The Search for FTL

by Ted Iverson

  “I’m doing okay. I just called to tell you I heard about your company not getting the grant. I’m so sorry. My father was really upset about it. He felt you should’ve been awarded it. I think Senator Axion has gone too far. I wish my father could do something.”

  “Thanks. I wish he could too, but he seems to be in a tough position. We know he has to deal with Axion every day. I appreciated the way he tried for us, but we’re getting along just fine here. New things on the horizon and some old stuff.”

  “Oh, really? Care to share the new ideas?”

  “I’d love to, but there’s nothing concrete yet, so I’d better not.”

  “I understand, top secret stuff, huh?” She giggled.

  Her little giggle put him at total ease. “Oh, yes. Most assuredly very top-secret stuff. You know the really old saying: ‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.’ That’s how top secret it is.” It was his turn to laugh.

  He saw her giggle again.

  “Ty, you wouldn’t dare! How about the old stuff? Anything not top secret you can let slip?”

  He hesitated for a moment. It would be nice to share with a friend, someone other than a few key people in the company, but he thought better of it. “No, not really, just some old experiments and inventions that Zach’s been working on for years.”

  She caught the hesitation. “Ty, come on. I can tell that you want to tell me something. I know I haven’t known you all that long, but you can trust me.”

  “Sam, I really want to and I believe I can trust you, but there are some things, especially in my business, that I just can’t discuss.”

  “I do understand. I really do.” Then it hit her. He must be continuing the project. “Ty, I have really good intuition. I am a woman after all. Something tells me that you’re not stopping the FTL project. Please tell me I am wrong.”

  Shocked, Ty stuttered, “Uh... oh, no, of course not!” He gave her a weak playful wave. “I’m not that stupid.”

  “And neither am I. You are. You really are. Do you have any idea what will happen if the Senate—oh jeez, who cares about the Senate—if Senator Axion were to find out? Ty, don’t do this.”

  “Sam, this is something you need to stay out of. Even if we were continuing this—and I’m not saying we are—but if we were going to, my brothers and I would be willing to take that kind of a risk in order to do what’s right. If doing what’s right breaks the law, so be it. We don’t believe we’re the ones doing wrong here, and we’ll prove it. We have the means to continue, and we’ll do as we see fit.” He stopped himself, realizing he was getting riled up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It’s just that... well, it’s a touchy subject for the moment.”

  “I’m sorry for pressing you. Please rethink this, Ty. It’s really not a very good idea.” She looked down at her wrist. “Hey, I’ve got to run. I have a shift soon. Take care and think about it please, for your family and friends.”

  “Okay, I will. You take care. We’ll visit soon.” As her image faded, Ty thoughtfully brought his chin down to rest on his fisted hands.

  The way she had said “for your family and friends” was different, almost like something that Axion might say. Had he said too much or not enough? He was so confused that he wasn’t even sure what the conversation had been about. He lifted his head and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his thoughts. Then he shook it off and continued with his paperwork.

  Sam disconnected from Ty, then immediately left her apartment, got into her hover, and drove to the senatorial complex. She ran up the steps and headed directly for her father’s office. Once there she gave a wave to his secretary, who was on the com with Thoma. Knowing she’d have to wait, Sam took a seat.

  When the secretary finished the conversation, she turned to Sam. “He’s just finishing up a meeting and he’ll be right out.”

  A few minutes later, Thoma exited, accompanied by a distinguished guest. Thoma shook hands with the man. “You had a good quarter, and I’m pleased with the numbers. As far as the improvements on the hotel, I’m in agreement with you: they need to be done. Compile a list and have it sent to me and we’ll schedule a time to go over it. Then I’ll present the final numbers and improvements to Senator Axion.”

  “Thank you, Senator Thoma. I will be in touch. The funds that the government has offered for the room and security improvements for foreign dignitaries will be much appreciated.” As the short, round man left, he turned and nearly ran over Sam, who was now on her feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

  “Oh, no. I’m sorry, Mr. Spencer.”

