Storming the Kingdom (30 page)

CHAPTER FORTY - SEVEN

One Day Ago
3:00
P.M.

H
awk twisted and turned through the wet streets of downtown Kissimmee. Coming around the corner into the town square, he saw a sign that pointed toward Lakefront Park. The street sign to his right indicated he had somehow managed to turn onto Monument Avenue. This has to be it, Hawk thought. The weather was less intense for the moment. That is how hurricanes tend to show themselves. The swirling nature of the storms allow slight breaks in the ferocity as the feeder bands twirl over the water and back across the land. Hawk was glad for the brief reprieve; he knew it wouldn’t last, but at least the wind was not as fierce for now.

He arrived at Lakefront Park, on the corner of Johnston Street and East Monument Avenue. The sight that greeted him made him smile; it was one of the oddest things he had ever seen. That was saying a lot, because he had seen a lot. A structure extended at least fifty feet into the air. At the peak of the monument were sculpted the words
Tourist Paradise
beneath a concrete planet Earth, topped by a concrete bald eagle, over which flew an American flag. Hawk peered through the rain-spattered windshield at this massive mortared fifty-foot pyramid composed of garishly colored concrete slabs. From his vantage point, it looked as if embedded in each slab that made up the pyramid, there was a rock. He unbuckled his seat belt and made his way back into the rain. Without as much wind, it was more like a heavy summer shower, and he walked unhampered to the pyramid for a closer look.

Finding an information marker, he discovered that the Monument of States was the vision of Dr. Charles Bressler-Pettis, a local tourism booster who wanted a to create a symbol of American unity after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He wrote letters to every governor to send him local rocks. Rocks came in: blocks of native granite, chunks of quartz, small boulders, fossils, and hunks of old buildings. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a rock from his Hyde Park estate. By 1943, the doctor had them mortared into a fifty-foot-tall creation, and each rock slab was inscribed with the donor’s name and location. Dedicating it as the Monument of States on March 28, 1943, Dr. Pettis declared it “The World’s Most Unique Monument.” Seeing it now, Hawk agreed with him.

Since 1943, apparently other pieces had been added, the monument had been cared for, and improvements had been made. As Hawk walked around it, on the side away from the street, he saw a separate monument. A small, boxlike creation had a place of honor at the foot of the Monument of States. White concrete, it featured a single rock on the left side of the display with a plaque on the right. Hawk smiled as he read the marker: “Presented to the City of Kissimmee, FLA.—From Walt Disney Studios—Gem & Mineral Society—Burbank, CALIF.—JAN. 21, 1966.” This was it. But what was it?

Hawk walked around it, inspecting it closely. There was no lock mechanism on it, so it was not designed for him to use the kingdom key. It was a marker with a rock embedded in it. The stone looked as if had been painted pale white to match the rest of the marker. Hawk reached down and placed his hand on the rock. He tried to move it and felt the slightest give. He wondered if there was something underneath the rock. He knew if he started messing with it, there was a possibility he would damage it, but the stakes were high and he was willing to risk it. Moving it gently at first, then with more force, he felt it begin to give more and more. Finally it released, and he was able to pull it out of the display.

The indentation below the rock did contain a lock with a keyhole. Another huge grin broke out over Hawk’s face as he used the kingdom key. The lock turned. Gripping the top of the display, he lifted it off, revealing a concrete box. Inside the box was a small package. He reached in and pulled it out and then set it on the ground next to him. He replaced the top of the display carefully, relocked it, and then reinserted the rock into place. It looked as if it never had been disturbed.

Now on his knees, he unwrapped the package to reveal a ring box. Opening the ring box, he found a silver ring inside. It resembled a class ring, except forged into the face of the ring was the iconic three-circled head of Mickey Mouse. It was identical in shape to the icon on the MagicBand. He slid the ring on his finger and quickly got to his feet to leave. He looked around to see if there was anyone watching him that he hadn’t noticed. He saw no one. He looked toward the lake and saw how rough and choppy the waters were as they crashed along the shoreline. There was no one out in this weather but him, because as Shep had said, he must have some rocks in his head. Glancing back to toward the massive pyramid of rock, he had to smile. It was gaudy but wonderful. A man who had a dream to bring unity when things were rough. A visionary. Hawk appreciated that. He was on a mission for a couple of visionaries right now: Wernher von Braun and Walt Disney.

Hawk tilted his face toward the heavens and felt the rain fall over him. He was tired, he was mentally taxed, he was emotionally drained, and there was a part of him that wanted to just stop and somehow make all of the craziness in his world go away. But remembering Ollie’s encouragement, remembering all the things that Far-ren had tried to teach him, holding onto the promise he made George, and realizing that when things were the darkest, the need for light was the greatest snatched him back to the calling he knew God had placed in his life. Being an agent of change wasn’t easy. If it was, everyone would embrace it. But people of faith had to step in and step up when things were tough because others need them to do so. Running his hand through his wet hair, he felt a surge of adrenaline shoot through his system.

