Discovering Alien Technology Part Two
Copyright© 2026 by GMet
Chapter 10
Sunday morning I did wake up before the alarm and got up to work out before showering in the garage. I had breakfast and coffee ready for dad when he got out of the shower and we ate in the quiet of the house before seven women were up. We were on the way to the airport just after six thirty and found the pilot already warming up the plane. We each only had a gym bag for a change of clothes so we put them on the spare seat beside me in the back while dad took the front passenger seat. Once we were in the air, I opened up my laptop and went over the progress of all the space craft builds. The material for AddlerThree, AddlerSix, the small craft that would fit the top bay of the AddlerThree, and AddlerSeven, the large fire fighting craft, was ready to be delivered as soon as the new hanger was ready, hopefully this week. We would see that progress first thing this morning.
AddlerEight, the passenger jet, was moving along quite well with all the robots concentrating on the build with nothing else to do until the new hanger was up. With the frame and AIPS install complete two weekends ago, they continued with the wirings of all the systems and the Addlerium delivery system. Base had added all the detection systems we had available from the AMDS probes and put in anti-missile defence systems such as current flare systems to defeat heat seeking missiles as well as our lasers and rail guns. The lasers and rail guns were hidden in the wings and belly of the craft and he had installed a large amount of the force field generators to cover every surface of the craft, not just the front.
‘No use making a passenger craft for you and the family if it doesn’t protect everyone from anything on earth meant to harm you,’ he reasoned.
‘I’m not complaining one bit,’ I told him. ‘If we could put in an ejection pod for the passenger cabin or harden it to survive just about anything, I wouldn’t argue against that either.’
‘We would need room for at least ten,’ Base mused.
‘We have nine people now but the pilots and other accompanying robots should fit as well,’ I added.
‘That you want to save the robots is admirable Ben,’ Base said.
‘While we don’t hang out and talk much, several are always around and interact well with all of us,’ I told him. ‘We would miss them and they deserve to survive as much as we do.’
‘I’ll get on a design to harden the main cabin and shield it if the craft comes apart,’ Base stated. ‘I don’t know if we can eject it, but it would survive an explosion and maybe even a crash landing, depending on the angle of impact.’
‘Anything is better than nothing, though with the defenses you’ve installed, it would take something extreme to knock us out of the sky,’ I responded.
‘A nuclear warhead detonation nearby would cause catastrophic damage, as would multiple missiles impacting at once,’ Base informed me. ‘This passenger craft has to protect you and your family above all else.’
‘Agreed,’ I said. ‘I know you have the frame already finished and the passenger area was not built separate, but could we add a separate compartment inside the frame with all the systems installed?
“Maybe,” Base responded. ‘We were going to move onto the outer skin installation, windows and then the cabin and cockpit install today but instead we could see if we could build a hardened passenger pod inside the frame to contain up to fourteen seats with redundant windows that will just look like thicker composite.’
‘We could coat the reinforced pod and have automatic airlocks at the front just after the entrance and then again before the washrooms,” I mused. “We could even build in some small AIPS units to activate if the pod can be ejected or survives while the craft disintegrates around it. They could provide some guidance or slow the pod down. Lasers can be added to defend the pod once it’s free of the main craft.’
‘All good ideas,’ Base stated. ‘We should have done this just like a space craft with redundant systems and emergency features that we’re now describing. We’ll have to add these features into the designs for all the next builds.’
“For sure,’ I agreed.
We worked on the updated AddlerEight design all the way to Winnipeg and then I had to concentrate on getting out of the plane and walking into the hanger. Once inside, I took a slow walk around the craft, taking in where all the systems were already installed. It looked ready to close up with the outer skin and composites for windows and then the finishing touches for the cabin, cockpit, washrooms and kitchens etc.
“Damn, they made great progress,” Dad said after we did a full circle.
“Yes, it’s ahead of schedule,” I agreed. “I’m trying to figure out if I’m going to rip it apart to put in a smaller pod-like cabin inside the frame to protect everyone or use this version and make a new one with better safety features.”
I had to explain our thinking to him without giving up the existence of Base.
“This was to get us to Winnipeg or elsewhere in Canada as fast as possible to minimize your travel time,” dad responded after thinking about it. “Chance of attack in between here and Winnipeg is relatively small and to Ottawa, only a bit higher. Finish this one off and use it while you design the next version with more safety features. Add the safety features to all the designs now for the other craft before we start those builds.”
