Major George Rains was an accomplished engineer and inventor whose latest "PET" project was designing a Portable Ejection and Transport system. It was the best-kept secret in the armed forces. Expectations were high, and the Army had invested a ton of money in the ambitious project. It would be a significant advancement and advantage in warfare technology. The Army couldn't be more anxious to put it into action.

If a soldier found himself in a compromising situation and needed to escape from the enemy, all he had to do was press a button – and off he would go, 30 feet into the air in less than two seconds. Before the enemy could lift a finger to a firearm, he would be out of sight.

After Major Rains worked fastidiously through the night and into the wee hours of the morning, Colonel Engineer Reilly made an unannounced appearance at the Laboratory of Research and Development. "Do you have good news for me?" asked the Colonel.

"Well, sir, we still need to address the issue of stabilization."

"And just what is the issue?"

"Well, sir, the device isn't stable."

"I could have guessed that much! Are you working on it?"

"Yes, sir. We're fine-tuning the resistors that control the current allotted to the directional burners... sir."

"You wouldn't be bullshitting me now, would you?"

"No, sir. We should be ready to run another test flight this afternoon."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

After lunch, the Colonel returned to the lab. "Where's your boss?" directing his question to a young private who was cleaning up for the day.

"He's at the testing grounds with Private Gaffney."

Rains saw the Colonel approaching. "Oh! You're just in time, Colonel. We were about to begin a test flight."

"Don't let me interrupt."

"Okay, Gaffney. Whenever you're ready. But be gentle with the directional burners," warned Rains. "I don't have to remind you what happened the last time."

Without hesitation, Gaffney hit the little red button discretely mounted on the lapel of his uniform. He took off like a Chinese rocket. Before anyone could wink an eye, he had cleared a stand of pine trees and was out of sight.

The Colonel turned toward Rains with a look of concern. "Where did he go? Is he alright?"

"Uh, I don't know, sir. I certainly hope so, sir."

"What do you mean you don't know? Don't you know what you're doing? Don't you have a plan?"

"Yes, sir."

At that moment, Gaffney had already rounded his way back to the two men.

"There! You see, sir! He came back! Sir."

Gaffney gently landed himself on the ground like a sparrow on a twig. "Works like a dream!"

"How long before we can get a few into production and deploy in battle?" the Colonel asked George.

"Several weeks should do it, sir."

"Great news! I'll tell the General. This crazy invention of yours will make history! It will make the Union Army's Gatling gun look like a toy!"

Story Copyright © 2021 by Michael DeFrancesco

Illustration, "Pine Study", by Dominic DeFrancesco