Danger of the Lights pt. 2
 

      Doctor Quest did keep his promise to the boys and checked on the
possible sources of the mysterious lights and what the explosion could have
been. All of his contacts reported the same thing, no records of any
strange lights or explosions reported by anyone else in the Florida Keys.
      Three days later, Dr. Quest received a fax letter from a Dr. Virginia
Lake stating she was a writer for a prominent European Union scientific
journal. With all the strange events occurring in the last few days, he
decided to check out Dr. Lake with Intelligence One.
Two days later, Doctor Quest was working in his laboratory when Race Bannon
came in. "Doctor, I have Intelligence One on the line. They got information
about that British scientist that wants to see you."

      "Thanks, Race." Benton stopped his research, stood up and went to the
communications station. Race turned on the videolink with their supervising
agent, Phil Corvin.
"Hello Doctor, Race, I got some news for you about that Dr. Lake." Both men
waited while Phil consulted his notes. "As far as we can determine, she's
not a security risk, wanted criminal, or a tabloid reporter. She's a
well-known scientist in England and Europe. She's been working as a
freelance science reporter for the European science community since she
lost her last job."

      "And what job was that?" asked Race.

      "She was with Westbrook Electronics, but after that explosion that
leveled it, the company didn't have enough insurance money to rebuild and
the company went broke and out of business. She's written articles on
several important scientists around the world. I don't see any problem with
you doing the interview, if you want."

      Doctor Quest thought for a few moments before announcing his
decision. "I don't see any harm in having her come here. Could you please
fax what you have on Dr. Lake to me?" Phil agreed and they signed off.
Turning to Race, "Please make the arrangements for her to spend a day here."

      "Sure thing, Doctor," Race said then left to contact Lake. Then the
fax started and after the information was received, Benton studied it and
the photograph of Lake. Interesting, he thought.

      Col. Virginia Lake returned to her flat after a long day at
Headquarters. After putting some dinner on, getting comfortable, she went
through her mail. The printed mail consisted of the usual assortment of
bills and junk. She had one piece of electronic mail. Dr. Quest had sent
her a message agreeing to her request for an interview, but she had a
choice of either being in Key West, Florida in less than 36 hours or
waiting over two weeks. She sent a message to Quest saying she would do the
interview on the first date. After removing her slightly overcooked dinner
from the stove, Virginia called Headquarters, left a message for Straker,
then had operations make a reservation for her on British Air, at the hotel
and for a rental car. Actually, she would be flying in a S.H.A.D.O. jet to
a military airfield where she would get one of the organization's security
enhanced cars.
      It was early morning and Virginia Lake was waiting on a dock at a
small marina in Key West, Florida. Standing in one of the few shady spots,
she wondered why many English loved coming to the heat, humidity, and sun
of this state. Virginia was not one of those who liked baking themselves in
this type of environment. London was fine with her and she didn't mind
working in the underground headquarters or in Moonbase. As she stood there
wishing for some relief from the outdoors, she noticed a unique looking
boat coming towards the dock and going into a berth. She recognized the man
and boy who came towards her. "Doctor Lake, I'm Race Bannon and this is
Jonny Quest. Doctor Quest received a priority call from Washington as he
was about to leave and sends
his apologies for not meeting you himself."

      "Mr. Bannon, Jonny, it's a pleasure to meet you. There's no problem,
but I would like to get started since I have many questions and not much time."

      "Sure, the hydrofoil will get us there in no time," Race said as they
started to walk towards the boat.

      "Race, can I pilot the boat?" Jonny asked eagerly.

      "Would you mind that, Doctor?" Race inquired.
Virginia wasn't too keen on letting an eleven year old operate a high-speed
boat, but agreed. Race got in the boat first and helped her in as Jonny
cast off the bow and stern lines then took the seat at the controls. Race
sat next to him and Virginia sat behind Race. Jonny started the engines and
carefully backed the boat out into the channel. Virginia noted that the
dash had more instrumentation on then a normal speedboat.
When they were clear of the marina traffic, Jonny increased the boat's
speed. After a few minutes, Jonny said something to Race who nodded. Jonny
checked the instruments, touched a control and the boat seemed to lift up
from the water a bit and the speed dramatically increased. Looking at the
digital speedometer, this  boat was  faster than the surface, boats
S.H.A.D.O. had at its disposal.
Like in most boats, the engine noise prevented conversation so Virginia
enjoyed the ride. Soon she saw Palm Key. As they approached the dock, Jonny
retracted the foil and reduced speed. The hydrofoil glided gently into its
berth, Jonny shut down the engine and then helped Race secure the boat to
the dock. Race climbed out of the boat and then helped her out, even though
she was able to climb in and out of this boat without help. "Thank you, Mr.
Bannon," Virginia said with a smile, "it's nice to know chivalry isn't dead."
They started walking down the dock to the beach where Jonny was playing
with a small white bulldog. When they stepped onto the beach, the dog came
over and barked at them. Jonny introduced the dog as Bandit. It was
apparent that the dog couldn't have any other name because he had a black
mask around its eyes, like a bandit. She let the dog sniff her hand, then
she and Bannon continued to the lab.

