BOB'S RIDE IN MY SHIP

As promised, little twerp showed up at my house at six in the morning....and woke me up.  I was quite irritated at him and immediately put him to work raking leaves outside.  We ate breakfast and visited.  When I was fully prepared to undertake this mess I got myself into, we went out to garage and I opened the door.  Bob's eyes grew big as saucers...."Wow, what is that?  it has no wings nor tail....how does it fly?"  I told him about the generation of powerful ectro-magnetic fields emanating from the surface of the ship and it was propelled and maintained stability by a computer contolled magnetic field around the ship. We got in and I went over the start up list; I started the spinning magnet, put it on manual control where I steered using my joy stick, and accelerated using the pedal on floor.  The speaker came on and gave me five numbers which I was to punch in in order to go anyplace.  That being done, I decided to guide the ship out of the garage and then put it on straight vertical to 5,000 feet, and then drive where I wanted to go.  I stared straight down the drive way and gave a little tap on the peddle.  The ship moved slowly straight ahead for about five feet and stopped.  I gave it another tap and the ship came completely out of the garage.  I then punch vertical ascent and gave a tap on the peddle.  The ship slowly went up about five feet and stopped. I opened the hatch and stuck my head out to make sure no branches nor powerline above.  It was good to go.  I pushed lightly on the peddle and the ship began a smooth and slow ascent.  We were about one hundred feet high and I decided to see if there was any thrill to be found by pushing the peddle all the way in.  Bob wet his pants.  It was not painful g-force, but enough to push me down into the seat. As we approached 5,000 feet, the computer took over and we slowed down until 5,000 was reached and we found ourselves hanging comfortibly in mid air.  No sound at all; no sense of movement.  It was such a grand view, I was perfectly content to just stay there and rotate the ship around so we could get a 360 degree view.  The morning Sun shone from crystal blue skies and the ocean was clearly visible.  We could even see large oil tankers at sea. I put the ship on slow rotation and we swept the San Gabriel montains as well as the San Bernardinos and Mt Baldy way in the distance.  There was a glint of reflective Sun close to Mt. Wilson and I told Bob that many world war two fighters had crashed into the mountains.  Young pilots in training and often times flew during bad weather.  To this day, wrecks are still being found and sometimes human remains and unexploded 50 caliber shells. There were several p-38 Lightnings on Mt Wilson.  We were enjoying all of this when an F-16 flew by very close.  He circled and came back.  OH...  OH ... NO. I forgot to flip the I-switch which makes the ship invisible.  Now, I had the Air National Guard on my tail.   I flipped the I switch and pushed on the peddle.  We got out of there fast.  I also activated the anti radar pickup switch.  At least they could nor see us nor find us.  What to do.  If anyone saw where we came up from, my party was over.  I set the altitude at 50,000 feet and destination Tulsa, Okla at 1000 m.p.h.   I told Bob that I would let him see his home town from above.  I was amazed at how he balanced his fear and his intrugue.  He got used to it pretty quickly.  I made sure all of my anti everything was activated.  I lowered the ship to 500 feet as it was in the de-materialization mode where molecules in the ship's construction could conventiantly move opposing molecules out of the way and pass through them with no damage to either party. Bob recognized the lay of the land and the streets.  He was becoming more excited by the minute.  "That is 3rd street....go east on Third until you come to Frisco.  That is where my Grandma and Aunt Mimi live.  I knew the place well !!   'Bob, lets set the ship down and get out and go for a walk"  He practically foamed at the mouth.  I set it down in a rather obscure corner of Newblock Park.  I grabbed the goggles which would let me find our way home with no trouble.  The ship was invisible and I had the goggles.  Bob and I started to walk the mile or so to 216 S. Frisco.  We crossed over the Third street Bridge under which ran some railroad tracks.  We stopped at Jerry Smith's Grocery on Third.  It was a small neighbor hood market with wooden floors and some barrels containing fresh farm picked fruit and vegetables.  It had an old timey smell that I loved.  We bought a couple of popsicles and walked on towards grandma's house.  "Bob, we cant go to see them, we could never explain.  He understood.  Bob had sucked on the end of his popsicle until all the cherry juice was gone.  I told him the popsicle was invented by an eleven year old boy who left a bottle of fruit juice with a stirring stick in it on the back porch and it froze over night.  He got to thinking about it and experimented with different flavors, and became the owner of the popsicle business.  I wanted to get back home and decide what and how to put the ship back in the garage without being seen.  My lovin' future hung on right decisions and a ton of luck.  (to be continued)