Chapter 7

Mr. Bertrand, the investor, stood next to Dr. Jenkins and Frodes who both had shocked expressions on their faces at what they just witnessed. Bertrand whooped with excitement as Dillon Trackson ran up to them. “There are parts on the ground where the car went over the concrete abutment.”

Bertrand completely ignored the statement. “I can’t believe it! My son actually has a skill, and it’s something other than bitching. We may have a chance yet. This is fantastic! I have a lot of money riding on this.”

“But, your son just ruined several components of the car.” Jenkins said in disbelief. “They’ll be lucky to even make it to the desert in California.”

Bertrand turned to Jenkins with a huge smile. “That’s why you will travel with your team to make the necessary repairs at their stop in Ohio. Get going old man, you’re already behind. I want to win and your car is going to do it, come hell or high water.”

Bertrand walked away leaving Jenkins lost in thought about the car’s possible problems and how to fix them with a traveling work team. He turned to Frodes and made a snap decision. “Call the team and order everything we need to fix the car, not just the transmission. I will arrange transportation for us. Make sure that we have a new set of tires for every day of travel and...”

In the MIT car, the second Bertrand was very pleased with himself. He repositioned himself in his seat as he drove and thought about winning the race, standing in front of a whole crowd of people all cheering for him. He’d show his father that there was more to racing than just going around in a circle. He had just gotten their car out of a very tight mess back at that parking lot. Katrina wasn’t present in his day dream but he could feel her tapping him on the arm bringing him slowly back to reality.

What was really happening was that Katrina beating on him with all her might she was so full of anger at his stupidity. When Richard came out of his reverie he was confused by why his racing partner was beating on him.

“Whoa! Stop! What are you going on about? I just got us of that mess back there.”

“You idiot! For starters, ‘We’ got us out of that mess back there, and because you obviously didn’t bother to read the manual we sent you, you…”

“I didn’t need to read some dumb manual about how to drive. There’s a gas pedal and a steering wheel. That’s all I need to know. And,” Richard raised his voice to forestall Katrina’s continuing objections. “Racecars don’t have automatic transmissions.”

“You fucking idiot!” she raged. “This isn’t a traditional race. It’s not all about speed. It’s about testing the endurance of the technology. It’s about conducting the race in as much of an invisible manner as possible.” Katrina shouted.

“You said we have 400 hundred horsepower. What’s all that horsepower for? We have it and we should floor it and get to California as soon as possible.”

“You ass! The top speed of this car is seventy two miles per hour. We are supposed to drive within the speed limit. That power is there when we need to use it, but we have to recharge afterwards. That stunt back there…”

“That stunt got us out!” Richard shouted.

“That stunt did more than that. See this gauge? That tells us that we are almost at minimum power right now. Another stunt like that and the battery will overheat from a brown out. Then we’ll be out of the race permanently.”

“Brown out? We’ll just get a new battery when we get gas.” Richard said, like he knew all about cars.

Katrina started hitting Richard again, over and over again. She was so frustrated. He had his right arm up to block her blows as he continued to try to drive. He noticed movement in his rear view mirror. Many other racecars now had caught up, there was a line not far behind him.

“Cut it out, we have to go. Everyone is catching up.”

“You can’t. We have to recharge.” Katrina jabbed her finger to the active video link of all the operations of the vehicle. “If you gun it and this set of numbers hits twelve, the engine will shut down.”

The linear gauge showed their recent usage history with very high spikes across an overlay line that showed where the usage should be. Now they were way too low, down to twenty-two and it fell to twenty-one as they watched.

“Great, now we’re going to lose the race because we’re out of battery power?” Richard said.

Katrina hit him again. “We’re not going to lose. Let them pass us and we’ll be recharged fully in twenty minutes. We have five days to finish this race. It’s all about balance and endurance.”

“So we’ll catch them when they stop for gas?” Richard asked, hopeful.

Katrina looked like she was about to blow a gasket. She got all red in the face. “Yeah, stop for gas, right.” She hit Richard again. “Read the manual!”

“Fine, tell me about the manual then.” Richard shouted back as racecars started passing them. He was clearly upset that they were losing their position in the lineup.

“Tell you about the manual? It’s over 700 pages long! You ass! I can’t believe the most talented engineer on the planet designed this car only to have it be driven by the greatest screw up in the world.” Katrina slouched in her seat, disgusted.

The rest of the MIT team sat in a cramped room staring at a large television screen. An uplink from the internet fed the images they were all seeing. Displayed was the church parking lot with twenty-seven racecars of all different designs parked without any order and pointed in different directions. The exit out was at the opposite end and it was narrow. Girls in skimpy clothing, with green flags, were waiting at the exit for their signal to wave them wildly indicating the beginning of the race.

