ALICE, page 22
At his request, Seven gave him an overview of each portion of the cockpit, indicating weapons controls, flight controls, systems status and navigation. As she went through them Jake started to remember where things were.
“Seven, have I been trained on this craft already,” he asked.
“Actually,” ALICE chimed in, “you have received the entire flight training program. I fed it to you while you were in stasis.”
“Wasn’t that classified?” Jake asked.
“Yes, however there was a directive to supply appropriate training to qualified personnel after the initial alien contact. As the only surviving personnel after the attack I considered it relevant training.”
“That’s why I’ve been itching to get at this thing,” Jake replied.
“While you have been trained on several of the rotary and fixed wing aircraft, I believe your true motivations lie elsewhere,” ALICE responded.
Jake grinned at that, he always wanted to go into space. His selection of the Marine Corps as a service was in hope of securing a flight slot and eventually making the space program. However, an impacted flight program and two shooting wars determined otherwise.
ALICE spoke up, “As with the hand to hand training, you should find muscle memory as you go through the motions of a preflight. Please don your helmet and strap in.”
Jake slid the helmet on and then buckled up his harness. He hit the canopy close button without thinking and then paused as he realized what he had done. “This is the shit!” he said to himself, grinning like a kid with a new toy.
As the canopy closed, Jake felt the pod rise until it was in the center of the room, elevated on a pedestal attached directly beneath him.
“The simulator is capable of full rotation on all 3 axes,” Seven supplied “the cockpit pod actually hovers in a magnetic field above its base. Once the simulator is activated, this room becomes fully holographic, displaying any scenario desired. Currently programming is for both space and atmospheric combat simulations. I have taken the liberty of creating additional programs for an alien attack using data from the ship in Hangar 19 and the historical analysis of the bombing.”
Suddenly the room vanished and Jake was in the hangar outside. The holograph was amazingly realistic. He began his preflight, the instruments displaying both in his helmet and on their respective console displays.
Seven continued, “This craft uses alien propulsion systems which are based on repulser technology. The aliens seem to be most proficient in creating force generating systems.”
“The drives and control surfaces of this craft create repulsive fields that push the craft in the desired directions. The main drives push the craft forward and backward, the control surfaces you recognize as rudder and ailerons nudge the craft in the direction you indicate via your controls. One new control, is by twisting the stick control grip, you can pivot the craft on the horizontal axis. It’s more forceful than full rudder.”
“Throttle position speeds up or slows the craft and breaking reverses the drives. When stopped, breaking will actually allow you to back up. There is a directional lever next to the throttles that allow you to hover, similar to the AV-8B Harrier or F-35 Lighting II you are familiar with. You use this to rise from the hanger, or hover in gravity wells. It is the vertical control complement to the horizontal in the stick grip.”
Jake activated the drives and slowly brought the craft into a hover in the hangar using the vertical control by the throttles. He was amazed at how the simulator replicated the sensations he expected to feel. He slid the craft slightly to the right then left by tipping the stick and actually felt the movement he expected. Amazing! Next, he twisted the stick, and the craft did a slow 360 degree pirouette in place.
With a request to Seven to open the simulated hangar doors, he throttled up to lift the craft free of the hangar, and found himself floating above the Nevada desert. He could see the wings of the craft on his right and left as well as the tail in his rear display. He pushed the throttles up more and transitioned from hover to horizontal flight, nosing up in the process.
As the craft rose skyward, he could feel himself pressed back in his seat. Jake continued to accelerate until he was clear of the atmosphere and looking at the stars. He throttled back and leveled off in orbit, first pivoting his craft to face the earth, then back out and towards the moon. He punched the moon into his navigation system and throttled up, following the directional indicators in his helmet display.
By both moving the stick and twisting its grip Jake found an incredible amount of maneuverability in the craft. He added some rudder to it as he exercised his fighter to get a feel for the controls.
He flew like this for about an hour, getting more comfortable with the fighter. Then he asked Seven to add some gunnery targets for him to try. At first, he struggled with targeting them and flying the craft, but eventually as he relaxed, he had little trouble clearing space around him.
Jake did a quick time check and realized he’d been at it for over three hours. He asked Seven to cut the return short but did perform a landing.
He climbed out of the cockpit, once it settled back down to the floor of the simulation room, and dropped the helmet off on the table. He headed back out to the cart, and asked her to run him back to the facility door. He made it back to the dining room, just in time to greet Sara and her students as they came in.
“Hey,” he said as Sara came over and with arms wrapped around his neck, kissed him hard.
He caught a few glances from the new arrivals at her actions.
“Is that so they know you’re taken or I am?” Jake asked.
“Both,” she replied, smiling but stilling holding him in her embrace, “if I have one more guy hit on me, I’m gonna kill somebody, or better yet, start hand to hand training early!”
Jake kissed her again and then said, “Well, if this doesn’t keep them away, nothing will.”
Sara eventually let him go and they both went to order lunch. They grabbed seats with the rest of the group and Jake asked how the driving class was going.
