realized that spending $400,000 on radar and communications would ‘paint’ a large target on the pod if it were to fly with the system 'on'. Testing the communications with radar gave him a surprise and a clarification.  There was a millisecond latency on passing through the energized ‘area’. It was a time delay. Lux could compensate for the delays through the field but it distorted the results a bit. Humans would have had a hard time noticing but it meant that radar and two-way communications could be made to work.

◆◆◆

Phi Mu Sorority House – 240 Ferst Dr NW – Georgia Tech

Prissy was really nervous for the coming event. She and her sorority sister roommate, Evelyn, had planned a surprise. Prissy was required to set up some event and she wanted to give them something they’d all remember. She kept looking out the door and Evelyn was guarding the catered food from the ravenous hordes.

“What’s this big treat you’ve set up pledge? I admit the food looks boss, but I just want the food. There’s nothing you’ve got, that interests me,” the girl said.

“Ditto on that pledge. You got my vote with just the food. It’s time. Let’s eat. Whomever is not coming,” another said.

“Come on,” others said in the pleading note of starving coeds.

“Hey. A big black Hummer just pulled up,” another girl said as Prissy ran out. “Some gal with a hoodie came out and she’s hugging Prissy.”

“Who is it?” the girls said pressed against the window. “I can’t see. They’re coming in.”

Prissy came in first. “As Head of Her International Fan Club - I’d like to introduce – Lummi!”

Lummi came in and pulled her hood back. The girls started clapping and yelling. Prissy yelled, “Let’s eat. Feel free to talk with her as you chow down.”

Evelyn came up to Prissy. “This is so wig!”

Prissy enjoyed showing Lummi off to everyone and she really did ‘look’ like the real Lummi.

Prissy made sure video clips were sent to the local TV stations.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta, Georgia

Douglas Trenton was hyped up about the transport pod. Lux was supposed to brief him on the propulsion system instead of the very speculative specs he had tossed out their first time in the lab. He had mental reservations about the specifications he’d been given for the little satellite and how that would translate to effective propulsion for this pod. The pod was really small for an aircraft but it was good-sized for a vehicle: 6 meters long, 2 meters high, and 2.5 meters wide similar to a panel van. Getting the extending landing struts to work was one of the hardest things to do because the first three lubricants would lockup the telescoping assemblies or one just wouldn’t deploy. They finished the last connections and Douglas stood back to appreciate his work. It had been a frenzied five weeks of work.

“Now. You’ve been tantalizing me with tidbits. I knew the fact that DoD transferred my TS/SCI clearance to this project meant something. I also knew this project had to be special if Professor Helmann was trying to steal your work. When do we attach the thrust units? I’ve seen the six high torque electric motors and propellors you have like the grant discussed. So, what was this talk about not causing a sonic boom?”

“I hated not telling you but I’ve withheld a lot of information. I’ve tested all the thrusters without you here. Let’s see if they even work, with all the components installed. I don’t want to set it to maximum thrust, and have it not, lift off the ground,” Lux said.

Trenton laughed. “The Air Force has had a few of those in its day. All those specs you told me about before were just speculative…right?”

They both climbed into the cockpit and strapped in. “No. Those were real for the drone.”

“Hey. “I’m the pilot here,” Douglas said.

“I get to fly it inside my lab,” Lux said. “If it does anything, that is…”

“There is that. Let’s develop a checklist. Whomever flies this thing will need one.”

Pre Pre-flight Weather and limitations………….Checked

Flight plan (if required)………………………….Completed

Maintenance……………………………….……...….Checked

Flight documents…………………………...…Still not legal

Loose articles ………Removed and Stowed……..Checked

Seat belts fastened…..………………………….…...Checked

Battery charge……………………………………......Checked

:               :               :

Orientation gyros………………………………….. Checked

GPS…………………………………………...…......... Checked

Communications set locally..…………….…….... Checked

They had turned on their running lights, finished the preflight and started the takeoff checklist.

Lux reached over and set the Halbach thrusters at 5% until the craft gently reached neutral buoyancy and lifted a half meter. He piloted out into the center of the lab. Lux did a spin around the lab. He set down and had Douglas open the rollup door to the lab and proceeded to move the pod out to the parking area, where he set it down. Lux moved out and moved to the passenger seat and let Trenton take the pilot’s station. They both strapped in and Trenton looked like a kid in a candy store.

Trenton set the cycling to just lift the pod up a meter out here in the indoor parking and tooled around the open area. He lowered the pod just off the surface and flew it back into the lab, and turned it heading outbound.

“How can we really flight test this thing? We have a transponder. We have communications. We could spoof the tail number of some planes up for maintenance and do the flight tests. It’s illegal as all heck,” Trenton suggested. “I’d lose my license forever if – better – WHEN we got caught.”

“We could go through all the flight tests required to certify a new aircraft? We could do that or certify our pod as a spacecraft?” Lux asked.

“I don’t think we can do that? We might want to put in a Cirrus Airframe Parachute System in case we get an unexpected thruster failure. We’d be shut down too fast if we try the normal certification method since other aircraft couldn’t compete but I did think of a way for us to get some flight tests in. We could go to another country that allows an easier certification method and use that to fly in the US, but I’d rather not,” Trenton admitted.

“What can we do? If we take off anywhere with radar, they will see we are out of the norm,” Lux said worriedly.

“We can pretend to be some Cirrus Vision Jet for about $2.5 million and use conventional communications and transponders. Buying a plane is the cheapest thing you do. It cost a fortune to keep them current and up to cert with their maintenance and storage. We might need to buy a small airport with a hanger. We use that jet tail number and fly at night. Anywhere we’re going that has radar, we’d have to fly no more that the fastest speed and range of that plane. We could fly to private airports, land at night and hide the planes in daylight. We could even play jet sounds,” Trenton proposed.

Lux shook his head. “I thought I was twisted. Let’s get the that Airframe Parachute System before we start flying this clunky thing around. The Cirrus could have Halbach thrusters installed that would add range and speed. That would be a huge market. We could say we’ve found a new engine is anyone asks. We don’t know how fast we can go in the transport pod. If it flies like I think, the G’s of acceleration would squish us. I have a pressure suit that still fits me and I can wear that. Do you have one from your military days? That still fits?” Lux asked.

“Do we have the money to buy a jet, a deserted airfield, and do maintenance?” Trenton asked.

Lux tilted his head back and considered his recent ‘Lummi Money’. His portion was $20 million after taxes. “I think I can swing it. Find me a plane, a mechanic, and an airfield.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

Douglas was excited. He sat down with the files. “I’ve found some fantastic deals; I think. Whenever we have a lot of rich doctors or lawyers getting too old with no kids there are bargains to be had. I found a paved, private 2,900-foot airstrip in Paulden, Arizona with a large modern house You could rent it out to shooters going to classes at Gunsite Academy when you’re not there. Those folks are the place to go for firearms training to the elite military, police, and civilian personnel.”

“Whoa. We don’t have a plane yet and it’s near the end of the semester,” Lux said.

“Oh ho! That’s the best part. I found a Cirrus Vision Jet that is on sale near here. It needs its 1,000-hour maintenance check pretty soon, and has some issues. I think we could get it for $2,500,000,” Trenton was still excited. “The guy that told me about it said the people are desperate to sell the thing because it needs so much work.”

“Why do we want it if it’s going to cost us a bundle to get it up to snuff?” Lux said.

“The certified Cirrus mechanic that told me about it is an avid shooter. He wants to retire and move out west. I would offer him minimal salary to service the jet and move out to be a caretaker for the property. The airstrip and house already have a 20KW backup generator. He has his tools and instruments for the Cirrus,” Trenton explained.

“We’re looking at about four million then,” Lux said and then continued. “You want to go buy the plane, fix it up, fly it out to Paulden. You also need to fly out to Paulden and get that place set up. I’ll get my lawyer, R.V. Lucas, to meet you to buy the plane. He has my power-of-attorney. I will send you the non-disclosure and employment agreement. I’ll be installing the airframe parachute system and finishing the course for this semester. Put down earnest money on the property, since that will take a month to close.”

◆◆◆

Fulton County Airport (Charlie Brown) – Just west of Atlanta

Douglas Trenton and R.V. Lucas pulled up the rather newish hangar near the end of Runway 32.

An old guy with coveralls and a shop rag was wiping his hands when he came out of the hanger and walked over to meet them at their car.

“Y’all the guys that called to buy Baby?” the old guy said.

“If ‘Baby’ is the 2020 Cirrus Vision Jet with 250 hours on her – that’d be yes,” Trenton said. “Douglas Trenton. This is R.V. Lucas. You are?”

“Sorry. Elan Altaha. I’ve got all the maintenance records and I’ve kept it ship shape,” Elan said.

“Why did you want to sell it?” Trenton asked.

Elan laughed. “Warranties,” he said.

“Huh,” R.V. asked. “I don’t understand.”

Elan snorted a laugh. “The doctor that owned this was a plastic surgeon. He made a ton of money and bought it on a whim so he could go hunting up in Wyoming or something. He kept trying to keep making money and had a stroke. Couldn’t do any more surgery and couldn’t go hunting since he lost a lot of mobility. His warranty ran out. It costs a ton to have a jet. A jet is like a boat because there are two times in the owner’s life when they’re happy.”

Douglas laughed. “The day they buy it and the day they sell it. You’re asking $2.5 million for it. Is that firm?”

“Depends,” Elan said. “Let’s go inside.”

“Explain ‘depends’ please,” Douglas Trenton was intrigued.

“What do plan to do with my ‘Baby’?”

“Let’s go look at it first,” Trenton said and Elan led them out to the hangar and they did a thorough check from the tip to tail, from landing gear to every inspection port and sensor until they went inside. The seats were in a soft tan leather. It was very high end. They went through the small bathroom to the cockpit. Douglas Trenton was in his element. He looked at the instrumentation and all the sensors. “Okay. This is the tricked-out version and not the low-end version with only 250 hours. You should be asking four million for this one. What’s the catch?”

“Everything I’ve said is the gospel. I didn’t tell you everything. That doctor that owned his plane…” Elan paused, hesitant to tell them more. “He committed suicide in the cockpit. No one wants the bad luck. Pilots are very superstitious. This is where the sales usually grind to a halt. They kept that part out of the news. What are you planning to do with this plane?”

“What if we offered you a job with this plane? Are you certified to fly it?” Trenton replied.

“I’m thinking of retiring. Atlanta is too busy. I spend half my time at 'position and hold' before I can take off here,” Elan said. “I am certified to fly it and I’m current as an ATP and a CFI. What are you boys thinking of doing?”

“We’re buying this plane for an inventor who is a senior in Aeronautical Engineering at Georgia Tech using his money. We would like you to come work with us. We’re looking to buy a private airport and four-bedroom house with a hanger in Arizona, and fly out of there. We’d need you to sign a non-disclosure before I could tell you more,” Trenton said.

“How much do you make here?” R.V. asked.

“That’s a personal question. I make $89,000 a year,” Elan said.

“We can offer you,” R.V. looked at Douglas. “$100,000 a year and a house in Paulden, Arizona with a five-year contract. You would be caretaker for the home, with a budget for maintenance and food. We might do some rentals from there to Gunsite Academy nearby, for law enforcement and military.”

“Y’all running drugs, immigrant smuggling, or espionage?” Elan asked. “Anything illegal?”

“None of that,” Trenton looked at R.V. and back at Elan. “Sign the non-disclosure and I’ll give you the whole story. I’ve got it with me,” Trenton said and handed the double-sided page to Elan. “If you have questions – ask R.V. – he’s the lawyer.”

Elan spend a good half hour going over the non-disclosure and asking numerous questions to R.V. He finally signed it and made a copy back in his hangar office. “Now give me the scoop. Anything illegal?”

Trenton looked at Elan. “Probably. We need the jet as a cover for a new type of vehicle we’ve made and need to test. It will make old planes fly further and faster. We’ll probably violate a pot full of FAA regulations because this will make everything obsolete. I’m an engineering aeronautical professor at Georgia Tech and R.V. Lucas here is Lux’s patent lawyer. We are working for Lux Blakely who invented all this tech. He got his money from patent licenses. He didn’t inherit a dime.”

“He’s a senior at Georgia Tech and made this money from his own inventions. He must be smart as hell,” Elan said. “$2.2 million if I can get the money this week. The missus of the doctor wanted this gone and said anything over $2.2 million I could keep if I got the money this week.”

“I can get you the money today if you have the ownership papers and documentation. Can you sign for the owner?” R.V. asked.

“His wife will be happy to get rid of it. She gave me her power of attorney on the plane. Let’s do that right now and we can do some short test flights tomorrow if you have the time. This can’t make it all the way to Arizona, but you could fly to Amarilla, Texas and on to Paulden, Arizona. Will Lux Blakely be coming with you? I’m anxious to meet this person.”

“You’ll be in for a surprise. He’s a unique person,” Trenton said.

Chapter 11

Lux’s Lab 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta

R.V. Lucas and Professor Douglas Trenton sat across from Lux. “So, these papers show I’m now the proud owner of a jet - normally a black hole sucking money. Stress cracks?” Lux asked.

“Remarkably few pressurizations. Many shorter flights and only 250 actual hours. It also has the bells and whistles of the high-end models. It has an ‘Autoland’ with a push of a button if the pilot was incapacitated. It has a parachute recovery system built in. It’s time to get to Arizona and check out that property. Are you going to be able to go with us?”

“Nope,” Lux said. “I’m finishing up exams right now and next week. I still have to study to max out my scores. Helmann poisoned the well with a couple of my teachers. Luckily, he’s disappeared. No one is saying where he is right now. I should be fine except that professor that teaches Space System Design is so mean. He did let me turn in my work early though.”

“Oh yeah. He’s so mean,” Trenton said knowing Lux was maxing out his class already.

“I do want to add one of the Halbach thrusters inside the plane.  Is there a place on the centerline of the plane when we can bolt it into the main truss of the plane? We could use it inside because it would have no effect on passengers but should boost the thrust on the plane like kicking in an afterburner on a fighter jet. Douglas. I need you to do the mounting. We won’t use the hybrid supercapacitor material. Add the thruster control module to the front console running power off the main electrical system since it already has a battery backup. We have enough thrust to fly it without using the single FJ33-5A jet engine, that produces 1,846 lbs. of thrust in our model of plane.”

“Altering the plane with this doesn’t change its rating. Pilots alter their planes all the time I’m told. We’ll go out tomorrow, add the unit and fly out to Arizona. Its 1,785 miles from Brown airfield. Cruise speed is normally 350 miles per hour. We could fly the 656 miles per hour like a Boeing 747 with the thruster according to my calculations – faster actually but I don’t want to rip the wings off,” Lux said. “It would be good to test on the way out there. I’d like to go with you, I think. I have four days before those exams start.”

◆◆◆

Charlie Brown Airport – (Fulton County Executive Airport) – New Cirrus Vision Jet

“Elan. I’d like you to meet Lux Blakely,” Trenton said.

Lux set down the thruster unit he was carrying and reached out to shake Elan’s hand. Elan was standing there with his mouth open.

“You’re just a kid. I thought they said you were a senior in aeronautical engineering at Georgia Tech. You said he had a lot of patents where he made his money. You said he had some new invention that was going to blow me away,” Elan said.

“Yep. All that’s correct. Nice to meet you. Let’s see about getting this installed. Elan. Remember your non-disclosure. This is a BIG part of that. We’re going to install this little addition to ‘Baby’ and double its range and near double its speed.”

“What the heck is it? I’m not going to put a rocket inside a plane…no way,” Elan said.

“Nope. Don’t want to do that. You do want this though. This will change aviation forever,” Lux said. “You’re going to be part of it.”

“What will that thing do?” Elan asked getting interested a bit.

“In tests it produces about 4,000 pounds of thrust…it shouldn’t but it does. We won’t run it at that because it would rip the bolts out of the frame. We get more bang for our buck and we cheat to get more energy out than we put in sort of’…” Lux saw Elan looking very dubious. “Wouldn’t you like ‘Baby’ to fly faster and farther with little need to refuel? We’d run the engine just above idle so we have the right number of hours but we’d have our own afterburner with no burning.”

“That’s impossible,” Elan said.

“Exactly. That’s why it’s secret. You gonna’ help us put it in. We just need it securely bolted just forward of the center of gravity and run a hardwire power to it,” Lux said.

“This I’ve got to see. You planning to go to Arizona soon?” Elan asked.

◆◆◆

Three hours later and Halbach thruster bolted in and attached to electrical system

“The plane is configured for executive seating,” Trenton said. “I’ve filed a flight plan for N418CS. We’re supposed to leave in 45 minutes. I’ve pulled up all the charts and called Arizona. They’re expecting us late this afternoon. We can put down in Amarillo if we need to refuel. I actually flew in there once. All ashore that’s going ashore. Elan. I need your CFI (Commercial Flight Instructor) rating here. Lux. Get comfortable and buckle up. The test powerups on the Halbach thruster showed green.”

“I’m not sure I want to do this,” Elan said.

“This will change your life,” Lux said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Elan said and sealed the cabin door.

The plane had been towed away from the secured hangar and the engine started right up without the myriad of switches of the more complex jets. They finished the checklist and contacted ground control after setting the transponder code. They were given the okay from the tower to move to position and hold. When they received approval, Baby moved into takeoff position and took off into the sky using the conventional jet engine.

“Wa-Hoo,” Elan yelled. “She’s still got legs. Let’s get away from all controlled airspace before we try any of this fancy stuff.”

“I was going to study some but I’m gonna rack back here,” Lux said. “Wake me up in about an hour when we are near some other small airports if we have to divert when we do testing.”

◆◆◆

Two hours later – 700 miles west of Atlanta near Texarkana, Texas

Lux woke up and stretched.  He got up and went to talk to Elan and Douglas. “Here’s what I want to do. I want to stay flying at our standard cruise speed but I want you to turn on the Halbach thrusters and ease back on the engine. Elan,” Lux said putting his hand on Elan’s upper arm. “I’d like you to get the feel for it.”

“Okay,” Elan said a little surprised. Lux had told him how to do it. “You just want me to ease the cycling rate up a smidge.”

“That’s it,” Lux said with a grin. “I’m going to go strap in first.” Lux went back to his chair and strapped in. “Okay. Ease it on.”

“You realize nothing is going to happen don’t you,” Elan said. “You still going to pay me when this doesn’t work. Nothing comes out of that box. Stuff doesn’t work that way. See. I’ve got it to 10% and nothing.”

“You’ve got to turn it on first. Make…uullk,” Lux choked out as they were slammed back in their seats. “Ease it down Elan!”

“Damn Elan,” Trenton said as Elan lowered the cyclic rate. “I’m glad you didn’t have that thruster set any higher. Read the checklist for the thruster to me.”

“Okay,” Elan read the first two steps. “1. Make sure thrust unit is set to zero. Then turn unit on. 2. Incrementally advance cyclic rate. My bad,” he said looking embarrassed. “I am now advancing the cyclic rate and decreasing the jet engine output.”

“How far would our range be if we minimally used the jet and instead used the Halbach thruster?” Lux asked. “Calculations show it should we could fly coast to coast. You getting how this could change everything?” Lux interjected.

“Yeah. Yeah. I get it. I am starting to see the advantages.” Elan said.

