On Distant Shores (Exiles Triology Book 1)

by Mark Harritt

  Everett spoke, “What about our gear that we brought. I only had a few change of clothes in my backpack, and we’re going to need to get into our pallet so that we can pull out some clothes.”

  “Don’t worry, everything is on the fourth floor. We haven’t touched a thing. We just sat it close to the mech armor so that you could access your equipment as needed.”

  “The mech armor?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah, from the video yesterday,” she replied.

  The tension in the elevator went up. “You mean that we get to see those suits that we saw in the video yesterday?” this was from Mickey.

  She turned around, “Yeah, that’s why you guys are here. We need somebody to test the mechs.”

  Tom leaned against the side of the elevator and whistled.

  “What did you think you were here for?” she asked as the door opened.

  They stepped out and found themselves in an area that was three hundred meters by three hundred meters. The room was huge. The roof was a good ten and a half meters tall, or about forty five feet. The room was a light gray around the walls and ceiling, the floor a darker gray. The lights were bright and there was not much in the room. That was not the main thing about the room though.

  “Wicked. Mech Freaking Warrior!” The curse was out of Mike’s mouth before he even realized it. He looked over at Lieutenant Pang to see if he had transgressed.

  There was a big smile on her face, “Don’t worry, that’s the usual response.”

  Strangely, there were no pillars to hold up the roof. Rob, a structural engineer, knew that was impossible, with four rooms directly above. It made him very nervous. He was worried, “Ah, why are there no supports, no columns in a room this size?”

  She smiled again, “We have our secrets. We have material scientists that have produced some pretty cool materials for building. And for the mech suits. We use a lot of graphene and other unusual materials here.”

  There wasn’t much in the room. They could see their pallet, sitting close to five large hulking figures, the mech armor. Along one wall was an area that held what looked like personal body armor and flight suits. Next to that area was a few desks with computers on them. There was a group of engineers and techies.

  “Why are the walls and the floor gray? White might lighten things up down here,” Everett asked.

  Pang pointed at the mech armor, “Those things leave some wicked skid marks. Gray just makes things easier. If it was white, Colonel Mitchem would have some poor Airman down here scrubbing the floor every day.”

  Everett thought about it, then nodded, “Gray, good choice I think.”

  The mech armor sat there like offensive linemen in a football game. They were huge, but they needed to be so a person could climb inside and drive them. They were charcoal gray. The suits were set like sumo wrestlers standing on line, fists on the ground.

  Both arms were straight down, resting on the floor. The butt of the suit sat down on the haunches of the back legs. They were arrayed in a straight line, one next to the other. A hatch on the back of each suit of mech armor was open andpointing towards the ceiling. There was a platform on wheels next to one of the suits. Two engineers were checking the inside of the suit, and going over readings to ensure that it was working. Nine engineers were standing in a group close to the mechs, waiting for the team to come to them. Lieutenant led them over to the group. In the background, behind these engineers, there were other techs and engineers moving around the mech armor. Evidently these nine were the brain trust.

  There were 7 men and two women in the group. Dr. Humphreys was there, and he introduced the rest of the group. Dr. Ed Nachman was fiftyish, short and overweight. His expertise was materials science. Dr. Jessica Randall was one of the two women. She was in her forties, long blond hair pinned up, tall for a woman. She was a computer scientist, also an electrical engineer. Mike noted her face, and silently thought about the statement that Captain Dickenson made. Bob Leitz was one of the mechanical engineers, late thirties, average height, balding. There were two electrical engineers, Luis Garcia and John Smith. Luis had light skin and blond hair and John was black, dark skin, built like a linebacker. Tracy Sheffield was another mechanical engineer. She was average height, brown hair, skinny and shy. Mike Crandall, who waved down from the back of the suit that was being checked, was mid-thirties, big smile on his face. The other guy, who had a computer tablet in hand which was plugged into the back of the suit, was Josh Weitz. Josh was a small guy, about five foot six, skinny, looked like he couldn’t weigh more than one hundred and thirty pounds. He nodded when introduced, pushed a shock of black hair out of his eyes, and then went back to checking the screen on the tablet in his hand. Every few seconds he would touch the screen and move his finger to make an adjustment tothe program on the screen.

