Dust for the Dawn
Dust for the Dawn
Dust
for the Dawn | By Zippo
Note:
If all you want is the “hot” part, scroll down to the end after the email
address. It involves: M/F (Human/Xeno)
The
year is 2025 A.D. -Earth time.
For
the past week I have been thinking about making a log
of all the events that brought me here to this time and aboard this space
cruiser full of alien friends, light-years from Earth and I figure now a good a
time as any. I am the only human on board, but that really doesn’t
matter, what dose is how I got here and that’s why I am making this entry.
case anything should happen to me. This file will be sealed
of course until my demise should it ever happen. Out here, who knows what
future may lie in store. Here it goes... "Computer, begin log."
Ah,
pixy dust, it’s molecular structure, physical and atomic properties, not to
forget the forces of power, are a complete mystery to even the greatest minds
of the cosmos, yet I have managed to harness it’s raw energy, controlling it
and able to channel it into two small engines, capable of reaching light and
sub-light speeds. I would have to guess it’s a similar
equivalent to warp or transwarp speed, as to the famous television epic Star
Trek. It’s a fairly simple design, but with nearly
11,000 moving parts so the simplicity goes right out the airlock. The
“transmission”, as I call it is made of mostly small fine clock gears (believe
it or not, most not larger than a quarter) that are seated together with rods
in all the right places contained in a rectangle shaped box all contained and
seated between the engines to control their thrust turbines. The dust is stored
in a tank behind the seat and is feed into the reaction chamber (throttled)
then distributed evenly to the engine turbines, capable of generating thrust in
any atmosphere or none at all (vacuum space). Where the gearbox comes in is
quite interesting, there is a throttle lever (<diagram 1.0.bmp>) that
controls how much power goes to the turbines in the engines as well as the
reaction chamber that manipulates the turbines’ actions. Basically,
without the gearbox, the engines would not have any reason not to
accelerate ou con control, overload and explode. Because the transmission has
so many gears, the design to make it have near infinite speeds is possible. The
throttle lever is located on the right side of the cockpit, a forward sliding
design with twenty speed selectors (notches) for selection. A short vertical
rod attached to a horizontal handle designed for the right human hand, making
access to the unlock button easy to the thumb.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>The first version of the craft was crude, low-tech,
and unstable, mainly because the only materials I had access to
the plane wreck. There have been considerable upgrades since then, oh, about
300 years ago. You know what, there is a long, long story behind this summery
and it’s high time I finally got down to record it, I have been putting it off
for god knows how long as I stated earlier.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>Looking bac rem remember it all started when I
decided to visit my local mall to buy a birthday present for myself because
frankly, I had no social life. Mainly due to the fact that
my job involved mostly nothing but sitting on my ass in front of a computer at
home, coding all day. I spent about an hour window-shopping, wanting to find
something with some class instead of what I would normally get, like a hardware
or software upgrade for my machine. No, I wanted something else,
near a fountain to rest a bit, smiling as I saw some mall rats
as I turn around, I see a travel agency a few stores to the right. I mentally
shocked myself at the very thought that just cracked in my head. Then I figured
what can it hurt to just look, right? I enter the agency through double glass
doors; it is slightly cooler with a faint smell of new drywall and copy machine
toner. “May I help you?” The woman behind the counter asks with a smile.
kinds of packages do you offer?” She eyes the list on the counter. “Well sir,
it depends what you’re looking for and what kind of price range you’re in.” “I
see. Well, it has to be somewhere with good weather, in the states, a lot of
stuff to do and at a reasonable price.” She begins typing on a keyboard then
pauses to look at me then continues, as if judging on where I might want to go
and fit in, a sign of obvious experience. “There are options here that meet
your criteria,
for example.” “No, too dry.” “Hm, how about our
special deluxe trip for two to
is a discount this month due to lack of business, we don’t get many trips to
think about it for a second. “What are the rates for one person?” She types
some more. “Ok, for one person, you will save 45% off from two.” A reasonable
price, hey, they got to make their money somehow. She
gives me a sheet listing various packages; I choose the one giving me a round
trip ticket in coach, four days, and three ni on on
car rental. This would be the only time I could do this because I have a
one-week vacation due and I need to use it before it expires. I had to dip into
my savings but I figured what the hell, I might not get another chance at this.
“Alright, everything will be taken care of; we take all major credit cards,
travelers checks, and cash.” I hand her my Visa and my ID. ”Ok, all your
information is in this packet and your flight leaves next week.” I slip my
cards into my wallet and the info into my pocket and say, “Have a nice day.”
and walk out, feeling a bit smug at what I just did. Well, that’s
definitely ‘different\'.
