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Cover Artwork is copyrighted by the author, whofor some odd reason seems to feel the undying needto create his own illustrations and designs.2010. All rights reserved.

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T.O.A.D.Volume 3

The Run

By Keegan Hennis

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I love my family.

My sweet wife supports me,My smart son and daughter inspire me,

On to excellence.

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This book is part of a series, written inchronological order. Pick them up out of order andyou may become confused or frustrated by thestory.

T.O.A.D.

The FallThe RiseThe RunThe PushThe ReachThe GraspThe Pull

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There are many other series and singlebooks by Keegan Hennis.

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1Lenny woke before his alarm would have

sounded. Though part of him felt selfish andwanted more sleep, he sat up in his bed. Hestretched his neck to one side and then the other.

He drowsily checked the glowing green numbers onhis bedside alarm clock. But as he read them, thenumbers confused him.

He looked out his window to see blackness.He picked his phone from his nightstand and turnedthe screen on. The whole room lit up with the lightfrom its small LCD display, but the information hisalarm clock told him had not been erroneous. Herealized in the darkness that he had againexperienced another one of those nights again.

After what seemed like nine or more hoursof sleep and dreaming, he had awakened to the factthat he had in fact only slept a little more than twohours. He felt rested, fulfilled and ready for anotherday of work. But should he rise at that early time,

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hed have to work silently and alone for the next sixhours before hed be joined by any of his team.

And so he sat thinking seriously about whathe wanted to do in the time before everyone elsewould wake happily. He considered lying back

down and trying to sleep until sunrise. Heconsidered walking the presumably empty streets ofRed Level, Alabama. But then he also realized thatit was still only midnight. It wouldnt yet be safe towalk about alone.

And then his mind touched on somethingthat he recalled from a previous conversation. In away that one only can when half asleep, he relivedthe conversation in a partial dream state.

Lenny sat in the common room with a few

of his employees. Red and her mother had justcome into the building after their house wasburglarized and the criminals were attacked by theirlarge dog Duke.

How can you make that house safe? askedRed.

The TOAD way, answered Hank.Lenny continued, Heavier locks and new

storm doors at every exit, security alarm system onall windows, if you want to go low tech.

Red spoke up, And high tech? What wouldthat entail?

Things like motion-activated heat-seekingartillery placements in the corners of the ceiling andautonomous robot ninja gnomes.

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Lenny recalled the incident curiously. Hethought that he might be able to walk safely out inthe cold night if he were accompanied by a roboticninja. With a robotic ninja by his side, he couldwalk unafraid through the toughest neighborhood,

assuming he had a company build it properly.No, he caught himself. Hed not have itbuilt by anyone else; hed build it in his shop. Herealized that it wouldnt be ready for service thatmorning, possibly not even by the end of the year,but no matter how long this project lasted, he wouldfinish it.

Getting up from his bed, he showered anddressed in clean clothes. Out in the common room,he found the normal scene. Everyone had been inbed a while by that time. And if he worked

carefully, hed be able to do so without interruptingany of his employees slumbers. Into his shop heskulked, and found an unused laptop on a shelf. Hemade sure his design software would be accessiblefrom that computer and then he took it back into thecommon room.

Comfortably he sat on a sofa and madehimself ready to work. A separate computer mousewould be used as it was quicker than the trackpadon that specific model. Quicker in his hands, thatis. It was probably just as fast to input commandseither way, but Lenny worked faster with a mousethan the trackpad.

The CAD program, used for computer aideddesign, started up quickly and before he knew it, he

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had arranged pivot points and axial rotationrepresentations in the virtual universe containedtherein. He used layers with different colorproperties in the cad program to differentiatespecific parts of his drawing. Pins were colored

red, linkages were a light blue tone, threaded screwswere purple and the list went on. He added a newlayer every time he added a new class of parts.

The hours passed quickly with his mindoccupied on the engineering. Before too long, thelegs were tentatively designed. A few more hoursand the torso and arms were shaped. And justbefore Hanks door opened, Lenny sculpted therobots head. It slightly resembled a motorcyclistshelmet, but somewhat smaller and with a bit morefacial detail.

When Hank did enter the common room, hedid so nonchalantly. It wasnt the first time that hecame out to see Lenny working feverishly, and hewas certain it wouldnt be the last. All he said as hefound his usual morning place on a sofa was, Goodmorning, boss.

In reply, Lenny looked up quickly and said,Hey, Hank. What time is it?

As Hank lifted his thick volume and glasseshe answered, My normal schooling hour, six in thea.m.

Lenny felt a little concern that the time hadescaped him so quickly, but the feeling soon lefthim. It wasnt his first time experiencing it, and itwouldnt be his last.

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Hank spoke up, Time flies when yourehaving fun, huh?

I guess, said Lenny.He set his laptop down on the short table

between his and Hanks sofas and walked into the

kitchen to start making some breakfast. The ladieswould be up soon, and it was his turn to cook. Hechecked the breakfast calendar on the wall in thebreak room and saw that it was again time toindulge in breakfast burritos.

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2When Red and her mother came from their

dorm room, Lenny had the table set and was mixingthe frozen orange juice concentrate with water in apitcher. The pile of scrambled eggs mixed with

other vegetables steamed from a large bowl, and astack of tortillas lay hot under a lid. The variouscondiments and sauces also stood ready to be used.

The Milners sat in their accustomed seats asJosh came from his room, freshly showered andready for a new day. Lenny put the pitcher of juiceon the table and called to Hank in the commonroom, Hank, breakfast is ready. Were all here.

Hank entered the room in a few seconds andsat at his normal seat. They began eating after afew moments of silence.

A few bites into her first burrito, Red asked,So Ive been wondering about something. Backwhen we were flying around in Clarence, we couldcome to a stop in relation to the earth and use

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virtually no power to sit there, wherever we werefloating. But we were manipulating spacetime asour travel medium, and the earth is constantlyturning. So how was it that we could stopourselves and still appear motionless compared to a

known moving object?Lenny felt the eyes of the whole table onhim, as if it were his sole responsibility to answer.He did so not minding, Well, I think its becausethe earth is so massive that it distorts spacetime andcauses itself to have gravity. It might be like howthe water in a pool on a boat isnt as mobile as thewater that the boat rests in. But then again, this isstill really new physics that we worked with.Humanity may not understand how it all works fordozens or even hundreds of years.

Im still cheesed that we had to park andhide Clarence after just a few days with him, saidJosh after a bite of his own. We didnt go anyhigher than high earth orbit. What happened towanting to try him out in outer space? Its not likewe were breaking the law, or anything. We savedthose astronauts lives, after all.

Actually you did break the law, beganHank as he filled another tortilla with eggs, manyof them, really. You designed, built and tested anew aircraft design without approval from the FAA.You flew several qualifying trips without filingflight plans. You approached and docked withinternationally held property, e.g. the internationalspace station, without collective consent from

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NASA, the European space agency or the Russianspace agency. You crossed through the controlledairspace of at least a dozen sovereign nationswithout permission. From your own account, youbroke federal speed laws both under water and

above it in possibly civilian occupied regions,potentially endangering the lives of those withwhich you might have collided. And you passed thespeed of sound within the confines of thecontinental United States, a breach of militaryregulation concerning supersonic aircraft. Thatsjust to name a few.

The young team sat quietly as Hank spoke.They knew he was still upset with them for theiractions, but he held his temper well. Hankcontinued after his burrito had been prepared to his

taste, And Clarence was parked, not dismantled.Hes still ready to fly in a minutes notice,providing the right need for his services arises. Butyou will never know what kind of steps I had totake to keep our little operation under wraps. I trustin the future youll consult with me at the very least,if not the proper authorities before you go and doanything quite soexciting.

In unison the teens answered in the normalsouthern fashion, Yes, sir.

Hank resumed eating his breakfast as did therest of the people in silence. After a few bites,Hank asked, So Lenny, what was so interestingthat it had you occupied throughout the night?

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Lenny winced visibly. He had initiallydesired his plans to remain a secret on this project.What he was planning to build could very well beseen as very desirable to the wrong eyes and stolenbefore or after completion. Military and foreign

government might describe it as a threat to theirnational security and abscond with it, only todevelop it themselves with their own twist on itspurpose.

Well, its just a dumb little thing I wastoying with. It probably wont even work. Andthen obviously changing the subject he said, HeyJosh and Red, lets start brainstorming on a newproject. Im thinking its Reds turn to pick thebase principals behind it, since I did the last one andJosh did the one before that.