  Dr. Humphreys said, “And of course you have already met 2ndLieutenant Jennifer Pang, and our other Neurologist, Major Nosstrand.”

  Everett perked up at the mention of Major Nosstrand.

  Dr. Humphreys continued, “Major Nosstrand will be joining us later today.”

  Everett’s eyes swung back to the mechanical armor.

  Dr. Humphreys asked, “So gentlemen, what do you think?”

  “I think that is the most awesome thing I have ever seen,” Rob said.

  The pallet was forgotten in the wake of his team interacting with the engineering team. Mike’s team walked up to the armor at the end of the line, closest to them.The engineering team watched as the team touched the suit, and marveled at what it meant.

  “So, what’s it made of, how does it work, who’s giving the nickel tour?” Everett asked.

  Dr. Nachman looked at his colleagues, “If I may?”

  Dr. Humphreys indicated that he start, “It’s your expertise, Ed.”

  Dr. Randall nodded her assent. The others in the group didn’t even speak up or indicate a yes or no.

  “Evidently you needed to have a doctor or officer title in front of your name to be able to speak in this crowd,” Mike thought to himself. Independently, the others on the team were also coming to the same conclusion. Lieutenant Pang stood at the back of the crowd. Her expertise in bio mechanical engineering aside, it probably didn’t help that she was a 2nd Lieutenant and looked so young.

  Dr. Ed, as Mike thought of him, walked up to themech armor that they were standing next to, “Gentlemen, this is technically an exo-skeleton; a suit of armor that has all of its movement capabilities tied to the internal portion of the suit.”

  “Kind of like an insect?” Everett asked.

  Dr. Ed just smiled, “Yes, exactly like insects, but instead of muscle, everything moves with mechanical servos at the joints.”

  Mike and the team nodded understanding. Dr. Ed continued, “The suit is comprised of sheets of micron thick graphene, weaved and suspended in a polymer that bonds the layers together to form a very strong armor for the person wearing it.”

  “Because graphene is two hundred times stronger than structural steel,” Rob interjected.The engineers looked intrigued that Rob knew about graphene.

  Bob spoke up, “Not many people know about the structural properties of graphene.”

  Everett nodded, “Yeah, we have quite a few different interests.”

  Tom was next, “We have a special expertise in what some people might call, ‘science.’”

  The engineers smiled at this, intrigued at this announcement. Dr. Randall looked amused. Mike got the impression that she was laughing at, not with, the team.

  Mike spoke up.“Sir, if I may continue. My team is not what you would call, normal infantrymen. We have a special skill set. My team is a technical team. We’re a nuclear and biological response team. We all have science or math degrees. I have a master’s degree in mathematics. We work directly with the FBI nuclear emergency support teams, and the engineering knowledge, structural materials knowledge, and electrical engineering knowledge that my team has is rather higher than you would probably expect
from the average ground pounder.”Then he spread his hands wide and held them out, “Not that we even come close to understanding your specialties, but we ain’t as dumb as we look. Oh, and we kill terrorists as well.” Now Dr. Randall looked impressed.

  The engineers started asking questions. Mike held up his hands in supplication. “Folks, we can’t answer all those questions, because most of the details are classified.” He smiled, “But we might be able to tell some lies that might, indirectly, have something to do with a few missions we’ve done.”The engineersadjusted and relaxed with the team after that. Groups of techs broke off with individuals of the team.

  Rob, Mickey and Tom were asking questions, and the engineers answered. Everett used a series of cleats in the side of the leg to climb up onto the back of the mechanized suit. Lieutenant Pang scrambled up the suit with him.

  “So, what you’re telling me, is that there is a foam that, when an electrical charge at a certain frequency is sent through, makes the foam expand and stiffen?”

  Lieutenant Pang nodded.

