Read The Return of the Manhattan Online
Authors: Lee Ecker
The scene switched to the national news showing the remains of a small sports car.
“This picture graphically proves that lightning does strike twice in the same place. This is what’s left of the critical patient’s automobile after her accident involving a tractor-trailer last night in the Ozark Mountains of Southern Missouri. Officials at Little Rock Air Force Base hospital tell us that the driver sustained near-fatal injuries and was aboard the C9 en route to Andrews Air Force Base.”
Laura couldn’t sleep, spending the night tossing and turning, filled with emotional turmoil. Morning came as she came to one undeniable conclusion; she didn’t want to live her life without Brad Anderson, and would do anything to stay with him. She wasn’t angry with him; at first she was angry with herself, but no longer. She had momentarily lost control of her body, which betrayed her with Brad, but when she was perfectly honest with herself, she was glad she responded the way she did, and would always treasure that moment, no matter what the final outcome. She could still feel the sensation of the pressure of Brad’s lips, and yearned more intensely to go with him than she ever dreamed possible. She didn’t want to leave her father never to see him again, but she was ready and couldn’t wait to get started.
She went to her father’s office to share the early morning with him as had often been her custom, either in the early morning or late evening when she relaxed from her studies. She bubbled over with excitement as she spoke of Brad. “Isn’t he everything we wanted for the project? He’s the best, and I think I could fall in love with him in a heartbeat!”
David had to control himself, knowing he had to tread carefully. He didn’t want to throw a damper on Laura’s reactions, but he must. “You have to be extremely careful. This is entirely new territory, and nobody knows how much we will change history. We think your presence will disturb the past enough as it is, but remember your promise to President Albee. Your marriage to anyone in this century is simply impossible!”
“I know—,” Laura stammered. It was as though he had read her mind. “Who said anything about marriage? I already made my choice when the president told me I couldn’t, but it’s not going to be easy. If I didn’t have those high ideals Brenda instilled within me, I could just live with him. That wouldn’t be going back on my promise.” Her heart saddened, skipped a beat, and her spirit dropped as she tried a new tact even though the tears were impossible to suppress, “If all the men are as egotistical as Major Anderson, I won’t have any problem. Anyway let’s make the most of our last few hours, and spend some time together.”
David thought again of Brenda, and thanked his lucky stars that she had been there to have that kind of influence on his daughter. After a moment of reflection, he pushed aside his thoughts on Laura’s romantic problems, knowing how they would complicate the mission, and replied, “That will be difficult. We have very little time. We will meet with Major Anderson in a few minutes and then we will both be busy. If we don’t get to work, we may never be able to get back home.”
Brad was ushered from his sleeping quarters to the dining room for breakfast and on to Dr. Ashton’s office by another member of the crew, and he began to wonder if Laura was purposely avoiding him. He asked his guide, but she couldn’t say, except that Laura had something she needed to do.
Upon reaching David’s office, he heaved a sigh of relief finding Laura there, but he was concerned seeing her face flushed and huge tears streaming down her face. His heart skipped a beat wondering if her state of mind had anything to do with his actions, and if she had discussed his despicable behavior with her father. It was too late to change that, he thought, waiting for Dr. Ashton to speak. “Good morning Brad,” David ignored the traumatic nature of the situation, “Laura is going to sit in with us if you don’t mind. She will be going with you. You will agree we need one of us to go with you as soon as you see the rest of our plan. How do you feel this morning?”
“Great, I slept like a log.”
“Dr. Baker had something to do with that. Have you reconsidered?”
“No, I’ve thought about it, I dreamed about it, but I don’t have any intention to refuse unless…”
“Unless you learn we aren’t what we claim, or we ask you to be involved in something you consider morally wrong, or some traitorous act, is that it?”
“Yes!”
“Good, you won’t find any reason to doubt us. I anticipated your answer, and we have already begun a procedure that would be hard to reverse, and would make it difficult for us to put you back where you were yesterday morning.”
“You mean the medical treatments Dr. Baker mentioned?”
“No, your doctors will just have to wonder.” He paused for emphasis, “More crucial, we have begun to modify your aircraft, which would be difficult, if not impossible to reverse or for you to explain, especially with your memory of this experience erased.”
“You’re doing what?” Brad was beside himself, “I can’t authorize that! And I’m sure you didn’t run it by the Air Force.”
“We’ve watched you operate for weeks now and we have great confidence in you. You’ve stuck your neck out, but nobody will object, all things considered. You’ll be surprised what you can get away with, if you carry a big enough stick.”
David turned on the video displaying the engines. Laura, completely composed, began, “We are replacing your turbojet engines and auxiliary power unit with what we call electromagnetic propulsion units, completely hidden in the tail compartment. The engine pods will contain only the compressor which will be used for your pneumatic bleed air requirements, and a drive for the accessory section.” The scenes constantly changed as she talked to illustrate the main features of the new assembly.
“You have already begun this installation?”
