The Feminist Queendom Charlie’s War 43

© 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 Jane 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.
Dawn Charlie’s armoured spaceship.
Colonel Wilson Vindictive misanthropist doctor.
Margaret Thomas ‘Failed’ police security guard.
Sally. 1st Oz Special forces trooper
Jacky 2nd Oz Special forces trooper.
Juliet Charlie’s Mal engineering assistant

Chapter 43

“Look after yourself darling” Chloe hugged Charlie as he stepped into Dawn.

“I promise darling, byee kids!” He waved at his precious family. “See you possibly Friday or maybe a week Friday.”

“How many sleeps is that?” Charlotte asked from Margaret’s arms.

“Five or possibly twelve darling.”

“I want another kiss,” Charlotte demanded. Charlie rolled his eyes affectionately then held out his arms for Margaret to bring her across to the spaceship.

Having got her way and won ‘the last kiss’, Charlotte was happy for Margaret to step back with Charlotte in her arms, and everybody watched as Dawn silently levitated off the pad then rapidly ascended through the thin veil of clouds.

“Well! Back to normality for a few days,” Chloe grinned as they returned to the house.

Within fifteen minutes Charlie was gazing down from thirty miles up as he zeroed in on Woomera missile base and research station. He slowed down for the descent through the denser atmosphere and landed on his own personal landing pad where he saw Juliet and several other staff waiting beside the larger Second Dawn. He quickly stepped across the concrete to the Second Dawn.

“Hiya Juliet, she’s ready then is she?”

“Yes boss.”

“Right, let’s see the flight plan and we’ll make a start.

After a brief visit to the control room beneath the control tower, Charlie grinned at Juliet and motioned towards the larger ship.

“Who else is coming for the ride?”

“There are about six girls, each testing some part of the venture, engines, navigation, radiation levels and so on.”

Charlie chuckled. “It’s going to be like a schoolgirl outing.”

Juliet shrugged. He had pride and dignity enough as the co-pilot. He motioned to the girls to get prepared then nodded to Charlie.

“Come on, you too. We’ve all got to wear space suits.”

Charlie snorted involuntarily.

“What brought this on?”

“H.F.S.E!” Juliet snorted back. “You know what the government’s like for bullshit and red tape.”

Charlie wagged his head in disbelief. “A bloody space suit! I suppose they’ll want us to space-walk next!”

“It’s been mooted,” Juliet confessed. “While you were away last week. There's also talk of a moon landing, but don't tell the girls just yet. They'll wet their knickers with excitement.”

“We-ell, I suppose it had to come. I always wanted a space suit. Come on, let’s get togged up.”

The pair followed the six girls who were just entering the preparation area and two hours later eight suited astronauts emerged each carrying their own service pack. Charlie sighed to Juliet as they were surrounded by a score of various assistants and engineers.

“It wasn’t like this the first time I went up,” Charlie grumbled.”

“Do tell,” Juliet pressed as the girls gathered to listen.

“I just climbed into Dawn, started the engines and simply ascended into the night sky. No fuss, no witnesses, no trouble. Not like this bloody palaver.”

“You did it at night!” Juliet squeaked incredulously.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to be seen so I waited for a cloudy, rainy night and the rain would blind any radars. I did it that way pretty much every time in the UQ. Ask Chloe, the first time I took her up it was pouring down with rain and a pitch-black night.”

“How many times have you been into space?” One of the girls asked.

“Oh hell, I’ve lost count. I go to the edge of space every time I travel from here to anywhere in Oz. Avoiding air friction and stuff. I suppose it’s hundreds of times by now.”

“Don’t you keep a log, a voyage log?”

“Good god no. All that pen-pushing and stuff? Come on, let’s get aboard before you girls snatch our seats.”

“They couldn’t do that?” Juliet objected.

“Why not. She’s incredibly easy to fly. Just push’ n go. If you want, I’ll let you take her up.”

“I’ve had no training!”

“Neither did I, - the first time. You’ll soon catch on. It’s really that easy.”

“Is it true you let the prime minister take the controls with your own ship?”

“Yes. I’m also secretly betting that those girls will want a go. If there’s to be a space navy, there’s going to have to be pilots.”

“D’ you think men will be allowed to fly them?”

“Why not? I do. That’s what this ship is all about. Giving everybody equal rights.”

“If that happens, there’s going to be an awful lot of angry mals; like me.”

“Sorry, I can’t do anything about that, omelettes and eggs I’m afraid.”

ooo000ooo

By now, everybody was seated but several technicians were faffing around, double checking and triple checking various fixtures. Eventually, Charlie had to persuade them to leave.

“Come on ladies, all ashore now, it doesn’t need checking every five seconds.”

Reluctantly the ground crew left and order was very quickly restored.

“Okay Juliet,” Charlie instructed his very new and uncertain co-pilot. “Take her away.”

Juliet tentatively grasped the control column and pressed the ascend button. He was relieved and reassured as Second Dawn started to leave the ground without any juddering or yawing. The movement seemed almost unreal as the ship ascended without the slightest pitch or yaw or side slip.

Despite there being a modest breeze on the base, Second Dawn rose as if it was a lift travelling up a wire and Juliet quickly gained confidence as he realised the sheer ability and capacity of the spaceship under his control. He turned to Charlie almost tearfully.

“She’s amazing! The wind doesn’t affect her at all.”

“Carry on then,” Charlie encouraged him. “Keep going until the Earth is just a ball. Once you’re clear of the atmosphere you’ll see what she can really do.”

