Dark as Daylight Ch. 06

However, what they could not feel, or see was what the vibrations, and the rising heat was doing to the couplings between the science laboratory, and living quarters.

Richards program isolated on the areas of the science lab, where it connected to the living quarters. He panned around, showing stress fractures forming along the entire circumference of the areas where the two sections met. The numbers alongside the video display, showed a count-down to separation of these two areas. At 30,600 feet above the surface of Mars, the science lab broke free, taking part of the crew quarters with it.

Orion started spinning in an angular momentum that caused the body weight of the Minions to reach 12 G's. They were unable to reach the abort button that would have separated the capsule from the crew quarters and allowed it to speed back into orbit around Mars, and eventually head home. Seven seconds later, the capsule imploded on the surface of the planet.

The plume of red dust went so high into the thin Martian atmosphere; it was seen by earthbound telescopes.

Richard said, "As you can see, even though I used comic book characters, this is exactly what the numbers that ran alongside them proved. The oscillations, during the descent phase, will cause a failure between the science lab, and the crew quarters 100% of the time. To fix it, they would have to make one large piece, or use an internal rigid girdle to hold the two section together until they reach 5000 feet. Then, using explosive bolts that would unlock the girdle, the descent could continue normally. I would still have to run tests to see if that would work for them."

William Junior said, "Very good Richard, now show us the way it should be one."

"Mister Zabo, please remember this is only a prototype. I only had six or seven hours to put both parts together. So when my brother laughs, don't hit him."

On the screen came a picture of the Welcome Center at NASA's Cape Kennedy facility. All the people stopped walking to watch hundreds of Minions taking down the display of the Atlas 5 rocket. When they had it on its side, they carried it to the assembly building where they hoisted it up leaving it hanging in midair.

During the next sequence, you could see the minions working on both the science lab, and the living quarters. There was no doubt in anyone's mind they were not the same size. The two managers fought over the size and came to an agreement, but forgot one thing, the size of the rocket. They had to start all over again.

The third time they did it right and it fit inside the Saturn 5 core correctly. All the electrical, and plumbing connections were tested, and sealed.

Next came Orion, but it didn't look like Orion at all. It was covered in a big black carbon fiber plug, and fit in to the Saturn 5, headfirst, leaving about 2 feet of the capsule showing.

Holden yelled out, "You're an idiot."

The next thing you heard was someone getting smacked; and a loud howl of pain.

Richard continued by attaching a large tire like structure, about 8-foot high, with nuclear markings clearly displayed on it. He placed a smaller tire above it, again marked clearly with nuclear markings. This tire was so small it looked like it was inset into the larger tire. 'It Was.' He covered the entire structure, from above the 'tires', to where it would meet the crew quarters, with a clear perspex dome, attached by explosive bolts.

Holden finally saw what his brother was doing, and shouted out, "You sneaky bastard," for which the result was the same.

"Ouch, dammit, that hurt."

William said, "I'm going to give you that one for free. From now on any foul language, in front of any of your elders, I expect them to strike you hard. If they don't, it's going to hurt that much more when I get here. Gwen and I are moving down permanently, after the baby is born. You may as well get this into your head Holden, ''It's going to be my way, or this project is going to grind to a halt as I straighten you out. Our investors will not be happy. There are ways to make you do what I want you to do, but they are very harsh.

"Your father had your brother thrown into his room for a week, do you know the reason why?"

"No I was extremely young."

"Your brother was working past 11 PM, against your father's wishes. He was told, over and over again, to be home by 8 o'clock and to be in bed at 10 p.m. Gordon wanted to work more than your father would allow, and he was punished him harshly for it.

Your father had him put in handcuffs, and thrown into the back of an SUV. He started using objectionable language, while he was back there. For the first time in his life your father punished him. He put him into his room that night without dinner, and told him he was restricted to that room, without a computer, television, books, paper, or writing utensils, for seven days. I won't tell you what your brother said, but it included many four letter words."

"Do you remember Montgomarie?"

"You mean Monty?"

"Yes Monty. She would stand outside his door, every day, to make sure he didn't leave his room.