  “Well, I have to be going. I’ll see you at work later, Sam?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Very well, then.” He gave a short wave. “I’ll be off.” Paul Spencer grabbed his jacket from the ornate, gold coat rack and headed out the office door.

  “So, what brings my lovely daughter here in such a rush?” Thoma motioned for her to enter his office ahead of him.

  Sam took a seat in a chair across from Thoma’s large desk. He sat down and placed his clasped hands on the desk. “Go on, Sam. What is it?”

  “I feel dumb, just like a little girl asking this.”

  “Sam, I’m your father. Just tell me what you need.”

  “I know this person. He’s a really good person, but he may be making a terrible decision. It could affect his entire family and maybe a whole lot of other people. I could keep it confidential because he’s my friend, but I don’t know if I should.”

  “It’s a shame your friend has put you in that position.”

  “That’s just it. He didn’t really tell me. I just sort of guessed it, but now I know. He really didn’t want to tell me.”

  “Dear, I don’t think that at this point it matters how you know. That you know is the bigger issue. Is he breaking the law?”

  “Yes, I suppose he is.” Sam lowered her head.

  “Has he or is he going to hurt someone?”

  “I think indirectly he has and that, indirectly, he may.”

  “I think that you have a duty to alert the authorities. You probably will lose a friend, but you’d be doing the right thing.”

  She looked up and thought, Like you’d know what’s right.

  She smiled a little and said, “Then I should tell you.”

  “Me? My dear, you can if you’d like, but afterward you should tell the authorities.”

  “No, I can’t, Dad. You’re the authority. My friend is Ty Bindl.”

  Thoma almost came out of his chair. It was only his years of experience as a senator that kept him calm—outwardly at least. “Bindl? How do you know him?” Thoma’s head was swimming. What was this boy planning? He pressed on. “Go ahead, talk to me, Sam.”

  “When he was here I served him breakfast and dinner almost every day. We talked and just struck up a friendship. I’ve visited with him a few times since he’s been back at Space Tech. In fact, I talked with him about an hour ago. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Really? You’re not—” He sighed. “I knew someday we’d have this discussion. You’re not romantically involved, are you?”

  She gave her father a big grin, “No, Dad, we’re not. I believe he likes his assistant. He hasn’t told me that, but I can tell. Our relationship is strictly platonic.”

  “Then the problem is?”

  “The problem is he’s still going to build that ship!”

  This time he was unable to contain himself. He came out of his chair and leaned over the desk, close to his daughter. “He is not!”

  Sam leaned back. “Yes, he is. All of them are. They’re going to go against the Senate. Dad, will they be arrested?”

  “Honey, you know that I’ll have to report this. And I can tell you that we will have to apprehend them if we find evidence that this is true, that they’re continuing the FTL project. I’m sorry. What I fear most for your friend is that he will not go easily and that it will escalate into needless violence.”


  He moved around the desk and gave her a hug. “You’ve done the right thing. Everything will be fine, dear.” As he held her, his thoughts were elsewhere. I need to contact Axion right now.

  “Thanks, Dad. I’m sorry for the news.”

  “I’m sorry you had to find out about Ty’s plan.” He let go of her and said, “You best be on your way. You don’t want to be late for work, do you?”

  Sam shook her head and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. As she left the office, her tears abruptly stopped. She walked down the steps with an eerie, almost wicked smile. Axion was right. He is so soft. He’ll most certainly be on the holo blabbering to Axion right now. This is working out nicely.

  “Senator Axion, we have an issue.”

  “Don’t we always,” Axion said nonchalantly.

  “Sir, the Bindls are continuing the project without OEC approval. My daughter just told me. We need to get a warrant and search Space Tech. We’ll also need to send men to search Space Tech’s Orbital Lab and their Luna Base. We should waste no time.”

