Point of Departure by Vaughan Shelton (rooftoppers .txt) 📗

a bracer and we'd ride out to the site together. But he said he had a couple of matters to attend to and we parted at the plant gate."

Halleck came back and sat down. Caples took his seat at the desk. "I have a feeling," he said, "that we are about to learn if this prehistoric spaceship of yours ever got off the ground."

"Shall I order some more coffee, Mr. Caples?" asked Taplin eagerly.

"No. Just shut up, you idiot! Are you too young to appreciate this breathless, undocumented melodrama Mr. Donner's describing for us? This last incident explains the lack of documentation, doesn't it, Donner?"

"I'm afraid it does. I discovered later that the folder with all the papers relating to the project was missing from my files, but I have other evidence to offer—a witness." He glanced at his wristwatch. "If my witness is prompt, I'll just have time to finish this."

"Please do! Does the next scene take place at the launching site?"

"Yes. I got there a little late—missed the turn off the highway and went a long way past it. When I found the place, everything was ready and they were waiting for me.

"The aircraft lay on its side, looking fat and very ungainly, I thought, because of its increased girth. Porter Hays seemed tense, but eager to get on with it. He wore no flight garb except his helmet with the earphones. Standing there in slacks and sweater, smoking a final cigarette, he didn't look theatrical enough for such an occasion. I thought of telling him I'd kept my goddam mouth shut, but didn't get a chance.

"The plan was to take the ship up a few hundred feet and jockey around to test everything. If the equipment and ship were all right, Hays would whip her up a few hundred miles and cruise at his discretion. There was to be no long flight that day. Since we were far out of the traffic lanes, we didn't expect to attract any attention.

"At last the Sun came up full, there was a final conference, and Hays climbed into the ship's rotating cabin by the door at the rear. He waved and shut the door. He could see out with his tele-view of course, but we couldn't see him.

"While the radio man checked the ship-to-ground contact, the rest of us moved back out of habit, though there would be no blast here.

"Very slowly, the ship raised itself to a vertical position. It rose gradually to about ten feet, stopped, then shot up a couple of hundred and stopped again. It was incredible!

"'Give me the phone,' said Kane. He was as white as paste and his eyes were fever-bright. 'How's it doing, Hays? Looked good from here. Is she powering right?'

"The answer must have been gratifying because Simon Kane's white teeth flashed when he heard it.

"After that, the ship bobbed around in swift dashes, stopping, then darting upward till it was only a dot, reaching unbelievable speeds. All this time, Kane was talking with Hays on the phone, asking questions, suggesting new maneuvers. Though he was trembling with excitement, his voice was calm, controlled and persuasive. I realized later that he was egging Hays on to try more and more spectacular tests of the ship.

"Suddenly it shot away in a steep climb toward the west and was out of sight in a matter of seconds. Kane laid down the telephone and turned to me.

"'He's satisfied the craft works perfectly,' he said. 'He's going to take it straight out for four or five hours and then come back.'

"We all stared at him, for Hays wasn't to have stayed up over an hour. I said, 'He can't do that. There's too much he doesn't know about the ship. Tell him to come back!'

"Kane didn't look at me. 'The boy knows his business. Leave him alone. He's making history.'

"'But the first time—'

"'I'm going down the road a few miles to get some breakfast. Take turns talking to him, why don't you?'

"He got in his car and drove off."

"Exit the villain! Donner, you've got a talent, but you're in the wrong line of work." G. W. Caples dug a chubby fore-finger under his collar and worked the tie knot loose. "This scenario is worth every single cent of $300,000."

Raymond Donner's mouth pressed a little tighter and his tongue pushed through to moisten his gray dry lips.

"He never came back," he said hoarsely. "And neither did Hays."

Something in the man's voice stopped the president from going on with his sarcastic attack.

"Did the ship crash?" he asked more soberly.

"No. It just flew away and never came back."

The silence hung like a shroud. All three of them—even the self-conscious Taplin—stared at Donner.

"We talked to Porter Hays in turns. We begged him to come back. But he just laughed and said he was having the ride of his life. After about two hours, his voice faded out suddenly—and that was the end of it."

"How long ago was this?"

"Four days."

"Have you notified the authorities, the police or—well, anyone?"

"No. I've been putting it off. You see, Hays gave us no hint of any trouble. The others are still sitting out there in the desert waiting for him, trying to make radio contact. The ship carried a standard survival kit with seven days' rations and water. If he's had no operational trouble, Hays could stay out at least a week."

"And what about Simon Kane?" demanded Caples.

"When Kane didn't come back by noon, I went to look for him.

"On the way to his home, I stopped at the office, on a hunch, and discovered the records were missing. At last it began to penetrate that there was something rotten in Denmark.

"Dusk had fallen and there were no lights in the Kane house when I got there. No one answered the doorbell. I called and pounded and finally climbed in a window to look for signs that the Kanes had packed and left. There were none. Everything was in order.

"Then, as I was leaving, I heard a knocking sound from the end of the building and traced it to the last room on the west side, a sort of study. The knocking came from a locked closet. The key was gone, so I had to smash the door.

"Nalja Kane was sitting on the floor, staring at me without seeming to see me. She looked frightful, with her hair awry and her eyes red and glassy.

"She sort of moaned as I helped her up. 'Did it happen? Did he fly the ship?'

"I said, 'Yes, but something's wrong. Where is your husband?'

"The girl seemed to go all to pieces, turning her head from side to side and repeating, 'Oh, no! Oh, no!' Then she collapsed.

"I drove her to the hotel in the nearest town and called a doctor I knew. He said she had emotional exhaustion, needed rest rather than hospital care, and gave her a strong sedative. When I got home, I stayed awake long enough to write that letter to you and then fell into bed.

"The phone woke me around ten the next morning. It was Ruhl, calling from a gas station on the highway. He said Hays wasn't back yet and promised to call again at five.

"I mulled the whole thing over all day, trying to sort out the facts, but they just wouldn't add up to anything. When Ruhl called again with the same bad news, I decided to come on east and get it off my chest. It's all beyond me. I don't know what to do."

Donner searched in his pockets and pulled out a cigarette pack. It was empty and he crumpled it absently. Halleck patted his own pockets but couldn't find any.

"Now take it easy, Ray," said Caples, walking around the desk with the humidor and holding it open. "This is the weirdest thing I've ever heard—yet I think I believe you. Leave it to you solid types to foul up on a grand scale! How about this witness you mentioned?"

"On the train—I wanted more time to think, so I didn't fly here—it occurred to me how flimsy this would all sound, without your memo or anything else to back it up. I couldn't even prove the tablets ever existed. In Chicago, I phoned Nalja Kane. She was much better and quite calm. When I told her the spot I was in, she agreed to take a plane in the morning and try to be here at 11:30 today."

Taplin's finger darted to the key panel, but Caples brushed him aside and opened the circuit himself. "This is Mr. Caples. Is there a lady in the outer office?"

"Yes, sir. Mrs. Simon Kane."

"Ask her to step in, please."