Zip-Line Zeppelin

Zip-Line Zeppelin

By

James S. West

SMASHWORDS EDITION

* * * * *

Published By:

James S. West on Smashwords

Zip-Line Zeppelin

Copyright 2011 by James S. West

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

* * * * *

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Nadine West, my mom, for proof-reading the manuscript and adding suggestions as well as my brother Jack West and my friend Chris Johnson for their encouragement.

Zip-Line Zeppelin

Jim was cruising along at about six hundred feet above the green farm-lands of Iowa, one of his favorite altitudes and places. It was a beautiful, early spring morning and the scenery below was passing by at a leisurely twenty five miles an hour. The window was open on the side of the lower deck control-room and he could hear cows lowing and a few tractors plowing the fields in the distance. Birds were singing and the sun was rising—a big orange half-disc on the flat, rural horizon. A rooster crowed here and there and an occasional dog barked. This was one of the best times of the day, everything was waking up and living. A woman and her two children were looking up at the ship from their front yard lawn; she was waving at him. He waved back and yelled, Good morning! The kids were covering their mouths; staring in wide-eyed-wonder at the huge silent Zeppelin floating past without the engines running. The dirigible was over eight hundred feet long and one hundred and thirty five feet in diameter; about the same size as the historic Hindenburg Zeppelin that had suffered a terrible fate so long ago. She hollered back, Have a good trip! The kids were still mute and awe-struck. He yelled back, I am! At over eight hundred feet in length, it took a little while for the monstrous ship to pass by the woman and her children. They just stood there and stared in wonder.

The Gipsy was named for her wandering habits. She was similar to the other Zeppelins in Jim’s fleet of dirigibles but was outfitted to service the other Zeppelins with jet fuel and Helium as well as hauling spare parts or an occasional fighter-jet for the military. The jet fuel was to fuel the engines if the Zeppelin was in areas where it was difficult to purchase. The non-flammable Helium was for floatation if the vessel being serviced had lost some and couldn’t purchase any locally. These dirigibles were designed radically different from old style Zeppelins. The first thing people noticed was the hole that went through the ship from stem to stern. The hole totally changed the resistance of the huge ship by sucking huge amounts of air through the middle of the craft instead of pushing a huge column of air out of the way like the old Hindenburg did. Another reason the top speed of the old dirigibles wasn’t very fast was something called parasitic-drag. Something that big objects moving through the air tended to cause low pressure or a vacuum behind that pulled backward as the ship was moving forward. This condition was greatly changed by Jim’s new dirigibles. Pulling air through the middle of the ship and forcing it out through the jet engines in back got rid of most of the parasitic-drag.

Few people remember that the Hindenburg was designed to use Helium and that, in spite of her weight and her four heavy old fashioned diesel engines swinging six foot propellers, managed to cruise at just under ninety miles per hour. Pretty fast for something that big! If the ship could be made much lighter and a lot of the resistance was removed, how fast might she have moved? Instead of the four heavy diesel engines and propellers the Hindenburg had, the Gypsy sported two powerful jet engines hung from the vertical-stabilizer at the end of the hole through the ship and provided a tremendous thrust which could propel the craft through the air at a cruising speed of two hundred and twenty miles per hour, with a top speed of two hundred and fifty. The Hindenburg contained 7,062,000 feet of gas with a lifting capacity of 550,000 pounds with a 470,000 pound gross vessel weight including fuel and equipment, 22,000 pound mail and cargo, and could carry about 90 passengers, plus the crew and their luggage. There was about 80,000 pounds of lift available over and above the gross vehicle weight. Gypsy held less gas because of the hole through her center but was built of lighter, stronger materials. The weight saved in her construction allowed her to lift approximately 100,000 pounds of cargo. She had short stubby looking little wings in the middle of the ship, about midway down the sides. They were connected to a superstructure through the dirigible that helped reinforce the area used for a landing deck on top and hanging things underneath. A large cargo space under the wings could be used to suspend things within belly of the ship. Equipment, fuel and other structures throughout the ship were strategically placed to counter-balance anything that landed on the upper flight-deck so the Gypsy would never be top-heavy.

Jim loved to drift slowly over different landscapes and oceans at a low altitude. It was his most favorite thing to do.

John Taylor, a tall slender man with a short grey beard and mustache, (the captain of the Gypsy,) interrupted Jim’s blissful morning to tell him he had a call on his secure phone. Very few people had the number to that phone.

Jim Bound or James Bound, as was his legal name, hesitated to answer the call. There was always some high-ranking government official trying to tell him what to do. Who the hell do they think I am? he complained, Secret Agent James Bond from that old movie!

He did sound rather urgent Jim, John replied, with his English accent, in a pleading sort of way.

Ah well, Jim muttered and held out his hand for the cell-phone.

John handed him the phone and went back to the Bridge to control the ship.

Jim here, he answered, what’s on your mind?

This is Ronald Gomez. The voice said, You know, President of the United States.

What’s up Ron? Jim asked. I was just getting used to enjoying my life.

We’ve got some trouble in Central America, the president explained, the kind we can’t openly solve.

Like the last mess you got me into? Jim reminded him, I’m just a businessman, not a trained operative and Bill’s an engineer, not a sniper. My name’s Bound with a U, not Bond, like Secret Agent James Bond. That fiasco in Guatemala almost got Bill and me killed.

Ever since Mexico became a U.S. Territory, Guatemala has become a hotbed of trouble. I had no idea what you were walking into. I’m sorry James, most of the time I feel like just a figurehead. The Military doesn’t allow me to see certain things—it’s above my pay-grade, as they say.

I can’t believe that this country is still this screwed-up! Commander-In-Chief is restricted from military information? Amazing!

Be that as it may, the military has decided that you two are our best choice for clandestine operatives in that area because of your Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama residencies.

What do they want me to do this time? I certainly don’t want to get involved with manipulating Central American governments.

You would actually be searching for and, hopefully, extracting a VIP from a kidnapping situation, Jim. Ron said. That’s as much as I can tell you right now.

What a world! exclaimed James, Send what-ever details you have to my secure email address and I will contact Bill.

Thank you James, Ronald said. I have already sent the details to Bill.

You were that certain Bill and I would agree! Jim said with disbelief. Who’s my contact in Costa Rica and where will we meet? he asked.

That is information that you will learn when you arrive in Costa Rica.

Lovely, Jim muttered in a sarcastic tone, do we have a window of time?

Within two weeks! Ronald stressed.

Crap! Jim blurted. Bill just healed up from the bullet wounds those Guatemalan bastards gave him!

"He is working in Costa Rica. Ronald reassured him. It’s not like he’s going to have to travel