I board the plane. It was one of those new 777’s, huge and with all the
luxuries. Starting to relax, I plug my headphones into the audio
seat. About two hours later, drinking all that soda while waiting for the plane
to begin boarding finally caught up with me, “Damn it.” I grumbled as I got up
from my comfortable spot and head to the restroom. Now this part is
floor suddenly dropped from under me, slamming me towards the ceiling, catching
myself in the zipper in the process. Hurt like a motherfucker. Pinned to the
wall, several thought were racing through my head, like, we must be falling
like a rock, something must have happened, I’m gona
die and I hope the toilet waste doesn’t shoot out. I went to the first class
bathrooms because I knew they would have more space and at least look more
appealing. Now, thinking that the front would be the first to hit, I realized
it wasn’t such a good idea after all. I could hear
screams as passengers flew towards the rear since most unbuckled their
seatbelts. Idiots. Well, count me in too for taking
this damn trip.
the rear end of the plane drop downwards, slamming me into the sink mirror, as
if flipping ninety degrees falling tail first. I guess all those people
causing… the next thing I hear is a boom and a lot of metal ripping sounds as
the tail hits the water at over 300 Mph, sending me floorward. A few seconds
cease, except for the loud whine of a dissipating jet engine. Reaching for my
wrist, I hit the indiglow button on my watch, lighting up most of the small
room. “Holy fuck, I just survived a plane wreck, better get out of here before
this thing sinks.” Damn, the door is stuck so I kick it open; to get a face
full of the worst thing I have ever seen. Bodies and floating debris were
floating everywhere; it looked like night of the living frat
party dead with fire. I felt dizzy so I lay on a pile of floating plane
seats, watching the rest of the wreckage submerge out of sight. I must have had
a concussion from then I hit the ceiling because I had a headache that would
make an elephant keel over.
was surrounded by at least fifteen kids. I freaked out and scrambled to
the nearest wall. Wall? Where the
hell am I? Next I see something glowing bright
yellow flying right towards me. “Please calm down, your safe here.” It said.
“Where am I and who are you?” “My name is Tink and you’re in Neverland; I
rescued you from your horrible disaster.” “Ok, there are two things I’m going
to do, pass this hallucination off as inhaling too much jet fuel fumes or say
thanks, I guess.” I spent the next few days going over my situation, learning
about the island, pirates and how they pose a threat, and how
to live on this island with these lost boys. Oh, did I forget to mention
I was 22 years old, no matter, since I looked 15 and shorter than most
nothing but playing, eating, and sleeping. But one day
my bliss got a rude awakening, captain hook grew tired of our games and decided
to raid our domain and finally rid them selves of our annoying presence.
and I overheard his whole conversation with Mr. Smee. I decided to do something
a bit drastic that night. I waited until he was asleep then snuck in through an
open porthole. Last week he and I met not under the greatest circumstances, the
boys and I were practicing our swinging in the jungle when the pirates ambushed
us, hook leading the charge. He managed to knock me in the back of the head
with the butt of his sword then having the gull to ask me who
the hell I was. When I told him, he just laughed, and that just pissed
me off to no end. He was surprised when I started popping of obscenities left
and right because not even his own men would say such things. I mean I was
cussing him strait out. By the time it all sank in, I was swinging away,
hearing yells of revenge and threats of death. All I could do was laugh.
my face as I grasped my stolen loaded pistol, ready to make him pay the piper.
I spot a knife on the table. Maybe I should slice his throat, it would be
quieter, I thought, but I decided to do shinghing a little different. I sat on
the table and lit the lantern. Hook shot up utterly shocked and turned to my
direction. I pulled back the gun’s firing pin. “Do not move. If I were you I’d
keep my mouth shut until I was ordered to do so, understand?” He nodded yes.
“Good. Now, what was all this talk about getting your revenge on me, eh? Talk
low and no funny shit.” “Now, now, I’m sure a reasonable gentleman such as you
can come to some sort of understanding?” “How about I blow your fucking brains
out, reasonable enough for you?” I say in the most evil voice I can utter. “I
bet your thinking I have a lot of balls coming in here, threatening you with
death and acting all power trippy on you, mus must think I am crazy but your
wrong. No. All I am is pissed off. Care to justify the
torture you have inflicted to those boys in the past, what you did?
Payback is a bitch, ain\'t it.” “So what are you
waiting for?” “Call me psychotic, but I just like to see you squirm.”
mean?” “Wouldn’t your admirable tactics be considerably professional in nature,
sneaking upon me at my most vulnerable state in order to assonate me in the
to consider his desperate attempt to save his live, possibly to stall time.
“You wouldn’t be buttering me up to stall time now would you? I hate liars.” I
raised my gun, making hook flinch.
arrange, us both being men, you you obviously not having a problem, especially
having a gun to your head and all, sure. What do you have in mind; keep in mind
I still won’t trust you anytime soon.” “Good man, lets say, second in command?”