  “Yes, the foam isn’t rigid, and it helps bring the lining of the suit in contact with the lining of the jumpsuit that you wear. This allows for small movements and pressure of your legs, arms and body to direct the movement of the suit itself. Plus, if the suit is damaged, and you have to get out, the foam deflates and you’re able to get out without being trapped by the foam.”

  “Where do we keep our equipment, like food, water, weapons?” he asked.

  She smiled, “Actually, that is why we asked you to bring all of your equipment.”

  --------------------------------------

  Mike listened as different engineers engaged with his team members. Bob Leitz, like he, was standing to one side as the other team member interacted with the engineers. Mike smiled at him and asked, “What do you think about all of this?”

  Bob smiled back, “overwhelming at first, don’t you think?”

  Mike nodded, “Yeah, I was overwhelmed by the entire underground, super-secret, mad scientist laboratory thing.”

  Bob barked in sudden laughter, “I guess that makes me a minion. I should be wearing a see through plastic suit and helmet twisting a dial someplace.”

  A few heads twisted at the laughter.

  Mike warmed up to Bob, “Nah, the evil overlord gets the plastic suit. You just get to wear the white lab coat.”

  Bob took Mike over to one of the suits. He slapped the suit on the butt, “This big guy is state of the art. Of course you heard about the graphene?”

  Mike nodded, “And I heard Lieutenant Pang talking about a foam in the suit.”

  “Yep, that was the best way to ensure the safety of the soldier in the suit. Otherwise he’s just rattling around inside a tin can.”

  “Graphene can,” Mike corrected.

  Bob smiled, “Okay, graphene can. Of course, the layers of graphene are three inches thick in some places, insuring that no shrapnel would penetrate, especially from any antitank warhead that would be shoulder fired.”

  “But you had the problem of over pressure, correct?” Mike pointed out.

  “Yep, doesn’t matter how rigid you make the outer carapace, you’re still going to have energy transferred via high energy compressed air waves. That energy will still leak inside the armor.” Bob replied. “So we had an idea that came up when we did some materials research, and found this foam that possessed unique properties when electricity was applied to it. It would expand, and then contract when the electricity was turned off. Also, it did a really good job of absorbing shock, and would collapse as the shock was absorbed. This allowed the foam to collapse, and then re-expand once the kinetic energy was dispersed.”

  “What about claustrophobia?” Mike asked.

  Bob nodded, “Yes that is a consideration, but we’d have to test everybody to ensure that they’d be able to wear this for a long period of time.” Bob looked at Mike, “What about your team, can they handle this?”

  Mike replied with a half-smile on his face, “We’re all combat divers. Whenyou’re in a torpedo tube for awhile, you find out who is claustrophobic. So, no problems with that.”

  Mike thought, “What about urination and defecation?”

  Bob nodded approval, “Most people don’t think about that kind of thing. We didn’t think about it for about a month. We started designing the tubes for food and water, when Tracy brought it up.”

  Mike thought about a mech armor suit without being able to use the latrine. It wasn’t a pleasant thought.

  “You’d smell worse than a diesel submarine from World War II,” Bob said.

  Mike didn’t get the reference.

  Bob noticed the blank look on Mike’s face, “Sorry, my granddad was a submariner during World War II. They called them ‘Pig Boats,’ because of the smell after six months at sea. Bit different now a days.”

  Mike remembered the blueberry cobbler he had eaten on an attack submarine prior to an operation, “Yeah, much different.”

  “Well, what we did was ensure that all electronics are completely sealed, so if there is an accident, you can hose out the suit. But, we also rigged the personal suit so that you can relieve yourself without having to open the hatch. But to defecate, you still have to pop out of the suit and find a hole.”

  This didn’t faze Mike. He dug many a cat hole on missions around the world. That was just part of soldiering.

  “Communications are handled within the suit via Bluetooth connection.”

  Mike looked concerned, “Aren’t you worried that somebody could block the signal.”

