There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 34

"Shoot me please dad, it will be less painful."

Gwen slipped her arm in his. "Remember, Teddy said we were going to be married for 56 years. I'm going to be torturing you for a long time."

"Dad helped me please."

"No one told you to have sex in public."

"She tripped me."

"You knocked me over."

"Go say hello to your mother. If you want to talk about being tortured, think of me when I get home tonight."

"Yes dad, I think mom will have a few things to say to you tonight."

"I'm not worried about the things she will say to me. I'm worried about the things she is going to do to me."

"There is always the couch."

"She's done it to me there too."

"You have to start slowing down dad, you are getting old."

"I'll slow down one dead."

****************

"Mom, I would like to introduce you to Gwendolyn Thornhill, very soon to be my wife."

Jemma nodded her head, knowing the restriction she was under.

William senior said, "You may have a conversation with your son, and his fiancée, but be very careful Jemma."

"Hello Gwen, I would like to apologize for my behavior. I got a little carried away; no I got a lot carried away. Something I never thought would happen, is happening to my little boy, and it couldn't happen to a more wonderful person than you. I am so pleased that you are coming into our family, your addition to it is my greatest pleasure."

"Thank you Mrs. Zabo, did you hear what your son had to say a moment ago about who he's marrying?"

"No I didn't."

"I said to your husband that I'm quite like you when I have a point of view I wish to get heard, and nothing will stop me from getting my point across. William here said 'Oh no, I'm marrying my mother.' Your husband replied 'How many times have you said since you've returned, you want to marry a woman just like your mother. It appears your prayers have been answered.'

Jemma laughed. "God bit you in the ass, didn't he William?"

"Don't gloat mother."

"Gwen don't you have something to say to my mother in reference to her physical condition?"

"No, not that I know of."

"You're going to chicken out on me now aren't you? You're not going to ask her how a 63-year-old woman is pregnant, and it's against all the medical textbooks."

"There are always exceptions to what's in the textbooks William."

"Aren't you the one that said you were anti-gun?"

"Yes I am anti-gun."

"Did I tell you I just changed and became a lifetime member of the NRA?"

"Did I tell you that our children are going to be adopted?"

"Mom, she is as evil as you are."

"You shouldn't have fallen all over her on the way in. There must've been other redheads in the crowd."

"I didn't fall all over her, she tripped me."

"Is that why you were trying to fuck her on the walkway?"

"We were not having sex, it was just the way I landed on her."

"As a lifetime member of the NRA, that may be as close as you ever get to that area of my body."

"We're not even married yet and I am getting cut off. I'm going back to China, I was always safer there."

"Chicken shit."

*******************

At 1:45 PM the horn sounded advising everyone to take their seats, because the festivities were going to begin at 2 PM. People without assigned seats began scurrying to any open seat, while people in the dignitary area presented their credentials and were escorted by agents to their assigned seats.

Jeff waited all afternoon for her to show up, and finally he saw her again. He still could not believe she was in her late 60s, because she was stunning. Raquel Welch handed him her credentials, and he welcomed her warmly.

"If you would follow me Ms. Welch, I will escort you to your seat."

Walking down the rows was now like an obstacle course. Women had their handbags, coats, and umbrellas lying on the ground, and he had to move each one out of the way to make sure Raquel did not trip and injure herself. When he reached her seat he stood up quickly and turned, brushing up against both her breasts.

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't realize you were that close to me."

"It's perfectly all right, is this my seat?"

"Yes Ms. Welch it is. I hope you have your camera with you, because you will have a perfect view of the takeoff."

"Yes I do, and I have my crew standing by the beach waiting to see it moving through the sky."

"Tell them to have their film on high speed, because once The Good Luck 1 finishes hovering, and gets moving, you're not going to believe how fast it goes."

"Thank you for the information Jeff, I'll call them and let them know."

"Enjoy your day Ms. Welch."

***************

"Uncle Even have you seen Adam?"

"No, hasn't he checked in with you yet?"

"No he hasn't, and I'm worried about him."

"Let me check with Mark to see if he's there."

I pulled out my communicator and asked Mark if Adam Schiff had checked in. He told me he had not heard a peep out of Adam, since the search began.

"Fuck, I forgot all about him." I spoke into my communicator again, and told Gordon, Gray, Jack, and Dycke to meet me by the main entrance to the ship, on the double. We have trouble.

