Chapter Fifty-Six

Anyone who could make it to the Halikkon facility was granted entrance after passing through the security scanners.

The president ordered several additional thermal grids to keep the grounds bearable while also sending the same comforts to the team assembling at the south pole.

They gathered to watch the kid who might succeed where the most brilliant scientists had failed. The witnesses lined up shoulder to shoulder along the edge of the terrace, trying to stay warm as they shivered.

Viktoriya stood at the far end of the platform, dressed in HyperVolt, her wool sweater, and heavy plaid coat. The small mini-ark test stood on a platform launchpad of sorts, cleared for use during their test in the center of the central courtyard.

CLEFF stood beside her and said, “Viktori-Ya, I am… excited. Yes, excited for you today.”

“Oh my gosh, Look! It’s like the entire city is here to watch. And look, outside over on the hillside, there are even more people! How many people are here? Even in the freezing cold!” she laughed.

“You have brought hope to them, Viktori-Ya! They are here for you!”

“Ed, get us some more thermal grids and HyperVolt coats for those folks over there,” the president ordered.

At one end of the platform were the team of scientists, the president, the Secretary of Defense, military generals, and her parents, in their heated observation pod wrapped in warm thermal coats.

Viktoriya tapped on the remote-control tablet, programmed the device, and instantly, the small machine powered up. A low, consistent hum rumbled from the prototype.

“Good, the Earth is still within the spectrum corridor, and the magnetosphere is saturated with the quantum magnetic plasma. This should be great! Are you excited, CLEFF?”

“Yes, this is my excited face.”

Monitoring drones came alongside the mini-ark as it slowly rose above the platform and hovered there. She adjusted the controls, powering the quantum electromagnets to ten percent.

Initially, the test ship seemed to do nothing. But as the drives were carefully engaged to the nuclear drive system, the vessel quickly elevated and hovered about twenty meters from the surface, stuck there like a stationary statue, suspended in mid-air.

“Oh, it’s aligned to polar magnetic ray eighty-nine! I thought it might since it’s a little stronger than the others, with a stronger spectrum saturation!” she exclaimed.

CLEFF replied, “You did say that it would, Viktori-Ya!”

“This is for you, CLEFF. You believed in me when no one else would. When I was abandoned, you helped me believe in myself; when I was alone and in despair. You came to me and asked that I do this for you—even if for no one else—because you believed in me. Yes, this is for you, CLEFF!”

She swiped the control to the top; the power array increased to one hundred percent, fully engaging the nuclear drive powering the mini-ark’s quantum electromagnets.

Smoke fizzled from the tablet as sparks shot out from the sides—spinning away from her gloved hands, landing in the snow.

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The ship disappeared immediately with a deafening sonic boom that shoved everyone in the entire area backward. Those closest fell flat on their backs onto the snowy ground.

Viktoria laughed and began making snow angels like a child, having a wonderful time with CLEFF.

She then called out to him, “CLEFF, move your arms and legs like this! Ha-ha, yeah, that’s a snow angel! You’re doing it!” she said as he began making the same motions as her.

CLEFF replied, “Viktori-Ya, is this fun?”

“Yes! It’s fun! This is what fun is!” she giggled back.

“I agree, this is fun!”

The receiving team at the south pole watched as the craft shot down from the heavens, coming out of space along an imaginary curve of the geomagnetic field, contrails flowing like a graceful streamer from behind. It exploded into pieces upon impact from the mini-ark’s incredible speed.

Shocked and alarmed, leaping out of their chairs in disbelief, they were all speechless.

They relayed what they witnessed, indicating to the other team that the prototype descended faster than they could see, then impacted, exploding on the landing surface.

Viktoriya and the launch team saw everything on their giant relay monitors positioned at the Halikkon facility.

The total flight time of the ship was two seconds from their facility to the south station.

Everyone began jumping up and down, cheering, high-fiving, and hugging one another, both inside and outside of the grounds.

“Viktori-Ya, they are cheering for you! You have brought them all happiness and joy! You did it!” he said as they both sat up.

Viktoriya began to ramble, barely able to hear herself over the cheers and chanting. “Oh, my gosh! That is not good. No, not good, not at all. I would not want to ride in that thing, for sure. Like–Kaboooom! Right? Ha-ha, hmm, I hadn’t really thought about stopping it. How to stop or, wait—slow it… yet, I think there has to be a way to reverse the quantum fields to repel; or slow down the magnetic force.”

She and CLEFF ran toward the end of the platform to the observation pod. She had to see her mom and dad.

Her parents exited the warm pod, with the president following them.

“She’s an amazing person. You two have done a great job as her parents!” he exclaimed.

Her mom asked, “Honey. What are you, um, how did you? How? This is unbelievable, incredible, you just… Viktoriya? Can you hear us?”

They still had their jaws wide open in disbelief. The entire team could not believe it. They were all roaring out applauds and clapping their gloved hands in muffled pat-pat-pat sounds.

“Shit! I need to work on the landing. I was so caught up in making it work that I forgot about slowing it down,” she said.

The crowd had not even given it a second thought, whether she had successfully landed the mini-ark or not. If she could figure out almost instantaneous travel, she would surely resolve how to land the thing.

She was their savior now and had all the answers.

It was her time to shine like a brilliant star, and she would save the world and its inhabitants from their demise while doing so.

Her mom stood and gazed into the sky, where the ark’s lingering contrail remained. The design her girl had proposed just snapped through the air and resurfaced on the other side of Earth.

She could not help but smile to herself.

Her daughter had not been crazy.

She was a genius, breaking out of her shell for the world to see.

“Rosa, I’m feeling weak from all the excitement. I think I need to lie down for a minute,” she whispered into his ear.

“Let’s go to your room, in the infirmary,” he answered, holding her waist to keep her stable.

“Mom, Dad!” Viktoriya shouted over the cheers.

They both stopped and turned to face their girl.

“Thank you! Thank you for teaching me all that you know. Thank you for guiding me… and helping me. I love you both!”

After he made sure that she said everything she intended to say to her parents, the president got down on a knee and looked at her, eye to eye, and said, “You are the most wonderful, beautiful spirit in the whole universe. Thank you, thank you, Viktoriya, from the bottom of my heart, my dear.”

She placed both her gloved hands over her mouth and covered her trembling chin. Trembling not from the frigid cold, not because of any sadness or sorrow, but from the overwhelming happiness and joy in her heart, looking squarely in the eyes of love.

A love that symphonies and artists try to express in their most astounding performances, a love that dancers and sculptors embrace in their attempt to show us the beauty of the world.

Viktoriya realized that she, unafraid and unrestrained, could now finally look into the eyes of love.

“I love you too, Mr. President.”