“That’s probably the best solution,” I agreed as did Base.
Base and saved our new designs as version two of AddlerEight and had the robots start installing all the interiors and windows to version one.
“Jesus, they’ll have it done by the middle of next week the rate their going,” dad observed as they quickly had the cabinets in and were working on the bulkheads and ceiling of the cabin.
“Looks like,” I agreed. “We’ll have to get the girls working on test flights with our Canadian partners so we can get a certificate for it soon.”
“Definitely, we need this ready to go so we can go back and forth to check on new builds,” dad said. “Let’s go look at the new hanger.”
We walked over to see a much larger hanger just about done. The big door wasn’t installed in the front but all other doors and a small office and washroom seemed complete as we checked the lights and running water for the sink, toilet and shower. We looked around and tried out the two big fifty-ton cranes high up on rails positioned on either side of the building. They worked on pendants and we moved them back and forth and lowered the giant hooks to make sure everything was set.
“Everything seems complete except the big bay door,” dad said after we looked around. “That’s due to be put in tomorrow so we should be able to take possession on Tuesday. I’ll fly up and sign off and then the robots can move the materials over and start on AddlerThree and AddlerSeven.”
“And AddlerSix, the small craft to go down to the surface of the moon,” I added. “No use having one without the other.”
“True,” dad agreed. “It’s small so that should be okay to start over here and then once we get the AddlerEight out of the other one, it can finish over there. We can store other materials in there until we have hangers up at the space port and then we can split builds between here and there.”
We made a list of what we would need in the new hanger, stuff for the bathroom like toilet paper, towels, mats and a change of clothes and supplies for the office. After that, we went back to see the cabin ceiling, walls complete, the bathrooms closed in and the kitchen being worked on. Other robots were bringing in the seats while another team was putting in the instrument panels and finishing off the cockpit. Exterior doors were hung at the front and rear exits and the two emergency doors over the wings were just being put on as the last seat went through the opening.
“Looks like we’ll be able to coat it starting Monday,” I said out loud after confirming with Base sub-vocally. “Wednesday, they’ll be able to test it out provided we get authorization and initial certification. When we get back, I’ll get Riley and Reece working on that.”
“Alright, I see nothing else we have to take care of today,” dad observed after one last look around. “I’ll get the pilot back here and we can head home.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed.
Soon we were flying back and Base and I made up a good plan for testing the AddlerEight that I put down on an excel sheet and sent it off to the sisters. After that, we set up the build schedule for the three space craft after adding more defensive and emergency pods with their own propulsion and defensive capabilities to the designs. The pods would need their own line as we would need a bunch of them for the bigger craft. Time went by quickly and I was surprised when we landed back in Dryden. We thanked and paid the pilot before taking a walk over to the space port side. Concrete was all poured for the pads and runways, with all power and utility conduits and piping already buried underneath with the appropriate pipes sticking out to attach to later.
“The runway needs at least three weeks more to harden properly but the pads only need one more week before we can start erecting the hangers for us and the emergency equipment,” dad explained. “The footings and the basement walls were poured at the same time for the various normal buildings we have to put up for the headquarters on both sides as well as the tall one for vertical building of ships. They will start with those tomorrow as long as they only drive pickups on the pads to get to them.”
“Great news,” I responded. “I see the vertical launch pad’s water basin was poured as well.”
“Yep, with special concrete and all the water pipes to pour and drain as necessary,” dad informed me. “We need to install the specially made pad made from your composites overtop and it will be ready to go by the end of the week.”
“Excellent, the girls can get the CSA team ready for the next launch of the AMDS probes,” I said. “We’re ahead of schedule and we’ll be building ships and launching them here in no time. Thanks for working so hard on this dad, I appreciate all the hard work you and the others have done.”
“You’re welcome son, we’re all still enjoying it, even with the accelerated pace,” he replied. “We’re all in to get us into space and help out humanity.”
“I’m glad everyone wants to help,” I responded. “I wish everyone else was properly motivated but we’ll make do.”
“Let’s go home and relax for the rest of the day,” dad suggested.
“Another good idea,” I replied with a grin.