Whatever they were hiding was important. It’s tough to protect a secret when you don’t know what it is, but he was determined to figure it out. The costs of protecting this secret had been high, too high, and he had to know what it was that he had been entrusted to keep.

As he opened the door of the SUV, a gust of wind slammed against it. Hawk thought for a moment the gust was strong enough to blow the door off the hinges. He grabbed it to steady it and then pulled it shut behind him. He started the engine to make his way back to Walt Disney World. He had a ring and no idea what to do with it. But perhaps he knew someone who could help him figure that out. All he had to do was drive through the feeder bands of a hurricane to get there.

The conditions were once again worsening as Hawk made his way back down US 192 toward the resort. The wind was now causing the street lamps to sway dangerously from side to side, looking as if they might snap. No other cars dared to be on the road. Flashing yellow lights greeted him at intersections, warning to proceed with caution. Some of the traffic lights were no longer working, and the isolation was eerie; most people had hunkered down in safety to ride out the storm. As Hawk drove, he was not afraid but reflective. It seemed that ever since he had been given the kingdom key by Farren Rales, his life had become a storm. Prior to that, he had settled in to his life and role as the pastor of Celebration Community Church. He enjoyed it, he had some great friends he got to work with each day, he had a great congregation that he got the chance to shepherd, and life was good. Then that season ended and a new one had begun. This time, he had become the keeper of the dreams and vision of Walt Disney himself. Originally, he had thought it was about running a theme park and telling the best stories he could tell. But as time went by, he realized it was much more than that. Constant thrills, discoveries, and adventure had become his life. He liked that part a lot. It was the danger and the high price to be paid for that adventure that kept him awake at night. He knew that risk was a part of life and that the parable of the talents in the Bible, as he understood it, was really a parable of risk and reward. The reward was more responsibility. The man who had been given ten talents was rewarded with ten more for being faithful; more reward and more responsibility. It seemed that the more he discovered, the greater the value of the discovery and the greater the responsibility. Perhaps that was where his life had always been headed.

He wondered, like others often did about their lives…Was it worth it? Of course it was. Life is a precious gift. There are no do-overs, and you have to live each and every day like it is the first day and the last day you will ever get to live. He had tried to do that. He was doing that now.

Why else would he be driving through the insanity of a hurricane to get back to Epcot?

CHAPTER FORTY - EIGHT

One Day Ago
7:30
P.M.

I
t took an eternity to get back to Epcot. As he drove back onto Walt Disney World property, Hawk discovered that some trees were down, and the roadways inside the resort were not as easy to navigate. Once the storm passed and the weather was manageable, their road crews would quickly have the network of roads and highways opened and ready for guests to use. But that would have to wait until the storm passed. Hawk traversed the massive, empty Epcot parking lot and drove right up to the main gates. As he parked and exited the vehicle into the torrents of rain, something strange caught his eye. He shielded his eyes with his hand and squinted up at the monorail station to be sure he wasn’t imagining things. His monorail was gone. He had left Monorail Red there earlier, and Shep had said that he instructed the crews to leave them. Red would have been safe enough in the Epcot monorail station, but someone had decided to move the monorail after the CAA’s word had been given to leave it.

Hawk jumped the turnstile and then opened the security gate with his key and once again made his way inside. The sky was dark and the brief relief he got from the rain beneath Spaceship Earth was a welcome one. The wind howled in a lonely moan under the attraction as it wound its way through any open spaces it could find. It was now strong and steady. An occasional gust would feel as if it would blow him over, but even without the bursts of air, the steady strength of the wind was making movement much more difficult.

Mission: SPACE was deserted just as it had been before. This time Hawk wasted no time going to the control center. Sitting in front of the same keypad, he typed in
31537 31770
, Ollie Elsie, and once again the screens came to life and the
Man in Space
TV show filled the screens. Almost immediately Ollie appeared. With a wave, he motioned for Hawk to leave the control center and come with him. Silently Hawk followed Ollie up a set of stairs, down a hallway, and through a set of doors that opened into a hospitality room that gave the guests there a view of the queue line from a high vantage point. Ollie motioned for Hawk to take a seat on one of the couches.

“So, where is your friend?” Ollie said, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m not sure,” Hawk said, rolling his neck. “But you were right about her. She’s trouble. A lot of trouble.”

“Hopefully you handled it.”

“I hope so. For now, anyway.” Hawk nodded.

“So were you successful?”

“I think so.” Hawk took off the ring and handed it to Ollie. “This is what I ended up finding.”

“Good. You will need it.” Ollie approved.

“For what?”

“Whatever it is supposed to be used for, I suppose,” he said with a whimsical grin. “Is the weather getting bad out there?

“Yes, it’s a big storm.” Hawk tilted his head. “Where do you live, Ollie? Haven’t you been outside since I was here earlier?”

“Ah, I don’t get out much.” Ollie shrugged. “And I live here and there, but mostly here.”

“Here?”

“Here in Mission: SPACE…I have a room that Farren designed for me, just down the hall.” Ollie handed the ring back to Hawk.

