Chapter 21: More Pickups

The logistics in picking up guests from all around the globe in a short period of time were not insurmountable. They were a bit tricky, true, especially when several of the heads of state requested Simon’s personal appearance! That required the use of several shuttles and teams.

When Simon had sent a request to all the Earth groups for possible ex carrier or submarine officers, several possibles were noted and contacted concerning their availability. Four people from the United States were considered and cleared for contact. They had to contact the President to approve three of them since they were still active but close to retirement. He gave his approval, since they were slated to be simply retired. The complications arose when it was noted that one was currently the Captain of a submarine currently somewhere in the Pacific and the other two were the Captain of an aircraft carrier, currently in the South China Sea, and an Admiral currently on board that same vessel in an exercise with the Philippine Navy. The fourth was, conveniently, already retired and living near Washington. James and Bill conferred and decided that they could make the two pickups using Arrows.

The Arrows could land on the deck of an aircraft carrier with no real problems other than the thousands of crew that may see them. On the other hand, plucking someone from a submarine with an Arrow would be considerably more hazardous. James tossed a coin and it determined that James got the carrier and Bill got the submarine. The next problems were the precise locations for each rendezvous. The President, again had to be consulted before arranging to release the command codes and signing the orders to permit the meeting between an Arrow and one of the submarines as well as sending sufficient orders through the appropriate channels to make the transfers happen. A bit of hustle by Ben Guarant and all others concerned and it worked out fairly well.

James took out ARO-01 and Bill took out ARO-02 and launched from space at the same time. The shuttles were being prepped for other missions, so were unavailable. It was realized that there would be implications, but it was felt that they could be minimized and controlled. The US Military was very good for the most part in keeping secrets and following orders.

Bill was instructed to take ARO-02, and proceed to a set of co-ordinates a little bit south of approximately half way between Hawaii and Midway Island. He was to go there and wait until an Ohio Class submarine surfaced and to contact them at that time. He was given contact frequencies and told to just give them his first name. Bill arrived at the designated location and just circled around enjoying the peaceful ocean. At the precise time as instructed, a dark shadow appeared on his sensor screen, surfaced and cruised slowly northward. Bill slowly descended to 100 feet above the surface of the calm ocean slightly astern of the submarine.

He broke radio silence with his call on the assigned frequency. “USN-64, USN-64, SFG ARO-02, Arrow 2, Come in!”

“Arrow 2, USN-64, Who is this and where are you?” responded the sub.

“USN-64, Arrow 2, I am Bill, 100 feet above and to your stern.” replied Bill.

“Arrow 2, USN-64, Say again. There is nothing within 50 miles of us in the air or underwater. “ stated the sub.

“USN-64, Arrow 2, Wait 1” stated Bill as he flipped the cloak off, waited a few seconds and flipped it back on again. “Did you copy that!”

There was a significant pause then “Arrow 2, USN-64, Copy that, what are your instructions?”

Bill replied, “USN-64, Arrow 2, Maintain heading, speed and depth. Can you get ONLY my package on your aft deck?”

“Arrow 2, USN-64, Will comply, wait 2.”

On board the sub, the radar was clear, but all present in the command room had noticed the huge blip above and to the rear of the sub when Bill toggled the cloak. The captain looked uncertain but was going to follow orders to the letter, even if they did sound a bit ‘wierd’.

The captain said just before leaving. “Gentlemen, It has been a pleasure being your captain. Joe, you are now in command until such time as your mission is complete or until further orders come down the pipe. Carry on with your mission. I wish you all well. Smooth sailing!”

With that he went forward of the command tower and opened a pressure hatch to the surface, climbed up, closed the hatch behind him, and walked to the rear of the submarine. He looked all around him and could see nothing except a slightly blurry area aft and above the ship. Shortly, a ladder lowered and appeared directly in front of him. He heard a voice telling him to get into the flight suit which dropped in front of him and climb the ladder. He did as instructed and climbed into the cockpit of the wierdest aircraft he had ever seen. Bill was holding the Arrow about five feet up over the center of the sub. The tower on this sub was several feet in front of the nose of Arrow 2. Bill introduced himself and told him to put on the Helmet to his right and strap in, but DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!

