This is the Prologue and first couple of pages to "EAGLES", the Novel I am currently working on... among others...In my "World building" attempts I'm hoping to use this story as a jumping point for stories set in the far future. But EAGLES itself is about scientist and his family trying to stay ahead of the Powers That Be when he makes a historic scientific break through.Prologue:Cedarbrook PhiladelphiaWinter 200108:45 hrs.Two and one half feet of snow had been dumped on the Delaware valley the night before. Local salt trucks had failed to deal with the unanticipated amount and were overwhelmed, so many of the roads were still impassable. The snow covered everything and shone brightly under the now clear sky. Forecasters called for yet another dumping later on that afternoon but the sky was clear and growing more blue as the morning wore on.With traffic stopped and most businesses closed the Philadelphia neighborhood of Cedarbrook was unusually quiet that morning. Only the faint and intermittent sounds of the few homeowners up that early trying to dig out small paths to and from their front doors disturbed the peace. For them it was slow going and possibly futile with the way the city had been shut down. They had no where to go and with more snow on the way they would be back out again the next day shoveling as well. Most felt it would be better to dig through two and a half feet twice than try to dig through five feet once.Chapel road was same as most streets in Cedarbrook; quiet, covered in white and only a few people out in the snow.The explosion was heard as far away as Germantown.“DAMMIT, POP!” Ben’s voice was not heard over the echoing of the explosion and the angry screaming of a score of car alarms. “I said: point ZERO-eight!”The cloud that billowed out of the small breezeway was mostly concrete and mortar dust. It made a nasty gray/brown smudge against the white covered ground and the crystal blue sky.“That WAS point zero-eight, K.J.!” the second voice echoed back out of the cloud which was even now beginning to thin. The hole in the side of the home’s garage was remarkably round. Inside two men, both were wearing blue dust covered coveralls and large oversized goggles continued to argue.“No, Pop!” The taller of the two leaned down and waved at the receding layer of smoke until he could see the glow of a small laptop screen. He pulled the goggles down around his neck to see even better. “It shouldn’t have even…”“And you better watch who you’re yelling at!” the other man pulled off his goggles as well and studied the hole in the wall. His face was weathered and his beard was peppered with gray as was his hair. His hard eyes were narrowed as he tried to peer through the dust filled room. “Damn. That’s a load bearing wall, K.J.!”Ben, “K.J.”, was hitting keys into the laptop with one hand and waving away the dust with the other. His face was almost identical to his father’s save for a few differences. It was free of the years of weathering, his goatee was free of the gray and his jaw, even now tight with frustration, could not match the harsh granite-like set of his father’s. With a grunt of that frustration he pulled the green, white and dusty gray baseball cap off of his head and waved away more of the dust cloud. Another difference was his smooth shaven head. Still, the eyes were the same, especially now that he was studying the laptop’s screen so intently. His eyes were hard and narrow just like his father’s.“You hear me K.J.?” his father had walked over to the garage wall and was gently testing the stones that had survived the blast. “… lucky the whole damn building didn’t come down on us. Still could. What the fuck went wrong?”“… power efficiency… reading says it was higher than ninety-nine percent… that’s not… that’s not possible…” K.J. was speaking more to himself than to his father. “We gave it… point… zero-eight…”“That’s what I said. So what happened?” Satisfied the building was not going to come down on them Benjamin’s father walked over behind him and peered over his shoulder at the laptop. Benjamin Senior had been beginning his coursework in engineering when the Army pulled him to go fight in Vietnam and it cost him his chance at a degree. In the thirty some odd years since he had not found a chance to continue his studies what with raising his two sons. So even though he understood the principal well enough, quite a bit of what was on the computer screen was beyond him. “K.J.?!? What happened with the engine?”When Benjamin Knox Jr. finally turned to his father the look on his face was both deadly serious and shaded with fear.