by Tim Wheat
Just then the radio came alive and Chase had the microphone in his hand before the man on the other end said a word.
“Come in Edward Rex Chase, over.”
“Call me Rex, Sir.”
“Rex, it appears you have some very powerful friends. They assure me that if you say a pack of wolves raised you, you are abducted by aliens and are having sex with Norma Shearer, I should believe you. What is it you need from me, son?”
“You wouldn’t happen to have an idea of where I am, would you?” Chase had made his best guess, but perhaps the air force base would have a more informed idea.
“Our best guess is that you are two hundred miles from shore. How dire is your fuel situation?”
“All four gauges are pegged.”
“One minute son.” The minute seemed to take an eternity, but sixty seconds later the radio crackled again. “My boys tell me you have thirty miles range. We have been in contact with the navy frigate USS Jensen in your vicinity. Can you bail out?”
Chase looked at Ahiga who listened, and smiled as he spoke.
“Negative, sir. I do happen to be a specialist in bumpy landings.”
“Roger. Switch to channel three on your radio and you should be able to raise the frigate. We’ll monitor you until contact is lost.”
“Thank you. Any advice on ditching this big bird? It will be my first time.”
“Stay calm, and follow the manual. Pretend like you’re landing on the smoothest runway in the world. If at all possible stay out of the water as long as you can, and if you do have to go in, keep moving until you can’t move anymore.”
“Roger. Switching stations. Thanks again, Colonel.”
With that Chase changed channels and attempted to raise the Navy frigate.
“Rex Chase transmitting in the blind. USS Frigate Jensen. Come in. Over.”
“This is the Jensen,” was the instant reply. “We saw you come over twenty minutes ago. Recommend you come around one eighty to close the gap. Over.”
Chase brought the plane around a full one hundred and eighty degrees, and leveled his wings. He just finished the turn when both port engines started to sputter. Ahiga had left the cockpit earlier, and returned now, two life vests in his hands.
“I found these in the tail gunner’s spot. They look like someone made them for little kids, but it’s better than nothing. Sounds like we’re losing power over there.”
“Your ears don’t deceive you.” Chase switched channels on the radio. “Are you there, Colonel?”
“I hear you loud and clear, Rex.”
“Is it going to be easier to crash this beast if I do it with a couple of engines, or should I stay in the air as long as possible?” Strain could be heard in Chase’s voice, but not a hint of fear seemed present.
“I’d recommend ditching under power if at all possible son. It will give you a slight advantage. Just remember to let that tail dip into the water and bring you to a stop. You must have your wings level. If one catches a wave before the other…” the colonel’s voice trailed off, but the boys understood what he meant.
“Sir, I have two engines sputtering, and two running strong. Would you recommend cutting the engines, and firing them up again at a thousand feet?” Chase asked the question, and the reply came as if answered a thousand times before.
“Absolutely not. Get to the deck under control, and put her down as soft as you can. Good luck to you men.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Chase began a steep dive, and the looming Atlantic Ocean filled his forward vision. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the water was a deep blue. Rex looked to his left and Ahiga returned his gaze, his demeanor seemed unaffected by the life threatening situation.
“Coming through six thousand feet captain.” George yelled above the din.
“Keep calling it out, Chief. We’re descending at a rate of two thousand feet per minute. I want to level out, starting at two thousand feet. That should bring us within a couple hundred feet of the water. Then I’ll set her down.”
The two men worked like the team they had always been. Chief called out the altitude every five hundred feet, and Chase, his arms rigid on the yoke, glared at the water below him. He noticed the whine of the engines as the plane continued its rapid descent, and felt the difference when the other two failed. At a mere idle now, he just needed the two functioning engines a few minutes longer.
“Two thousand feet at my mark…” George hesitated a moment, and then barked. “Mark.”
