Angelika Queen Of Mars

Chapter 44

Chapter 44 Head 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out

For the kids, this was a time for last minute goodbyes to family and friends, For Torry and Mike, both made final calls to their divorced parents. Torry's mom and dad still maintained cordial relations, however Mike's folks weren't on speaking terms, and the poor guy along with his dad had to concoct an elaborate story about traveling out of the country for awhile, both were good yarn spinners, and maybe that's why Terry Bickford was divorced?" They also had their own Star Wars Marathon going, watching all six episodes on DVD. I was a little concerned my Falthian friends might be offended but apparently not. Robarik and his daughter were intrigued by the sand people, Jawa's and some of the other non human life forms. Kha'Mak and Na'Kal argued that a civilization that advanced wouldn't be using "AI's" like R2-D2, or C-3PO. However, Rek, Kha'Mak, and Mokora were totally fascinated by Han Solo's "Millennium Falcon," with Rek telling us that he wanted to collect every image of the ship, both inside and out shown in the first three films. The T.I.E. fighters also caught his interest,

"I know a couple of designers at Andara who might very well be interested in these craft."

"I know there are places where you can get replicas of those ships as well," I said, "But I believe all that is copyrighted."

"What's that?" he replied,

"It means you just can't copy any of those designs you've got to pay what they call royalties for permission to use the designs." Naturally I was saying this with a big grin on my face, with Rek replying,

"So is someone going to come to Falth and arrest me?" We both broke out laughing at that one, but if I knew Rek, a real-life Millennium Falcon would become a reality. Later, I went out to the shed to look at the truck the two would-be thieves had owned, I still hadn't made up my mind what to do about it, but I found Rek sitting in it.

"I'm still interested in this machine" he said.

"

Still want to haul it back to Falth?" I asked, "I've got to get it out of here." Stepping out, Rek asked,

"Is that the engine compartment?" Pointing to the hood.

"Yes, here let me open it up." After I had done so, Rek peered at the dirty engine, practically sticking his head down past the fan.

"Yes, I think we can do something with this," he muttered, still examining the motor.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Utility vehicles are always in short supply where I work, this "truck," as you call it would be just the thing, my partner and I would have exclusive use and control of it, we are always working in different areas, and it would be perfect for hauling our tools and various parts and equipment, plus I know where there's a little trailer I could attach to it. Yes, this will work perfectly, we'll place it aboard the Giuffrida, I'm sure there will be enough room." Rek's request took me completely by surprise, but getting this thing completely off the planet would sure solve a lot of problems.

"I wasn't aware that there were internal combustion engines on Falth," I said,

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," he replied, so I proceeded to give him a short and simple explanation of how the engine worked.

"Well you're right Jake," he added, but I wasn't planning on keeping this primitive power source in this thing anyway. I've been looking over the engine compartment and I think a little "Drog" motor would fit in here perfectly." I gave him a puzzled look,

"A what?" Rek gave me a sly grin,

"This is where superior technology comes in, they use drog motors to power pumps in agricultural areas and in other applications that require power in remote locations. I got my start working on then back in Grocyra, we called them "Bellick's" and I was quite surprised to find that the Falthians use them as well."

"What do they run on?" I asked.

"Well the Falthian ones operate a little differently, but basically, they run on Correlett crystals. You measure a given amount into a small chamber, this creates a reaction with a plate made of Jarminium, it's a sort of metal that for the most part is inert, however, you introduce Correlett crystals, and it gives off a gas called "Onc." which is still rather inert at this point, until it's placed under extreme pressure at which time forces a three lobed wheel to turn in a sealed chamber. The whole thing is a lot more complicated than that, but you get the idea."

"How would you attach this motor to the existing power train?" Rek chuckled,

"We have a machine that can duplicate any part, I've already examined the underside of this vehicle, there is a long shaft that appears to transfer power to the rear wheels, but I'm not sure what the other end goes into."

"That would be the transmission, it split's the power produced by the engine into different speeds, look, and it's obvious you're going to need the proper tools to work on this thing, I'll get you a decent set of tools as well as a shop manual for this truck it will save you a lot of headaches, but tools aren't cheap."

"Well, since merchants on this planet don't accept Falthian credits, how about this; The Guiffrida is coming due for a basic overhaul, and it's not cheap either, you buy me whatever you think I will need to maintain this vehicle, and I'll deduct the amount from you and Moreck's contribution to the maintenance fund."

"Deal!" I replied, "So you're saying that you can fabricate a transmission housing to fit to the drog motor?"

"Easily," he replied, "But perhaps you could show me how everything operates before we run it up inside the Guiffrida."