“It’s wonderful,” one of the women declared. Everyone seemed to agree though several of the men wouldn’t look Jake in the eye. He figured he could guess who was hitting on Sara. He laughed to himself. He certainly couldn’t blame them, and he was the last person here to be able to claim exclusivity.
The rest of the new recruits arrived in groups as their classes completed, until eventually, the entire room was full of staff members talking and eating. Jake surveyed the assembled mass and realized he was quickly approaching the point where he wasn’t going to be able to manage effectively any more.
The military historically devoted gobs of research to effective battlefield management ratios, 3 or 4 to 1 being the most optimal. Jake knew administratively the ratio was much higher. As they spread out and activated more ALICE facilities, it would be really stretching his ability to stay on top of things.
He also worried about another attack. In his mind, it wasn’t if they would be attacked, it was when. Now that he understood the circumstances, he was absolutely sure the aliens would be back to finish the job if they even got a hint the ALICE systems were still functional.
“Hey, are you here?” Sara asked, seeing the faraway look in his eyes.
“Oh, yeah, I’m just going over all that needs to be done. I told Bonnie to keep an eye out for more recruits. I really want those fighters manned ASAP. I also think I need to delegate more, once we light up two or three more ALICE facilities, I’m screwed!”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you were last night,” she said jokingly, “and given my mood right now, you will be again tonight. But as to the delegation, you have a good start right now with Bonnie and Linda.”
“I suppose so, but I haven’t asked if they want that job,” Jake said.
“Who's gonna tell you no?” Sara asked, “Everyone here owes you, and you never ask for anything that isn’t necessary. And never ask for anything for yourself.”
“That’s not true,” Jake said, sliding up next to Sara, “seems like I asked you for something the other night.”
Sara actually blushed, “that’s different!”
“OK, I get your point and I’ll discuss it with the two of them though I am not sure how well Bonnie is gonna like it.”
“She’ll be OK so long as you promise regular visits,” Sara said with a wink.
----*----
It had been almost two weeks since Bonnie and her team arrived in Texas. Jason was almost finished with his fix it list, and they set up Paint Rock as the center for law and order in the region.
They also delivered a medical module exactly like the one Prosperity received. Paint Rock had a couple of doctors in residence already, so they were extremely excited at the medical upgrade. They were open for business that afternoon.
She also hadn’t decided if the call from Jake last week was good or not. Jake asked for her, Sara and Linda on the communication line to explain a distribution of authority.
Linda was to oversee the southwest, Bonnie the south central region and Sara the northwest. Jake was going to commute between the three for now, possibly stopping in Washington to light up ALICE-4. Her primary function was a helicopter or rotary wing research.
Jake suggested they all take the rank of 1st Lieutenant to his Captain, to help solidify their authority. This made Bonnie laugh, as Captain Jake was also President of the US of A.
They also shipped off 2/3’s of the Alaska recruits to Nevada, for further training. Some of them would then transfer to Texas later. Jake also reminded her about local recruiting. She sensed there was something behind that, as he’d already mentioned it a week or so earlier. She was going to make it a priority, even though he hadn’t said for her to do so. She contacted Linda directly after the call with Jake and asked to borrow Barb to sync up with Dallas and help with the search for recruits.
She also wanted to see if Linda and Kathy were feeling their babies. Bonnie was feeling hers and was really starting to show now as well. It was because of that, Jake had dropped the hammer and forbid her from any more external forays, PERIOD!
She asked, with both Becky and Kathy established as doctors now, if one of them could transfer to Dallas at least until the baby was born. There was no question that it was ok of course, Linda would just like to see which would like to go, though Kathy’s pregnancy complicated the rotation. Heather, one of the earlier recruits, was still in training and not ready for a solo assignment.
Jake’s fighters arrived, two at a time, via the heavy lift helicopters. Dallas securely stored them away as Jake requested, which Bonnie found very odd, but didn’t question it. She was sure he had a good reason for what he did and would explain at his first opportunity.
Joe and Abby were training the Paint Rock patrolmen, including adding four jeeps and two transports. The transports were more for show as the 30mm cannons were really overkill. Then again, considering the huge raid on the town that Bonnie and her team intervened in, she was sure it made the town’s folk feel safer.
With the surrounding communities to support, the patrol swelled to 150 men, all armed, and trained by Bonnie’s team. Sandy did her part well, and there were already trade discussions in progress with the Prosperity group. Material transport was to be provided by both Bonnie and Linda’s heavy lift helicopters, delivery guaranteed!
Bonnie was currently sitting in the control room trying to figure out the personnel transfers with Linda. They were talking through options about each of the parties involved. Jason really wanted to get back to Karen, and Joe and Abby didn’t care where they went so long as they went as a pair.
Brian was really a farmer at heart, and California was a little more to his taste than Texas, though he was willing to take on the challenge if asked.
April and Sandy were not really site-specific assets, they kinda just went where the work was.
On the flip side Bonnie needed a doctor and recruiting one from town was a poor PR decision. Better to train one up than steal one.
