The Search for FTL

by Ted Iverson

  It was a cool April morning, and the three boys headed outside wearing light blue windbreakers embroidered with Space Tech’s insignia. These broke the stiff spring breeze that was making it feel a little colder than it really was.

  They followed the path around the house to the hangar, admiring the view as they went. The house was set on a beautiful spread of land that totaled about thirty-five acres. To the north, the land was all wooded with pines. Elsewhere lay rolling grass, sprinkled with oak, willow, and birch trees. The front of the home faced west. To the east, next to the hangars, was a pond that their dad had stocked and where he’d taught them all to fish.

  When they reached the hangar, they discovered that it too had been fully updated with security measures. It looked as though everything was now locked down tight.

  “Okay, who wants to get scanned first today?” Orion asked, then answered his own question by walking up to the wall and placing his hand, as always, into the VGID. The retina scanner dropped down, read his eye, and popped back out of sight. The huge hangar doors opened slowly, creaking and groaning as they did so.

  The boys trotted inside and took a quick look around. Their mouths fell open. The place which had once housed only one type of hover was now filled with many different models, as well as with old gas-powered vehicles, some dating back a century. It now also held an odd-looking steel-grey ship. Its nose was rounded and sloped downward. The tail end was cut up at a sharp angle and then flattened. The vertical stabilizer was positioned on the tail. The oval fuselage was about twenty feet wide and about sixty feet in length. The fuselage, from the bottom to the top, was twelve feet high. The cockpit, set back about fifteen feet from the nose, was only two and half feet high. It had two conventional jet engines just behind each wing; they appeared to be mounted on rotating hinges. Mounted on the wing tips were two small plasmat engines. Two U-shaped channels ran along the length of the underbelly. In the channels were five small metal claws, attached at even intervals to allow for mag rail launches. The craft rested on conventional landing gear. Altogether, the ship was an impressive sight.

  Orion sprinted ahead and reached the craft first. He ran his hands over it, as if looking for imperfections. He moved quickly around it, peering into every nook and cranny. Coming around the nose of the ship, he looked over at his brothers, who were just now beginning to walk toward him.

  “Oh, my God! Isn’t it beautiful?” Orion asked. “He finished it! I can’t believe he finished it!”

  “What exactly is it?” Alec asked.

  With a mix of excitement and contentment, Orion looked directly at Alec and said, “It’s yours.”

  “Mine?”

  “Yes. A couple years back, at one of the family gatherings, you said you’d love to have your own ship someday. After you left, Dad commissioned Zach and me to make it happen. We hadn’t finished it yet, but Dad must have.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “We were building her up at the Orbital Lab! And, bam! Here it is!” Again he ran his hand over the skin of the ship and patted it.

  “Wow,” Alec whispered. “My own ship. How am I going to learn to fly it if you’re not here? Can you tell me a little about it now?”

  “Sure. Its name is the Turtle. It looks slow but, brother, she’ll move. It’s a small four-seat, jet-like craft. It can take off like a standard jet, or vertically like a VTOL craft, or it can be launched on the mag rails for space flight. And, of course, when you’re out of Earth’s gravity, you’ve got plasmats.” He pointed to the wing tips. “When you’re flying it in regular atmosphere, this craft, with its regular jet engines, can reach speeds of up to six times the speed of sound. Inside, there’s a smaller craft, appropriately called the Hare. It’s extremely maneuverable. It’s made for exploring when the Turtle just isn’t practical. It’s also combat ready. Not that you’ll ever need it for that, but better safe than sorry.”

  It was now Alec’s turn to run his hands over the cold skin of the craft. “Let’s take a quick look inside. I want to get a look at the Hare.”

  “There are only five people coded into the computer: you, Ty, Zach, and me. Dad was coded also. You can’t see the VGID, but it’s right here under the right wing. You see this little box-like area?” Orion pointed to a spot where the wing met the body, “It has a translucent shatterproof glass cover that’s tinted the plane’s color. Go ahead, slide it back.” He motioned to his brother.