Red sat back in her chair, Oh gosh, I dontknow about that. I dont think Im smart enough tocome up with anything like the things you guyshave. Can we just skip me this time?

Sorry, said Josh as Lenny shook his head.Lennys right its your turn. Try not to pressureyourself. Its easy when you get the hang of it.Well just take some time to let you think on it. Allyou have to do is come up with a principal ofscience and then we work on the possible newapplications together.

Hank chimed in, And dont be intimidatedby the things theyve done to date. You should seesome of their early failures.

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Or some of our recent ones, said Lenny ashe stuffed the end of his burrito in his mouth.

Yeah, like the solar roaster, said Hank.What happened with the solar roaster?

asked Red.

Lenny reported, It roasted itself.And it wasnt even in direct sunlight,added Josh laughing.

How did it burn up if it wasnt in thelight? asked Ms. Milner as she cleared her dishesfrom the table. Doesnt it being solar mean it usedthe sun for power?

Well, we figure there was a bad batch ofcapacitors from one of our suppliers, answeredLenny.

And those are what again? asked Ms.

Milner.Mom, said Red sheepishly, Youreembarrassing me. Its a little electronic bit thatdraws power continuously, and then sends it out inbursts.

Like for making a strobe light? askedHank.

Yeah, said Josh. You could use them ina strobe light. Providing a properly alignedpotentiometer, you could make one with adjustablefrequency.

All I got out of that whole thing, said Ms.Milner as she rinsed her plate and put it in thedishwasher, was that its a little electronic bit.

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Good enough, said Hank with a jollysmile. Most of the time I just have to nod andsmile when the boys start to explain things to me.And usually Im hoping they dont quiz meafterward.

Josh smiled, I knew that. And thenquickly to Lenny, Did you know that?Lenny answered, I knew that.Josh said quickly, But did you know that I

knew?Lenny leaned forward, as if accepting a

challenge to stare down an opponent, I knew thatyou knew, but did you know that I knew that youknew?

Josh started, I knew that you knew that Iknew, but did you-

Enough! said Ms. Milner, mock-upset.You both knew, alright?Hank sat back and laughed softly. And

now you know what Ive lived with for the past fewyears. Sometimes they can be real smart, buttheyre still teenagers.

Ms. Milner muttered under her breath,Smart alecks, more like.

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3The shop lights flickered a little and then

remained constantly on. The team made their wayaround the area checking supplies and marking on alist of things that they thought they might need to

replenish soon. As well as planning their purchases,they gradually began also to clean their workspacesfrom their recent projects. Josh found a broom andstarted to sweep the floor around Benjy, their metalcut-off saw. Lenny coiled a hose back onto its reel.Red wheeled the various heavier tools back toToledo, or the name they assigned to their tool cage.

Again Red found herself chuckling at themany and strange names that the boys had assignedto places and objects before she had arrived. Therewas Benjy the band saw, Gary the grinder, Willythe welder, Charles the cherry-picker, Clarence thesubmarine-turned-spacecraft, and the list went onand on. Their shop had Toledo the tool cage,Milwaukee the metal stock racking, Sierra Leon the

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server closet and more. But no matter how shetried, she couldnt understand why the boys felt theneed to name their building Stu. It made no senseto her, and every time she asked about it, no matterwho she asked, the response was always the same.

They would chuckle and reply in a distant tone,Yeah, Stu.She guessed that it was in deference to a real

person that they called it thus. But they never saidany more than those two words. Half the time, Redfelt like it was the punch-line to a joke, possibly onebeing played on her. She knew she should let it go,but the sheer mystery surrounding it beckoned toher curiosity.

But Red wasnt the only person who couldbe found lost in thought while cleaning. Lenny also

churned his mental juices working on a list. He feltsure he should write his list down, but he wasntpositive it was a final draft yet. And so he kept it inhis thoughts for the time being. The list he workedto compile would be the capabilities of the robotninja he planned to begin.

Since power, especially the storage of it,would be a crucial factor in such a small body, orjust about the size of a teenager, hed have todedicate considerable internal space for the batteryor batteries. And the brain would also take room,but he felt sure that since he wasnt planning to giveit personality, an off the shelf solution could beused. Some computer companies were makingleaps in the field of compact personal computers.

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As well as a full range of human-likemobility in all its joints, Lenny felt that it needed toexceed the speed of human reflexes. To be called aninja, it had to be extremely quick and, if possible,silent. But the servos would need to be large, or the

hydraulics heavy to accomplish this. UnlessLenny quickly visualized a new and excitinguse for cutting-edge principals of mobility. Yes, itmight work. And if he built it right, itd even beable to use this same capability to recharge its ownbatteries. And as well as being able to move fasterthan human sight, it would be lighter than he hadoriginally hoped.

Lennys excitement threatened to bubble outin the form of laughter, but he held his peace andcontinued to work calmly. For some reason, he felt

very protective of this project. It was as if he feltafraid that not even his own team could be trusted,which he knew in his core was simply not true. Butthe fact remained. He wanted to keep his cardsclose to his chest on this build.

He continued his list of requirements.Satellite and 4G communications systems wouldtake very little room comparatively. But it had tohave advanced optics and motion-tracking andunderstanding knowledge. He thought of one of thegaming consoles that hed seen advertized recentlyand knew that their hardware and software could beeasily adapted to his uses. But the martial arts skillswould take some doing, especially since Lenny

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didnt know any, and didnt know of anyone whoknew any.

This he could contract to an outside firm,one which made use of motion-capturing systemson real humans. He could claim that he was

designing a martial arts game and that he wanted itto be as realistic and sophisticated as possible. Hecould then input the movement information into theninjas operating system. The system would haveto understand how to move its limbs first, and that itneeded to mimic the actions of the model in itsmemory.

But to allow the ninja robot to choose itsmovements effectively, it would need to understandwhich movements would help it in any given assaultscenario. This meant that the studio would also

need to motion-capture many more possible fightarrangements. Multiple assailants and differentfighting styles would have to be considered.

As Lenny swept the floor in front of thelarge roll-up door, he realized that hed also have toprogram the thing with a complete understanding ofweapons, both designed and improvised. And as heconsidered the prospects of his project getting morecomplicated by the second, he understood that hednot be able to do it alone. He would have to bringin the other two teens at the very least.

But a sharp stabbing in his memoryreminded him that he couldnt deliberately keepHank out of anything. That was fine, he knew Hankcould keep a secret, but in order for their project to

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remain safe, his crew would have to understand theconsequences of speaking up about it.

In essence, started Lenny at the table, afterhis team had assembled, I want to build anartificial bodyguard.

Red was all too happy to let Lenny choosethe next build, but upon hearing his proposal, shefelt hopelessly out-brained.

Hank on the other hand knew he had tospeak up right then, or regret it forever. Youreproposing to build a humanoid robot with martialarts skills, and no conscience or morals. I know justa little bit about this area. Companies have beentrying for decades to even finish the foundations ofdesigning prototype machines that mimic humanaction fluidly. I get the fact that little hatching drive

modules would make it all the more easier, but still.In the very slim chance you're successful, and amilitary gets their hands on this project, they couldhave the capacity to build legions of soldiers withno moral compass. A dictator with a battalion ofjust a few of these could rule a small nation.

I understand that the possible outcomes arewidespread in scope. But understand why I wantedto try this, defended Lenny.

We all know that you have only the best ofintentions, said Ms. Milner. But this is a bigrisk.

This is basically just like that walkingtalking robot at the theme parks and trade shows,said Lenny.

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Except that itll be able to literally runfaster than a speeding bullet, be more powerful thana locomotive, and be able to leap tall buildings in asingle bound, countered Red.

But it wont know right from wrong,

added Hank.We could teach it to act in defensive modeonly, said Lenny.

And how much force is too much to defendits human friend? asked Hank. Would it chooseto kill the bad guys to protect the good?

We could program it to know what ahuman could handle and never surpass it. Or wecould teach it the three laws of robotics that that onesci-fi author created. All Im saying is that we canchoose right now how we build it, and how we

program it to act. Its not too late to be too careful.Hank sat silently as the others consideredLennys words. After a while Hank spoke, Thankyou for not keeping this a secret from me. I amvery hesitant about proceeding, but I will allow youto do so carefully. If were going to do this, wehave to be discrete. We must cover our bases andforget nothing. Am I understood?

The team replied with another unanimous,Yes, sir.

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4Work progressed in the way of procuring the

modular parts and systems they felt theyd need.But instead of contracting out the motion-captureduties they felt theyd need, they decided to build

their own studio for that purpose. Really it wasnothing more than a homogenously green coloredarea of the shop free from obstacles. The only issuewould be to find a few martial arts experts in RedLevel, Alabama. There simply werent any.

