Lifter: Proton Field #2 Read online

  Vinn Saigler said, “We’re registered with the FAA for test flights. Both the airport and Fort Bragg know we’re coming.” He hesitated a second as he listened to his ear bud, “The airport says it’s fine for us to land at the helipad.”

  Ellen looked like she’d been listening to her AI as well. She said, “Ardis’s parked his car and he’s on his way to the general aviation terminal.”

  Brock rubbed his hands together in anticipation. A few minutes later, he noticed that the windows, which had darkened shortly after takeoff, were brightening back up. He looked out one of the windows set into the floor and saw green. “Did something go wrong? It looks like we’re landing.”

  “Everything’s fine,” Saigler said. “We’re coming down over Fayetteville. I’m slowing our descent since Ardis hasn’t made it to the helipad yet. I’d rather we didn’t spend a lot of time on the ground attracting questions.”

  “Don’t we need to fuel up before we try to fly around the world?”

  Vinn shook his head, “We’ve got enough fuel on board to take us around the world hundreds of times.”

  Brock’s eyes narrowed, “Is this thing atomic?”

  Vinn nodded, “Nuclear fusion.”

  Brock digested that for a moment, then said, “Wait! You’re telling me we’ve flown from Kansas City to Fayetteville in less time than it took Ardis to drive across town to the airport?”

  “Yeah,” Ellen said with a grin. “Good thing I called him before we even left the hanger so he could get a head start, huh?”

  He frowned, “How did you get permission to land in my neighborhood in Kansas City?”

  Ellen twisted her lips, “Didn’t ask for it. Flew low enough that we wouldn’t show up on anyone’s radar.” She shrugged, “Now we’re hoping we aren’t going to have to ask for forgiveness.”

  Ardis sat on his rucksack close to the spots on the tarmac that had been marked for helicopters. He figured he’d be waiting there for quite a while, but he’d gotten very used to “hurry up and wait,” during his time in the military. While he waited, he had his attention focused on his personal display, studying maps of the area around Abu Sayyaf’s last campsite. Nina had said that they’d been moving generally east each time they changed campsites, though somewhat to the north as well. From talking to Nina about how many times they’d moved campsites and by knowing where they’d started in Lopana and where they’d been two nights ago, he could estimate they moved 5-10 miles on an average night.

  Unfortunately, if he assumed they’d moved last night and would move again tonight, the area he needed to search was rapidly expanding. Also, he didn’t know what flights Ellen had put them on, but according to his AI, flying from North Carolina to the international airport in Davao, Mindanao would take more than thirty hours. He kept feeling despair over the prospect of successfully tracking them down and having to remind himself that his own sister was already free.

  When Ardis heard Brock’s voice, his initial reaction was that Brock must’ve contacted him through his AI. He’d just realized his AI hadn’t asked permission to make the connection when Brock shouted, “Quan! Dammit, get your ass in gear! We don’t have all day!”

  As Ardis stood and turned, he was feeling surprised that Brock was in North Carolina and had been picked up by the helicopter before he was.

  Then he wondered why he hadn’t heard the helicopter land.

  And why he hadn’t felt the blast of its downdraft.

  Then his eyes focused on a huge rounded hockey puck of a thing that looked like it was on top of a massively oversized bottle cap. The thing was drifting slowly down out of the air. Brock Harden was standing in a doorway on the periphery of the bottle cap.

  Brock waved impatiently at Ardis to come.

  What the hell! Ardis thought as he rose, picked up his rucksacks and started humping them over to the… whatever the hell it was.

  ******

  It was the middle of the day back home in the United States as Miller Tech-1 made its way from North Carolina to the Philippines. Everyone was hungry, but Ardis was worst, being on Eastern Standard Time. Myr pointed them to the piles of bags and boxes of snack food, jerky, protein bars, cheese, fruit, veggies, water, and drinks that she’d gotten at Walmart. As they rummaged through the supplies looking for things they each liked to eat, they started talking about possible plans.

  “I’m assuming we aren’t supposed to land this thing in another country, right?” Ardis asked.