The girls were up but still in their pyjamas as it was only eleven o’clock when we arrived home. We had to explain our fast trip and what we found at Winnipeg and where we were at with the space port. I did mention that we wanted to start test flights by Wednesday on AddlerEight with a flight from Winnipeg to Dryden, landing on the current airport’s runway, and then launch more AMDS probes on Friday or the weekend from the vertical launch pad at the space port.
“Our work is never done,” Riley complained. “It was supposed to be our weekend off and he’s working us to the bone again.”
“I’m sure Monday morning will do just fine,” I responded with a roll of my eyes as she was currently laying on the couch with her feet up on Teigan’s lap. “I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself getting up.”
She stuck her tongue out at me but I just shook my head and headed to the kitchen. I fried up some battered fish and put some fries in the oven. Everyone came in when it was done and took it all so I did it all over again for dad and I.
After we finally ate, the girls went out to get some sun while I worked with Base to perfect the positions of the new AMDS probes around the solar system to best protect us. Once we had that figured out, we programmed the system to handle the launches, the flight plans, the tracking and the feedback from all of them. With that done, I went outside and offered to put sunscreen on the ladies but everyone was okay with their partner doing for them. I shrugged and went down to the lake and had a good swim across the lake and back. The girls were in the water when I came back and I dove down and came up with Riley in my arms. I raised her up above my shoulders and threw her into the water while she was screaming.
All four chased me but were slow as I turned and grabbed them one by one and threw them high into the air and into the deeper water. Last but not least was Sage who didn’t get any angrier than the others after she surfaced.
“The winner and still champion, Benjamin Addler!” I said in an announcer’s voice. “The crowd goes wild!”
I slowly backed out of the water as they crossed their arms under their breasts and gave me a frown.
“Looking lovely like that, ladies,” I told them with a grin. “Very lovely.”
“You have to sleep sometime,” Sage responded.
“Yes, but I sleep a lot less than you do, so I’ll have plenty of time for revenge,” I replied as I got to the small beach. “Enjoy the rest of your swim.”
I dried off with a towel and then went into the garage to change and then study Base’s presentation of the force field generators. It took me an hour to grasp the science behind them but it finally clicked. Base and I went over ways to improve them besides making them bigger and providing them with more power. I suggested a circular or cylindrical emitter rather than the single point one the device had. For that matter, any shaped emitter might put out a better shield. The electromagnets controlling the plasma flows and the ions would have to be shaped as well. From there we posited that combining shaped emitters could do some interesting things to the shields they produced. Also, changing the ions/plasma mix could help, or hinder, as well. Base would do some experimenting far from here to determine any changes that would help.
We continued our work on design changes for the new craft to add escape pods. The bigger ships were no problem but AddlerThree posed a problem with bay doors at the top of the craft with the AddlerSix stored inside the bay. Crew quarters and a cockpit used most of the rest of the room not already allocated for equipment and systems. Single pods could be put here and there or maybe to line the walls of the bay but would make the bay very crowded for a launch or retrieval of the AddlerSix. We could make the whole craft bigger, basically longer as the width was set by the runway where it would land. We would need twenty feet or more to put a full pod in front of the bay with two hatches to close either end in an emergency. There would be short seats along the either side but still enough room to walk through the middle to the cockpit or the bay.
We updated the design and ordered more material to accommodate the length increase. Other things had to change along with the length so that took another hour to increase the propulsion and Addlerium delivery systems as well as the length of the wings. Even the landing gear had to be moved. We kept the bay the same length, just added a second door on the top of the craft in front of the first bay to be blown off to allow the pod to be ejected. That had us moving other equipment and conduits around.
“What ya doing?” Riley asked as Teigan and her came into the workshop, still in their swimsuits.
“Redesigning the AddlerThree and the other new space craft to add escape pods and other emergency features that we didn’t think of earlier,” I told her. “I’ve had to add twenty feet to AddlerThree and put another type of door on the top to allow that to be blown if we have to eject the pod. Systems and conduit had to be moved around, including the landing gear so it took a while. I’ve adjusted the material order so we should still be able to start the build on Wednesday in the new hanger.”
“You did all of that since you came in here?” Teigan asked.
“Yes, though to be honest, it’s pretty quick with the CAD software I use to move things around and draw up new features,” I answered.
I showed them the design and how I could move individual lines or combine a unit on a single level to be able to move that whole unit around. I turned on and off layers to show them the frame, the propulsion system and others until the whole craft was on the screen.