“Let’s try easing the engine a bit lower and upping the Halbach thrust ‘til we are at commercial fleet speed if the plane still handles well,” Lux said. “Calculations show there is more strain from the compression/decompression pressurization cycles than going faster.”

“Cutting the jet back to minimal and upping the Halbach thruster,” Elan said and his voice was a little squeaky with stress. “Sixty percent power – 460 miles per hour. 80 percent 575 miles per hour. I don’t feel comfortable pushing it any harder.”

“Trenton. If you’d adjust our flight plan for this speed, I’d appreciate it, or cancel it and fly VFR (Visual Flight Rules) if the weather looks good enough.”

“I’ll just cancel it and fly VFR,” Trenton said. “The weather looks fine. Our fuel use looks minimal. We could refuel in Amarillo on the way back.”

“Let’s do that,” Lux said and paused. “How much fuel do we have currently?”

“We have a little more than half. We could fly the rest of the way and home if we cut off the jet engine but I wouldn’t want to use the parachute if we hit a stretch with no magnetic fields or something. What do you say, Elan?”

“I’m sold. I’m afraid I thought Trenton here was…like a politician running for office…spouting out all this unbelievable stuff,” Elan said. “Now that we’ve been crusin’ along with just a box pushin’ us…well…I think you are somethin’. All y’all.”

“Do I hear more Southern leakin’ out of you?” Trenton asked.

“I was born in Arizona near where we are goin’ but grew up in Georgia,” Elan explained.

◆◆◆

Paulden, Arizona - Private Airport and Home

“Who are we supposed to meet?” Lux asked as they overflew the center of the runway to scope out the condition of the property and the runway.

“Looks pretty nice but won’t be able to see the details ‘til we set down,” Douglas said. “R.V. verified the owner, M. Abernathy, is supposed to be living there. Calling on 122.8 to let them know we’re about to land. N418CS from the east turning final to 1 on 58AZ.”

“The jet, ‘Baby’ landed and taxied to a stop before pulling in front of the 50’ X 60’ hangar. A person, probably the owner, was walking out to them.”

“Hi. I’m Marie Abernathy. You must be Mister Blakely,” The woman said while shaking hands with Trenton. She was late forties and still looked fit and bright – even kind of pretty for an older woman. She must have been almost forty.

Trenton laughed, “Actually, I’m Douglas Trenton. This is our mechanic, Elan Altaha.” Elan seemed enamored as he shook her hand. “This is Lux Blakely,” Trenton said indicating Lux.

Marie started laughing. Stopped. Stared at Lux and started laughing again. “Pleased to meet you,” she barely got out when she reached down to shake Lux’s hand.

“Why do you want to sell? You’re asking $1.0 Million,” Lux said and looked around at the dry and dying native bushes. He noticed the other homes nearby and some usage ruts to the airstrip. Some of the homes looked deserted already and two had hangars obviously storing planes not allowed to use the airstrip.

Marie looked defensive. “I’m just ready to leave the hot weather.”

“When did the wells run dry? How much does it cost to haul in water? The neighbors claim this is public use and they fly planes in, don’t they? Lawsuits?”

“Two years ago, but the wells aren’t dry all the time. During the spring we have three months of water. Yes, the neighbors were using this as their airstrip,” Marie said.

“Hmm,” Lux said. “How fast could we obtain the land? Do you have the status of all the neighbors’ property? Could we speak with your lawyers?”

Marie started crying. “How did you know? This is a disaster.”

“Let’s go inside,” Trenton said.

They went inside and it was slightly cooler, a chilly? 28℃ (82℉). “How old is your HVAC unit?” Lux asked.

“Twenty years, like the house. Works like a charm,” Marie said.

“How much do you owe? All your debt? Second mortgages? Credit cards? Loans? Time payments? Have you added them all up? Lawyer bills? Water bills? Utilities?” Lux asked.

Marie started crying again. “I owe a total of $943,000. That’s why I’m not using a realtor. I don’t want to give them a percentage if it won’t benefit me.”

“I saw a water tank. Is it functional now?” Lux asked. “Will you show us around?”

Marie wiped her nose on a tissue and dried her eyes. She motioned them up and through the house showing what worked. Power came from the eight power plants in Yavapai County (fossil, wind, and solar).

She then showed them all the improvements her deceased husband had added after he had paved the strip and built the hangar. The hangar was insulated and the office had a rest room. They went outside and she showed him the two wells. Both were four hundred feet deep but produced very little water.

She showed them the waste treatment area and the auxiliary 5 KW generator which was enough to run a refrigerator and microwave for a few hours. They went back into the house.

“If you could give us a ride to the Days Inn just south of Paulden, we could meet you in the morning and go to the Chase Bank and get money wired to you. Then we could go to the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office. There we could do a title search and register the title change,” Lux said.

“You mean you’re willing to buy the property,” Marie asked. “Even with the drought and the neighbors.”

“Yep,” Lux said. “It’s worth $1.1 Million. I’d be cheating you for any less. I can deal with the other issues.” Lux got up. “Do we have a deal?” Marie nodded vigorously and shook Lux’s hand.

Marie seemed a little stunned. “I’ll bring the car around while you people get your bags.”

Trenton and Elan glared at Lux as they followed him back to the plane. Trenton started talking as soon as Marie was out of earshot. “Why in the world would you offer more than she was asking?” he asked.

“She has lived here for twenty years and she has a lot invested in this place. This is fine for our purposes. I can make this work. Let’s get our overnight bags off. I’ve got us two rooms at the Days Inn. You two share the two-bed room. I’ll take the single. We’ll talk after dinner,” Lux explained.

◆◆◆

Gabby’s Diner near the Days Inn – Paulden, Arizona

“She seemed ecstatic,” Elan said while they gobbled down some great burgers and fries.

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Trenton said. “She got more than she was asking.”

“Good will is worth a $100K.” Lux was finishing his burger and was planning to explain over the fries. “I plan to sink some money into this place and I could sell it for three million next year even if the drought gets worse. You have to realize this place is near Gunsite Academy. We could buy every home there and make money. There are bald eagle nesting grounds all around this area. Our plane can fly silently right now.”

“What are you planning to do about the water?” Elan asked. “This is the hottest weather in 120 years and this drought will only get worse.”

“Science. We install fifty pairs of Source HydroPanels from Tempe, Arizona. They would make about 400 liters (105 gallons) of pure water per day by pulling moisture from the air. Think we get those installed for about a quarter million. They produce their own power. Then we get another $120,000 in a solar power system. We use the two wells with a commercial geothermal system where we can get heating and cooling and another source of pure water. That’s about $35,000 for what I want. We finally need a greywater recycling system. We need fencing around the strip or charge our neighbors for use of the strip. We could sell this place to a prepper for a fortune.”

“I’ve never heard of those panels,” Elan said.

“My family uses something similar in Huntsville. We also use geothermal. We use solar panels for power and I helped hook up the systems. Elan. Could you live in this place? I’d like you as the caretaker for this place. I’ll get someone else if you don’t want it,” Lux said.

“I already told you this was my dream. I am right near great places to hunt, fish, and shoot. Also, I can fly. Heaven,” Elan said.

“Okay. I’ll take that as a reluctant ‘I guess’,” Lux kidded.

◆◆◆

Yavapai County Recorder’s Office – 1015 Fair Street - Prescott, Arizona

“Hey Marie,” said Brooke the office manager. “Who you bringing with you today?”

“Hi Brooke. I’m selling my place to these folks. Yes. Before you ask. They know about the wells going dry. They want the airstrip,” Marie said.

“Hi. I’m Douglas Trenton. This young man with me is Lux Blakely. He’s actually buying the land.”

Brooke looked a little shocked but just raised her eyebrows and the side of mouth quirked up in a little smile. “How are you paying her for the property?”

“Hi. I got a cashier’s check for the amount made out to Marie Abernathy. I saw online that you were a notary too. I was hoping you would notarize the purchase. My lawyer said there is no preclusion for a minor holding title to real or personal property in Arizona but Dr. Trenton here has my power of attorney and he could sign too if that would assuage any fears,” Lux said and saw Brooke lean back to take in a small child using adult language. “Oh. I just use the big words to shock adults. I’m ten,” Lux said with a grin. “I figured you’d ask. I have my passport and student ID to document my name.”

Brooke sat back for a minute to absorb all this information and then laughed. “You certainly made my day. Most days this place is a ghost town. Lux Blakely. I’d love to see that check and I’m happy to notarize the sale. Angie!” Another clerk stuck her head in the office. “Pull Marie’s records on her house and air strip.”

“Do any of the other adjacent owners have rights or easements for the airstrip. They’ve been using it, without permission,” Lux said.

“Probably the two Russians that paid cash six years ago. They aren’t paying their taxes either. You folks ought to stop off at the Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff, Tony, has been wondering about them.”

They were all quiet as they piled back into Marie’s car. “I assume you want to stop by the sheriff’s office.”

“Please,” Lux said. “You’ve been super. How long do you need to move out?”

“That’s a bit awkward. I don’t want any of that furniture. I’ve got to find a place to move that junk and store it,” Marie said. “I’m probably going to move down to Mexico or Costa Rica.”

“How much is all the furnishings and everything except what’s in the refrigerator worth to you?”

Lux asked.

“$15,000?” Marie said.

“If you’ve got a check with your routing number and account on them, I’ll forward $15,000 as soon as we get to your house. That would save both of us a lot of trouble. Elan. Did you hear that?” Lux asked.

“Yeah. That’s fine. I figure it usually takes about two years off your life every time you move into a new house with the wear and tear on your body. I thought Ms. Marie here kept a mighty fine home,” Elan said.

“Is Elan going to be living there?” Marie asked suddenly interested in the man. “We ought to buy Elan a car if I’m not around to chauffeur. There’s a good used car place where I know the people.”

“Let’s stop there after the sheriff’s office,” Lux said. “It’s only money.”

◆◆◆

Yavapai Sheriff’s Office – Prescott, Arizona

They went into the Sheriff’s Office and Marie asked if Tom was around. Evidently, he was there and came out to see them.

“Tom,” Marie started off showing she knew the sheriff well. “These folks bought my place. My wells went dry two years ago and the water quality wasn’t good anyway. They do research. This is Lux Blakely. He’s the one that purchased my place.”

“Oh ho,” the sheriff said. “How old are you boy? You inherit some money?”

“I’m ten, sheriff. Didn’t inherit a dime sir. This is money from my patent licenses. We do aeronautical research. We’re testing some ways to keep jets quieter. You won’t hear sonic booms or loud engines from us,” Lux said.

The sheriff looked impressed. “That’s great.”

“Sheriff. There seem to be some Russians that use Marie’s airstrip without her permission. I just bought her place. Two houses have hangars so it’s obvious they have planes that flew in without permission. Brooke at the Recorder’s Office said they also aren’t paying their taxes. Should I leave a note on their door to remove their planes before I put up a fence?”

“No, son. That’s what we’re for. We’ll leave a note telling them to remove their planes before they’re fenced off. I’ll check the status on their taxes and if you leave me your contact information, I’ll let you know if we sell off their properties in tax foreclosure. That happens a lot with foreigners in this state,” the sheriff said.

They left the sheriff’s office and drove to a car dealership and bought a white Chevy Bolt with low miles for $15,000. Marie had Elan sign for the car and follow them back to the house.

“How did you get him to sell you that car for $6,000 under market value? It was in great shape,” Lux asked.

“The salesman is my nephew. This model Bolt has also been recalled but this one has already had that fixed. How old is Elan? What’s he going to be doing at the house? What does he do?” Marie asked.

Lux looked at Marie and grinned. “He just turned fifty. He grew up near here and has a mechanical engineering degree from Arizona State. I pay him really well.”

“Will his wife live with him?” Marie asked.

“No. He’s been divorced for a decade,” Lux said and Trenton was quiet in the back.

After gassing up Marie’s car and checking the charge on the Bolt, they headed back to the house.

They pulled in and Lux raised the question of Marie’s departure again. “How long before you are moved out?” Lux asked.

“I can be out this week since you bought all my furnishings. I have an idea though. It’s a big house and Elan is going to be living here. Elan could stay here to keep watch over the place. I’ll be able to show him where to get all his groceries and supplies. He can bring his tools next time.”

“Oh. I had that loaded up in the plane already,” Elan interjected. “I can get everything set up here and show the Source HydroPanel and Solar folks where to set everything up.”

Lux grinned and said that’d be fine. Trenton and Lux put their overnight bags back in the plane and waved to Elan who was standing there with Marie. They sat in the plane and went through the checklist. The plane had been plugged in and the auxiliary unit was fully charged.

◆◆◆

Atlanta Bound – Late afternoon – Paulden Airstrip, Arizona

The plane fired up its jet engine and trundled out to the end of the runway. “Want to fly back with jet idling the whole way. We’ll just use the Halbach thrusters. Okay?” Lux asked.

Trenton nodded with a big grin as he upped the Halbach thruster cycling rate until ‘Baby’ was straining against the brakes. Douglas nodded and Lux moved the thrust to maximum. The little plane shot down the runway and practically leaped into the air. They looped around and flew over mid-runway heading south a bit to stay out of the bald eagle nesting areas.

Below looking up – Marie turned to Elan. “That was the quietest plane I’ve ever heard. It took off like a scalded dog. Heck. It looked like one of T-38s or F-16 that are always overflying from Luke Air Force base.” Marie gave Elan a good ‘elevator eyes’ look – checking him out. “I hope you’ll let me make you a home cooked dinner. We do have to empty the refrigerator. What do you like to drink? I’ve got a good single-malt scotch and enough water to make ice cubes. Would that work?”

Elan thought this new job might just work out…heaven.

◆◆◆

Flying Back to Atlanta though Jackal Military Operations Area (MOA)

“We need to get through this area because the T-38 supersonic (Mach 1.3) training jets and F-16 (Mach 2.5) fly practice runs through these areas,” Douglas said.

“Let’s fly at 90% thrust,” Lux suggested. “That should bring us to 747speeds.”

“Damn,” Douglas said. “There are two F16s headed our way. Looks like they are doing a missile launch practice run.”

“Can we do anything? What if they really launched something,” Lux asked.

“We could cut in full thrust with our jet engine and full Halbach thrust. That would get us just shy of Mach 1.0. We would shake apart getting faster but then we cut off the jet engine when they pass us and we’d lose our heat signature. Their missiles would lose their primary lock. The Navy uses Maverick G missiles a lot and the Air Force still uses Sidewinders,” Douglas said remembering his air combat days.

“We could also use the Halbach lift thrusters to go up. No. they’d rip the wings off at that speed. Our lift thrusters will lift this whole plane just barely. You try what you think,” Lux said.

Douglas grinned as the adrenaline hit his system with the old endorphins. He loved this stuff. He hit the full thrust with the jet and Lux maxed the Halbach thrust. The acceleration slammed them back in the seat.

◆◆◆

Training flight Alpha Bravo from Luke Air Force Base – Jackal MOA – Captain Tim Allen

“Hey Peter. You see that bizjet down in Indian Country? Let’s do a dive and strafe practice run. Not close but enough to set off their TCAS.”

“Roger. You take lead, ‘D’,” his wing-man said.

“I’d move in a bit more…hey. Did you see that?”

“I didn’t know they could go that fast. That thing is going near Mach 1.0. Damn. I’m going to paint them like I would with a Sidewinder.”

“Not sure that’s a wise move ‘D’,” Pete said.

“I’m doing it now,” D said. “I lost the infrared. Did they lose their engine?”

“What are they doing?”

◆◆◆

Flying Back to Atlanta though Jackal Military Operations Area (MOA)

“They are moving to lock a missile on us. I’m turning off the jet engine. What else can I do that will freak them out?” Douglas asked.

“Stop. I’ll boost the lift Halbach arrays. We can stop and hover,” Lux said.

“I guess we can. Okay.”

◆◆◆

Training flight Alpha Bravo from Luke Air Force Base – Jackal MOA – Capt David Allen

“Hey lookout ‘D’ that plane is stopping. Lookout!” Peter yelled as the little bizjet dived straight down. ‘D’ jinked and his F-16V flamed out. “Eject! Eject! Eject! ‘D’ yelled as his canopy blew off and he was shot up and out. His parachute snarled. ‘D’ knew he wouldn’t make it when he felt he was falling too fast. Damn. He was too young for die like this, he thought as he lost consciousness.

◆◆◆

Flying Back to Atlanta though Jackal Military Operations Area (MOA)

“Fly under him. I’ll manage the lifters if you can keep us from flipping,” Lux said.

“Damn,” Douglas said as he dipped ‘Baby’ and Lux squirted their plane fast to get under the falling pilot. They missed the pilot but got his parachute caught over the vertical stabilizers.

Lux lowered the pilot ‘til his feet touched the ground. He looked unconscious. Douglas drifted the plane off to the side and Lux ran out, checked the pilot and cut the parachute off the stabilizers. Lux loosened the pilot’s collar and raised his feet up with the rolled-up parachute to keep him from going into shock. He then ran back inside and strapped into his seat.

“Let’s get out of here. Why did we do that? We will get into so much trouble,” Lux said.

Douglas started the jet as Lux set the lift Halbach thrusters to maximum and they shot up. Lux then maxed the forward Halbach thrusters and Douglas kicked in the jet. They were soon up to cruise speed and backed off the jet engine to save their remaining fuel.

“You know we had the transponder on the whole time. Do you think they had their nose cameras on?” Lux asked.

“I don’t know but at least we were squawking 1200,” Douglas said.

“I wonder if they had their nose cameras on. I’m hoping they didn’t get a camera shot,” Lux said.

“We might want to wait a bit longer before we come back,” Douglas said. “I’ll definitely fly another route.”

They made good time flying back and had the required 45 minutes of fuel remaining by a hair.

◆◆◆

Planning for Sustainability in Paulden, Arizona

“Source – How may I direct your call?” the receptionist answered.

“I need fifty pairs of your latest iteration installed in Paulden, Arizona. All you have to do is give me your best deal and I won’t have to do geothermal,” Lux said.

“Just a moment sir. You sound awfully young,” the man said.

“I am sir. I have very many years to spend my money other places but IF you give me a reasonable deal you will have a good business deal. Call the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office. Ask them about the airstrip and house with hangar that Lux Blakely just purchased near Paulden. I’d like fifty pairs of your latest product installed. Give me a good price and installation schedule - you’ll have a wired draft for half today. I’m in Atlanta at Georgia Tech currently but I left an employee overseer at the installation address 125 miles away from you,” Lux said.

“You sound awfully young,” the salesman said. “I’m going to put someone else on.”

“Melanie Cowan here. Who am I speaking with?” she said.

“Hi Melanie. My name is Lux Blakely and I’ve been trying to buy fifty pairs of your HydroPanels for a property I just purchased in Yavapai County near Paulden, Arizona – about 125miles from you. The person I was talking to wouldn’t even give me his name since I sounded young. I am young but I’m a senior in Aeronautical Engineering at Georgia Tech. I bought the property a few days ago – talk to Brooke at the Yavapai recorder’s Office.  You give me a good deal – installed and maintenance contract and I’ll wire you half the money today but I will not deal with that…other person at your company.”

Melanie pulled up Yavapai County Recorder’s website and looked up recent purchases and saw that Lux Blakely had bought a property with an airstrip, hangar, and house for $1.1 million.

“Mister Blakely. Is the land flat?" she asked.

"Yep," Lux answered.

