BALDIE

Just as Matt was putting his cell phone down on the table, he looked up to see a white speck on the blue sky's horizon to the north of the Sunbreeze Hotel on Ambergris Caye in Belize. He looked down at his Patek Philippe wristwatch and said, "Right on time. Let's go down to the pier and invite the crew for a drink and tell them the good news."

The white speck continued to grow in size as it approached. Within a couple of minutes, the outline of an aircraft could be discerned. There was no noise. It just glided slowly down to the water.

The Flynn brothers, Matt and Murray, both smiled with a quiet delight. No words were spoken as they walked down to the pier.

Coming down to about 200 feet, the aircraft resembled a small version of the Space Shuttle. It was white and had four porthole windows on each side. As the craft banked slightly, the late afternoon sun illuminated the large bald eagle logo on the tail. Each brother thought to himself, "What a magnificent bird!"

The tourists who were standing in the beach surge couldn't take their eyes off the unique craft. They watched with real excitement as the aircraft splashed down about 200 yards off the end of the pier. The brothers walked out to the end of the pier followed by two bronzed honeymooners. As the craft, now a seaplane, approached the pier at about 6 knots, Matt and Murray each picked up a line for the tie-down.

The almost disbelieving new husband asked, "What is that?"

Matt replied, "It's a Baldie." The couple looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "What do you mean, sir?" the man asked.

Matt replied, "It's a new form of transportation between the Belize mainland and the islands like Ambergris Caye. It's quite safe because it's both an airplane and a seaplane."

"Can we look inside? Maybe get a ride someday? I'm a private pilot and would really enjoy the experience," the honeymooner said.

"Maybe someday," Murray said. "It's only a prototype undergoing tests."

The honeymooners sat on a bench as the brothers tied off Baldie. They could see the pilot give the thumbs-up gesture from the cockpit.

A minute later the hatch opened and a gangplank slid out to the pier. A male and female pilot strode quickly down the gangplank. A third person soon appeared in the hatch. The male pilot, a tall, handsome man with the demeanor of a Navy commodore, called out, "Aaron, shut him down for the night and bring the test laptop and Red Box to me at the veranda."

"Will do, Captain," he said with a small salute. The female pilot, a tall, slender figure with Asian features, walked over to Murray and gave him a peck on the cheek. He put his arm around his wife and nodded approvingly.

Matt asked the Captain, "Jim, is everything according to spec?"

The pilot responded, "Yes, AOK. I'll show you the data in the laptop."

"Fine. And we've got something important to tell you. Wait until you hear this!"

"Let's head into the veranda. José has a little concoction he wants us to try," Matt said. "And, seeing as we're now off-duty, an adult beverage is in order."

They all chuckled.

The pilots picked up their flight cases and the party of four headed into shore. About halfway down the pier, Murray turned around. He could see the male honeymooner intently inspecting the Baldie.

Ten minutes later the pilots had changed into their Tommy Bahama outfits and joined Matt and Murray at a table away from the bar in a secluded alcove ringed by orange hibiscus. They used this table so much, they often referred to it as their "Stammtisch," like a reserved table in a German bier stube.

A fifth person walked up to the table carrying a black ballistic fabric satchel. He was the Baldie co-pilot, Aaron Adams, who bore a striking resemblance to Matt Damon.

"Captain, here's what you asked for," Aaron said as he set the satchel down on the flagstone next to Jim Russell's chair. He took a seat across the table next to Maggie.

The captain reached down into the satchel and pulled out a laptop and powered it on. With Matt and Murray at his side, he watched as the display lit up with myriad colored charts. Captain Russell pointed to several of the squiggly lines and the brothers nodded approvingly.

Matt asked, "How was the vertical takeoff?" Captain Russell responded, "Here's the power profile. It was flawless and, indeed, much faster than the previous ones."

"I knew it!" Murray said.

Matt said, "The Red Box is outperforming our estimates." He looked around the table and asked, "Any questions?" Silence was consent.

The captain was putting away the laptop when José Flores, the debonair resort manager, approached the table with a tray of cocktail glasses.

"I hope you had a good day, my friends," he said as he warmly greeted the team.

"So what's the surprise, José?" asked Matt.

José set the tray down on the table and distributed the cocktails around the table.

"Well, in honor of your wonderful patronage here at the Sunbreeze these past months, I have invented a new drink. The team slowly raised their glasses and clinked them. They examined the beverage's yellow-orange hue and took a drink as José said, "Salut, my friends."

After a few seconds, Maggie asked, "What is it? It's fabulous. It feels so healthy!"

José quickly responded, "It's two parts Orangina and one part rum with a wedge of lime."

With pride in his voice, José announced, "It's a Baldie."

The table erupted in joyous laughter.

"I trust it's emblematic of a real winner!" José said.

Another round of laughter followed.

Aaron said, "This is terrific. I could really get used to these ... even for breakfast!"