They put an advertisement in several castingregistries from as near as Miami to as far as Chinaand Japan. They wanted the best, and nothing lesswould do.

After the studio had been built, and theequipment had been tested and found to functionproperly, they called the registries and asked forreferrals. But none came in.

Perhaps they need an incentive, saidHank.

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We cant pay them much, replied Ms.Milner. Were getting close to the red line on thismonths allowance, thanks to the depleted uraniumpurchases last month.

What if we dont have to pay all of them?

asked Lenny.What do you have in mind? asked Hank.Something like a tournament, maybe?

suggested Lenny. Some type of competition to seewho among them is the best. If I know anythingabout celebrities, its that theyll go to lengths tomake sure people know that theyre the best, orbrightest, or whatever.

So we host some sort of challengesomewhere exotic, make it exclusive and charge anapplication fee, said Ms. Milner.

Wed be spending a lot to advertise this,and put it on, said Hank. We might have to dipinto some savings accounts and sell off some bonds.We may even have to put up some branches of ourcompany as collateral for loans.

No, said Lenny emphatically. No loans.We can do this by ourselves. And if were careful,we could pay back the deficit for advertising withentry fees with surplus enough to put on the eventitself.

And the prize for winning? asked Hank.Whats that going to be? Some of these celebritieshave more money than small nations. What awardcould entice them when they could buy itthemselves without competing?

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Hank sat quietly for a while before hecontinued speaking, If we find that we can fullyguarantee the safety and secrecy of this venture,then we will revisit continuing it after the rewardtrip. If all goes well, we could market these trips to

space to other celebrities and royalty at roughly halfthat price and add to our savings in the comingmonths. I guess Clarence could be used for hiredtours after all.

The team cheered aloud and then went towork planning the challenge. Theyd open part ofthe competition to common fighters who wanted tomake themselves a name. They would be pitted oneor two or more at a time against the celebrity fighterof choice. People like mixed martial artists, andpure masters would each have their separate

divisions. And the matches would all be capturedand processed for use by the robot ninja.The winning fighter would move on in the

bracket until they were defeated or won the wholething. Each division champion would receive a freepass on the "maiden voyage" of TOADs brand newastro-tours spacecraft. And considering that the tripup and out of the atmosphere will be pretty much astraight shot, theyd have more power to go fartherout than before. The passengers may evenexperience zero gravity, unlike the space-stationrescue trip.

The team still wasnt sure why they still hadgravity while the station just a few feet from themdidnt. They felt theyd never know for sure until

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mainstream science had fully unraveled the rootprinciples on its own.

The press releases were made, thecommercial spots readied. National magazines and

news centers began to broadcast an internationalcontest to be held in Washington D.C., sponsoredby TOAD, Inc.

Before they knew it, hundreds of commonfighters were calling in, emailing and visiting theshop to enter the challenge. Each common fighterpaid the one thousand dollar entry fee. This feeguaranteed them a chance to fight a celebrity intheir field of sport.

And before the first week had finished, notless than a dozen celebrities had signed in and paid

the hundred thousand dollar fee to fight. A hundredmore asked for VIP entrance to the event. And theywere gladly received. Any who wanted to pay thefee to attend would be accommodated. Josh andLenny and the rest of the TOAD employees lookedon with wide eyes at the names on the lists. Therewere film stars, television actors and other mastersnot seen on a screen.

Many were the fighters who requested to bepitted against specific celebrities and masters, butmany more simply didnt care who they fought.

The venue had been contracted, the stage setto both entertain the crowd and record the events.Hank secured a deal with a satellite company for apay-per-view package, so their cameras and crews

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would also be arranged in the stadium. But of thegrowing number of staff and temporary employeesthat would help to pull off the event, virtually noneof them would know the original reason andpurpose for the challenge.

The new school year was fast approachingwith the end of summer. But the team knew theystill had time to get a little more work done beforethe first bells rang in their small town. And so theyprepared the stadium without worry.

When the first day of the contest arrived,everyone felt the energy. The very air they breathedresonated with excitement and tension. Would titlesbe lost or gained? Would new champions becrowned, or would reigning masters win out in theend? Only time would tell.

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5The long line of contestants only grew

longer in the August heat. They stood with gymbags and backpacks holding their various clothesand tools. Gloves and sticks could be used for some

divisions, but mostly the contestants were going tobe using their bare hands and feet in the matches.A young lady spoke to a contestant as he

signed in the roster, Welcome, Mr. Norris. Yourroom is ready for you. As a VIP contestant youreallowed an hour per day for practicing yourtechnique in our gym. But no violent contact withother contestants outside a match will be permittedduring the length of the tournament. Any breach oftournament rules will result in an immediatedisqualification.

The contestant answered as he set the pendown. Dont worry. I only fight in the ring.

A young man walked up to him and asked,obviously jokingly, Hey, I heard that one time you

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gave a telemarketer a roundhouse kick to the faceover the phone. Is that true?

The contestant shrugged, Maybe. Wannacall me and find out?

The teens walked away nervously. The

clerk smiled and added, Nice one, sir.The contestant asked, Any clues on whatthis prize is gonna be? All it says in the pamphlet isthat its worth millions of dollars.

Sorry, sir, but Im not privy to that kind ofinformation.

The hotels were filled to capacity and thestadium showed sold out status. This idea hadaccomplished far more than they had hoped. Lennyand Josh sat in their room in the hotel looking out at

the convention center across the street. Lennyspoke softly, All this just for some minutes offighting footage.

Hey, it was all you, man, said Josh as hepicked up a menu and thumbed through it. He set itback down upon seeing some of the prices. So arewe going to make any personal appearances duringthis or what?

We better not, said Hank. It hasnt beenlong enough since that whole space rescue business.Remember how blurred pictures of your facesleaked to the press after the Coast Guard shippicked you up? If you go plastering your faces oninternational broadcasts, youd be recognized forsure.

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I guess its worth it, though, said Josh.The tournament is paying for itself ten times over,and we got signatures from all the contestants,including the VIPs, to use the footage from thefights for research purposes.

So when the winners get to the shop fortheir trip to space, how do we keep people fromlooking around and guessing how it all works?asked Red

Wed better make the launch process seemmore realistic, said Josh. Maybe make it looklike its fired from a cannon or something.

Or we could try dropping Clarence from ajet in mid-flight, added Lenny. Claim it needs themotion to get going. And wed probably betterinstall those parachute packs that we bought for it in

the first place. We need to make the landing lookmore realistic also.Hank chuckled. Its funny, you know?

Were here trying to come up with extra things todo to make the flights seem more realistic justbecause we feel that the reality of Clarencesabilities dont seem believable.

What? asked Red.Its just that were trying to add false

attributes to make a real event seem more realbecause as it is, were not sure others will believe itreally is real, said Hank.

When you put it like that, began Josh, Itreally does sound absurd. But otherwise, I think the

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passengers will feel cheated or maybe even thinkthat were lying to them.

The truth is sometimes stranger thanfiction, said Ms. Milner.

I guess well have to come up with some

techie terms to toss about on how it all works, saidLenny.You mean besides the truth? asked Red.Well, answered Lenny, We cant rightly

tell people that were using a new principal of thrustpropulsion that incorporates the production ofcomplimentary frequencies of radio pulses alongdepleted uranium fragments causing us to be able tomanipulate and adhere to spacetime as no scientisthas ever been able to do before.

How else are we going to explain the

absence of rocket boosters? asked Hank.We could say that we use a magneticlaunching system, suggested Red, similar to theprincipals at work in a rail-gun or gauss cannon.And if we say that, people will be less likely tobring recording devices and cameras for fear thattheyll get messed up.

And we could pull out an old instantcamera for group-pictures for the passengers,added Ms. Milner. Ive still got ours with a fewboxes of film left.

No, said Hank gently. I think the lessevidence afterward the better. We dont need to gohanding proof to people that they could use againstus in congressional proceedings.

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6This looks good, said Josh as he replayed

some of the footage from the first round of mixedmartial arts fighting.

The view he saw was actually not from a

normal camera, but from their motion-trackingarray. Small digital systems placed around thefighting rings deconstructed the movements of eachcontestant and extrapolated the adjustments thatwould be needed to recreate them in their proposeddesign of robot ninja. The tracking arrays workedby projecting thousands of tiny infrared dots ontothe fighters. They then tracked the changes in thesedots as the fighters moved and interpreted thechanges as movement in the fighter.