Your brother did not start crying until Thursday. I am told it broke your mother's heart not to go to him, but she had to make a choice. She either had to stand by your father/her husband, or make her son understand there were rules that had to be followed in the house, as long as he wished to stay there.

Your brother was already very wealthy in his own right because of the patents that were in his name. He could have done whatever he wanted to do. The only thing he could not do was work on the spacecraft. He wanted to work on that spacecraft more than anything in this world. He swallowed his pride, and told your dad he was sorry for what he'd done.

That was it, everything was forgotten, except for one thing. He had to finish his week in his room. He wasn't happy about that.

On Monday, Gordon left work at exactly 6 P.M to go home for dinner, under Monty's watchful eyes, and was in bed at 10 PM.

He showed his father what he did to his walls. He showed your father what he wrote on the walls, in crayon. They had to photograph all the formulas he wrote down on them, and transfer them to the computers at work. The next weekend he had to repaint the walls of his room, because if his mother saw what he did to them, death would be a preferable option. Your dad never figured out where he got the crayons from."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Do you like working on the spacecraft?"

"Of course I do. They can't do anything with the ship without me."

"How much are you ahead of the tradesmen do you have in your computer?"

"Approximately six or seven months."

"What if I told you that you didn't have access to a computer, a television, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, or any other writing utensils for six or seven months? I would send you to Costa Rica and have you roam in the jungles with your escorts. You would learn about the animals, snakes, and bugs. Wouldn't you enjoy that Holden?"

"I'm sorry Mister Zabo, I will learn how to control my mouth."

"I believe that's an excellent decision on your part Holden. You have two more chances, on the third one, you are on an airplane flying south."

"I understand Sir."

Richard asked, "May I continue Mister Zabo?"

"Yes Richard, you may proceed."

"At the bottom of the spacecraft, there was a similar set up. One large tire like structure, and below it a much smaller structure. Then come the major change.

2 landing pads holding up the rocket. One set was 40 feet tall, hardly enough to hold the massive rocket in a vertical position. The other set is 70 feet tall. These will hold the rocket slightly offset of vertical."

No one in the room, including Holden, could understand why?

William was to first ask the question.

"Why aren't the legs the same size?"

"When they designed the crew quarters and laboratory, they had to be horizontal with the ground. When we get there, we will be vertical. I designed it this way so we could gently lay everything down.

As we passed through 20,000 feet, the explosive bolts will blow off the Perspex dome, and Orion will fire its retro rockets to come out of its cocoon. That's all it will do. The magnetic engines on the rear of Orion will allow it to hover and watch as the crew quarters and laboratory touchdown. As they watch, the rocket will begin to tilt, and they will determine a landing position, take over controls of Orion and land close by. They must land opposite the magnetic engines to avoid radiation poisoning. They will be able to land Orion very close to the two pods and the limited excess walking."

"As soon as the proximity beam turns on, in the science lab portion of the rocket, the landing pods will extend, and the nuclear engine will shut down automatically. The rocket will land slightly offset from vertically, and the 70-foot landing pads will slowly lower the sections to the ground using the rollers that are built into them. The 40 foot ladders are detachable, just in case they find a tree they want to pick fruit from. That part is really very easy."

"What will happen after Orion lands?"

"Built into Orion's long line carbon filament upper tire like structure, are 4 inflatable landing pads, shaped like slides, but made of the same carbon material. We need this to protect the nuclear engine at the bottom of the spacecraft, so it can take off when the mission is completed. The astronauts will use ropes to guide themselves up the slides to get back to the Orion, for any supplies left on board, or for the voyage home."

"What will happen when the crew gets out of Orion? Don't they have to worry about radiation from their own craft?"

"Orion's engine is much smaller and is shielded much heavier than the one on the lander. Orion was built to withstand the radiation of space. Between the two safety factors, the astronauts are very, very safe."

Holden stood up and applauded his brother's genius. It wasn't often Richard outdid him, but this time, he was so far behind Richard, he couldn't see the dust rising from his shoes.

He walked over, and hugged him.

