Warp Drive, Patent Pending, page 19
“Later, you’ll see Helen off on her flight. It will be tough at first, but things will get easier,” Glass said. “You can call and write letters. Fuck, you can even video chat. I don’t care. But she is going to Sydney, and you are staying and working on the project.”
Drath couldn’t say a word. He was bound up, angry and overwhelmed. He looked down and turned away. Then he walked out of the room without saying another thing. Without looking, he could almost feel Glass’s smile as he surrendered.
In the warp lab, Helen was packing a white file box that would be delivered to the Sydney office. She pulled a few folders from her desk and added them to the folders that Drath had taken from the security building. She dropped in some test results and various loose memos to the collection. It was all just stuff to hide the stolen files they wanted to smuggle out of the complex. “I’m not sure what all I’ll need.” Nervously she added a couple more files that she pulled out of her desk.
“Most everything is digital and on the servers anyway. Glass will ship anything else that you’ll need,” Drath assured her. He didn’t explain what had happened at his meeting. He just said he couldn’t convince Glass to change his plans.
“Maybe we should send the Negative-B frame. Then you can just come and get what you need,” he said, and they both laughed.
“Not a bad idea,” she agreed. “I’ll suggest that. Maybe being apart won’t be so bad if we have the warp tunnels and visit once in a while..”
That comment brought them eye to eye, face to face. “I’m going to miss you,” Drath finally said.
“Me too,” Helen wiped a tear from her eye.
Drath brushed away the wild hair and tears. He kissed her softly. “Maybe when we get the tunnel network up it won’t be that bad.”
“Yes it will,” she said as she stepped away and started packing her work again. “You’ll be out locating the unknown destinations as soon as the power issue is solved.” She put her Plexiglas cube with the single pulser in her file box, closed it and taped it secure. With a sharpie marker, she wrote “To Maggie in Sydney’ then her name on the top of the box. The words went across both the tape and cardboard. If it were opened, she’d know. She put the box in the center of her desk for someone to pick up.
She and Drath stood in the hanger looking at the A-positive frame.
“It’s going to change the world you know,” Helen said.
“No doubt and you are going to make it happen.” He squeezed her hand. “They should call it the Helen Elizabeth Transporter,” he said.
“Right!” she laughed. “It’s more likely going to be called the Glass Transporter.”
Drath nodded knowing she was right. They talked, and walked hand in hand, around the frame and looked at the final result of the work that they had been doing for the last eighteen months. Helen had even been working there longer. It really was her home away from home. “I don’t want to leave. We have so much more to learn,” Helen said, “and I don’t want to leave you.”
Drath kissed her on the forehead, “It’s okay, it won’t be forever.” The assurances sounded hollow.
They continued walking through the hanger and soon found themselves at Mother. The hatch was open, and Helen stepped in and took a seat.
“One last time, for old times?” she asked with a smile.
Drath considered the offer, if it was one, for a moment. But he stopped himself. It didn’t feel right. “Not this time,” he said and seated himself in the other seat. The hatch closed automatically, and the dash lit up. It came to life and offered the galaxy to them.
Without asking, or thinking twice, Helen reached out and pressed the first destination on the list. When the side dash lit up, she held her hand above the button and looked over to Drath.
They were locked eye to eye for only a second. Drath knew he didn’t want them to be separated. He didn’t say a word, his eyes showed his pain. She pressed the button.
For a moment they thought nothing happened. A second later the couple heard a scuttle of activity outside. Fear welled inside both of them, their hearts pounded so loudly they barely heard the words as the hatch opened.
“Well Geeze, It’s about time ya’ll got here.”
End
***
Other work by Douglas W. Daech that you may enjoy includes:
Haunted Romance
Tori Clark and her mother are starting over. They’ve moved to a new town and they have a new home. Things are different now, but Tori never expected to be sharing her bedroom with a ghost!
Together, Tori and the ghost work to solve a historic local cold case murder mystery. Along the way, a haunted romance forms between them. A love story spanning thirty years and crossing from life to death plays out as justice is brought to the murderer who still lives just around the corner.
Enjoy the romance, drama and excitement as young love, a haunting romance and a murder mystery unfold in Douglas Daech’s second electronic publication available at Amazon.
***
Seedy Hills, an odd little town
In Seedy Hills, an odd little town, citizens believes that a true blood sucking vampire is preying on the residents. One poor soul, bled dry, crashes his pick-up into the Twisty Cone. Ice cream hungry witnesses see the telltale fang marks and hear the ambulance workers comment on a vampire bite. That is all it takes to put the city in turmoil. Vampires in Seedy Hills tells the story of the worst type of vampire. And when Bigfoot turns up in the woods around Seedy Hills the local hunters look forward to their chance to hunt some really big game. The problem is that the big game ends up being smarter than the hunters! And, there are even more weird things that happen around Seedy Hills!!
Through the adventures Eric Green, a crusty old reporter for the local paper, learns about life, love and the fact that he and other people around him have feelings. While reporting the strange events he learns that being from an odd little run down town may not be all that bad.
Douglas W. Daech - Author Bio
Born near Detroit, Michigan and transplanted to Tampa, Florida, and then Russellville, Kentucky, Douglas has been writing for most of his life. Married to his soul-mate Julie since 1998, he has two children, Pam and Dallas.
Past experience includes articles in the Tripolitan, (Journal of the Tripoli Rocket Association, June 1991) and TRASH (Tampa Regional Aero-Space Hobbyist). In 1993 and 1994 many articles were published in the Unauthorized Launch, the Tampa Tripoli High Power Rocket Club news-letter. In May, 2004, a science fiction Short story was published in the online magazine NTH Degree. Also, an award for creative nonfiction was granted in the 2007 Frank and Cellia Conley Writing Contest at Western Kentucky University. In 2012 his first novel titled “Time Travel and Dimensional Journeys” was published as an e-book and is still available at most online retailers. Haunted Romance, published in 2013 at Smashwords.com, available at Amazon as well, is receiving rave reviews and is a real pleaser. Seedy Hills, published in 2014 is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Look for more from Douglas W. Daech. Keep an eye on Amazon for future projects!
Douglas Daech, Warp Drive, Patent Pending