The dots couldnt be seen by human eyes,nor could normal cameras see them. The array hadbeen specially designed to track only that specificbandwidth of light so it wouldnt get distracted withother things.

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Each fighter practicing in the gym, and eachmatch in the arena was recorded in this fashion. Intime, the TOAD team of geniuses would work withthe footage toward training their own ninja to fight,but while the competition was still running, they

concentrated on simply storing the information.The days came quickly to an end and thewinners were titled such in an awards ceremony inthe convention center. The overall points leaderturned out to be an average-looking woman in thefemale kickboxing division. And when she stoodfrom her table to receive recognition for herachievement, the team sat stunned.

She didnt look like she had in the ring.There, while fighting to defend her title from aregional championship, her hair had been pulled

back into a ponytail. Her formal gown appearedvery different from her athletic attire they had seenin the footage. But then again, they really didntexpect to see her attending the banquet in spandexand boxing gloves.

Several of the celebrities had defended theirstatus, but a few had respectfully and honorablystepped aside as they were technically beaten in thepoints count by others. But those celebrity fightersthat hadnt won their divisions would be offeredseats on the second, third and fourth trips thatClarence would fly. The team felt they deserved itafter all. By paying their entry fees, they hadhelped in a large part to put on the tournament inthe first place. And besides, after showing such

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good sportsmanship, they could not realistically gounrewarded.

The winners each received a handsometrophy as a physical souvenir, but would also beprivately informed of the details on how to collect

the true prize awaiting them. They were told tomake travel plans and clear their schedules. Theywere each informed about the nondisclosureagreement they would be asked to sign, and thelegal repercussions that would follow should theychoose to break it.

With the promise hanging in the air aboutthe value of the reward, all of them agreed to theterms heartily.

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7The common room in the TOAD dorms had

been refurnished into a classroom of sorts. The fewdozen seats had been filled. Each champion hadbeen allowed to bring a friend with them. And so

the twenty seats in the lower level of Clarencewould be filled. Two more seats were added to theupper level to allow both Hank and Ms. Milner toenjoy the ride as well.

Those in attendance sat in their seats, theirvision riveted to Hank. He began, Ladies andgentlemen, thanks for coming. Were all glad youcould attend this, the maiden voyage of TOADAstro-tours. Now, when I say the maiden voyage, Idont mean that weve never tested this craft.

The people in the room chuckled a bitnervously as Hank continued his briefing. I trustthat each of you has prepared yourselves for thistrip how we have instructed?

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One gentleman raised his hand and said, Iforgot about not eating last night and had a dinner inAndalusia. Will I be left behind?

Hank replied confidently, No, Mr. Li, wewont leave you behind. Well just take precautions

to make sure that when you do get sick, it wont geton other people. Has anyone else eaten in pasteighteen hours?

A few hands went up. Hank continued,You with your hands raised, well be giving extralarge sick bags in your flight kits. Everyone elsewill be getting the same kits, but their bags will besmaller. We anticipate that about three quarters ofyou will be sick, so dont feel embarrassed if you doget nauseous. Many astronauts have become sickfrom weightlessness. Its just normal.

Some nervous shifting in their seats, butmost of the passengers still looked excited. Lennytook over the briefing at this point as they hadplanned, Ladies and gentlemen, do you realizewhat youve won? Since the beginning of humanimagination, countless millions have dreamt ofclimbing higher than the sky. And since its firstconception as a dream, only a few hundred peoplehave ever achieved it. And of those hundreds whodid fly high enough to be called astronauts, only 24people have flown higher than you will today. Youwill today be joining the ranks of men and womenwho have written their names across the clouds.Names such as Alan Shepard, John Glen, Sally Rideand Neil Armstrong. They were Air Force officers,

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Marines and Eagle Scouts; this is no small tripyoure about to take.

Lenny continued, You have won a freeticket that even now costs over twenty milliondollars to secure. Our nations space agency is

expected to pay twenty-six million dollars to theRussian Space Agency, per person, to use theirSoyuz capsule to ferry astronauts to theInternational Space Station. And currently, basedon rocket fuel costs, that price is expected to doublein the coming years. And you chosen few havebeen awarded this opportunity at pennies on thedollar compared to market value.

Lenny stopped speaking to let these numberssink in for a moment. A hand went up and he calledon her to speak, Yes maam. You have a

question?How are you able to give us this trip if itcosts so much for rocket fuel?

Simple, said Lenny. We dont use rocketfuel in our vehicle. We have our own proprietarylaunching system that, among other things, usesultra-powerful electromagnetic fields to acceleratethe vessel rapidly to several thousand miles perhour. Well leave Earths atmosphere in just a fewminutes.

If were going that fast, how will we getback down? asked another man.

Good question, answered Josh, whostepped up. You see, we wont be orbiting theearth, were just going to go up and then down.

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Even the moon is held out there because itsorbiting us. If it were to stop suddenly, itd startfalling toward the earth from almost three hundredthousand miles away. We stop about fifty thousandmiles up and then begin to fall gently back down.

Lenny continued, There wont be any fieryre-entry because we wont be slowing down fromorbital speeds. Well reach our vehicles terminalvelocity and stay there until we reach air when wellslow down some, but not a lot. The InternationalSpace Station stays up there because its travelingover 17,000 miles per hour in its orbital path. Whenthe space shuttle enters the atmosphere, it has toslow way down. Thus the need for it to have a heatshield.

That makes sense, said another passenger.

Anyone who doesnt want to go up on thistrip, you are welcome to stay behind and watch thetelevision. We have basic cable, you could watchthe history channel, said Hank. Or you couldmake history with us.

No one wanted to be left behind. Eachpassenger received a flight suit into which they hadto change. The suits, by design, had no pockets.The passengers were allowed a few pieces ofpersonal jewelry, but beyond a watch and a fewrings, the rest were safely secured in lockers withthe rest of their personal effects. No cameras,phones, laptops or other electronics were allowed.

The group walked out to the bus that wouldconvey them to the launch site. The sun was setting

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when they pulled up next to a large hole in theground in a fenced wooded area. The whole placehad been hastily assembled in just a few weeks toappear as if it had been the companys testing sitefor years. The illusion worked as it should have.

No one questioned its reality.Out of the bus, the passengers climbed downinto the large pit. They descended three flights ofstairs until they reached the level where theyd enterClarence at his hatch. Clarence, who had been laidon his back for the illusion, rested in a sort of cradlemeant to look like it was more complicated than itreally was. Again the illusion worked, as no onementioned any doubt about it being a real launchmechanism.

Really, the cradle held Clarence from falling

deeper into the cavernous pit. The launch site wasno more than a large cylindrical cement pipe justlarger than Clarence for most of its depth. It wentdown a few hundred feet into the ground and thenstopped at a dead end. At the bottom of the pit theteam had built more of a special effects area withlights and complicated looking shapes. When theywere ready to begin powering up the fake launchingsystem, theyd lower down into the bottom and startthe lights dimly flashing and the sounds humming.

Passengers, prepare for countdown, saidHank over the new PA system.

Josh sat in the pilots seat, the others aroundhim. He started the system up and Clarenceresponded to his commands as he should have. The

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locks released and they slowly lowered into the pit.As they sat in their seats facing upward, they sawabove them the mouth of the pit growing smallerand farther away. Someone downstairs hooted anda few others clapped. The team felt the same

excitement, just a little muted by experience.Clarence reached the bottom of the pit andthey saw about them the launching mechanismpreparing to fire. Hank keyed his mic again, Wewill be launching in tennineeight

Lenny made sure the newly added batterieswere at full capacity. Red double checked theindicators that registered all seatbelts fastened andsecure.

Hank continued the count, Seven sixfive four,

Josh made sure the flight protocol for theHatching drive was in fact the one he wanted. Aguided ascent straight upward, so as not to hit thewalls of the silo on their way out.

Threetwoone. Launching!Josh hit the execute command on his

console and everyone in the craft felt the launch intheir bones. They were forced back into their seatswith reckless abandon, though were it not for theoverall effects of the Hatching drive module ontheir inertia, all passengers wouldve been turnedinto red goo upon launch.

The walls of the silo vanished quickly,almost too fast to see as Clarence accelerated tomach six in under a second. The sonic shockwave

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was contained underground however, before theyleft the silo, so few people would have heard it. In aminute, they were seeing the hazy atmospheregrowing thin around them.