“You know what, I was just screwing with you. I am
going to do what I came here to do, no more wasting time.” “Wait…” was all he
could say as I pulled the trigger. The ball-shaped bullet blew a good-sized
chunk out of his head, killing him instantly. Knowing there was not much time
before a crowd of pirates poured into the room, the moment I wasted him I put
the smoking weapon in hook’s hand, darted to the porthole I came in and dived
through it, landing in the water. By that time there was so much ruckus no one
heard the splash. I returned to the hideout unnoticed, crawl onto bed and fell
asleep.
and chanting: “No more hook, no more hook!” I ask Tink what was going on as if
I really didn’t know. “Hey Matt, did you hear the
news, captain hook apparently killed himself last night along with most of his
crew.” I snicker. “I guess the whole mess couldn’t live without that bastard.
plan to live out their lives in peace, they are sick of fighting and with no
one to lead them, they are pretty much harmless.” Grabbing Tink by the wings, I
pull her to a corner out of anyone else’s earshot. “Tink, I want to know that
what I am about to tell you remains between us, this is very important,
understand?” “Of course, what’s so important?” I let out a deep breath. “I am
responsible for hook’s death; I shot him in his quarters last night then
placing the gun in his hands… I just wanted all the bullshit between us and
pirates to not continue any longer, all I want to do is live here in peace
since I’m stuck here.” It was understandable that she was speechless. “The
reason I don’t want to tell anyone is because all hell would break loose, and
that’s the last thing I want. I’m telling you this
because you’re mature enough to understand the reasons why I did what I did and
frankly you’re the only one I trust with this information. No one else needs to
know now, but maybe in time perhaps.” “So, what do we do now?” she said with
confusion in her voice. "I’m going to take the ex-pirates up on their
offer, I’ll think of something.”
say the least. Constant arguing and incisive bigotry was just a couple of steps
of this twenty story of the stairwell of this debate
between the pirates and the lost boys. It took a good month before we were
talking in the line of progress. Finally, we came to an agreement to live out
our lives separately on opposite sides of the island and promising to
things were uneasy and full of mistrust but we soon found it easy to ignore one
another.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>Some time later, I don’t
remember how long, I was riding on the sail-skateboard heading down a hill; a
recent track expansion, when I tried to be ballsy and test how fast I can go
before hitting the sharp right that headed to the lagoon. On the both sides of
the board there are two metal hooks on ether corners
that on a turn would latch on a rail embedded on the sides of the track before
a tight turn, making derailment outdated, and of my design of course. In this case,
I removed the rail so I wouldn’t loose speed as I flew
down it. I just figured I would use the wheel brakes when I need to slow down.
Little to my knowledge, the wind had different ideas. I was setting a speed
record on the thing when a gust of wind caught my sail and lunged me forward,
making my rear temporary lift off the track so I had to slam my foot on the
back to reinsert the peg into the slot. That’s all it
took to completely destroy the break assembly and all hopes of stopping.
Normally, winds aren’t that fierce, but this part of
the track was built alongside a cliff facing the sea. It was a good idea since
hiking through the woods took ten times as long. Sure, you could always fly but
you never know when you’ll run out of dust, plus it’s
a lot more funner. So that’s not a word, sue me.
jump the track and get some major tree rash when the board’s center guiders
gave from the stress and broke me free from the track slot, allowing motion to
solely depend on the wheels and then it happened. I was going so fast the added
wind caught the sail and hoisted my upwards with enough clearance over the
trees. “Whoa! Holy shit!” I shouted, realizing I was
soaring onwards, until I started falling. Luckily the
sail was large enough to act as a hang glider until I landed in the cold-ass
water near the shore. “Last time I do that, dumbass.” I said, mentally kicking
myself.
back to the hideout, the most insane, genius, radical, the utterly ridiculous
idea I had ever devised suddenly flooded my head. And
that’s where the beginning of this log falls into place. Trying to keep the
ideas fresh, I dropped the unit and rushed up the slot track as fast as I could
so I could write it all down in my notebook. When I was freshening up on the
plane, I had my carryon with me because it had all me hygiene stuff in it, as
well as my laptop, fine screw driver set, pads of paper, CD player, CDs,
writing utensils, calc., and other items. What really pissed me off was that
the laptop got damaged during the ‘landing’. I took it
apart to see if I could fix it but the motherboard was shattered and the CPU
hour. The craft idea design was a inward wing, dual engine and frontal tail fin
assembly, it kind of looks like a mini Delta Flyer from Star Trek Voyager, at
least I thought I did. Here are the specifications.
10.0pt\'>I’ll10.0pt\'> let you in on something, when Tink brought me here, she explaineat
at
in this place, time as I know it doesn’t exist, hence I don’t age. I was
skeptical at first, but the proof is all around me. One thing
died yet and it’s been months since I replaced them, they should be long dead
but their not. This fact gave me the opportunity to pursue any long-term task I
desire such as building something I’ve always wanted
without limitations.
fuel source and how to distribute it through the craft.
experimenting on ways to harness and control the dust’s properties to generate
energy. It took nearly 60 years, working with what I had to come up with a
solution, build the test engines and assessing the needed parts to complete it.