I then started it up, backed the truck out of the shed, and with Rek in the passenger seat, drove around in the field, explaining the controls, and how to drive it. I then let him take the wheel, until he got the idea.

"How are you going to tie the transmission and the accelerator pedal to the new engine?" I asked,

"Well obviously we've got a little work ahead of us, but I'm not worried, should be quite an interesting project."

"What about tires?" I added, the ones on this thing look pretty crappy," showing him what I meant; he agreed that it might be best to replace them. Well after we got the truck up into the ship, jacked it up and removed the tires a check of the brakes revealed that they weren't the best either, and since there wasn't an Auto Zone on Falth, shoes and pads went on the list as well.

After buying a decent tool set, four tires, and brake pads, as well as brake and transmission fluid, I was looking at some serious money, but since Rek promised to deduct it all from the Giuffrida's overhaul bill, I couldn't say much. Since he worked with a whole different set of tools.

I gave Rek a quick primer on using socket wrenches, torx drivers, the use of pliers and screwdrivers as they applied to working on the truck. When we were done, I think he had a little more respect for our mechanical abilities and designs

"I think you'll be rather surprised when my partner and I complete the project," he commented.

"I wonder what they would say at Ford Motor Company if they knew that one of their most popular line of trucks had ended up on another planet.

After leaving Rek, I went to find Robarik, but found Mokora, Premick, Dori and Sharla all sitting at the kitchen table with Torry and Kaitlan just yakking away, everyone else was in the living room watching Star Wars, Mr. Gormeth pointed to the TV screen, and commented,

"If you Kagorians spent as much time on actually developing actual propulsion systems instead of make-believe ones, you'd be someplace by now." Sadly, I couldn't argue with him,

"I don't know, maybe people are simply content just to imagine those sorts of things than actually designing, and building them," I replied.

"Don't beat yourself up like that," responded Robarik, "You Kagorians are just as intelligent as anybody, we wouldn't be taking these young people back to Falth if you weren't. I think it's more of a collective thing, we Falthians, and the Amulians as well, are focused a whole race towards one goal, everything else is secondary to that."

"He's right," added Mr. Gormeth, "Everything we do is aimed at improving lives, and the betterment of our society, in the short time Varenna and I have been here, we've made some rather interesting observations. Why just watching the information programs on the television we see everyone out for themselves, no direction, your leaders…well, their behavior wouldn't be tolerated for even a taq back on Falth."

"Well some might call your society too regimented but I've certainly never noticed it," I replied. Both Robarik and Mr. Gormeth chuckled,

"Oh maybe just a little, but we Falthians live our own lives, have our own beliefs and to borrow one of your phrases, "Do our own thing," but the difference between us, and you Kagorians is that each and everyone of us deep down all believe in the same thing, we don't have time for wars or petty squabbles."

"That doesn't mean we cannot defend ourselves, or take the fight to the enemy should that ever become necessary," quickly added Robarik, "You of all people should realize that, training as you have been doing with the marines." Nodding, I replied,

"The Falthian marines are as focused on mission as much as the United States marines used to be years ago, but sadly are no longer, I've told you about that quagmire I was involved in, were we fighting it as we did World War two, our troubles would have been over long ago,"

"Well cheer up," said Robarik, "Premick tells me these young ones are smart, and she's convinced can handle the curriculum they are about to face, you know there's a lot more at stake here than meets the eye." I nodded,

"Oh I'm aware of it." Watching Mike and Robert as they sat engrossed in the movie, I certainly hoped so.

Kevin called shortly afterward, and I instructed him to head to the airport, and pick his buddies up,

"Gerry says he's got someone who's interested, so things might get kind of crowded,

"I'll just throw 'em in the trunk was his response.

Kaitlan and Robert's parents were taking their kids, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Gormeth out to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants but Moreck begged off, as he had to translate data off his computer into the computer at the office. I also used the opportunity to start hauling the next coffee shipment back for loading on to the Giuffrida.

As we drove into town, Moreck said,

"I think my father is a bit envious of me for what Tarsig and I have been able to accomplish."

"Yeah, I heard him praise you; sounds like you're out of the "doghouse."

"What?"

"It means your back in his good graces again." Moreck shrugged,

"Being in the doghouse, as you call it with him never really bothered me all that much; I believed in this venture and was determined to see it through." I heard him sigh,

"Oh I don't suppose it hurt's to be in his favor again," he added, but I think he wants to open up a little trade route of his own."

"Is that wise?" I asked, "You know how tough it is keeping a security lid on our operation." Moreck nodded,

"That I do, but what if he wants to come here?"

