The Gravity of Anti-Gravity II Read online

  “Hello Stella, I’ve got your ring ready.” The woman said.

  “Beatrichnoflic, I’d like to introduce Bill Burton,” Stella said.

  “Beatrichnoflic ‘bok’ Beatrice.” I said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “You’ve certainly gone through a wagon load of crap on that planet of yours; what’s it called, Earth?” Beatrice began adding her colorful opinions as she went. “My partner and I haven’t missed an episode. We all agree that the criminals on your planet are the most entertaining we’ve ever seen. How do you deal with all the lies, double-crossing and back-stabbing, Bill? I really feel sorry for you sometimes. It’s just amazing.”

  “I’m glad we’ve been able to keep you entertained, Beatrice, but there are a few good folks there too.” I said.

  “Not enough, as far as I can figure out.” Beatrice continued but quickly changed the subject. “Stella, let me show you what I’ve created. It’s a cross between our ancient jewelry style and some of Earth’s styles that I was able to see when I watched your show.”

  Beatrice reached under her counter and brought out a small box. It was a little larger and plainer than a ring box on Earth. When she opened it I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

  “Stella, are you going to tell me this is a real diamond?” I asked.

  Beatrice interrupted and began to describe the incredible object, “This engagement ring is a round cut, nine carat flawless yellow diamond set in a platinum band. The writing says ‘I love you,’ around the outside in the Veladorian language. On the inside it says ‘Bill and Brenda Forever’, in English that I copied from information Stella gave me. If it’s wrong, blame her. There is a plain matching wedding band for you and one for Brenda.”

  “Stella, you are either rich or diamonds are a dime a dozen here.” I mumbled through my amazement as I stared at the incredible creation.

  “Bill I’d love to tell you that Rolf and I are rich but the truth is; diamonds here are quite plentiful on Velador. A flawless one of this size is a little rarer however. Platinum is also readily available here. Gold is the expensive metal here like it is on Earth so that’s why I chose Platinum.

  “Let’s not tell Brenda that diamonds and platinum are cheap here, okay, Stella.” I commented. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her and if we make it back to Earth, she’ll be the envy of everyone she knows. Beatrice if an Earthling named Jerry walks in; sell him any diamond he wants as long as it’s smaller than this one.”

  “Stella, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’ve done here. I’d pay you back but I don’t have any Veladorian money.” I said.

  “Neither do I Bill, but don’t worry it’s covered. As I mentioned and unless you disagree, Mindcon will broadcast your wedding and in return they will pay the bills for your stay here.” Stella explained.

  “No problem Stella. Can I give the ring to Brenda tonight?”

  “That’s the whole point, Bill.”

  Stella and I caught a transporter and she dropped me back at my residence. Everyone including Pops and Grandma were sitting and watching the Veladorian version of the news. No mention was made of the possible confrontation with the Cromwells so the weather became the most exciting part of it. There was one mention of Brenda and my wedding next week and that it would be broadcast world wide. That information made the news pretty quickly I thought.

  “Hello group,” I said as I walked in.

  I looked at Brenda and said, “Brenda, we need to talk. I’d like to do it in the bedroom, in private, if you don’t mind.” I deliberately had a sad and somber look on my face to throw her off the amazing surprise I had in store for her.

  Brenda followed me into the bedroom and looked concerned but beautiful as well.

  “What’s going on Bill,” she asked. “Is the wedding off? Have you changed your mind?”

  This time I got on one knee and took her hand, kissed it and looked deeply and affectionately in her eyes. “Brenda I love you and I want you to know I am so looking forward to our wedding next week. I have a token of our everlasting love. It’s an engagement ring.”

  I opened the box and showed Brenda the ring. She stared at every feature of it including the inscription inside and put it on. She pulled me up off the floor and proceeded to give me a long passionate kiss.

  “It’s a nine carat flawless yellow diamond set in platinum,” I added proudly.

  “Thank you Bill, it’s beautiful. I will treasure this ring for as long as I live. Now let me show you something.”

  Brenda led me into her bedroom and pulled a small gray satchel out of the closet. When she opened it, there must have been over one hundred large beautifully cut diamonds. As I picked up a handful and let them fall through my fingers back into the bag I looked at Brenda with a puzzled look.

  “What’d you do Brenda, knock over a jewelry store?”

  “Bill, on my recent speaking tour, the word got out that diamonds are rare and expensive on Earth so the people started giving me some of their best examples as thanks for my efforts. Since diamonds are inexpensive here, I took them. If we ever do get back to Earth, we’ll be set for life!” Brenda explained.

  “This sort of takes a little wind out of my sails,” I responded. “I’d thought I’d done such a wonderful thing and now I feel like a cheapskate.”

  “Bill, as beautiful as this ring is, it is only a symbol of our everlasting love. And that love is what’s really important, Bill,” Brenda commented as she looked lovingly in my eyes and kissed me again. “And don’t forget dude; I will never, ever, ever let you get away again. We’re a team for life now and do not, under any circumstances, ever forget that!”

  “Now let’s go show everyone else my ring that would be suitable for the Queen of England back home.”