"" Lux asked.How does fifty pairs of our most current HydroPanels, installed with five years of maintenance for $240,000? That’s really the best I can do,” Melanie said.

“Melanie. You’re a wonder. I sent my message to your personal email. Send me the company finance link to my email and I’ll wire $120,000 today. I will pay you a bonus if I can get this installed within a month. It’s a pleasure doing business with you. Do you know a good solar power company you’d recommend?" Lux asked.

"Sunny Energy, LLC. in Tempe," she said.

'Great. Who should I ask for there?" Lux asked.

"Ask for Traci and tell her I recommended her."

"Great. Thanks again.”

Lux was able to get a quote for a 100 KW system and a maintenance contract for a reasonable price. He had gotten a contract proffer from Sunny Energy before the day was out. Lux signed it and had wired a twenty percent down payment to get them rolling. Sheriff Tom from Yavapai County had sent him a copy of two foreclosure notices and an auction date. Elan sent his local banking information so his pay could be automatically be deposited in Paulden. Elan said Marie was helping him fit into the community.

◆◆◆

Debriefing Training flight Alpha Bravo From Luke Air Force Base - Captain David Allen

Peter Lee came out of the debriefing over the loss of an F16V looking pale and sweating. David Allen was practically quaking in his boots. He hoped he'd still need flight boots - or flight anything after losing a plane. "How was it, Peter?"

“Can’t talk about it,” Peter said. “Good luck, ‘D’.”

“Captain Allen. You’re next,” said the JAG officer.

“Captain Allen, reporting as ordered,” David said saluting until it was answered by the three General Officers. There were two brigadier generals (one-star) and a major general (two-star).

“Have a seat Captain,” the brigadier general on the left said. David saw it was General Wheeler who spoke. “This is the required inquiry we have whenever a plane is lost, especially an $80 million dollar plane. This is not a court martial, so you don’t get or need an advocate.”

“Tell us, in your own words, what happened,” said Major General Teller. “We’ve all been there and we would prefer the truth. If we have to use forensics, you won’t like the outcome.”

“General. We were flying an air-to-air training flight to stay current and we often use simulated attacks on commercial planes from a distance. I had suggested a practice strafing run on a bizjet that was flying through Jackal Military Operations Area. I got within TCAS 1 range and that plane zoomed ahead. Its speed was impossible for a little jet like that, sirs. It was near Mach 1.0,” Captain Allen explained.

“What kind of plane was it? We know you both turned off your nose cameras. How far away were you when the plane accelerated?” General Teller asked.

“We were 14 nm away (~16 miles). I think it was a Cirrus Vision Jet. Peter thought it might have been a Piper Altaire.”

“What happened then, Captain?” asked General Wheeler.

“Sir. I moved to the rear and tried for a Sidewinder infrared lock and Captain Lee cautioned me, but I did it anyway. That’s when it went screwy. The little plane suddenly stopped showing on infrared though it was still on radar and it was still flying about commercial airliner speed. Sir. I looked up the specs on a Cirrus Vision and it was 305 knots. The Piper Altaire is supposed to cruise at 360 knots. This plane was going a lot faster than that.”

“And then?” General Teller prompted.

“The plane just stopped dead in the air. I jerked to avoid going near it and had a flameout and couldn’t restart. I had to eject and my parachute was tangled. I remembered I was falling at terminal velocity toward the ground and, somehow, I was knocked unconscious. I awakened to find my collar loosened, my parachute cords cut, and the parachute rolled up under my feet.”

“Your partner told a similar story though he tried to protect you with your errors. He said he saw the plane lowering you vertically to the ground. Do you have anything else for us?” Teller asked.

“No sir,” he said and stood up to attention.

“You are dismissed, Captain,” Teller ordered.

Captain Allen saluted, spun and exited quickly.

Teller turned to the other two. “What do you think?”

Wheeler said, “I think we’ve got a new player in town. No infrared and hovering. This will come up again. Slap a Top-Secret classification on it if nothing else.”

Chapter 12

Back at Georgia Tech – Final Exams

Exams were a distraction, but they weren’t difficult. Lux didn’t max out all of his exams. He got an A- in Spacecraft Flight Dynamics. Lux went to see the instructor. Where the instructor had asked what is the minimal time to transit from a lower orbit to a higher orbit expecting the students to automatically use a ‘Hohmann transfer’ without even considering using ‘continuous thrust’.  Lux realized the professor was doing his very best – bless his heart and realized it would make his grades more believable.

He registered for the three courses for his final senior semester: AE 4080 Aerothermodynamics (3 Hrs), AE 4803 Planetary Spacecraft Development (3 Hrs), and AE 4699 Research (7 Hrs). Professor Trenton was going to be his advisor on the research.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW Atlanta – Test Flight

Lux had coordinated with Trenton. This was a big day. Lux was planning to take his craft and many tools to the hangar in Paulden. It had been ten days since the F16 had crashed so they were going to try to avoid the Military Operations Areas enroute. Lux was supposed to tag along behind the jet in the transport pod. Trenton tried to talk him out of it but he explained he had already flown to Eglin Air Force base using his drone.

The testing had shown there was some slight attenuation on electromagnetic radiation from radio to infrared but truly energetic radiation was stopped cold by the pod: from high frequency ultraviolet to Xray, and gamma radiation.

Trenton was going to fly over in the jet at midnight and Lux was supposed to take off like a weather balloon and to simulate being carried by the wind. When Trenton flew by – Lux would follow. Lux climbed into the pod and went through the checklist they had made. Anna was connected through wifi but they’d lose all connections in flight. “Anna. Do you have communication with Trenton?”

“Yes Lux. He says, start your run now.”

“Thanks Anna,” Lux said and rechecked the oxygen and power levels. He set the pod to lift, opened the remote rollup door to the lab and then the outside. It was pitch black with no moon tonight. He resealed the doors and set the controls to simulate a weather balloon with the wind wobble. Lux let the wind ‘simulate’ carrying him west and ever rising. Trenton contacted him on the prearranged frequency when he picked up his ‘balloon’ signal.

Lux turned the pod and could see the running lights of ‘Baby’ through the numerous camera ports through the supercapacitor ‘area’. ‘Baby’ flew past and Lux fell in behind. “That was easier than I thought,” Lux said over the air.

“Let’s limit communication. I am going to increase speed and you fall in behind.”

Baby increased to commercial jet speed and Lux set the pod on ‘follow’ and set the distance to 100 meters. Trenton took the jet up and the pod followed. They were about two hours out of Atlanta when Trenton got a call on 121.5 MHz. as a fighter jet came out of nowhere to fly right beside him.

The F-16 flew beside their Cirrus Vision Jet ‘Baby’ – “N418CS this is the fighter jet to your starboard. Are you aware there is an object following you?”

“Unaware. What is it?” Trenton said hoping they wouldn’t try to shoot him or Lux down.

Lux saw the F-16 fighter jet off to Lux’s right and heard the conversation. Lux knew an intercept used two planes – one beside the plane and one behind. Lux didn’t know how much acceleration he could handle but he knew they might shoot him down if he didn’t hustle. He also saw he needed better sensors on his pod.

Lux gulped in a breath of air and increased the cycling rate of his Halbach thrusters and the lift thrusters at the same time. He shot up but felt no acceleration. No acceleration effects! What the heck? He hit the maximum acceleration and shot up at Mach 30 until he was in orbit – no heating. As soon as he was over Paulden, Arizona - he headed straight down. There were no inertial effects. Good grief. No wonder there were no transfers of momentum through the ‘area’.

“Is it still back there? What was it?” Trenton transmitted to the F-16 beside him. Trenton had seen Lux shoot off into the sky, past him at an impossible speed. He hoped it didn’t kill him. All he could do was continue the flight.

“You are clear - bizjet. Looks like it was a visual glitch,” The pilot said over the radio link before he and his partner veered off back to their base.

◆◆◆

In his suborbital flight to Paulden, Arizona

Lux was gleeful. He would have normally taken tiny, incremental steps before he ever tried full power. He could stop nearly instantly! He figured stop speed was related to the saturation latency (delay) of the Halbach arrays – how long it took them to lose their magnetic field after being energized. He decided he’d go down near some deserted area and then fly nape of the earth back to the Paulden homestead. He knew the military could track objects descending from orbit.

He looked at his GPS position and shot down from orbit. The ‘area’ on the surface of the Pod seemed to slip through the atmosphere with no heating and no sonic boom. He was close to the ground and headed back to the Paulden Hangar. He came up on the house and hit the code to open the hangar. He flew straight in and shut down the pod and the hangar door.

An hour later Lux heard, “Baby turning final on 1,” so Lux turned on the airstrip landing lights they had installed in the last few days. Baby landed pretty as you please. Trenton rolled the Cirrus up to the opening hangar door and Trenton taxied into the hangar. We shut off the runway lights and rolled down the hangar door.

Marie Abernathy came out of the house wearing an apron with Elan following her.

Elan grinned real big and came up and gave Lux a hug and shook Trenton's hand as he came out of the jet. “Marie decided to stay with me. Seems to be working out pretty well. Oh! I printed off a copy of the non-disclosure you had me sign. I had her sign it. She’s good to go.”

“Figured you folks might want a bite to eat so I have some tenderloin, potatoes and salad waiting on you,” Marie said.

“She’s a great cook among other things,” Elan said. “Wait ‘til you see this place in the daylight. Source and Sunny Energy already have half of the installation in already. They were swarming like locusts when our money hit their system. We have the first half of the water system installed, and now have pure running water. We still need to replace the water heater and install the geothermal but the company said that should be completed by next week since we already have the wells. We have half the solar power system installed and I already installed a charger for the Bolt. We’ll be independent of both power and water by the end of next month. Did you have any trouble getting here?”

◆◆◆

Inquiry into Pecos South MOA Incident (in Progress) – Kirkland Air Force Base

“Again Captain. Tell us what you saw. It sounds incredible,” the colonel asked.

“Sir. I saw a bizjet flying and it looking like it was towing some egg-shaped pod. I paralleled the plane and contacted the pilot on 121.5. I asked him if he knew something was trailing him,” the captain related.

“What did he do or say?” the colonel asked.

“Sir. He said he was unaware of anything. Then he asked what it was? He seemed surprised and nervous,” the captain said.

“This is the part where I want you to close your eyes and repeat what you saw. Any detail is important,” the colonel said.

The captain closed his eyes and tilted his head a bit to the side. “The egg shot up and away like I was standing still. It was out of sight in a second. I’ve never seen anything move that fast.”

“How fast were you going, Captain?” the colonel asked.

“Oh yeah. I looked at my flight speed. I was going 520 knots sir.”

“You are sure of that? Were you still paralleling that private jet?” the colonel asked.

“Yes sir. I was right next to it. That egg thing didn’t have a wake or flare or anything. It was going faster than Mach 10,” the captain stated.

“What type of jet was that you saw?” the colonel asked.

“It was a single engine Cirrus Vision or a Piper Jet Altaire. Definitely, sir. I looked pictures up right afterward.”

“Did you look up specs on those planes?” the colonel asked.

“No sir. I figured they flew at commercial flight speed which was about right for what we were flying.”

“Those two fly 350 and 360 knots respectively. You say you were flying 520, Captain. Don’t you find that interesting?” the colonel asked.

“Holy hell sir! How did they do that?” the captain exclaimed.

“Did you remember their tail number?” the colonel asked.

“Sir. Still just N41 something. I was distracted by that egg,” the captain said. “How did that egg do that?”

“We’d like to know. Thank you, Captain. Let me know if you recall anything else. You’re dismissed.”

The captain stood to attention, Saluted and turned to exit.

The colonel turned to the Lieutenant Colonel beside him. “This is the same type of jet reported that ‘rescued’ a pilot from a F-16 crash near Luke Air Force Base. The support pilots corroborate the stories.”

“I hadn’t heard about that,” the Lt. Colonel said.

“You still haven’t. They had a flameout of an F-16 and the pilot ejected. His parachute fouled and he was plunging toward the ground. This little bizjet, the same model as in this incident, flies under the falling man, snags the parachute cords on the rear stabilizers, stops in midair, and lowers the man to the ground. They find the pilot unconscious with the parachute cords cut and the parachute rolled up under his feet to keep him from going into shock.”

“To quote the captain …Holy Hell!” the Lt. Colonel said.

“Exactly,” said the colonel.

◆◆◆

Paulden, Arizona - Private Airport and Home

“Morning troops,” Elan said. “Hope you slept well. I turned the AC down enough to hang meat since the unit only has to last a few more days. We are not having to scrimp on electricity now that we have the solar arrays out back.” The smell of bacon and fresh bread wafted throughout the house.

Trenton and Lux came out of the bedrooms like zombies smelling live humans.

“Grab it and growl folks,” Marie said with a stray strand of hair hanging down across her face. “Figured you guys would want a hearty breakfast, so we have eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit with some fresh ground coffee. Do you drink coffee Lux?”

“I’m learning to do so. Elan is corrupting me with that evil drink but I only drink one cup a day or I wouldn’t need that jet to zoom around the room,” Lux said and they all laughed.

“Tell us about what happened to you on the way here,” Elan said. “You two looked a little shaken up.”

Trenton nodded to Lux and indicated he should explain. Lux told the tale and when he got to how he accelerated to orbit with no flight suit – there was absolute silence. Lux explained. “There were no acceleration effects. None. No deceleration. I could stop almost instantly. I think the fact that it takes the residual magnetism to leave the Halbach array when its saturated is why it’s not instantaneous.”

Everyone sat there with their mouths open in disbelief. “I could fly back in 20 minutes,” Lux said.

“I think we shouldn’t fly anything for a while. The authorities will put that together soon enough. We need to get further along before that happens. We need to finish setting this place up. More contractors today,” Douglas asked.

“Yes,” Elan said. “They usually get here about nine. They should finish the Source HydroPanel installations today. They should finish the solar panels in three more days. Did the sheriff email you about the foreclosure auction tomorrow?”

“Yep,” Lux relied. “Both of the homes with hangars are on the auction block. Two Russian oligarchs had bought the properties on a whim thinking they’d be back in the wild west. They quit paying taxes four years ago and abandoned the properties.”

“What do you think they’ll go for?” Trenton asked Marie.

“No idea,” she said. “My property appraisal went way down when my wells started going dry. Lots of subdivisions around Arizona and California have just been deserted. People just walked away from their mortgages, like they did in the last property bubble.”

“The Hopi and Pueblo civilizations collapsed because of century long droughts,” Elan interjected. “There were 14 mega droughts between 900 to 1600 AD. I had to write a paper once about the Anasazi culture that abandoned their cities near here centuries ago – some as big as today’s Albuquerque. I guess I should say Ancestral Publoans, so I don't offend the eternally offended. They didn’t have solar or HydroPanels back then," Elan said, and paused. "Do we want windmills too? They’re pretty noisy. Heck. Even those HydroPanels make noise.”

“I think we’ll skip the windmills for now,” Lux decided. “We’ll have enough power for five homes when we get the rest of those solar panels installed. We’ve got enough to set up. I see they’re having the auction on the steps of the Yavapai County Courthouse on S Cortez Street, and it’s in the morning at ten. Marie. Recommend a place to eat and we’ll go in early.”

“You don’t mind me coming with you?” Marie asked.

“Heck no, Marie. You know everybody in this area. Who better?” Lux said and came over to Elan and Marie. “Have you two been over to those houses we’re considering?”

“We walked around them but they’re all locked up. I made notes since I knew you were interested,” Elan said.

“I want to see those hangars and houses and to see what we’d be getting. I checked on other liens on the properties and found some small liens we'll need to clean up,” Lux said. “I can get us in, but your HydroPanel people said they ran into a few rattlesnakes. Take a hoe or a stick and let’s go check out those properties.”

Elan, Marie, and Lux went to check out the properties Douglas moved tools out of the plane and computer equipment out to the air-conditioned work area in the hangar. They each had a bright flashlight and scanned the ground before they moved forward.

The first property they came to had a large hangar – as large as their own. “The power meter here is disconnected and tagged so there’s nothing running,” Lux said. He then went to the side door of the hangar. It only took him thirty seconds to open the key in the knob lock like Stan had showed him. They stepped in and panned the lights around the empty hangar.

“Holy hell!” Elan exclaimed. “These fools put the fuel tank inside their hangar. Let’s see what tools they left.”

The place was devoid of worthwhile tools but it did have a 2-ton Heat Pump (HVAC) unit for the office that looked almost new. Lux locked up and went to the back door of the house with Elan and Marie. Lux again opened the back door lock in under a minute with his lock picks from Stan. They went through the house. The house both looked and smelled dusty but it seemed in decent condition. The furniture was conservative and modern and there were sheets and towels but had no running water. The refrigerator was full of rotted food but it had lost most its smell after three years or more with no power. There were three bedrooms and two baths. The kitchen had modern appliances. They headed to the next property with a hangar.

“Hey. I think I saw a light in the house. It’s out now,” Marie said. “The sheriff said these have been deserted for three years at least.”

“Hangar first,” Lux said. “Elan. You still have that handgun you don’t think I know about.”

“Yep,” he said.

“Now would be a good time to have it out,” Lux said as he got to the side door of the second hangar. It didn’t take any time to open the lock and enter but the interior of this one was totally different from the first. There were two motorcycles and tools off to the side. All was well organized. There was welding equipment and an assortment of power tool boxes. There was a small cooler that Lux opened. “Uh-oh!” Lux exclaimed “It’s still got some ice in it. Let’s get out of here and come back over first thing in the morning.”

The other two agreed and as they were exiting – two figures came running at them with baseball bats. Lux took his snake stick and slapped the bat to the side and swept the feet out of the smaller person, so they fell into the path of the larger figure. The second tripped across the first person and went ass over teakettle. Lux whipped out one of his throwing knives and put it against the throat of the larger person. Elan and Marie shined their flashlights into their eyes.

“Don’t kill us. We’ll move,” the gangly tall boy said. “This is my sister,” he volunteered.

“Try again. Who are you? How long have you been living here?” Elan asked.

“How do you have power?” Lux asked.

“You’re just a kid,” the gangly youth said, amazed that Lux looked younger than he was. “I’m sorry Shelia. I’m not a great protector.”

“It’s okay Ford. They’re not supposed to be here either if I don’t miss my guess,” Shelia said. She was pretty and looked about 15 or 16. She had long black hair.

“Let’s see into this house,” Lux said. “These properties go up for foreclosure auction tomorrow morning so you want me to buy them if you two are planning to stick around. I’m looking to buy these homes tomorrow and I want to see what I’m getting. I own the airstrip and house across the way. Tell me about yourselves. Show us this place.”

They walked into the house and ‘Ford’ flipped on the light. They noticed the windows had covering over them but the refrigerator was running.

“How’d you tap into the electricity?” Lux asked.

“I’ll show you,” Ford said and started walking out the back door and into the night away from the house. Lux went with him with his flashlight in his left and stick in his right. Ford was walking ahead a few steps when they heard the rattle. It was a LARGE rattlesnake and it looked about to strike. Lux was too far away to use the stick so he quickly placed the stick in the hand with the flashlight, drew one of his throwing knives and aimed at the snake’s head. The knife pierced the snake’s head and penetrated to the coiled body.

Ford doubled over and squatted his legs went weak. Lux stepped on the head of the snake and pulled his knife out. He wiped the blade on the sand to clean off the blood. “Why don’t you just tell me what you did to get power? Let’s go back. I’ll lead.”