Another round of laughter erupted.

Matt addressed José. "My friend, your hospitality is again overwhelming. Yes, this could be the team's drink of choice."

José smiled like a happy innkeeper who had pleased his guests, bowed slightly, and returned to the veranda bar. He called back to the group, "Let me know if you want another round. It's on the house."

Captain Russell then asked, "What's this good news you mentioned down on the pier?"

Murray looked intently at the surrounding foliage as if to detect any listening devices. Maggie knew what he was thinking.

In a very low tone, almost whispering, Matt said, "We've got our patents. The paper documents arrived by FedEx, and we just got off the phone with John Baldinger."

"Terrific!" exclaimed Aaron. Maggie's face lit up with joy.

Matt continued, "The Red Box is unencumbered by other claims. We have both design and process patents. There is nothing else like it on Earth. We are cleared to increase production of the current design. Just think — we committed to this technology over two years ago. Now we're rewarded with U.S. patents, and soon I hope our checkbook will also be rewarded."

"That's great," Captain Russell said. "What happens now?"

Matt looked around the table, making eye contact with each team member. "Murray and Maggie will return to Miami to start with second production line and check the progress of our backup, second site," he said. "I will join you in a couple of weeks. I will also alert Paula Frankel at the Federal Aviation Administration about the patent and the need for silence about our program. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I can't help feel that somebody's watching us, even here in Belize. I will also confirm the schedule when we can brief the commissioner and his team. And I have half a mind to invite Ms. Frankel to Belize to personally participate in the flight tests."

Matt paused, looked around the table again at his rapt audience, and continued. "So, Jim, this means you and Aaron will need to accelerate the test program. I want to beat the rainy season, which starts in June.

And I want more data and videos to show investors and the FAA for the flight safety certificate. Armed with the patents, the sales job should be a lot easier."

"We can do it," the captain replied.

"Good. I thought so," Matt said. "Please convene the team here for breakfast so we can devise a plan."

"Will do, sir," the captain replied.

Matt continued, "What do you say? I think a quiet dinner celebration is in order."

All faces smiled and heads nodded approvingly.

Matt ended the meeting by saying, "You know, I just might have another Baldie in honor of the occasion."

He turned around to see José at the bar, then raised his hand and spread out five fingers.

José smiled.

WEIGHTLESS

The next morning Murray and Maggie took the water taxi from San Pedro to Belize City on the mainland. Early in the afternoon they boarded a commercial jet to Miami. As they deplaned at Miami International Airport, Maggie interrupted Murray, who was deep in thought.

"Murray," she said, "I've enjoyed helping with the Baldie test program. However, one thing's missing."

"What's that?" her husband asked with a quizzical look on his face.

"How does the Red Box work?" she asked rather assertively.

"Honey, as you know, for safety and security purposes, only Matt and I know its real secrets."

"Yes, I know that and understand why," she said. "But I want to help increase the production, so I thought I should know more about this miracle technology that you've invented."

Murray was flattered and responded, "Yes, you're right. I can explain a little more about it and walk you through the process tomorrow morning at the production facility."

"Perfect," said Maggie, who carried a small smile on her face all the way from the airport to their home on Key Biscayne.

Early the next morning, the couple drove southwest down Route 1, the Dixie Highway, to 72nd Street and turned south two blocks to a gated facility. As they entered the building, they were greeted by the assistant factory manager, Don Carlos Fuentes, a ruggedly good-looking man with a broad smile.

"Welcome, Maggie," he said. "We certainly can use your help in our expansion program."

Maggie responded, "Thank you, Don Carlos. I look forward to it very much, and maybe I'll get to see more of my husband in the process."

The three of them laughed as Murray led them to Maggie's new office, a small room just outside Test Room #1. Don Carlos excused himself and entered a glass-enclosed room that reminded Maggie of a biotechnology lab she took while in college.

Murray and Maggie then entered an airflow passageway where they put on smocks and gauze head covers. They stepped on an airwash mat and entered the test room. Murray opened a large safe and pulled out a bright red box about the size of a military ammunition box and placed it in the center of a workbench.

"Well, here it is, Maggie. This is what all the excitement is about," he said.

Maggie warned her husband, "OK, my dear. But you're the mad scientist–genius physicist. Please keep the explanation in layman's seven-word sentences."

"I'll try my best," said Murray, who at that moment looked like another, slightly better known physicist: J. Robert Oppenheimer.

"You know that everything is made of molecules. Molecules are composed of atomic particles — protons, neutrons, and electrons. In simple terms, the key is to harness the energy expended by electrons as they whirl around the nucleus. The Red Box, when activated on a host carrier, like a Baldie, absorbs these electrons, or a portion thereof. This energy is trapped in the Red Box, which neutralizes the downward pull of gravity on the host platform. The result is a neutral buoyancy field which surrounds the object. The object becomes weightless and can then be propelled upward and/or forward with an extremely small propulsion system relative to the size of the host platform."