Chase slammed the throttles to their stops, and pulled back with all his might on the yoke. The massive plane reacted like a stubborn mule, though, and for a moment he thought his calculations to be wrong. Then, the stick became much lighter, and more responsive. He turned his head and got an answer.
George Ahiga’s arms looked as if boulders were protruding from his skin. A tense, determined, stare graced his face, and the veins in his neck and arms bulged. Without his friend’s strength Rex might not have pulled from the dive. Within moments the plane leveled a hundred feet from the surface, and the two men took notice of the swells below.
“It looks like we chose a pretty good day to land our first plane in the ocean,” Chase said.
“Shoot, those waves can’t be more than two or three feet. If we had some skis I’d just have you throw me out back on a tow rope.”
Both men wore easy smiles, and even though they stood a very real chance of dying, neither showed fear. Chase lowered the plane the last hundred feet, reducing his speed to one hundred and thirty-five miles per hour. He could still maneuver at the speed, and when it came time, he would push it even slower. The Clark wing, with full flaps, created a great amount of lift, and for that he found something to appreciate.
Ten feet from the water Chase pulled a slight distance back on the yoke, while dialing down the power to his remaining engines. The plane settled another three feet, its nose now higher than the tail. At one hundred miles per hour, the yoke now felt like an unyielding lead ball, and the controls became more sluggish. Both men fought the stick with all their might as Chase brought the power down even more, and made their airspeed eighty five miles per hour. At this speed the plane would stall, but the tail was only a foot from the swells now.
Sweat poured from Chase’s face, and his arms burned like the surface of the sun, but he would not give in. Ahiga grunted under the heavy weight, but stayed in control. Then, both men could feel the tail of the plane touch the water. It jerked them once, then again, and before it had a chance to affect the pitch of the aircraft Chase shouted.
“Drop it.”
Both men released their death grips on the yoke and the belly of the aircraft slammed into the deck. At only eighty five miles per hour, it was a slow water landing, but the violence to the airframe was immense. A rush of water cascaded over the nose of the behemoth, and a loud clap, like a huge beaver tail, pierced their ears. Chase and Ahiga flew mercilessly against their harnesses, bruising their bodies, and the sudden reduction in speed caused both men’s brains to move independent from their skulls, inducing unconsciousness.
Both functioning Pratt and Whitney engines thrashed their propellers against the water, and even as the plane slowed they clawed for traction. The belly of the aircraft carved its way into the water, and almost as fast as the maelstrom began, it was over. Bobbing in the waves as if meant to be there, the two functioning engines, sputtered and gave up. The ocean became peaceful again.
***
Chase was beginning to get used to this. As he shook the cobwebs from his brain, he struggled to take in his surroundings. Water poured in through the open hatches and windows, and Rex knew he hadn’t been unconscious long. Chief, on the other hand, still floundered in the darkness. Unbuckling himself, and George, Rex descended the ladder from the cockpit to assess the situation.
At the bottom he stepped into two feet of water, and in just seconds he could feel it inching up his leg. The icy sting of the spring ocean numbed his feet and Chase knew that
seconds counted. Racing back up the ladder he grabbed Ahiga under the arms, dangled him down the passage, and dropped the dead weight. Moving with incredible speed, Chase almost caught the unconscious man before his body slumped into the water.
Chase picked up his friend in a fireman carry and slogged through the waist deep pool to the door. Both men had donned their life vests before the crash, and Chase eased himself and Ahiga out the door of the sinking vessel.
In a matter of seconds the frigid temperatures drained the heat from his body and Chase began to find it difficult to breathe. He turned to his back, positioned himself under the body of his best friend, and began kicking in what he thought was the position of the frigate.
His mind remained in a fog from the crash, though, and the cold numbed his thoughts as well. Chase resigned himself to the fact they were both going to die. He continued to kick for thirty minutes after they entered the water. George had not come conscious the entire time, and Chase feared he now towed a corpse.