Those in the upper deck saw the message

alerting them that the heating system turned onautomatically, as well as the air filtration systems.They were truly on their own, surviving with onlythe equipment and tools that they had packed withthem. These new systems included extending theirbattery supply to allow them a safer trip. The teamfelt that they cut it too close to running out of poweron the rescue mission. And without returning toearth, they would require the use of a few solar cellsthat they could put in the windows to charge theirreserves. But charging by solar was slow, and a trip

could be very dangerous if they found the need todo so.As the craft left the upper atmosphere

around their home planet, Josh pushed them faster.They barely felt it, but by the time they reachedtheir goal altitude of fifty thousand miles, the triphad waxed close to half an hour. As well, becauseof their power reserve capacity, they had used onlyten percent of their energy. But they had maxed outtheir system on speed, cruising at one point at morethan seventy thousand miles per hour. As opposedto the rescue mission, the vast majority of the triphad been traveled outside of the atmosphere, so thewind resistance that they had had to use more

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energy to fight hadnt played much of a part thistime around.

The PA sounded, Ladies and gentlemen,were preparing to use our thrusters to turn ourcraft, so that you can have a better view out our

windows. But before we do so wed like to let youknow that we anticipate that the appearance ofgravity will go away soon. Prepare yourselves forweightlessness.

Josh turned them around to point at the earthand when he was sure they were stable, he shutdown the Hatching Drive module.

As soon as it went out, they felt theunmistakable sensation of falling. But the fearlasted only a minute as they couldnt see themselvesclosing too quickly on the earth before them. And

so the fun began. But first, they would need tosupply the passengers with their flight kits completewith sick bags, and fast. The PA sounded again, Ifyou reach under the front of your seats, youll feel afabric pouch. This is your flight kit. Deidra Milnerwill be down in a second to help anyone who needsher. Remember the location of your sick bags fromthe briefing. Keep them with you.

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8Hank went down to the lower section to be

with the passengers. Ms. Milner remained in herseat; she didnt feel the need to float around aseveryone else did. Josh and Lenny remained near

the controls if needed, but they too floated about thecabin enjoying the environment.The scene before the tourists was awe-

inspiring. They saw before them their entire world.All that they had built for themselves and others, allthat they felt was important and otherwise, all thatthey had ever seen and heard and felt lay beforethem in a single pane of sapphire lens. They eachsaw and distinguished the continents and oceans,partially obscured by clouds, but mostly visible.

No one knew who said it, but it didnt reallymatter. Someone said, That is our world. All thepeople of all the nations, both friend and enemy areon that one rock. The governments and civilians areall there. From here, there are no celebrities and no

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common man. There are no royal families and nopeasants. There are no weapons, no diseases, noborders, no fights. There is only the earth, a smallwatery rock of a lifeboat floating in an endless seaof black velvet studded with diamonds. It is an

island, from which we cannot venture too far. Butout here, we are no more humanity, because to behuman, we must be earth-bound. Out here, we arefamily, born of the same DNA, no matter the colorof our skin or the balance of our account. We arebrothers, sisters, parents and children. The past isbehind us, the future ahead. We move on,continuing forward to a world with no borderspainted only on maps, for there are none on theground that I can see. We go on to return but neverreally go home. Once youve seen what weve

seen, you can never go home. For your home is nolonger there, no longer tied to an address. It is here,with those of a like mind, with those that wish tobuild that world before us when we return to itssurface.

Red put her hand on Hanks shoulder, Thatwas pretty good, she whispered.

Hank replied quietly, Lets go back up andleave them to their thoughts.

Its too bad Lenny and Josh didnt hearthat, said Red.

They didnt need to, answered Hank.They already know it. Who do you think taughtme?

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Red and Hank floated back to the uppercabin and found the boys tossing about. Ms. Milnersat still buckled in her seat.

Momma, arent you going to get up and flyaround? asked Red.

Not this time, baby girl. The view isenough for now, replied Ms. Milner.Hank asked, How long until we need to

turn on the engine again?Josh checked his console. It had been just

over two minutes since they had begun to fall andaccording to the spreadsheet hed written onacceleration in a vacuum they would be traveling atover two thousand miles per hour already andincreasing steadily. Some basic math later and theydetermined that in just a few minutes more theyd

have to belt the passengers back in. They feltswitching the engine back on was a dangerousproposition above ten thousand miles per hour,though it was only a theory. If not done properly, itwould be like dropping boat oars into the watersuddenly, except that the boat would stop veryquickly afterward. Theyd not have much inertia,but the passengers would feel it.

In the seconds it took Josh to calculate, theylost more time, We have about a minute left beforewe need to reorient ourselves and switch back on.

Then lets get our passengers buckled backin, said Red.

Hank keyed the PA, Folks, we need to firesome thrusters to slow our descent a bit. This

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means we need you all back in your seats andsecurely belted on the double.

Within a minute Red showed on her boardthat all belts were secure. She nodded to Josh whoswitched on the Hatching Drive module with the

deceleration protocol. It detected their travel andmatched it with speed. Then they rotated backaround to have the earth behind them. Joshsubtracted a little speed from their travel, and thepeople felt it as if thrusters had indeed fired.

And then he brought them to a stop. Ofcourse, from just a view from inside the passengercompartment of the craft looking out, there was noevidence of their maneuvers.

To the surprise of the crew of Clarence, theweightlessness remained, even though they should

have even then been feeling gravity pulling themtoward the surface of the earth.Lenny spoke softly, Its as if the gravity

situation that exists in the cabin when the driveturns on is preserved somehow, no matter how wemove. And it only reorients itself when the driveshuts off again. We could stay out here, suspendedin the sky for hours feeling the weightlessness. Andthen when we wanted to go back down, we couldjust move to a safe distance and then fall carefullyto parachute altitude.

The more we use the Hatching Drivetechnology, said Josh, the cooler it gets.

After a minute of holding the ship where itwas, Josh keyed the PA system and announced to

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the passengers, Folks, weve activated the safefalling protocols. For the next few hours, wellperiodically need you to belt in when we usethrusters to slow our descent. Itll only be a minuteor two each time, so dont worry about not getting

your moneys worth. We anticipate entering themeasurable atmosphere in just over four hours.Until the next thruster burst, enjoy the experience.

Lenny nodded to Josh when the mic cut offand he began to accelerate Clarence gently backdown toward the surface. They kept the earthbehind them for the remainder of the trip, to keepthe passengers from suspecting anything to beabnormal about the amount of control the ship hadover their movement.

Laughter and cheering came from below

deck as Clarence slowed and then hung in the sky atan altitude of six hundred miles. There they wouldwait out the time they had left before their powerreserves dictated their landing pattern.

For the most part the moon lit the cabinnicely as it shown in the windows. It had takenonly a few minutes for the passengers eyes tobecome accustomed to the light. Lenny felt gladthat they had chosen to go up on that night, at thattime. The stars alone wouldnt have done much forthem; they were too dim to light the cabin, even atthat altitude. Josh made certain that they sawnothing on their radar screen approaching theirposition. Of the thousands of space objects placedby the hands of man, most were junk parts and

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broken bits from early missions and damagedsatellites. At their speed of orbiting the earth, animpact with Clarences skin would do a good dealof damage. This was the main reason for theirchoice of altitude. Not much material would be

traveling that high.After their short hours had been utterlyspent, and the saddened travelers belted themselvesback into their seats for the last time, Josh flewClarence downward into the ever-thickeningatmosphere.

Red spoke up, Remember, the parachutesare on top, so well need to be oriented so that thefloor is toward the ground.

Gradually changing our attitude, said Joshcarefully.

In response to his piloting, the stars changeda little, but then they stopped. They would never betraveling fast enough to see the stars move to theside of their craft.

Lenny spoke up, Radar shows we have aclear fall-path with no obstructions. Were gettingclose now, might ought to slow us a bit more.

Understood, Josh reported.And theres the five hundred mile mark,

said Lenny. Its now safe to free fall.And wheres our landing zone? asked

Hank.We are still on target for lower Alabama,

said Josh. Bringing up the GPS guidance systemand tying it in with the descent protocol. We should

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land in the trees outside Gantt, about five or sixmiles from Red Level.

Just dont forget to pop the parachutes,said Red, white-knuckling her armrests, or thisllbe the last trip we take together.

Theyre automatic, deploying on their ownat five thousand feet, reported Lenny.Their view turned slightly downward, but

not by much, as the only deformation on the outerhull that would cause wind friction was the riggingaround the hatch. And since the hatch wasntpositioned at the exact top of Clarence, itmaneuvered Clarence in the fall so that it wasdirectly up.