“It…” he stuttered.“What?” Ben Sr. was not a patient man.“… it worked.”CHAPTER ONE:FIELD TESTSPRING 2010Ryan tucked his head deeper into his hood. The rain was falling even harder now out of the pitch black sky. It was hitting the equipment so hard that splashes were bouncing onto his face and into his eyes. Still he went about the business of finishing the set up even though he was sure that the field test was going to be called off. As he did Ryan mentally ticked off the reasons why he was just going to have to pull it all down in the next few minutes. The weather was the first. It was one hell of a rainstorm that had been moving across the Delaware Valley and it was dumping a torrent of water down on them. The gear had been run in the rain more than once and it had passed the test but never a storm like this. The wind had few gusts but they were strong. Ryan worried about that. The wind had caused them problems before. Secondly they had been given the call only about fifteen minutes ago. Not much time and they had not even been on standby. So they were rushing just to get set up. Even so they managed to get the several piles of equipment boxes up to the roof and were looking to be ready in another few minutes. It was haphazard because the call was unexpected. As a matter-of-fact Ryan had been just about to make a burger run and would not have even been at the lab. Not that it would have stopped Frank.The last battery was hooked up finally so Ryan braved the hard falling rain and looked over his shoulder. “Wind’s pretty bad”, he said.The outfit was more silver than gray and skintight. The material was strong and designed to be protective against the elements so Ryan guessed that Frank was nice and dry beneath it. Indeed he seemed not bothered at all by the rain as he went about the business of strapping on his equipment. He already had the boots on and hooked up. Ryan could see that he was determined to be ready.“It’s not a problem” he answered. “We’ve seen worse. You online?”Ryan wiped his brow free of rain water then reached down to clear plastic bag set on top of some equipment he was squatting next to. Instead of opening it he placed it in his lap and smoothed the plastic until it lay flat against the laptop inside. Without opening the bag he flipped open the laptop and switched it on.“We’ll be lucky to get a signal” he announced.“Storm’s not electrical.”“Still a pretty big atmospheric disturbance…” Ryan argued back.“What? Don’t you want this to work?” Frank said clearly irritated. Ryan looked over his shoulder to see him clamping on the portable “Stop-Jack”.He snorted. “Of course I want this to work, Man. But we’re sittin’ up here for nothing. The rain…”“We’ve done this in rain before.”“… no notice…”“That’s how it’s going to be for real” Frank countered while pulling a helmet out of another latched case. It was silver-gray as well with a wide clear face mask that extended up and around the helmet ending in points much like wing tips.“This is ‘For real’, Frank” Ryan said. The laptop had come to life and was now searching for a signal. “Did you hear the code they said over the radio?”“Yea”, Frank was standing up what looked like a folded nylon umbrella. The material was the same color as his skintight coveralls and helmet.“There were two codes given you know?” The laptop made a chirp when it connected. Quickly Ryan tapped the keys through the plastic.“I know.” Frank answered. He pulled the “Umbrella” open a bit and exposed a harness set and some cable connectors.“The second one was a ????” Ryan saw that the laptop was online. “We’re online. You’re showing ‘Red’.”“Almost hooked up, Ryan” Frank muttered, busy connecting the large “umbrella” to his coveralls via the cable connections.“A code ???? is a hostage situation.” The rain was falling even harder now and the plastic covering the laptop was getting harder to see through.“Yup. So?”“So? So they’re not gonna call.” Ryan turned again to look over his shoulder. Frank was continuing to hook himself into the gear. “Frank we’re wasting our time and getting all the stuff soaked!”Still, Frank continued with the gear. “Yellow” he said.Ryan turned back to his laptop and wiped down the bag in front of the screen. “Yea… Yellow.” He confirmed. “They’re not gonna use us on a hostage situation Frank. Not just to test…”“They sent the call for a reason.” Frank pulled the helmet on then attached a USB cable to the back. “Green.”