SODIUM:3 Fusion Read Online Free Page B

herded out into the chamber and into an area that had been setup to address everyone. As we stood talking amongst ourselves, we waited patiently for a holo-screen to appear by the giant rock wall in front of us.
    When the first image came to life the crowd quickly quieted, it was David Brenner. Everyone there was well aware of whom he was, so there was no need for an introduction. He gave a short greeting and then got right into the business of the day. Crew team A1 was standing behind him along with the first Defender, A000001.
    David and the crew were topside at Regents airbase. I was unsure of how the Defender had gotten from the chamber to the hangar at Regents and at the time it seemed unimportant. David talked of the mission before us, he talked of the alien fleet that was on its way and he talked of the struggle that we all would face when it arrived.
    Following David we were then shown a feed directly from the White House. The President spoke frankly and largely reiterated what David had already said. He then spoke of how not only our own nation was depending on our success, but the entire world and all Mankind. It seemed a heavy burden, but it was a burden we were being trained to fully take on.
    When the President had finished, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs spoke thanking us all for our efforts and reminding us again of what we would be facing. When all the speeches were over the focus was turned to the crew.
    As team A1 walked towards the Defender the tail end of the craft opened and lifted like the tailgate of an old SUV. The crew then stepped up into the Defender and walked to the forward cabin. The Defender was 60 feet in length, 12 feet high and 14 feet wide. It had the uncanny resemblance of a silvery white loaf of bread. I salivated at the momentary thought of bread.
    The forward cabin contained the four crew seats while a rear cabin was for the ship systems and supplies. The crewmen wore reclamation suits that would feed them through an IV and then absorb and send any waste product to a device in the rear cabin.
    The waste would then be reconstituted and fed back into the IV solution as nutrition. It sounded disgusting and I loathed the thought of not being able to eat, but we had been assured that the advantages far outweighed our fears.
    The tailgate of the Defender then closed and sealed. The crew were seated, connected to the ships systems and then given the go ahead to start their test flight. We stood watching the holo-screen for several minutes as the crew went through a thorough checklist. Then, in an instant, the craft went clear. Only the slightest distortion was visible as the active skin had been engaged.
    The Defender next lifted slowly off the hangar floor until it was floating about three feet in the air. As the Black Hole Drive came online the craft started to move forward. A cheer arose in the crowd. The hangar doors then opened as the craft moved towards them.
    What we saw next was both frightening and discouraging. The Defender turned at the last moment, sending the front end along with the BHD straight into the edge of the now open hangar door. I cringed as I waited for the craft to crash into the door, ending its maiden flight.
    As the Defender reached the door there was no impact. The door just disappeared as the craft moved through it. A perfect cutout of the craft in the door was the only damage done. The black holes of the BHD had disintegrated the door material which had come into close proximity with them. The craft was undamaged.
    The nearly invisible Defender then proceeded out onto the tarmac as we all looked on silently. It came to a complete stop and then hovered for most of a minute. The crew executed a 180 degree turn and then moments later the craft turned up on end with the front facing skyward.
    After several seconds of standing tall the Defender then shot straight up and within seconds the distortion disappeared from view. The hush and gloom of the crowd then turned