Background:

Prior to the accident

Robert Baptist is an older gentleman, at age 52, he is definitely senior to most of his coworkers.  He considers the overpaid twenty and thirty something year olds he works with as just kids.  Like most engineers his age, he was not the type to even consider management.  Between his inability to hold his tongue, his love of physics and applied mathematics, and his downright rudeness to coworkers, it just wasn’t in the cards.  It isn’t so much as rudeness; so much as Robert doesn’t stand for incompetence.  If he feels you are an idiot, then you might as well not exist.  He surely isn’t going to listen to a word you say. 

But that is the hear and now, well, before the accident.  Lets talk about how he got here.

Robert was a very smart child.  He skipped as many grades as his maturity would allow.  His parents didn’t want any ‘child protegy’, having a pre teen in college or anything.  The  accurately predicting what sort of horrible childhood that would bring.  So they only let him skip a few grades, but in high school, he was already attending college courses in mathematics, chemistry, and physics.  Despite his parents efforts to hold him back, he still finished high school by the age of 15.  He was rewarded with a full undergraduate study scholorship at MIT university. 

With the war raging in Viet Nam, Robert decided he’d wrap up his undergraduate early, specifically, about the time he turned 18.  At the age of 18, he had dual BS degrees in MIT (earned simultaneously to take advantage of the scholorship) in Physics and Mathematics.  He enlisted in the marines to fight in the Viet nam war.  He was a patriot, and damn it, he was going to fight for his country.  The military would have none of that though.  They recognized his intellect early on and he was whisked away to work on weaponry, ballistics, and other such chores. 

At age 22, frustrated with the military not allowing him to fight for his country, he left and returned to MIT.  By the age of 28 Robert was finally finished with college, with honors with phds in Physics and Aeronautics, masters in Mathematics, Meteorology.

He had been working at Nasa via Lockheed Martin for 23 years. 

Time line:

Born 1951

Out of high school – age 15  1966

Out of undergrad – age 18  1969

Out of military – age 22  1973

Out of college dual phds and masters– 28  1979

Lockeed for 23 years at time of accident – age 52 -- 2003

Story

5:03 AM  Feb 12^th, 2003 – Roberts home

The front door opens in what use to be, in 1979, a nice little house in the middle of a big field.  Now it is the oldest house in the suburban sprawl of Newark, California.  Robert purchased it shortly after moving to California to work at Nasa.  He choose distant Newark because all it was was field after field.  He preferred driving the short, open distance to Moffet field over living in the city. 

Up before the sun, as always, Robert Baptist emerges from his home, unshaven, hair disheveled and sticking out from his beanie cap, wearing his knee length robe and slide in slippers.  He steps outside and searches the bushes and overgrown lawn for the paper.  Damn, beat the lazy paperboy again.  Not that they let boys deliver papers anymore.  Lazy ass foreigners in their piece of shit cars instead troll the neighborhoods with their hazard lights on tossing papers incompetently out the car window in a different spot every day.  Use to be your paper was on your door step every time.  It use to be you’d be supporting some neighborhood kid and teaching them how to make a living at an early age.  Like everything else, its gone to pot.

Ah, whats that sound?  Brrrrr plop, Brrrrr plop.  Steadily getting closer.  Oh yes, a beat up Plymouth champ with a bad muffler, that’d be the paper ‘guy’ now. 

An two hours later, paper sufficiently read, showered, fed, in the car and already in stop and go traffic, Robert realizes, he forgot to shave again.  No biggie, what are they going to do, fire him?  He is wearing his typical work outfit – the old man engineering garb – old slacks, a pale plaid collared buttondown with his oh so stylish pocket protector filled with various writing implements.  What differentiates him from his similar aged and dressed coworkers is his burgundy knit cap.  Robert is always wearing a hat, either a knit cap or a bucket hat.  90% of your body’s heat is lost through your head, but never Roberts.

7:37 AM  Feb 12^th, 2003 – Moffet Field, main gate

Robert pulls up to the front guard at Moffet Field and unrolls the window on his 4 door 1982 Pontiac Skylark.  The guards, ever more vigilant since 9/11, approach the car and demand ID.  Robert holds his ID with his right hand, near center console of the car.  The guard gives an audible sigh of annoyance as he sticks his head in the car window.  He notices then that Robert (whom he sees every day) is covered in plastic garbage bags.  What the hell? 

Pow, your dead stupid.  What the hell are you sticking your head in the window for?  I could have knived you nice and quietly.  Didn’t you notice the bags?”

“What about the bags?  Sure I noticed” responded the guard, a bit perplexed by this inquiry.