      They walked past the house and into a one story building. Dr. Quest
and his ward, Hadji, were working at a computer terminal. They stopped,
Hadji logged off and the two came towards them. Race did the introductions,
then he and Hadji left. After accepting the cup of tea Benton offered, they
sat in a small office off of the lab. Virginia asked if she could start the
interview, Benton nodded and she pulled out a tape recorder from her
handbag. He looked at her a bit suspiciously for a moment. "Don't you take
notes when you interview?"

      "No. This way I can record both of us, if I make a statement or ask a
question you don't want on the record, I can erase it right away. I do have
a notepad with me and will use it if it makes you more comfortable?'

      "No, the tape recorder is fine. You may start when you want, Doctor."
She started off with some basic background questions, then got into
technical ones. Quest answered a few, then offered to show her the lab.
The morning went very quickly. Lake played the part of the reporter quite
well and enjoyed the technical topics she and Quest discussed in depth.
A few minutes before 12:30, Benton invited her to lunch and they walked to
the house. From the little she saw of the house, it was nicely decorated
and comfortable. The talk over lunch was about what the boys had learned
that morning doing their schoolwork. Virginia was asked about her
scientific background and about English history, places and current events.
Before heading back to the lab, Virginia excused herself to use the
bathroom. After she left the room, Hadji spoke quietly to Dr. Quest and
Race. "Doctor Lake seems very nice, but I have a feeling something isn't
right about her."  Doctor Quest agreed and asked Race to double check her
credentials and he would keep her out of the areas of the lab where he does
his classified research. The two adults trusted Hadji's feelings about
people since this was one of his unusual abilities.

      The two doctors returned to the lab and Virginia started to ask
questions about Quest's interest in space and his research in that area.
Quest mentioned some projects that were common knowledge, but not the one
that was in his biography. She took a risk and asked, "I heard a rumor that
you're working on an advanced engine. Is it true?"

      Benton looked shocked for a moment, then at her suspiciously. "What
sort of engine am I suppose to be working on, Doctor Lake?"

      Virginia thought fast and ventured, "An ion engine, but I find that
difficult to believe." She lied, "I also think it's too complicated, but
I'm not very familiar with the theory behind it."

      Benton turned off her recorder. "This is off the record and since you
still have your security clearance, I'll tell you something about my
project. Alright?" She nodded.
"Well, I'm working on an ion engine. This is an engine to be used
exclusively in space since it doesn't have a high thrust. It can reach a
high speed, but can't quickly accelerate a vehicle. The basic process is to
throw a little matter at high speed. For long distance space trips there's
a need for high speed and a limitation of matter which can be used to
propel the vehicle. That's it. My engine consists of an atomic generator,
which supplies the high voltage circuits, which is used to produce the ions
removing the electrons from vaporized particles of cesium. Then the ion
cloud is accelerated by electrodes, becoming a thin beam. To avoid peeled
particles of the ones still coming, there's a neutralizer grid which evolve
electrons lost during the ions expulsion process."

      "What speed will the engine reach when it's operational?"

      "I expect a practical speed of one-third the speed of light."

      "Do you have a vehicle to test it in, Doctor?"
"No. Putting the engine together is the easy part. The hard part is finding
an agency willing to build a ship and agencies are reluctant to launch any
vehicle that contains dangerous material. So until I can solve these
problems, the engine stays in the lab."