“I knew you were smart but geez, that’s incredible,” Teigan said.
“He is a freaking genius,” Riley told her. “We better leave him to it or the fate of the world could be in jeopardy.”
“I suppose so,” Teigan agreed. “Leaves me with more time with you so that is a good thing.”
They grinned at me and left to go into the house. I worked with Base until Mom popped in later to have me come in for supper. The three blondes had all left and supper was a nice homemade lasagne. Riley took me upstairs and had her way with me before we fell asleep a bit early.
Monday morning, I did a full workout plus a swim before having breakfast with dad. He dropped me off at the arena before driving back to the space port to get the buildings started.
Practice was more intense as this was the last week of exhibition games, this time ours was an away game in Thunder Bay against the North Stars. It would take almost four and a half hours to get there by bus so we would be leaving early Saturday afternoon in order to get there in enough time to have time on the ice before the usual final warmup time before the evening game. They left me on the second line for both practices except when we had to be down a man on penalty kill or to practice who goes where if someone was injured. Everything seemed to click with all the lines and practices were beginning to be like well-oiled machines.
In between practices, I went to headquarters and worked with the girls on the AddlerEight test flights for Wednesday and the AMDS probe launches for Friday. We had meetings with the Ministry of Transport and the CSA on both subjects to get them approved and what each test flight would entail. The ministry would go to Winnipeg first to do the initial inspection and certification while another team would be here at Dryden for each flight and to provide the actual certificate to fly and land anywhere. Base and I finished the new designs for the AddlerThree, AddlerSeven, AddlerSix and last but not least, the AddlerFour with escape pods and the rest of the emergency upgrades.
Wednesday was a big day for us. Dad and I flew over there right after my morning practice and met the Ministry of Transport people who inspected AddlerEight inside the hanger and then again after it was moved outside. While I was handling that, dad signed for the new hanger beside our current one with it’s new huge front door now installed. He immediately got the builds going once the material was brought over from the original hanger.
We locked up both hangers and watched as P1 and P2 took off for Dryden and then we flew back to Dryden along with the Ministry folks to join their partners who arrived there to watch AddlerEight land and do another inspection. There were other flight tests to do after that to test all systems and airworthiness of the jet. They wanted to know how it would fly without power, the braking systems and how it reacted to extreme climbs, extreme dives and extreme turns for example.
I had to go to afternoon practice but Reece and Riley kept track of everything and filled me in on the excellent results when they picked me up afterwards. Riley showed off the certificate that stated we could fly the AddlerEight anywhere in Canada for now and by next week anywhere in the world after it was published worldwide. We had put on black coating with some red stripes and Canadian flags on the tail fins as well as AddlerEight on either side up front. Base had the robots put the new aircraft designation number C975-AD on the back two sides and on the tail fin, with the C meaning it was Canadian and the AD was for Addler, the owner’s airline.
Thursday, the CSA team came back in town and we had them in our conference room after they walked through the scanners without a beep. We walked them through next day’s launch of a hundred more AMDS probes and the updates to the software to guide them through the atmosphere, the satellites and space junk orbiting earth and then on to their final position in the solar system. It would take over eight hours if we launched one every five minutes.
I gave all four members of the team, Ryan Hammond, Vassily Sarsgaard, Diane Abbott and Terry Mason log in credentials into the system and they immediately logged in and moved around in the system. They could see where the current AMDS and the AMIS probes were in the solar system and they could also track their speed, direction and time to arrival of each. The launch times of all the new ones and where they would be stationed along with their time to arrival was shown in the launch module.
“This is an excellent system,” Diane said after about fifteen minutes of playing around in it.
“Thanks, I spent a lot of time getting the graphics up to par with my space explorer game,” I told her. “It also has a module to warn everyone if some thing is off target or if anything is detected coming towards the probes, earth or any new colonies as we add them.”
“Good, we definitely need to test that out as soon as we can,” Ryan stated. “Does it just inform people who have access to this system?”
“For now, yes,” I replied. “I’m sure we could have it email or call certain people who need to know once the information has been analysed so we don’t scare the passengers unnecessarily. For now, let’s keep it to ourselves until we work out the bugs.”
“I see we only have observational authority in the system, when are we going to be given launch authority?” Terry Mason, the flight engineer asked.
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