Ford made an inarticulate sound that Lux assumed was assent. Ford related how he knew of an abandoned mine nearby and he had found spools of heavy gage wire that he had rolled over a mile. He then explained how he had hooked up to a 7,200-volt transformer during a county wide power outage (once a week or more around here). He had gotten everything ready. He said he climbed the pole and attached it to the panel breaker box. Ford showed Lux the breaker box at the house and Lux thought he had done a credible job of theft of electrical services. They went back in the house and Ford started telling Shelia about the rattlesnake.

“Start by telling us the truth,” Lux said. “You’re not his sister.”

Ford started to protest but Shelia put a hand up and he stopped. “Ford and I were trying to get married but my mom wouldn’t let us ‘til Ford got a job. He’s 17 and I’m 16 so we need parental approval. We ran away and we’ve been living here for the last eight months. He does odd repair jobs for grocery money and I weld and work on small engines. I also do iron sculpture.”

“If I buy these houses, I’m going to need people for maintenance work,” Lux said. “I would hire you two to learn how to install and maintain the HydroPanels and Solar Panels I’m having installed. I’ll introduce you to the people doing the installations and get them to train you. Would you be willing to be intern maintenance personnel for room and board and a small stipend? When do you turn eighteen?”

“Three months,” Ford said smiling at Shelia.

“Okay. We’ll see how the auction goes. We’ll let you know or warn you to clear out,” Lux said.

◆◆◆

Foreclosure Auction Yavapai County Courthouse

The group on the steps of the courthouse was an…eclectic bunch, Lux thought. That was the nicest way of thinking about them. The old people were there, the vulture realtors, and the curious. He guessed he couldn’t say much since he was after a bargain too.

The auctioneer started off by explaining that these were for cash purchases payable, no later than the close of bidding. The auctioneer started off with broken down mobile home on the other side of the county. Other various and sundry properties were auctioned off and some went for a surprising amount. They finally got to the two properties near the airstrip. The first was the large hangar and house closest. The auctioneer started to describe the property and he said the properties had access to the airstrip and Marie spoke up.

“Charlie. Those two homes have no legal access to the airstrip. If anyone buys them, the airstrip owner plans to put up fencing to block access. Oh. Their wells on their property went dry three years ago,” Marie said.

“Thanks for busting my chops, Marie,” the auctioneer said. “Be that as it may. We’re starting bids at $130,000. Do I have…? I have 130. Do I hear 140? 140! Do I hear 150? – this went on until they got to 190,000. Going once…?” Son. Why do you have your hand up? This isn’t school. Do I…”

“$195,000!” Lux yelled.

“Son. You can’t bid here!” the auctioneer yelled.

“I own the airstrip property. I have the cash. Durn right I can bid. $195,000,” Lux said.

“Okay. $195,000 once,” the auctioneer yelled.

“200,” yelled a guy in the back.

“We have 200. Do I hear 210?” the auctioneer yelled.

Lux looked around. “250!” Lux glared at the man in the back. If he ran it up higher, Lux decided he’d let him have it and put up a hurricane fence.

“I have 250. Do I have 260? 250. Going once. Going twice. Sold to the little man for 250!” the auctioneer yelled.

“This next property also has a hangar – I suppose you’d say an insulated workshop. It’s a three bedroom, two bath ranch that’s 2100 square feet. We’re starting this one at $100,000. Do I hear 100? Thank you,” the auctioneer got to 130,000 and the bidding stalled. “Do I hear 135?”

“135,” Lux raised his hand and his eyebrows as he turned to the guy in the back. Lux shrugged.

“135. Go once. Going twice. Sold to the little man! Thank you, folks. We’ve other auctions coming up. Settle up inside with the register of deeds. Have you checked for any liens against the properties?” the auctioneer asked. “Where’d you get the money to buy houses? Do you really own that airstrip property?”

“Charlie. I think that’s what Marie said,” Lux said. “Yep. I really own the airstrip property. I did check for any liens on the property. That second property has a $2,130 lien from the electric company. First property is free and clear. Nobody to evict on either one. Not that it’s any of your business, but most of my money comes from royalties from licenses on several of my patents. I have a bank money order from Chase bank here.”

“You have a bank money order for $380,000?” the auctioneer said as they were walking inside.

“Is that so surprising that people have the money to pay what they bid?” Lux asked.

Lux paid the bid and then paid off the liens. On the way back to the house he called a locksmithing/security company that had put up the security system around the airstrip. He set up an appointment for them to place a security system around the other homes and hangars. He had them replace all the locks immediately on the other hangars. He requested estimates to wire the new homes and hangars into the water and power systems for the airstrip.

When they got back to the airstrip, they took groceries and fast food over to the teenagers. They knocked on the back door to the squatter’s home.

Ford came to the door with wide eyes when he saw what they had in their arms. The cheeseburgers and fries were received reverently. Shelia separated the fresh vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator. “What happened!” Shelia demanded with her hands on her hips.

Lux smiled. “You are now employees of Luxyday, LLC. Marie and Elan are your direct bosses. I now own these two houses and hangars. It is up to Elan, but he might take one or both of you as apprentices so you can learn to be aircraft mechanics. We’re going to want you to sign non-disclosures though you’ll have you redo it when you’re 18. You’re going to see some strange things here.” Lux turned to Elan. “I’ve laid out a generic plan. I need you to direct the contractors to show the kids how to install the water and power panels.”

“Looking forward to having some assistants,” Elan said and Marie came over to hug him. Their relationship seemed to be moving along swimmingly.

Lux motioned to Trenton. “I need to talk privately.” They moved off to the study.

“What’s up? What are you thinking?” Douglas Trenton was curious as to Lux’s next move.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to keep up this facade much longer. I need you to fly ‘Baby’ through the MOAs at the normal cruising speed for the plane with normal engine thrust. I know it will feel like you are idling, but I don’t want them to catch us that way. Right now, I need you to do two things. Oversee the installations here and do a feasibility study on a way to take any modern supersonic US fighter plane and engineer a thirty thousand pound thrust Halbach engine for it. The battery storage without the supercapacitor would be three-quarters the weight of the fuel. An F-16V would be a good starting place. We need a way to offer the Air Force a Get Out of Jail Free card.”

“So, you want me to take an F-16 and yank out the engine and fuel tanks and replace it with a large Halbach thruster, batteries and control module. I’d also need to upgrade the environmental and a new power generation system. It will not have the ‘AREA’ though,” Lux explained.

“Why that model?” Trenton asked.

“Let’s say you remove the engine. That removes 3,234 pounds (1,467 kg) right off the bat. The best F-16 engine produces almost 30,000 pounds of thrust with the afterburner and flies about Mach 2.5. The regular fuel tanks carry 5,000 pounds (2273 kg) of fuel. Extra (Conformal) fuel tanks add another 3,000 pounds of fuel. We can get about 30,000 pounds of thrust out of one large Halbach thruster. You could mount one large Halbach thruster and you could run like your afterburner was on the whole time with four times or more of range. Also, four small vertical thrusters for stable vertical takeoff and landing using a common drone algorithm. We’d have something faster than an F-35 for a tenth of the cost. That’s why.”

“I’ll start on the plans. What do you plan to do?” Trenton asked.

“I need to fly back to school before my last undergraduate semester starts?” Lux said.

“There’s more going on in that head of yours than you’re letting on,” Douglas said. “I agree with you that we will be found out pretty soon. Every flight is a risk, especially if we go saving other pilots.”

“I need to see the limits of my pod and I need to raise more money. I have to go to Atlanta. Night flights are best,” Lux said. “I’ll go later tonight.”

◆◆◆

Night Flight in Pod to Atlanta

Lux needed to bring all the extra Halbach thrusters he had but he also had to release more ‘Lummi’ music videos. Prissy was refusing to do it without him. He strapped into the pod after doing his pre-flight check of oxygen and power, radios, and radar. He turned off the hangar lights and raised the automatic door. He floated the Pod out, shut the door and set the Pod to follow the contour of the earth where there were as few buildings and people. He set the cycling rate so he was flying Mach 20 at slightly over treetop level. There was no wind noise because the Pod didn’t push the wind aside – it passed around the wind.

A man walking his dog looked up but the Pod was gone before his eyes reconciled what it was seeing. Once he was 160 kilometers from Paulden, Arizona, he went straight up to the 422-kilometer orbit of the International Space Station. He thought their orbit would be pretty free of debris. He got within a hundred meters, then took some photos with his magnetic and visible light cameras. He then deorbited directly over Atlanta going 30 kilometers per second to his lab. He stopped right before impacting, opened the door and floated in. It was 3 am here. It was midnight in Arizona. He emailed Prissy and said he was back in town and slept ‘til noon.

He was awakened by his security system, seeing the image of Prissy banging on the back door of his lab. He looked at the Pod and let out a big sigh. He had never really shown her his Pod or let her in on his work so she didn’t know the extent. He printed off a document and met her at the back door.

She was banging on the door now. He hoped she didn’t hurt her hands. He opened the door and blinked at the bright sunlight.

“Hi Prissy. I meant to meet you at Hayes House. Why are you here?”

“Du. I went to Hayes House and then biked over here. Why weren’t you there? May I come in?” she said obviously perturbed with her lip out.

“No. Not until you sign this non-disclosure,” he said dramatically.

“Lux Blakely. You better let me in, or I’m going to slap that frown right off your face.”

“Sign this first. I’m serious,” he said and handed her the paper and a pen.

She scanned it, let out a sigh of disgust, handed him the paper, and then threw the pen at him.

He motioned her in and she looked around. “Indoor parking garage. I’d hate anyone to find out there was parking this close to campus. You’re right. We shouldn’t let on.”

Lux let out a sigh and had her do the biosensor entry. She appeared a little mollified and looked around the brightly lit lab. It was different than she had seen before and there was this big thing inside.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“That’s a secret you can’t talk or even hint at its existence. Anna was supposed to make an album full of Lummi videos. I thought she was going to release them. Anna?” Lux inquired.

Anna’s avatar appeared. “You’ve been gone a while Lux. I’ve been working and working on these but I didn’t want to release anything until you and Prissy had tweaked them as you say. Would you like to see them?”

“Of course!” they said together.

“I’ll play each one and you two - critique. I’ll tweak,” Anna said and started playing with Lummi on a playground. She was a mother pushing her baby carriage and she took the baby in her arms. She was singing an infectious little song and taking the baby around making it laugh. She showed it ducks and puppies and balloons. The baby laughed and laughed as she twirled and sang. The song was really catchy and fun to hear. Prissy and Lux suggested changes to the parts that looked like child abuse or looked a bit creepy. It was good before but now it was great.

The second song showed Lummi rock climbing on a steep rock face and singing a morose tune ‘til she slipped. Her song changes to scary tones until she climbed to the top and her friends hug her. She looks back down and the song changes to a celebration of life. This one required a few tweaks.

The next video was in a jazz club in New Orleans, and the guys playing were classic. The place was smoky and one of the old guys, motioned Lummi up with gestures toward the piano. Lummi starts riffing and singing. It is toe tapping and they just had to make a few changes. Lux suggested the musicians do something different, but Anna said she couldn’t because the jazz band was real. It was great anyway.

Then there was one in Paris. Lummi is singing in English with American tourists around her in their ball caps, shorts, and white socks. Then she starts singing in French with beautiful French women, then a phrase or two in Mandarin with Chinese tourists. The song ends with her using the same song in French while flirting with a bunch of elderly French men.

All in all, there were ten new music videos, from all kinds of backgrounds.

“Anna,” Lux said. “Those just get better and better. I think you have a real talent for music. The way you are expressing emotion just gets better.”

“Anna,” Prissy said. “I cried in one of those, laughed in several, and was just caught up in the rhythm of the rest. This is beautiful work. Now that you get a portion of financial benefit – what will you do with the money?”

Anna’s avatar looked pensive. “I would say ‘buy a penthouse on the beach and lie in the sun’ but the salt water and sand would corrode my workings. I’m not sure. I’m curious how the government entities will react when they eventually find out. I think having financial reserves might keep us out of entanglements.”

Chapter 13

Propulsion Directorate – Edwards Air Force Base - Air Force Research Lab

“How do I get all these crank reports?” Colonel David Blandis complained.

Senior Master Sergeant Jeff Blusmettier rolled his eyes. “Sir. They’re required to report anything outside of their operating parameters. That sighting is definitely operating outside known vehicle parameters.”

“But the report said the ‘object’ went up from an area 160 kilometers east of Prescott, Arizona and then went by the International Space Station,” the colonel continued. “They were close enough, but no one got a photo of it. It then went straight down near Atlanta, Georgia yet there are no sightings from there. There is no impact crater. It was going 30 km/sec (67,000 miles per hour). Preposterous!”

“Unless it is possible, sir. There were several reports of odd happenings in that area of late,” the sergeant said.

“Such as?” the colonel inquired as he slid his reading glasses down his nose.

“The first report described an F16 flameout and crash where the pilot was rescued by a small personal jet. The F16 pilot ejected and his chute fouled. The business jet stopped in mid-air, caught the parachute cords, and lowered the pilot gently to the ground. The pilot was found with his rolled-up parachute under his feet so he wouldn’t go into shock.”

“Really. I haven’t seen that one yet,” the colonel stated.

“The second report discussed a small personal jet being followed by an ‘object’,” the sergeant reported. “This jet had an F-16 intercept pair with one fighter communicating parallel to the private pilot. The second F-16 locked missiles on the object, but the object zoomed away at incredible speeds and went out of sight in a second or two. Another tidbit added later – the private jet was flying at near double its rated cruise speed.”

“Those are incredible too. There’s no private jet in this case,” the colonel said and looked pensive for a minute. “I’d sure like to have access to whatever propulsion system that ‘object’ had.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta, Georgia

Lux was so tired after their marathon editing session, he slept on the cot in the lab and Prissy biked back to her dorm. She was due to go home earlier but somehow managed to stay over ‘til she had seen Lux. They decided that Lummi would announce her album release in two weeks and they needed to raise the hype.

◆◆◆

CNN Atlanta – Carol Matthews Office

Jennifer ran into Carol’s office again. “Carol. I have Lummi on hold. She wants to talk with you.”

Carol snatched up the extension. “Hi Lummi. Carol here. What can we do for you today?”

“Carol. I just finished another ten music videos to complete an album with the two I released earlier. I was wondering if you’d like first dibs on interviewing me. I could let you access all of them and allow free-use snippets of any you like,” Lummi said.

“That would be great. Do you care who interviews you? Any agents we need to see first?” Carol asked.

Lummi chuckled. “You know me better than that. You’re my go-to person. I hope you made some money off that little set we did a while back. You let me know. I’m in the States currently but I’ll be going back to Paris pretty soon.”

“I’ll check but it will probably be one of our daytime anchors. Will that be all right?”

“Sure. I’ll probably be on some other shows AFTER your interview, so I need it fairly fast.”

“Thanks Lummi. I’ll get right back to you as soon as we review those videos,” Carol said and cut the connection. She turned to Jennifer. “Let me know when…”

“She already sent me a link to my personal number! Wow. Let’s look at them together. You pull up this link and I’ll get John,” Jennifer said rushing off.

Carol pulled up the link and it had the two songs Lummi had previously released plus the ten new ones. “Ooh look! She put them here. We could copy them or anything. We have to be treating these like the crown jewels.”

“I can’t wait. Let’s hear them. I love her stuff so far. I hope these are at least half as good,” Jennifer said.

“You know,” John put in. “Most of the follow up songs are garbage. When people were originally doing vinyl records, there were two or three good songs and the rest had to grow on you.”

“Here we go,” Carol said. “This first one is named ‘Playground’.” She opened the video - the one showing the young mother with the baby. They played it through and then just sat there for a moment. “I loved it. I feel so good now. You too?”

“Play the next one – ‘Climb’,” she said. Carol started it and it was the one with Lummi climbing up the rock face. The song was really disturbing and dark at first until Lummi slipped, where she paused and looked down at the deadly drop. The song lyrics got lighter as she climbed over the top and her friends all surrounded her - hugging her. The song picked up and left the listener feeling joy at having survived. The song ended with her looking over the edge with friends holding her safe.

“That was great. ‘Jazz It Up’ is next,” John said anxious to play the rest. The jazz video had Lummi being coaxed up to the jazz band to play the piano and sing. It had them all swaying and tapping their feet and beating on the backs of chairs. They all evoked different emotions. Lummi would have made Elton John proud. “Wow!” John said as the song finished.

“These are going to be hard to pick from,” Jennifer said. “Like Lummi said – ‘snippets’ to give viewers a taste of the emotion from each different video. I think a night host might be better. She said we could use them anyway we wanted. We might just use a minute of the best one.”

“What’s this next one? ‘Champs-E-Say’ ought to be good,” John said with a mocking French accent. The video showed Lummi singing with different groups from the Ugly ‘Merican to other nationalities of tourists. It poked fun at many of the tourist groups.

“That was so much fun. Carol,” Jennifer said. “Get somebody and let’s do this interview quickly. If Lummi can get that same studio backdrop she did before, we’ll be fine.”

◆◆◆

Telephone call to Lux from his Father

“Hi dad. What’s up?” Lux inquired wondering why his dad was calling him this many weeks after the semester ended.

“I thought you were coming home after the semester. What are you doing there?” his dad asked.

“I’m still working on my project…my scientific breakthrough.”

“So, you’re not doing those DeepFake videos?”

“Yes dad. I’m using real people with the DeepFake. I do this to fund my research. My license royalties don’t pay enough. I’m about to introduce ten more on CNN,” Lux said.

“You know I don’t approve,” his father said.

Lux was getting upset at the same old litany of ‘it’s not real’. “You’re just angry because my work has made your life’s work…obsolete. You do know that Dr. Trenton and I have made progress on the project.”

“Is he with you? I’d like to talk with him?”

“He’s not with me. He’s flying out west.”

“What do you mean obsolete? How could you make progress without me, Helmann, Jones, or Trenton?” his dad asked.

“Dad. I love you but you can be as perceptive as a rock. It was nice to have the extra hands. You and Trenton helped me with environmental solutions with my pod. Give me five minutes, step out back, and call me again. I’ll show you what I mean by progress. Bye. Dad.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Home in Huntsville

Paulus was upset that his son wasn’t giving up those DeepFake videos. He let out a deep sigh and brewed a good cup of Jasmine tea. He let the tea get cool enough to drink and stepped out on the back patio and sat down and tried to enjoy the stars but it was now getting really dark out. There was light pollution even this far out from Huntsville. The tea was good and he began to relax.

Lux pulled up the chair beside his father. “Didn’t make me any tea?”

“I thought you were in Huntsville when I talked to you.”

“I was,” Lux said.

His father started getting angry. “You are getting too big headed with this DeepFake stuff. I agree your satellite is a marvel but it will take years before we’ll be able to do anything practical with it.”

Lux couldn’t believe his father was so blind after seeing him zip off to Eglin. “You’re right dad. My friends left my pod out back. Will you help me make sure everything is secured inside? It’s over here behind you.”

“All right, son,” Paulus said. He didn’t like what his son had said about his work being obsolete. He wondered why he hadn’t heard the truck that brought the pod but he knew Lux could circumvent his alarm system. Lux opened the gull-wing doors and Paulus got in the right side. Lux closed the doors and sealed them. “Hey. What are you doing?” Paulus said as Lux fastened his shoulder harness.