The dim lights of the cities around thecountryside grew closer as they fell through the

night. Hank clicked the PA on for the last time,Folks, well be deploying our parachute systemsshortly. When we do, youll want to try to keepyour eyes closed until the craft stops swingingunder the cords. Otherwise youre liable to get sickagain. Please remain buckled in your seats until thecraft comes to a complete stop on the ground andwe come to get you.

The mic clicked off and they fell for a fewminutes longer before the craft shook suddenly andviolently. The parachutes had indeed deployed andwere slowing the pod to a speed of about 40 milesper hour. But a landing at that speed could possiblybe harmful still, so Josh powered the drive moduleand slowed them a little more. The gravity in the

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cabin remained as it would have been if the drivewere not on. They felt it pulling them into theirseats, toward the floor. They were falling just fastenough to keep the parachutes aloft above them.Radar showed the ground approaching and Josh

shouted down to the passengers in the lowercompartment, Brace for landing!The pod hit an oak tree and split it in half

under its eleven ton mass, not including the weightof its passenger manifest. And then they hit theground roughly. Josh stopped their descent beforethey began to tunnel into the ground or crack theceramic shell. Then he powered down the drivemodule again. He then put the navigation computerinto sleep mode and unbuckled himself from hisseat.

Climbing down the ladder into the lowercompartment, he addressed the passengers, Ladiesand gentlemen, thank you for flying with us. It wasour honor to share this maiden voyage with you all.Weve landed in Alabama, again, thanks to our stateof the art guidance system, and we will be pickedup by a transport vehicle soon. In the mean time,you are welcome to stay in the craft, but notrequired to. If youd like to step out and walkaround you may. As always, be courteous ofothers.

As Hank stepped up the ladder and unlockedthe hatch, Lenny thought it funny that they wouldnteven know the real technology behind their trip inthe first place, so even if it did get out, it wouldnt

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be a problem. The hatch opened as usual, itsounded like normal, no hiss or explosion. Out thetop, Hank climbed and then slid down the side tothe ground. Lenny fastened a rope ladder to thehatch rigging and draped it down the shell. Hank

then staked its bottom to the ground. Itd shake alittle, but not so much as to be unsafe.One by one the passengers climbed out of

the craft and onto the ground. Most sat in the coolgrass, not caring if the dew made their seats wet.They sat in a group and discussed the things theydseen, the feelings theyd felt, and how it changedtheir lives. Ms. Milner sat with the passengers,some of them celebrities. She spoke to them asnormal people, as if they were neighbors. Theytreated her like an equal, as they should have. Some

even exchanged email addresses on the notepadsthey found in the flight kits.Red smiled to herself. This was more a

reward for them, than it was for the otherpassengers that won the right to take the trip withthem.

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9Once the bus dropped the passengers off at

the shop, and everyone was back in their personalclothes, they began to speak to each other about theexperience anew. Had they really gone? How had

they landed so close to their launch site? Theysatisfied themselves with facts, like there was notelevision screens inside the windows to show themother things. They were clear from either side.They had landed roughly and a simulator wouldntdo that. They had all really experienced trueweightlessness for a few minutes before they had tofire the thrusters to slow their descent. And thatwas something that could not be simulated withoutreally falling from pretty high up.

They agreed in the end that it was in factreal. As unbelievable as it sounded, they had eachgone to space, without a crew of thousands tofacilitate the launch and recovery of an overpricedrocket the size of a skyscraper. They were living in

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the new present where vehicles could be launchedinto space without rocket fuel.

As they left in their rented cars and taxistoward airports and train stations, each passengergraciously thanked the employees of TOAD, Inc.

for allowing them this experience. Some even triedto pay the team even more but they refused,knowing that theyd be getting enough income soonenough from the other paying customers.

In fact, said Hank, If we do it right, hirethe right staff, we could splinter this off as a newbusiness too. Of course wed need to hire the bestpilots and crews, and we could keep Clarence toourselves and use some of the remaining uraniumsupplies to build a more suitable purpose-built craftfor this venture. Itll be expensive, probably more

so than Clarence, but a few trips up and down andits paid for in ticket fees.All looked shocked at Hank. Not long

before, he had been the most outspoken personopposed to allowing others to ride in the tours. Hehad flipped sides entirely, wanting to hire it out toits own company. Perhaps it was a result of the tripitself that he had just endured. He too had a newoutlook on life. But if it was a permanent change,they didnt know. So theyd give it a while, to seeif he changed his mind back, or if he truly wanted tobranch off another company.

That night, the doorbell rang late. The clockshowed after midnight when Hank made it to thefront doors. It was Josh out in the cold. Hank

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quickly unlocked the door and let him in. Joshreported, I forgot my keys back here when I wentto get Clarence from the field. And I left my phoneon the charger also, so I couldnt call in quietly.

Why didnt you go to the side door? Your

code bypasses the key-lock.Its messing up again, probably a short in aplug somewhere. I tried it a few times before I justdecided to ring the bell. Again Im sorry.

Hank relocked the doors and then they wentback to the dorms. Joshs room would be mostlyunused in a few short days time when schoolstarted again and his parents wanted him sleeping intheir house.

As Hank walked back toward his room, hestopped short. There on a sofa sat Lenny deep in

thought. He wasnt working on anything, and healso wasnt daydreaming. When he sat thinking, healways had the same squinted eyes, furrowed browand intense stare. He sat, reclined on a sofa,rubbing the lobe of his ear with one hand andresting the other one across the back cushions of thefurniture, as if someone else sat next to him and hehad his arm around his or her shoulders.

Hank stepped toward Lenny, but the teenmade no sign that he knew he was there. Hank saton a sofa opposite Lenny and stared tiredly at himfor a few minutes. Just before one in the morning,Hank decided hed take the opportunity to go backto bed. As he moved his hands to help himselfstand from the sofa, Lenny said something softy to

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him. It wasnt a tired voice, or whispered. It wasjust spoken deliberately quiet.

Lenny began, When is it right to give lightto those in darkness?

Hank considered his words for a moment,

knowing Lenny was truly serious about hisquestion. Hank then answered, You never reallyknow when people are ready for something, untilyou give it to them and mark their reaction.

Lenny then spoke, If I forge a blade andhand it to another man, am I not responsible for thelife he may take with it? For, were I to retain theblade, hed not have killed.

Hank again considered his words carefullybefore answering Lennys concern, Your actionsare your own, and mine are my own. Providing a

recipient is of acceptable maturity, the tools yougive him are his responsibility, and his actions takenat his discretion are solely his responsibility.

Lenny blinked slowly, but deliberately. Hethen said in a more conversational tone, Henry, canwe trust a government sponsored agency to actresponsibly with an advancement that they wouldnot have found on their own? Can we expect thattheyll use it for good and honorable purposes, forthe betterment of mankind? Can we sleep at nightknowing that weve given fire to chimps, knowingthat they may burn themselves and others in theirlearning of its nature?

Hank sat back on his sofa. He thought for amoment before he spoke more resolutely. Young

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Leonardo, I think you now understand the strugglethat all inventors face when they realize how theirinventions could be used for the detriment of others.The Wright brothers never knew how their designwould be used in the decades following their fateful

demonstration for Army Brass. They hadnt thecapacity to understand that their wood and fabricdesign could be modified to fly so fast that soundwaves would be left vagrant of the thing that madethem, or that they would be used to deliver bombsthat would burn entire cities. The ancient Chinesedesigners of fireworks hadnt the capacity tocomprehend that, with large enough engines, therocket could transport a man to the moon abovetheir heads, or carry a payload of nuclear weaponsto the other side of the world.

Lenny sat listening as Hank continued, No,you will never know how your designs andinventions will be used and modified in the yearsand decades and centuries to come. Heck, yourmusic player software could be turned into aweapon for all you know. But the point of scienceis to understand our universe at large. And formankind to have reached the new world he had tofirst invent the sailboat. Your Hatching Drivemodule may someday help usher in an era ofplanetary colonization, or it may be fitted towarheads. Youll never know. But, to hold anadvancement in secret just because you fearmankind isnt ready for it yet, is both arrogant anddistrusting of the maturity of mankind on the whole.

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They may prove too immature, but they may alsoprove themselves ready to move on from rocketpropelled flight to the next inevitable stage.

Hank stood and walked out of the room.But Lenny remained in his place for a while longer,

considering what Hank had said. Perhaps it wastime to take humanitys training wheels off and letthem fall to learn how to ride free. After all, dontwe as a people learn from failing just as much asfrom success?