The room was full of chatter about the other cars in the lot. Images of their designs were up close and personal. It was easy to see why, in each image camera men could be seen in the background checking out another vehicle. Moments after one image showed a particular car for three seconds, the scene switched to another car. When the MIT car came into view the room erupted into applause. Katrina could be seen anxiously waiting for her driver.

The scene switched over and over. Many comments were made either about the weapons systems or the cars’ designs. When the race was about to begin the cameramen finally started to move toward the edges of the lot. One of the angles showed the make-shift seating platform where the investors and guests were seated. Many held drinks in their hands; some were busy on their cell phones.

A voice through a bullhorn shouted the word “Go!” and all of the cars began to move. It didn’t take very long for everyone in the room shouting for their car to “Go, go, go”. They watched the cluster of cars make a mess of trying to get through the narrow exit. Many interns shouted angrily at the screen in disbelief. When the weapons came out they shouted even louder.

After six cars had exited, two more fought to be the next one out causing a terrible log jam behind them, ensuring that no one could move. Four of the cars that were bunched up while trying to get out all had the same idea. Their window mounted weapons powered up. It was clear that they thought that once the car next to them was disabled, they would have a commanding lead over the many stuck behind the disqualified car. No one counted on poor wiring in one of them shorting out and catching on fire.

The room of spectators got to their feet with looks of incredulity. The MIT car was positioned too many vehicles back to be able to leave. A ripple of disappointment crossed the room as they realized that their chances of even starting the race were decreasing by the minute. Suddenly they could see weapons on all sides of their car being deployed. They knew that it only took three seconds for a laser to disable a car and their car was trapped.

Then the MIT car was moving backwards. The weapon deployed on the car behind them had been crushed by their push bar. Shouts of hope filled the room. When smoke began to billow from the dead laser more shouting erupted. The design team engineer who had suggested placing a push bar back there got several pats on the back.

Smoke appeared from the MIT car’s tires. The car behind them was being pushed back until it struck the next car back. When both cars were actively being pushed out of the way the room began to go crazy. Full of hope, they shouted at the screen as though Katrina could hear them. They had no idea who the driver was so she was getting all the credit.

Then the weapon on the roof of the MIT car came to life and shot its head at the vehicle beside them. When it made contact the room fell to a hush, waiting expectantly. When smoke started to rise renewed shouts of exhilaration filled the room. The team watched the driver and the passenger of the car that was under attack struggle to find something to detach the MIT laser but nothing that they had could reach it. Three seconds later their car died. The energy of its occupants deflated, they knew that the race was over for them.

The MIT laser head retracted into the roof mounted arm. Cameramen were running around the cars trying to get better angles of the action. They watched their car maneuver around the lot. They watched in disbelief as the car scraped its way over the concrete abutment. All of them knew what just happened. One of the cameramen had chased after the car on foot and stopped to focus on the abutment the MIT car had just gone over and the wet spot that had been left behind on the pavement.

Katrina hit Richard again. “Will you just shut up and listen. For starters, the reason most of the drivers are the actual students that built the cars is because it’s about more than just driving. You have to understand the technology to be able to use it most effectively. It’s not just about speed. In fact if you get a speeding ticket we are automatically disqualified. You can’t get into an accident or break any of the other rules for the race. We just need to get from point A to point B every day and try to be one of the first five cars.

“Being one of the first to arrive at the stop for the day guarantees us an earlier start time for the next day. Even if we crossed the finish line tomorrow we wouldn’t win because we have to hit all our stops at the end of each day. Letting those cars go ahead of us doesn’t matter yet. We will catch them again when we hit the highway. We have the power to make that happen if you just give it a few minutes to charge.”

Richard let out a long breath. “This isn’t what I signed up for. I was supposed to be driving in a race not a slow motion technology test. Yeah, we’ll catch them at seventy two miles per hour. What fun is that? A race is about being fast, finishing first, and using your skill to beat your opponent. It’s not supposed to be taking your time and hoping that your car lasts that long.”

“Most of these engine designs can’t go that fast on the highway. They’re efficient at slower speeds but we’re going to crush them at over fifty.” Katrina said. “You’ll still be using your skills as a driver but you have to drive smarter.”

“All right then, explain to me why we have so much power, but only if we slow down to charge?” Richard asked as though this was an anomaly that couldn’t possibly exist in the real world.

Katrina sighed. “It would take way too long to explain it to you. Just know that we only have to stop to pee and get food. We aren’t using gas, we just keep going.”