"It seems too simple to work," Maggie said.

"That may be, my dear," Murray said. "But you've flown in a Baldie and experienced it for yourself."

"Yes, I have," Maggie said. "And I particularly enjoy when Baldie goes straight up like the flying saucers in sci-fi movies."

Murray continued, "There are no complex electrical circuits to overcharge or burn out. There are only a couple of wires leading to the power-on LED test port and standard power receptacle for a trickle charge from the host platform. The Red Box has a small battery for a four-hour reserve, sufficient to fly almost anywhere. And external energy sources such as leaking power towers, lightning bolts, and even solar flares do not affect the energy field. The simplicity of the Red Box is an important part of the patent protection.

"And the patents are sufficiently broad, yet vague, such that the Red Box cannot be easily duplicated or reverse-engineered. The box is sealed to prevent tampering, much less disablement. It becomes useless if opened by unauthorized parties.

"There are only eight components which compose a Red Box. We buy seven of the components and assemble them here. The eighth component is the Electron Absorption Media, or EAM, which is manufactured in the next room and inserted in the Red Box," he said as he pointed through the window to the clean assembly room. "The LED lights up when the EAM is fully saturated and ready for operation."

Murray put his hand on the Red Box and picked it up by the handle and said, "The handle is a GPS system antenna for tracking its location when it is outside a host platform or vehicle."

He continued, "We don't want Baldie falling from the sky. After all, you might be on board, my love. Therefore, testing in this room is a critical part of the production process — precisely where you can help once you are trained."

He picked up two pieces of metal. "You see these end brackets? They are used to mount and secure the Red Box during vibration, temperature, and spurious microwave energy testing. Then the Red Box, called an 'RB' around here, is placed in a special fixture and activated to verify its antigravity properties."

Murray motioned to Maggie to come over to a window between Test Room #1 and Test Room #2. She saw a young woman in a pilot's suit and helmet floating around the room in a one-person capsule tethered to a bank of computers and displays.

"Wow! Can I do that?" Maggie asked.

Murray responded with a cautious tone, "Well, maybe someday ... if you're good." He continued, "Test failures are unacceptable. If they occur, the Red Box is immediately destroyed and recycled."

"And I hope you understand, I can't show you the EAM production process. Even though it's now patented, it's proprietary to Matt and me for security purposes. We are the only two people who know what's in it and how it functions in a Red Box. And, as you know, that's why my brother and I never travel together on the same mode of transportation."

"Yes, I've noticed," Maggie said.

Murray further explained, "All of the assemblers are thoroughly screened to the Top Secret level, bonded, and must undergo an annual polygraph test to ensure integrity and absolute secrecy. As Matt indicated to you, we have cloned this facility at a classified location on a closed military base on a different power grid. And, of course, vendors and suppliers drop ship their items at a third-party location so they never see the production process."

"So, honey, there you have it!" Murray said with some pride in his voice. "The box and the process are simple, enabling a quick increase in production once the employees are screened and the facility is ready, complete with the appropriate security systems and procedures in place. Any questions?"

"Yes. What about the Baldie? Where is he made?"

"You know I've come home late many evenings over these past two years," Murray replied. I've been in Homestead, Florida. The Baldie is manufactured in a special hangar 12 miles southwest of here at the Homestead General Aviation Airport. It's on 217th Avenue adjacent to Everglades National Park. It's remote for security purposes. But this little airport has an Executive Jet Center, so we have a good pool of employees from which to draw. The first five Baldies will be made there until a major production facility can be found elsewhere in America. The initial test flights are made at night out over the Everglades.

"When the initial checkouts are complete, the Baldie flies south over the Gulf of Mexico to Belize for final flight certification tests where you assisted as a technician.

"That's the whole story, my dear," Murray said as he put the Red Box back into the safe.

"Well, it seems that you Flynn brothers have thought of everything," Maggie said. "What's next?"

"To make money!" Murray eagerly answered.

"Oh, I get it," Maggie responded. "You plan to use a couple of Baldies to ferry tourists between Caribbean and Central American locations, and it's safe because it's also a seaplane."

"Yes," Murray said. "That's the initial application because we thought it would be the easiest to flight-certify with the FAA. But it's only the beginning!"

"What do you mean?" Maggie asked.

"The use of a Red Box by a government or corporate entity is negotiated on a case-by-case basis via license agreement with a large, possibly $1 billion usage fee for a limited period, subject to renewal restrictions and additional fees. Also, advertising and endorsement contracts are granted via auction and limited in markets and license periods.

"Matt is keen to have the Red Box be part of Government-funded national transportation infrastructure projects at the national and state levels, which are eligible for long-term fee payment plans. And you know our politics: anti-democratic governments and entities need not apply."

"And you really feel this is all possible?" Maggie asked.