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10When Hank came out from his bedroom in

the morning, he half expected to see Lenny stillsitting and thinking because of the weight of thephilosophical debates going on in his mind. But he

was not where Hank had left him just a few hoursbefore. Instead of finding him on couch, he foundLenny in the kitchen.

Hold up, partner, its my turn to makebreakfast, said Hank.

Too late, said Lenny as he put the largebowl of popovers on the table.

The dishes from mixing the batter andbaking the large airy pastries were all washed andsitting in the drainer near the sink. Lenny alsopulled from the fridge a pitcher of fruit juice.

If you want to help, started Lenny, Youcan call everyone in for breakfast.

Did you sleep last night? asked Hank.

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Of course, replied Lenny as he sat himselfin his normal seat.

And what have you decided about yourphilosophy debate from last night?

Well, said Lenny, I thought Id put it to a

vote. This company is modeled after a democracy,not a dictatorship.And you will abide by the popular vote?

No matter the outcome? asked Hank as he also satat the table.

Lenny shrugged casually, I own thecompany, but you run it. I think ultimately, itsyour decision on whether we adhere to the opinionof the consensus or not.

Red and Ms. Milner entered the room,followed closely by Josh. The latter asked, We

voting on something?Hank spoke up at Lennys silence, It hasbeen discussed whether humanity is ready to beshown the mechanism and function of the HatchingDrive system. Comments or concerns before wevote?

Josh raised his hand respectfully. Those atthe table recognized him and he spoke, Are we outof our minds? Of course theyre not! They haveneither the imagination nor the maturity to use itwisely, and I am against it whole-heartedly.

I think if we dont show it to them, beganRed, they wont come up with it for a hundredyears on their own. I think if theyre not ready now,

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we have time to watch and wait for them to beready later.

How long, began Lenny, did the militaryscientists have the technology and mechanism ofthe J-58 hybrid engine before President Johnson

announced to the public the existence of the SR-71Blackbird? It was at least a decade if I recall. Imnot suggesting that we make it immediatelyavailable to the masses both public and private. Imsuggesting that we make the knowledge of itavailable for licensure from this company byresponsible research facilities. These would ofcourse be agencies that can assure its secrecy aboveall else and guarantee the safe development ofapplications of the technology.

Itd have to be classified top secret, said

Josh reluctantly.More than that, added Lenny, we may beable to petition for a congressional act to guaranteeour ownership of the rights of this technology inperpetuity, as well as mandate no public use of it fora minimum of 20 years if not 50.

Ms. Milner spoke casually as she was thefirst to begin preparing her plate for breakfast, Itsnot like we need more income. But I guess if youguys insist on building more and more expensiveprototypes, we may have to increase the monthlyallotment of allowances.

How does all this talk affect your plans ofmaking a robot ninja? asked Red. Is that still oneof our goals?

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Lenny spoke after a bite of breakfast, Forthe time being, that project is still on the docket.But these other concerns are valid distractions.With our continued use of Clarence, and the remotepossibility that someone may be able to steal him, I

think we need to seriously consider the future of theHatching Drive technology.Hank then spoke up after a general pause in

conversation, All in favor of preparing to licenseand demonstrate this technology, make youropinion known by raising your hand.

Some hands went up.Hank continued to moderate, Any opposed

to it, raise your hand.Some hands went up.Hank then spoke, The majority rules.

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11In an effort to have another use for the

technology, the team began working on a prototypelaunching system that used the same parts, justrearranged a little. They quickly welded up a frame

composed of two-inch stainless steel rod, veryexpensive, but worth the cost. Within the frame'scavity, they securely fastened a few grains ofuranium rice, as well as one on the end of a smallhydraulic piston. The mobile grain had a strokelength of three feet, well more than they hadoriginally planned, but in the end they were pleasedwith the design.

"Tell me again what we're doing?" askedHank, slightly nervous.

Lenny answered as he put his goggles overhis eyes. "We're taking time to test a theory beforewe invite the military to inspect our offerings."

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Josh continued, "We think that we can usethe relative elasticity of spacetime to produce aslingshot effect on a payload."

Red interjected, "We're gonna try to toss aball with the contraption on the table."

"You see," said Hank to the boys, "that wasjust as easy to say, but I actually understood it."The boys readied themselves behind a large

thick segment of wall. Hank closed his eyes tightly,not sure he wanted to be inside the building whenthey pushed the button on the remote, but also notwanting to miss the results of their first test-fire.

Lenny gingerly pressed the button on hissmall remote, and the immediate reaction could beheard by all. The building shook and a loud crackresounded throughout the shop. They waited a full

minute before leaving the safety of their barrier.Sure enough, on the cement wall opposite thebusiness end of the prototype, they found a largespider web crack about three feet across. Small bitsof crumbled rock littered the floor in front of thewall.

Hank asked nervously, "What did you shootat the wall?"

Lenny spoke, "Josh, what did you put in thecradle?"

Josh answered, "I thought you were going toput something into it."

Red put up both her hands and defended,"Don't y'all look at me; I didn't go near it after youcharged the hydraulic system."

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Hank asked slowly, "If there was nothing inthe launcher thing, then what cracked the cement?"

Lenny left the room for a minute while therest of the people were still puzzling the situationout amongst themselves. He returned with a device

they bought on a whim a year before, though itseldom got use. It was called a Schlieren cameraand its purpose was to make the invisible visible toviewers. It literally captured and displayed theactions of air currents and gases mixing.

Josh caught on and helped to set it up torecord the path of an object were it to leave theprototype launcher they had built. They tuned it tocapture and record a thousand frames per secondand then they again hid behind the barrier wall theyhad once before used.

On a nod from Lenny, Red hit the button onthe remote and they again heard a loud thump in theshop. This time they only heard a little cracking,mainly because the target area had already beencracked to pieces.

The replay from the schlieren camera didn'ttell them much. Only the first two frames actuallyhad anything distinct on them. They saw a cone ofdistorted air in the cradle being pulled to a point bythe grain of uranium rice on the hydraulic cylinder.Then they saw in the next frame that the rice hadreleased the air after it was de-energized. Theresulting bowl-shaped shockwave from the eventhad been captured almost a foot in front of thebroken cement.

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No one knew exactly how to react. Itappeared as if dry-firing their new prototype wasstill having very destructive repercussions on thetarget surface.

Im almost scared to even load Reggy into

the cradle, said Red.The object she named Reggy could bedescribed as a probe of sorts. It had two expensivehigh-speed cameras pointing forward and back, afew lithium polymer batteries, a GPS transponder, asmall computer to run it and a microwave burstantenna to relay the telemetry back to the shop. Itwas a hasty build, but it had been tested to workwell. The smart equipment sat nestled within adodecahedron frame of cold-rolled steel rod. Thegaps in the frame were protected by inch-thick

segments of tempered glass to allow visibilitywithout leaving the hardware vulnerable to strikes.The whole contraption weighed roughly fiftypounds, and they had built two of them.

But in the end, they decided they needed tocontinue with the experiment and proceeded tomove both the prototype launcher, which Joshnamed the slingshot, and one of the Reggy probesout onto the darkening lawn. The night was comingon and they werent upset about it.

Carefully they tipped the slingshot frameonto its back and shimmed its feet until it aimed atthe full moon. Then they lifted Reggy 1 up into thelaunch area and set him to begin transmitting hiscamera feeds, frames recorded at four hundred

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thousand images per second would be received bymicrowave signal near the launch area. To makesure they had the best technology for their model,they chose to install a very directional transceiverarray. If their theories were right, Reggys

transmission would quickly turn to nothing morethan a tight beam of signal.Launching in three, began Lenny. Two.

One. Fire!They no longer felt the need to hide behind a

barrier wall, as they had perceived no danger to thesides of the slingshot launcher. What they saw,however, was an immediate disappearance ofReggy from the cradle area of the launcher.

It wasnt like he flew up and away at super-speed, he was simply there one second and gone the

next. They heard nothing but a soft soundsomewhat like drum beat a distance away.Im receiving data bursts from Reggy!

said Red excitedly, working at a computer near thelauncher. Theyre buffering pretty good. Give mea sec to open a few image files.

I guess it launched, then, said Hankrelieved.

Wait, said Red, it just stopped receivingpackets.

Ill reset the receiver antenna, said Joshquickly.

The last data packet cut off half waythrough, but I think we can still extract a partialimage from it, reported Red.

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After an hour of working at the computer,cleaning up the transmissions and compiling theimages into a consecutive order, they held theirbreath and started the playback in a video form.What they saw started them.