Bill communicated once again with the sub. “USN-64, Arrow 2, Package received, thank you, all clear, resume normal operations. Arrow 2 out!”

“Well Captain, I am Bill, and you must be Frank Senner, welcome aboard! We will be flying you to the White House as quickly as possible. It should be an interesting ride.” said Bill.

“Glad to meet you Bill, I guess!”, Frank said a bit hesitantly, looking all around him.

“Heh heh, I truly do understand.” said Bill, “You were expecting, what, a helicopter to take you to an aircraft carrier, then a plane ride for 10 hours or so?”

“Something like that!” stated Frank.

“Sorry to disappoint, but you have an important briefing in one hour at the White house and I do not want you to be late!” said Bill smiling. “So, since time is of the essence, off we go!”

At that, Bill pointed the nose of the Arrow spaceward and hit the throttle. To say that Frank was impressed was like saying there are a few gallons of water in the Pacific Ocean.

“Is this plane for real? What kind of plane is it? What the hell? Are we in space already? How fast are we going?” asked Frank when he got his fear under control.

He was not much of a flyer, preferring a life under the sea to one way above it. Still, he was impressed and curious.

Bill explained, “We can travel above Mach 10 in atmosphere and considerably faster than that in space. There is no atmosphere to slow us down in space, of course we still have to look out for rocks and trash. This craft is classed as a fighter/bomber. It normally would have a crew of three but since we are only acting as a fast courier today, we really only need a pilot and you, the passenger. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the view while it lasts!”

“How long will this flight take? asked Frank.

“I should have you there in about 20 minutes, so you won’t see much.” replied Bill.

“What I can see is awesome!” exclaimed Frank, as he stared out the cockpit window at all the stars and the spinning globe of the Earth.

True to his word, about 20 minutes later, Bill deposited Frank at the rear of the White House just as James would do some time later. Bill returned to Blazing Star after thoroughly enjoying the rare flight. He missed that.

James took out ARO-01 and descended from space down to the South China Sea to the co-ordinates given to Blaze where the Carrier group was supposed to be located. James was headed to the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and noted on his radar that the Carl Vinson Carrier group was almost exactly where expected. Since he was only somewhat expected and yet was to remain top secret, some preparations would have to be made.

He contacted Flight Operations on the Carl Vinson. “Carl Vinson, Flight Ops: This is SFG ARO-01, Arrow 1, requesting permission to land.” said James.

“Arrow 1, Arrow 1, CVN-70 FO, We do not have you on radar. When are you due and where are you now?”

James was cloaked and moving at about mach 10 at the moment.

“CVN-70 FO, Arrow 1, I am 3 minutes out, range 124 miles. Please clear deck of all personnel, maintain course and speed, check with your Captain for confirmation.”

“Arrow 1, CVN-70 FO, Standbye 1”

“Arrow 1, CVN-70 FO, Please repeat range and ETA”

“CVN-70 FO, Arrow 1, Now 2.5 minutes out and range is 100 miles.”

A very concerned Lieutenant yelled out. “Crap, get the Captain, are we expecting anyone?”

At that moment Captain Walter Ronald entered the control room and took over the communications. “Arrow 1, Captain Ronald, Do you require anything to land?”

“Captain, Arrow 1, Negative, Just clear the deck until I am down.”

“Arrow 1, Understood”

“Lieutenant, clear the deck, all personnel. Get those cables off the deck, now.” the Captain ordered.

The command went out and all personnel moved off the deck awaiting the arrival of Arrow-1. Some others realized that something important was about to happen and found ways of viewing the events on the deck. The large bridge was one of those places.

“Captain, I still have nothing on radar and he is supposed to be travelling at Mach 10 by my rough estimate. That is not possible! Is this some kind of a test?” said the Lieutenant.

“I honestly don’t know at the moment, just do your job!” said Captain Ronald.

“He should be visible any time now. 10 seconds out.” said the Lieutenant.

James switched off the cloak and slowed to a respectable approach speed and just ‘appeared’ off the end of the deck where he slowly flew to the middle of the deck near the bridge and landed gently. James kept the Arrow uncloaked and shut it down. He then raised the canopy and climbed down the ladder that appeared at the side. He then took off his helmet and waited. Within moments, three men approached him from the bridge. The Captain, and two Admirals.