“Fine. Let’s just sit up and wait for your brother to call and tell us to stand down. Oh… Green, yea. You receiving the telemetry?”Inside the helmet Frank looked out into the rainy night. Optic lasers set just inside the frame fired onto the inside of the visor. The transparent Heads Up Display came to life. Before his eyes he could see colored gauges, spinning icons and in the corner of his vision sat a map of a familiar stretch of highway in Philadelphia. A closer look showed tiny blue and white lights moving along the highway lines.“Got it. They’re in Bala-Cywyd on Seventy-Six” Frank slid his hands into a set of hand braces that hung from the umbrella-like harness. On braces were matching sets of thumb switches. He flipped open the covers off of each one and depressed them simultaneously. “Powering up.”“Whoa slow down! You know your brother. They NOT gonna call.” Ryan could just make out a quiet hum through the staccato pounding of the rain. Then the sharp snap of what could have been leather being pulled taut. The whine grew louder and then suddenly faded into the distance.“Frank! Stop!” Ryan spun around but he was now alone on the rooftop. Despite the rain he pulled his hood back and looked up into the night sky. “Damn it.”Most police chases in the Philadelphia are stopped rather quickly. Either those running are caught, which is ninety percent of the time, or they call off the chase to protect the public. Tonight however this chase would be seen through to the end.It had not originated in Philadelphia. The car being chased was ripping down route I-76 eastbound from King of Prussia. Philadelphia P.D. was alerted to the pursuit by State Police when the chase reached Conshohocken. Now the small convoy of cars had made its way through Bala-Cynwyd and moved into Philadelphia.Road spikes set by State Police had failed… twice. The car they were pursuing was ’69 Plymouth Roadrunner, in great condition. The State Police vehicles were able to maintain the chase but not able to get close enough to try “Pit” maneuvers… which they were not willing to try anyway. Not with this car.Even over the wind and the rain K.J.’s voice came in clear enough over the live streaming transmission but the video was dark. “Repeat… Do you have visual confirmation?”Frank did not need to but he looked again to the flashing red and blue lights racing along I-76. He then matched them against the map on his H.U.D..“Confirmed. I’ve got them eastbound on 76… just coming up on the City Avenue exit” He said.“The police are nearly set about three miles farther up. But Pop thinks he’ll jink at Lincoln Drive.” On the live video Frank thought he could see the familiar dark shape of his father’s head just over K.J.’s shoulder.“Pop’s always right.” He answered.“Then your window is closing fast.” K.J.’s voice sounded almost relieved to Frank. His jaw tightened in frustration.“I’m almost in position” he shouted but he really could not be sure if he had gotten any closer to the pursuit. He checked the map on H.U.D. again. The Lincoln Drive exit was coming up quick.“We don’t have you in position. You’re going to miss it.” K.J. said flatly. He was wearing the glasses in the live video. That meant he was looking at a similar H.U.D. and could see everything Frank could see if he wished.“I’m not going to miss it!” Frank shouted a little too harshly but he had to make a serious adjustment as he saw that the Roadrunner was indeed trying for the exit.The wind whipping over him and sliding across his body felt like an almost solid mass. The rain looked strange. It hung in the air before him at times as if it was floating and at others it seemed to be racing upward towards the sky. Frank ignored all of this and focused his concentration on the Roadrunner.Another adjustment and he got closer…His arms strained to shift the braces.Next a strong pull and he adjusted again as the car skid into the exit. He pushed hard on the right brace.“I’m right on top of them!” he screamed into his helmet.“Watch the overpasses. Watch the street lights! Confirming drop point on you H.U.D.” K.J.’s voice was now very tight. If there was worry in his eyes Frank could not see it past the visor.“Drop the ‘Stop-Jack’. Then bug out and let the cops handle it.” K.J. ordered.Frank ground his teeth a bit. “I am a cop, K.J.!” he pulled hard on the braces and jammed the thumb switches. “Overpass clear!” he reported.