Dark as Daylight Ch. 15

"Maybe they'll stay with their parents, and not return to earth with us."

"I'll kill them. What are we going to do without them?"

"The same thing we would've done without them, before Sandra left with Joe."

"I guess we could stay with them."

"I don't think there are any golf courses there, Sam."

"I'll bring a lot of balls, and make a driving range."

"I guess you don't want to be lonely."

"I would never be lonely. I will always have you by my side; but who will entertain us like those 2 do every night. They are a walking comedy act, they are brilliant, and they are great competitors. I don't believe I've ever seen 2 children like that in my entire life."

"If you want to stay with them it's okay with me."

"Look at everything you'd be leaving behind. It's not going to be as comfortable there as it is here."

"Are we that old that we can't go on one more adventure?"

"Hell no. We're only in our young 60s, we have a long way to go Joan, and nobody says we have to do it here.

We'll figure out what to do with the money after we confirm with the girls that they are going to stay with their parents."

"You 2 should talk a little bit louder so we can't hear you."

"Are you sure we can't kill them, because they weren't here when we started talking."

"So what are you going to do with your money?"

"We will talk to you about it, when you are 30."

"Oh good, you are going to come back and visit us, if we're still at Atwater Luck?"

"I'm never talking to you again."}}}}}}

"Who Are You?"

"Ask me nicely, and I'll tell you."

"Sit down Holden, and keep your mouth closed."

"Miss, my name is Joseph Christopher. Would you please introduce yourself?"

"My name is Rebecca Finch, and this is my sister Deborah. Our father and mother are on Atwater Luck. We are on our way to join them."

"Welcome aboard. Would you please explain where we made our mistakes in mathematics, and how you know this craft will exceed lightspeed +10?"

"If those 2 boys had bothered to read the entire text sent from the last rocket, they would have known that the Good Luck 1 did not go directly to Gliese 581G. its flight plan was to go through a White Hole, make a close approach to a Super Giant Black Hole, and pass the Sagittarius A*. The last 3 are thousands of parsecs away from Gliese 581G.

Dr. Aubrey tried to send them the wrong way, and failed in the attempt, but he did take them away from this destination. How they decided on it I don't know, I do know it was well to the east of where they were in the sky. To get there in under 4 years, they were hauling ass."

"Miss Finch, I think you made a very good case for the speed of Good Luck 1. However, your mouth leaves something to be desired. We do not accept vulgar language on this ship. No vulgar language at all. It is a rule that is taken very seriously from the captain, to the janitor, and from the janitor, to the captain. The reason I put it that way is very simple. Every crew member cross trains from day one. You may be a janitor today, but if you pass the next test, you could move up to security tomorrow. From security you can move up to a laboratory technician. From a laboratory technician to a nurse, from a nurse to a doctor, and so on. In space, training takes place daily. There is no such thing as downtime while you're working. Everyone trains every day. You can't be a janitor and curse every day, because in 10 years you could be sitting in the captain's chair. Cursing at the crew would be unacceptable behavior. Do we understand each other Miss Finch"

"Yes Mr. Constantine I understand, and I apologize for my inappropriate language."

"You tell her Joe."

"Keep your mouth closed Holden, or I will call Laura, and she will close it for you."

"You don't have to call me Joseph, I'm already here."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the most wonderful woman in the world, my wife, Laura Constantine."

"I taught him to say that, while I was beating the crap out of him."

"My wife is the Director of the Southeast region of the FBI. I have learned to take directions very well."

Richard said, "We have her beating the crap out of him on a disk. In a little less than 6 minutes, she took him apart like a chicken."

"Thank you for that memory, Richard, I still have aches in the areas she hit me that day."

Laura yelled, "Not one area, I hope?"

"Down dear, there are children here."

Holden yelled, "She hit him in the balls."

The audience laughed and cried with approval.

"Laura dear, I think Holden needs an attitude adjustment."

Holden stood up. "No I don't. Honest I don't need to be adjusted. I'm just fine. I'll be quiet from this point forward. I won't say another word. Honest Mrs. Constantine I'll be good. Please don't take me down to the gym. Please."

"What do you think Joseph? Do you think he means at this time?"

Debbie said, "He's just a wuss trying to get out of punishment."

"Miss Finch, he's been in training, since he was 6 years old. I doubt very much there's anything you can do to beat him."

"I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there Mrs. Constantine?"

"Joan take me to the hospital, I want to die."

"Come on you wuss, this should be fun."

"When we return from our shakedown cruise, Mr. Holden Luck and miss Rebecca Finch will be given 30 minutes on the mats to see which one is the better of the 2."

Ladies and gentlemen the captain of the Good Luck 2 has finally made it. It is my great honor to introduce you to Charles Laver."

"Good afternoon everyone. It is a great pleasure to be a captain among many captains on this ship. I cannot tell you how long I've waited for this day. I have been a part of this family going back to when I was a baby. I can tell you stories about Dr. Even Luck and my father, Rod Laver that would have you in stitches for years. The things they did to each other are classic. Then one day my father, and Dr. Luck brought home his daughter whose name Is Delicious Luck. If things were funny before hand, they went into overdrive when she appeared.