“What are you doing?” Paulus repeated.

“You don’t have to fasten your harness but don’t slosh your tea,” Lux said and hit a return on his control console. There was a whine from the gyro-stabilizers for about a minute and then Lux undid his harness and opened both doors.

“Where are we? Is this a mockup of your lab in Atlanta?” Paulus demanded sipping his tea still.

“This is my lab in Atlanta father. I can let you out but I’ll have to allow you back in. The place down the street makes some mean burritos. Why don’t you go down the street and get us a couple? We’ll talk,” Lux said and escorted his dad through the indoor parking and out the side door.

“This IS Atlanta. Took a full minute at MACH 30 dad,” Lux was resigned to proving to him that his pod worked even if he had to alert every military in the world. “I’m sure we set off every bell and whistle alert system. This,” Lux said pointing around his lab. “…is not a DeepFake video. I use DeepFake videos to fund this research, to pay for my schooling, to start new companies, to buy property, and to pay my employees.”

“You have employees? How many?” his dad asked.

“I haven’t counted them in a while. Let me see,” Lux asked while tilting his head back and cupping his chin with his fingers. “Five are in Arizona though I have contractors doing work for me out there at my airstrip, houses, and hangars. I have a few in Hollywood who found me three body doubles for my DeepFake star. Oh, about eighty dancers, actors, and musicians to help me with my music videos besides camera and lighting crews. Probably closer to 100 or more. Would you like to see why my pod doesn’t cause sonic booms or display inertia effects? Why it can go Mach 30 in atmosphere without heating? It won’t be a video.”

“You know I always support you.”

“Dad. You came and tried to jerk me out of school. I flew to Eglin Air Force Base hanging from my drone to keep you from doing that. The military will track me down soon because I fly exposed too many times. They are going to want to jerk this out of my hands and ‘put it in more capable hands’. I’m not going to let that happen.”

“You know that is going to happen, don’t you?”

“No dad. The minute I feel they take it from me is the day when all our allies get copies of all the plans. Boeing, Lockheed, SpaceX, General Dynamics, NASA, and Blue Horizon will be shut out. I’ll file international open patents for two years. After that I’ll require license fees.”

“You wouldn’t do that? Would you?”

“Yes. I could revolutionize hypersonic missiles like you work on. Guess you want the sonic booms to threaten the natives though. Right. Lasers would kind of work in defense, but no kinetic forces would affect my invention. Explosions, shrapnel, and nuclear missiles wouldn’t bother them. Haven’t tried fast neutron bursts, so maybe they’d work.”

“Son. You sound unbalanced,” his father said.

“You told me the military will come and take this work away from me. You are working on hypersonic nuclear cruise missiles are you not? How is that not unbalanced? You up the speed and payload and we can get bigger nukes – maybe even fusion nukes and not just fission bombs.”

“You’re being melodramatic. I truly believe you since you did bring me here in a minute.”

“Nice dad. Glad you believe me. You ready to go home. I’ll have you home in 90 seconds,” Lux said while remotely raising the doors and climbing back into the Pod.

“I thought you were going to show me what causes that protective effect?”

“Nope. Not tonight. I have to show you one more thing,” Lux said. “I wanted to preempt you turning me in to the military in your patriotic fervor. Explain to me what would happen if our allies got this tech before our military.”

Paulus looked disturbed but crawled in to the Pod. “There would be chaos. Our allies would have the tech stolen and duplicated by the Chinese, Russians, and Israeli before they had it up and running.”

“It’d be worse than that. Buckle up.”

“You’ve been the same route twice. Two more trips will cinch where this ship came from,” his father said. “It’ll lead them straight to you.”

“I plan to take a different route. I’ll go higher,” Lux said. “I’m about to let the US government know about this technology but I wanted an advocate to tell them what would happen if the government raids my school, my lab, kidnap me (my friends), or cyberattacks. I need you as an advocate to the capability of this technology. Here we go.”

The lab door opened and the pod floated through rollup into the indoor parking area, and waited for the outside back door to roll up and open. Paulus was looking as the screens in front of him switched to the sparkly green of night vision. The pod shot straight up and showed the view of the ground below them moving. Then the screen turned black for a moment, when they left the atmosphere farther east, since they took off while the Earth turned at 1,000 miles an hour under them. Lux then tapped in the coordinates and they shot to beside the International Space Station. Lux turned off the thruster and they were weightless for a moment. Lux watched his father’s eyes grow wide and then he resumed the journey to Huntsville. He stopped in the house's front yard.

“You did that on purpose,” Paulus said.

“Yep,” Lux said.

“They’ll come here first. Won’t they?”

“Yep,” Lux said.

“I don’t know what I’ll say. We went to space. I’m an astronaut.”

“Yep. I need to put an airlock in the pod and space suits. This one wasn’t designed for outer space,” Lux explained and then got to the point of the trip. “When they finally come to you… tell them I need protection to complete my semester. I’m not going to finish my masters at Georgia Tech. Tell them what will happen if they raid me. We need our military to have some of this tech. I am designing it now. I will gladly GIVE it to them but if they raid me – it goes to everybody. Stress they cannot stop the spread of information IF they touch me or mine because I have had worldwide access for months and have cached repositiories.”

“I’ve never seen this side of you. It’s very dark,” Paulus said to his son.

“I’m realistic. I have a lot of irons in the fire. I’m patriotic but I will not abide stupid. You can run for Congress from prison in any state. Good character? Not a requirement. Knowledge of Civic government? Definitely not. Education? Nope. Our Congress  is breeding for mediocracy at best. They don't even have to pass the US Citizenship test that all immigrants take to become citizens.”

“There are some smart people in the government,” Paulus said.

“Do you really think that is the norm? All I’m saying, is the government attracts those wanting power and authority. I am not going to be shoved aside. You will be one of my spokesmen prior to them trying that. Have them protect me – remotely. I would trust you to screen scientists to work with me. You could be one of them.”

“All right son though I think you are taking on too much,” his dad said and grabbed Lux and hugged him with tears brimming in his eyes. The pod lowered its doors and silently shot up in the air and was out of sight in a second. The pod was programmed to follow the nape of the earth back to Atlanta and was soon back at Lux’s Lab.

◆◆◆

US Army Space & Missile Defense Command – Huntsville, Alabama

Captain Haskin’s had been having another of those nights. He’d been called when the radar had picked up an intermittent return coming straight down near Redstone Arsenal but it wasn’t too close to the base when he checked. A minute later it went straight out of range in seconds. The tech turned to him and said, “Didn’t we have something like this last year?”

“Yes, but it made more of a repetitive pattern. You find out anything from our hypersonics guy?” the tech sergeant said.

“Not much. I’ll give him a call tomorrow. This may repeat. Wait. There it is again. See if anyone else has readings so we can pinpoint where that is near here. It seems close,” Haskins said.

“Got it for a flash and it’s gone again. I’ll check the equipment tomorrow sir.”

“Very good, sergeant. Let me know.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW Atlanta

Lux and Prissy were meeting for Lummi’s newest interview with CNN hostess, April Brown.

CNN had agreed to talk about Lummi’s release of ten new music videos before ‘she’ went to other venues for interviews.

“So, Lummi,” April asked. “Why ten videos? Why now?”

“Thanks for letting me come on CNN. I trust you people. I thought it was time since it had been several months since my last release. I have lots of ideas.”

“You aren’t seen much in public. These videos were made all over the US. Which is your favorite?”

“I don’t know. Whatever I’m doing is my favorite at the time. I even got to visit friends at Phi Mu at Georgia Tech a while back. Sometimes people forget me so I want to keep reminding them I’m still around.

“Come on. You must have a favorite. What was the most fun doing?”

“Rock climbing in the Rockies was the scariest. Dancing around Central Park with a baby was a hoot. I loved the jazz band in New Orleans. Those old guys are super talented. Riffing with them is a blast.”

“What about the video in Paris when you were making fun of all the tourists?”

Lummi giggled. “Tourists are always an easy target for ridicule. Culture shapes so much of our perceptions.”

“What do you mean?” April asked.

“We decide, from our limited knowledge of the world, that we like or dislike things we’ve never experienced or faced. One in eight Americans faces food insecurity but we waste 40% of the food we produce. We waste our fresh water and other resources. Oops. I got on one of my soapboxes.”

“You worry about world hunger?”

“I see it. I worry about fighting over scarce resources. It is not going to get better anytime soon. I worry about lots of stuff but that’s not what this interview is about. Why don’t we listen to a clip from one of my videos? Have you heard them? Which is your favorite?”

April laughed. “We had to fight over which ones we liked best. I liked the one where the pilots of the plane suddenly weren’t there and you had to take over the plane while singing. I thought it was hilarious. Was that supposed to be the Rapture? It left a plane load of evangelists, pastors, and priests, and imams. I noticed you took over the plane and put on the pilot’s hat while still singing.”

“It was a jab at the hypocrites in organized religion. You notice I disappeared right after we landed,” Lummi said with a shy grin.

“Why was that?”

“I figure that God always gives people so many chances to come back into his good graces that he wouldn’t let those die without a second chance or maybe just prolong their torment.”

“Whew. That was heavy. Here’s a clip of the video from Paris. It was the favorite of the majority. I thought they were all great. Catchy. Let’s watch.

They played thirty seconds of the song with Lummi’s permission.

April came back. “There you have it. Listen to the ten songs released today. You won’t regret it. They all tell a story and set your feet to tapping. This is April Brown from CNN with Lummi.”

◆◆◆

“Wow, Anna,” Prissy said. “You just keep getting better and better. What other shows are you scheduled to do?”

“Just a few. We’re scheduled for 'The Talk' remotely, and then with our most talented Lummi double - The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and hosting Saturday Night Live.”

“Don’t you worry about one of the doubles talking?” Lux asked.

Prissy shook her head. “No. they all know this gig is as good as it gets. They can always write a tell all after their contract ends because their beauty will fade and Lummi is eternal.”

◆◆◆

Paulden, Arizona - Private Airport and Home

“Is Lux due to come back today?” Elan asked.

“Yes,” Trenton wanted to show Lux the designs he had made for the F-16. He had used two of the 625 kg (1,377 pound) batteries from Tesla Roadsters. The tricky part was the glycol temperature management (heating/cooling) for the battery packs that would work under 9Gs of acceleration. He had also made sure the new SABR (Scalable Agile Beam Radar) would still work with the redesigned cooling/environmental system. Douglas felt comfortable about the redesign but there are always glitches with a newly redesigned system. The four lift thrusters would make the F-16 able to do vertical takeoff and landings. It looked like it could fly at Mach 5 if it didn’t shake apart and rip off its wings. They would definitely have to reinforce much of the plane’s structure. Anna had a ‘hand’ in the redesign though Trenton wasn’t aware of her involvement.

Lux flew in early morning on Friday. Not flying screaming fast, but silently showing up in the hangar. Nobody even saw him come in until he showed up in the house for breakfast. “Hey Marie! You got enough for one more,” he asked.

“Mister Blakely. When’d you get here?” Marie as shocked. She had been let in on their project but it hadn’t really reconciled with the reality of it. “Weren’t you in Atlanta this morning?”

“Ten minutes ago, Marie. I had to go slow in a few places,” Lux said.

“That’s funny,” she said, then realizing he was totally serious. “No. Really?”

Lux nodded his head and dived into the ham and cheese omelet. He guzzled a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. Between bites he asked, “How are Ford and Shelia doing?” he asked Elan who was nursing a huge mug of coffee.

“Those folks are a wonder,” Elan said, and took a gulp. “I would have guessed they’d steal us blind, but boy, I was wrong. They’re cheerful and always willing to jump in and help. Shelia can do anything,” Elan said. “She can weld really well and can handle power tools. That Ford boy can make an engine sit up and beg. They are turning out to be perfect apprentices. They only have to be shown once.”

Douglas came in stretching and hair askew.

“Someone was up late,” Marie said. “What time did you go to bed?”

“About two,” he said with a big yawn. “I wanted to have it ready for Lux when he got here.”

Marie handed Douglas a plate loaded with breakfast goodies. “Lux said it took him ten minutes to get here from Atlanta.”

Douglas tilted his head back and closed his eyes – mumbling. “Mach 30 you had to slow down. Why so slow?”

“I slowed down when I had any traffic, anywhere they could see me. I could see the radars before I left through a backdoor in their systems but it’s like driving a car where your headlights don’t show up far enough ahead of you. We’ll have to work on that,” Lux said. “How far along are you on the F-16 upgrade?”

“Finished up the first draft last night…this morning,” Douglas Trenton said with another yawn and stretch. “There are a lot of modular things I used with off-the-shelf components. It’s like that SABR enhancement. Almost plug-N-play. I ordered the battery packs from Tesla and they are shipping them to Eglin. For the price, they should be solid gold but they were on-the-ball. You pay for speed and you get it. They should bolt right in. Does Eglin even know they are getting these things?”

“Nope. I thought I’d call him this morning and then you and I would go there if he acquiesces,” Lux said. “Don’t give me that look. I’m a senior in a good school. I’m allowed multisyllable words.”

Professor Trenton was grinning and hiding his mirth with the coffee cup held up in front of his mouth as he looked at the others across the table. They all started chuckling.

“You have the plans? I’ve got the Halbach thrusters and control modules in the Pod. I’ll call him. He gave me his personal number before I left last time.

◆◆◆

Eglin Air Force Base – Phone of General Jeffrey Dobbs – 96th Test Wing

“General Dobbs. Lux? How are you? Where are you?”

Lux chuckled. “I thought you might have forgotten me. I told you I’d like to work with you in the future and not way out in the boonies. Remember?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to talk about anything over this setup,” the general said referencing the insecure phone communications.

“I thought I’d bring you some stuff but I don’t want to be shot down. I’d be coming from the west. I have a transponder and I can squawk 0000 if that would help. How long would it take for you to get set up to receive me and another? We think we might stay a week or so.”

“I can have the same building ready for you in twenty minutes if you’re close.”

“Okay. We’ll meet you at the same building in twenty minutes for a face-to-face. I think you’re going to like this a lot.”

“We’ll be looking for you. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got for us. Bye,” the general said and cut the connection.

The general picked up his secure internal communications and called Colonel Rankin. “Martin. Colonel. Remember the young fella that dropped in on us a while back. He’s coming again and squawking 0000. I imagine he’ll be coming in fast from the west. Get the TS/SCI people. We’ll be in Building 600 again. I need round the clock security – heavily armed. I need them in 15 minutes. Alert the radar crews. I don’t want any firing.”

“Right General. Coming in from the west and squawking 0000. On it. Security heavily armed around the building.”

The connection cut and General Dobbs had his driver take him to Building 600. That kid was the neatest thing that had happened to him in his decades in the Air Force.

The radar crew dismissed those personnel that did not have TS/TCI clearance. The crew turned to each other. “We’re supposed to look for an aircraft coming from the west squawking 0000. I don’t see anything out there…HOLY! Look at that thing. It’s coming right at us. Is it a cruise missile?”

“What is it? It disappeared. It was supposed to be going to Building 600. My god! It’s here,” said the tech.

“Not a word about this other than to the people you see here. Don’t speak about this outside this room. Some of you were overheard the last time this happened. What speed did you clock it at?” the lieutenant asked.

“Mach 31, Lieutenant. Nothing can do that, sir.”

“Tech Sergeant, our world is going to change,” he said.

Chapter 14

NSA Eglin Air Force Base – Building 600 – 96th Test Wing

General Dobbs was standing with Colonel Rankin as the Pod floated over to the rolling doors of the building/hangar. He stationed four heavily armed security people inside the building. The colonel explained that if they were to be rotating security every four hours with ONLY the security people they knew – no outside personnel were expected or allowed. He introduced all the security to Lux and Dr Trenton.

“These people will be running this operation under Colonel Rankin,” the general told the security. “It is only TS/SCI people. Don’t gossip about this,” he said and turned to Rankin. “Colonel. Join us inside the office.”

“Hi, General. Good to see you again,” Lux said. “This is Dr Douglas Trenton from the Aerospace Engineering Program at Georgia Tech. He’s part of the guilty party responsible for this.”

They were interrupted by a message from one of the security personnel who handed a note to the Colonel. He opened it and raised his eyebrows. “Thank you, sergeant.” The man saluted and left.

The colonel turned to General Dobbs. “I asked the radar room to write down the approach speed of your craft. Here’s the note from the radar room.” He handed the note to the General.

“Mach 31?” the general queried. “Where were you coming from?”

“I have an airfield near Prescott, Arizona sir. Your hierarchy is not clued in on this yet. I thought we would get you a working prototype, and let you spring it on them. What I need is an F-16 without the engine?”

“We are having some Tesla battery packs shipped here. We need to take the fuel tanks out of an F-16 and replace them with the two new Tesla 210 kwh battery packs with their temperature control systems.”

“Those came in today and I had no idea why. Mystery solved. What do you need? What will we get?”

“We have detailed plans for you and an electric propulsion system that will give you 60,000 pounds forward thrust with two thrusters. We have lift thrusters to install that will give you stable vertical takeoff and landing (hover anywhere). The battery packs are designed to give you days of power at full throttle, which would be too much for your pilots, if the simulations are correct. Put a couple of Tesla supercharger stations around instead of fuel. Dr. Trenton can explain more of what he needs.”

“Why can’t we do the Mach 31?” the general asked.

“It would take a while to build those. Here’s a picture I made last week,” Lux said and handed his smart phone to the general.

“That’s a photo of the International Space Station!” the general exclaimed.

“Yep. I was 100 meters away. Thought I’d check it out while going back to Atlanta,” Lux said.

“This isn’t a fake?” the general asked and Lux frowned.

“See the damage to the docking collar. That was done in the last week or so because it wasn’t there the last time I went by. It hasn’t been reported to the media. It was done with debris from a Chinese satellite they destroyed to ‘prove their prowess’. Ask them yourself.”

“Why use a 4th generation fighter?” Colonel Rankin asked.

“We can get plans for those easily. No one would think twice about one of those being seen. You should have some without an engine already instead of having to take apart a new F-22 or F-35. If you reinforce your weapon mounting brackets and airframe – you could have a Mach 4 interceptor for about $100,000 for the conversion. No more flammable fuel. You’d need electricity but you could drop down in a parking lot and recharge if you had room. There are a heck more F-16s around than F-22s or F-35s, aren’t there?”

“You’re just giving this to us? It would make the defense industry come after you,” Rankin said.

“Undoubtedly they wouldn’t like it. Do you think your command would keep this to themselves or would they let lobbyists know? I promised I’d give you first dibs, did I not? Dr Trenton. You have that data stick for them?”

“So, you’d need the aircraft mechanics, tools and an F-16 without the engine. You prefer the F-16V if we have one of those?”

“Yes,” Dr. Trenton said. “I think we can do the retrofit in about a week. I have the steps. I suggest you get personnel to video document every step, in order.”

“That’s a great idea,” General Dobbs said. “I do believe we have several to choose from. Colonel. Would you escort the Doctor to where those three are and have that one moved here. Get a mechanic or two with the right clearance in here to help in and impress on them the importance of getting this started.”

General Jeffrey Dobbs looked at Lux. “I appreciate you thinking of us. We are one of the biggest bases and we have a lot of aging Fighting Falcons.”