  “Correct,” Vinn said, “so we’ll have to stay out to sea during the day and only come in over land at night.”

  “Wait,” Ardis said in dismay, “you’re telling me we’re going to have to wait off shore for dark before we can even get started?”

  “Um, no. It’s only going to take us about seven minutes to get up to space; then, since we’ll be able to accelerate and decelerate at one gravity the whole way it’ll take us about fifty minutes to get to the Philippines.”

  Ardis stared, “You’re shittin’ me!”

  He shook his head as if surprised Ardis could be in doubt, “No. ICBMs couldn’t make it about a quarter of the way around the world from the US to Russia in 20 to 30 minutes, but we’re going to be going twice as fast. Accelerating at one gravity for a little over twenty-three minutes will get us up over thirty thousand miles an hour and take us 6,000 miles or about a quarter of the way around the world. In fact, we’ll be going so fast we’ll need inward propulsion to keep from rising in Earth’s orbit. Then we’ll have to decelerate the rest of the way.” Vinn shrugged, “It’ll be the middle of the night in Mindanao when we get there.”

  “Oh! Okay, I’d better call my sister and tell her we’re going to be there pretty soon.”

  “You ought to let her sleep until we’re almost there,” Ellen said. After a moment’s thought, Ardis counteracted the command he’d started giving his AI.

  Vinn had been looking thoughtful. He said, “Brock, is that dog any good at tracking?”

  “Next best thing to a bloodhound,” the big man responded proudly.

  Vinn looked at Ardis, “I’m thinking we should drop Brock and Killer off at that campsite on the way in? That way the dog can start picking up the scent or whatever they do while I’m taking you to wherever Nina is. We bring Nina back out, pick a place to start our search and get to work. We should be able to use the ship for searching too, as long as it’s dark.”

  “Aren’t they going to pick it up on radar?”

  “Well, it’s not radar stealthy, if that’s what you’re asking. But, at present, the Philippines doesn’t have much in the way of radar emplacements except near airfields. It’s essentially silent, so pretty stealthy to human senses like hearing, and at night it’ll be hard to see.” He shrugged, “If we stay low, I don’t think anybody’ll notice us.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Ardis said, but then he glanced out one of the floor windows. “Why’s it look like snow down there?”

  “We’re starting our way over the Arctic.”

  “Why? Are we trying to stay off someone’s radar or something?”

  “Um, no, it’s shorter over the top.”

  “What?! That’s ridiculous.”

  Vinn looked at him evenly for a moment, then calmly said, “It really is shorter. If I had a globe here, I could show you.”

  ******

  Nina’s new AI startled her awake in the middle of the night, “You have a call from Ardis Quan.”

  “I’ll take it… Ardis, what’s happened?”

  “Have your AI send us your GPS so we’ll know where to pick you up.”

  “Geez! Couldn’t you wait till morning to ask me to do that?”

  “We’re picking you up in ten minutes. Put on your clothes, pack your kit and get outside.”

  Nina told her AI to disclose her location, got out of bed and started brushing her teeth, feeling pretty confused, Did I lose a day somehow? It didn’t seem impossible but… She asked her AI how long she’d been asleep, then said irritate
dly, “Connect me to Ardis.”

  Ardis said, “You ready?”

  “No! There’s no damned way you’re going to pick me up in ten minutes. I’ve seen the plane schedules, you know. Are you sending someone else?”

  Ardis chuckled, “You are awake, aren’t you? Believe it or not, Mark MacGregor’s sister works for this high-tech company that’s built a spaceship. They’re letting us borrow it and we really are going to be there in just a few more minutes. According to our mapping of your location, that Haven’s Peak hotel you’re staying in is pretty close to the edge of Maragusan. It’d be best if you humped your stuff out to the north end of the pool. That way we can pick you up without anyone noticing.”

  Nina was having a hard time getting her mind around what Ardis had just said. She resumed stuffing her one change of clothing and very few toiletries into a small bag. She said, “Wait… even if that’s true… you can’t land a spaceship out by the swimming pool! It’d wake up the entire town. Besides, don’t you need some kind of a concrete landing pad?”