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angle of the moon changed from 59.7336 to65.0477 of the viewing field. This equates toabout-

Wait, interrupted Josh, Ill have it in asecond. A little more scribbling on the page and

he reported, This gives us the passage of a quartermile between frames. And that meansyup, youreright, Lenny.

Hank asked, as he sat back in his seat andlooked at the far side of the room, What is that,like mach one thousand?

Josh scribbled a little more, Based onstandard air pressure, thats mach 481,283 or so.

Red closed her eyes and thought for amoment, and then she spoke softly, The fastest ofthe munitions fired from any military gun on earth

was recently with a hard plastic round and it hit27,000 feet per second. Youre telling me that ourtest this evening was about twenty-thousand timesfaster than that one.

Lenny spoke almost reverently now, WhatIm saying is, we just fired a technological device atthe moon, with no frame deformation due toacceleration, and that velocity exceeded half of thespeed of light.

Then were shutting this test down rightnow, said Hank. Youre dabbling in sciences thatare hundreds if not thousands of years ahead of theirtime. Were pushing our luck as it is. One falsestep and who knows how catastrophic the resultscould be? The thing could go nuclear or worse. I

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dont usually do this, but Im exercising my officeand pulling the plug on this one before anyone getshurt. Please respect my decision.

Id like to push for one last launch, saidLenny. We still have the other Reggy probe. We

could fire it at a farther target, give us more time toget a more accurate sense of the reality of the flightand the limits of the elasticity and recoil speed ofspacetime. Then, when were finished with thatlaunch, well scrap the prototype, completelydismantle it and recycle the parts into furniture orsomething.

Hank sighed and reluctantly nodded hisconsent. It took only a few minutes to get thelauncher back outside and ready for its final use inthat capacity. Red finished sticking shock-sensitive

stickers just in the viewing field of the rear-facingcamera when Lenny came from the shop with apiece of paper in his hand. He had chosen their newtarget.

Set the slingshot to this declination andright-ascension. And be sure to get it as close aspossible. Even a hundredth of a degree off andwell miss it altogether.

Josh asked, Whats our target?Jupiter. And well have about an hour and

a half before it gets there.They gave Hank the honor of pressing the

button on the remote, firing the second and lastReggy probe out into space.

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Once gone, they all looked up into the starrysky as if they thought they could see it retreatingfrom Earths neighborhood. Soon Red spoke up,Im receiving data bursts from Reggy 2. And I setthe computer to calculate between packets based on

the fact that its going as fast as it is.It did its job well, and when the computerspit out the figure, a low whistle came from thegroup. No one knew who whistled, but it didntmatter because they all wanted to. Josh read thewords on the screen, Based on signal travel timeand gap calculations we get an estimated velocity of53.68% of light speed.

Five thousand and one seconds later, theystopped receiving data bursts. They watched thelast few million slower than normal as Reggys

view screamed toward the gas giant. They couldntsee much in the views because they were only100x100 pixels, and in black and white. This madethem faster to transmit back to Alabama. But theysaw the clouds swirling about Reggy until the air-pressure became more than his components couldhandle and something failed. The transmissionstopped and they had within their possession thefirst video footage of a descent into Jupitersatmosphere by a commercial venture. They wouldlock it up with their most valuable and dangerousitems in the shop vault.

As they walked back inside, Lenny spoke,Well keep this one out of the demonstration next

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week. No reason why we need to tell them of thisother application for the technology.

Sounds like a wise idea, said Hank.

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13Surprisingly, when a small tech company in

Southern Alabama announces to a few military andcongressional offices that it has planned to hold ademonstration of a new and promising technology,a lot of people become interested. Phone linesbecome loaded and visitation from representativesof those offices become nearly uncontrollable.

But Hank handled the influx of interest well,answering the questions and concerns as per hisinstructions. He gave out only the information that

he was allowed concerning the demonstration. Itwould be held in a week, at the TOAD facility inRed Level and that only the people invited shouldattend. No media accommodations would be madenor should the appointment be broadcast.

A specific statement made to each and everyinquisitive party had Hank on his toes. Let mepersonally assure you that this demonstration willbe as revolutionary to this world as the discovery offire was to primitive man.

One person incredulously asked, You thinkits that big, huh?

Hank replied, Yes, its that big if not evenmore so.

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And so the acceptance letters came in andwere filed neatly. And by the time the scaffoldingand catwalks and stairs were assembled in the shopat TOAD, Inc., and the demo remotes were crudelyassembled, the fateful day had arrived.

The teens took the day off of school to helpwith the demonstration. Besides, even if it costthem points on their final grades, they had almostliterally an entire school year to make up the loss.

Early in the morning of September first, thecars started to arrive. The several delegates andrepresentatives were graciously received into theoffices and asked to find a seat in the common roomof the dorm. More padded chairs were added toaccommodate the visitors. When the last expectedguest arrived, Lenny called his friends in to meet

with them.Hank began the speech, Esteemed guests,welcome to our small community. Im HenryRoddaburke, managing director of this company.We dont want to waste your time, but there is alittle groundwork to be laid before we proceed withthe visual portion of the day.

Red, Lenny and Josh were handing outprinted material packets to the visitors. Most justtook them and set them aside as they listened.

Hank continued, Since before any of uswere born, an idea ruled the minds of the writers offiction. They dreamed of new forms of travel, invehicles still beyond our grasp. In fact, when I wasyoung, my parents told me that by this time wed all

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The Judge began to sign the papers handedto her as Hank knocked on the break room door.Some uniformed police officers entered the alreadycramped room as Hank continued to speak, Aswell, we have with us three officers from the Red

Level Police Department to help us with security.Everyone who passes this point will have emptypockets and be carrying no purses or bags. Noitems will be allowed with you, except basicclothing. This is to ensure that the secrecy beyondthis door is kept.

To the teams mild surprise, no one had anyproblem leaving even their jewelry behind in thesitting room. They lined up, were gently patteddown by the officers and let one by one into theshop area. The police followed Judge Davis, who

was then followed by Lennys team and Hank.The shop had been cleaned up for thedisplay. And no one noticed the main attractionhovering motionlessly in a corner while theysatisfied their hunger with sandwiches and bottledwater. That is, until someone did notice Clarenceand spoke up, Whats that?

We were wondering when youd notice,said Lenny as everyone else turned to look wherethe speaker pointed.

Josh introduced, Ladies and gentlemen,may I introduce to you, Clarence. He wasoriginally designed as a tourist submarine forshallow tropical excursions. But when we made ourdiscovery we repurposed him into this role.

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One military officer spoke, Ive seen thatbefore in images from the ISS rescue a few monthsago. Id been told it was lost in the sea just aftersplash-down. You retrieved it?

Lenny answered, I didnt know the

astronauts took pictures of us, but yes thats all true.Except that I programmed it to return here after ashort underwater jaunt.

It can still go under water? asked anothermilitary officer?

Seamlessly from air to water to space,answered Josh.

But how? asked an aged senator.That, sir, is the information that we will be

licensing under contract, said Hank. But thosethat do sign to be able to research and develop this

technology must be made aware of certainconditions. To name a few, this technology mustnever be applied to weaponry whether attached todiscrete objects or in launcher form or anypermutation of intended weaponry imaginable.Second, this technology must not be used orexplained in view of the public for a period ofseveral years, the exact number to be described inthe contract itself. Third, this technology and therights to it are the sole property of TOAD, Inc. andits heirs in perpetuity, a term without end. Fourth,TOAD, Inc. may at any time retain or redact anymaterials and equipment relating to this technologyshould the contract be breached. And fifth, sincesome of the components are readily available to the

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general public, we require that new legislation bepenned and passed to monitor these raw materials,so that uninformed civilians cant go and make theirown apparatus and with it endanger countless othersthrough their ignorance.

You may be asking too much of us, saidanother congressman.I dont think so at all, said Lenny. Lets

say you arent careful and an enemy of this nationgets their hands on the technology and a nuclearwarhead and fuses them. They could drop the bombon an area faster than youd believe and thered beno warning.

Wed see it coming, retorted a militaryofficer.

No, you wouldnt. In Clarence, an eleven

ton submarine, weve reached speeds of overseventy thousand miles per hour in space. And wedid so with little strain on the system. Youretelling me that you can defend against a missilefalling toward the planet at roughly a hundred timesthe speed of sound? At that speed it would circlethe earth in twenty minutes, or reach the moon infour hours. And that isnt even the maximum speedthat it could pull. When I say that this will never bea weapon, I mean that it will never be in theposition to be stolen before you can defend againsta bom