“I realize you don’t get to fly much anymore, but if you liked to come with me, we could visit outer space. We could go anywhere you want if we have a clear route. I have running lights and transponder, TCAS-1, LIDAR, RADAR, Nightvision, FLIR, and communications in my POD. The electronics were more expensive than any of the rest. Environmental and pressure testing was tedious as was CO_2 scrubbing. We can see anything you want though we’d break about a million regulations.”

“I might take you up on that but I can’t stand the stress of flying on my body even though I’m only 43.”

“General. There is no acceleration or deceleration or inertial effects felt. It is as if you are sitting still at Mach 30 with right hand turns,” Lux said.

“That’s impossible,” the general responded.

“Up to you. I can’t do that with the F-16 yet but I’m working on it.”

“I wouldn’t want to go into space in your Pod because it doesn’t have radiation shielding. Did you think of that?” the general asked.

Lux grinned real big and snorted a laugh. “As a matter of fact – I did consider that. Anything more energetic than high band - ultraviolet is stopped cold. X-rays and gamma rays don’t penetrate at all.”

“Did you think of micrometeorite protection?” the general asked.

“You scared to go up. Yep. Kinetic projectiles do not penetrate…at all. I can prove that to you,” Lux said. “You want the silent or the noisy proof.”

“Silent?” the general replied.

Lux touched his phone and the Pod hummed and raised a foot off the surface and the landing struts folded up into the fuselage.

“Let’s walk over. Get one of the guards to come over,” Lux said and went to the garbage container on the side and pulled out a #10 large empty metal juice container. The guard walked over and Lux handed him the big empty can. The general raised his eyebrows. “Sergeant. Would you toss this up in the air. Not in line with any of your people. Here, off to the side would be fine.”

The sergeant looked at the general who shrugged and then nodded. The sergeant tossed the can up pretty high and as it was falling, Lux drew and threw one of his razor-sharp throwing knives. The knife pierced the can and imbedded up to the hilt. The sergeant snagged the can as it fell, and brought it carefully over to Lux, after he felt how sharp that knife was. Lux removed the knife and held it by the blade. He turned and threw it forcefully at the side of the Pod. The knife didn’t bounce off or penetrate – it simply fell straight down.

“Do you want the noisier proof that is much more impressive?” Lux asked.

“Yes. How do we do that?” the general asked.

“We have one of your guards shoot a magazine into the side of the Pod while it’s hovering. It has to be active. Warn everyone about the gunfire even though the building is insulated. Warn them outside that this is a test and will not happen again. If they hear it later – it is not a test,” Lux said. “I’d say, let all the guards see this too.”

General Dobbs got the security people on the radio, and let people outside know there was going to be one magazine of live fire in Building 600. There were some questions until General Dobbs got on the radio and shut down the questions. “What about ricochets?”

“Doesn’t happen,” Lux said. He’d never done a test like this but if his theory was correct, nothing so small had the mass to transfer enough energy and bullets should fall straight down once they had their momentum bled away. Lux tried to keep his face calm, and didn’t let the anxiety show on his face. In for a penny – in for a pound, he thought.

The sergeant had his M-4 aimed at the side of the Pod which was quietly humming, minding its own business. Lux nodded and indicated all thirty. They were standing about ten meters away. Lux always carried around foam plugs because of Ner’s training. Ner said to never leave home without his three knives and foam plugs. The would-be shooter had some foam plugs in his breast pocket and he nodded to the other security. They put plugs in their ears and the general put his fingers in his ears. The general nodded to the sergeant. "Use the whole magazine sergeant, if you can hold it to the side of the craft only." The sergeant rolled his eyes letting his fellow security men grin at his impugned skills.

“On three,” the sergeant yelled and Lux had his camera out videoing from just behind the sergeant.

“One, Two, Three,” the sergeant held the trigger down and kept the roar of automatic fire for the few seconds until the weapon was empty. There was some smoke but as they walked forward – they hesitated before touching the unmarred skin. “Will it hurt me if I touch it?”

“It won’t hurt to touch it when it’s on but you would lose whatever was in the field if you were touching it and the field turned on. Look at how the smoke won’t touch the surface,” Lux said while still videoing. “Look at where the bullets fell.” All the bullets looked like they had been dropped from a meter to the floor. They were hardly scattered about.

There were several quiet expletives from the security. The general turned to Lux. “I may take you up on your offer if we can get this going. You realize that this is going to be huge.”

◆◆◆

Building 600 – Day two and three of the retrofit F-16 V

The F-16 Trenton had chosen already had the engine out for overhaul. The fuel tanks had been removed and the Tesla battery packs had been struggled into place and almost lined up with the bolt down locations. They finally got them in place, then had to take them right back out, when they realized they needed to first secure the heavier wiring in place. The environmental system fit, thank goodness, because Professor Trenton must have been a Navy pilot because he cussed like a sailor whenever he hit his thumb or a wrench slipped. Lux learned many new words he would never be able to use in polite company.

The SABR radar had already been installed on this one and the extra oxygen tank fitted in almost. The thrusters actually were mounted on a structural beam that ran the length of the fuselage and both the horizontal and vertical ones meshed to the control modules behind the pilot. The actual thruster controls were fitted where the engine controls had been. They were almost identical but there were two forward thrusters like the F14, F15, and F18. The four vertical Halbach thrusters were slightly canted to give more maneuverability but the software made using them intuitive.

◆◆◆

Building 600 – Day four and five of the retrofit F-16 V

The battery packs were much easier to install the second time and everything was hooked up by day four. Day four brought in the very leery test pilot. He had flown everything so he listened carefully and crawled all over the plane and asked Dr Trenton a ton of questions. He finally started asking Trenton questions about the propulsion systems. Trenton directed him to Lux who was straddling a metal folding chair backwards with his hands resting under his chin on the top of the back of the chair. Lux cut his eyes up at the pilot. His cloth nametag said ‘Watler’.

“Call me Tom,” he said and stuck out his hand which Lux shook. Tom dragged another chair over and straddled it like Lux. “I understand you designed this propulsion system. I don’t get it?”

“See that Pod behind you. I designed that. That made it from Arizona to here in five minutes. That POD uses the same propulsion system. What do you want to know?”

“How does it work? I don’t get it,” Tom said looking perplexed.

“When you were my age in school, you saw a bar magnet, with iron filings on top of a sheet of paper, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Okay. The Earth has a spinning metal core that produces a magnetic field like those iron filings in grade school. They come out in what we call the south end of the planet and go in near the north end of the planet. Those heavy magnetic lines go out as far as 40,000 miles away from the Earth. There are solar wind lines and stuff like that all over the solar system. The propulsion system uses a series of cycling electromagnets that squeeze shaped magnetic fields like air into the turbine. The magnetic fields don’t touch but they make them move. That movement has the magnetic fields squished into a sort of nozzle and pushed out the back. It’s kind of like a paddle in water. We make the magnetic fields accelerate out the back and that’s where we get thrust. Increasing the cyclic rate is like paddling faster but we get more energy out than we should,” Lux explained.

“Are you saying we might be able to go all over the solar system with this same system?” Tom said.

“You guys are wrong!” Lux said pretty loud so the jet mechanics behind Tom could hear. “He is not as dumb as he looks.” Lux laughed as did the mechanics and a second later – Tom grinned, real big and laughed too. He gave Lux a fist bump.

On Day Five of the retrofit, they powered up the verticals and found they needed to be spaced further apart which took a half day. The next time, the ship raised straight up with no wobble. It was certainly a lot more stable than the Harrier of years gone by. The computer made shifting up and around, easy. They rolled the ship out of the hangar and onto a large deserted area of concrete. Tom learned to lift and go forward and down ‘til he could do it easily. They rolled it back into the hangar and tested the environmental system. They fixed a leak in the port battery cooling system.

Communications tested fine and static tests of the communications and radar were nominal (okay).

◆◆◆

Building 600 – Day six of the retrofit F-16 V

The first flight test of the plane occurred only after strengthening the structural integrity of the airframe and the hardpoints for all weapons.

The first test was the plane taxiing to the end of the runway, getting clearance and taking off normally without the noise. Tom did some stalls and touch and go-s.

Next, Tom asked to go a bit faster and took off like a scalded dog. The tower heard him yell some of those colorful phrases that Lux was memorizing for future use. He did a leg at Mach 1.6, turned sharply and came back at Mach 2.5. He said he’d like to try it with a bit more zip. The tower said he was clear and clocked him at Mach 5 (3,836 MPH). He said the plane had a little shimmy at 5 so he wanted to ease on back. He’d been flying 90 minutes and maneuvered over to where he had started and stopping dead still in the air and lowered down to right in front of Building 600. Tom got out of the plane with the ladder they had placed, and ran over to Lux and picked him up and swung around in a circle. “That was the damndest thing I’ve ever done. What a rush! I was at half throttle. I hardly used any power. I could have flown that fast all day. Coast to coast in less than an hour. Damn. Wow! It's like flying with the afterburner on all the time.”

Lux turned to him. “We need you to try that with ordnance.”

“I can’t wait,” Tom said. “I can hear myself think. There isn’t much vibration at all.”

Lux laughed. “Record a debrief, before your adrenaline crash.”

Tom gave Lux a thumbs up and a huge smile.

General Dobbs and Colonel Rankin came up to Lux and Douglas. "Let’s go inside."

General Dobbs directed Lux to a chair and then he and Colonel Rankin sat down in the office with him. “That outperformed any adaptation I’ve ever seen. I bet loaded, that plane could still do over Mach four. We’ll have to beef up the frame even more but $100,000 is too little for an upgrade like this one. You need to charge a million or they won’t think you’re serious. I can get that out of our fuel fund. We’ll save enough in a year to pay for a squadron of upgrades.”

“We’ll start writing the upgrade manuals and showing the videos and training the personnel,” Rankin stated. “Can you stay around a bit longer? What do you think we should be looking for in maintenance factors?”

“You need to get with Douglas here on the environmental system and the battery liquid temp control. Stress fractures are probably going to be your biggest concern. Right Douglas?” Lux said.

“Yes,” Douglas responded. “I’d look over the plane with X-ray looking for the beginning of stress fracturing. I’ll show you where I think that will occur but you will be having less vibration with this system, so you’ll be able to fly the planes for a longer lifetime,” Trenton counseled. “I agree that the million-dollar price for the upgrade is more in line with what you should charge because people will think it’s not worth anything if the costs are too out-of-line with previous charges.”

“How will you tell your superiors about this upgrade?” Lux asked.

“Once we get through all the tests, I’ll put on a demonstration for them. Can we get our specialty items for another upgrade? Two planes make it less of a fluke and I’d like them to be able to run circles around the F22s and the F35s. One million for this first and another million for the second. How long would it take you to get the items?” General Dobbs said. “I’ll send you the billing information.”

“Do you want that ride?” Lux said. “You need to clear the airspace above of us. The ISS isn’t too far away right now.”

“Colonel Rankin. Want to go on a ride with me. It should be worth it,” the general asked.

“Yes sir. I’d love too. We just need to warn some people and get the area clear. I’ll start on it sir,” Rankin said with a grin.

◆◆◆

International Space Station – Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins

Mission Specialist Watkins was puzzled by the transmission. It was from Eglin Air Force Base. She turned to the mission commander.

“Commander. I just got this screwy message from Eglin Air Force Base,” she said with a puzzled expression.

“What is it?” Commander Kjell Lindgren asked.

“They say the base commander and his XO are coming to do a full outside video of the station,” she said.

“Did you ask them why?” the commander responded.

“Sir. I did. They said it was because they wanted do a visual inspection of the damage to the docking collar. Sir. We were told not to mention that and haven’t because of the political implications with the Chinese. They said they’d do a visual survey for us. Sir, they said they’d be here in ten minutes about ten minutes ago.”

“Did they say how they’d do that?”

“No sir. They said keep an eye out as it’s all secret right now.”

“Oh really. They may be having a joke with us. Oh. There goes a proximity alert. Get to the observation module,” he said.

◆◆◆

Transport Pod outside ISS in orbit

“ISS. This is General Jeffrey Dobbs from Eglin Air Force Base. I can see the damage to the docking collar. I’ll relay the video to you when we’ve finished.”

“Roger that General. We had no knowledge you were coming. How?” ISS responded.

“Can’t discuss that. Standby,” Dobbs said.

Three – 1 and 2-centimeter diameter punctures, in the nadir segment of your port photovoltaic array and one – one-centimeter puncture over your ELC-3 on the zenith side. Zarya looks fine. 'Prichal' looks like it was hit by a shotgun on the port side but no visible punctures. Destiny also has spackling of hits with no visible punctures on the port side. Those Chinese did a number on you. I’ll send over the files. Where is the best place to tap into your WiFi? Password?”

Dobbs had Lux move the transport pod adjacent to the Destiny lab and tied into their WiFi. He transferred the video over to the ISS.

“Did you get that?” Dobbs asked.

◆◆◆

International Space Station – Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins

Mission Specialist Watkins signed off and watched the egg shaped ‘Pod’ disappear. It left so fast that it just was there one second and an eyeblink later – it was gone. “Commander. That ‘Pod’ thing did a quick survey and we have additional damage to report. It does answer why we have some intermittent power issues. It was General Dobbs from Eglin. I have no idea what that thing was but it looks like space travel is going to be changing radically in a few years.”

“Why do you say that?” Commander Kjell Lindgren asked.

“That vehicle left with no outgassing and no inertial effects evident. It came here in ten minutes from Eglin on the spur of the moment. It was a joy ride commander. They are riding around on their new toy. I want one,” she said.

“I guess I should report this to headquarters,” he said.

“Commander. They said the Pod was secret,” Watkins reminded him.

The commander grumbled. “Let’s review those videos. Did we get any shots of that Pod thingie?”

“Not unless they passed in front of our live streaming video of Earth from the ISS. They’ll be hell to pay if that happens.”

◆◆◆

Building 600 – On Pod Return from ISS

General Dobbs and Colonel Rankin were ebullient after their flight. They jabbered like school kids.

“That was exceptional, Lux. No acceleration. We could make turns at high speed with no ‘G’ forces. No need for flight suits,” the General said.

“General. We do need suits like SpaceX uses or similar. I need to add an airlock and docking arrangement. I designed the pod for passage in Class E airspace above 60,000 feet but I’ve been flying without transponder. Is there a way to get an experimental clearance?”

“We could get the aircraft an experimental registration but as soon as word gets out, you will have issues with foreign intelligence and commercial interference. You probably should do what you’re doing until they come after you.”

“Just realize that I will not have this project taken over by others. I don’t want other governments to have this technology. I want us to have an edge. I’ll need some specialized help when the other countries start sniffing around. General. If at all possible – I’d like you to recommend some people. My dad, Paulus Blakely used to do that stuff, and he’s had some people train me,” Lux commented.

“I wondered where you learned to do that stuff with the knife. Quite impressive. I think I understand what you’re implying after your mention of Groom Lake last time. You don’t want to be spirited away to Groom Lake and some old guys try to take this off your hands,” the general read between the lines. “You didn’t want to threaten me and I appreciate that. What you’re doing is really going to help this country.”

◆◆◆

Stephen Colbert Late Show with Guest Lummi

“Tonight, we’re welcoming that stunning new star, Lummi.” Lots of applause.

“Hi Stephen. It’s nice to let me on your show,” Lummi-2 said.

“I hear you have ten new songs out that are stirring up a lot of interest,” Stephen said.

Lummi grinned. “I’m trying to get people to remember me.”

“You dance, you sing, and you travel. What are you going to do when you grow up? You look 17,”

Stephen suggested.

“Are you supposed to ask a woman her age? I’m 25 but I don’t physically age as fast as normal,” she said in one of her pre-scripted lines. She was 18 but she assumed the real Lummi was 25. She did look 17 but she had done so much.

“Do you have anyone you are serious about?” Stephen said.

Lummi looked at her watch. “Oh sorry. I was checking if this was inappropriate question week or something. Life is constant search. I’m enjoying the search…and my music. Have you listened to any of the songs I’m pushing?”

“I listened to the two you put out earlier. I really-really-really liked those but no I haven’t,” Stephen hung his head in mock shame.

“Well play part of it. You have my permission to play more than 12 seconds if you like. Pick any of them,” Lummi-2 said.

They played one of the ten new songs for a whole thirty seconds and the audience loved it. Lummi smiled and waved as she ran off stage.

“…and there was Lummi,” Stephen said and the audience gave her a rousing sendoff.

◆◆◆

Saturday Night Live – with Musical Guest – Lummi

Lummi-1 didn’t host SNL because they didn’t think she was ready for that, but she did play with the same Jazz musicians from her latest video. They played and she sang the same song they had recorded and she could almost perfectly mimic the lyrics and tonal quality of the video. It actually sounded really good.

Later in the show they had Lummi do a skit with one of the males from a show about an American young man and a French girl. He would say something and the subtitles would show what the French girl thought he said. Then she would say something in French and the subtitles would show what he thought she said. They were totally screwed up in their interpretations which made it really funny because they went off stage holding hands looking enraptured.

◆◆◆

Eglin Air Force base – Office of the Base Commander – General Jeffrey Dobbs

Brigadier General Dobbs hated the way his 96th Test Wing got dribbles of F35s and F22s. His fuel budget for his fighters ate up a good portion of his budget and sometimes it was restricting how much training he could do. The noise pollution restricted a lot of the training he wanted to do. The few minutes a jet could fly with the afterburner restricted a lot of the training he could have his people do. Churn was caused by pilots quitting because flying for the military didn’t pay as well as civilian jobs. Restricting the training he wanted his people to do, didn’t help. When the job was exciting, it brought in recruits like the last Tom Cruise movie. He had control of his base budget within reason and he was going to do this thing. He sent LuxyDay, LLC. the paperwork to begin the conversion funding. He also sent Lux a special package to his lab without telling his bosses.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – 563 Spring Street NW – Atlanta, Georgia

Lux and Trenton got back to Atlanta and started the process to gather the materials for more conversions. They ordered forty-eight of the large Halbach thrusters which would do a squadron of F-16s. They ordered 96 of the smaller vertical thrusters. Lux knew he’d have to rewire them before they would be useful to anyone. He ordered 30 control modules that would have to be rewired and programmed before they would be useful and he made sure they each were individually coded so they had to be reset if they went in another plane should they be stolen. It would be easy to reprogram for any other US plane. Trenton ordered 24 pairs of the Special Tesla Roadster adapted battery packs and cooling systems. All-in-all he had $6 million tied up in components. He sent General Dobbs his estimates in turn around transition time to outfit a squadron of F-16s like the first one. He said for $1 million per plane, they could convert two a day with larger teams of mechanics if the planes had structures and anchor point pre-hardened and fuel tanks and engines removed.

A box delivery truck pulled next to Lux’s Lab. The driver called the number on the delivery ticket. Lux went out to see what was going on after the mystery call from Colonel Rankin that he had been sent a shipment. Lux signed for the package and the driver drove into the indoor parking area. Lux had been leery about accepting anything until the call from Rankin. There were four hard-shell cases that were individually manageable.

Chapter 15

Propulsion Directorate – Edwards Air Force Base - Air Force Research Lab

Colonel David Blandis was surprised to receive a summons from the base commander, General Dobbs.

Senior Master Sergeant Jeff Blusmettier saw the look on Colonel Blandis’s face. “Are you all right, Colonel? You look upset?”