There wasn’t a lot of success with the single engine
design, too many variables so I stuck with the twin design. How did I get the
parts you might ask, that is a good question. The first thing I did was write
Tink a list on what I need and some I want, if there was room. I gave her a
strong blanket and asked her to go to the plane wreckage, see what was left or
salvageable. You see, when the plane finally halted from the water landing, it
was supposed to sink, but it didn’t. There happened to
be an extinct island 30 feet underwater so the plane (what was left of it)
rested on its highest point. She got everything I asked for, even more such as
whatever parts of the jet engine she can find, large
sheets of outer body lining, a passenger seat, any metal. I was
mostly intact. She is defiantly stronger than she looks. With my
cockpit interior, landing gear, and others. Ok, it was now time to scrounge up
materials on the island. A huge horde of gold from hook’s treasure was just
sitting there collecting dust in a corner in our main dining area with no use to
anyone, since there is no use for such things as wealth. I figured someone
should make some use out of it so I melted most of it down and shaped it into
the majority if the chaise and hull. It wasn’t a heavy
metal so it was easy to work with. I decided to make the entire cockpit with it
and make it detachable from the ship, giving an opportunity to upgrade it with
an ejection system in the future. The engines were made
from parts form the plane engine and sword blades and the chaise from thick
solid iron strips from treasure chests.
the broken clocks from Hook’s collection I could find, for the thousands of
gears I would need, I made due with what I had. Don’t think this was an easy
task though had to precisely measure every gear, rod, connection hole plates to
the millimeter, shape it into a box and integrate it in the middle with the two
engines; the timing had to be perfect. I figured I would have to build the
engines as I built the transmission so I widened my efforts. This task was the
have ever done, it took about 40 years to build it on the fly. When I though it
was finished I gave it mounds in the appropriate places and attached it to the
completed body. Then, I attach the wiring from the trany box
gear level indicators to the right side cockpit panel. Tink managed to
retrieve part of a cockpit console from the plane and was in luck it had many
LEDs, switches and wiring in it. The panel had 5
lights across and down, one through twenty, each light showing me the status of
each section of gears. When a light goes out it means failure and having to use
a higher or lower section, which would be caused by a bent,
misaligned or dirty gear. I also attached a throttle lever as explained
in the beginning of this log. All the parts that were meant
to hold close together in the ship but I had then all spread out in separate
places on the floor, after all, all I wanted was to see if it even worked let
alone fly yet. I got busy attaching the fuel (dust) tank, reactor, controls and
engine unit. It was finally testing time! God, I thought this shit would never
yet so if anything went wrong, I wouldn’t have to break it all open to screw with
it.
flicked the switch for the fuel reactor injection system
causing a reaction and setting it set to its lowest level only having the
turbines move in a slow warm-up whine, no actual thrust distributed. I
three minutes. Now this was amazing, I put my hand directly in front of the
outtake and there was no heat or smoke, just a constant push of room
temperature air. I wanted to test them more so I increased the throttle up from
idle to the first notch and lightly pulled the accelerator rod that I would
attach a pedal to later, like on a car’s carburetor. In the instant I pushed
the lever up I heard the gearbox pinging and clicking noises and when I pulled
the rod the whine was replaced by sort of a jet thrusting mini roar, by this
time all the boys gathered around to see what all the noise was all about.
yelled as I released the rod. “Wow, is it supposed to do that?”
are you finished?” “Not yet, I have to do a lot of tests and out it together,
man, I need a long break. And to start, let’s all go the lagoon have a splash
fight and sandcastles, last one there eats a rotten apple!” With
‘till sundown. I was very carefree then and was around these kids all the time
so acting like them rubbed off on me. Yes, I really needed a break because
thinking about that damn craft all the time was driving me nuts but
while anyway. My break lasted for about six weeks going nothing but lazing
around and having fun. But, as most things do, my
break came to an end and I began working on it again, first uncovering it and
dusting it all off.
tested everything and it worked impeccably, until I overstressed the intake
manifold and bent a gear in section 4, other than that everything was flawless.
Now, this was when I start bragging, badly. When it was completed, the outer
hull gold plating shined beautifully like a polished mirror, mainly from the
buff job I gave it. It was sleek to no end, you could barely make out that
patch lines. I took all the necessary safety precautions while I was assembling
it; I added structural integrity reinforcements to the
engine/transmission-to-inner hull rods/mounds, extra solid landing gear braces,
and non-removable-until-release cockpit clamps. I made sure all of this
out the hard way. It was quite a feat to attach the outer and inner hulls then
attach them onto the chassis without scrapping anything. To be able to gain
access to the interior without ripping the hull away was to design the rear to
unlock with push in/twist 180 degrees/pull bolts on both sides just under the
wings and flip it open like a semi truck hood, that’s
where I got the idea. The under side had intakes on both sides, two underthrust
ports for hovering as controlled by wedges controlled by a lever, located just
after the turbines for thrust distribution control (bottom or rear, may also be
used for emergency steering), and landing gear slots. And
the last and most important part was putting together some landing gear.