Richard pointed to the battery indicator. “Looks like you have plenty of time to explain. We are only up to twenty-four percent and we have to be at eighty according to this monitor.”

Katrina sighed again. “It took Dr. Jenkins thirty years to figure it out and he’s a genius. How am I supposed to explain it to an idiot in fifteen minutes?”

“Use small words.” Richard said.

Katrina hit him again, her anger flaring. “Okay, here goes but I’m only going to do it once. If you can’t figure it out, you’re out of luck.”

“None of the girls I meet need it more than once so I should be fine.”

There was a deafening silence for a whole minute before Katrina slapped him across the face. He never saw it coming. The car swerved wildly until Richard got it back under control. Luckily all the other racecars had passed and the both lanes were clear.

“What was that for?” Richard asked confused.

“If you don’t know then I can’t explain it.” Katrina said as she turned to face forward and crossed her arms.

“What! I was just saying that most girls only need me to explain what I do for a living once, so why wouldn’t I be able to figure this car out on the first try? I’m not stupid you know. I graduated…”

“You’re an ass. I know what you meant and it had nothing to do with your driving skills.”

Richard smiled, knowing that she was already on to him. “Alright, you got me. Tell me about this engine and I promise not to hit on you.”

Katrina thought a moment before starting in on her explanation of the electric engine based on the one tree. “What we have is call the One Tree design.”

Richard began to ask her for a little more information but Katrina said, “Shut up and listen.”

“The idea of the One Tree comes from a fundamental concept that states there are energy sources that are natural in the world. We simple humans are of the understanding that if we need power, we must burn something to get it. Animals do the same thing. If you need energy you eat. Our bodies burn the food chemically to make energy. In many instances, if you need a power source outside of our bodies, something must be burned to make a form of energy there as well.

“The One Tree idea is based on the fact that there are not armies of gremlins running around a forest that start little generators to power every tree.”

Richard chuckled. “The idea of little gremlins running around is funny.” Katrina hit him again. He stopped talking.

“As I was saying, each tree doesn’t have the autonomy to grab whatever it wants to feed itself and since gremlins don’t go around giving them power, they must use all of the natural forces around it to survive. We know that a tree uses a form of hydraulics called capillary action. This allows water to rise up the little straws inside the tree called capillaries. This natural action brings up the nutrients from the soil to feed the tree. Every time the wind blows the tree around capillary action becomes stronger drawing water higher in the tree. But at some point the water will not go any higher because the weight of volume inside each little straw is too great.

“That’s where sunlight comes in. Each and every leaf uses the process of photosynthesis to give the tree life; however, they serve a dual purpose by causing the water present in the leaves to evaporate. This evaporation draws more water up the tree. Therefore the tree can continue to grow and find more sunlight. Higher and higher into the sky the tree can reach up to compete with those around it. The whole process relies on the environment around it. And there is a kind of momentum to this process. Stop any part of it and the tree will die because it cannot actively change or fix what stopped the process.

“Dr. Jenkins realized that if he could take several energy sources and put them together so that a type of natural momentum can occur, then it could run practically forever, provided that nothing stopped any one part of the process. It takes a minimum of three different types of energy sources to keep the momentum.

“The battery I talked about earlier is a critical component. There are two in this device. One is electrical and the other is pneumatic. Each balances the process to which it accompanies. If one or the other is damaged the engine will stop working. The engine makes mechanical power. We use that power to run a generator. Electricity has the greatest potential of work on the planet. Humans have invented many devices that can turn electricity into work. We use that electricity to power all the electronics on the dashboard, our communication system and most importantly the motor that moves the car. So to put it in plain English, if you don’t overuse the electrical battery, we will have enough power to last as long as the bearings inside the device don’t break down or overheat. Or in other words, the car doesn’t ever have to pull over to get energy. The devices inside it keep the momentum going and we always make our own electricity, thus, our power.”

Richard remained quiet for a few seconds to digest all that was said. He looked at the dashboard computer again to see where the battery life was at that moment. There he noticed the check transmission light again. “So we have an automatic transmission in case the team got an inexperienced driver?”

Katrina raised both hands in the air in a kind of hallelujah moment. “Yes. Holy shit I can’t believe you got that, as stupid as you appear to be. The act of shifting can be detrimental to power usage if the driver isn’t accustomed to driving a standard in the first place. Since we had no idea of the capacity of the driver we had to assume that it might be someone without experience driving a standard. Since our engine makes so much power we could afford to lose some to the automatic transmission rather than take the chance of interrupting the momentum. “

Richard gave a look of incredulity. But he had a question just the same.

“So, what does this other light mean with the brake picture on it?”

Katrina’s mouth hung open in shock. “That means we have no brakes.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 8