  Alec walked over and slid back the glass panel under the wing. He thrust his hand into the plasma. Two spotlights on the forward nose came to life and two smaller lights appeared on the canopy. Red beacon lights on the tail and underbelly also activated. The three boys scampered up the small ladder leading onto the wing just as a gull-wing door rose open above the wing.

  As they all entered the ship, a voice called out from inside, “Welcome, Alec.”

  The interior was cramped, but could certainly hold four passengers and limited cargo, most likely just provisions. Alec turned toward the back and made his way toward the bulkhead. He touched a pad on the wall and the small door slid open. There, locked down in the rear, was the Hare. Alec froze as he took it all in. The main body was cone-shaped with a small bubble canopy near the front. The front larger wings were swept forward, but while inside the Turtle they were locked and folded upright, like the aircraft on the deck of a naval carrier. The rear smaller wings were swept back. The vertical stabilizer, mounted on the rear, was low and swept back as well. It looked fast and menacing.

  “It looks like a mini-sub made for flying.”

  “Pretty much. Wait till you give it a test drive!”

  “Guys, I love this thing and can’t wait to see her really go, but,” Alec tapped his watch, “we really have to get going. You have a flight to catch and we’ve got a lot of research to do at Tech.”

  “I’ll contact you tomorrow and we’ll go through this ship top to bottom for you. You’ll be taking her up by tomorrow night,”

  They stepped back out onto the wing; Alec barked out a command and the door shut, quietly sealing with a hiss. After getting back to the ground, Orion was met by a bear hug as tight as any he’d ever had. He’d forgotten just how strong his older brother was.

  “Thanks, I just don’t know what to say.” Alec’s voice overflowed with emotion.

  “Hey, this was all Dads’ idea; we just did what he asked. Glad you like it!” Orion ran toward one of the hovers and the others followed.

  The three arrived at Space Tech, this time choosing to go in through the front. As they approached the front steps, Orion stopped them. “Zach asked me to give these to you two.” He pulled out two boxes from his carry-on duffle and handed them out.

  “So, when do we dare open these? Last time Zach gave us something... Well, I guess we can forgive him for last time, can’t we, Ty?” Alec snickered. They opened the boxes to find a pair of sunglasses and a watch.

  “Hey, I just got this job and you hand out retirement gifts? I smell something fishy here!” Ty chuckled.

  “Just put on the glasses. Listen and learn!” In unison, they put on the glasses. Orion continued, “Now the watches. Next, look down at the watch. On the side away from your wrist you’ll notice five small buttons. Press the first one.”

  They followed his instructions. Within seconds Ty and Alec jumped in astonishment. The left lens of their glasses had an image on the inside. It clearly was one of the labs in the Orbital Lab. Zach was waving to them.

  “The next button will vibrate Alec’s watch. Now, in order for us to see him, all he needs to do is to remove the top part of his watch, like this.” He popped it off with ease. “And place it on any vertical metal surface, stand three feet away, and voila!” Sure enough, right there, staring Ty in the right lens, was Alec’s face.

  “The third and fourth buttons will reach Ty and me. The last button, which is located on the bottom, will activate your personal homing beacon. It’s really more of a distress signal which, by the way, we can activate
from the Lab, if need be. But only activate it in an emergency. And the most important thing about this watch is that it can still tell time.”

  Orion continued proudly, “Why, I think that even the great ‘Q’ would be proud of our little brother!” Now that the lesson was done, he got back to business, “I’m going to take the hover over to the spaceport to catch a shuttle. I’ll have someone get it back to the garage for you. You guys watch your backs down here, and I’ll take care of everything up there. As soon as we have anything, no matter what, I’ll contact you. Oh, and before I forget, these are com links for us all. Simple to use, four buttons on the front with each of our initials. Push the button on the side to talk.” Shaking their hands quickly, Orion turned, grabbed his bag, hopped into the craft, and shot off down the road.

