Claws 41 - Gizio Envy

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“Hah, you brought the Gizio, you bloody rippa,” Mac walked straight past Terry to the gleaming red Gizio 440 Skycar. He walked up to it and laid his hands on the streamlined nose. He squatted down and let his eye follow the line down from nose to tail. The sports car like cabin, the two ducted fan engines fore and aft, the high twin tail, and the two angled fore wings. It was agile and fast and now the craft of choice for rescue ops.

He stood and put his hands on the front port engine feeling the housing as it rapidly cooled after the high revs of the vertical landing. Mac walked completely around the Gizio then stood back on the house side of the driveway with his hands on his hips smiling.

“I love you too bro!” called Terry from the steps. “Yeah, nah, right, sorry Action!” and Mac turned and looked across to his little brother. “How’d you get the clearance to land a Martin Gizio in my driveway?”

“I logged yours, Mum’s and Wonder’s place with Jaeger Command as courier backup sites.” Terry waved his arms across the sky above them. “You’ve all got clear air, so it’s easy to have you registered. Old Harry doesn’t get mucked about even if he is retired.”

Terry turned to Alli, “can I drop you somewhere for the fun of it. I mean with your looks, if you dress it up a bit and we drop you at a beach or foreshore ...” Terry let the implications hang in the air unsaid. Mac finished off the sentence, “you’ll have the press all over you and you’ll get magazine and possibly movie offers out of it.”

Alli walked up to Terry and gave him a peck on the cheek. “You’re a darling but no thanks. This body is mine and I’m not for sale!” She walked over to Mac, “I share it for free!” she said touching his face and then kissing him romantically on the lips. “Well if you’ve a sister, can you give her my number pleeaasse!”

Terry said dropping to his knees and holding his hands together in a prayer position.

“Mate don't move,” and Mac quickly pulled out his phone and took some photos. “For Wonder and Mum only, I promise!” Terry got up shaking his head, “yeah, your balls fried on a stick if they show up anywhere else bro!” He made his way across to the Skycar and thumbed open the door. It swung upwards revealing the beautiful leather and wood veneer interior of Parrish’s personal skycar.

Alli frowned, “isn't this the first one Martins flew across the Tasman?” she asked turning to Terry. “Yep ...” “Orrh bullshit, nah, really!” Mac stuck his head inside to look at the control console. “Ah man, it’s so beautiful. You know I couldn’t believe it when Martin bought the rights from Gizio. I mean his designs, with their engines! What a dream come true!” He turned to Terry, “Dad was so right to buy shares in Martin as early as he did ...” “Yeah well, I’d rather have him still with us bro!” Terry stood there with his hands on his hips, frowning. Mac drew himself out of the skycar, walked the two steps to Terry and gave him a man hug. They hung there a few minutes in one of those silent moments that said everything without anything being said. Alli ran to the house and quickly came back with a small backpack locking the house behind her.

Terry broke away and looked at his watch, “come on we’ve only got a couple of minutes left of our takeoff window and then Ill have to stay here for another hour or two to process the next one.” Alli slid into the back seat and dropped her back pack on the floor. Mac climbed into the front passenger seat and Terry slid into the pilots seat on the right hand side. It was set up with the orientation the same as for a vehicle drivers perspective to speed familiarisation. They all slipped on their flight helmets and Terry showed them how to check the volume control for the com.

Terry thumbed the master switch and all the panels came up red. The onboard computer quickly did the pre-flight check and asked Terry to ensure that ... “Man that’s cool,” said Mac impressed. The console was all green now and Terry eased the throttles forward and the lift ducts whirred into life then settled into sounding like a giant vacuum cleaner.

They lifted off and rose vertically until the requisite fifty metres above the roof lines of the houses in their flight path. Terry eased the skycar forward and turned to the southeast. “Where was it Alli” he asked over the intercom. “Oh any where on the coast will be fine,” she said absent mindedly. “What about Wattamolla in the Royal. I can pick you up easily on the way back!” “Wonderful, “ she said simply and looked longingly out the window as they past over Sydney Harbour. They reached their cruising height of five hundred meters as they skirted to the west of Kingsford Smith Airport and headed south over the George's River. To the west Alli could see Sydney's MSR - the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor that powered the whole city. It was generally hoped that the rapid uptake of commercial photo voltaics would negate the need for another but the planning had been done for one on the Nepean near Parramatta just in case.

Mac watched the coast out his window, it was so beautiful. The fleck of wave over turquoise sea, the white sand beaches kissing the deep dark greens of the eucalypt forest of the Royal National Park. What foresight it had been to establish those 150 square kilometres of national park so close to the city.

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