Space Chronicles The Beginning

Chapter 5A

Groom Lake is not a conventional airbase, and frontline units are not normally deployed there. It appears, rather, to be used during the development, test, and training phases for new aircraft.

            - Wikipedia -

Marty wasn’t sure what to expect. He and Angie had been summoned to a meeting with NASA officials that smacked of a dressing down. His letting the cat out of the bag about the new ship had been his bad and he was not looking forward to the consequences.

When they entered the conference room, Marty and Angie found only Clarence Wilmunson and Jerome Tindale. He had expected a full house. Angie didn't really care.

Clarence didn’t waste any time. “We’ve been informed of the new starship. It seems that your crew was already aware of it.”

“I apologize for that,” Marty said, holding a placating hand up. “It’s my entire fault.”

“No harm has been done,” Clarence said, with a subtle smile. “Your current crew has been assigned to missions on the new ship. We’re adding another member. Her name is Lia Baidu.”

Angie gave Marty an ornery grin--her way of telling him that I told you so.

“Dr. Baidu is a linguist and has been working on a universal translator program using the Cray XT4000. Your engineers have joined her to create a unit that can be transported.”

Are they expecting us to make contact with extraterrestrials? The chance that we'll find intelligent life on our first forays into interstellar space is slim at best.

“When are we going to test drive the new ship?” Marty asked

“As soon as it’s ready. It has been flown into Area 51 for further work.”

Marty’s eyebrows rose. “Area 51?”

“Yes. This ship must be kept top secret.”

“Why? I would have thought that NASA would have wanted the whole world to know about it.”

Clarence glanced at Jerome before turning back to Marty. “It’s because of your unusual discoveries on the Moon and Mars. We've been instructed to keep all info about this new ship top secret.”

Marty glanced at Angie before turning back to Clarence. "I understand."

What he really understood was that the military was involved and there was much that was not being said.

"That’s good, because you two are going back to the Moon."

Marty's mouth dropped. "We are?"

"Yes. You're going to train a crew on the X-1001. Congress has authorized funds for its purchase and the acquisition of two more."

Marty smiled. "That's great. At least Angie and I didn't waste our efforts."

Clarence shook his head. "On the contrary: In just two missions you two have advanced our understanding of the solar system further than all previous missions, and you stand on the cusp of the greatest exploration of space in the history of man."

"And women," Marty added, causing Angie to smile. "Especially since our crew is mostly women."

Both Clarence and Jerome smiled.

"Well," Clarence said. "Your trainees are not women: Brian Scott and Brad Wilson."

Marty's eyes lit up with surprise. "That's great. They're both excellent pilots. Training them should be easy."

"They've already flown the simulator and are familiar with the X-1001's systems."

"So, we're going back to the Moon for a training mission?" Marty said.