The will to live was leaving his body, and he let his legs dangle like the concrete weights they wanted to be. Deep inside, though, his survival instincts burned with the fire of the sun. He pulled his weary legs from below and kicked at the surface. Clumsily, the two men floundered through the water, at the steps of death’s door. Chase’s conscious brain succumbed to the endorphins flowing through his system now, and a euphoric feeling flooded his senses. Mary Elizabeth and his mother stood before him. Both had smiles on their faces, but even in his current state Chase knew them to be an illusion.
Wide eyed, and breathing slow deep breaths, he felt a great weight relieved from his chest. George slipped from his arms, and a feeling of hopelessness enveloped Chase as he clawed the water, searching for his friend. Then, as the darkness closed around him, Chase felt his body become weightless and float through the sky.
“So this is death,” he thought to himself. “It feels nice.”
*******************
50.
“Hey, pal. Seriously, this guy must have drunk a gallon of whiskey.” The officer assigned to the tank at Suffolk County Jail shook the sleeping man on the concrete bench as he addressed his peers. “He doesn’t look like a bum, though. Shoot, he’s just a kid.”
Poppen groaned as the fog began to lift and his eyes attempted to focus on his surroundings. Brushing the hair from his face and sitting up on the concrete bench, he noticed the stiffness of his body. Where was this place anyway?
“Good morning, sunshine,” greeted the jailer, a wide grin covering his face. “How’s that head feeling?”
Bobby blinked his eyes again, rubbed his right shoulder, and was able to see the other man.
“My head feels fine, but my back and shoulder are killing me.”
“I believe that,” said the officer. “You were sleeping on that side hard. We tried everything to get you to quit snoring, but it wasn’t happening. It’s a little early to be getting that hammered drunk, isn’t it?”
“But I don’t even drink. I was on the train talking to Serena, and now I’m here. I felt her boobs.” Poppen blushed a bit as the last bit slipped out. “I mean, well, where am I?”
“You are enjoying the hospitality of Suffolk County Jail, son. Congratulations on groping the young lady, but public intoxication is a nuisance crime, not to mention your snoring. It is also a nuisance crime.” The jailer paused and smiled again. “You’ll maybe get a fine of some sort, but right now, is there anyone you can call to get you out of here?”
“Yeah, I have someone I can call,” Poppen said. “How did I get here, though?”
“The train station called and said that a drunk wouldn’t wake up to get off the train,” explained the officer. “When officers arrived you didn’t seem to need medical attention, but you were out like a light. Since you multiple empty glasses surrounded you, they assumed you were drunk, and brought you here to sleep it off. I wouldn’t worry about it, though. You weren’t belligerent or causing trouble or anything. They just couldn’t wake you up.”
“Strange,” Poppen said. “All I had to drink was that funny tasting ginger ale that Serena got…” He stopped speaking as the reality of the situation dawned on him. “She drugged me.”
“Sure kid,” the jailer laughed once again. “A woman on a train drugged you and let you feel her breasts. I’m telling you, you’re not in that much trouble. Making up crazy stories isn’t going to help anything. Don’t you have someone to call? I’m tired of looking after you, crazy story and all.”
“Yeah, I mean, yes, please, I would like to use the phone.” Bobby stood, and his legs protested as his brain attempted to keep its balance. He reached out to the wall and steadied himself. “I think I’m still a little messed up.”
“You booze, you lose,” joked the other man. “Follow me, son, and we’ll get you out of here.”
As he walked, Poppen’s balance restored itself in short order. He and the officer moved through the station and Bobby marveled at how few people inhabited it. According to the papers rampant crime enveloped the city, and he would have expected the jail to be full.
“It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of people in here. I thought the city was glutton with crime.”
“Well, kid,” the officer turned and smiled at Poppen while they walked. “Most people save their drunken molestation until a little later than four in the afternoon. You got a bit of a head start.”
Once again, Bobby blushed as the two men approached the telephone.
“Here you are, kid. Make it count. The judge is gone for the day, so there’s a decent chance you might have to spend the night here.”
