3 years?!?!

Yes Virginia, it’s really been three years,,,

Been some time, but here is another snippet of the story for y’all.

Enjoy.

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T and G made it to Tucson that afternoon. A couple of calls made, and they are locating themselves in an air hanger on property of one of T’s friends. The ranch they were on was located 10 miles from the town, nestled in a valley between rocky hills. That valley opens up onto a flood plain of scrub and rocks roughly 5 miles wide before it rises back up into mountainous terrain. Perfect for testing new planes out of sight of the populace. The floodplain is a no mans land of heat, snakes and rocks sharp enough to cut flesh. The Ranch itself is a cluster of small buildings, one ranch house with a wrap around porch, the hangar and one long block building with large roll-up garage doors at either end.
“I’m going to hang out with you guys for only a couple of days Rob. I gotta shake the hounds off our trail.” says T to his friend Rob. Rob is an ex-ranger: Tall, heavily muscled, starting to go round in the middle, but still in impressive shape. With hair more grey than Brown, done in a long braid down his back, and beard wrapped in two smaller braids on either side of his chin, his resemblance is quite the Gael. His Farmer Johns seem incongruous to his image. He looks like he would be right at home in scale armor with a battle ax in his hands.
“You gotta stay or Tammy is gonna take it out on your young friend here. You know how she gets, all talk and talk and talk when she isn’t working. You are the only one I have ever met that can shut her down. I don’t know how you get her all twisted up in rhetoric the way you do, but no one else can do it.”
T glances over at G who is supervising the unloading of the trailer into the hangar. “He’ll be fine. He doesn’t have my wit, but he’s stubborn and could use a good dose of critical thinking, especially on the stuff that Tammy is so impassioned with. Heck, he’s former Marine, combat vet, and could use some softening up on things dealing with civilian life.”
“Ex-Marine? That how he lost the legs?” asks Rob, looking at G in a different light.
“No, he lost those when he came back to the states. Motorcycle accident. I’ll let him fill you guys in on the details of that when he’s comfortable with you. Its not a sore spot for him. Getting medicaled out of the Corps did him more harm than losing the legs did. He loved being a Marine.”
“I know more than a few guys that loved being military and had a hard time making the adjustment back into ‘the real world’, so to speak. We’ll take care of him, and I’ll try to keep Tammy on a leash, at least a little. I can tell when she is going over the top with most people.”
“Yeah, she can be a bit much at times. T pauses, watching what’s coming out of the trailer. The rockets left from the run in Nogales are on a rack that is being rolled into the hangar, and G is rolling alongside it, acting like a mama cat. He has reason; even with the safety flags securing the detonators, those rockets represent a lot of explosive power and more than a little shrapnel if they went off.
Rob whistles a little at the sight. “You boys aren’t playing around out there are you? I recognize that design from some of the stuff you made for a fourth of July shoot a few years back. I’m guessing that these aren’t flashbangs though.”
“Nope. That’s the real deal there. Around one kilo of RDX in the nose and about 5 pounds of powder in the body to propel it. got 1000 meter burn time on them with a 3 second delay for detonation if they miss. Total range is 1800 meters. Simple stuff, if you consider that the RDX is home-rolled.”
“Uncle Fester’s?” asks Rob
“Yup, I never liked the guy after he put out books on making meth, but his chemistry is the real deal. I even use his PETN recipe for the detonators. The motors are just black powder and powdered sugar in the right ratio, but it works, and it makes it easier to track with all the smoke it puts out. Makes lining up a follow up shot easier and more accurate.”
T pauses for a second, then adds, “I know you guys are peace loving, but I know for a fact that things in this country are getting to a point where even you are going to be arming up. If you aren’t already.”
“No worries there T, we caught wind that the capitol people are whispering about secession again, only this time, it looks like it may be the real deal. Several other states are involved, or at least that is what the rumor mill has been spreading of late. If they push it, we aren’t going anywhere, but we will fight from the inside. We may not be very effective, but we can get good intel to those outside that need it.” Rob starts walking to the house and motions for T to follow. “It really helps that we have history of being a hippy commune out here. The Socialists consider us kindred spirits and have no clue we can’t stand them, or their brethren across the aisle. If this thing kicks off and we are ‘behind enemy lines’ It likely won’t effect us that much.”
Rob starts to say something, pauses, then continues, “What are you guys wanting out of us? Other than a safe house for your friend there, I mean.”
“Not as much as you are implying Rob. He is going to be building our next plane while here, and there will be times where he needs help, but for the most part, I just need to keep him hid.” T looks back over his shoulder at the rig where G is rolling up the ramp inside it. “He’s really quite talented when it comes to these planes. And knowing that they are his literal wings in the world, I have another reason to want to keep him with them. He is kind of like the son I never had, at this stage.”