“Watch the lights”, K.J. reminded him. “You’ve got to drop before he reaches the drive.”“I know. He’s got fifty feet on me!”“Get the ‘Stop-Jack’ ready”, Ben told him. “Your close… got a visual on the hostage?”“It’s ready. No visual” Frank could not see anything through the rear window of the Roadrunner, it was too dark.“Okay”, Ben said. “You’ve got to close and drop now or you won’t be able to clear the bridge.”“On it!” Frank hit the toe switch and was rewarded with a burst of acceleration. “Got the angle.”“No! It’s too tight! Change your angle” Ben tapped something into the console Frank could not see on the video. On the H.U.D. Frank saw the changes he wanted.“I’ll never catch him like that. I’ve got it.” He jammed the thumb switches and received another burst of speed. Then he locked the braces in place and pulled one arm free. It was tricky but it only took a second to pull free the bulky box that was hooked onto his web belt. One finger push and a small green light flashed on each side of the device.“Almost there”, He said. “Braces locked… I’ll drop in ten!”“I told you the angle’s too broad. You’ll never clear…” Ben was cut off by the muffled voice of his father.“Let him concentrate, Ben.”The upper left corner of his H.U.D. showed his speed and it was climbing higher than he thought it would. “Damn it”, he muttered. Ben was right; he would never clear the bridge. But if he backed off…“Five seconds!” he reported and brought the Stop-Jack forward. The wind tried to pull it from his hand but he was prepared for that thanks to countless practice sessions.“Four…” the Roadrunner was about ten feet ahead of him now. Mentally he knew he would make up that distance in the next 1.7 seconds. The huge bridge at the south entrance of Lincoln drive loomed in his peripheral.“Three…” he was so close he could see the rain bouncing off of the front of the car then flowing around and over it as it plowed through the air. He would never clear the bridge.“Two…” Frank passed the rear window in less than a second. Did he see a small face peering back at him?“One… now!” With as much force as he dare Frank hurled the Stop-Jack at the front hood of the car. Without looking to see if the device connected with the target Frank jammed his free hand back into the brace.But he was too close to the bridge. Never-the-less he unlocked the braces and spread his arms wide. There came the sound of leather flapping against the wind and then being snapped taut. The rain at once stopped pelting his face with the force that it had been as his speed dropped dramatically.The wings spanned a good thirty feet across and were about seven feet at their widest point. The material ballooned a little as the wings filled with air. Frank knew that it would not be enough. He grunted and pulled with every muscle along the front of his body to bring his legs up in front of him. The change in momentum helped and in a second his feet were pointed out in front off him… directly at the supporting wall of the bridge.He slammed on the toe switch and the engines on his back sprang to life again sending a torrent of thrust down his back, around his hips, down his thighs then into and out of the exhaust ports framing his feet. He slowed some more but it clearly would not be enough.Then without thought Frank changed tactics. Boldly he pulled the braces in tight and the huge wings came down and folded in to a sweep position. Simultaneously he pulled the boots down a bit, aiming their thrust at the ground. Slowly his flight arced as he raced closer to the bridge wall. His thumbs ached he was pressing so hard on the braces switches.The arc of his flight grew tighter and tighter until he found himself racing upward along the stone wall of the bridge. Adjusting the braces ever so slightly Frank managed to keep from scraping along the stone by only mere inches.“Cleared the bridge!” he screamed triumphantly as he rose into the night sky.“Close call.” Ben’s voice was a mix of relief and disappointment. “Bring it in Frank.”“Where’s the target?” Frank asked. A quick look to the H.U.D. gave him his answer. “What? Did the Stop-Jack fail?”“You missed the target” came Ben’s flat answer. “Bring it in.”“No.” Frank twisted the braces and spun the stars away in favor of a ground view. He saw the Roadrunner weaving along Lincoln Drive. “I’ve still got the back up.”“Doesn’t matter” Ben’s voice continued with a bit of an edge to it. “He’s on the Drive. You can’t catch him there.”“Wanna bet?”
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