  Bob shook his head, “No, the signal is only transmitted inside the suit. The helmet you wear is tagged directly to one of the Mech suits. Here, let’s walk over and look at one of the personal suits.”

  Mike and Bob walked over to the row of hangers. On it was a suit that looked as if it was made of silk. It was black, loose and baggy around the arms and legs, but it tight across the shoulders and chest. It had a zipper that started at the crotch and went up the front of the suit. There was also a belt incorporated into the suit. It was designed to be worn with ballistic armor. The crotch of the pants had a hard cup. It had a tube that dangled from the cup. Mike knocked on the cup with his knuckles.

  “We had to put that on there, otherwise the foam gets a little too uncomfortable. Plus, we were able to put in the tube for drainage.”

  “And it drains out to where?” Mike asked.

  “Well, it plugs into a tube on the suit, so it depends on the environment you’re in. If you’re in the desert, you can recycle. If you don’t want to recycle, you can just drain it into the environment.” Bob replied.

  Mike didn’t like the idea of drinking recycled urine. Still, if it kept him alive, he would do it.“So, is everything going to be black?” Mike asked.

  Bob shook his head, “No, once this goes into production, we have a few different ideas. Another thing, this silk is a manmade fabric created from the modified DNA template of black widow dragline silk. Very strong, unlikely to tear or rip.”

  Bob picked up a helmet. The name ‘Duggins’ was inscribed on a plate on the right side of the helmet, “You want to put it on?”

  Mike took the helmet from Bob.

  “The on switch is right there,” Bob pointed.

  Mike examined the helmet. It looked like a standard motorcycle helmet, but there was no visor to flip up. It was padded like a motorcycle helmet. When he looked inside the helmet, he couldn’t see through the face plate. The outside of the helmet had small pits where the opaque material was replaced by what seemed to be small lenses. The helmet was dull black with no reflection. As he ran his hand over the outside of the helmet, it was completely smooth.

  “Go ahead,” Bob encouraged him.

  Mike flipped the switch and then put the helmet on his head. There were two small tubes, one for water, the other for food, he assumed. The visor in front of his face flickered for a moment, and then turned on. He could see everything around hi
m, as if he was not wearing a helmet at all. There was a small patch that acted as a rear view to the side of each eye. He could see 180 degrees plus about a 90 degree swath behind him. He couldn’t hear anything but he could see Bob’s lips moving.

  As he thought about hearing Bob’s voice, the volume of his surroundings increased until he could hear Bob talking. That was disconcerting, but Mike went with it. Mike turned his head, and looked over where Lieutenant Pang and Everett were standing next to the Mech Suit. As he focused on Lieutenant Pang, the vision sharpened and moved in on her face. He quickly pulled the helmet off of his head, “This damn thing is reading my mind.”

  Bob nodded, “Yes, it is reading your mind.”

  Mike looked at Bob, “That’s plain freaky.”

  Bob looked over at the group and caught Dr. Humphreys’ eye. He waved him over. Dr. Humphreys moved over and started talking to them, “So, what do you think about the helmet.”

  “Freaky, Doc.”

  A small smile curled Dr. Humphreys lips at the contraction of his title, “Mike, we had to do it. We couldn’t make the mech armor viable without the neural interface.”

  “What do you mean, Doc?” Mike asked.

  “Well, we tried to make the Mech armor respond to pressure only, and it worked to a degree, but we weren’t able to get the suits to move fast enough with contact pressure,” he replied.

  “So you didn’t have a good reaction time with pressure only?” Mike surmised.

  “Exactly. The Mech armor moved like Frankenstein’s monster from the old movies in the thirties and forties. And, frankly, I wouldn’t want to put the lives of our soldiers and marines in danger with something that slow.”

  Mike nodded. He could definitely relate to that. If the Mech armor wouldn’t move fast enough for combat, then it was a big boondoggle, a large waste of money.

  “So we started experimenting with mapping brain wave patterns and movements.”

  A light clicked on in Mike’s head.

  “So that’s why we did all of the moving and calisthenics yesterday,” he replied.