Fortunately, there were quite a few wheelbarrow wheels around
the pirate’s lair that were left to rust away so I cleaned them up,
filled the tires with tar that hardened and assembled the landing gear with
rods and springs so they could be retractable. When retracted, they would
harness inside the craft and covers would engage over, creating an airtight
seal thus cutting back on drag. All of this is shown
in diagram 1.1. All set, I thought, and about damn time too. It
first flight.
witness the coolness, or catastrophe that was about take place. “Here, it’s a
bag of my dust in case things don’t go as planed.” Said Tink, a little worried.
“Thanks. Now, lets see what this bitch can do.” I
said, pressing the dust injector pump starter button.
As expected, the reaction chamber jumped into action, distributing the minimal
needed energy to the turbines as controlled through the throttle gap regulator
causing them to omit a low volume; high pitched whine. putting the throttle lever in the first notch, the whine cut into a low roar.
I engaged the thrust distributor to hover mode and..
-Here goes nothing..- pressed lightly on the gas.
Slowly with a jerk it lifted off the ground. A bit
uncertain about all of this, I pressed a little harder and gained altitude at a
steady pace. I knew how I was supposed to ease from hover to fly mode so I
gracefully pushed the engage lever and started nudging forward, giving a bit
more gas. Then I started to drop like a rock so I floored it, not a good move.
That moment I pulled up to avoid the trees and almost got whiplash from the
sudden burst of acceleration, I would say I was going a good three hundred mph
and gaining so I let off the gas. All this brought back memories of driver’s ED
class in high school. The scenes I saw took my breath away, and this is what it
looked like:
I could
not drive a clutch to save my life, but it all worked out in time and practice.
All I could do at high speeds was fly in circles given that if I leave the
range of the island, I would be in the real world again wouldn’t be able to get
back. That was the last thing I wanted right now but I had plans for that
later. I was getting the hang of it now, my fear turned into excitement. I
swear I just about pissed my pants. I did some tests on how much minimal speed
is needed to keep in the air in fly mode, how well it can turn, climb, dive and
so on. I did a few low fly-bys over the pirates just to screw around but I
decided to return to the hideout. Now, how to land, oh yeah, hover mode, duh.
As I sat it down where I took off, I hit the pump’s
power source cut switch and the engines wound down. After dismounting, I put my
hand on the thrust output. “I cannot believe this, its cold.” I check the dust
storage tank and it only depleted by 1/1000th. “So how did it go?” everyone
asked. “Better that I expected, it handles great but I need more practice, you
see I\'ve never flown anything before so I’m gona hafta get use to it.” I
smirked a little. “I scared the shit out of the pirates.” That gave a chuckle
from the small crowd then we all dispersed for our evening meal. Man did I
stuff myself that night; I guess that much excitement in one day will drain ya
up something fierce.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>Later that night when everyone went to bed, I snuck
out the hideout and hiked a good mile to my secret spot, usually when I want to
be alone or think I come here. It’s a hidden cave enclosed within a thick
forest area, complete with a smooth rock floor so you can take off your shoes,
several molded holes in the walls for torches. It has a ten feet high
clearance, its about forty yards in and has a six
square yard wide room in the back, but the mouth is only three feet tall and
two feet wide, an added bonus for privacy I guess so I can cover it up with
thick branches so no one can find me. Ah, but here’s
the best part, in the main chamber it has a hot fresh water spring in the
center at a temperature just right. I would soak naked for at least an hour to
relive stress, and of course bathe. I am a very clean person. Just because
Best of all it’s a slow swirling pumping and draining
type so it’s constantly fresh. Its about four feet deep so I put some smooth
rocks so I can sit and relax. I sat there for most of the night, falling asleep
in the comfortable water, letting the torches burn out. I woke up about three
hours later, all pruned up from being in the water too long. And
another thing, ever since the first time I arrived here, pardon the expression,
but I haven’t gotten very many hard-ons, it must have
something to do with the non aging thing, I figured it was keeping my hormones
in check. Anyways, enough about that, I’m starting to
blush. But living for 125 years of not looking a day
over 17 really blew me away. I often wondered how the real world was doing, if
they nuked themselves yet or there was no more war and stuff. I confronted Tink
about this and what she said nearly made me faint. She told me that as far as
passing time goes, it pauses in the real world and when you get back it resumes
(for that person) exactly where I left off. As I headed back to the hideout
with thoughts of tasks that needed to be done were
brewing as usual and yet there was a part of me that needed to visit my old
home in the good ole
There was also another part telling me that life is good here with no cares in
the world; overall freedom, and I was not about to give that up for anything
anytime soon. But there is a time for wants and then there is a time for what
needs to be done, and going back, albeit temporary sounded right to me.