Laura said, "I'm coming with you, and don't you dare argue with me."

"Okay you can come."

Laura turned and yelled, "George, Adam's missing."

He replied, "You are getting married today, if I have to tear that ship apart."

As I was moving towards the ship, I crossed pass with Stephano.

"Stephano juggle the speeches. We have one man missing. He was searching for the bomb. Put me last or cut me out, but we have to find him before we take off."

"Do what you have to do Even, I'll take care of everything else."

We met at the entrance to the ship and I advised everyone of Adam's predicament. There were five entrances into the ship's bowels, and it would be up to us to find where Adam was, access his situation, and get him out of there.

"When you enter your area, go to your right, it will be the easiest way for each of us to cover the entire ship. He will be easy to spot, because he's wearing his blue flight suit. With the five of us it should not take us more than an hour to complete this task. When you get to the next exit/ entrance, call in for instructions. Let's go."

Laura said, "Doctor Thyme, without being insulting, you've put on a little weight around your middle. You will not be able to fit between the pipes. I've been in there with Adam, so I know what I'm talking about."

Gray said, "Okay, I'm going to get Teddy to see if she can tell us where Adam is. You are right Laura. I am fat, but in a year I won't be."

"Here is the schematic of the openings into the plumbing system. I'll take number one. Gordon you have number two. Laura you have number three, Dick you have number four, and George you have number five. Jack you stay in the center of the engineering deck on the outside chance Adam has found the bomb, and can't move because of it. You will take the shortest route to get to him, and figure out a way to remove the bomb without setting it off."

"You're not doing this because I'm 78 years old, are you?"

"No I'm not. I'm doing it because you're the only one knows how to disarm a bomb."

"In that case, I accept."

Laura said, "Gentleman, I have one word of advice for you before you go in, watch your heads. Adam was forever hitting his head on the pipes above him, and they hurt."

"Thank you Laura, it's a good piece of advice with everything else that's going on today, try not to get hurt."

As each of them crawled through the warren of pipes, they called out for Adam, but they did not get a reply. Their voices bounced off the walls, and piping. Even if Adam replied there would be no way to know from which direction he called, or how far away he was.

It was very slow going, and each of them would be bruised by the end of the search.

After every few meters of progress, Laura would scream, "Adam, if you don't answer me, I'm going to break your fucking neck."

An hour had passed, and still no Adam. As she crawled along the piping, one of the valves read, "Low Pressure Valve." She smiled, because this was the beginning of his lecture on how to get the waste out of the spacecraft. She continued crawling along and found the 'Waste Valve' that he had to open, using the low pressure valve to force the waste into the plastic bag, heat seal the bag, close the valve, and hurry back to turn off the low pressure valve before the line exploded. She remembered it all, and decided to look for the torpedo tube that forced the waste out of the ship and into space.

She remembered Adam saying that the bag went one way and the tube was the other. The tube had to be on the exterior wall of the ship so that's where she looked. Moments later she screamed into her communicator, "I found him. Colonel the easiest way to get here is to come from the entrance four and moved to your left. The asshole is holding the bomb."

"It's nice seeing you too Laura, have you had a nice day?"

"You idiot, you were told not to touch anything."

"I didn't touch it. I crawled underneath it to see if it was booby-trapped, and the stupid thing fell into my hands. I haven't moved for over an hour, and what does my fiancé do when she finds me; she calls me an asshole."

"What am I supposed to call you, a hero?"

"No how about someone who was doing his job properly, and waited for help to arrive. I wanted to make sure that my wife and I were safe when we went into space. I didn't want this to ruin our marriage. I didn't want the bastard's that are trying to blow up this wonderful machine to win. I want them to eat their hearts out as we prove to them that Doctor Luck and all the fine people that worked on this vessel were right and they were wrong."

I told you I would never let you down. I told you I was going to make you proud of me. I hope this is a good start, and I want you to know there's more to come."

"If you don't shut up Adam I'm going to cry, and that's not allowed."

"Who said so?"

"I did."

"Change your rules, and become human like the rest of us. We cry at the drop of a hat."

"Get out of my way Laura, and let me see what we're working with."

"How did it get in that position Adam?"