  -Chapter 10-

  Rolf had visited three States where he believed the CEO’s could be trusted so the retrofitting and construction of redundant defense factories could begin. One of the States we renamed Utah, was where Rolf was born. The CEO named Blosh, was a childhood friend of Rolf’s. He told Rolf about a long closed structure that might make a good location to begin some of the redundant manufacturing facilities we were planning. Originally, it was an underground uranium mining complex. During its useful life, a huge cavern had been carved deeply into a mountain when the minerals were removed. It was believed that it still had a reasonable amount of uranium available and the old refinement facility there was still intact.

  At our daily strategy meeting, the underground facility was revealed. I suggested we call Pops.

  “Pops, we’ve got another assignment for you.” I said excitedly.

  “It’s good to talk to you too, Bill,” Pops responded sarcastically.

  “We need you to get another factory up and running. It’s in a huge underground bunker in the State or Continent of Utah. It is an old uranium mine and it also has refinement capabilities.”

  “Bill. I think you’re going to have to send in the clones,” Pops answered sounding tired. “I’m already drowning in an ocean of killer sharks. And don’t forget I’m retired! They do have clones on this planet, don’t they?”

  “I’ll ask that question later, Pops. I hope you’ve trained enough of the natives to keep production rolling in your existing plants while you tend to this. This project has just jumped to the top of the stack in terms of priorities. Rolf and I will meet you there tomorrow. Come in one of your new ships. I’d like to inspect the fruits of your labor.

  “Okay, send me the location.” Pops responded sounding annoyed. “I’ll see you there tomorrow.”

  Oh, and by the way Pops, I named your new ships, Big Berthas” I added and quickly disconnected before Pops could respond.

  Pops, Rolf and I met CEO Blosh the next day at the entrance to the in-ground facility. All the large entrances had long since been covered over but a smaller, man-sized entrance remained. There was an old steel cover blocking the doorway. CEO Blosh had some of his assistants accompanying
him remove the door and he led us in. Using one of Velador’s extremely small yet bright flashlights, we navigated the winding tunnel which spiraled down deeper and deeper into the ground. Where I would have expected it to get cooler, the temperature seemed to remain constantly warm.

  “Shouldn’t it be getting cooler as we descend, CEO Blosh?” I asked.

  “The slow decay of the uranium gives off just enough heat to keep the temperature constant even down to the bottom of the mine.” Blosh answered

  After we had descended what I estimated to be about 1000 feet, we passed through another entrance and came upon the gigantic cave like structure. As I shined my light across the area, it seemed to fade off into nothingness.

  “I had the power restored to this facility yesterday,” said CEO Blosh. “Let’s see if any of the lights still work.”

  While following a map, he made his way over to a control panel and threw some switches. Suddenly a series of bright lights came on revealing a huge room. The cavernous space appeared to be at least the size of ten football fields, was over 75 meters high and had a ceiling structure supported by massive metal beams. There were large, tall support structures holding up the metal beams but not nearly as many as I would have expected. These vertical support elements were about two feet in diameter sitting on a cement-looking foundation that was about ten feet square by eight feet high.

  “The plans say the refinement area is at the end of this room,” CEO Blosh said as he pointed off into the distance.

  “How did you get large equipment and supplies down here?” Pops asked.

  As CEO Blosh looked at his map, he walked to the right about 200 meters and we all followed. There he found a huge metallic door about twenty-five meters wide by about ten meters high.

  “My map indicates that this was our freight elevator to the surface.” CEO Blosh explained. “Inside it’s about twenty meters deep and in its day was the largest freight elevator on our planet. It carried everything to the surface and back including fully loaded ore trucks.”

  “Does it still work?” Pops questioned.

  “I don’t know,” Blosh answered. “As I understand it, the surface door has about fifty feet of dirt covering it but it could be easily removed to see if the thing still works.”

  I saw a series of buttons on the wall near the large entrance. I went over and pushed one. After a series of ear-piercing squeaks and pops, the huge door began to move aside revealing the inside of the elevator.

  “At least the door down here still works,” I said proudly.

  I looked at Pops and he had the same look on his face that I saw when he agreed to build my first anti-gravity device. After a pause of a few seconds, he began to speak. He didn’t ask permission or act like he expected any opposition. Pops simply spoke to all of us in direct concise terms.

  “Okay CEO Blosh,” Pops began. “Get all the power restored to this cave. I suggest we switch to an independent fusion reactor or two so we eventually won’t need any outside power. Uncover this freight elevator and get it working again. Fix anything you need to, including the ventilation system. Make sure any living facilities are clean and functional as well. I see many hundreds of people working down here so we will need food, supplies and all the other personal amenities required by a large population. And CEO Blosh, make sure you fully screen any people who do the work here and make sure they are loyal to our cause.”

  “Rolf, I think we should create another spacecraft facility here.” Pops continued. “We will need to reduce the size of each vessel to fit in the freight elevator but I think armed fighter sized aircraft is what we need right now anyway. If we can pull this off, we will have the nuclear raw material we need, the refinement capabilities, and the ability to make fusion reactors, anti-gravity drives and nuclear weapons.”