mso-bidi-font-siz.0pt.0pt\'>The next two weeks were all about engine tests and
critical airflow adjustments to ensure proper flight without dropping out of
the sky when I make my trip to the real world, because dying in a crash would
suck donkey balls. Don’t get me wrong; I had some help
because I couldn’t do all the necessary adjustments myself. They were complex
involving coordinating mechanical adjustments, .too much for one person. Later
that night at dinner I was wolfing down a chicken leg
when Tink finally asked. “So you’re leaving us forever?” I rapidly evacuated
the contents inside my mouth upon hearing this. Everyone was now staring right
at me. “What, no. I bet you all are wondering of all reasons why I am doing
this, well I’ll tell you. Back in the real
need taken care of. I will only be away a short while and besides you know I
wouldn’t do anything to hurt my friends.” “So how long will it take?” the
little fat kid asked. “A couple of days at most. I’ll
even bring back some of the cool stuff I keep talking about, that and I need
supplies.” “How will you get back, you don’t know the way.” Tink
stepped up atop the roast ham. “I am going with him so I can guide him back so
don’t anyone worry.” I somehow felt a bit better. “Ok, we will leave tomorrow
as planned, agreed?” “Agreed.” Everyone said in unison
the continued eating.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>~sigh~
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>Shit. I couldn’t sleep at
all that night given the excitement tomorrow would bring or it might have been
the chili, one or the other. In no time it was morning, I only got a few hours
of sleep but it would have to do. I took my time getting things ready for
departure. I loaded what little I needed and pushed the start button. Frankly,
I had no idea what kind of output these engines were capable of since I only
managed to put it in its second notch and just tapping the gas, gaining too
much speed for this craft to take while circling. I know I broke the sound
barrier and almost left the island’s airspace in turn. I cannot imagine its
potential in notch twenty. And believe me this thing
can handle a lot, it can even run under water. The engines do not require
oxygen or an atmosphere as I previously stated. Unfortunately
I do, and with what I had on the island to work with I could not make the
cockpit completely watertight. I could be under for about thirty minutes, after
that water would be high enough to submerge the floor pedals. I should know,
because I was stuck about fifteen feet under water from engine failure, all
because a fish got caught in the intake, jamming the
turbines therefore stalling me cold. Well, I got out of it by
swearing a lot, taking a deep breath, opening the canopy; letting the water in
and swimming to the surface and swearing some more while swimming the
twenty yards to shore. I eventually got it out, de-water logged it and got it
working again. To prevent reoccurrence I installed screens over the intakes.
waved goodbye to everyone as I vertically blasted off high into the sky and
hovered there for just a bit. “Ok Tink, which way?” “Head southeast while
climbing slowly.” “Ok.” I did as she said and the next thing I saw was ocean
all below me. “We should be exactly where you came into Neverland.” She
informed. “In other words, we’re about one hundred-fifty miles from the
pacific coast.” She gave me a ‘how do you know that?’ look. “When I was flying
to
were only over the ocean for about a half hour, and since the plane was going
about 350 mph, I did the math. Now, all I have to do is fly East and I’ll be
home in no time.” Tell you the truth, I was quite afraid of
pushing it and blowing up but I had to land somewhere. I gently engaged
out of hover mode and put it in notch two and nudged
the gas. “Whoa!” I couldn’t believe the force of
acceleration, as I knew I was at least reaching mark three. So
I put it in notch three. I didn’t really know fast I
was going until I lowered altitude and flew above the water about a hundred
yards and looked behind me. I was bringing up water like a hydroplane in the
shape of a giant ‘V’. Then I turned around in time to pull up to avoid the
coast directly in front of me.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>“Damn. Hey, I made it. I wonder where I
where I was; I looked down at the road running along the coast, figured it was
highway 101, headed North and scanned for a road sign
or something. “There’s one.” I spotted. “Where’s what?” “An indication towards
where were headed and its right there. It says that state route 8
and that Tink, will take me home.” I figured it was easier to head northeast
instead of east then north. It took me fifteen minutes to arrive at my back
yard, engaged the landing gear and touched down. I was lucky enough to live in
a somewhat rural area mostly surrounded by neighbors with medium to large
properties, dense pine trees and some lakes. But there
was one drawback. We were not far from an Air force base, McCord AFB to be
exact so I had to be careful to fly low and below radar. The last thing I
wanted was the government all over my ass. I was renting out a top-half of a
house from a retired couple at the time. I couldn’t
complain, the rent was cheap and I got free utilities, excluding my phone and
DSL line. Damn, I landed right in the flowerbeds. She is going to pitch a fit,
oh well, might as well cover it with a tarp, I thought. Inside and
through the back window. “Well, this is it, home crap home. What do ya think?”
“Not much compared to the hideout but not bad ether.” With that
I stripped and hopped into the shower. “Did you know I haven’t
had a hot shower in over 125 years, thank god for that… never mind.”
Nice one dude, you almost gave your secret spa away, I thought to myself. I
came out of the bathroom wearing a fresh set of clothes I kept in the bathroom
closet. “Matt, what happened to you?” She said shocked, not seeing me in
anything distinguishing in quite a while. “I worn out my other clothes, might
as well wear some new ones, you like?” I said folding my arms.
looking at me like a porterhouse steak
would be back soon and I need to buy some parts on the way.” “Let me ask you
something.” I was putting on a belt in the mirror while she talked. “Shoot.”