"I checked out the tube and saw it attached to the top. I crawled in on my back to see if it was booby-trapped, but it was not. Suddenly, it just dropped, and I caught it, the way you see it now. I have not moved my hands or arms in over an hour, and they are cramping badly."

"You can move your hands and placed the box on your chest. It is probably a barometric device that is designed to go off as we pass through a particular altitude. It would be of little use to anyone to have it go off while we are on the ground."

Adam tried, but it was impossible.

"I can't move my arms, they're locked."

George and Gordon join them to see if they could be of any assistance.

Jack said, "Slide Adam out of the tube, until I can relieve him of the explosive device. Laura work on his arms until he gets circulation back, and is able to move them. Did anyone else see anything unusual while they were searching?"

Each of us gave a no for an answer.

"Good, we will still x-ray the urns to be certain we are in the clear, and then we will take off at 5 o'clock as planned."

"Lucius can you hear me?"

"I'm here Jack, what's new?"

"Someone sent us a very special delivery. However, I think you might like to return it personally."

"You just made my week, and possibly the end of my year. I'll meet you at the hangar."

"I'll be there in 20."

Jack pried the package loose from Adams hands, tucked it under his arm and began his trek out of the ship. Joseph Oyster was addressing the crowd and telling them about Good Luck 2. Jack caught William's eye, showed him the package, and nodded his head.

William smiled, nodded, and returned to listen to the speech.

As soon as Jack was in the secure area of the hangar, he took out his tools and began testing the package. His Fluoroscope showed that it was indeed a barometric device which was set to go off at 14,000 feet.

Using liquid nitrogen, he froze the assembly opened the package, and disarmed it.

Jack was packing his tools, when Lucius joined him.

"I missed all the fun Jack?"

"This device was so simple, a baby could've taken care of it. It was the location they put it in that was exquisite. Someone with knowledge of the spacecraft told them about that weak point. There is just enough C4 here to cause a crack in the outer hull that would expand as they continue to gain altitude. By 25 or 30,000 feet the hull would've exploded and the ship would've disintegrated. Look for the inside man, and he will tell you who paid him to do it."

"You're taking all the fun out of my job, Jack. I don't have any detective work to do."

"Remember Lucius, you helped me get on board that spacecraft, I really wanted to get higher than 24,000 feet before my life ended."

"I'll take care of it Jack. While you're goofing off up there, I'll be taking care of business down here. That is a promise my friend, even though your dead, that's a promise."

"Do you think you could drop my daughter a line and see how she's doing? Remind her that I didn't want her sitting at home with cats."

"I'll do it Jack. She will have the letter by New Year's Eve."

"Thanks Lucius, I still am going to miss your phone calls."

**********************

"How are you doing Adam? Are you getting any feeling in your fingertips yet?"

"I don't know, lean closer so I can touch your flight suit."

Laura must have missed the devil in my eye as she leaned closer to me. As soon as she was the correct distance, I reached up and grabbed her nipple, and squeezed tight.

She smacked my hand away.

"You pervert I should've known better."

"Why, I touched your flight suit."

"Yes, but my breast was underneath it."

"I didn't put any caveat on where I was going to touch your flight suit, did I?"

"Have you been reading the dictionary?"

"Yes, I'm trying to improve my vocabulary."

"May I ask why?"

"Yes you can."

"Well, I'm waiting."

"What are you waiting for?"

"I am waiting for you to tell me why you are trying to improve your vocabulary."

"Oh, you should have said that in the first place."

"I thought I did."

"No you didn't. You said, 'May I ask why?' I replied, 'Yes you may.' After that you never asked me why I was trying to improve my vocabulary."

"I am getting very close to explaining to you why I'm going to break your neck Adam."

"Is it a long explanation, or a short explanation, because I would really like to know?"

George said, "That's enough you two, it's time to get married."

"I want you to send me a picture of you in a suit George."

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Here, take this with you for luck."

He handed her a data stick, and she looked at him confused.

"What's this?"

"You are the computer expert, you tell me."

"Married, you, me, priest. Let's go please."