  Calmly, the answer came: “Yes, I believe you’re correct. I thought this might be the case. We’ve apprehended Ed Serner and he’s currently being... how shall I say... questioned. He hasn’t given us any answers yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Pain has a way of encouraging results.”

  “Yes, sir. It does.” Thoma winced at the thought of Serner being detained by Axion’s henchmen.

  “Thoma, you do understand that the Bindls won’t go down without a fight. They have been worthy opponents thus far, which, honestly, I did not expect. But as yet it has only been a game of the mind. Now it will become nasty. I think it’s time to ready our men. If only those Bindl boys had considered from the beginning how this might escalate. Now they will need to be eliminated instead of being swept under a rug.”

  “Yes,” Axion sighed, “go and ready your men for deployment. We may need them at any time. You will have your warrants within a few days. This will all be over in a matter of weeks.” Smiling to himself he added, “It has been fun.”

  Axion looked back to Thoma. “Go now. I’ve work to do, as do you.”

  Thoma bowed and signed off from the conversation. Deep in thought, Axion rose from his seat and paced about his chamber, his robes flowing behind him. Then he made his way out of his office and strode down the empty corridor.

  It was dark as Alec set the Hare down in a clearing in the middle of a large wooded area. The craft’s stealth amazed him. His approach hadn’t even disturbed the nearby forest residents. The hatch opened silently. As he stepped out, Alex caught a glimpse of a young doe. The doe looked up at him for a moment and then leapt off into the thicket.

  Alec had used the last coordinates Ed’s homing device had transmitted to guide him here. He must be near Meteoric, but he was surprised he hadn’t seen any lights from the air, not even a flashing beacon to warn of a tall tower.

  He slipped on the night vision goggles, thankful that these were better than the old infrared devices. They used a technology Zach had invented. Looking through them, Alec saw a light-yellow color more closely resembling daylight. In addition, the goggles showed him direction and distance.

  Also built into the goggles was an auto-find for weapons. Alec’s goggles were programmed to the Hare’s weapons. He only had to name the weapon system he wanted activated, position the goggles’ crosshairs on a target, and command it to fire. Then there would surely be nothing left of said target. Alec thought this a very handy feature, one he might need to use tonight.

  He crept quietly through the darkness, moving slowly to avoid breaking any fallen branches. As he moved closer to the outer edges of the compound, he was careful to avoid making any noise at all. The more Alec saw of the set-up, the more he realized Ed had been right: if this wasn’t a military compound, it certainly should be.

  Alec slowly scanned the area. He couldn’t identify the weapons the sentries were carrying. They looked conventional. Each had a scope, but the stocks were long and the muzzle ends short. They looked menacing.

  He checked his own equipment one last time and circled the compound, looking for the structure that Ed had said housed the administrative offices. After some time, he found it. There were sentries sprinkled around the area, but not nearly as many as at the other buildings. He figured that important info would be located with each portion of the project so they had spread the sentries out. Maybe the information he sought would have been moved and he’d find nothing there. Still, Ed had said that he’d found something, so it was worth a shot.

  He surveyed the area and found what he was looking for: a tall tree and across from it, inside the compound, a sentry tower. He scaled the tree, reminding himself of his days as a child. It had been a long time since he’d climbed. Once up the tree, he focused on the sentry tower. Only one guard was inside. He patted his pockets and then produced a small weapon no longer than his hand. He unlatched the chamber, loaded two darts into it then took out a small night scope, attaching it to the weapon.

  Alec stood up slowly, steadying himself on the large limb on which he was perched. He angled slightly to the right and tensed his body. Then he took a deep breath, held it, aimed, and pulled the trigger. The weapon barely moved and made no sound.

  The guard never knew what hit him. He crumpled down into a heap, out of sight.

  He removed the sight, put that weapon away, and drew out another. He attached the sight to it, aimed the weapon about seven feet above the base of the tower, and waited until the patrolling guard was out of sight; then he pulled the trigger once more. A strong line shot out and wrapped its barbed end around one of the tower’s legs, just as he’d seen in countless old movies he’d watched with his father and brothers.

