Thermaloids

By Martin Husted

A blur is detected in deep space and what at first appears to be a comet with a 12 million mile tail, but without the orbit. After realizing it is not orbiting the sun an Air Force team discovers what may be an invasion fleet of several billion space ships headed for earth. They must determine their purpose and military intensions along with the physical makeup of the Thermaloids and their ships. Several possibilities are determined and all must be addressed in order to save mankind. The military has less than two months to prepare for this possible attack. The equipment and defense in both space and on land is based on the ability to develop special weapon systems and tactics to withstand such a large attack force.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781304304117

Book preview

Thermaloids

Chapter 1 (The Lauchland Twins)

It is a hotter than normal July night, even for Roswell New Mexico in the summer of 1947.  With the war over people are starting to enjoy life again.  Almost everyone now owns a swamp cooler and on occasion you can see a car with a window installed air conditioner.  Life is simple for people of this small town in the middle of the Sun Belt.  Roswell was almost unheard of except for people living within fifty miles.  The main source of income for the city of two thousand is New Mexico Red Clay used in the manufacturing of high quality construction bricks along with a few small turkey farms. Turkey farming was a struggling industry; the summer heat required more and more energy to keep the birds cool.  The price of turkey would soon drop enough to make it impossible for the local turkey industry and even the clay industry would take a back seat to a new industry just about ready to be born.  The tourist industry, in years to come people from all parts of the world would visit this soon to be famous site.  A site where UFO’s had landed, where little green men were caught and stored in some secret building in Nevada.  An industry bringing several million dollars a year to this small community.  But that is yet to come, for now Roswell is still slow and peaceful.

Wednesday night means only one thing in Roswell, BASEBALL!!  It’s more than just a game it is a passion and doesn’t matter the skill level or age. Every game is considered a test of courage, loyalty and pride in ownership. There is Pee-Wee League all the way to the Star League (for those over the age of 65) Old Fred Feena still plays first base for the Star Bulldogs at the age of 92, though his batting average has dropped to .265.

Tonight is special, for tonight it is between the Anderson Tire Store Phillies and the Pacific Clay Yankees.  The Phillies won the eastern division of the city little league and the Yankees won the western division, tonight it is the best of the best, the Little League World Series of Roswell.  Every person in town knows players on both teams, this game is what kids dream about here, not playing in the World Series at Yankee Stadium, but playing at Hansen Field for the City Little League Championship. 

The Phillies are in contention, year after year.  The main reason; the manager is the high school coach.  His name, Stoney Smithson and has four boys, each one is about three to four years apart, so for the past ten years he has at least one of his kids on the team.  This year it is the third oldest, Rock Smithson.  His actual name is Richard, but all of the boys have taken a nickname to celebrate their father’s name of Stoney. First there was Little Stone or Stoney Jr., then the second was Bobby Boulder who was Robert, and now it is Rock.  Not only are they athletics like their father, but each one seems to be better than the last.  Rock has a batting average over five hundred and holds the league record for most hits, his older brother Little Stone still holds the record for most home runs (44) and most home runs in a season (16).  Next year is Skipper (named after the flat rock you skip across the water); he is the fastest of all and already runs races with teenagers and wins most of them.  At the age of eight he has dreams of becoming a track star.  He will wind up winning a gold medal in the 1962 Olympics running the anchor leg of the four by one hundred relay, the first and only Olympic medal ever won by a resident of Roswell.

Now the Yankees have not been in the playoffs in over fifteen years, but with the Miller twins they own the best record in both leagues (18-1). The Miller’s moved into town in the past year when their father retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain and a hero of World War II.  He had bought a home in Roswell because he did not want to see a body of water larger than a bathtub ever again.  Roswell is a place to go if you do not want to see any water.  The local story is it is dry thirteen months a year.

The Yankees hold the longest winning streak in history with sixteen straight wins.  They lost the seventeenth game when the Miller twins went on vacation to visit their grandparents in Oregon.  But with the pitching-catching combination of Billy Miller throwing to Kenny Miller, they were almost unhittable, and their bats were just as deadly, with both of them hitting over four hundred in batting average, and power to both fields, they were the most feared third and fourth batters in the entire league.

This game had all the settings of the most important day of the year and a game that would be talked about for years to come.  (In 1947 major league baseball was only east of the Mississippi, the west only heard about or read about greats like Ted Williams)

People are just starting to come in and find a seat, the players are warming up on the field, although some of them were busy looking for the two best looking 12 year olds in the city (June and Kay Lauchland).

The twins were the two best looking girls in town and every boy had their sights set on one of the other.  In years to come there would be a television series called Gilligan’s Island and the two beauties starring would be Ginger and Mary-Ann.  Men would sit around bars and asked other Ginger or Mary-Ann?  As if there was a choice on which one you could date.  So all the boys would ask each other June or Kay?  For most there is little chance for anyone ever getting a date with the twins. To make matters more difficult Joe Lauchland, their father was the principle of the Roswell Junior High School, feared by every boy who entered his domain.  The laws and rules are different in 1947, a teacher was allowed to hand out corporal punishment, and Joe Lauchland had a swatting paddle known to all the boys as Mister Thunder.  This made the twins all but unapproachable so they remained a fantasy for all the young men for the next several years. These town beauties had their eyes set on the Miller twins, and they would argue who got Billy and who got Kenny.  Now both sets of twins were identical so there was very little to tell them apart.  In years to come they would wind up getting married in a large double wedding and would go to parties and even family gatherings switching partners just to see if people would notice.  But that is another story in another book. 

