NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37: Rule
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Earth. Director.
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It's terrible to be organic. Especially if you have to run a business. They're so slow! Really slow. You can understand them - let's say a paper comes in that needs to be signed - an organicist first takes the paper in his hands, reads it, then looks for a pen, then only signs it. And it all takes a minute. And if we have to work out a decision as a team? Then it's lights out. Scolding and quarrels within the team, it can take weeks or even months to work out a single decision! Let's say yesterday. It was logical that the soon transition to electricity will lead to the development of aviation - after all, if you remove the price of fuel from the cost of a flight, the price of maintenance of capricious and short-lived jet and piston engines, it becomes lower than the current price of a car journey. It is more than obvious - in the near future aviation will switch to electricity, and to get an advantage, and not to develop on the residual principle, it is necessary to train much more pilots and technicians.
The solution was on the surface - it was necessary to develop so-called "general aviation" - small private aeroplanes. But here's the catch - the current legislation was clearly drafted in the old Soviet times, when the government was very picky about the rights of citizens. Don't do something that mortals are not supposed to do! An aeroplane, for example.
There were enthusiasts of light aviation, accessible to ordinary citizens, and there were quite a lot of them. Hundreds, thousands. They had aeroplanes, both normal and home-made, they had enthusiasm, and they flew regularly, and illegally.
It took about ten minutes to find out the reasons for this attitude to small aviation - I had to call the enthusiasts and talk to them. But even they could not say anything, except that in Russia the law has always been opposed to man, not helping him.
This situation had to be changed, and urgently. But how to change it, if the obstacle lies in the field of law? The conclusion was self-evident - to change the legislation. And at the same time - to develop the regional air transport network.
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It's good to have entire segments of the internet under control. Especially if you're an ISKIN, you can influence public opinion with the help of the Internet. In one day, several popular videos about the development of civil aviation in countries around the world appeared on YouTube. And the style is familiar - like the documentary videos of the channel "Zvezda", only these videos were not about Russian military planes, but about small, rustic machines that some farmers in the states kept in their barns. About the formation of aviation, about the development of the regional air transport network and the accompanying development of the country, about the influence of regional air transport on express parcel deliveries... They also told about modern aeroplanes, and the most cute machines were chosen as examples - Cessna, Beechcraft, almost sporty Lancair....
The success of the film was mainly in the West, and mainly due to the advertising of the film on the Internet, through social networks, through search engines. The effect in Russia was average, citizens were still far away from aviation. Russians are down-to-earth people who do not aspire to the heights, and even more so, who are used to the idea that the state is a monopoly on everything, that in order to buy an aeroplane you have to pass almost as many tests as an astronaut.
There was some truth in it - the Russian legislation was especially cruel to crush light aviation, that's why it was problematic to own an aeroplane without having a large income, and as for light aeroplanes... people knew only the Kukuznik, and that's all.
As a result of hundreds of posts, films, as well as thanks to my organisational skills, I managed to rally enthusiasts from all over the country into a political party "Sky of Russia", the aim and objective of which were reforms in the civil aviation system. The party developed with Abstergo's money, and by the beginning of October it already had six city branches - in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Yekaterinburg, Lipetsk and Vladivostok. Moreover, the party branches were located in large business centres and were organised as offices, and the party itself consisted almost entirely of light aviation enthusiasts. Enthusiasts were also given funds for airbases - the political party, as an organisation, could well own private airfields. And their construction began - near Moscow it was a site near the town of Chekhov, in Lipetsk - far from the city, in one of the villages, and in Yekaterinburg - the settlement of Zeleny Bor.
At the same time, Abstergo-Avia began licence production of the IL-103 aircraft, with an Abstergo engine and avionics. I had no illusions - people still have little money, very little, so aeroplanes for Russia should be simple and reliable. The easiest way is to buy a ready-made project, refine it with a file and put it into production after a series of certification tests. This is exactly what was done with the Il and MAI-890U, which began to be produced at Abstergo-Avia in large series. The only difference is that the engine for them was developed in Abstergo - it was a petrol four-stroke, four-cylinder engine with characteristics close to Rotax-911 and powered by 92 petrol, which is available at every petrol station.
It was not difficult to produce such simple aeroplanes in large series, especially having the experience of building TU-160. Most of the parts were made by companies of other profiles. The "Sky of Russia" party received an aircraft worth four hundred and fifty thousand roubles. Il cost all three million, but it was worth it. Thanks to the infusion of new aeroplanes, the number of requests for departure was such that in fact, in the places where the aerodromes were located, it became impossible to accept paper requests - twenty or thirty times a day.
The headache thus created for civil aviation became greater. The pressure on them, both from below and above, grew as the popularity of these aerodromes grew. Immediately after the opening they, taking advantage of my instructions, announced free flights for all new entrants to the party. Naturally - this provoked a rise in the popularity of the party and an increase in the number of flights - and I did not reduce the rate of production of new aeroplanes! On the contrary, there were more and more of them every day. The newcomers were flown on IL-103, on the tourist route, around the sights of the regions. As a result, by the end of October, a thousand and a bit flights were made in a month from the Moscow private aerodrome alone. That's thirty departures and landings per day, almost the maximum load for a small private aerodrome.