“Has the thought of staying here and living out your life cross your mind, ever
wondered about continuing where you left off and forgetting what you been
through?” I turned around and gave her a vacant stare. “Why would you ask such
a thing?” “I’m just curious I guess.” I was a little dumbfounded. Come to think
about it, from time to time those thoughts have crossed my mind. “Truthfully, I
have given it some thought but I came to realize that Neverland is my home now
and it would be a cold day in hell before I reconsider. But it alpendpends on
what might be best in a certain situation in the future.” “Have you ever
wondered what would have happened if you never came to us?” “I would have
probably canceled my vacation and live out my life with nothing interesting
crossing my way, why?” “I don’t know, fate plays a role in everyone’s lives, it
just happens I guess.” I was content with that. These
questions I knew were a long time coming and I had some of my own but now was
not the time. I spent the next few hours gathering some things I wanted to take
with me like some more CDs, my camera, silverware (I was sick of using wooden
utensils), and various other things I would need in the future. I took one last
look goodbye, locked the door and carried my stuff downstairs. In the corner of
the backyard there was an old storage shed. Before the landlord
retired, he owned and operated an auto body repair shop in town. When he closed
up, most all his tools and equipment were stored in that shed until he could
sell or use them later. There were a few things I need to
borrow like his welding torch, hammer, screwdrivers, and various others I would
need. I gathered what all I could possibly fit and made my way to my
craft. I found Tink sitting on the dashboard staring at me as I loaded stuff in
a cubby behind the seat. The acetylene and oxygen tanks had to pretweetween my
legs, they wouldn’t fit anywhere else.
heard some jets fly over and I have a hunch we’re their targets.” Nervousness
with a hint of panic swarmed through me as I started, warmed up, and closed the
canopy.
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt\'>If you thought I was crazy now, wait
mode, I switched to fly mode, set it to notch one, touched the gas,
I navigated through traffic fairly well and obeyed all the traffic laws. Most
switched lanes to avoid me and others just stared. As I head down
spotted the two stores I really needed to stop at before the trip back to Neverland.
I couldn’t believe I had the balls to actually go
through the drive through of the first one; McDonalds. I just had to get a Big
Mac before I die from drooling. It was
so there wasn’t a line. I ordered a
#1 with extra cheese and no pickle because I hate pickles. I opened the
canopy, handed the nice girl some money, pulled to the second window and
gawked in awe. “Just a little thing I made, later.” In a bit of a hurry, I
parked next to the second store, Radioshack to get some much-needed parts. The
reason, I could see as I entered the store that that asshole manager was now
talking on a phone, the police more likely. I picked what I needed, handed the
clerk a hundred that would more than pay for what I grabbed and ran out the
door to my craft, still running. I jump in, put it in hover, raise the landing
gear and floor it; I blast up 500 feet then shove it in fly to shoot away. Ok,
now that was stupid because the jets now knew where I was. “Ok
already uses pixy dust, it doesn’t need to be sprinkled.” She points up and to
the right. “That way, second star to the right.” “I
see it.” I had worked half way through the second notch when two jet planes
approached from both sides. “Shit.” I said in a low mumble. At least I had my
CB radio on me now so I took a marker and wrote ‘CH 8, CB radio’. When they got
the frequency, they said: “normal\'>You are in restricted airspace, identify yourself or we will shoot you
down.” “Hey, don’t shoot, I’m Matt, a civilian,
American.” I release the mike switch. “Tink, we’re making a break for it, hold
on.” “We are to escort you to our base
for questioning and…” he was cut off by me putting it in
three and slamming it, my wake forced them to loose control and flank
hard turns. In about a minute or so I let off the gas
as the familiar island peeked into view. The blip that was me
on their radar vanished without a trace.
I didn’t know things like that would happen. The fact of the matter is that I
got through it in one piece prompted an inward chuckle. Lessening the throttle
to one, I activated hover and slowly descended towards my home in the trees. I
sequence, thoughts of regret and loss began to surface. For the time being I
put them aside to address more important issues, like landing this damn thing
and relaxing for a spell, I’ll work on all whatever
tomorrow. Upon landing, the oxygen tank slid into my nuts. “Christ!”
everything tomorrow. Now, I’m going to bed. “Hey guys,
just leave ste stuff in the craft be, I’ll deal with it tomorrow, and I won’t
be joining in for dinner, I’m too tired, ‘night.” I said, climbing the rope
ladder then flopping on my feather mattress, passing out. "Hey, does
something about him seem odd?" asked one of the boys of
mind. Might as well leave him alone, you know how he is right now and he does
not want to be bugged." "Yeah. C\'mon, I’m
starved!"
buggers out. Gross yes I know. After wiggling into a new pai jea jeans from
yesterday\'s \'adventure\', I slid down the ladder as usual. What I
last night and as I hit it, grip misplaced I fell thirty feet right on my ass.
The first natural act would be to swear something loud but not now, since
everyone was still asleep so I just moaned and rubbed my sore cheeks as I
slightly limped my way to the sailboard platform. It was about the equivalent
of
barely peaking over the horizon. I took in a deep breath of the slightly chilly
crisp morning ocean breeze then disengaged the wheel-brake and began to coast.