Thus reassured, Juliet steadily increased the ascent speed and very quickly, Charlie’s words came true. Their home planet was soon little more than a beautiful blue and white globe floating in space astern. Juliet checked the distance travelled and realised they were already twenty thousand miles from Earth and they had only been travelling for what seemed like a few minutes.

His fascination with the dimensional panel told Charlie that Juliet was struggling to get to grips with the figures so he remarked softly.

“Fast isn’t she?”

“I can’t believe it. What shall we do now?”

“I believe conventional astronauts usually commence an orbit of the planet, just to prove their planet is round.”

“How do I do that?”

“Just tap in the name of the planet, and your distance from it. The computer will give you the speed and course to commence an orbit. Then switch off the gravity and listen to the girls back in the cabin.”

Juliet did as instructed then glanced over to Charlie to confirm permission to switch off the ships internal gravity as well as the engines.

“We’d better warn them,” Charlie cautioned him, “and we’d better tell Woomera what we’re doing.”

“Shall we make it a polar orbit?” Juliet asked.

“Be my guest.” Charlie allowed as he stepped back to warn the six passengers to prepare for zero gravity.

As Juliet did the necessary, there were squeaks of delight from the cabin and once the geocentric orbit was established, Juliet joined the passengers.

“Who’s driving this thing?” One of the girls asked as they each unfastened their belts and started to float.

“Gravity of course!” Juliet riposted as Charlie cautioned everybody.

“Take care now, and remember the gravity is still active elsewhere in the ship. That applies particularly to the cockpit and the galley.”

“How do you do that, control the gravity so precisely?” One of the girls asked.

“Sorry Miss. That’s my secret, how to create gravity, how to concentrate it into a fixed space and how to direct it. It’s all part of my science.”

The girls fell momentarily silent as they realised there would always be that unresolved issue between Charlie and the rest of society; best described so many years ago, - ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of - ‘.

ooo000ooo

The ensuing silence emphasised the gap between Charlie and the feminista culture but the following chatter also revealed the fracture lines appearing in that culture. Charlie smiled inwardly as he noted that his arguments backed by his quiet intransigence concerning his gravity secrets were beginning to open those fracture lines.

In the cabin, he let the girls’ arguments continue for fully twenty minutes before he decided to lighten the mood.

“Well ladies and mals, I think a small celebration is in order. How about opening a bottle of champagne, in the cockpit mind you. Gravity makes it easier to pour.”

This was immediately agreed by all and Charlie was glad to note a mood of genuine consensus as the passengers eventually remembered the auspiciousness of the occasion.
With the Second Dawn’s cockpit or flight deck being appreciably larger than her forebearer’s Charlie took the opportunity for a chat to the gathered girls.

“Right ladies, now that we’re gathered at the centre of things, I think a few lessons in piloting these new ships that Australia will be benefiting from if your government can see fit to bring back liberty for all. I’m taking the Second Dawn to the moon and each of you will be able to do a moon walk. When we get there, you will find two ‘moon buggies’ as the yanks termed them. They are currently in the cargo hold along with some basic equipment to start a moon base.

So ladies. You can have a few hours playing at birdies by flying around in the cabin area then it’s helmets on, air bottles on then start work at Moon-base Alpha.”

“You never mentioned this, but I’m game for it!” The most outspoken girl declared.

A general babble of consensus quickly reflected the girl’s excitement as Charlie opened a channel back to Canberra where, by prearrangement, the Prime Minister appeared on the screen.

“Hello Mr Sage, are you receiving?”

“Loud and clear Prime Minister. Go ahead.”

The older lady congratulated their auspicious participation then briefly listed the agenda to start the first phase of a space station. Firstly emplace the solar panels at one of the lunar poles to gather solar energy constantly, then start the first chamber of what was to become a large base, mostly located underground.

“You will find the tools as Mr Sage told you, in the Cargo hold behind your passenger cabin. Mal Juliet will be showing you how to assemble and erect the first frame for the solar panels then he will guide and assist, along with Mr Sage in erecting the first chamber. The location has been pre-determined in a shallow crater, right at the Austral pole, to provide ease of future construction and excavating subterranean chambers during future enlargements.
At the pole, you will experience long periods of shadow that protects you from heat and solar radiation.

You should expect to be on the moon for up to six hours. Good luck ladies.”

“There was a stunned silence as the girls digested the information before one of them finally found her voice.”

“I don’t know whether to be angry or excited.”

“Nor me.” Another girl concurred.

“What do you think Mr Sage? Did you know about this?”

“Yes, and I can tell you now, you have the right to refuse, but I for one, am determined to at least walk on the moon. If any of you don’t wish to participate, you can sit it out in your space suits back on board. Does anybody have reservations?”

Charlie waited for fully a minute of silence before continuing.

“I take it then that everybody is mostly okay with the visit. As to setting up the base, I think you should think of it as ‘big girl’s guide camp’.

There was a subdued chuckle then Juliet spoke.

“Captain Sage will show two of you how to operate this ship while I’ll show anybody the equipment in the cargo hold. You’ll need your space suits fully helmeted of course, there is an air-lock between the living space and the cargo hold.”

“Charlie smiled self-consciously.”

“Hold on Julie, less of the ‘Captain Sage’, It’s just Charlie; it always was and always will be.”

The self-appointed spokeswoman then piped up again.

“That won’t work Captain Sage, you are the experienced spaceman so we’ll call you ‘Boss’ like our special forces troopers use to their commanders.”

Charlie frowned but shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay then, if you must. Don’t forget though, I’ve never been in a space suit before. This is also my first time to walk on the moon. Now can you sort yourselves out into pairs? We’ve got work to do.”

ooo000ooo