This section of the Fend Aerospace building was of modern architecture. Open floor plans. Lots of high ceilings, stone, and clear glass walls. An upper-deck observation level with a glass barrier.
Hundreds of aviation reporters and industry analysts were gathered around the Fend mission control center — observing through thirty-foot glass walls. Those walls encapsulated the Fend engineers and scientists, clicking and typing as they monitored today’s flight from their rows of computers.
The Fend mission control center reminded most onlookers of the NASA space shuttle mission control. That was intentional. But there was a major difference — this space was specifically designed to be observed by an audience.
Ever the marketer, Charles had made sure that his team of industrial designers and advertising gurus had taken part in the creation of the facility. He wanted the building to provide a home court advantage at these sorts of press and media gatherings. Events like these would help feed the frenzy in the technology blogosphere. These test flights were a show. He was the Steve Jobs of flight. And this was his iPhone presentation. Charles would need the positive buzz if he was to succeed in having people begin using his new product.
As the CEO of Fend Aerospace, he wasn’t just asking people to try a new way of communicating. He was asking them to put their lives in the hands of a robot.
Fend Aerospace was about to become a pioneer in commercial aviation. The crowd had gathered to witness the first passenger flight of their brand-new aircraft, the Fend 100. The FAA had certified the aircraft type a few months before. A seismic government contract for the technology was in the works. But human acceptance of the technology remained an issue. The FAA and other key stakeholders were watching closely.
The Fend 100 was the first fully automated airliner. No pilots required. The pilots were there, of course. Three of them, in fact. All test pilots. They would oversee the flight from the cockpit and be ready to take the controls if anything went wrong.
While the FAA had approved the flight after seeing dozens of demonstrations, most people still weren’t comfortable flying without a human being behind the controls. Charles figured it would take a few more years, and many millions of lobbying dollars, before the airlines were allowed to take full advantage of the technology.
Baby steps.
Charles’s vision was that, over time, the FAA would allow commercial airliners to become single-piloted, with one Fend 100 AI machine taking the place of the copilot. Eventually, the AI machine would operate all of the controls and execute all communications. At that point, the pilot would be nothing more than a safety observer. It wouldn’t take long until the pilot stayed on the ground, overseeing multiple automated commercial airliners, similar to the way an air traffic controller was able to guide multiple aircraft simultaneously. This would provide cost savings and improve efficiency. It really would be the dawn of a new era.
That was, as long as nothing went wrong.
Charles looked at the office adjacent to the Fend 100 mission control room. Through the open door, he could see the government men in there, trying to look inconspicuous as they observed his team doing their jobs. Wilkes and Flynn looked worried. And they had good reason to be.
Charles had already been nervous about today’s flight going smoothly. But now — with Max in possible danger, and a counterespionage operation underway, today’s flight had taken on a whole new importance.
As Charles walked the floor, he could overhear the CMO giving a TV interview with the local news channel.
The reporter said, “So they’ll be flying up and down the coast of Florida…”
“That’s right, they’ll be flying up the east coast of Florida — and returning to land here at our headquarters near Jacksonville.”
“And how many on board?”
The man smiled. “We’ve got a full flight. As you can imagine, a lot of folks wanted to join. Many are reporters and aviation writers. A few are employees of Fend Aerospace that we wanted to recognize for their hard work on the project.”
And our lead program manager, who has been placed on board to help protect against a former KGB operative, Charles thought to himself.
The reporter said, “Well, I’m a little sad that I didn’t get an invite.”
The CMO laughed. “I’m sorry — but hopefully you’ll get to fly with the technology soon! We want to begin putting this on all airliners in the US within the next few years.”
“Now what makes this different than autopilot?”
“We get that question a lot. Our Fend 100 Artificial Intelligence Pilot System is way more advanced than a simple autopilot function that you see today. The Fend 100 aircraft can communicate with air traffic controllers, set up on the approach, complete the landing, and even taxi into the terminal without anyone on board. It’s going to revolutionize the way we travel.”
Charles hoped so. While drone flight was becoming more and more prevalent in military and commercial use, it had yet to be approved by any major global aviation agency. If things went well today, that could all change.
He entered the mission control room. The Fend 100 mission control team had twenty workers, all sitting at neatly spaced-out computer monitors. Forty-foot ceilings. Giant screens at the front of the room showed the aircraft’s location and status. The floor was a glossy stone.
Even within the glass walls, Charles could hear the crowd noise outside. Some were posing for pictures. Many wore press or other VIP badges around their necks. The aviation media had been plastering this story on the front pages of their websites and magazines for the past few years. This was their first real taste of the Fend 100 aircraft.
“How’s it coming, Bradley?”
Bradley Karpinsky said, “She’s taxiing for takeoff now, sir. Just another minute or so.”
Claps and cheers outside as the Fend 100 taxied by.
Wilkes walked through the door and gestured for Charles to follow him. Wilkes said, “Can you join us outside for a moment?” Flynn stood next to him, dread in his eyes.
“Takeoff is in two minutes. Can’t this wait?”
“Afraid not. Flynn just got a message from the FBI — a man claiming to be Max Fend contacted the Jacksonville field office. They weren’t sure if it was a hoax or not. They said the guy wants us to halt the flight. He said not to let the Fend 100 take off.”
Charles looked incredulous. “What? Why? And why wouldn’t Max contact me or you?”
Wilkes shook his head. “I don’t know, Charles. But the FBI said that Max was on his way here now. If the timing is right, he should be in the parking lot any minute. We’re going to check.”
“Should we still have them take off?”
The two government men looked at each other.
Flynn lowered his voice so that only the two others would hear him. “We have Maria on board. We have a backup plan — nothing that we have seen suggests that Morozov will be successful in hacking into the network, let alone getting past Maria’s new security measures.”
Wilkes said, “I would hate to ruin all of our plans unless we know for sure that this is Max.”
Charles nodded. “I’ll come out with you.” He looked back at his chief engineer. “No need to wait for me, Bradley. Stick to the schedule.” They walked outside.
As the three of them walked down the concrete stairs and into the parking lot, the quiet morning air filled with the loud noise of a commercial jetliner throttling up its engines. The men looked through the chain-link fence and witnessed the Fend 100 starting down the runway.
Charles looked at his watch. “Seven a.m. Right on time.”
The giant white aircraft pitched up and began climbing, its landing gear folding up into its belly. The airliner became a slow-moving silhouette against sunlit clouds. As it rose over the Jacksonville skyline, the jet noise gave way to a honking horn.