Free The Pathfinder Project by Todd M. Stockert Page A

of
the smaller fighters got the drop on us. If we hadn’t initiated an emergency
PTP transit when we did, they’d have had us.”
    “Good work, you two. Go change
out of your flight suits, clean up and get some chow,” the Captain ordered. He
spun in his chair. “Mary, please call Captain Andrews up here,” he requested
briskly.
    “Nori’s on one of the two
shuttles still out on patrol, sir,” Lieutenant Benson reported. “She relieved
one of the other pilots and insisted on going.”
    “That sounds exactly like her,”
replied Kaufield, frowning slightly as he watched the pilots exit the Command
Center. “I guess that means we’re going to have to sit back and wait for the
other patrol to return before we can determine our next course…”
    He was abruptly interrupted as
everything around him began to tremble. The entire hull of the Pathfinder vibrated briefly, then just as suddenly everything was still again. From her
seat, Mary turned around and looked at him with an expression that said
everything. What now? Their moment of surprise was brief, though,
because the intercom next to Kaufield lit up.
    “ Captain Kaufield ?”
    “Yes, Thomas – what is it?”
    “ Please activate monitor
five. It’s the exterior camera located on the back of the forward landing skid.
We use it to observe our trial runs while inside the ship .” The Captain
motioned to Mary, who quickly complied with Thomas’ request.
    Another of the overhead screens
lit up with a live visual of the ventral underside of the hangar bay.
Everything looked normal, except for a thin metallic arm that had lowered from
the bottom of the hull. At its tip was a small white ball of light that
pulsated brilliantly. It was impossible to tell how large the energy sphere
was, but from the perspective they were viewing it from it was obviously pretty
small. There was no mistaking it, though, because the visible light signature
emanating from it was so bright.
    “Now that looks pretty
interesting, Thomas. Are you getting closer?” the Captain asked, his curiosity
getting the better of him.
    “ As a matter of fact, we’re
done ,” Thomas said proudly. “ Despite the fact that your pilots were
shaking the ship earlier when I left strict instructions for us to hold perfectly
still, we’ve finished .” The Captain could hear someone in the background
asking a question. “ That’s right ,” Thomas said in reply to whoever it
was. “ Save the current computer model and all its settings. That’s exactly
the way we want everything set for our first distance test .”
    “So you’ve finished up, have
you?” queried the Captain.
    “ We certainly have, Captain
Kaufield .” Thomas said. Despite the slight, electronic distortion in the
voice transmission Kaufield could clearly hear the glee in his voice. “ I am
most pleased to report to you that the Pathfinder ’s CAS Drive is on-line
and ready for use .”

 
    THE PATHFINDER PROJECT

Chapter IV: Boomerang
    It didn’t take Kaufield long to
find his way down to the Laboratory wing. He raced along one of the “moving
sidewalks” on the top passenger deck until he reached the rear of the ship and
then used a lift to descend to the lowest deck. From there he simply walked
toward the two armed Marines standing next to several large sealed doors. They
nodded curtly at the Captain and one of them politely opened the nearest
hatchway for him.
    Although he had been through
this procedure before – at one time or another – on all of the Pathfinder ’s
wings, he still found it very intriguing whenever he visited one of them. Each
had its own unique characteristics, but the overall technology that allowed all
of them to function properly was surprisingly similar. He moved through a short
corridor that angled approximately 45 degrees downhill at first but then
appeared to level out. Dennis paid very close attention as he progressed, but
again was unable to tell just when the artificial gravity shifted to