Mission: Possible

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 9:

"Okay, so we know where they are…probably," said Ron. "Now we need to find some way to get there. And from what I understand Santa keeps the North Pole well-hidden, so actually finding it will take some time."

"Umm…Ron?" Cindy said hesitantly. "We aren't going to the geographic North Pole. We're going to the magnetic north pole."

Ron looked confused. "There's a difference?"

"Yes," said Wade. "The North Pole is the northern terminus of the Earth's axis of rotation. The magnetic north pole is the north pole of the Earth's magnetic field."

"Say who what now?" Ron asked.

Cindy sighed. "Hand me that globe." Ron complied and Cindy went on. "Look, you know the world is round and spins on its axis, like this." She slowly turned the globe and then looked sharply at Ron. "You did know that, right?"

Ron looked slightly offended. "Of course I knew that."

"Okay, look here. There's a rod through this globe, like the axle on wheel, which this globe is rotating around. That's the center of spin and that's called the axis. The rod comes out on two opposite sides of the globe. This end here, in Antarctica, is the geographic South Pole. The other one here, in the Arctic Ocean, is the North Pole."

"So you're saying that Santa's workshop at the North Pole is in the middle of an ocean?" Ron sounded both skeptical and confused.

Cindy thought about that. "Well, I never really thought about it before when I was there, but –"

"Hold on, hold on," Wade interrupted. "Are you saying you were at the North Pole? Or at Santa's workshop?"

"Both, actually."

Wade sounded genuinely incredulous. "You're kidding."

Ron, however, sounded genuinely impressed. "You were at Santa's workshop?"

The memory wasn't an especially pleasant one for Cindy and sorry she had mentioned it quickly changed the topic. "Yes. Long story. But to answer your original question, the ocean is frozen over by the north polar ice cap, so it's not much different from being on solid ground. But have you got the geographic poles straight now?" Ron nodded and she resumed studying the globe. "Okay, the Earth has a magnetic field, like the field around a bar magnet. This field is what makes compasses work, helps birds navigate, and so forth. And like all magnets it has a north and south pole. At last report the Earth's magnetic north pole, which we want to find, is somewhere in Northern Canada."

"About 83 degrees north latitude and 114 degrees west longitude," Wade answered promptly.

"Right," said Cindy, although she had no way of knowing whether Wade's information was accurate. "And that's not the same location as the geographic North Pole, which is at 90 degrees north latitude." She used her fingers to indicate the two locations on the globe and Ron nodded in comprehension.

"Okay, so the question is still how we get there," Ron said.

"No problem," Wade offered. "I'll call in some favors and arrange transportation."

Cindy shook her head. "No need for that. I already have transportation, but I'm going to need some help with it."

"Excuse me?" Wade asked. "You have a way to get to the north magnetic pole?"

"Well, it's actually Jimmy's rocket. He parked it not too far away from the materials lab and I'm pretty sure I can find it again even though it's invisible right now. The problem is that I'm not a rocket scientist and I'm not exactly sure how to pilot it."

"Okay, time out here," Ron put in. "We're going to fly some twelve-year-old's invisible rocket to the North Pole?"

"You got a problem with that?" Cindy demanded.

"You have to admit it sounds kind of weird," Wade said.

Cindy scoffed. "And I suppose that a teen-age cheerleader saving the world sounds normal?"

"She's got you there, Wade," said Ron. "And you have to admit that most people wouldn't believe that a ten-year-old could do the things you've done."

"True enough." There was a silence on Wade's end as he apparently thought things over. Finally he spoke again. "Okay, Cindy, I think I can help out there. If you can show me the rocket, I think I can figure out the controls for you and fly you there."

"You're coming along with us?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Just head to the materials lab and wait for me to get there."

"Will do, Wade," Ron said. "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem. Wade out." There was a click from the speaker as the line went dead and Ron shut the phone off.

"Okay, let's roll," said Ron.

It didn't take long for the two of them to get back to the materials lab, although during the walk Ron seemed unusually excited at the prospect of Wade meeting them. "What's the big deal?" Cindy finally asked him.

"No one I know has ever met Wade in person," Ron explained. "Not even Kim. All we've ever done is talk on the phone or through the Kim-municator or over the Internet. This is like meeting someone you've heard about all your life but never thought you would."

"Like Santa Claus?"

"Well…yeah. Or maybe Snowman Hank. Except I'm Jewish so Wade is more interesting in a lot of ways than either of them."

"I'm here," a voice announced.

Ron nearly jumped in surprise and excitement. "Wade? Is that you?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you?" Cindy asked, peering into the darkness in the direction of the voice.

"Down here."

Ron and Cindy looked down and were surprised to see a small box with wheels rolling towards them. Ron picked it up and studied it carefully. "Oh man, Wade," he said in undisguised disappointment. "Not a remote again. I thought you'd be showing up in person this time. I mean, this is important. The bad guys have Kim!"

"And Jimmy," Cindy added.

"Yeah, I know," came Wade's voice from the box. "But I think I can be a lot more useful to both of you back here at home base. Plus, this will save weight in the rocket."

"Well, I can't argue with that. Where's the rocket, Cindy?"

"This way." Cindy led Ron, who carried the metal box, to the approximate location where Jimmy had landed the Strato XL. Cindy moved forward cautiously, her hands groping in the darkness for the cloaked ship, while Ron walked forward almost indifferently. "It should be somewhere around here," Cindy said.

"Too bad your friend didn't leave you –" Ron began to say, but finished with a yelp as he tumbled head over heels and landed flat on his back on the ground. "Found it," he said feebly.