“Stuff it T. You make it sound like you won’t be back for him. I know you better than that; they may catch up to you, but they won’t have a thing on you to hold you.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell us all about that when that time comes. But until then, keep him safe, keep him busy, and keep him out of sight. He has access to our accounts if he needs to order anything, but don’t let him order it to here. I know you have drop boxes set up: use those please. I can’t say they aren’t watching my accounts, and I have every reason to believe they are.”
“That I can do, but I want a promise from you. Can you do that?” Says Rob. Seriousness dripping from his voice.
“You of all people know that I don’t make promises when I can’t be certain I can keep them. What is it?” T replies, looking back at Rob. There is a slight glare in his eyes, and a cutting edge to his voice in the reply.
“Well I know it, but I think this is one that you can and will keep” Rob pauses, making sure he has T’s eye contact. “Promise me that you are going to come back. You have incentive in your boy there, but I want your word as well.”
“I promise this: I will break the gates of hell to get back here, but you and I both know that there is far more happening in the world, and sometimes things go bad. I will do everything I can to return.” T says all of this at barely above a whisper. His unease with leaving is obvious.
“TICK-TOCK!” shouts a middle aged woman rushing into the room. Standing roughly five and half feet high with a heavy boned build, a mop of blazing red hair that looks like she spent five hours trying to get it to ‘do something’ and failed. Jeans and flannel shirt with ox-blood Doc Martens, her appearance is that of a punker from the 1980’s that never read another fashion magazine after leaving school. Her voice has the gravelly sound of s lifelong smoker
“Hey Tammy” T replies. “What’s it been? 8 years? 10?”
“Twelve and you damned well know it” She says while approaching with arms wide.. “ I’ve missed you Burn-Out”
T steps into those arms and returns her hug, saying, “Missed you too, Gear-head.”
“I should’a nailed your feet down when you were here last. Heard you’ve been out doing nasty things like being a capitalist pig and making a gazillion bucks, and all using the stuff I taught ya.”
Laughing, T immediately lightens up from his conversation with Rob. “Yeah, something like that, but you learned more from me, than I taught you.” The smile on his face is blinding. “ Just to let you know, I have a buddy out there that you can spread all your lies about me to. He might even believe some of them.”
“Seriously? Oooh, I can’t wait to meet him!”
“Here’s another selling point for him. He’s a gear nut, just like you. I’m hoping that the two of you can come up with our next gadget to be honest. Go easy on him though, he’s still very much the Marine in his head.”
“He’s gotta be the kid in the chair?” she asks, looking out the window towards where the Trailer and RV are parked. “He seemed nice the split second I met him, but he was busy watching the unloading of all that junk you guys are carrying. And serious about it, so I didn’t ask questions, but then I heard you were here; had to come get slobbery with you. Since when did you get into model airplanes?”
“That started a year back. Been a hell of a trip along the way. That’s not your average warbird play toy out there. That thing is packing serious heat.”
Rob adds, “and no trying to get the missiles to launch off the rack, Tammy. I’m sure T and G will give you a chance to light off one or two from the bird. Pinky swear it sis!”
“Just like old times” she says, “you guys never let me have any fun. But I pinky swear, I won’t play with the toys without one of you guys playing babysitter. That do?” The smile on her face belies the sincerity in her tone. T just shakes his head.
“Yup, That’s my Tammy. Joker and Genius all rolled up in one.”
“Who you calling genius, Genius? Your IQ is at least 3 points higher than mine.”
“And you both make the rest of us look like drooling idiots when you start with the skull sweat stuff. So stop bragging on each other.” Rob tosses in. “T, you said that you guys are wanting to build another plane. Do you know what, or is that still in the idea phase?”
“Still the idea phase. I dropped that in G’s lap just this morning, and told him to research it himself as he will be the pilot of it no matter what. I can fly the A-10 if need be, but anything faster and I just don’t have the reaction time anymore.” A pause, “And you know me, I am pretty certain I couldn’t pull the trigger if it came down to it. I program the other bird for operations, and get to ‘fly’ it when we need to use it as an eye in the sky. That’s good enough for me.”
“And I guess it has to be a warbird of some type, correct?” asks Tammy.
“Yup, and I want him to get even faster than we have now. We have 4 engines as spares, but I think he is going to need even more than those put out. Our contact in Sweden makes those, and I would like to see at least one back up of whatever he ends up using. If it takes two engines, buy four. And since I know you are going to be getting in his way Tammy, make sure that he can get access to them without having to cut the bird in half to do so.”