She was 16 years old, and the devil had taken residence inside her in the best way you can imagine. I will give you one story and then move along. My father and mother went out early one morning, because my father was having a vasectomy. At home, Delicious gave us white foam balls, on which she painted red seems to make them look like professional baseball's. She hung a rectangle from the ceiling so we could all practice throwing the balls through it. It was the exact height of my father's testicles. We practiced until we were perfect. She played games with us until she heard my father's car drive up.

She gave us the balls, lined us up, and as soon as my father walked through the door she said, "Play Ball." My dad looked at her, and then realized that baseballs were coming his way.

He screamed and attempted to cover himself from the onslaught of the baseballs. It took him a few minutes to realize they were foam.

My 3 youngest siblings jumped all over him and asked how they did. My poor father got hurt more when they jumped on him, then when we threw the little foam balls. When he saw Delicious standing by the kitchen, it was the 1^st time I heard him curse, and probably the last. It was a very fun day."

The audience thought so too.

"Now to the serious stuff. You will be taken to an area where you will be placed into your seats and strapped in tightly. The seats will not be secure they will turn as the ship turns. You will be able to watch where we are going through the large television screens located throughout the room. It is a 360° view. We will have the cameras angled down otherwise all you will see is clouds. We will be flying at 60,000 feet, at a speed of 4500 mph. At different times we will be using different nuclear engines to test each of them out. All 6 of them will be working, but only to will be propelling this craft at one time. The antigravity engine will be set at 10%, because that's all we will need for this round-trip. You may feel your skin trying to squeeze back against your bones. That will happen when we make a 90° turn. For example, when we are over Arizona, we will be preparing to make a right turn, to avoid the Los Angeles metropolitan area. We will be staying over the mountainous areas instead. We will not be producing a sonic boom, because we do not have wings or a tail. It's one of the advantages of this design. Government scientists say this doesn't work going through the atmosphere. They are so wrong, oh so wrong. We will be flying at speeds of 18,000 mph as we enter the area of maximum dynamic pressure, and we will come out of it at a speed of 24,000 mph. Where their ships have to slow down going through it, we increase our speed. It's a simple case of design, and ours is better. Joseph if you would take them to their seats please. And no fighting until we are on the ground young lady and gentleman."

"Debbie, I have a feeling the captain was talking directly to you."

"That was a great deduction grandpa. Since I was the one that goaded the little twerp into a fight, I guess it must be me he was talking about."

"This kid has been in training by experts since he was 6 years old. Are you going to be okay with that?"

"Grandpa, I'm going to beat the crap out of him. There is one trick a girl always has over a boy, when they fight."

"That's rotten."

"It may be rotten, but it sure is effective."

"I have a good mind to warn them about you."

"I'll have a good time putting you into a wheelchair if you do."

"Sam, they are children. Let them work it out by themselves. If they get married here we have the money to pay for it. If they get married up there, it doesn't cost us a thing."

"What do you 2 talking about marriage? I'm just going to beat up the little kid."

"You've had that opportunity time and time again, and you've never bothered. Why now?"

"I don't know, maybe he's smart enough to keep up with me."

"He built this ship with his brains. Is that smart enough for you?"

"He followed his father's footsteps. This may have been his father's design."

"Do you know your eyes crinkle when you're lying?"

"They do?"

"Yes honey, they do."

"I only thought Rebecca's eyes did that."

"No dear, it is a family trait. Your father did it too."

"3 minutes to take off. Security check all out-of-doors, verify all are green."

"2 minutes to take off. All external power has been removed. Wall number 2 is turning is turning interior gravity in 30 seconds.

1 minute to take off. Life supported 95%. All nuclear engines are online, coming up on 5000 kV

Helm 1000 feet and hover.

10 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off.

"1000 feet and hovering Captain."

"I am showing a green board does anyone disagree."

"Navigation shows a green board sir."

"Helm shows a green board sir."

"Engineering shows a green board sir."

"We have green around the ship climb to 5000 feet retract the landing gear. Tell air traffic control we are going to commence or climb to 60,000 feet, approximate time 30 seconds."

"At traffic control says you are clear to go."

"Capt. to crew, hang on it we go. Helm heading 275° 60,000 feet, punch it."

"275°, 60,000 feet, 4000 miles per hour, punching the button."

"DDDDEEEEBBBBIIIIEEEE, I Just peed my pants."

"Mom will be so proud."

The End

Dark As Daylight

Chapter 15

By

Prolonged_Debut10

*Note : Dear readers, again I must take a sabbatical to my favorite vacation spot in the entire western world. M.D. Anderson Hospital. They no longer use the word CANCER in the name because they have moved so far into the cures of other diseases, it would be a misnomer. For me, however, it's not, but what's in a name anyway. I am told it will only be for 7 days, but the last time they said that to me, it was 22 days. I will hope for the 7. I will be back to writing as soon as I get back. Bob.