Poppen nodded and spoke to the operator who connected him in a few moments. He explained his situation, including the part about being drugged, to the person on the other end of the line and the jailer listened, and smiled. He remembered telling his father a couple whoppers in his younger days. Then, the young man hung up the phone, and addressed him.
“My friend says to stand right by this phone, and we will receive a call in a minute or two,” Poppen said.
The look on the jailers face was one of incredulity. He had been pretty easy on this kid, and now took orders from him? Perhaps the young man didn’t have the proper respect for authorities. Poppen recognized the anger boiling inside of the officer and spoke.
“No disrespect, sir, it’s just that I’ve been working on something very important. Please give me the two minutes, and if this phone doesn’t ring, you can put me in with the rest of the miscreants.”
Relaxing, the jailer breathed deep and consented.
“Sounds like a deal. I never did get your name, son.”
“Robert Poppen, sir.” Bobby introduced himself with an extended hand that the other man shook.
“Officer Bailey. I’d expect you to…” The sound of the phone ringing interrupted the jailer and he picked it up. “Hello. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I understand, sir. No, sir. I think we treated him quite well, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Right away, sir. Thank you, sir.”
As the jailer replaced the receiver he turned to look at the young man he had been guarding.
“It appears you have a friend in the chief of police. He asks that you be released, and it seems we will be forgetting all about this visit.” Officer Bailey smiled once again, and pat his former inmate on the back. “It was nice to meet you, Robert Poppen. I wish you the best of luck, and hope you enjoyed your short-lived stay at Suffolk.”
“It was nice to meet you too, sir. I hope to never see you again under similar circumstances.” Poppen smiled as he offered his hand to the guard, who shook it, then turned and left the jail as fast as he could.
***
“So, you fell for the old ‘beautiful woman on a train wants to have sex with you trick” said The General. “Perhaps I should have run you through spy school 101. I guess we have underestimated our enemies’ counterintelligence capabilities. Did they steal anything of value?”
Bobby had left the Suffolk County
Jail and gone straight to The General’s office. He had walked, in order to loosen up his stiff back, neck, and shoulders. Sleeping on the concrete bench had made him appreciative of his Englander mattress he slept on most nights.
“They stole all of my most recent math work, including my equation proving Alexei and Dr. Sarff’s work.”
“Do you believe they have the ability to act on the young man’s efforts?” Alexei Chase joined Poppen and The General.
“We believe they would not have stolen it, had they not understood its worth,” said The General. “I am working under the assumption that their physicists understand what they are getting, which I must admit, I still do not, not to the fullest anyway.”
“Sir, I don’t think it’s important that you understand the math or the physics. What you need to understand, is that with my formula, and Alexei’s work, anyone who can put it together will own the balance of power in the world.” Poppen spoke with a serious tone. “My equation opens the door. Yesterday it was impossible for man to approach the speed of light. Today, it is possible. Yesterday it was impossible for man to travel through time. Today, it is possible. Yesterday gravity existed. Today, it does not.”
“Yeah, I don’t understand the gravity part too much,” The General leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “I drop an apple, and it falls.”
“It’s not that gravity doesn’t exist, per se. It’s that gravity is an observation within a construct, not an absolute law of the universe,” Poppen explained further. “Under my formula, the answers are the same everywhere. There is no more ‘spooky action’, or complex mathematical explanations. This one equation does it all, and if Dietrich Hoff now possesses it, and the knowledge to use it, we are all in a lot of trouble. Imagine vehicles which travel through the water as easy as air, and at speeds once thought impossible. In theory, one could build a submarine that moves through the water, surrounded by a magnetic field, at speeds approaching light. It could then leave the water and fly through the air like an airplane. Nothing would stop it from next leaving the atmosphere and flying to another planet at the speed of light. The flight would have to be pre-planned, and the math done before hand, but it’s all possible.”