“Yes, Boeing Aircraft which bought McDonnell Douglas provided copies of the original DC9 plans. We prepared these components to fit nicely in your aircraft. A more time consuming task,” as the picture changed to show the cockpit and the electrical panels, “is the installation of different cockpit instrumentation. We’re not replacing wires, but we have to sort them out and use individual wires for different purposes. In place of your engine instruments, we are installing a simple power indicator which displays a percentage of available power in use. We are including some sophisticated navigation and communications equipment, in case we run into difficulties.” She paused waiting to assess his reaction.
“Why are you doing all this?”
David interjected, “These units don’t require fuel. They directly convert a small amount of the latent or potential energy available in existing force fields to usable thrust. We just harness the energy, changing it into a controllable vectored force.”
“Wow! Fantastic! Why didn’t we know about this energy source?”
“Actually, you did! The existence of the force has been evident naturally in countless ways. Much of the earth’s weather patterns are controlled, or maybe I should say are uncontrolled demonstrations of this same force. I don’t understand the theory any more than I really understand how electricity can be generated by energizing a simple magnetic field. But it does work, and it will be the answer to our problems, if you can introduce it now as a safe alternative source of energy.”
“But it’s like getting something for nothing! That can’t happen, can it? Everything has a price!”
“Let me illustrate. The earliest men saw swift-running streams and recognized the danger and power of the rapid current. It wasn’t until someone invented the water wheel and harnessed that force that the river current became a powerful friend. Look at today’s hydroelectric plants; they cost you nothing to operate, and save billions. We tap the same source earlier, before it’s converted through rain or snow that falls on the mountains.”
“What’s the cost?”
“It means change! People will have to adapt like farmers switching from horses to tractors.”
Brad ignored the social problems, rapidly thinking of numerous applications. “How much energy can we get from these engines?”
“The units for your aircraft are small-scale models of the same engines that power the Manhattan. We are giving you 20,000 pounds of thrust per engine. That’s an increase of approximately 50 percent, and should prove more than adequate. If installed in the engine pods, there would be a problem with asymmetrical thrust, but since they are installed in the tail compartment, your C9 will become a center line thrust aircraft.”
“It sounds like an awfully powerful engine, much more than needed.”
“True.” Laura interjected, “But, the DC9, like many early turbojet aircraft, is grossly underpowered considering your operations in and out of critical runway situations, particularly where high altitude and high temperatures are involved. Your margin of safety will increase significantly with the reduction in weight, and the tremendous power-to-weight ratio. Other than the fuel savings, it will reduce runway requirements dramatically and increase payload. It will revolutionize the way you operate. As a bonus, it will remove the most hazardous nature of aviation and that is the explosive fuel air mixture that can turn your aircraft into an instant fireball in an accident, making aircraft travel significantly safer.”
“Have these been tested on similar aircraft?”
“Yes,” David replied. “All our modern aircraft have this type of engine installed, but they greatly differ from a DC9. That’s another reason why we need you. This modified aircraft will need to be test flown. Laura will be your copilot. I think you’ve always wanted to be a test pilot, haven’t you?”
The images on the screen switched to a metal box-shaped object the approximate size of a standard office safe. Laura continued, “This is the most important part, and the key to the success of our mission. The entire plans and specifications for building the Manhattan are inside that box.”
“Wow! Are you are going to trust me with that responsibility!”
“No,” David laughed, “we don’t trust anyone! The box is sealed, and the seal can’t be broken, nor can the material be damaged. You probably can’t even find the opening! It’s the ultimate in strongbox construction.”
Laura continued, “The box has a time-lock set to open in the year 2572 by the President of the United States. Our job is to get it to your President, convince him of the importance of establishing safeguard procedures, and insure that it is in the hands of the President of the United States in the year 2572.”
“Why not take it back, and give it to him?”
David patiently replied, “First, we may never get back. Second, if we get back, we may arrive in an entirely different future. Third, we plan to arrive long after the president will need this information. And fourth, we don’t know how all this will work out, but we are confident because we did arrive in your time as planned. It boils down to the chicken or the egg theory; did we start the process by sending this box to President Gardiner to begin the process, or did he start the process in 2572 by sending us to you? In essence the box is the egg! The Manhattan is the chicken!”
“Brad, I want you to get with our engineers, mechanics, anybody who will talk with you. Get a good grasp of the systems and devices we are adding to your aircraft. Before you go, though, I’d like to talk with you alone.”
On cue, Laura left, and after a moment of silent thought, David began, “It’s going to be a couple of weeks before we get your aircraft modified, and I expect a few more days of flight testing. We have an excellent simulator where you will become fully proficient before you launch, although
,
you’ll not find it difficult to fly. You’ll be busy, and I may not get another chance to talk with you man to man. I may be a silly old fool, but I have to ask you to look after her. For Laura, it will be like living in a completely different world, and she is my only daughter; I have no one else. Her mother died when she was quite small—“
“So that’s it! That’s why she was crying. You’ll lose each other in more ways than one.”