Cindy hurried over. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," Ron answered as he sat up. He was not quite fully up when his head struck something and he flopped backwards again. "Cancel that. I'm in serious pain."

"Oh, yeah," Rufus chirped in sympathy from Ron's pocket.

Cindy gingerly put her hand out and felt the air. "You must have hit the starboard stabilizer." She began feeling her way forward towards the cockpit. "Getting this ship de-cloaked is going to be a problem. First, I can't see the controls. Second, even if I could I wouldn't know which one to use."

Ron sat very slowly up, keeping his hands in front of him to prevent another collision. "Like I was saying, it's too bad your friend didn't leave you one of those remote controls like some people have for their car alarms."

"Wait a minute. I do have something." Cindy dropped her backpack to the ground and produced the Omnispecs. "Jimmy cloaked this ship from visible light, but maybe I can see it using some other wavelength." She donned and activated the device, using it to slowly scan through the electromagnetic spectrum as Ron looked on with growing curiosity. Suddenly Cindy gave a cry of triumph. "Got it! Apparently the field doesn't extend to the far ultraviolet region."

"Could I have a look at those?" asked Wade. Cindy obliged by removing the Omnispecs and holding them. As she did so a flexible telescopic extension with a camera lens at the end emerged from the remote to examine the invention. A low whistle came from the remote. "Sweet. How did he provide for wideband conduction of the electromagnetic frequencies through the collection and focusing elements without selective attenuation? I don't suppose that you have the assembly drawings or schematics for this, do you?"

"I don't even have a user's manual," Cindy replied.

"Too bad. I'll have to ask him later." Getting back to business Wade continued, "Okay, Cindy. Hold the Omnispecs so that I can look at the controls inside." Cindy did so and Wade commented, "Not bad. A little simplistic, but the controls seem straightforward enough. That has to be the variable thrust lever, and those look like turbine actuator and RPM controls. Wait a minute. Why would a rocket have a turbine? And are those actually atomic battery power level indicators? And why –"

Ron broke in. "Could you maybe find the control to turn off the cloaking field before someone gets a concussion?"

"What?" Wade sounded startled and then apologetic. "Sorry. But I have got to compare notes with Jimmy when we find him. Pan to the right, Cindy." Cindy swiveled the Omnispecs to the right until Wade said, "Hold it. Okay, there's the button to shut off the cloaking device."

"How can you be sure, Wade?" Ron asked. "I mean, there must be dozens of buttons and switches."

"Because it says, 'CLOAKING CONTROL' on it," Wade replied patiently. "Cindy, reach in with your hand and move it to the right side of the control panel." Cindy did as Wade asked. "Okay, a little more. Now down. Okay, push the button that your index finger is on." Cindy did so and with a slight hum the Strato XL shimmered into existence.

Ron eyed it doubtfully. "This is supposed to get us to the North Pole?" He shook his head. "It looks like some kind of amusement park ride."

Cindy felt a strong urge to defend the craft that had voyaged through the solar system and beyond but held her tongue, deciding that Ron would quickly change his tune once the ship was underway. Without a word she shut off the Omnispecs and replaced them in her backpack and then hoisted the pack into the cockpit before climbing into the front seat. "You coming?" she asked Ron as she buckled herself in.

Ron looked at Rufus, who had poked his head out to survey the little rocket. The naked mole rat shook his head, clucking. Ron sighed. "I know, Rufus, but she claims that it'll fly. We may as well give it a try and have Wade arrange something else if it doesn't work." He climbed into the back seat and strapped himself in as Rufus zippered himself back in Ron's pocket.

Wade studied the instruments carefully through the remote's camera. "Okay, Cindy, first thing is to power up the ship. Try flipping those two toggles in the center of the control panel."

Cindy did so, and as the needles on the atomic battery power level indicators swung to the right. "Atomic batteries to power," she murmured.

"Now, press that button marked 'ENGINE START'."

A low whine became audible and rose in pitch as Cindy complied. On the control panel the indicator on the meter marked 'TURBINE RPM' pointed to a dark line reading 'NOMINAL'. "Turbines to speed."

"Okay, I think we're set," Wade's voice said. "Hold that joystick in front of you with your right hand. Pull back to go up, push forward to go down, and move it left or right to go in that direction."

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Ron. "That sounds like one of my video games. Real rockets don't work like that. They have retrorockets, and onboard flight computers, and…"

Wade ignored him. "That lever on your left should vary the thrust. Move it down to go faster, and back up again to slow down. Just don't slow down too much or we'll stall." He drew a deep breath. "Ready when you are."

Cindy grasped the controls. "Beginning countdown. Five…four…three…"

"Just how fast does this actually go?" asked Ron.

Cindy shrugged. "Good question. Two…one…blastoff!" She pulled the thrust lever down and the joystick back simultaneously, and the Strato XL moved easily forward and lifted smoothly into the night sky. Ron settled back, feeling somewhat blasé about the mild takeoff. He sat upright again as Cindy said, "Okay, let's see what she's got." This was Cindy's first opportunity to pilot the rocket and she felt like a child with a new toy. The mischievous side of her also wanted to teach Ron a little lesson for belittling Jimmy's rocket. With a wide grin she slammed the thrust control all the way down. Immediately she and Ron were slammed back into their padded seats as the ship blasted forward through and far beyond the sound barrier. Cindy was speechless from the exhilaration of the raw power under her control, while Ron felt suitably cowed by the experience of supersonic flight. Wade, experiencing the flight somewhat more objectively through the vantage point of his video monitor, was the first to speak.

"Man," he crowed, "I have got to get me one of these!"

End of Chapter 9