Bubble Energy Taken by Force

The Chase

 Stephen haltingly said, "Giddy up! Trot (cluck-cluck)." Cheap aluminum frame creaked as he sank into the seat. Moments later, the mountain shrank to an anthill far below. Powerful wind rumbled against the force field. "Easy! EASY! What are you doing? They're driving a Volkswagon Beetle car, not the space shuttle. Take me down, NOW", he screamed in terror. "Help! The computer's gone mad."

The computer answered, "Sorry about the fright. As a safety precaution, I programmed the experimental flight to be at high altitude. If anything goes wrong, we have sufficient time for correction before impacting the earth. You are now at the proper cruising altitude. I recommend that you practice piloting the Superjet. Remember to use hand motions to control the speed and direction."

He pointed his hand down. Instantly, the chair rotated to a ninety degree dive angle and screeched downward. While the rocky ground rushed at him with terrifying speed, he screamed, "What sort of kid prodigy did Audrey mentioned when designing the controls?" At the last moment, he rocketed back into the stratosphere. "Did he graduated MIT at the age of twelve?" Again, he made a sizzling power dive. Trailing ionized gases, he plunged into a canyon, flew under a suspension bridge and shot upward above the clouds, all within seconds. "This makes the 'Wild Thing Roller Coaster' look like a merry-go-round. At least it doesn't go above the speed of sound."

The computer answered, "So you are a roller coaster fan too. That's great. The experience will help you adjust to hypersonic velocity."

"No! I meant that I hate it! We're going to hit something." A battered branch tumbled away into the disorienting background blurred from speeding.

Jack cried out, "Don't close your eyes. You are the driver."

"Stephen, are you OK? Honey?" Audrey pleaded through the communication device.

Jim said, "Release the controls. Don't worry, I've set it for level flight." Immediately, the chair slowed. "Good. I'm going to adjust it to reduce its sensitivity a bit. I also analyzed your piloting style, through the sensors, to make the flight controls easier to handle. This shouldn't take long, as all I need to do is change a couple of constants. There, try it now."

Finally calming his panicking emotions enough to speak, Stephen said, "Hey, this is a little better. Now it's only twice as bad as the Wild Thing."

Jack said, "I'm afraid that you're going to have to start practicing making a U-turn. You passed our car a long time ago."

"I also passed a 747. It's flying below me. I don't believe this thing. It has way too much power for a mere mortal. 500 megawatts! Good grief! That's half the power produced by a typical electric utility plant."

Jim's calm voice came on the speaker. "Try setting the altitude to be a constant value. That way, you can concentrate better on direction."

Jack cried out, "I may have a better idea. Computer, point the Superjet towards the disk's beacon and take Stephen to it. Set his controls to manage speed only."

"Hey, it's working much better. Where are those thief?"

The computer answered in its soothing voice, "Their red Volkswagon Beetle should be directly in front of you. Apparently, they heavily modified the car's configuration, judging from the increased tire size and distinct thrum of a supercharged V8 Hemi engine. They may give us some trouble through their reckless driving endangering other cars. Do you see our target yet?"

"Yes, locating the car is easy seeing the large dust trail it left behind. Unfortunately, I also can see the 15,000 meter drop all too clearly. My feet are dangling off the flimsy chair."

Jack responded, "The seat belt, which is made out of chain-linked stainless steel, will hold you in place. I secured it to the main drives, and to everything else important. You will still be safely under control even if the chair disintegrates."

"Looks like you're improving flying. Adjusting the parameters to give you more options. Setting your top flight speed of 300 kph with the exception of emergencies. Try practicing some more. Looks good."

Stephen cried, "They reached a paved road."

"They're faster than we thought. Must've customized it for off-road runs. Don't slow down."

"Had to. They're going through a tunnel and the rock cover will surely block your signals. Following them may not be safe. I can't guide this girly plane on my own."

Jack answered, "You're right. Superjet's avionics systems rely on a constant link with Robo-Mentor using an extremely high frequency digital band, which is easily blocked. Corin has been working for a while coding avionics to be more independent, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting."

"Forget it. I hate to see this thing malfunction. Just imagine what the mega-horses could do when not under perfect control. I'm going to try flying over ..."

Jack snapped, "What's that noise?"

"I don't believe it. A blasted thunderstorm is pacing back and forth along the mountaintop, and not a cloud in the sky anywhere else. That stupid peak must be a magnet for lousy weather."

"DON'T FLY OVER THE MOUNTAIN! I repeat, don't fly over the mountain", Jack urgently screamed. "Stay where you are. The reaction caused by a direct lightning strike is unknown. The design can't guarantee your safety."

Corin piped in, with crinkling sound of maps in the background, "If you turn left, you'll be going through the US Army's top secret artillery testing camp. They probably will blast you with a thousand depleted uranium shells if you trespass. Turn right."

"No, the sensitive military base is to the right," Audrey corrected. "To the left is an abandoned mining camp and the US forest service timber harvest."

"That can't be right. Your timber harvest land is much further east."

Stephen impatiently pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. "Hello, police?" He immediately jerked it from his ears when the speaker squealed. A brief electric arc flashed, burning through his vision. Ears rang, and darkness shut down his consciousness. Stephen's senseless hand dropped the smoking phone.