  “I have another idea for our defense, but I need to talk to my engineers to determine its feasibility,” Pops added. “And one more thing; let’s not tell the people back in Prossfell about this new factory. Bill told me about the possibility of leaks coming out of there so we must keep this facility between us. I know it’s against some Guideline or other, but with a situation this serious, confidentiality is imperative for everyone involved.”

  “CEO Blosh, you’ve got a lot to do and so do I,” Pops said. “I need to get back, get my engineers started on designing our new aircraft and others started on the logistics of moving or building the needed manufacturing capability here.”

  As we began the long walk up to the surface, I asked Pops. “What are we going to call this place Pops?”

  “CEO Blosh answered first and said they used to call the facility ‘Horniman’.

  “Works for me Pops,” I said.

  “Horniman ‘bok’ New Pasadena,” Pops said and asked, “Bill, why did you name my new ship Big Bertha?”

  “Well Pops, you named my invention the Flying Wallenda. I just thought it was my turn to name yours.” I commented and decided to change the subject. “So how are the Veladorians responding to your leadership and plans?”

  “Bill, they’ve been unbelievably responsive with no hint of animosity. I guess the threat of losing your life and your planet is a pretty good motivator though.”

  -Chapter 11-

  The next week went by quickly. I had trouble keeping my hands off Brenda but she kept reminding me that I could wait another few days. I tried to convince her I couldn’t.

  Jerry had asked Joanna to marry him and she accepted. He took her to see Beatrice and Joanna ended up with an incredible ring too. A double wedding was scheduled for Thursday because Friday was the day the Cromwell representative was due back and the entire planet was worried about the outcome of that meeting.

  Pops went back to his factories and now had completed and tested a total of fifteen new vessels. The anti-gravity drives were beginning to arrive faster now and his goal was to build six each week. While he was working at his existing factory, he and his engineers designed the new smaller spacecraft and began the task of transferring the proper machinery and materials to the new facility in Utah.

  Rolf had asked Jerry to send a large contingency of people to Utah to first help with the preparation of the new facility and then take defensive positions throughout the State. CEO Blosh, with the help of Jerry’s troops, completed everything Pops had asked him to do and the underground facility was moving forward on schedule.

  Pops and Grandma were planning on returning for the wedding and both Brenda and Joanna had asked Pops to give them away at the ceremony.

  On Monday, Rolf left for his mission on Cromwell and returned the next day.

  “Our mission was a failure because I’m certain the Cromwells were warned of our possible incursion into their airspace.” Rolf said with a disgusted tone. “Everything went fine at first. Our sensor evading technology makes us electronically invisible but not visually. Because of that, our forward ship stayed as far away as possible from Cromwell while still being able to monitor their communications. My ship remained at the entrance to the jump zone.”

  “After several hours, it became obvious the Cromwells had increased patrols between their planet and our positions. We were never seen, but I determined that it was only a matter of time. I decided to scuttle the mission and come home. My sense is that the Cromwells knew of our planned surveillance because they had thirty ships that appeared to be systematically inspecting the airspace around their planet.”

  “So we are back to square one. We suspect there is a spy but we are still not sure who it is. And it appears that the Cromwells know about our sensor evading technology because they were doing a visual search.” I commented.

  “Looks like that to me too, Bill,” Stella said.

  “We were able to get a gage on the situation on Cromwell however.” Rolf said. “Since I just got back. Stella hasn’t even heard this yet”

  “The Cromwells are in trouble!” Rolf announced in his usual direct manner.“First, we found out their planet has been getting warmer
over the last two hundred years,” Rolf explained. “It was always arid, but this naturally occurring warming has reduced their supply of water and made farming increasingly difficult. This has caused the requirement for energy to explode. Pumping more ground water and supplying the need for additional climate control capacity has caused them to require more power sources most of which use uranium. That resource is now nearly depleted and what they have left is buried deeply in the ground requiring even more power to get to it. They have covered large parts of their planet with high efficiency solar panels but still are unable to produce enough power to meet their needs.”

  “The last issue is disease. Because of the lack of some basic necessities, new and virulent diseases have decimated their population. Where once they had five billion inhabitants, they now have three billion.”

  “Even though it was never said in this way in their communications, they have two options. One is to get adequate energy and fight through the current crises. However that option won’t solve their problems long term and they know it. The second is to move as many people as possible to another location. This would require the building of many large space vehicles which will also require power beyond their supplies. So as you say on Earth, ‘their backs are against the wall’.”

  “So they’ve got nothing to lose,” I added. “And a desperate enemy is the worst kind!”

  -Chapter 12-

  With the wedding just two days away, Grandma came back to Prossfell forcing Jerry and I to move back into a room together. Beatrice was working with Joanna and Brenda on their dresses and both had decided on styles popular on Velador about two hundreds years ago. Even though Beatrice only had pictures of wedding dresses from that period, she and several seamstress volunteers did an amazing job at duplicating the style.

  “Brenda, I know about your and Joanna’s traditional Veladorian wedding dresses but why that style? Wouldn’t a traditional Earth style be better for us considering that’s our home planet?” I asked.