Santa replied, “The Cell has survived because we have chosen to do only one act of terrorism every six months and have done everything ourselves. If we do more, we will become a target of the establishment and every person who knows about us outside the group adds for the chance of betrayal.'
Snow White said, “Why don't we do an assassination? We have been concentrating on the big conferences and meetings because of all the media news organizations covering the events. But a well chosen murder will bring the media to us.'
Romeo said, “Why not? We have stuck too long with the same events. We need some variety to bring back our creative urge.'
Santa cleared his throat. “Okay. Does anyone have an idea for next passion?” And looked to Snow White.
“I think the best way is to strike at the current darling of industry, government, and science. We need to
kill Daniel Karpinen. And we need to do it in a spectacular way. The 'propaganda ofthe deed' has to be worthy of the target.'
With the formal language from the past, the group agreed to the new target.
Chapter 21
Building the Ship
The picnic was just what we needed. Felix and his men looked out of place with their attempt to blend in with civilian clothes. They just couldn't hide the guns and radios. They all insisted on wearing dark glasses so they could observe people without them seeing were they were being looked at.
I didn't feel that old but lately everyone I seemed to be talking to was over fifty. Manning, Schmitt, Ole ... the ladies from the Coffee Klutch were my daily business contacts. The U of M college students never wanted to socialize ... For the first time in months there were kids and young adults. Tabby was gone just as soon as we got out of the cars talking to her high school friends. I remembered a few from my high school days but I had left school too many years ago to need to talk to them.
There was one thing about the state park that made it the place to be in the summer. It had a great swimming beach. I had my swimsuit under my clothes. The water was cold enough to send chills through your body but warm enough that you could stay in for an hour at a time.
Kids were splashing. From a dock next to the swimming beach, a group of adults were pulling skiers amid yells and splashes. I got sand in my hair and water up my nose. I felt young again. Tabby came out to join me. We splashed and groped each other under the water. Chilled, we climbed out and laid on our towels absorbing the sun.
I noticed the gulls flying overhead. I followed their motions and saw a small boat a hundred yards up the shoreline. There was a fishing line off the side of the boat. But something didn't feel right. I looked straight at Felix and then straight at the boat. I saw him talk into his radio mike. At the same time I heard Tabby, “The boat is leaving.'
The rest of the picnic was filled with food, casseroles, salads, barbecued chicken, and ribs. Stuffed, slightly sun burned, and totally exhausted everyone piled into their cars when the evening mosquitoes came out and headed for home.
My first sight of the ship wasn't impressive. The gravity shuttle approached the construction from below. With no reference points it was impossible to visualize the size of the ship. From the distance, it looked like a child's building toy. The ship was dominated by two features, the front of the ship with its twenty-one-meter parabolic dish and main body, which consisted of a five-meter by twenty-meter cylinder surrounded by six other five by twenty cylinders. Behind the dish and before the cylinders was a partially constructed rectangular box of fifteen meters by ten meters. Aft of the cylinders was another rectangular box but this one was finished. Behind the box was a cluster of spheres and a large maneuvering rocket engine.
As we got closer, I was able to spot the space-suited workers assembling the box by the dish. Inside, I could make out the form of the nuclear reactor and electrical power station for the ship. We circled the ship and came to a cylinder with its end open. With its wings folded against its sides, the shuttle just fit into the five-meter opening. I listened to the huge air lock swing shut and the bay fill with air. Tabby met me when the shuttle door opened. She had been coming up to the ship every day for the last two months.
“Hi, Hon. Ready for the tour of the habitation portion of the ship?'
“Sure but I want to see the control room and look at the exterior bracing after.'
“Well the front half of this cylinder is a shuttle bay with the other half used for storage of oxygen, water, and fuel. The cylinder opposite this one is identical.'
“How did you decide on the amount of storage?'
“You know that NASA has never been able to test a complete recycle system and every time the shuttle bay doors open or an air lock we would lose air and water. Well we took the estimated loss that NASA had computed for a five year trip and tripled the numbers. We have the two main storage cylinders plus every section has a balanced storage supply. We should have at least a sixty day supply within the ship even if the recyclers go offline.'
“Let's go to the center cylinder?'
The center cylinder had a five-meter tank filled with a bacteria mix for making oxygen and purifying water in the center. Both ends had small gardens laid out around the curved wall. I felt like a hamster walking in a wheel. The front garden was dominated by dwarf fruit trees and a small fountain. We sat on a small bench by the fountain while Tabby told me about the plants. It was the strangest thing looking up and seeing grow lights instead of blue sky. The back garden was all vegetables.
The four remaining cylinders were an exercise/cafeteria unit, secondary crew quarters and equipment storage, a full laboratory and manufacturing shop, and one cylinder for unknown needs. Our living quarters were in half of the aft rectangle. The other half was the bridge of the ship.
The ship was filled with workers. Tabby helped me suit up for the space walk. Three men were assigned to keep me safe while I examined the outside of the ship. I could see the military emblems on their suits so I didn't bother protesting having to be babysat.
“When you finish, I will meet you in our quarters. That's the only place that is currently not under construction. I have all the blueprints and specifications laid out there.'
I gave her a kiss, locked down my helmet, and left the ship with Tom, Dick, and Harry. I got tired of all the sirs being uttered at me five minutes into the walk. To retaliate I began actually calling them Tom, Dick, and Harry. The examining of the structural supports, welds, and placement took two hours. The only thing that kept it from being boring was the view of the blue white earth.
Before heading back inside, I took out a half dollar. I tossed it out into space and said, “May this ship be as light as an autumn leaf blown about by a gentle breeze and Nakki be as heavy as this coin pulled to the earth below.'
“What was that all about sir?'
“Are you Dick or Harry? Never mind. My grandmother told me stories when I was little about our family history. Some were ship builders and some were sailors. But it was always a custom to speak a protection charm before you sailed. Nakki is an old old name for a malicious and mischievous spirit, a gremlin. You give the spirit, the gremlin, a coin and he follows it down to the bottom of the sea or the planet below while you float away like a leaf.'
The matching military triplets shook their heads behind their helmets and followed me to the airlock.
When I got back to the quarters, I found all of the blueprints and spec sheets in our quarters. But I also found Tabby completely naked except for a portion of the blueprints, which she had somehow traced onto her body. I found the gravity control knob for the room and adjusted it for just enough force so everything would eventually make it back to the floor. I did have an interesting time making corrections to
the blueprints.
The lab work was slowing down and the construction of the spacecraft was speeding up. Tabby was the engineer so she was busy every day. I took to walking through the woods for hours at a time. I listened to the
