The Feminist Queendom 11 © Copyright to Beverly Taff.

List of Characters.
Charlie Sage Maths and electronics genius.
Shirley Sage Charlies elderly mother
Chloe Charlie’s one time early school friend.
Josephine Flint Surgeon and associate of Chloe’s.
Mrs Anston Director of Anston Aerospace.
Ronnie Garage mechanic at top of lane
Pauline Garage owner, Ronnie’s sister.
Briony Pauline’s teenaged daughter.
Billy Pauline’s middle son.
Abigail (Abby) Pauline’s youngest daughter.
‘Poppy’ Charlie’s little micro-runabout.
‘Doris’ The armoured mobile home.
‘Lady’ Chloe’s Sports Car.
Colonel Wilson Vindictive misanthropist doctor.

Chapter 11

That evening, because of work commitments at Anston Aerospace, Charlie missed his lift home with Chloe and thus chose to take the bus home. The bus stop was over a mile from Ronnie’s garage and so he walked the last mile home. He did not mind this for he had telephoned Chloe that he would be late. Like most country roads, this road was not lit and Charlie walked steadily but cautiously in the pitch dark as he made his way home.

When walking however without the deafening noise of traffic, the silence of the countryside at night exaggerates every little sound. Charlie’s boots were necessarily rubber soled for insulation at his work bench so he was silent as he picked his way along the grassy verge. The occasional scream of a vixen seeking a mate or hoot of an owl out hunting were familiar to him and gave him no cause for concern, the sound of a car door closing however was unusual.
He knew there were no houses between the bus-stop and Ronnie’s garage for the little village was further along the road past Ronnie’s shop and the entrance to Charlies’ lane.
He also knew that there were only two places where a car could park off the road and both locations were small, wooded lay-bys that mostly served to allow ramblers access to the woods that lined the road. At first he presumed them to be a couple making out in the privacy of the woods but as he continued walking, he became suspicious of a car set back at an angle to the road as though prepared for a ‘Le-man’s’ start. Fortunately, he saw the car long before the occupants saw him and he stopped to take stock.

The car had London number plates and the occupants were obviously not lovers. One was seemingly sleeping while the other was clearly looking at her phone and checking each passing car. They were obviously waiting for somebody to pass and Charlie was pretty sure that ‘somebody’ was him. Cautiously, he backed away then turned deeper into the woods which was laced with dozens of recreational paths. The only orientation he had was the ground with pitched up to the ridge that formed the edge of the wide river valley.

Cautiously, he picked his way to the top of the ridge then turned to walk along the well-trodden ridgeway path towards Ronnie and Pauline’s garage. Once above that familiar set of buildings, it was an easy task for Charlie to trek the last mile by gradually descending off the ridge which was steepening into a cliff, and approach his cottage across the field. On arrival, he scrubbed up, made himself a large mug of tea then joined Chloe in bed.

“Why so late darling?” Chloe asked sleepily

Charlie explained everything and Chloe cursed.

“Do you think they’re out to kidnap you or something?”

“That’s what I suspect.”

“Are you going to tell Anston Aerospace?”

“Of course but I’ll take precautions as well.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll start wearing my ground suit to and from work under my overalls. If they try to taser me again, they’ll get a shock or worse burns.”

“I don’t understand why they should want to kidnap you. You’re working for the government indirectly anyway.”

“That military doctor Wilson, -Colonel Wilson is a vindictive bitch. I showed her up and embarrassed her when she tried to taser me and burned her own hands. I think she’s just a hateful misanthropist.”

“Well, there are plenty of those sorts around these days. You’re going to have to be very careful.”

Charlie didn’t answer but simply continued thoughtfully sipping his tea. Chloe could sense that Charlie was plotting something but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. The following morning he explained to Chloe.

“If you run me in to work again please, I’ll be working late again so I’ll get the bus home. Walking through the woods helps me think. It’s quiet and dark.”

“Okay, but I want to know what you’re planning.”

“I just want to avoid any incident with Wilson’s lot. I’m convinced she’s
plotting something but I don’t know what.”