“Didn’t you wonder why I’d have bags covering my legs?”  presses Robert.  “To keep the blood off my clothing, because I planned on slitting your jugular the second you stuck your head in my window because I held my ID way out here.”

“Look buddy, I know you, I see you every day.  I know who you are.”  Answers the guard more than a bit put out.

“And today would have been your last, if I was a terrorist.  Don’t let your guard down, its not just your worthless life you are risking by not performing your job correctly here.  Pay attention from now on.  “

“Oh yeah, wise guy, what would you have done?” asks the guard, immediately regretting asking.

By this time the arm has long since been lifted by the other guard, who never even waited for an ok from the first ID checking guard. 

“Don’t they train you fools?  What does it take to be an MP, a face?  The second you saw something awry, such as plastic bags all over my car, you should have called in and told someone that something was up, then pulled your gun and demanded that I stick my id OUT OF THE FUCKING WINDOW.  Don’t let people tell you what to do, you have the damn gun. “

Robert looks forward and guns the car into the compound, muttering under his breath of morons and incompetents.

7:54 AM  Feb 12^th, 2003 – Roberts Office

Car parked, plastic bags removed, and through two more security check points, Robert approaches the coffee machine on his way to his office. 

“Hey Bob” calls Bill Thompson, his co-work, friend and confident of these past twenty some odd years.  Bill is one of the few people that Robert really gets along with.  No one would guess it, as Bill has all of a high school education.  However, this was a matter of economics, not abilities.  Bill is clearly a genius, and beyond the most competent person on the engineering staff, with the possible exception of Robert. 

Robert grabs a cup of coffee and joins Bill at his desk.  “So today we run the new atmospheric skipping tests on the PF-1011, what do you think the chances are of the idiots screwing it up yet again?” 

 “They’ll always make a bigger and better idiot, you know that better than most” answers Bill.

 “Its like a friggin summons, here they are now”  States Robert as a trio of younger engineers approach.

 “Hey old timers”  sneers Tom Davies, an athletic built Aerospace engineer, while flipping back his overgrown brown bangs.  

“Hey wannabe” answers Robert, a spit second before Bill could come up with his own comment.

Flanking Tom are Chuck Moss and Erma Bingham.  Chuck is 320 lbs of pure engineer.  A blond, blue eyed giant with gold rimmed glasses.  Chuck is about 6’4” tall, and has never troubled himself with exercise in any way since his mom wrote him his “doctor’s note” in junior high, excusing him forever from PE and allowing him to take extra computer and math classes instead.  Chuck has a masters in mechanical engineering as well as physics from Virginia Tech.  

Erma Bingham is a bright 32 year old physicist educated in Stanford.  She looks more like a librarian, brunette, with straight black hair, big hips and smaller shoulders, Erma is an attractive in a bookish way.  The only thing missing from the image is her lacks of glasses, thanks to the miracle of contact lenses.

“Wanna be my ass, BOB, we’ll be running this place pretty soon, as you two go off to pasture” Answers Tom, the athletic aerospace engineer who enjoys any type of flying, including hang gliding, planes, parachutes, air foils, gliders, and even hot air balloons.  Tom is typically bitter at work, no intellectual slacker, with his PhD in aerospace engineering degree from MIT, he is obviously the least capable of the bunch, but only due to a tragic lazy streak and being a stereotypical classic underachievier.

“If you guys are the future, then it won’t be long before Bolivia surpasses the US as the worlds technological leader.  And don’t call me Bob assholes, only my friends get to do that”  Answers Robert.  Once again, beating Bill by a nanosecond with his response.  After Robert’s bitter stint in the military, where he wasn’t allowed to fight as he enlisted to do, Robert realized the best way to help protect America and prevent another fiasco like Viet Nam was to help create the most innovative vehicles, weapontry, and high technology.  All his years have been spent in this persuit, and he doesn’t take it lightly, and it shows in his voice.

“Like you have a stake in the future, you’ll be around another 10 years tops old man” answers Tom

“Cut it out Tom” cuts in Erma, who, like Chuck, are spending every moment they can learning from Bill and Robert before the time does come that they actually do retire.  Not that it is likely either ever will.  Both are dedicated to their jobs, and as far as anyone knows, live and breathe it even outside of office hours.  A dying breed, thinks Erma, from a better time and place.

Chuck attempts to change the subject – “So we’re running the atmospheric reentry program this afternoon, think all the glitches are worked out?”

This time Bill gets in first, as Robert is busy ignoring Tom and poking at something floating in his coffee.  “Things should go smoothly, it didn’t take too long to spot Tom’s algorithm error, no offense Tom, but you did it by the book.  Unfortunately, by the book doesn’t cut it for this project, as this stuff is brand new.”