  Quickly Alec disassembled the weapon. He took the wire attached to the barrel and looped it around a thick branch, then pressed a small button. The wire immediately became taut.

  He shoved the remaining parts into a pocket, and pulled out a small V-shaped device with hand grips. He swung one end over the wire, grabbed the handles, and pushed off. Just as planned, he slid down, entering the compound unnoticed. About two feet from the base of the tower, he let go and dropped the remaining four feet, landing in a crouched stance.

  Within a second he was holding a new weapon, one slightly bigger than what he’d used to take out the first guard. This one, unfortunately, would not just render a person unconscious. It would take them out permanently. The next guard found that out the hard way. It was quick and painless. The guard had come around the corner of a building just as Alec landed, and Alec had had no choice but to shoot. Fortunately, the guard hadn’t had time to call for help.

  Alec ran over to the body, bent down, took the man’s weapon, and slung it over his own shoulder. As he maneuvered back to the building, he felt like the spies he had seen in movies. Ed had been right. It seemed that hand-to-hand combat might yet again be useful. He slowly looked around the corner and saw nothing.

  Alec moved swiftly to the admin structure about twenty-five yards away and pressed himself to the side away from the door that was facing onto another building. He turned and was seen by another guard. Again, it was quick and painless. Alec watched through the goggles as the dust rose from where the guard hit the ground hard.

  Alec got to his knees, produced a small package, and partially unwrapped it. Gripping its contents with the wrapping, he spread it in a three-foot circle onto the side of the building then dropped the wrapper and stepped back. Within moments there was a smoldering three-foot hole in the side of the metal building. Once more thank you, Zach.

  Alec dove into the building and began to search frantically. Three dead guards would be hard to overlook. He’d have to work fast. He’d found nothing until he noticed a small four-by-four foot safe in the corner. He reached into one of his cargo pockets and pulled out another incendiary package. He applied the substance to the safe’s side and backed away.

  When the smoke cleared, he reached in and pulle
d out the contents. He was quickly riffling through, looking for anything relevant, when he suddenly stopped, horrified. Dad’s notes! Notes from Mom! All about the StarDancer. He began stuffing these in a satchel that had been over his shoulder.

  An envelope fell to the floor. Alec bent over and glanced at it. It was from Dr. Peter Sax and was addressed to his father.

  Alec didn’t have time to examine it. A commotion outside told him it was time to leave. He made his way to the entrance he’d created and stuck his head out. When he didn’t see anyone, he dove out and rolled into a crouch. He swung his weapon right, then left, and pulled the trigger: guard number four went down.

  Alec headed in the direction from which he’d come. He knew they’d be waiting for him. He took out a tiny transmitter and tapped a few buttons as two more guards came around the corner: numbers five and six.

  His heart was racing. He needed to get to better cover. He darted in the opposite direction from where he needed to go. He now had the shed to his back and a building to his right: cover on two sides. He could hold them off for a little while, but certainly not long. Glancing to his left, he saw movement and quickly reacted: number seven. All at once both exits were blocked by guards with weapons raised.

  Then, as planned, he heard a low hum. The approaching guards stopped their advance and looked up to see the unmanned ship, hovering.

  Alec quickly said, “Plasma cannons online now!”

  The crosshairs in the goggles responded immediately. Alec looked directly at the group of men in front of him. They were still looking up.

  “Fire!” he commanded. Blue plasma balls rained down on the men. At the same time, Alec started firing at the group on his left.

  “Eight. Nine. Ten,” he said aloud. Then he swung his gaze over to the group he’d engaged. “Fire!” More blue plasma balls streamed from the ship. Alec lost count of the wounded and dead men.

  He turned to the fence behind him, lined up the crosshairs, and commanded, “Fire!” One lone ball of blue flew from the ship. Sparks flew through the air as a ten-foot section of the electric fence shredded into hundreds of pieces.