“I think I’ll be fine. The General wanted to know if my security clearance is still current. He wanted me to come to Building 600. Do you have any idea what is going on?”

“No idea sir. I have a Secret clearance. Should I drive you over?” the master sergeant replied.

“No thank you sergeant. Not high enough,” the colonel said as he rushed out the door.

◆◆◆

Building 600 – Squadron F-16 retrofit

The first two F16 planes were being retrofitted. They had already had the fuel tanks and engine removed. The structure and weapon anchor points had already been strengthened. Ten more planes were lined up outside. It looked like a boneyard for planes.

The Tesla battery packs had been delivered. The bulk price had been much better than retail. Two planes had already been converted, in addition to the first plane. The learning curve was obvious as planes three and four were being modified.

Colonel David Blandis had just been allowed in the building after his phone was taken and ID checked twice. He came up and saluted the General. “Colonel Blandis reporting as ordered.”

The general acknowledged his salute. “Glad you could join the party. Everything you see here is TS/SCI only. You will not say anything about what you see in or outside this building. Do not talk about with wives, friends, or anyone. Do you understand me, Colonel?”

“Sir. Of course, sir. What are you doing to these planes?” Colonel Blandis asked.

“We are replacing the engines with a new propulsion system,” the General said while enjoying the shock on the colonel’s face.

“You can’t be serious? Why wasn’t I notified?” the colonel asked.

“You just were, Colonel,” the General said. “We have seen a considerable increase in performance.”

“How much thrust does the new system produce?” Blandis asked.

“We get 60,000 pounds of thrust or 235 kilonewtons. We get vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, hover, and endurance to fly Mach 5 coast to coast and back on one charge though it would have to be in more rarified air,” the general said looking at the incredulity on the Colonel’s face.

Blandis noticed Lux carrying one of the VTOL Halbach thrusters to the mechanics. He talked to them for a few moments and pointed to the weapon mounting brackets. “What’s that child doing here?”

“That child, Colonel, is the inventor of this technology. He took me and Colonel Rankin to the International Space Station last month in that Pod,” the general said pointing to the Pod. Ten minutes to go there. We did a video survey of the ISS because the debris from a Chinese satellite damaged several sections. You want to meet him?”

Colonel Blandis didn’t reply. He was standing with his arms crossed in front of him and looked uncomfortable. General Dobbs motioned Lux over. Lux came over wearing a dark blue coverall with a cloth Blakely name strip sewn above the pocket.

“Yes, General?” Lux asked.

“I’d like you to meet Colonel Blandis.”

Lux grinned and stuck his hand out. “Are you the Colonel Blandis that is over the Propulsion Directorate of the Air Force Research Lab?”

“I am young man,” the colonel said straightening up.

“Just the person I need to see. May I steal him away from you for a minute General? I need to pick his brain concerning some ideas we just came up with,” Lux said. The general nodded and motioned them away.

Lux practically dragged Blandis over to the plane they were working on. Lux had a running conversation with the colonel. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We have four smaller thrusters positioned to balance the plane for VTOL as it’s taking off or landing. We realized that when the plane has fired or released more ordnance on one side, it would be very easy to program the thruster control module to automatically balance the plane so it stays level. Do you think that would be useful enough to add that feature? There are sensors, already active, that we could just tie into a control.”

Blandis was reeling with this whole enterprise. “How many planes does the General intend to modify? Have you tested this on a plane already?”

“They didn’t show you the videos of the test flights. Darn. Sorry. You should be advising people here. At least, they finally realized we need the most critical people here. Do you have a few minutes? I’ll answer any questions I can, and help you track down answers to questions I can’t answer. Will that work?”

“That would be a good start. Where?” Brandis asked.

“How about the office over there? I’ve got a laptop set up with a large, Hi-Def monitor,” Lux said. “Call me Lux Colonel. I do have a TS/SCI clearance through my aerospace research work at Georgia Tech. I realize this may be a little overwhelming initially. This is going to make your directorate a heck more important.” Lux said hoping he wasn’t ladling on the praise too much. He figured this guy was about to be like his dad at first. He wanted to head that off before the guy started calling people. He was still a question mark.

Lux pulled up the first video of Watler, the test pilot, learning to lift the plane in preparation for vertical takeoff and landings. “We added a quadcopter algorithm and that makes takeoffs a lot more intuitive. We certainly don’t want the V-22 Osprey issues. Right?”

“Can the thrusters lift the plane out of ground effect?” Colonel Brandis asked.

Lux laughed. “The test pilot was hard put to not shoot too high. The thrusters have enough thrust to take the plane to orbit.”

Later videos showed the plane sitting at the end of the runway and taking off. It showed stalls and touch-and-go-s. Then it showed speed runs up to Mach 5. Later videos showed a VTOL takeoff and then takeoffs fully loaded. Mach 4.0 was about all the plane could tolerate, before there was too much heating.

“We didn’t want to jerk engines out of F35s so we used the older 4th generation fighters?” Lux explained. “We had some turbulent flow from the wings flexing and had to add a lot of stabilizing structure to reduce that. The turbulence smoothed out when reinforced, but that required new material on the wings to minimize overheating. We added more cockpit cooling too, though you’d have to go sub-sonic to use the ejection system.”

“So, why use old, 4th generation fighters?” Blandis asked.

“How do you think the appropriations committees would feel about you gutting F-35s with an unproven propulsion system at the time since each plane costing nearly $100 million?” Lux said. “Now for $24 million, you get some fighters with punch.”

“He’s going to convert a squadron at $24 million each?” Brandis said.

Lux grabbed his chest like he was having a heart attack and started laughing. “Goodness, no. A million each.”

“A million for a fighter that could fly for a day and do sprints to Mach 4 or 5?” Brandis replied shocked.

“You know. With your help. Dr. Douglas Trenton and I could do the same with the F35. It has a better pressurization envelope and it’s more aerodynamic. We could probably convert those too. We could use similar battery packs. I would have to redesign the Halbach thrusters. Right now, the two thrusters we placed in the F16s produce 30,000 pounds each. It wouldn’t be too difficult, I think, to use three thrusters for 90,000 pounds of thrust or two redesigned to produce 45,000 pounds apiece.”

“How much would it cost to redesign those?” Brandis asked.

“Probably around $250,000. The smaller ones originally cost me about $100,000 to produce,” Lux said.

“Who gave you the money?” Brandis asked.

Lux laughed. “I used my own money – which I get from royalties from patent licenses,” he said anticipating the question. “I don’t think it would be that hard of conversion design. I’d have to ask Professor Trenton.

“Professor Trenton?"

"Professor Trenton is one of my aerospace professors at Georgia Tech. I designed the propulsion system, but Douglas is better at tweaking these old environmental systems.“

“I would love to shut people up about how slow the F35 is compared to the F22 or the F16,” Brandis said. “If you used three of your ‘thrusters’ – they looked really small. They don’t need airflow at all, do they?”

“No sir. We’d have to redesign an aerodynamic cover for the air intake and exhaust. Covering those ports should make the F35s additionally stealthy, wouldn’t it?” Lux asked.

“It would. When do you think you could do the redesign?” Brandis asked.

“Professor Trenton would need access to whatever variant of the F35 you wanted to upgrade. It would be fun to upgrade that beast to Mach 5 and have real VTOL,” Lux said.

“You seem to know a lot about the F35.”

Lux chuckled. “I’m a pancake expert. I know a lot of information but that information isn’t very deep. I watched the Battle of the X-Planes development movie. Talk with General Dobbs. I’d enjoy working with you.”

“I will Lux. It was nice meeting you. This new system will change everything,” the colonel said.

They walked out to the hangar where they were finishing the conversion of two F16s.  Brandis walked over to General Dobbs. “That Lux kid is something. What do you have in mind after you finish converting the squadron? I talked about converting an F35. He said he could probably do it for $1.5 million. I’ll work with him and Dr. Trenton if you want that to go ahead. He thinks we can get 90,000 pounds of thrust and VTOL plus Mach 4 or 5 also. You let me and I’ll spearhead that conversion. I’d love to stick a finger in the eye of Lockheed and some politicians that have been giving us grief.”

“You got it Colonel. Work with Lux and Douglas. This would be a feather in our cap for sure,” the General said.

“Getting a Mach 5 fighter out of a current jet for $1.5 Million would make the Command Staff sit up and take notice,” Brandis said.

“That’s a nice start,” the general said and pointed at the Pod. “That – went Mach 31 and took me and Colonel Rankin to the ISS and back. No inertial effects. Forcefield! These,” he indicated the F16s, “…are just a start.”

“You’re kidding!” Brandis said.

“You want to see the videos I took?” Dobbs said.

“God yes,” Brandis said.

◆◆◆

Eglin Air Force Base – Demonstration for Joint Chiefs – Air Force Command

Lieutenant General Frank Parsons wondered why he had been rushed to see a demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base. His aide had mentioned that Brigadier General Dobbs said it would show something that would change the Space Force for good. One-stars don’t summon three-stars. Dobbs may be sharpening up his resume to be over an aviation bone yard if this isn’t any good or a long tour in some foreign hell hole.

Lieutenant General DeAnna Bost (Space Operations Command) wondered why she was here at an Air Force base where they only tested the tried and true. They did have some test and propulsion facilities here but nothing worth the trip or the mosquitos if the wind died. It was the hot Florida weather that they don’t brag about in the tourist brochures. It was nice to have Frank here. She always liked him.

Major General Stewart from Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado had come along with Bost. He, at least, had ties to 20th Space Control Squadron since he was in the Space Surveillance Network.

General Dobbs came out and thanked them for coming. “The reason I asked you to come is because I met a young man last year. He came back this year with Professor Douglas Trenton. The young man with him invented something that is going to turn the world on its head. I used a portion of my fuel allocation monies to make some changes to some F-16s which were showing their age.” He lifted up a walkie talkie and said, “Bring in Watler.”

An F16 came floating in with nothing but an almost inaudible hum. The plane floated to within 20 yards of the reviewing stand. Dobbs spoke on the radio and the F16 floated up to three times the height of the reviewing stand and drifted over their heads and back to hovering over the concrete. Lieutenant General Bost had grabbed her hat. She was sitting looking stunned.

The pilot set back down as two technicians brought a large High-definition OLED display out that could be viewed even though it was bright outside. A streaming view of the cockpit showed the pilots face and he waved at his audience and then flipped the view to his console.

“Did you notice the noise and the downdraft?” General Dobbs asked.

They all looked at each other and then they started talking over each other. “Wait. Please. You need to see more and I’ll explain everything. You all out rank me so I realize this will get me demoted unless you are REALLY pleased. Think of this as not denying a man his last wish.” He told Watler to take off like we planned.

The plane took off straight up and then they heard a sonic boom a few seconds later. Some were watching the High-Def monitor and it showed the ground receding and then the airspeed. The indicator was labeled ‘MACH’ and it was going from Mach 3 to 4 and easing up toward five (5).

They could see the plane coming back really high and heard the two deep ‘karumps’ of the sonic booms and then it looked like the plane stopped dead in the sky. The airspeed indicator showed zero and the plane started lowering. It wasn’t spinning or falling out of control – it was lowering like in a fast elevator. It managed to stay level. They could hear it in the air whistling toward the ground. The plane touched down light as a feather though they could feel the heat radiating off the wings and fuselage.

“While we’re letting the plane cool off, I want you to meet the person that made this possible. Lux Blakely.”

Stewart looked at Bost. “This is what Parsons was keeping from us. No wonder,” Stewart whispered to Bost.

General Dobbs grinned as Lux walked out to the front. He waved at the spectators. He blushed a bit before straightening up and taking the microphone. “I’m Lux Blakely. I’m finishing my aeronautical engineering degree at Georgia Tech this coming semester. I invented a new propulsion method and didn’t want the US Space Force and the Air Force to miss out. I used my own money from past patents to do the development work and have Dr Douglas Trenton with me who did most of the retrofitting design. The planes use the Earth’s Magnetic field for propulsion. The planes use stored electrical energy from Tesla car battery paks instead of messy and dangerous aviation fuel. They can charge up at any type of EV supercharger, so they’ll still be logistical issues but these planes can fly coast to coast and back on one charge. This is NOT the end of the demonstration.”

Dobbs came up beside Dr Trenton and Lux and spoke into his transceiver. He then turned back to the spectators. “I used a small portion of my fuel budget allocation to pay for the conversions,” he said.

Lieutenant General Parsons boomed out, “How much did you spend General?” he demanded seeming peeved.

“Sir. I spent $25.5 million dollars,” he said.

“That seems well spent on this prototype plane,” the general said.

“No. No. General. I converted a whole squadron for that amount. Not just one plane. I’d hang myself for spending more without authorization, sir. Ah. Here they come. They didn’t get to rehearse much. Simmons almost crashed his twice,” he said as 23-F16s came hovering forward. One group of 12 planes and one group of eleven planes with a wide corridor left between the flights. They were all hovering over the ground and making very little noise other than a slight hum. Dobbs got on the radio and asked them to land. He spoke again and an F-35 came floating forward. It too had the front intake covered and it wasn’t even making much of the humming sound.

The display in front of the stands changed to show the inside the F35’s Cockpit. The pilot waved and then the view switched to forward view from the craft and its control panel. The plane spun as it lifted straight up turning and accelerated like the afterburners had kicked in. The double crack of the sonic boom showed the Mach indicator climbing to 5. They showed the plane turning extremely sharply and G force indicator stopping at 5.

General Parsons asked, “The G-meter shows to 7. Why are they stopping at 5?”

“The plane is rated to stand 9 Gs but our pilots aren’t,” Dobbs explained. “They can tighten their stomach muscles and clinch like they’re trying to defecate and breathe weird to keep oxygenated blood in their torso and suits squeezing their body helps. With higher Gs, they will pass out. We teach them to keep below 5 Gs max. We get 60,000 pounds of continuous thrust with the F16 conversions and 90,000 pounds thrust with the F35.”

The US. Army Major General had a query. “That was an F35-A also. Not one of the F-35B with that quirky lift system. This looks a lot more stable. Have you tried much with ordnance yet?”

“We don’t know how our weapon systems will behave when our planes can outfly enemy missiles. We considered having packets full of ball bearings we could drop and shotgun enemy planes or anything else at Mach 5.”

“How do these magnetic thrusters stand up? Do they wear out?” General Stewart asked.

“We don’t have but 150 hours on our first conversion but it hasn’t needed anything other than constantly strengthening the frame,” Dobbs answered.

General Stewart walked over to Lux. “You don’t happen to own a Cirrus Vision Jet, do you?”

“Can your jet – if you were to have one – fly Mach 30?” Stewart asked.

“Nope,” Lux said. “But it might be able to hover,” Lux said with a grin.

◆◆◆

Lieutenant General Bost turned to Lieutenant General Parsons. “Thanks for letting me and mine in on this little soiree.”

“DeAnna. This was really something wasn’t it. I had no idea what they were going to do for a demonstration. Do you think I should let them go ahead with the conversions of all the F35s. We’d have to upgrade the electrical infrastructure. I can’t believe he only spent $25.5 million on all these conversions.”

“Did the Blakely kid say the propulsion units would work in orbit? I got that impression. This would put us so far ahead of all other governments.”

“I’ll have a talk with Dobbs and the kid and see where we can go with this stuff,” General Parsons said. “I’ll talk with the pilots too. I’m inclined to give Dobbs the go ahead. Allocating his fuel budget is brilliant. We should do all the F35s if this works out. I’m going to go talk with them right now.”

DeAnna grabbed his arm before he walked away. “Let me know what they say. I’d like to work with you.”

“I tell you what. Dinner tonight and I’ve got a good single-malt scotch that you’d like, if memory serves me correctl.”

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – Start of his last semester as a senior – Georgia Tech

“Professor. Will you still work with me now that you are a millionaire? Even though you’re not much of a millionaire…” Lux asked Douglas Trenton.

Trenton gave Lux a lopsided grin. “I’d much prefer capital gains taxes than straight tax on wages any day. What next? Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking? Airlock?”

“Yep. The few times we went by the ISS we could only take video. We couldn’t have done them any good any other way. Could we add an airlock to the rear of the pod?” Lux asked.

“We have an airlock NASA gave us but it is impossibly heavy. I can see why they gave it away,” the Professor said. “I can sponsor you on your AE 4699 Research Permit Project. It’s seven (7) semester hours of credit. You could develop a lighter-weight airlock, but how would you cover it so it would have the benefit of the dimensional barrier?”

“I’ve actually been thinking about that,” Lux said with his head tilted to the side and eyes closed. “I visualize a clamshell of the supercapacitor material covering a polymer structure. We’re not seeing stress transmitted to that material so it’s doable if I can make a lighter weight airlock. It would have to be large to fit people in suits with tools. It would move the center of gravity so thrusters would have to be moved forward.”

“Think that’s a plan. I also have AE 4080 Aero-thermodynamics and AE 4903 Planetary Spacecraft Development classes. I hope to glean some useful information from those courses,” Lux said. He was pleased with using the word ‘glean’.

◆◆◆

Lux’s Lab – Prissy Comes to Visit – Georgia Tech

Prissy hated all the ‘rigmarole’ she had to do coming into Lux’s Lab. “Hi Lux. I went with my parents to New York. It was fabulous. We’re going to go out to San Francisco soon. What did you do this summer?”

“Hi Prissy,” he said and blushed as he noticed how she’d ‘filled out’ over the summer. “I went to Florida for a while near Pensacola.”

“That sounds like fun. Have you noticed how much money we’ve made off the music videos? You’ve grown a lot too. Why you’re almost as tall as me now. Can we talk with Anna?”

“Sure, Prissy.” Lux opened Anna.

“Hi Anna,” Prissy said greeting the computer avatar. “The interviews were crazy successful. Saturday Night Live was huge. Everybody loved Lummi’s singing. Our double sang really close to what you recorded. Thank you for forwarding the notes from all the live jazz musicians. They said it really helped their careers. Several of the dancers in the other videos wrote too.”

“Did you know that seven of the ten videos have over a billion views each,” Lux proudly stated. “How does it feel to be a millionaire?”

“Oh. It’s just unreal. My dad had saved up for our trip to New York and I tried to tell him I could pay for it. He wouldn’t hear of it. Hey. Don’t you graduate after this semester.”

“I do but I’m not sure if I’ll do my master’s here, like I originally planned,” Lux said and saw Prissy frown.

“You never said what you were doing in Florida and you don’t have much of a tan. What is this big squished egg thing?” Prissy asked.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Lux asked. “You usually eat a huge meal.”

“I just decided I’d come over here without it today. I had some juice and a breakfast bar. It’s too late for breakfast anyway. It’s 9:30 am.”

“Come on. I’ll show you what this egg thing is. I’ll give you a ride,” Lux said.

“Ride,” Prissy said. “How do you see out of it?”

Lux raised the doors and Prissy made an “Ooh,” sound. Lux got goose bumps. They climbed in.

“Oh, I really like these soft leather seats. Is the ride bumpy? Do you ever get stopped by cops in Atlanta driving this thing on the street? How far away is this place? I’m supposed to meet some Phi Mu sisters right after lunch. I’m babbling. I guess I’m a little nervous,” she said.

Lux checked environmental and the charge as he had Prissy buckle in. He started answering her questions. “The ride is smooth. I never get stopped by the cops. The place is about five minutes away.” He opened the rollup door to the shop and they went out to the indoor parking garage.