“What? Me? Getting in his way? Never! But I will tweak his nose when I feel like it, and put in my two cents as an engineer. But to ease your mind, I will prove my skills to him first. I know most guys can’t get it in their heads that a chick can be mechanic, let alone a damned good one.”
“Just strap him into your Mazda you built up and take him for a spin in the hills. Tell him all about the modifications you made to double the engine output; He won’t question a thing after that.” Rob says, then adds, “He may have to go looking for his eyebrows later, but he’ll survive the trip. That thing handles like its on rails
“Probably not a good idea. He really likes to be the one in control of anything that moves fast and nimble. But DO tell him all about it. Though he may crawl all over it and leave drool trails on it for you, so fair warning.” Replies T. He sees through the window, G rolling out of the back of the trailer and rubbernecking. “Looks like the boy got it finished.” He says, getting up and going to the door to call G in.
Tammy gets up and heads into the kitchen while Rob clears a spot near the table.
“In here G, got some people you need to get to know.” T hollers out the open door.
G pulls up the slight step of the house with no issues, by backing up to it, then ‘popping’ the front wheels off the ground. It looks like he bounces as he does it. T smirks, knowing that G is just showing off a little. He had to learn a lot of little tricks like that to get around in a world where wheelchairs are not all that common.
Tammy walks back into the room bearing a service tray laden with coffee cups, a large carafe and other items. She sets it down on the table then extends her hand to G. “I’m Tammy, the brains of this outfit. And you are G, the flyboy, Right?” she says.
G shakes her hand, “I guess you could say that, but its not like I actually fly. I keep my butt firmly on Terra firma while playing in the sky.”
Rob slides into the conversation, “She may be the brains, but I am the one that keeps everything running. If my little sister had her way, we would all be building rockets to escape the planet and all the wonderful government that she so despises. My Name is Rob, G and I am very pleased to meet you.”
G quickly glances between Rob and Tammy, with a questioning look on his face. The two appear far apart genetically, yet claim Sibling status. Tammy jumps in, ”Same dad, different mom’s. We were raised in a commune and homeschooled by our dad, but the mom’s were far more transient. I’m sure Tick-tock told you that we were hippy stock, right?” she asks.
“Uhm, not really. He did say that you were anarchists, but that it wasn’t the bad thing I was taught to believe. I guess we have some time ahead of us where you can explain what he meant by that.”
Tammy looks at T with a grin. T, laughing, says, “Wait till Tammy fills you in on how I came to be hooked up with this crew. Just to let you know, there are over 200 people in this extended family of mine, and yes, THIS is my family. Now anyways.”
“And there’s always room for more,” adds Tammy, in a not so subtle hint. “T tells me that you are supposed to be working up a new warbird for your fleet. Any ideas what you want yet?”
“I really like the F-teen series of American planes, but some of the things T and I talked about during the original brainstorm session for the A-10 keep coming back. I am thinking along the lines of an F-18, adding vectored thrust modules, and if possible keeping the after-burner setup. Not sure that can happen, but I figure with some internet time, I can find something.”
Rob guffaws “Oh, shit! Tammy, I think you just met your twin. You knew this didn’t you T? “ he asks, laughing. The look on Tammy’s face is classic: as if she was just asked if she wanted a Black Angus and bacon cheeseburger for dinner, but saw her favorite desert on the table.
T laughs as well. “Just wait until you see her shop G. You guys will be inseparable after that.”
G just keeps looking back and forth at the commenters, waiting to be filled in on the joke.
Tammy attempts to fill him in, “T and I were classmates at MIT back in the Reagan era. I am what you could call a Rocket Scientist, G. T was the computer nerd I kept bothering to program my little Apple II to do things it wasn’t designed for. After he went to California to do his computer thing, I went to Florida and did the Space Shuttle thing until NASA got really weird. I left before they shut the shuttles down, and long before they turned into a rental agent for private enterprise.”
G’s eyes go wide. Looking at T he says, “I keep learning things about you that I would have never guessed in a million years. You are one sneaky rat, you know that T? It’s not like I was going to grovel at your feet or anything, but it sure,,,”
T cuts him off. “G, it isn’t important where I come from or what I have done in the past. History is history, and I like to leave it as such. Just know that I have all the best intentions no matter where I ‘come from’. You know what I can do with the computers and what my net worth is, and you are learning how to build your own net worth. What we do from here on out is all that matters.” He then turns his gaze on Tammy, “And I want you to help him make that fighter jet as tough as nails and capable like the real thing. The funds are there; G has access to them, just make it happen.”