  Ardis laughed, “I’m having a hard time adapting to this whole concept too. But, trust me; we’ll be able to pick you up. Just get out to the north end of the pool as fast as you can.”

  “I haven’t gotten any guns yet,” she said warningly, “I was going to try to get them today.”

  “Don’t worry, Brock brought some.”

  “Oh my God! You brought Brock?”

  Ardis laughed, “Get out to the pool, dammit!”

  Nina trotted out around the pool. As she neared the north side of it, she slowed. In the dim light she saw a man standing there in camo gear. “Ardis!” She said upon excited recognition. She ran the last few steps to fling her arms around her brother.

  His arms clamped around her. “Hey squirt,” he said in a voice laden with emotion. “Glad to have you back.” Then he gripped even harder with his right arm while letting go with his left. “Hang on, we’re going up, but you’re gonna feel like someone flipped you over.”

  Nina felt a strange stretching sensation, as if something were pulling on her upper body—as if—as if a giant were trying to lift her. She let out a little shriek of panic as her head swam. Though she had the sensation that she was hanging upside down, her eyes told her that she and her brother were rising into the air. Ardis was looking up while apparently manipulating some kind of controller in his left hand. She looked up to see what he was looking at.

  There was a short, squatty balloon the size of a small house hanging over them.

  Nina felt like she was undergoing sensory overload. She could see a door in a smaller cylinder that protruded from the bottom of the big disc shaped balloon. She thought someone wearing night-vision goggles stood in the doorway.

  The person stepped back out of the doorway and turned, apparently climbing some stairs up inside the… ship… or whatever it was. Ardis maneuvered Nina and himself into the doorway. Once they were inside, he closed the door behind them and the stretching sensation went away, letting her weight back down onto her feet.

  Ardis took her bag, gave her another one armed hug, then turned and climbed the stairs. Nina followed him up into a surprisingly spacious cabin inside the ship. It reminded her of a great room in a house with a kitchen area, some fixed tables and a group of reclining chairs. The person who’d been ahead of them on the stairs was taking off the night-vision goggles. She was a redheaded woman in her thirties who looked somehow familiar.

  Suddenly understanding who she was, Nina went over and gave the woman a hug, “You must be Mark’s sister Ellen. He was so brave…” Nina found herself choked up. “He’s the one who came up with a plan for our escape and I’m… I’m so sorry that he didn’t make it out himself.”

  When Nina pulled back to look at the woman, she saw Ellen’s eyes were red-rimmed. Nonetheless, Ellen put on a brave little smile and said, “Well, we’ll just have to go get him, right?”

  Nina gave Ellen a sharp nod, then glanced around. With a small twinge of disappointment she realized that Brock Harden wasn’t, in fact, part of the group. She ignored that and turned to her brother, “We need to get to the campsite I escaped from and start working outward from there. I’m betting that they’re still going mostly east.”

  Ardis said, “We’re heading there now.” He turned to Ellen, “How was it hanging in the door and looking for people with the IR goggles?”

  “I could see you and Nina, even when we were still up 500 meters. In fact, it was pretty easy. But, since you guys were out on the pool deck, there wasn’t any foliage in the way.”

  Ardis turned to Nina, “How big was your group out there, counting both the captives and the Abu Sayyaf?”

  Nina shrugged, “There were usually about twice as many of the Abus as us, so I’d say 18 to 20. Maybe there’ll be fewer of them now that there’s only four captives?”

  “Still,” Ardis said, “with a big group of people, even in the forest we should see at least some of them with IR through gaps in the canopy.”

  The young woman Nina hadn’t met yet said, “How will we know that we’re not looking at wild animals or people who just live out there?”

  Ardis responded, “There aren’t that many big animals here in the Philippines. The only ones that’ll be in groups will be wild pigs and domestic animals like goats and cattle.” He shrugged, “I’m sure we’re going to go down and check out some groups that’ll prove to be red herrings.”