Tom glares at Bill, turns and starts to walk off. 

“Hey Tom” calls Robert, “Can you get me a new cup of coffee, I think something died in this one.”

Tom stalks off in anger, not even responding.

“Haha, I’ll see you guys this afternoon, I’m going to go over this again, as I will not have another screw up in the tunnel.”  States Robert as he walks to his office.

“You guys shouldn’t be so hard on him you know.”  Says Chuck to Bill, “he isn’t all that bad, and he can be a nice guy.”

“Robert isn’t being hard on him, he is trying to get Tom angry enough to use his full potential.” Answers Bill, “none of you would be here if Robert didn’t think you had what it takes.  Nothing pisses him off more than when someone who has potential doesn’t use it.  Well, except for maybe someone without potential trying to pretend they have it.”

“Do you really mean that? “ asks Chuck, his face lightening up

“Shit Chuck, Bill and Robert here are on first name basis with the founders of Lockheed, they know everyone.  I doubt they’d be working with one person they didn’t want to.  As a matter of fact, I’m sure anyone they didn’t want to work here wouldn’t last to the end of the week.”

Bill smiles and winks at Erma, “see you guys this afternoon, lets make sure this goes off without a hitch.”

12:34 PM  Feb 12^th, 2003 – Spoons Restaurant - Sunnyvale

“I’m good for 10” says Bill Thompson

“Mine will be about 11” says Bill Calahan

“Here’s mine” states Robert

“Lets see, my salad was 7, and a water, here’s 9” says Bethany Brills

“Ok, total bill was 36.24, with tax, add tip, we should have about 42 bucks, where are we at?” asks Bill Calahan 

“39.86”  says Robert

“Hows that possible? Who didn’t put in enough?” asks Bill C.

All eyes turn to Robert

“Don’t look at me, I put in my share.”

“How much did you put in Bob?” asks Bill T.

“$9.86, what I owe, plus what I think is appropriate for my share of the tip.”

“Less than 10 bucks!” Exclaims Bethany “give us the rundown, ok?”

“Sure, Cajun chicken sandwich, $7.54 and water, free.  Tax on $7.54 is a buck eight  totaling 8.63, rounding up mind you, and service was average at best, thus the tip, based on the $7.54, at 15%, is a dollar fourteen.”

“Sure is a lot of rounding” Answers Bill, “you rounded down on the tip.”

“Mathematically, Fourteen and a half percent is equivalent to fifteen percent in this case, slight rounding is allowed for even numbers” answers Robert.

“$8.63 is not an even number”  points out Bethany

“Enough!  I’ll throw in another buck” says Bill C as he slaps another bill down and starts to get up, signaling it is time to go.

“Whats he so sore at? “  Robert whispers to Bill T on the way out

“You know him” answers Bill, amazed that Robert doesn’t get it.

11:37  AM –Main wind tunnel testing chamber

“Fucking asshole know it all, I’ll show him humility, lets see how all powerful and knowing he’ll be with his pants full of shit.” Mutters Tom Davies, as he goes about loostening a panel in the PF-1011 body, below the left wing. 

1:52  PM –Control chamber main wind tunnel testing chamber

“Lets go over it again, shall we?”  Lectures Bill  “The PF-1011 takes off and reaches the atmospheric layer where it proceeds to ‘skip’ along the atmosphere until it is time to break back into the atmosphere and approach its final destination.  Once beyond the atmosphere, we don’t have to consider windshear, only debris and a wonder full lack of air friction.”

“Blah blah blah, and it is so cool, glad I thought of it, can we continue?”  interrupts Robert.  “Did everyone check their numbers this morning?”

“Yes”

“Sure did”

“Of course”

“Ok, the before we begin I’ll do the final walkthrough.” Says Robert, as he enters the chamber, door closing behind him.

Everyone watches from the Plexiglas window over the control panel as Robert makes his way around the plane, noting locations and positions.  Robert always insists on this step, and he insists on doing it alone.  He doesn’t like to trust other’s to validate something as important as the initial step in an experiment.

Tom slips over and latches the door behind him, when no one is looking.

1:58  PM –Main wind tunnel testing chamber

Ok, tires are on the lines, anchor strap is in place, Flaps in the correct position – Robert is going over his checklist analyzing and making sure that everything is in order.  He pulls out protactors and other angle measuring devices often to ensure that everything is in place exactly where it should be.

After marking the location of the flaps, Robert notices a slightly larger than normal gap in a panel on the underside of the wing.