James shook their hands and said with a grin and said, “Hello, I am James and I am here to get two of you back home fast. If you two would please get into these flight suits quickly, we can be on our way. They should fit over your uniforms and may be a bit loose, but not to worry.”

The Captain and the one Admiral quickly donned the suits and then were told by James to follow him up the ladder and sit in one of the rear seats but ABSOLUTELY NOT to touch anything. Once they were seated and comfortable James told them to put on the helmets and that those helmets were all on the same frequency so they could talk on the way. The other Admiral returned to the Tower Control room where there were many people gathered around staring out the window at the incredible plane on their deck. It was considerably larger than anything they had on board and was somewhat arrow shaped so that was probably where it got its name. It was definitely a plane nobody on that ship had ever seen before or even heard of.

James keyed the radio, “Arrow 1, CVN-70 FO, Permission to depart.”

Admiral Narvon responded “Admiral Narvon, Arrow 1, Permission granted, safe journeys my friends.”

James started the engines and did a slow vertical lift then started a forward climb. Once clear of the deck James activated the cloak and started a swift acceleration almost vertical.

The radar operators and viewers on the Carl Vinson said almost as one “They’re gone! They just vanished! They are not even on radar! What the hell just happened?”

Admiral Narvon got their attention and stated in no uncertain terms “What you have just witnessed, you did NOT witness. It DID NOT happen! You WILL NOT repeat anything of what you have been a part of! DO YOU ALL UNDERSTAND THESE ORDERS?”

“SIR, YES SIR!” was heard stated by all.

On board Arrow 1, James was waiting for the first of many anticipated questions.

Finally Captain Ronald said “James, what kind of aircraft is this?”

James replied “This is known as an SFG Arrow.”

“Did you really approach the Carl Vinson at Mach 10, we did not even detect you on radar?” asked the Admiral.

James replied, “I was travelling at Mach 10 in the atmosphere and this plane has a feature called a cloak. With the cloak engaged, we are virtually impossible to detect on any known radar or sensing system. And before you ask, it is fully capable of space travel, as you are about to see. In space, it is much faster!”

“Why do I not feel the acceleration and G forces when you turn?” asked the Captain.

“Ah, that is the benefit of a built-in artificial gravity and inertia control system. They are also fully integrated with the drive system so everything is pretty well automated and seamless. We are now leaving the atmosphere and will begin our flight to Washington. I will remain cloaked the whole time and drop you off at the White House. I understand you have a briefing in about half an hour that should explain a lot more.” replied James.

“You are telling me that you can travel half way around the world, remain invisible and drop me off at the White House in half an hour?” said the Admiral in disbelief.

“A little less than that actually!” replied James with a grin. “I wouldn’t want you to be late!”

“I just knew this was going to be a weird day. I get a message in the middle of my day ordering Captain Ronald and I here to expect you in two hours and follow your directions. Then we receive packets of orders with a schedule for today. James, we are in the dark here and it is not comforting!” stated the Admiral. “Is there anything you can tell us about all this secrecy?”

“Believe me,” said James, “I understand. I am not at liberty to discuss any of the details with you, but I can tell you this. You have absolutely nothing to fear. This is all good. Relax and enjoy! That is the best advice I can give you! I am sure your President will bring you up to date at your briefing, since those are his orders you are following.”

“Hmmm,” said Captain Ronald. “I noticed you used the term ‘your President’. Is he not your President as well?”

“Actually, no, I am not an American Citizen. I was born Canadian.” replied James. “There will, I am sure, be a lot more details about that as well.”

“Well, at least you are not an Alien.” stated the Admiral.

Everyone grew quiet at that thought. James descended rapidly through the clouds to land without fanfare at the rear of the White House where he instructed his two passengers to climb down the ladder, remove the flight suits and hand them back to him to be stowed in the cockpit, and then proceed to the White House rear entrance where they would be directed from there. Without further ado, James returned to Blazing Star, now currently in space.

Blazing Star had left SBE and headed into space. They were to pick up the Canadians first, the Americans, followed by the group from the UK, then the Australians.

The Canadian group had only two late additions to the pickup list, a certain Marlyn Chambers and another young lady. They both looked very nervous and confused.