"That's going to be a problem," I replied, "But Mike's dad Terry asked me once about doing something along these lines I don't know, maybe your father can talk to him, Conner Bickford as well, run the operation out of that old farm they still have, trouble is, the area around it is all built up, might be a problem with all the airliners landing at the Pittsburgh airport."

When we arrived at the office, Carman and Tarsig were just finishing up a pizza they had ordered, and since Moreck loved pizza almost as much as Tarsig did, Carman was on the phone ordering another large veggie pizza. I told Carman about Gerry's prospect but she remained doubtful,

"I don't know who it could be, he told me he'd already asked everyone he knew, nobody was interested." I was glad I had gone ahead and bought a full sized pick-up, but it still took careful packing to get all the coffee, as well as two large sacks of peanuts loaded up, and while Carman and I did that, Moreck and Tarsig finished transferring their data on to our computer, as well as uploading all our billing data. We ate our pizza supper while working as time was getting short; Kevin called to say he had picked up everyone except Gerry's guy, who apparently changed his mind at the last minute. As soon as we finished eating, and the truck was loaded, it was back to the house, where I simply backed up to the Giuffrida, with Moreck, Rek, and Carman helped unload. This time Dori and I would be staying here, Carman revealing to me that Tarsig had promised a cruise on the Sheynalian Sea, on her parent's yacht. Besides that, Jeff had asked her if she'd help out with some of their admin problems. So it looked like Dori and I would have plenty of time to ourselves, something that had been in short supply lately.

Before the Giuffrida was due to leave, I had a chance to speak with Torry and Mike, as well as Premick Karym. All the kids were upset that they wouldn't be able to take their phones, but as I told them,

"I don't know what the problem is, you can't use them on Falth, and I don't need to remind you about the "no camera" policy, but remember, if you want to send along photos to your parents, make damn sure you are standing in front of a neutral background, nothing to identify where you're at, no pictures of Dropacheg's or those Skrithik Githin's, and definitely no pictures inside Drolugi's. You kids have really been incredibly responsible about all this we're all very proud of you, I know it really hurts that you can't post "selfies" of you standing in front of the Giuffrida, or with a bunch of Falthians, but those people have placed a lot of trust in us, we are the exceptions to the Falthian "no contact" rule. Now you're all aware that all correspondence gets sent to Moreck's company he or Tarsig will give you the address, and while we're on the subject, no holodisc's, paper only, I know it's so old-fashioned, but again, security is the watchword. Moreck will see that I get all your letters to send on to your folks."

Both wore glum faces, but they knew the rules, rules that had been drummed into their heads practically since they were twelve. Torry told me that she had become quite good friends with Mokora, who had promised to take Torry under her wing, and help her all she could getting through the naval academy and working towards her dream of becoming a pilot. Mike was primed as well, having found a new friend in Kha'Mak, eager to learn all he could about androids, and advanced artificial intelligence.

Premick asked me if it would be possible to spend a dorn or two staying here at my place, studying our way of life, along with our plants and animals.

"Absolutely Premick," I replied, "This is truly a "way station" for alien races, I'll help you all I can."

"I spent a lot of time talking to the young people going to Falth, and I think they'll all do well, they are very motivated, but they all told me one of the main reasons for going was that there was nothing here for them, and for all intends and purposes, your country's space program was all but dead."

"Well, they may have been exaggerating just a little, but there isn't the focus on it like there was in the 60's, when the space program was just starting."

"Well I've got a few things to take care of when I return home, apply for permission to spend a lengthy amount of time here, but that shouldn't be a problem, perhaps in a couple of alyts."

It wasn't long before Kevin showed up with all the guys, Gerry told me,

"The guy I had in mind just changed his mind, said he had a better offer, but since I couldn't really tell him much, I'm not surprised." Then he said,

"While I was home, I ran into a girl I knew in high school, in fact, she joined the marines at the same time I and a couple others did. Look, I know how you feel about chicks in the military, and I know you took on Carman, but we talked, and she was still interested even after what little I could tell her. I tried calling her just before getting on my flight, but I got no answer. I hope you don't mind, but I left your number with her mom, you may get a call, and you may not, I'm just giving you a "heads up LT." After a whole lot of hugs and good-byes.

The Giuffrida lifted off shortly after midnight, leaving Dori and I alone in a house that just a short while ago had been filled with laughter, and anticipation. Both of us stood for close to a half hour staring up at the night sky, things seemed to be moving into a whole new phase, and all I knew was that there was a whole lot of work ahead of me.