Going in for a closer look, he sees that a screw or two are ½ undone.  Cursing the unknown incompetitents that could allow such a thing to occur, Robert pulls out his leatherman and picks the correct tool and begins to remedy the situation

2:42  PM –Control chamber main wind tunnel testing chamber

Seeing Robert’s head lower beneath the wing, Tom swears to himself.  He wanted the satisfaction of a second failed experiment, but that looks like it wasn’t going to happen, as Robert clearly saw the loose panel.  No matter, I can still scare the shit out of him, thinks Tom as he makes sure no one is looking and reaches over and quietly presses the red start button.

2:42  PM –Main wind tunnel testing chamber

“What the?”  exclaims Robert as he looks up, he sees the vents on the far wall open up as a torrential wind blasts him off his feet.

2:42  PM –Control chamber main wind tunnel testing chamber

“What the FUCK!” yells Bill, hearing the sudden expulsion of air that simulates the wind resistance while moving at the speed of sound, approximately 340 meters per second.

Erma and Chuck stand transfixed as Bill rushes to try to get to the emergency cutoff switch.

“Oops!  Shit”  says Robert, “I accidentally hit the button”

Savoring the moment, and wanting to make it last, he quickly body slams Bill while pretending to be going for the same cutoff switch.  Simultaneously Tom takes a fall himself, to add to the delay.

Chuck, seeing them both go to the floor goes for the button himself.  Tom trips him while “trying” to get up himself.

While this fiasco is going on, Bill gets up and races to the door and unlatches it (unlatch?  Why was it latched?)  the wind tunnel has an emergency safety system whereas the tunnel can’t be activated without the latch being set.  So if the tunnel is on, the latch must have been set, so opening the latch would serve as an alternate way to shutdown the tunnel.

With a lift of the lever, the whining of the air tunnel is immediately dampened by the closing vents.

2:42  PM –Main wind tunnel testing chamber

“What do you mean I only got an A-, that is bs teacher, you know it”  a young Robert Baptist argues with his 7^th grade English teacher

“I really like you Sally, I do, but sorry, there is just no time to have a relationship now, I’ve got some school to finish up before I go looking for that”

“A full scholarship son, I’m so proud”

"Forget it mom, I’m finished with school, I’m going to fight for this country, just like dad did, just like every man should.”

“I’m here to fight sir, not run up some stupid calculations to tell you what type of ammunition to use against what type of vehicle, sir.  ”

“hmm, these are all parts of my life, random memories.  They say this happens just before you die, I must be dying, strange, I wonder why?”

“Finished with the army, guess I’ll go back to school…. The I’ll figure out what I should be doing …”

“Sally, I can’t believe you waited for me”

“I do”  “I do”

“California is so wonderful”

“Lockheed – this guy Bill – he is great”

“Hey Bob!” 

“It’s a boy!”

“Look, he’s beautiful, he looks just like you”

“He is just as smart as his dad, but thank god he has the looks of his mom!” 

“ha hahahahahahhaa”

“Excuse me sir, there was an accident…” 

"shooting”

"it involved your son”

“it involved your son”

“it involved your son”

“it involved your son”

“20 percent chance he’ll survive”

“not looking good”

“At least partially Paralyzed”

“Never have full brain function again”

“Vegetable”

“that’s no way to live”

“no way to live”

“Sorry son”

“pull the plug”

“pull the plug”

“I pulled the plug”

“Sorry honey, Sally, its over, our boy is dead”

dead

dead

Gang related street shooting takes the life of an 8 year old boy

“Sally, you really shouldn’t drink so much, we should get out more”

“DRINKING IS ALL I HAVE LEFT!”

“Sorry, sir, her liver just couldn’t take the abuse”

“Obituary - Sally Baptist, age 35, leaves behind a husband”

“never again”

“Shit, what a depressing life I have”

“I have an idea, skip along the atmospheric layer, avoid windshear, take advantage of planetary rotation.”

“Need to hire people to work with you on this Bob, we have suffered too many cuts”

“With the dot coms out there, there is no good talent willing to work for the government wage”

“Find them”

“Three people of thousands I personally checked, they have the talent and the brains”

“Hopefully three will be enough”

“They can do it, if they try, Bill and I need the help…  too many numbers, need to develop this soon.  US technology needs the advancement, we need the boost.”

“Bob, they are all good people, but do you think Tom can do it? “

“All he has to do is apply himself, like he does to his hobbies, and he’ll be the best of the three, he has the potential to be as good as us.”

“What the, why is this panel loose?”

“What the ?”

wind.

Darkness

Light.

Bright light

Peace

Quiet

Sound

A Voice

“Robert Baptist – your time has not yet come.”