"Way to go bro! Absolutely breathtaking. The hard part will be getting the tiny engines through the bureaucrats in Washington. Bascom could probably make both engines, and sarcophagus in six months. Everything else is already made. Let's draw up the schematics for the cocoon for Orion, and have Mister Schneider start on it. Then we'll work on the buffers, and the pad for the engine on top."

"I don't believe any of Mister Schneider company's makes Perspex. I think we'll have to ask Corning to make that for us."

"Boys, what time is it?"

"I don't know Mister Zabo, I don't have a watch."

"It's after 7 PM. It's now time to give your brain's a rest. Let's go to dinner. We will talk about anything other than the spacecraft. Is that clear?"

"Mister Zabo, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"Ever since we learned how to talk, all we ever talked about was the spacecraft, and space. We've never talked about anything else. Even our mother talked about it. It was our dinner time conversation. Wait, we did talk about food."

"Well boys, it's time you learned about something else. Have you ever seen a baseball game?"

"No."

"Saturday and Sunday, you are taking the days off. Saturday you are going to sit down at your computers and read the rules of the game of baseball. Sunday we are going to go to a baseball game. When we get home, I will quiz you on what you saw. I will want to know if the umpires were in the correct position, if the pitcher balked and the umpire didn't call it, and a whole host of other things. I want to expand your education outside the field of science. Let's go eat, I am hungry."

"Mister Zabo, what does a baseball look like?"

"It is a circular object, with red stitching closing the seams. It starts out with a hard central core, which is surrounded by... I think that you read about it tomorrow."

"You don't know what a baseball is either?"

"I know what the outside looks like. I know what the people that play the game are supposed to do. I know who wins and who loses and why. That's enough for me."

"There has to be more to it than that."

"There is, and you will read about it Saturday, and go to a ballgame with all of us Sunday."

"The people that play get money?"

"Oh yes, millions and millions of dollars if they are very good players. I will tell you more about it when we are at the game."

"Do we have to bring our own chairs and food?"

"No we don't. Did you ever read about the Roman stadiums, where they held oratory contests, and chariot races?"

"Yes, we read about those when I was six."

"You were five Richard. When you were six, you were teaching me to read star charts."

"You're right, I apologize."

William looked at two boys, and shook his head.

"Did you boys ever go outside and play?"

"We went outside every day Mister Zabo. We tracked the movements of the Sun, and figured out how much the earth was wobbling at the time. We used pin holes in cardboard paper to see stars that were blocked by the Sun. At night we charted the stars from different positions on our property to determine how many degrees of variation in longitude the moon was making every day. It was very exciting."

"What I'm asking you is; did you do anything athletic? Did you run, exercise, do gymnastics, lift weights, play volleyball, swim, or anything like that?"

"We both know the dynamics of swimming. We went into the water three times to test it out. We were correct, and swam the pool with no problems at all. We did so well the person at the YMCA said we did not need lessons. As far as anything else, we used to walk up and down the stairs to get to the computers, helped our mother carry the laundry, brought the garbage cans to the street twice a week, and we raked the leaves from around the walkway. You have to remember, I was only three years old, when Newton, Richard, and I started working on the Good Luck 2. That was the most fun of all. If Newton was still here, all the plans needed for the Good Luck 2 would be completed; that's how good Newton is."

"I know you're still young but how do you keep your muscles so well-toned?"

"Gordon taught us how to do it, and then we made it a little better. He taught us how to isolate specific muscle for a specific length of time, and repeat it for a specific amount of times. Then go to the next specific muscle and repeat the exercise. For a while it takes a lot of brainpower to get used to, but once you have it down to a science, you do it without thinking about it. I'm doing my right and left ankles now. It will take me 18 more seconds to finish them, and move on to my arches."

Richard and I made it a little bit better by teaching the muscle to tense and relax for specific periods of time, and then move on to the next, bilaterally. Our muscles do twice the amount of actions, in the same amount of time, and receive better results."

"So you use isometrics?"

"What are isometrics?"