  Ty motioned to Alec with his head and the two of them walked along the old cobblestone walk leading up to Space Tech. They sauntered up the steps and past the massive marble pillars, then strolled through the massive glass doors and into Space Tech’s lobby.

  As he approached the information center, Ty saw a familiar face. “Good morning, Mr. Bindl.” The receptionist smiled at him from behind her desk. She was about their mother’s age with reddish hair. Her dark brown eyes were soft and gleamed, as if she was happy to see him.

  “Good morning, Emily, and how are you this morning?”

  “Very well, sir. Thank you for asking.”

  “Emily, please, no ‘sir,’ no ‘Mr. Bindl,’ just ‘Ty,’ if you don’t mind.”

  “Okay, will do, Ty. Alec how have you been? It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you.”

  “I’m doing fine considering the circumstances.”

  “I understand.” Her eyes went from cheerful to sad in a moment. “Nonetheless, it is good to see you.”

  “I believe my father had reservations at the—”

  “AxMet hotel,” Emily chirped in. “I changed the reservations this morning to your name, just in case you were still planning to go. Everything’s been confirmed, Ty, and your flight information is right here with today’s mail.”

  “Well, I see I don’t have to worry about you holding down the fort while I’m gone,” Ty said with a playful smile. “Thanks again, Emily, and have a pleasant day.”

  “Thank you and you both have a good day. Oh, one last thing, Ty.”

  “Yes?”

  “When you get a moment, I’d like to talk to you about that open position you have available. I think I just might have the right person for the job.”

  “Really? That would be great. Come up when you get a chance. I’d love to talk to you about it.”

  “Thank you. I will.”

  With that, Ty gave her a wink, took the mail she was handing him, smiled, then turned and headed toward the elevators with Alec. “Where do we want to start?”

  Absent-mindedly, Alec brought his hand up to chin and rubbed it slightly for a moment, deep in thought. “I was at the history room yesterday; nothing I could learn there. But there is one place that I was thinking about last night.”

  “Where might that be?”

  “The map room.”

  “Why there?”

  “Star charts. One thing Dad said that I did pay attention to was when he was showing me how to read the star charts. I’ve a feeling something there might just be worthwhile.”

  “Well, they moved that room right next to the planetarium. Dad felt it might be more useful there, so follow me.” Ty angled off and started down one of the many corridors. About two-thirds of the way down the hall, they came to a stop in front of a door on the left. A quick identity scan and they were in. This time there wasn’t a hologram waiting to meet them.

  “So, what are we looking for?” Ty asked.

  “Is there a way to access the computer to see who was logged in last and what they might have been looking at or for?”

  “Yes, I suppose, but we might need an admin access code to look at that stuff.”

  “Let’s try it. Maybe Dad’s got it programmed to allow you entry.”

  “Yeah, that’s possible.” Ty looked around and didn’t see a computer screen on any desk.

  “It will probably be a CHIP system like in the other archive rooms.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Ty pressed the small button on the desk and the system came online.

  “Please place the disc you wish to view into the slot to begin.”

  “This isn’t going to work. It wants an archive disc.” He sighed, then stopped. “Wait!” He stood up quickly, patting his pockets haphazardly, then pulled a small plastic case from his shirt pocket.

  “They gave me this at the reading. None of them knew what it was, but I think I do now.” Ty sat back down and opened the case. Inside he found a small disc that looked like a CHIP disc. He removed it and placed into the slot. The image, that had in the meantime been repeating the same message, now wobbled, then disappeared. It then reappeared, but this time the words were different.

  “You have accessed the Administration Menu to Space Tech. Enter your access code. If it is entered incorrectly, you will be locked out. Enter it now.” With that, a small keypad popped out of the top of the deck in front of the image.

  Alec looked across the desk at Ty, who shrugged as if defeated. “Don’t you have a code? They gave you the disc, but no code?”