“You got it, Burn out. Just don’t take another 12 years to come home again, or I will hi-jack his plane and come looking for you, Got it?
“Burn out?” asks G.
“yeah, Burn out. She calls me that because I burned out her first computer. I call her Gear head, because she is one. Long Story G, but Tammy and I have been an off and on Item since before you were born.” T replies.
“Off more than on, and only because I can’t nail his feet to a board long enough to let the concrete set up around his knees.” She says, with a wry grin on her face. It looks like she is thinking of how she can corner him this time around.
“and you worked for NASA? Aren’t you an anarchist, yet you worked for a government agency?” G asks.
“Yup, and that’s part of why I am an anarchist. I was before, but when you want to launch tons of gear into the vacuum of space, especially then, you had to work for the only game in town; NASA. I learned more about how really screwed up our government is while I was there, and believe me, its far worse than you can imagine, and are taught. Far, far worse.”
“I know I saw some shit while I was overseas, but I was not in a position to say much about it. I was only a corporal when I was discharged, and corporals really have about as much say as a bush in a forest fire. That is, None. You just hang on and hope it all blows over without burning you to a crisp as well.”
Rob jumps in, “I saw some of that while in the Army and what you guys are saying is like looking into a muddy pool of water and not liking the floaty things in it. I’m glad as heck that Dad talked me into staying put here after my stint. But I am going to go see about whats going on for dinner; You guys can crunch numbers or split hairs or whatever it is that you all do when you get too many IQ points in one room.”, he says laughing as he gets up to head out of the house.’
“That’s what he means by keeping the place running. I hadn’t even thought that you guys might be hungry.” Says Tammy.
“We stopped for breakfast at a greasy spoon just north of Nogales” replies G. “It was pretty good, considering I have no Idea what a ‘juevos’ is. Looked like scrambled eggs and salsa to me.”
“That is exactly what it is, with some sausage and other bits tossed in. Juevos Ranchero. Ranch eggs. Good stuff.” Says T. “You’ll get used to eating like that around here. Southwest cooking is the best in my opinion.”
“Yeah, there are 34 of us here at the ranch, and all of us kick in to the cooking and most of us grew up on what you sampled this morning. But lets talk about what the plan going forward is. I know you want to build a plane, and I am the brains behind thrust and vectors and all the ‘pushy’ stuff that makes things move.” Tammy says while doing the asterisk thing with her fingers. “But what are you going to be doing T?”
“Not sitting still for a couple of months. I need to get the hounds confused about what we are doing, and lead them on a wild goose chase.” He pauses. “Something that Rob said has me curious. He said the Capitol people were whispering about secession. If that turns into reality, it may help me out even more.”
“How? I mean, yeah, it will throw things into more confusion, but how can it help you?” ask G.
“when things like that happen, borders get porous as hell. Knowing that, I can fade in and fade out along the borders, wherever they are, and the Guys looking for us, can’t, because they will be firmly attached at the hip of one side of that border.” T explains. “It would only work for a short time, until one side or the other gets their shit together and starts patrolling the border in question, but till then, its basically no-mans land. There may be a wild card or two in the Federales, like our lizard queen, who wouldn’t give a border a second thought; but once they cross that line, they are independent agents with no support, and THEM; I can deal with.”
“Lizard Queen? You guys have been reading way too much Edgar Rice Boroughs.” Says Tammy. “I really need to nail you down to one spot for awhile so that I can keep an eye on what you are digesting.”
“Naw, this woman, Andrea Spencer, is a Special Agent with the DEA, and on a serious power trip. She made us promise to be at her beck and call for some dirty work she may have planned. I made the promise, but not to do her bidding, but to make sure I knew where she was when we go to kill her.” Say T, “I have issues with pulling a trigger on a person, but with her, I didn’t even hesitate in visualizing it. I wouldn’t be killing a human in killing her, I would be removing a Cyst from the Human Race, and my actions would be just as surgical.”
“Damn! The woman must be evil incarnate if she pulled that kind of reaction out of YOU, T. “ replies Tammy.
“Oh, she’s that and more. My one thought when we were leaving was that she probably enjoys torturing Kittens.” Say G. “I could tell she was getting off on having the cards stacked against us. “
“Well, we may or may not have to confront her yet. There is a lot going on out there in the big wide world, and who knows, she may just over-reach and some cartel boys will do for us what we want to do. Then again, she may set herself up as the head of some cartel if things get really screwy, and then who knows how she will get dealt with. So many different possibilities, and no one can divine the future with any degree of certainty.” Says T.