“You’re right. This is really smooth and I can see all around us. Why do you have monitors showing the pavement?” she asked. “Is this going to be an amusement ride? You could show us going anywhere. This is brilliant.”

The Pod floated out the back rollup and went straight up, and headed west at 65,000 feet.

“Oh. Now I see why you need the lower screens. It looks like we’re going west over the Mississippi,” Prissy said. “But you need to make it feel like you’re zooming up or something or people won’t think it’s real. Maybe tilt it a little. Gosh. Some of this land is so bleak and dry. I like the mountains. That looks really real. The wisps of cloud and the smoke on the ground from fires makes it look better. Oh. We’re landing. At that little airport. You ought to make it look like you’re landing in a big airport in Las Vegas or something.”

“Las Vegas is 228 miles West North West of here,” Lux said as he undid his seat harness and raised the doors.

Prissy got out and looked around at the landscape and her knees were suddenly weak. Lux rushed over to support her. Marie came out of the house wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Hey Lux. Who’d you bring us?” she said.

“This is Prissy. Marie, is Elan around?” Lux said and lowered the doors on the Pod so it wouldn’t get too dusty.

Prissy grabbed Lux’s arm. “This is real! What is that thing? You built that! You invented that!”

“Come on. Look around. I own this place. Marie works for me and she’s a great cook.”

Prissy looked like she was in shock. “Where are we? What was that MACH meter in your…your…thing…the egg dooie?”

“That was the speed of sound. We were going Mach 34 or a little over 26,000 miles an hour. We’re near Paulden, Arizona. Las Vegas is 228 miles that way,” he said pointing. “Really.”

“This feels so unreal. I do have to get back after lunch to see my Phi Mu sisters. You’re Marie?” she asked the woman in the background.

“Yes dear. Any preferences? The boys all want coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, bacon, sausage, pancakes, omelets and fresh fruit. Eggs. How do you like yours?” Marie asked.

“Two over easy if you don’t mind. It smells heavenly. Can I help?” Prissy asked.

“Sure. I make the guys do the dishes. We girls have to stick together,” she said as Prissy joined her cutting up fruit and cracking eggs into a bowl. They were talking when Elan came in and kissed Marie.

Lux raised his eyebrows and they were still up as Elan sat down.

“Our friendship has progressed,” Elan said.

“Evidently,” Lux responded with a grin. “How are Ford and Shelia?”

“We’re lucky you found them when you did. They’ve been indispensable around here. They are like sponges or eager little puppies…competent puppies. They helped finish the HydroPanels and they’ve adjusted that mineral pack addition that the water panels add to the distilled water. It’s too tasteless at first, so it gives the water some flavor. It’s so pure they add minerals. The kids got it just right. They’ve also helped with the solar panels. Ford is best with those and Shelia is going to be a great mechanic. I’m going to get her certified on the Cirrus and train her on others too.”

“Here you go guys,” Marie said as she loaded the table with food. Marie got on her phone and called Shelia and Ford to come and get it.

Shelia and Ford came rushing in and sat down with rapid nods to Prissy. Lux did notice that Shelia sat up straighter and touched Ford more whenever Prissy was talking. He figured that touching was Shelia’s way of showing possession.

Elan and Lux took Prissy out to show them the power and water panels outside. She saw the pumps to deliver water to the tower and the nearby homes. She never really considered water or electricity at home. She was still in shock of the vehicle Lux had made. She kept glancing at him. He had grown a lot and filled out himself but he would only be eleven. He’s not even a teenager, she thought but then she thought how nice she felt around him. She knew he had a crush on her but he was just eleven. She’d be 16 soon.

“Prissy!” Lux called. “We better get you back to school if you’re going to meet your friends at Phi Mu. Let’s rock.” Lux turned to Elan. “I’m glad your HVAC has held up so far. The geothermal folks ought to have the wells converted as a heat sink and to condense more water that won’t freeze. They said they’d be in this coming week. Have no idea why they would take so long. When are the greywater people hooking up everything?”

“No idea,” Elan replied.

Prissy came back with Shelia and they went over to the Pod as Lux raised the doors. Prissy was strapping in when Lux got in his side. Shelia confided to Prissy, “I’ve been dying to ride in this thing but I know Ford would be jealous. One day," she said and tapped the side. Lux lowered the doors, did a preflight and they were off.

Prissy looked at Lux and marveled at how long they’d been friends. “What are you doing with this next?”

“Professor Trenton and I are adding an airlock to the back. It’ll take some time and effort though.”

Prissy laughed. “Why in the world would you do that?” she asked.

Lux looked at his watch and then touched the panel in front of him. “We’ve got time. I’ll show you,” he said and Prissy felt the air pressure change. She swallowed and pressure went away but the view of the Earth spread out under her feet.

“Where’s are we going?” she asked.

“You’ll see in a minute,” he said and adjusted the controls. The International Space Station came into view. There were two space suited individuals working on the docking collar as they came up within a few feet. Lux stayed around just for a minute before zipping off on a path back to Atlanta.

They came in really fast and swooped into the inner parking area. Lux realized that people wouldn’t report him since it made no sound. It was if it didn’t fit into their consciousness. He finally sat down inside his lab, after raising the doors. He hopped out and went around to Prissy’s side. She was breathing fast.

“You can’t tell anyone about this. No one at all. I’m working with the government and it would be dangerous if the word gets out. Okay?”

She replied with a weak, “Okay,” and headed to the exit.

“Oh, Prissy,” he said and she turned around. “I sent a package to the Phi Mu house for you and the sisters. I hope you like it,” he said.

She started to go out the door, but then she grabbed him and gave him the best kiss she could. He did his best to reciprocate. She blushed and smiled at him and rushed out the door. His knees were weak. Wow, he thought. That was a real kiss but he didn’t have enough experience to know if it was a thank you kiss, a goodbye kiss, or I’m so happy I’ll kiss anybody kiss. He didn’t care, it was great.

Prissy had enjoyed the kiss a lot more than she thought she would. He felt solid and strong and she knew he was a fighter. Super smart. She started wondering what he could possibly have sent to the Phi Mu house for all the girls. Guys had no clue what girls liked – not really.

◆◆◆

Phi Mu Sorority House – 240 Ferst Dr NW – Georgia Tech

Her friend Evelyn must have been waiting by the door for her. Prissy was ambushed when she walked in. “Where have you been? Have you been out in the heat? Your lipstick is smudged and you smell like bacon and some earthy smell – you smell like creosote. Have you been near railroad ties or sage brush or something?”

“How could I have done that?” Prissy said as she pushed a loose strand of hair back off her face where it was dangling.

“I knew you were coming to meet me after lunch today but you’re a little early,” Evelyn said.

Prissy looked at her watch and smiled a bit thinking of the time changes.

“Earth to Prissy,” Evelyn said. “Back down to Earth, sister. You got a big box delivered here in your name and we’ve all been dying to see what was in it.”

Prissy grinned hugely thinking of her recent adventure, but then focused on her friend dragging her into the next room where there was a large box. It was from France and it was labeled for her and said ‘Personal’ on it.

Prissy nodded and Evelyn and the other girls ripped it open in a sorority driven feeding frenzy of interest. There were cries, shrieks, and moans as they saw what it contained. It was full of lots of things in Phi Mu colors of Rose and White. There were ballcaps where the name LUMMI was tastefully embroidered to one side and the Greek Phi Mu letters embroidered on the other. There were matching Greek styled sandals with Phi Mu and Lummi on the straps. There were T-shirts with Lummi and Phi Mu on them.

There was a box of photos showing the photos of Lummi and the Phi Mu sisters grinning together in front of the sorority house. There were even Lummi beachwear in a gauzy overwear. None of it looked cheap – it looked classy. The girls stood back and let Prissy get first pick with the enclosed card. Prissy picked out one of each of the items she thought would fit her and then unleashed her sisters. She had the clothes and sandals in hand and went over to a chair to read the note.

Besides a note it had a photograph of Lummi and Prissy beside the big black Hummer-limo. The photo said, ‘Best Friends’ and was signed ‘Lummi’. She knew she was an actor but she was a bit emotional from her day. She was misty eyed as she read her note.

Dear Prissy and My Phi Mu sisters,

I had such a good time meeting and talking with you talented people. It gave me hope for this world. There is so much bad stuff happening around the world – it was a breath of fresh air to see so many talented and smart people in one place. You truly treated me like a sister and I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be your fan from now on. Hope you like my music and I want to hear from you. Don’t forget me.   Lummi

Prissy had tears in her eyes even knowing Anna or Lux probably wrote this note. It was reassuring. She called all her sisters together and read them the note. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

◆◆◆

US Air Force Space Surveillance Network - Schriever Air Force Base – Colorado

Day shift General Stewart looked at the radar returns over Arizona. “Still getting those intermittent returns?”

“Yes, General. Like those returns with the 12U satellite of Lux Blakely. Sir, we clocked one this morning at Mach 34 at around 65,000 feet (20,000 meters). It looks like it went down somewhere over Georgia.”

“Definitely Lux Blakely,” he mumbled. “Keep a log of those traces. They’ll be more.”

◆◆◆

End

◆◆◆

Epilogue

Lux isn't sure about this dimensional barrier. He is not sure what it is but he thinks an odd combination of tech combined to create it. Now, he planned to investigate how he could manipulate that force. The government is zeroing in after upgrading those fighter jets at Eglin. It is easier to upgrade much of their aircraft but the government wants more. Foreign governments begin to notice.

Lummi videos are still generating massive income and the  body doubles are getting a more active role by giving appearances and concerts.

Afterword

If you want more Lux in the future – please give me a good review – Lux has big ideas in the future:

Lux 3: Force Fields  November 2022

Lux delves into the nature of his strange protective fields. Can it be made mobile? Can it be used to protect others or other types of vehicles or structures. What are its capabilities? Its vulnerabilities?

Lux 4: Interplanetary March 2023

Lux finds traveling outside Earth’s magnetic fields is possible but the military from the US and other nations begins to push hard for the tech. Could we use it to help mine the moon and asteroids?

Lux 5: Interstellar July 2023

There are ways to use the tech to travel between the planets but it is more like naval cruises. You need to see the fields between planets - fields that wax and wane like currents in the oceans.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my brothers Richard & Tom Pence for encouraging me to write. We have shared a lifelong love of sci-fi. This book is dedicated to all the visionaries out there who know that humans are just a small blip in the universe. Also thanks to Carol Koth Matthews who was one of my first friends from past eras to be supportive.

About The Author

Ken Pence

Author has a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Engineering. Professor Pence has taught there 2004-2022. He is a retired Metro Nashville Police Captain for 31 years (16 years on SWAT). He is a 6th degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do (1967-present). He is a pilot and taught police and military in US and Europe (England, N. Ireland, Germany, France) teaching unarmed and armed confrontation management. He certified 16 constabularies in ASP in England plus specialized in disarming techniques and room entry. He lives in Nashville with wife and large black lab.

Books By This Author

Trade World Saga

This is the complete TRADE WORLD SERIES -- all four books in one. (Re-edited) Amazon Reviewer - Had I known how much I would enjoy this I would have paid double! Amazon Reviewer - Engrossing tale that I could not put down. Amazon Reviewer - Wow. Long but a good read

MANUAL INTERPRETATION - Rett didn't expect to be rescued and then attacked by a primitive on a test flight. Andrew didn't expect to save an alien and nearly destroy his planet because of what he learned. Earth didn't get to choose their representative for a planet-wide treaty and then be threatened by an alien confederation. Surely Earth couldn't defend itself. Surely we couldn't have had contact with others, from off-planet, before now...but what was this backwater planet doing with a fleet of ships, advanced navigation systems and a galactic-class trading facility with personnel who spoke all the major galactic languages. Every species got it wrong. We were just trying to fit to follow the manual.

PATENTLY OBVIOUS - Earth is venturing out into space with technology adapted from aliens. We have no clue on how to trade and which planets are occupied and which are vacant. How will we move out into the void when there is political sniping at home? How do you convince the public it is a good thing when they don't believe they really exist? Aliens are headed to Earth. What do we trade? What will we ask in return? How do we handle intellectual property off planet? Every technology -- every trade good is fair game. This is about Earth going through its growing pains and being tested at every turn. Earth has a lot of growing up to do and it isn't all fun and games...it is a test we have to pass...

A CERTAIN EXPERTISE - shows our young race suddenly moving into deep space. Empires had existed before us but we had come from the fringe of the galaxy and the older races were near the core. Some races progressed slowly even though they were much older due to their bureaucracy. Others appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. We were currently leaving a mark on our galactic arm through our trade and rediscovered ancient technology but we really don't have a clue. We have overcome local competition and are probing deeper toward our galaxy Core. We are searching for the creators of molecular circuitry that can improve electronics or form intelligent machines. We are also, struggling with our humanity and facing political jockeying at home due to radical changes in longevity, energy availability, and mobility. New power sources and alien influences may be a bit much for Earth should we even survive the tourists and traders. The more advanced species that are further inward on the spiral arm are another kettle of fish altogether.

CORE VALUES - Earth and the Exploration Service destroyed the bulk of the Allung slave traders. New transition technology lets them travel thousands of light years instantly and they’ve seized accumulated positional data (charts) from the Allung Confederation. The Earthers are traveling closer to the galactic core where the Allung may have run into the Ylee, the possible creators of the lamlee. The Ylee region of space is close to LeiLei and Shiv’s home world and we will go there first. Earth wishes to expand: explore, and tame further systems near the core. They have to decide what type of expedition to form – do they need a lone ship, a squad or an armada. Earth has had opposition at every step of their travels and many groups on Earth are finding the means to look for a future, an escape into space. Earth may not survive its successful trading...is trade worth five billion human lives? Looks like we have no choice...

Uplift

It is forty years from the present date, and Richard Patterson is an aging warrior about to check out of this life. Just retired from a large multinational private military, he will be chosen to have a different fate. This will change his life, and the life of every being on Earth. How will this man move from a menial social class to challenge the elites? How will one man prepare the Earth to defend itself from a threat that has destroyed advanced, interstellar civilizations across the galaxy for millennia? His lead-time is short, and he faces a corrupt, self-serving society. Just surviving the day will be challenging since half of Earth’s population may die with the disruptive technology changes. There are billions of planets in our galaxy and now we can go there. How will neighboring species react now that humans can reach them?

This is the same multiverse - all books tie into Trade World Saga - does not matter in what order you read them. Enjoy.

Multiple

Natalie (Nat) was a child in an adult's body with her grandfather's implanted memories. Alone on an alien planet, she learned to survive and thrive. She fought slavery locally, then planet-wide, then across the Milky Way. When she learned to travel to other dimensions - associations between species became blurred and battles became horrific. Now - throw in near-immortality and extra-galactic threats and you have an interesting story. Carole, (from Uplift) is stranded in a remote area of the Milky Way and has to fight her way back to Earth. She learns to love travel and trade as she trains her disparate crew. Nat and Carole join forces to fight the slavers. Though MULTIPLE could stand alone - you would understand more if you have read Trade World Saga, Connection, or Uplift. If you've read them all - MULTIPLE ties them all together in the Trade World Universe.

Novice Trader

Alan Einfeld is an apprentice trader on his first solo stint on Trappist 3 - in a slightly behind-the-curve dimension. He is abandoned by his mentor's death and now has little to trade and can't get back to his dimension. He doesn't know the language but the locals are humanoid. Finding an escape leads him to a grounded shuttle. He doesn't realize that a Pact among the fleet has restricted technology because the nanites and dimensional travel are so destabilizing. Alan controls some war-time tech sought after by a group of rebels. His adolescent charges are developing too fast for their own good. How many Trappist locals would he have to kill to get back to the Prime dimension? He flees only to fight an interstellar war 100 years in the past. An exciting romp through space and time with lots of confusion, conflict, conflagration, and cunning.

Alan meets Carole and Nat as they discover the origin of the Progeny Rebellion. Though this occurs in the Trade World Universe - the book works as a standalone or as a complement to others.

Connection

Robert Kobe is an entrepreneur but the first (accidental) interstellar flight far exceeds his expectations. -Their first contact is our first contact.-Now Robert is the alien on a planet of aliens.-Unable to speak a word of the language.-No money – no contacts – no ship – no food - but lots of technical expertise....A hunted criminal who:
-Threatens to destroy a civilization...he made a choice.
-Kills hundreds to make a point...is he justified?
-Forces a Trade agreement...by himself with a planet - justified?
-Faces legal troubles at home.-Faces violence from other corporations.
-Must kill to escape - justified?
-Steals to finance his goals - justified?
-Builds a space fleet to defy the Earth military - respects no Earth government.
-Reinforces an interstellar reputation.-Saves an allied, alien military.
-Experiments with tech from other dimensions. -
A fun read Space opera with interesting tech.

AMAZON REVIEWER "Wow! Well Done. Just finished Ken Pence ‘Connections’ and like his other stories found it fast-paced and an easy read without a lot of fluff and feathers. The characters are interesting and the story makes you care what happens to them. No spoiler here, but I did like the twist as I never saw it coming. Overall, this is a great adventure story, fast-moving with interesting tech about man’s first venture into deep space. There is also the question of what might happen when we meet aliens, some more interesting than others on a more intimate level. As an aside, not being any sort of an editor myself, I skipped over the errors I found and concentrated on the storytelling. Ken Pence did another excellent job of portraying men, good and bad, and how greed can motivate them to do their worst. Lastly, this is a story well worth reading." Rob Buckman
Can be read as a standalone but the Trade World series gives richer context. All Trade World books are tied. - Enjoy

At First Thought

Robert Thales, an otherwise unremarkable cop in a mid-sized city, is developing an ability to read minds. This ability gets him promoted from a report writing car to a solo car in a high crime area. His work in the high crime area gets him noticed – not in a good way. Reading minds helps in his love life -- with reservations.

The economy of the city teeters along everywhere except where illicit drug sales and adult businesses are concerned. Criminals can’t launder their illicit monies fast enough and the business leaders can’t get the loans they need. Financing the new convention center requires millions in municipal bonds and this need is the root of a political takeover. The formerly unremarkable cop is thrown into the middle of the scheme. Everyone is trying to get Thales out of the picture.
How can he get the Feds to prosecute a case that nobody wants -- and do something in only one month? Injured, out-of-work, and hounded by hired guns; he may not live long enough to perfect his talent.

The reader plunges into the mind of a young street cop who is faced with current and developing criminal conspiracies. The criminal leader becomes obsessed with removing this threat. Business leaders are drawn into a criminal web of murder and extortion through their quest for good investments. Reading minds may help in sexual encounters but its not living up to its potential anywhere else. Now he can find the girl of his dreams if he can keep her alive.

Outlier Earth

Our central worldline monitors many of the adjacent worldlines. Are we behind or ahead of other worldlines technologically? Could people cross over and be a threat? Do they have any technology we could use to stay dominant?

Of all the alternate Earth timelines, only this one had the North American natives survive and flourish. This, despite enduring a vastly superior Alien invasion centuries previously. Two agents sent from the central worldline to investigate this outlier Earth have disappeared. An agent sent by the Central Worldline, despite his apparent youth, and disregard for protocol and death, is sent to investigate the Outlier Earth for an explanation. Can an old man gain the love of a young woman? A semi-dark tale of nation-states at war and budding love.