Free Waterkill (Dave Henson Series) by Mark Donovan Page B

propeller, and inside its translucent body was a grayish looking material that appeared to float.
    “The Hunter-Falcon is designed to be capable of being released from an aircraft or from a mother missile,” continued Ron. “Each Hunter-Falcon can fly a prescribed course or fly its own autonomous flight path. At any time an operator of a Hunter-Falcon can manually override the prescribed flight mission and remotely direct its flight path.”
    “What is the gray material in it?” asked Davis in a gruff voice. Chief Davis was a giant of a man, standing six feet six inches tall and weighing two hundred and seventy five pounds, most of which was bone and muscle.  He cut a figure that looked like he had been chiseled out of a granite cliff. He returned the Havana cigar to his lips and his steel blue eyes stared at Ron as he waited impatiently for an answer to his question.
    “The grayish material inside the Hunter-Falcon’s body is a form of nano-dust that can be configured prior to launch to operate as a specific sensor type or types,” interrupted Dave. Dave could sense that Chief Davis was not overly impressed with what he was looking at and decided he needed to step in with the description of NSurv’s latest nano technology drone.
    Picking up one of the small drones from the box and examining it up close Davis asked, “What kind of sensors?”  
    “Acoustical and image sensing,” replied Dave. “The nano-dust can even be configured to operate as a passive infrared sensor, similar to what is used on outdoor home security light sensors.”
    “So how can we use these little toys to help locate the 206 aircraft?” the Chief asked contemptuously.
    “Well, our plan is to drop them out of one of your aircraft at a prescribed altitude over one end of the target search area,” responded Dave.  “Preferably on the upwind edge of the search area. Once released each Hunter-Falcon will begin to fly a prescribed course across its sector of the target field. While doing so it will scan the area below it and maintain proper separation from adjacent devices. The data from each Hunter-Falcon sensor will be transmitted back to our computers here at base camp where it will be processed and compared against likely target characteristics for a small downed aircraft. When any possible targets are detected we will manually fly the appropriate Hunter-Falcon into the target area for closer inspection.”
    Chief Davis was looking down at the small drone in his hand and nodding his head in skeptical understanding when he questioned, “Quite the impressive little device, however, how does this thing get its power?”
    “Both the body and the wings of the Hunter-Falcon include photovoltaic properties to effectively operate like a solar panel,” responded Ron. “Using nano-carbon materials, rather than silicon based solar photovoltaic technology, they are much more efficient in converting sunlight into electricity. Consequently, even on a cloudy day these small drones can easily produce sufficient electrical energy to keep their propellers continuously turning.”
    “And keep transmitting their sensor information back to us,” interjected Dave.
    Chief Davis raised the drone he was holding in his hand up to eye level and examined it closely. “So you really think this little thing, along with its brothers in that box, are going to be able to locate the aircraft wreckage in this rugged terrain?”
    “With any luck we should be able to locate the crash site before nightfall,” responded Dave with a slight grin on his face as he stared back at Davis. He could see that the Chief was becoming impressed with the little “toy” object he was holding in his hand.
    The Chief began to nod his head in acceptance. “Okay, then lets load up one of the 208 Caravans immediately with your Hunter-Falcons and get them deployed ASAP. We have had no luck so far finding any trace of the aircraft with our conventional methods, and Washington has