  “I’m thinking. Okay? Give me a minute. I don’t recall a lot; it was a little overwhelming yesterday. I’m sure I have it... uhh, I might, anyway. Just hold on.”

  “No pressure, of course. One chance and we’re screwed, that’s all. No pressure...”

  Ty leaned back in the chair, absentmindedly playing with his hair as he thought. He brought his hand down the back of his head and onto his neck. A grin spread over his face. His hand was resting on a chain necklace that had been sent to him sometime long ago. The medallion! He hadn’t known where it had come from or who had sent it. It was strangely shaped, but he’d always thought it was interesting enough to wear. Now he pulled it from around his neck, then looked down at the keypad more closely. There were no numbers, just symbols. The symbols matched those on the chain. He held it out for Alec to look at.

  “What’s that?”

  “I think it’s what we need. One day it just showed up in the mail. No name. No address. I just thought it was a cool chain, so I started wearing it. The markings on the back, they match the keypad. Actually, it’s an exact duplicate of the keypad except that five symbols are in bold. At the bottom there’s an arrow pointing to the right. That arrow isn’t on the pad.”

  “Well, do it.”

  Matching the medallion to the pad he tapped the five symbols that were in bold.

  “Code verified. Please place key in the correct slot.” There were four slots, one on each side of the pad.

  “The arrow, that’s what it’s for. Put it into the right side.”

  “Okay, here goes.” He carefully placed the medallion into the slot.

  “Access granted. Welcome, Ty Bindl. I am CHAMP: Computer Help Administrative Maintenance Program. You now have access to all administrative programs.”

  They both sighed and gave each other a quick congratulatory handshake.

  CHAMP, one of the few enhancements not created by one of the Bindls, was designed to be a virtual guide through all of Space Tech’s computer programs. When activated it would project a three-dimensional image that seemed to hang in midair. It was a voice-activated system, giving one the feel of holding a casual conversation with another human being. There were times when one could easily forget they were requesting information from a computer program.

  “Okay, let’s see what we can find,” Ty said before beginning the search.

  Chapter Seven

  Alec moved in closer to Ty for a better view. All of Space Tech was now open for them to see. He knew that somewhere in the vast memory banks of this super computer had to be answers. The question was, did Ty have enough knowledge to know where to navigate? The hundreds of menus an
d submenus might be more than Ty could cope with in the short time they had.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to find anything?” Alec asked.

  “I just started, but it really doesn’t look that hard to decipher. It’s pretty much broken down into simple sections. I think that, as smart as Dad was, he wasn’t very patient with confusing computer programs. You know the acronym KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid? I think that’s what we’re dealing with. Let me show you. Slide your chair back a bit.” Ty pointed to the image that hung in thin air. “Watch this; you’re going to love it. White background. Enlarge by four. Lights.”

  As he spat out commands, the backdrop of the image turned white and the entire image grew to four times its original size. As if that weren’t enough, the lights began to dim. When there was only a faint glow in the room, Ty spoke one more command: “Lights stop.” The image could now be clearly seen with the lights dimmed.

  “Fancy. You guys have all the gadgets here.”

  Ty stood and pointed to exactly where he wanted Alec to look. “I’m more impressed that I remember how to use them all. If you look, you’ll see what I mean. You’ve got basic categories set up: Overview, Space Tech, Orbital Lab, Luna Base, West Coast Affiliates, East Coast Affiliates, and so on. If we open each one, there’ll be subcategories, and under each one of those, more breakdowns.”

  As he touched the first line, another line of words appeared under it. Touching one of them made one more line appear below it. “You get the idea; it’s basically just one big outline. What we need to do is to pick one out and start browsing.” Ty asked the computer a question: “CHAMP, does anybody other than myself have the capability to access your programs?”

  “Four.”

  “Can they access anything?”

  “Two, everything. One, only finances.”

  “Names, please.”

  “Jeff Bindl. Jennifer Bindl. Nate Travalar.”

  Alec nudged Ty. “It said four.”