“There you go again, Genius, Getting all metaphysical on us. Just take it a day at a time and none of that matters anyway, is what I say. “ says Tammy, giving G a wink as she says it. There is smirk on her face and G can tell she is just trying to get T’s goat. He laughs and says.
“She’s gotcha T. You always do that when the conversation gets out of your comfort zone. We will deal with the Lizard Queen when and if we have to, but in the meantime, we DO have to deal with some Government types that want to kidnap us and lock us up and steal all of our toys and spending money.”
“Spoken like a TRUE Anarchist G! I think we can make you into one of the Family yet!” says Tammy. “The easiest thing to learn, you learned when you were in pre-school. ‘Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff’. And if only we could convince those stooges in higher places that Taxation is stealing, and that locking people up is hurting them, we would be in a much nicer world.”
“It’s not as simple as that of course, but those are the fundamentals of the thinking.” T responds. I fall into the NAP side of things, Tammy is more ‘proactive’ “.
“Nap? What the heck is that?” asks G
“Non Aggression Principles. It means, I will go out of my way to not hurt you, but if you attempt to hurt me, you get all of me, with interest! “ says Tammy. “I am sure you have seen how T is about not wanting to hurt people, but have you ever seen him get ‘rolled’? Probably not. People that live by that principle tend to steer clear of those that would want to take advantage of them, and most criminals can sense that they aren’t easy targets that will roll over and show their bellies. T may say he can’t pull the trigger, but I KNOW that if someone were attempting to hurt me, or him, or you; you’d see a ferocious Tiger rise up from his lanky frame.”
“T says you are more ‘proactive’, whats that mean? Asks G
“ He only says that because of how I get when I am in my shop. I turn into the absolute dictator when I get deep into a project. I feel the same way about things as he does. But if you have to work under me, just know that I am ruthless in my demands for perfection.”
“Don’t worry too much about it G, she drives herself far harder than she drives others, but she can be the total flutter-head too. There will be times where you guys are working on this plane where you will have to shut off the power and lights to get her to come in for dinner, or to go to sleep. She gets completely anal when things start coming together and works like a mule to get the job done. When she was working on her thesis project, I nearly had to tie her down to a bed to get some sleep. She had been up for 4 straight days and hadn’t eaten in 2, before I got involved. She lost 25 pounds in that week.”
“It’s how I diet too, ya big goomball. If I didn’t keep this girlish figure, you wouldn’t give me the time of day. “Tammy says, standing up to ‘strike a pose’ for T; Her antics illicit laughter out of both T and G.
“In all seriousness though, It’s not a mental disorder, it’s a personality trait of mine. I get so focused, that everything else becomes a distraction. In the Myers-Brigg order, I am an INTJ, and I know that probably means squat to you, but believe me, everything you are hearing about me is because of that personality. It’s a rare personality to begin with, and even rarer in women. But I can promise you this, You will have fun working with me, even if I seem the tyrant bitch engineer from hell at times. If you see me like that, either pitch in, or get the hell out of my way, but try not to ask stupid questions, especially then. I get down-right mean when someone asks me stupid questions when I am in my groove, and that just blows the whole thing to hell in a handbasket.”
“Yeah, and stupid questions can be as simple as “when did you eat last?”, I have a scar across my arm from when I asked her that once, G. It’s almost like her entire brain is focused on the project and the basics of living are taken over by the more primitive aspects of her medulla oblongata. She can turn pure animal on you in the blink of an eye. Honestly, if you see her like that and worry about her eating or sleeping, just hand her a burrito or something. She’ll eat it and never notice or skip a beat. And when her body feels its had enough, she’ll set it down and keep going on what her focus is. Just don’t interrupt her.” This from Rob as he came back in the room mid conversation. “I spend more time as her assistant out here, not to help her, but to keep her functional when things are moving in her world. “
“And I love you for it. If those ass-hats at NASA could have figured it out, We might already be setting up a colony on Mars or something, But NO!, they had to keep a schedule, not work more than 60 hours a week, not allowed to work certain times of the day because the Janitors Union said they needed us out of the way for cleaning or something. How they managed to get to the moon under that bureaucracy is still a mystery to me.”
“It may be a mystery to you, but remember, before you were old enough to get your foot in the door, there were real scientist and engineers that worked there. Only after it had proven itself did the poly-tickians start to congregate and become the parasites they most resemble. That was the NASA you found.” Says T.
“and on that wonderful note, I am here to say, ‘Dinner is being served’. We are doing the barbeque thing for you guys, so get on out there and enjoy.” Rob says, then adds. “And T, no talkin’ politics at the dinner table, and I’ll even add a ‘Please’ on the end of that.”

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