The track is allot quieter now. Reason?
One of the boys about two months ago had discovered a patch of rubber trees
hidden near a peat bog in the jungle. The only reason he found it was because
the bog was emanating a chili-fart stink, especially on rainy humid days and he
finally decided to investigate. With the rubber collected we fitted the boards
of the sailboard track with rubber strips where the wooden wheels contact,
making it almost silent, and good thing too because I was getting some good
speed rounding left a huge tree, riding the strait away, braking slightly to
take the sharp right then down the side of the cliff wall. It was a good
30-degree angle descending a sixteenth of a mile down. Extending it was a bitch
\'cuse all the nooks and crannies of the cliff face
but it did us better in the long run. For instance, instead of making that
hairpin right, we put in a switch track enabling us to choose right or strait;
through the trees, adjoining another smaller Cliffside proceeding under a huge
waterfall and down another hill and through the branches of many trees to a
makeshift stop station just before a beach on the other side of the island. I
smacked the bamboo lever just before the switch to push it into strait track
and flying into the trees I went. I was doing at least
fifty miles an hour down this thing, all from not using the brakes. I needed a
rush this morning and this was the way to do it. After the waterfall
I applied the brake and nearly ripped off the track rubber coming to a stop
right at the platform. I made my way to the beach and sat in the sand to enjoy
the rest of the sunrise. I just sat there. With still a little sleep in my
that noise? But I knew what it was as I asked myself
that question. I watched in horror as I watched my ship skim the palm trees
above me and over the water. Who ever was, was flying
out of control. He had it engaged between hover and fly and wasn’t going
waved wildly to get his attention. Apparently he saw
me and tried to land, crashing lightly into the sand as if sliding on ice and
finally burying the nose, ass-end up into the sand and stalled just ten yards
away. "Shit!" I was more concerned than mad actually; I just
pilot seat. It was Fudd, the dark chubby kid with
blood coming from his slashed clothes. I grabbed the craft by the rear landing
gear and pulled it upright with a thud. The canopy was still unlocked so I
manually lifted it to upward locking position.
I saw that day, most of it was a blur from blacking out from rage. "Hey,
what the hell happened?!" There was a pirate
dagger in his side oozing blood steadily. "..
n-nowhere... barely escaped, please help..." And
he slipped away. My mind was still trying to process the information
which had presented it\'s self. Thinking quickly as I can, I pulled
care of something, I\'ll be right back." I never have been more pissed off
in my life. I had to get out of there as I knew some
pirates would eventually come down the ramps to me so I quickly ran through the
ignition sequence, bypassing safety checks and took off in hover, closing the
canopy. "They done fucked the the wrong person!" I shouted. After
that was pretty much actions I slightly regret. I
remember taking out my gun I kept concealed under the seat and popping off
about 90% of those bastards from the air then landing in our shallow pond and
getting out to take care of the rest, quite brutally if I must say. By the
had come. The ones with at least half a brain retreated like cowards. It was
not like I was on my own through this, oh no. The boys
fought just as valiantly as I. Five of us died all
together, but nil from the pirate\'s losses. Over eighty men lay dead or dying
from the tragic and un-provoked violence that had transpired that day. I had
blood all over me, none if it mine though. We spent
the rest of that day chucking bodies off the cliff for the sharks below and the
next mourning our fallen. Christ, sounds like
melodramatic military movie huh. And pardon me if I
don\'t go into detail of the funeral, way too depressing for me. Well, I was
happy that none of the supplies were damaged during
all probably would’ve been dead or worse. Good thing I took it upon myself to
give some of the boys some flying lessons earlier. I then knew how a driving
instructor feels like. It took me hours to de-waterlog it and clean all the
sand out but eventually it was running again. Now, time for
some upgrades. After a hardy lunch I began
going over the redesigned blueprints, or college rule prints to be technical,
but who gives a shit. Sorry, I guess remembering that battle brought back some
unsettling memories. Anyways, I took them to the ship and assembled all my
supplies I would need.
"
lights off." I say, slipping into my preheated bed. I guess
falling asleep.
10.0pt\'>"Oy."
chair in my quarters after a long and stressful day. I go to the
drink named \'Saca\' or translated \'Sunset\'.
"Computer, resume recording from one-fifty last night."
waste any time. I nearly stripped it bare, I had to
for all the upgrades to be done properly. First, and most important, the hull
From the parts acquired from radio shack, I added a new feature for
emergencies, an instant start button. I have given it allot
of thought and knew it was possible to blast off vertically or horizontally
from a dead shutdown within a second. This is done by
temporally bypassing the restrictor transmission, forcing a large amount of
dust to the reaction chamber then directly to the turbines. There is one
problem, you have to hold the button and if you use it too long, well, the
engines do overheat while using this; it\'s boom-boom bye-bye, fireworks city
man. And with that welder, mending the hull was at
least ten times easier and according t