“But with you being a reserved asset with Anston’s; she can’t touch you.”

“Oh this is personal. She’s just a bully and bullies hate being bested. She’ll be back, mark my words.” By the way, there should be a large parcel arriving at Ronnie’s garage within a week.”

“What’s in it?”

“A space-suit. I’ve ordered two but one is still being completed.”

“How the hell did you organise that.”

“Anston’s are developing very high altitude aircraft, - edge of space stuff and the cockpit ergonomics require a gee-suit that’s virtually a space suit. Their cockpit designers will require ‘crash-test dummies’ to make sure the pilots can operate all the controls properly. They ordered twenty suits for testing so I slipped in an extra two to the list for bench-testing. Most importantly, they will be for you, if you and I ever have to go into space. Once I’ve examined the suits closely, and seen how they’re made, I’ll make a couple of my own to fit me.

“How?”

“My plan is to modify our ground suits. The flexible fine metal mesh will serve as the basis to withstand the space-suit’s internal pressure and there are several air-tight materials that will serve when glued to the inside of the ground suit to make a close fitting, stretchable, flexible and air-tight suit.”

“What about helmets and oxygen supply?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Anyway, escaping into space will be a last resort for me. Probably a precursor to suicide.”

“And what about me?” Chloe demanded angrily.

“I just don’t know darling. I want us to stay together for the rest of our lives but if this bitch Wilson makes life impossible for me, then I simply don’t know. What I don’t want is some sort of mutual suicide pact.

Our children will need at least one parent if the feminista make my life intolerable.”

Chloe’s anger spilled over as she spelled out her argument.

“Listen you dummy! There’s going to be no talk of suicide and there’s going to be no talk of our marriage being separated. We’re going to have to fight this battle together.”

“What is it that this bitch Wilson wants? We’re all working for the same side aren’t we?”

“She’s a dysfunctional misanthropist that sees no value in masculinity or male contribution to humanity’s advance. She doesn’t see any use for males in her army ever since warfare became nothing more than weaponised, technological slaughter. All killing is done remotely and the combatants never see the consequences of their actions, until that is, those consequences reach their own front doors and they suddenly see their own homes being destroyed.”

“I think you’re exaggerating.” Chloe protested.

“Really, when did you ever see children maimed or mutilated?”

“Never!” Chloe argued. “The east would never get through our protections’”

“And neither can we punch through theirs; so everything ends up in proxy-wars. Smaller, weaker countries being blasted by the cross-fire with populations living permanently under fire and kids never knowing a day’s peace.”

“That’s the price of peace.”

“Peace for whom?” Charlie snarled.

His response caused Chloe to hesitate. She knew his anger wasn’t directed towards her but if Charlie let such anger subsume his humanity, there was no knowing what could happen.

One thing she did know was that Charlie’s anti-gravity engine was a device that could give him immeasurable power and it behoved her to do everything possible to stop Charlie losing his pacific nature. The problem was how?

They shared Chloe’s car to work, then that evening, Charlie followed a similar routine but chose different bus-stop to alight. This time instead of walking home down the road, he entered the woods early and picked his way cautiously along the ridgeway path. From above he saw the same car again and this confirmed his suspicions. The next day he drove in to work in his own little banger then informed his boss.

“Definitely Ma-am. They were waiting for somebody and it was a military car with military style London registration plates. I don’t feel safe.”

They talked at length about the whys and where’s then Ms Anston tried to reassure him with a promise to drag the colonel off his back. Charlie returned to his bench completed the jobs allotted to him then used his morning break to search through the waste bins for any useful odds and ends. As was usual, he found some stuff he was looking for and put it in his car with an official works pass for scrap materials.

That evening, he chose to take a long, convoluted route home whilst looking for a second-hand car outlet where he could buy a cheap, dark-coloured utility truck that he intended painting in camouflage colours for woodland use. His reason for buying it, if asked by the feminista police, was to landscape the paddock and water-pasture in front of his cottage.