"For example, you would put your hands in opposition to one another, and push hard for as long as you could. That would be an isometric exercise. You're not using any outside implement, such as a free weight, or the ground to help you. You're using your body to do the exercise. You burn calories while increasing the strength of your arms, neck, shoulders, and back."

"How long can a person do this exercise for?"

"Most people can do it for approximately a minute, some can do it for two minutes, not much more than that."

"Our method can be used while sitting down, and standing up; and it can be used all day."

William said, "I hate both of you, but I want you to make a tape of how you do this for Gwen. It will make it easier on her as she goes through her pregnancy."

Richard said, "I can hypnotize her and teach her how to do it in five minutes."

"You can hypnotize people?"

"I never have, but I read a book about it. It seemed easy enough."

"Put Patrick to sleep."

"I'm the Administrator of NASA. I refuse to be put to sleep."

"You're right, considering your lofty appointment, we will put Doctor Oyster to sleep. If he says no, he's fired."

Joe said, "I'd love to be hypnotized by that little wimp."

10 minutes later, Doctor Joseph Oyster woke up with a handkerchief tied around his head, pencils sticking out both of ears, his shoes on the wrong feet, and their laces tied together.

The first words out of his mouth were, "I knew he couldn't do it." As he took his first step, he fell flat on his face."

Everyone in the room laughed their asses off.

So it should be a total embarrassment to the doctor, Richard taught him how to use the method of controlling muscles. Doctor Oyster never had a weight problem again.

************************

25. Rod Goes To Work

"Rod, Vinnie Caruso, they quashed all three of our motions. They saw no reason to move the trial out of Dallas, or move it to Houston, or out of Texas and into Louisiana. They put us on the docket for October 1, for a two-week trial.

I wrote the court, and told them we would not be finished with our second witness in two weeks, so they better extend their time frame. I haven't heard back from them yet."

"Vinnie if you're not going to give me good news, why are you calling me?"

"I'm calling to tell you the weather here in Brooklyn is very hot."

"I'm not asking you about your wife; I'm asking you why are you calling me with bad news?"

"You told me you were a better lawyer than I am, and I wanted you to prove it. You only went to court 18 times in your entire legal life; and you never lost the case. I go to court 10 times a year, and I have never lost the case. Now I'm going to have to sit second chair, and watch you work your magic over multinational corporations, with lawyers from all over the world. I can't wait to see you dance around them.

I told you from the start we needed a fleet of top notch lawyers. You said if I was not up to the task, you would find someone else who was. No one says that to me and gets away with it. You challenged me, and now you better be as good as you say you are."

"I didn't even have to think about a way to hook you into doing this with me Vincent. I had inside help. There was no way you were going to say no to me."

"Who did you talk to; which one of my clients breached confidentiality?"

"She was and still is one of our investors, before she became your client. So be nice."

"Oh fuck, Celeste Castronova."

"She was only the treasure box. The treasure lay inside."

"I hate my sister."

"Antonia had only wonderful things to say about you, and remember she is hosting your quads for the summer. There is no telling what Antonia could do to four graduate students over the next three months."

"I do know, and that's why my hair is going gray quickly. They go to her every summer, and between her, my mother, and her aunts, I'm surprised they ever come back to the states."

"I believe it's because you hold the keys to their inheritance, which they are due to receive when they reach 30. I know they will still talk to Donna, but will they ever talk to you again?"

"Don't start with me about that, Donna already has. My oldest just received hers. Now Annarosa is taunting Grace, and the twins. Isn't it amazing what $10 million will due to a child?

At this rate, I may not live to see 60, and that's when the quads get theirs."

"Who told you to have more children than Rosalynn and me?"

"Believe me Rod, it was a shot in the dark. The doctors said it was nearly a 300 million to 1 shot to have a naturally conceived set of quadruplets."

"Your father said it was all that high school practice. What a wealth of information he was. However, it was your dearly, devoted, loving mother, who hung you out to dry. For every extra sheet she had to wash, while you were in high school, she told me exactly what questions to ask you, and what buttons to push. She must have washed an awful lot of sheets, because she gave me a tons of information about you. You fell like a row of dominoes, just as she predicted you would. Isn't family wonderful?"