  As Ardis spoke, Nina stepped over to the young man and woman in the cabin that she hadn’t met yet. “Hello, I’m Nina Quan, Ardis’s sister. I’d like to just say how much I appreciate you guys coming along and helping.” Her eyes shifted back and forth between them. From what she could tell they were both very young and very physically fit. She glanced at Ardis, then back at them. “Are you guys military buddies of Ardis’s, or… do you work for Ellen?”

  Sounding embarrassed, Ellen interrupted, “It’s actually like I work for them!” She stepped over, saying, “This is Myr Sevii, she invented the technology that makes this spaceship work.” She waved at the guy, “And this’s Vinn Saigler, he and Myr worked together to come up with the new fusion power plants.”

  “Oh! I’m so sorry,” Nina said, feeling terribly embarrassed. Then she frowned and tilted her head questioningly, “Fusion power plants?”

  “Um, yeah,” Ellen said. “They’d been in the news a little bit back before you got captured, but hardly anyone was taking them seriously back then.”

  Myr stood to give Nina a hug, saying, “I’m so glad you got free. We’re sure hoping we can help get Ellen’s brother out of there… Well, and all the rest of the captives as well.”

  Distractedly, Nina glanced around as she said, “Yeah, I hope so too.” She looked at Ardis, “You weren’t able to bring any of your guys?”

  He looked a little bit upset, “Only Brock.”

  Nina swept the cabin with her eyes one more time, then turned back to Ardis, “You’re always telling me about how stealthy Brock can be, but I’m pretty sure he’s not hiding somewhere in the cabin here.”

  “No,” Ardis snorted, “we dropped him off. He’s been taking Killer around the campsite you escaped from. We’re hoping Killer can pick up the scent of the group and do some tracking.”

  Nina gave Ardis a grin, “Well, I guess I see why you brought Brock along… you needed his dog.”

  Vinn said, “Brock’s GPS location is northeast of the campsite, so I asked him where he’s going. He says he and Killer have been following the trail, but it’s slow going in the dark.”

  “He’s not wearing night vision goggles?”

  “He is,” Ardis said, “but they aren’t great for running. I’m sure, since dogs see pretty well in the dark anyhow, Killer’s moving faster than Brock can.” He snorted, “Running’s not Brock’s strong suit anyway.”

  “How about if we wait until daylight?” Myr asked. “I’m a pretty good distance runner, so I could run with the dog.”

  Nina looke
d at the woman, surprised that someone who’d invented a spaceship would also be a runner—and for that matter would be willing to volunteer to run through the jungle behind a dog. However, Ardis shook his head, “Jet lag kind of messes up dogs too. Killer’s doing okay right now because it’s still afternoon back home, but I’ll bet he’s going to be pretty messed up by mid-day tomorrow.” He shrugged, “Besides, dogs don’t do very well for anybody but their regular master.”

  “We could bring him in and get him some sleep right now.”

  “No, I’ve seen it with the K-9 units we work with sometimes in the military. He just won’t sleep. It just takes dogs a while to adjust. We might be better just letting him work nights, so he’s working on his usual schedule. Besides, Brock might be slower than Killer, but a human distance runner can easily run a dog into the ground. They’re much faster than we are for short sprints, but most of them don’t tolerate long distance runs, especially when it’s hot like it is here in the Philippines.”

  “Oh,” Myr said, looking frustrated.

  Then everyone looked around when they heard a low rumbling. Nina just had time to panic that the spaceship was coming apart around them before Vinn said, “Thunderstorm.” The ship rocked a little, presumably in some turbulence.

  Ardis said, “Crap!” He got a look on his face suggesting he was listening to his AI, then he turned to Vinn, “Can we pick up Brock and Killer? Killer’s afraid of thunder and, besides, the rain’s going to destroy any scent trail that might’ve been out there. We’re just really lucky it didn’t rain for the past couple of days.”

  Vinn flew MT-1 to Brock’s location using his GPS coordinates. Fortunately, using the spacecraft’s lights from the air, they were able to see a clearing not far from Brock. They told Brock which way to go and he and the dog met them there. Just a few minutes after that the rocking and bumping they’d been feeling from the storm went away. “Is the storm already over?” Nina asked hopefully.