“Yes, but please understand. Last night it looked like you two already had some sort of disagreement; I don’t know why, and that doesn’t matter. She’s vulnerable, and I think she may fall in love with you, if she hasn’t already. There’s no question that she will give everything she’s got to make sure this mission is successful. But she is innocent and extremely naive when it comes to men. She never had the opportunities that girls her age have grown up with. She has devoted her entire life to this project, and it means more to her than her own life. All I ask is—take care of her for me!”
“I—don’t know what to say—I already care for her, and I will do what I can—“
“Brad—what I have to say now is difficult for me, and may be harder for you. Laura knows she can’t marry anyone from this century. I’m asking you to be like a brother. Don’t hurt her!”
“I don’t understand.” Brad felt an icy chill of darkness settling in around him and could only shake his head thinking, what a waste!
“She can’t interfere with her own ancestors. Think about that for a moment.”
“But I’m not one of her ancestors!”
“How do you know?”
The next two weeks sped by, faster than Brad thought possible, as the aircraft was modified and readied for flight. His mind was filled to overflowing with new ideas, technology, and wonder. The simulator was amazing, giving him unparalleled reality. He no longer had to spend time with fuel issues. He could hold as long as required for weather to clear without running out of fuel, and he could fly nonstop anywhere in the world. He hadn’t been this excited about anything since his early days in pilot training, and was only beginning to grasp the impact on the history of the world.
The first test flight was planned for daybreak, far out over the Atlantic. To reduce the chance of being spotted, the Manhattan would run interference for them making the aircraft undetectable on radar, and invisible to the naked-eye.
After launching on the tractor beam, the Manhattan crew released their hold, leaving them in level flight just above stall speed. As Brad pushed the throttles forward, he felt powerful acceleration forces pushing him back into his seat as if he were back in a fighter aircraft lighting afterburners, without the thunderous roar. The aircraft accelerated rapidly from near stall to redline in a matter of seconds. He started to ease back on the throttles, but they were already coming back on their own as Laura laughed, “Surprised you! They are programmed to prevent exceeding redline speeds unless overridden. I guess you knew that from the simulator, but it really is different in the aircraft no matter how good the simulation is.”
After a couple of hours putting the aircraft through its paces in several test maneuvers, he was ecstatic, “Laura, this thing really flies great; we probably won’t even need any more test flights. It’s so amazing considering, I can hardly tell the difference between what I’m experiencing now compared to what I saw and felt in the simulator.”
“That may be, but my father will not release us until you’ve made at least a couple of takeoffs and landings, and we can’t do that over the ocean.”
“Isn’t your father concerned that we might prang it on one of those landings?”
Laura laughed again, “He’s seen you fly, but then, you forget the tractor beam!”
“Would you like to fly?”
She responded enthusiastically, “I thought you’d never ask! It’s great to be out here feeling free as a bird after being cooped up in the Manhattan those many months. Let me see what this bird can do!”
It didn’t take long for Brad to see she was an expert pilot as she entered a shallow climb, and began a slow barrel roll which she completed precisely on the exact heading she started, and with an imperceptible change in the rate of climb. She pointed the nose almost straight up pushing the throttles full forward. The aircraft responded beautifully, continuing to accelerate in the climb until reaching 30,000 feet where she began releasing back pressure and easing the power back, allowing the aircraft to level smoothly at 37,000 feet.
“We could play with this thing all day, but we’d better get these required checks completed. Go ahead and fly, you’re doing a superb job. Where’d you learn to fly anyway?”
“I learned in a simulator on board a spaceship on a long voyage way beyond our solar system. After we returned to earth when I was about 11 years old, my friend who I considered my real mom taught me on a piper cub. She was a former astronaut who insisted I learn to fly the right way. She knew I would be on this mission and she wanted me well prepared. Actually, we obtained this very aircraft from the Air Force Museum and I got the chance to fly it. It seems strange though since at that time this aircraft did not have the engine pods installed. Maybe it was modified again later.”
The heat shimmered off the desert, making distant objects almost fade out of sight as the early morning temperatures had already exceeded the ninety-degree mark. The modified Nightingale had taken to the skies shortly after dawn, this time using the Rogers Dry Lake bed as their runway. Brad picked the spot thinking there would be little traffic if they stayed far enough from the main runway at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. With the Manhattan close by, keeping them separated from other traffic and invisible to the naked eye, they each made several takeoffs and landings, testing the flight characteristics in each of the normal and abnormal configurations. The only visible trace of their presence was an occasional cloud of dust that may have puzzled an experienced observer, had one been watching as they touched down on the dry lake bed. The modifications worked perfectly as the aircraft was rock-steady throughout the touchdown and landing. Brad marveled as their short-field landings stopped the aircraft in less than 1,000 feet and with minimum braking, and their takeoffs were completed in about the same distance. Laura remarked, “Our engineers say the landings with such a light aircraft are much improved because of the zero thrust you can set on these hummers, and, of course, the center line thrust.”
“They sure are a great improvement. I think even my grandmother could have flown this baby.”
“Maybe my grandmother will.”