*****************

Their timing couldn't have been better. Dycke Schneider just finished his speech as they exited the spacecraft. Stephano immediately called them up to the Dias, along with their parents, siblings, and the priest, who would consecrate their marriage. The ceremony was scheduled to take 12 minutes, and it took 20 minutes because of the tears that flowed from the bride's eyes, while she took her vows. Adam went through his like a hot knife through butter. He looked into Laura's eyes, and told her everything that was in his heart. The effect was the same, Laura cried more. It took Adam a long time to put the ring on her finger because Laura was shaking so badly. At long last it was it was on, and everyone applauded. When he kissed her at the end of the ceremony he said to her that they were wed for life, and not one day shorter. Laura started crying again.

As everyone kissed the new couple and wish them well, the last person to kiss Laura was George.

"I am finally out of a job, and I could not be happier. You picked a wonderful man, he will keep you happy if you let him. Let yourself be happy also, because you deserve it."

"If you think you're rid of me, wait until Monday. You better have a suit on, or you are going to be in big trouble."

"Watch the data stick, and you will realize I am not trouble."

**************************

The Honor Guard formed to the right of the hangar, and on cue, began marching towards the spacecraft. Two drummers led the way, as two captains carry the urns with the remains of President and Mrs. Clark Atwater. Behind them were 10 more members of the honor guard bearing arms.

They were met 50 feet in front of the spacecraft by General Dan Morgan, and Colonel Lucius Allen, in full uniform and Colonel Jack Daniels in his blue flight suit. Each of them wore white gloves.

Everyone was standing as the transfer was made, and a 21 gun salute was sounded. As the honor guard retreated, General Morgan turned and led the Colonel's around the spacecraft, not into it. The people wondered what was going on, but the next speaker was at the platform and the festivities continued.

Colonel Daniels was ready with the x-ray machine along with the processor to see what was inside these urns. He took pictures from three angles, and put them in the developer. Moments later he had his answer. Inside each urn where the ashes of the loving couple. They all breathe a sigh of relief. The ashes were brought up the side entrance which was then sealed.

*************************

Stephano saw Jennifer and I are leaving the spacecraft

Stephano Valentino announced to one and all, "Ladies and gentlemen, Doctor Even Luck."

I received many standing ovation during my career, but this one was special. I acknowledged their approbations, and asked them to return to their seats because I had some announcements I had to make before I could address them.

"All flight crews to your stations for preflight."

"All engineering crews to your stations."

"All personnel on board for initial headcount."

"Nuclear engine 5%, check for radiation leaks."

My crews started to move towards the spacecraft with great excitement, and big smiles on their faces. As they reached the top of the ramp, they turned and waved goodbye to their loved ones.

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today as a scientist and engineer. I am not the magician that put this magnificent machine together. That would be Dycke Schneider, and Schneider industries. I am not the woman who invented the way to use negative and positive magnetism to push and pull this magnificent machine away from the earth and towards other planets at the same time at speeds unheard of by any government on this planet. That would be my daughter, Delicious Luck Thyme. I am not the young man who invented the nuclear fusion power plant, when he was 15 years old, and continues to amaze us all with his talents. That would be my son Gordon Oliver Stars Luck. I am not the man who left NASA, after working for years on the Orion project, and is in him responsible for 27 patents. That would be my son-in-law, Grayson Thyme. I didn't build the nuclear engine, or the sarcophagus it's held in, that was done by Babcock and Wilcox. I didn't make the tiny implants for the communications devices that are all over the ship, and all the handheld communications devices we use that keeps our ship as light as we are. Those were made by Mezner Industries. However, none of these things could have been done without our financiers, all 20 of them. Happily I can say, I am one of them. However, there one of our investors that the 19 others have seen fit to honor today, because he has outshone us all. He has worked tirelessly, since the inception of this project to make sure it was a success, and it has become a success far beyond anyone's imagination. William Zabo is a magician. By force of will alone, he makes tides turn, the sun move west to east, and the winds change. I have watched him do it time and time again. Nothing is impossible for this man. It is not a word in his vocabulary. It is just a job he has to work harder on to accomplish, and a little later today you will see that accomplishment soar into the heavens. Unlike governments, who stifle creativity, William allowed 250 phenomenal scientists to work towards an end, without supervision. There it is behind me. For more than seven years, the scientists, engineers, fabricators, and men/women on the assembly lines worked tirelessly towards one goal, to make that spaceship, and we have done it. Accidentally, while we were trying to build this wonderful spacecraft, our 250 scientists have received more than 900 scientific patents' that will make this world a better place to live in.