Chapter 16

It took two years for the completion of the first small ship with FTL capability. It was only 230 feet long and held a crew of 13. Much of the equipment and many of the instruments used in the construction were salvaged from the original mother ship although there were some newly manufactured pieces also. The second ship, already being built, would almost entirely use earth built parts. When they were ready to launch the new ship, Larry broke tradition and announced, for the first time, a flight of one of his alien powered ships. He and Lander sent news releases to all the major world news services with the day, time and location of the first, maiden flight of the TSS (Terran Star Ship) Enterprise. It seemed somehow fitting that this first man made star ship should carry such a proud name from the wet navy in the United States.

Almost before the print was dry on the hard copy media the government announced to the world that not only was it impossible for Larry to fly a starship but if he tried to launch any type of unauthorized craft it would be shot down.

Larry accepted interview requests from the major media sources and disputed the government’s statements. He informed them he and his employees had been voyaging into space now for almost seven years without the government even detecting them, much less stopping them. The uproar that caused was unbelievable.

Of course the government denied Larry ever did such a thing. The President, himself, held a news conference on the subject the day after Larry’s interviews with the news media. He stated, in part, “The detection instruments used by the United States military are the finest in the world. It is absolutely impossible for any flights into or out of the United States to be undiscovered. The statement made yesterday by Mr. Saunders is absolutely false. We believe the United States and the world are under attack by beings from space. If Mr. Saunders is actually an earthman he is fronting for an alien civilization. It is our intention to fight this invasion with the full power of the United States military if the invaders do not surrender immediately. As I speak, military forces of the United States and our Canadian allies are surrounding the known compounds of this alien menace. We will not pause nor will we cease our efforts until this menace is removed from the earth.”