The outcome is a bit predictable - the DDoS attack on civil aviation forced them to raise the issue themselves. Apparently, though, no one wanted to change the status quo. As a result of my brief talks with both party leaders and government officials, things moved forward. And talks with the transport minister led to a positive change. Under pressure from the public, from the party, from the actual number of applications, the question arose - what to do next?
The rest is left to the conscience of the party and the ministry - I did my job, I got through to their hardened brains and forced the situation to move from the dead point.
Be that as it may, after modernisation, the IL-103 and MAI-890 aircraft went into production, and the small price of the MAI led to a rapid growth of public interest in aviation. The autumn of the sixth year can be characterised as an aviation year.
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Yekaterinburg.
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- Come on, it's not that scary, - Egor was the first to climb up the ramp and sit in the seat of the plane.
Dasha, a girl of thirteen, was desperately afraid, but it was too late to refuse, so she climbed up bravely. However, Egor could hardly be considered brave either - he just didn't want to show fear in front of a familiar girl, especially one he liked. So he gallantly offered his hand to the lady, but was ignored. Dasha sat next to him and studiously ignored Egor.
The pilot, aka instructor, approached.
- So, little things, settled down? Fasten your seat belts, - the man climbed into the seat while the children tried to manage the belts. Egor did it first, which earned an offended snort from Dasha, who, however, refused to help. After a couple more minutes, she looked overboard - the door had closed and cut off the sounds outside. The pilot flicked a toggle switch, switched on the power, started the engine and took off the parking brake, saying:
- OK, no squealing, no beeping, no begging for the loo. We'll be landing in forty minutes. Enjoy your flight.
The blushing Dasha pretended that she was extremely interested in the grey concrete flying field - just to avoid appearing a coward in front of Egor. The boy, however, cheered up:
- We'll try. We're taking off!
- Wait...
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- How are we gonna find him? - Gamora paced back and forth in the wardroom, waiting for a revelation. It didn't come - you don't know who's hiding in who knows where... and you don't know what's on his mind!
- We'll find him, - Hyarty picked Gamora up by the waist and sat her down next to him, - don't fuss and don't worry. Calm...
He tried to concentrate, to get a feel for the right path. Unfortunately, it was a skill he rarely developed and now he was reaping the results of his own laziness - it was incredibly difficult to find the right person.
Gamora, actually relaxed. She would finally get to see the legendary saboteur in action. Hyarty, on the other hand, was chatting with Bersi, who was already scouring the internet for the right person. It was the middle of the night by ship's time - Steve and Peggy were sweetly asleep, only Gamora and Hyarty were awake.
- Six hundred suspicious individuals have been found to have left Xandar at the specified time.
- And of those who look like our client?
- No more than 200. There's a record of him in the visitor's log at Sokar Four Station. Apparently, he changed ship and identity there - he now went by the name of Oronir, a free trader travelling the south of the galaxy.
- That was something. Why the south?
- He spoke confidently about the region. One could believe he was really from there.
- Let's not rule out that possibility," Hyarty thought, "what do we have in the south? In the south we have Kree colonies, Melanians, felines, and a sea of poorly explored worlds. So, I don't rule out that's where our arsehole is hiding....
While Hjarti was sitting, withdrawn and mentally communicating with the seeker, Gamora tried to bring her senses to order. It's not easy to do that! The reason for this was everything that had happened and was happening - she had abandoned her father, Thanos, and yet she had stolen an orb from Quill, and was now hunting a terrorist... and most importantly, with Hyarty, whom Gamora had not yet decided how to feel about. Hyarty opened his eyes:
- We're going to the Melanians.
- Why? - Gamora hadn't noticed how she'd moved closer to Hyarty while she'd been thinking, and was now sitting practically at his side. She moved away hastily, though Hyarty smiled - with his empathy it wasn't hard to see what was going on.
- Our client stopped at Sokar Four, where he introduced himself as a merchant from the south. There are many worlds there, and if he didn't know the region well, he'd probably be quickly recognised. Which means we'll have to look in the south. The north is almost entirely occupied by the Kree, and your guys won't tolerate a scumbag like that in their midst. The centre and east are Xandar, Korulag and the Definassian Union - it's easier to hide there, but there's a lot of traces, and it's easier to find. In the West - the power is still vaguely divided, but there are very strong civilisations, like the Asgard Empire or the Syndicate, which will not let even a small shuttlecraft into their territory - only a suicide would go there.
Gamora had to admit Hjarti was right. She suddenly felt tired from the whole day that had been so hard on her. Gamora sighed, deciding that it was too much for one day. Hyarty, however, seeing her condition, reached up to the princess's head and stroked her hair, gently releasing his power and relieving her nervous tension. The girl closed her eyes and almost purred, reaching for Hyarty's hand. She reached for Hyarty's in return and gave him another long kiss. The boy didn't resist, and after a minute, when the kiss was clearly threatening to escalate into something more, broke away from the process:
- It had been a rough day. I invite you to the captain's quarters....
- To the captain's soft bed?
- Absolutely...
Hyarty rose, offering his hand to Gamora. She accepted the invitation and, with a twinkle in her eye, walked along with Hyarty. As soon as they crossed the threshold, he put his arm round his friend's waist and touched her neck with his lips. Gamora, not yet accustomed to such sensations, shuddered and closed her eyes. A moment later, Hyarty had already removed her clothes and Gamora, in her Eve costume, pulled Hyarty with her, onto the warm and large bed....