The journey also served to let Charlie check if he was being followed. To his chagrin he learned that he was, so he decided to stop for a coffee on the way home and wait for the winter night to descend. When it did, he drove home by another winding route he knew well. Then, at an opportune moment he deftly activated his anti-grav around a blind bend and ascended high into the forest canopy.
From his high point amidst the branches, he watched the pursuing car sweep around the bend then speed up as it realised it had lost sight of Charlie’s modest little yellow runabout. Once the pursuing car had passed, Charlie silently rotated his car then descended onto the road and returned via the way he’d come. By the time the pursuers had finally reached Ronnie’s garage, Charlie’s lane was closed to visitors and the pursuers were denied access.

The following morning Pauline described the events to both Charlie and Chloe as they recharged their batteries.

“Yes, a right bossy bitch, and she was as rude as hell to Ronnie. Fortunately, he returned to his workshop and I had the row with her. She demanded to know if I had a key to your gates and I told her bluntly no.”

Chloe smiled gratefully for she knew perfectly well that Pauline did have a key and used it every time she stopped at the cottage when she fancied a chat and some company of an evening. Chloe also learned that Colonel Wilson’s companion was a powerfully built woman; probably one of a new experimental species of military women being bred to replace men for any tasks requiring muscle. Not very bright but almost as strong as a normal man. Certainly, two of such women could take down a normal man.

After exchanging as much information as they could Pauline resolved to make sure that no vehicle could enter Charlie’s lane without her or Ronnie learning of it. Pauline’s daughter Bryony had just done extremely well in her maths and science exams, courtesy of Charlie’s generous help and both Bryony’s parents were more than grateful. The girl was headed for one of the best universities.

ooo000ooo

A few days later Ms Anston requested Charlie’s presence in her office and when Charlie arrived he was confronted with a panel of suits; one of whom he recognised as a cabinet minister. He hesitated suspiciously for he was still wearing his ‘ground suit’ and stained with assorted chemicals associated with his work.

“Yes Ma-am, you wanted me?”

“Yes Charlie. These ladies have a technical problem and they were wondering if you could look it over.”

Charlie glanced at the object and immediately recognised that it was a primitive attempt at a ‘gravity engine’. Naturally, he did not reveal his thoughts but simply asked what it was supposed to do. One of the suits connected the device to a high voltage supply that had been led in through a thick copper cable. Then she closed the breaker and the object levitated momentarily before dropping back to the table with a thump that would have chipped the highly polished surface but for the metal tray it sat in.

“What d’you think of that Mr Sage?” Ms Manston asked.

Charlie stepped forward to examine the object but two of the ladies stepped to intercept him.

“Sorry Charlie, they’re not happy for you to touch it.”

“Well, if I can’t check it out, I can’t give an opinion. What do they think it is?”

“They think it’s some sort of anti-gravity device, or at least the first steps towards one.”

“Well, they’ve got a heck of a long way to go if all it does is rise and fall within a couple of seconds. I mean that cable alone implies that it needs a lot of power. How much is running through it?”

“Four-forty, three-phase A.C.”

“Which implies a hefty genny to produce enough power simply to lift a few kilograms of gadgetry a few centimetres in the air. It’ll never become a flying saucer with that power to weight ratio, will it. Where did you get it?”

“It was smuggled out of the east-Asiatic block.”

“Well, they’re very clever these Chinese. But they’ll need to develop a featherweight genny that produces humongous amounts of juice. Batteries won’t do it.”

“Do you think you could find out how it works?”

“If I can’t touch it or disassemble it; no.”

Ms Anston turned to the assembled suits and spread her hands.

“Well there you have it ladies. Either Mr Sage has to look at it; disassemble it even or we get nowhere with it. Unless of course, you know of some other genius elsewhere.”

Charlie frowned and spoke to the cabinet minister.

“How long have you had this gadget?”

The minister turned and whispered to a senior looking suite then turned back sheepishly.

“About a year apparently.”

Charlie just wagged his head despairingly.

“A year! A whole bloody year? How much further do you think they’ll be down the road where this thing takes them?”

ooo000ooo