She and Linda decided Jason, Brian, Joe, and Abby would head to Nevada. Becky, who volunteered to help deliver her sister's baby, and Barb, would head to Texas. Barb was a great trade for Bonnie, as she really had no one to hand off analytical work to while Linda was a trained analyst. Bonnie was also getting recruits from Alaska once they were up to speed, for now she would have to run lean. Sandy offered to chip in as she could, to cover the shortfall. They scheduled the transfers for the end of the week.
She just killed the communication link when Dallas said, “Bonnie you have a call from Paint Rock, it’s the Patrol Captain.”
Bonnie remembered the man but couldn’t recall his name. He was pleasant enough, but she knew he would never be recruit material for Jake.
“Hello Captain,” Bonnie said, ducking the name issue, “what can I do for you?”
“Ma’am,” he replied, “I have someone here who claims he knows you and would like a minute of your time? He rode into town, says he was one of the raiders you chased off last week and wants to make amends.”
The image in the holographic display was of the man Bonnie talked to at the pass. That had been a gutsy move, riding into town like that. She remembered him as someone different. She could also see he was in cuffs. She made a snap decision.
“Captain, I’m sending a helicopter to you straight away, please see that your guest is safely escorted out, and placed on it, thank you.”
Once the connection dropped she said, “Dallas, please ask Joe and Abby to accompany the helicopter bringing that man here. Can you also analyze the hell out of him on the way back to see if I’m crazy or not. Standard outsider transport protocols, please.”
That translated to armed escort with windows blacked out.
Bonnie asked Dallas to locate a small dining area for her, separate from everyone else. She also verified Dallas could incapacitate anyone inside the facility in seconds. She knew Jake would have a fit if he knew what she was doing, but she was working a strong hunch and she was going to play it.
As she sat sipping tea, Joe and Abby came in escorting the bandit. They were both in full combat gear, though no rifles, side arm’s only. The raider led in while still in cuffs and directed to the table, Bonnie indicated to Abby to remove his cuffs. As they did, she looked the man over. He was in his late 20’s to early 30’s. Tall, maybe a little over 6 feet, and had a strong lean build. Frankly, a lot like Jake, though not as handsome.
Bonnie pointed to the chair across from her and said to the raider, “please be seated.”
Then to the others, “you may go, thank you.”
Joe and Abby exchanged looks, but left as instructed.
Bonnie sipped her tea and asked, “Would you like something to eat or drink?”
“Something cold to drink would be nice,” he replied, rubbing his wrists where the cuffs had been. He jumped slightly as one of the many bots slid up beside him with a tray containing an ice tea. He took the glass and watched as the bot backed away and then zipped off to a small door in the wall.
“My name is 1st Lieutenant Sullivan, I run this facility,” Bonnie said.
“I’m Robert Jacobson,” he replied, then took a drink.
“That was either a very brave thing you did or incredibly stupid?” Bonnie offered.
“The way I see it, it was either the first day of a new life, or the last day of a bad one,” he said.
“Why are you here?” Bonnie asked flatly.
“Well, after we had our little pow wow, I went home to re-evaluate my life. As you pointed out, I was better than what I’d allowed myself to become. I’m not lazy; I had just given up the hope of something better. Out here, there really wasn’t, or rather weren’t a lot of choices. I can see you bring a wave of change and opportunity. I’m here to see if you also bring a little redemption?”
Bonnie sat and stared at the man. What she saw was a tortured soul. She didn’t know what he had done and wasn’t sure she wanted to, but she did have a gut feeling that this man, given a chance and a direction, was exactly the kind Jake was looking for.
“I can’t absolve your sins,” Bonnie said, “but I can give you a chance to make up for whatever wrongs you have performed against your fellow man.”
“I’m not lookin for a preacher,” he replied, “just a chance to work for the angels again.”
“Again?” Bonnie said to herself, then, “OK, let me think a minute, you have something to eat.”
As she finished, a bot slid up again, this time the tray held a plate with a steak and potato on it, green salad, and a cold beer. Bonnie ordered it earlier figuring Joe would eat it if things went poorly. That boy was always eating.
She got up and walked out. Robert stood as she did and watched her leave, and then sat down to eat.
“Well Dallas?” She asked in the hallway.
“I detect no lies or deceit, his resolve to return to a constructive lifestyle appears genuine. He is somewhat nervous, but given the circumstances that is normal. If you are considering him as part of Jake’s recruiting request, I would endorse that,” she finished.
“OK Dallas, what do you know about that that I don’t?” She asked.
“I am afraid I can’t answer that question at this time, however, I do know Jake is planning a briefing on the subject as quickly as possible. He is not comfortable transmitting the information.”
That tidbit set Bonnie back, why would Jake be worried about transmissions between the ALICEs. No one on earth could intercept and decode that. Then she realized, “On Earth.” She’d heard about the discovery of monitoring stations in orbit but not much else.
“OK, so let’s go tell our newest recruit the good news then,” Bonnie said as she reentered the dining room.
Robert must have been hungry. Although his table manners were good, he cleaned his plate in that short time.
