"The Rookie"

Kamas, Utah

Paul soon arrived at the headquarters security checkpoint. The gate guard had been alerted that he would be arriving so he was cleared directly to proceed to the headquarters building.

He made his way to Bob's outer office and was greeted by Cindy Harger, Bob's secretary.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson. I know Mr. Avery is expecting you. Let me advise him you here," Cindy said.

She keyed the intercom and advised Bob that Paul was in the outer office. He instructed her to send him right in and that they were not to be disturbed.

Paul entered and Bob greeted him with a handshake. He offered him a seat in his lounge area and asked if he would like a cup of coffee or a soda. They both settled on a soda and Bob asked Cindy to get them.

Bob began the conversation. "I hope you enjoyed your flight this morning, Paul,"

"Yeah Bob it was an eye opening experience. I thought I knew everything there was to know about flying but John gave me a lesson I hadn't experienced before. His technique for soft landing in a swept-wing jet just blew my mind."

"Well, you actually won't find a better G4 pilot than John," Bob added, "Let's get down to business. John called me and recommended that we put you on the payroll. I concur with that so let me broach a new subject before we get to the paperwork. How would you like to be a participant in a top-secret program?" Bob paused. "Before you answer, let me tell you if you agree this can never be discussed anywhere at anytime, no matter what," Bob said.

"That's a mighty tall order, Bob. Can you give me anymore info before I make a decision?" he asked.

"All I can assure you is that it involves flying," Bob said.

Paul sat back on the sofa and thought deeply for about a minute then said smiling, "Well if it involves flying and it's top-secret I guess it would be something I would like to do."

"Okay Paul," Bob offered a handshake, "Welcome aboard, we will discuss it later but first let's get your employment papers finished so we can get you started flying the G4s. How about a starting salary of $120,000?"

"Wow, that's very generous of you, Bob. That's more than I expected."

"Also Paul, I'm not sure you are aware of the housing within this compound. Our administrative officer will get your requirements and assign you housing. It is furnished free by the company and is one of the perks. I am going to turn you over to Bill Springer, our admin officer, who will handle the paperwork. When you finish come back up to my office and we will talk flying," Bob offered.

Paul wended his way over to Bill Springer's office and Bob went back to his paperwork. Later that afternoon Paul returned to Bob's office and was ushered in.

"Did Bill get you all checked in, Paul?" Bob asked.

"Yeah, I think I signed more forms than I ever did in the Navy or NASA," Paul said.

Bob laughed, "I know, Paul. Our FAA certificate requires most of that. The regulations drive John nuts, so he tells me. By the way you will need an FAA medical so make sure you see Cindy and she will schedule you for a physical with Doc Kealy. He used to be our flight surgeon in Antarctic Development Squadron Six so now he still takes care of us. He has a small clinic between headquarters and the gate."

"Will do, Bob. I also have a question about Flight Safety training. When can I get scheduled for that?" he asked.

"You can touch base with Larry Beck our chief pilot and he will put you on the schedule," Bob continued, "His office is in the building but you will have to catch him when he's not on a flight somewhere."

"I know Larry very well, Bob. Nice to hear somebody's name I recognize," Paul said.

"If you're ready to enter on you new career let's get started. Don't ask any questions until we get to our destination," Bob cautioned.

"You got it. Let's get started," Paul said as his mind was racing. What kind of a secret program am I getting into? He thought.

They left Bob's office and headed toward the back of the building. They turned into a passageway marked "Restricted Area, Authorized Personnel Only". After passing through the first door into a small entryway they came up on another door. Bob inserted his security card, punched in a code and told Paul to place his right eye in front of the retinal scanner. Paul did so and the lights on the panel flashed and finally turned green.

"Okay you're authorized to pass through this door. The keypad security code will be on your security pass when you get it and that needs to be punched in after your eye is scanned," Bob said.

He then placed his eye in front of the scanner and entered in his security code. The door unlocked, opened and Bob motioned Paul to follow him through. They stepped into the elevator boarding area. Bob pushed the button and the elevator doors opened. They both stepped in and Bob pushed the down button. The elevator moved into motion very smoothly and started down. When it reached the bottom, the elevator stopped abruptly and the doors opened. Paul was amazed at what he saw next. There was a four-seated tram and Bob motioned him to take a seat. Bob then selected the forward switch, the lights in the tunnel switched on and the tram moved slowly up the track. Neither man spoke and Paul sat in amazement. He wasn't sure just what he had gotten into. In about five minutes the tram came to a stop in the old gold mine complex. What Paul observed next was even spookier as the trip went on. They exited the tram and proceeded to the doors ahead. These were the pneumatic pressure tubes that would take them up to the AFV operations hangar. Paul had never seen anything like this in his life. Bob opened the door and he and Paul got into the tube on the right. Bob closed the door and pressed the up lever. Quickly, quietly and smoothly the tube started up the shaft. It came to a stop at the 6000' level where Bob then opened the door and they stepped off into the AFV hangar.

"Well here we are Paul, home of your next adventure," Bob said.

Paul spied four AFVs in the hangar bay and his eyes lit up as he immediately realized this was one of the vehicles which had rescued him from space. He broke into a wide smile and said, "Holy shit Bob, and this is what you signed me up to fly? I have had dreams about these vehicles since my rescue. It was such a slick machine when I first saw it and I knew right away that it was something better than the shuttle I was in. I'm sure glad somebody slipped your business card in my space suit."

"I suspect your sponsor to be Larry Beck. He's the one who rescued you. You should know that his favorite place is the Antarctic and he loves McMurdo Sound. We figure that's why he set you down there," Bob said.

"Anyway, you figured it right, Paul. We surmised you would fit in very nicely into our operation since you already had a ride in one. That's why we asked," he said smiling.

"Bob I haven't been this excited about anything in many years. I have a thousand questions."

"In time we will answer all your questions. Let's go into operations I want to introduce you to our operations specialist, Choyce Proulx. Then we'll go back into the crew quarters, as I am sure some of the guys are here. We have six crews on duty so with only two AFVs out flying there should be four crews on standby. Oh yeah, these vehicles are called "Anti-gravity Flight Vehicles" or AFV-2s for short. This is a second-generation...