S. Gorden - Eyes of an Eagle a Novel of Gravity Controlled

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 sounds and felt the breathing of the forest. For some reason my grandmother's stories came back to me stronger than before. I could understand the mythical Finnish hero, Vainamoinen, the singer and knower eternal, the man of quiet waters. The woods, air, water, animals all seemed to form a music of sound. It was as if you could just copy the notes you could become what you heard. I found myself at those times playing with the puukko in my hands, my Great Grandfather Ilmari's steel puukko. Great grandfather was named after the smith Ilmarinen who hammered out the lid of the heavens and the great Sampo. Ilmarinen and Vainamoinen were the best of friends, a poet and an engineer...

“There you are. It is getting dark. Aren't you hungry?"

“Tabby. Do you think it is strange that I am sitting in the woods?"

“No. If I didn't have to work on the spacecraft, I would be sitting here with you."

“Did you ever hear about Vainamoinen and Ilmarinen?"

“No."

“In Finnish mythology they were two friends and heroes. Vainamoinen was a poet who knew too much and Ilmarinen was a builder of the impossible. You know I named the gravity device after Vainamoinen's kantele. I sometimes feel like I know too much."

She tickled me in the side. “You are not Vainamoinen. You are not smart enough.” We walked back to the cabin in the falling dusk. I knew there was something more that I had to learn. I seemed to understand science but I now needed to know about the life around me.

* * * *

Santa opened the meeting. “What have you found out about Karpinen?"

Snow White answered, “We have been following him as well as we can with his government guards all around him. We have found no pattern to his movements. We thought about blowing up the spaceship he is building but there is a danger of being discovered by the security measures and it might look like an accident, after all it is the first of its kind. The same seems to be true with all of his movements. He is too private of a man to be in public regularly."

Hamlet interrupted, “Could we grab someone he loves and pull him away from his protection?"

“Other than his wife we have no idea who would work and she is as well protected as he is."

Santa broke in, “There is always a way. We just have to look harder."

Romeo coughed and everyone turned to look. “I've got an idea..."

* * * *

Tabby needed to talk with Ole face to face and go over plans. We decided to go to LA and the Skunk Works. After telling Felix about the plans, I got invitations for Edwards Air Force Base, JPL, and Dryden Flight Center.

Move-over was shoulder dropping my feet when Felix came back with the list of places that I was supposed to visit. During the day, Move-over usually doesn't like to be held but today he molded into my arms when I picked him up. I was upset with the government trying to organize my time so I was a little sharp with Felix.

“We are going to have to have someone feed and water Move-over while we are gone, a bowl of water and scoop of food here and the same at the cabin.” Move-over looked at Felix and growled.

“I will take care of it."

“Are you coming or are you staying here."

“Zimmerman has put me on permanent duty as your personal bodyguard."

That was something I had not expected. “Do you want me to talk to him? Tabby's mother Martha was telling me that you were dating Erma's granddaughter Gail."