“But I’m here, something must have gone wrong, you sound just like James Earl Jones.”

“You are here to speak with me.”

“Am I wrong, or isn’t this what we are doing?  Where is this place”

“We here everywhere and no where.  Where life has no place, between life and death.”

“Oh great, those freaks on the tv specials were telling the truth, there is a bright white and there are delusions.  And now I’m a bona fide Delusional shithead.”

“There exists a problem with this world, in the land of life there is an inblance.  You are exquisitely familiar with the problems.  Your son.”

“My son is dead”

“Your son was a victim, like hundreds of others.”

“My son was unlucky, we were unlucky.  More than one person died that day.

“Your son didn’t die that day.”

“No, he died later.”

“By your hand.”

“He was already dead, I just made it official.  I would have wanted the same thing done for me.  What, are you some bullshit religious figure coming to tell me I’m going to hell.  I’m a wad of chemicals, undergoing the doozy of all delusions.  There is no god, there is no afterlife.  There can’t be, a god wouldn’t allow what happened to happen”

“As you wish.  For you there is no afterlife, at least not yet.  You will now have a new purpose to your so called life.”

“You are to protect”

“Protect the children”

“Keep what happened to your son from happening to other people’s sons”

“Correct the wrongs”

“Bring back the balance.”

“You want to start that now?  Its a little late asshole.  Great, now I’m calling my subconscious an asshole.”

“I am not your subconsciousness.  I am all and I am none.”

“Then we are done, and it all rhymes, isn’t that special.”

“You are a difficult person, but now you will have the knowledge and the ability.”

“What are you talking about.”

“You are going to go back and protect the children.”

“For the sake of argument, how?”

“You need power, you are familiar with a form of power, you are familiar with the wind.  You will be able to become the wind, and with time you will be able to control the wind.  The wind is your tool.  With this tool, you shall protect the children.”

“One two three –BACK!”

“Protect”

“again”

“The”

“We’ve got a pulse!”

 “chidren”

“He’s breathing!”

4:42  PM – conference room “Oz”

Bill Thomson watches the copied security tapes again, he sees Tom spending his lunch hijacking the plane, watches Tom lock Bob into the chamber.  Sees Tom make sure no one is looking and press the button.  Watches Tom systematically wait for reactions before fessing up to hitting the button.  Then watches as Tom expertly bumbles everyone’s attempts to save Bob.

Tom tried to kill Bob.  Tom succeed, if for a bit.  Sealing his third copy in an envelope marked for CBS News, along with the identities of each of the people on the tape, he places it in his brief case, to be mailed later.

He doesn’t have to worry about his actions being recorded, he already made sure that the cameras in this room weren’t working today.  The only way Bob was going to get some justice was for the public to know about this.  Otherwise Lockheed would just bury it away and Bob would be royally screwed.

Shit, Bob wasn’t looking so hot as they were wheeling him away, yelling “I am the wind” and “Protect the Children!”  Though it is understandable he’d be a bit shaken, after all, he was dead for over 5 minutes.  Amazingly, Nasa’s crack paramedics were here in no time flat.

10:00 PM, Feb 13^th – CBS news

What was called and an accident yesterday turned attempted homicide today…

Feb 20^th – Lockheed Martin Legal department

“Ok, this should do it, send the package to Mr. Baptist.  $500,000 a year for the rest of his life, if he agrees not to sue Lockheed Martin or any of it affiliates and agrees not to sell the story or bad talk Lockheed in any way.  He can return to work when a panel of psychologists deem him fit.  Not that that is damn likely.”

Lockheed Personalities:

Bill Thomson– other chief engineer  - self taught engineer, able to remember even the most obscure facts after hearing it just once.  Excellent ability to put two and two together, even if separated by thousands of noisy distractions and red herrings.

Chuck Moss -  mid 30’s, single.   320 lbs of pure engineer – blonde, blue eyes, gold rim glasses.  Mechanical Engineering Masters from Virginia Tech

Erma  Bingham - Bright 32 year old physicist – brunette, straight hair, big hips, attractive in a bookish way, not that she makes the effort.  Married twice.  Single again.  She thinks men are intimidated by her intellect.

Tom Davies - Athletic aerospace engineer who enjoys hang gliding, flying, and anything else air related, including ballooning.    He is quite a bitter person in this crowd as he is use to being the smartest one around with no effort.  He is clearly not in this crowd. 

Post accident

Most of personality is the same-  he is still a bigoted crotchety bastard.  But now he seems to have less grasp of what he can and can’t do – see other notes… but yet, he seems more aware of his surroundings now.  Keeps a closer eye on others…

Superhero personality