      "So you do have an engine, but no way to test it and no possibility
of anything being done in the future?" Virginia knew the reason Quest would
never get his ion engine launched with any space agency. The reason being
the International Astrophysics Commission and its head, General James
Henderson. IAC kept track of development projects and Henderson informs
Commander Straker, but only if asked.  Virginia realized that between the
ion engine and some of Quest's other inventions. If the engine does exist,
and the aliens think it's a threat, it explains why the aliens are trying
to attack this island.

      A short time later Virginia concluded the interview and this time Dr.
Quest and Hadji returned her to Key West in the hydrofoil. They walked her
to her car, Virginia assured Benton that she would send him a copy of her
interview for his approval and any changes before she published
it. As she left, and as they returned to the boat, Hadji told the Doctor
that Race didn't find anything new about Dr. Lake, but he still had the
feeling something wasn't right about her.

      Lake returned to her hotel room in Key West and opened a briefcase
that contained a communication device linked to Headquarters. She got
through to Straker, reported what she saw, her impressions of the Quest
group and that she believed Quest was the target of the aliens.

      "Did you get to see the ion engine, Colonel?" the Commander asked.
"No. Quest wouldn't let me see it and some parts of the lab, seemed not to
trust me with too much information and the only reason I found out about
the engine was I promised to keep it off the record."

      Ed smiled. "I think we can guarantee that. All forces are on Yellow
Alert and I've ordered SkyDiver One into the area.  Do you think Quest
would work with us?"

      Virginia bit her lower lip before answering. "I don't know. Even if
he would, what do we do about the kids and Bannon? I think the Doctor would
work with us if we could protect the boys, but I'm not sure about
recruiting two eleven year olds. As for Bannon, he's the boys' bodyguard
and tutor. If the Quests are involved in a UFO incident, I think the
amnesia drug would be the best option."

      Straker was thoughtful for a moment. "Let's hope we're on our toes if
the aliens should try for Quest again. Send your report as soon as you can,
Colonel. Straker out."

      Millions of miles out in space, three UFOs navigated in a tight
formation when one suddenly changed its course. The two alien crafts
continued their course to Earth and the third was also trying for Earth on
an anti-lunar trajectory to avoid Moonbase defenses

      "Red Alert, Red Alert.     UFOs 150 blue, speed SOL eight." S.I.D.
announced to Moonbase and Headquarters.

      Straker and Freeman were in the Control Room following the estimated
trajectory termination of the UFOs. "E-T-T the South Pacific," Freeman
said, "what are they playing at?"

      Straker ordered the course double-checked. When the Estimated
Trajectory Termination was confirmed, Straker said, "There may be a target
in the South Pacific, but we know the aliens don't give up until they've
completed their plan and I don't think they've given up on killing Quest.
This could be a red herring or they got another plan already in action.
What are the Interceptors doing?"

      In space, the three Interceptors were on course towards the UFOs. The
pilots received the information for the missile firing computers.

      Straker was not in a good mood and the staff knew it. The
Interceptors damaged one UFO, which turned and headed back out into deep
space and the second was on course for Earth, headed for Australia. An
operative handed Straker a printout listing possible targets in the area
where the UFO was headed. Straker handed the report to Freeman who
remarked, "There's nothing here out of the ordinary. I don't think the
aliens are interested in the French getting ready to test another bomb, so
I wonder what they're playing at?"

      Straker frowned, "Maybe someone's running a covert operation in that
area we don't know about like the Royal Navy did with that toxic gas.
Launch Sky Four and tell the Captain to make sure she gets it. I don't want
that UFO changing course and heading to the Keys." Straker knew the UFO can
travel through space, in the atmosphere and underwater and once underwater
it was harder to find than in space.

      As Sky Four was going after the second UFO and destroying it, the
third UFO had avoided the detection and defense devices of S.H.A.D.O. and
rested on the ocean floor several miles from the Florida Keys. It waited
until night before moving underwater to a new position off one of the Keys'
islands.

      It was another clear moonlit night and Jonny, Hadji and Bandit were
out in the garden. The boys were checking the sky hoping to see more
unusual lights. Suddenly, Bandit got up and started to bark, then ran
towards the beach. The two boys decided to follow him.
"Where are you, Bandit? Come on, boy." Jonny called. As he was about to
step onto the beach, Hadji stopped him.

      "Jonny, look," Hadji gasped, "it's someone in a diving suit. I'd
think we'd better get Race and your dad."

      "First I get Bandit, then we -"Jonny never got to finish the sentence
because the red suited intruder lifted up a gun and open fire on the boys.