Just a couple of days before the fourth of July and in the background you could hear the sounds of bottle rockets, cherry bombs and whistles of spinners.  Someone set off a smoke bomb behind the scoreboard and was drifting into the Yankee side of the bleachers.  This is as bad as kids could be.  Drugs are something you would only read about, the only gang you ever read about was Spanky and Our Gang.  Most families have one car and almost every house has a stay at home mom.

The lights are on but not taking effect, you could see a few stars in the clear desert sky, but since tonight is a full moon it would not display the wonderful sky painting of stars like the new moon produces.  The people of Roswell love the night sky, especially in the summer when it was brightest.  They took ownership of the stars since they had one on the best views of the clear sky at night, a pride in their community it was even on their city crest.   This in part is what made the Lauchland twins so attractive, both have freckles and at least for Roswell a woman without freckles was like a night without stars.

Just about the time the coaches started to walk to home plate, a low buzz could be heard, a few people seem to be attracted to the noise but they could locate its origin, they just looked around trying to figure out its source, and wonder why others are not hearing the same thing. 

From a distance right above the scoreboard there are a few lights suspended in the sky, very dim and seem to be stationary.  In a moment there were more and more until there appears to be fifty or so lights, they began to increase in their brightness and appeared to be moving closer to the ball park.  By now everybody in the stands are drawn to this display in the sky, some thought it was a gimmick by the guys from Anderson Tire Store, they were always trying to make the most out of the $150.00 they contribute each year for the team uniform fund, nobody seemed concerned but curious on how will this wonderful display of what is now over a hundred lights conclude. You could hears sounds in the distance, like the sound a distant train may make, or some mountain thunder clouds letting off just a bit of their rumbling echo’s. There seemed to be a flash on the ground some fifty or so miles away, but it could have been just a firecracker on the other side of the field.  It was hard to judge distance at night due to the clear skies.  One by one the lights seem to disappear and soon there were less than a dozen, then they started to form into a group as if there was something controlling these Roswell fireflies.  This small group formed into a ball and shot up into the sky and vanishes.  Not vanish as if they didn’t exist, but vanish because they went so fast that within just a few seconds they were beyond the limits of earth.  Or at least this is how it appeared.  Funny how the night skies can play tricks on one’s mind.   As quick as the show started it was over.  Mostly everyone assumed it was a poor display of cheap sky rockets. Few thought Frank Hintz of Anderson Tire attached lights to a flock of pigeons and flew them back their roost, which just happens to be located two miles in line with the score board in center field.  Just then Scott Monroe announced over the PA system OK, let’s give a hand to Frank Hintz and his wonderful troupe of pigeons.  A few people clapped but most just sat down with a sense of relief about the unknown source of lights in the night sky.

Eight days latter the Air Force announced a weather balloon crash landed outside of Roswell New Mexico. 

More than 60 years has passed and the story of Roswell has become legend.  Aliens found, people abducted, contact made, government cover-up, all the requirements to keep a legend alive.  Many stories, movies and combined with a few get rich schemes it has remained a major source of entertainment by the tabloids.  But for those 450 fans and players that night the thing they remember is the throw out at home to end the game and give the Yankees their first ever city championship.

Chapter 2: Race up the Mountain

It has been over sixty years since the Roswell Incident.  This was the thought of Major Roger Feiok (pronounced  Fee-ock) as he passed the exit sign for Roswell.  Although the UFO incident happened before his birth it doesn’t affect his wondering.  But he has more important thought on his mind at the moment as the speedometer on his new BMW  Boxer-SE four door luxury sedan with 485 horses topped with track suspension closes in on 120 MPH, the custom candy apple Neptune green paint job sprays the sun  into a thousand rays spanning the entire rainbow. Roger wanted the ultimate sports car.  Not a swift looking two seater but more like what you may see in an old James Bond movie, a combination of class, style, comfort yet with the heart of a wild stallion.   When you are driving on 380 in New Mexico it allows you to hear the perfect pitch of the carefully tuned engine as it reaches 4,000 RPM’s.  The car has a natural frequency of just over 4,100 RPM’s when it settles low to the ground and flows like riding over a blanket of air.

Roger was born outside of Flagstaff Arizona and a high school star pitcher, he received a baseball scholarship to USC but during his sophomore year threw out his shoulder and was sidelined long enough for him to be a forgotten player on the squad.  During his recovery he found an amazement and interest in math and science.  Much to his surprise he also was born with a talent to solve the most complicated analytical problems. His last two years earned him a scholarship in Physics to replace his now debunked baseball free ride.  After he graduated and completed a master’s program in thermal dynamics in 18 months he made a choice against the advice of his friends and family.  Turning down great positions with companies like Rockwell and Lockheed along with a teaching position at several colleges he decided to join the Air Force as a brand new second lieutenant.  He would explain, along with his $2,200.00 a month salary there was also a $55.00 monthly uniform

Reviews for Thermaloids

[Martin Husted · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

one of the best books this should be a movie