“I live in a theme park as well, over in the Magic Kingdom.” Hawk replied.

“I’ve heard that. Small world isn’t it?” Ollie offered.

“No, not Small World. I live in the Fire Station on Main Street.” Hawk laughed, pleased at his Disney pun. “I’d like to hear about you. Why do you have a room here?”

“That is a story for another day, another time. I want to give you some more information. Now that your friend isn’t with you. It might be helpful.”

“You mean there’s more to the story?” Hawk eased up in his seat.

“Of course. I didn’t want to tell you everything earlier, there were two too many ears in the room. I didn’t think Miss Trouble needed to know it.” Ollie looked pleased that he had read Kiran and her intentions correctly.

“I’m glad you saved some of the story,” Hawk agreed.

Ollie took a seat across from Hawk. “The National Academy of Sciences and the Naval Research Laboratory supported a new space program back in the day called Project Vanguard. Disney Studios was asked to make a film about it, to introduce it to the American Public. The US Army was working on another project. It was called Project Redstone.”

“You made a reference to that earlier. I almost missed it, but it was helpful to know.”

“Good.” Ollie made a loose fist and tapped it against his heart, accepting Hawk’s compliment. “Most government officials backed Project Vanguard because it appeared to be more scientific than military. Project Redstone was more of a public relations risk because of Wernher von Braun and his past connection to the German war effort during World War II. History, no matter what others say, gave a clear picture of von Braun and his desire to get out of Germany, but perception means a lot… It did then, just as it does today.

“On October 4, 1957, Sputnik was fired into space in Russia. By November, the Russians had launched a dog into space aboard Sputnik 2. It didn’t take long for the US government to figure out that we were not just losing the Space Race, but that Russians were going to own space if we didn’t do something fast. By the time Sputnik 3 was coming on line, the powers that be had abandoned Project Vanguard and made Project Redstone and Wernher von Braun our great hope to gain dominance in space.”

“I never knew any of that,” Hawk admitted.

“Why would you? It’s ancient history for most. For years, these stories were lost in the glory of the greatest days of NASA and the space program. Those days were something special. They inspired the Imagineers to create Mission: SPACE like they did.”

“Ollie, are you an Imagineer?” Hawk raised an eyebrow. There was a part of Hawk that thought he might not only have been an Imagineer, but the third Imag-ineer he had been looking for. He was still not convinced that Kiran actually had him in her clutches.

“Nope, just an old-timer who has a great respect for history.” Ollie closed his eyes and retraced where he had been in his story. He opened them again and continued on. “Wernher von Braun announced to the world on November 8, 1957 that within ninety days, the United States would have a satellite in orbit. He was right… I told you the other part of the story earlier.”

“So, you really don’t know what he discovered that night?” Hawk pressed.

“I really don’t.” Ollie raised his palms. “I have some theories. I think Wernher realized that when he gained so much speed and so much altitude with his rocket that he either figured out something about the way objects behave in gravitational interaction…or…he had built into the Redstone rocket something extra, some design, some technology that pushed the limits of physics as we understood them. My theory is, it worked so well that it panicked him. So much so that he never had the chance to master what he had found or created and didn’t know how to share the secret with anyone.”

“Except Walt,” Hawk added.

“Except Walt,” Ollie agreed. “So it was a source of power, an idea about propulsion, a weapon, or something that defies the way we think about how the laws of the universe work. Whatever it was, no one noticed or knew enough to notice. Remember, Walt asked questions that NASA never knew to ask. Wernher recognized Walt’s genius. That is how they ended up friends and why the trusted each other.”

“So this secret is hidden out there somewhere?”

“Apparently…and it’s more valuable than any of us realize,” Ollie added.

“But Walt realized it. That’s why he kept it a secret. He didn’t know what to do with it or knew the world wasn’t ready to handle it,” Hawk summarized.

“Yes, but he was also smart enough to know that people would do whatever it took to get their hands on it, to use for their own purposes and profit. So he didn’t tell anyone. No family, no friends. So there is nothing about it in the Disney Archives.”

“I’m trying to find it now,” Hawk said.

“You have to. It has been too long, too many people suspect, and the world is changing. You have to find it either to keep it a secret or to figure out what to do with it.”

“Or a combination of both.” Hawk shrugged.

“Yes,” Ollie said. “I have something else to show you.”

Ollie pulled out his cell phone. It was an oversized multimedia smart phone, a brand and style that Hawk had never seen. He turned the screen toward Hawk and pushed the play icon. Just as Hawk had seen many times before, the screen went dark and then the familiar face and voice of Farren Rales appeared. Seated in front of Spaceship Earth, the Imagineer looked toward the camera and spoke to Hawk.

“Grayson, it is good to see you. The fact that you have found my dear friend Ollie and are watching this now means you are still on the hunt. That’s good. I can only imagine how tough it has been and how difficult it must have been to this point. Sometimes great men display their brilliance and bravery in what they do and sometimes in what they don’t do. Showing restraint and wisdom is sometimes where greatness is most powerful and usually unnoticed and unseen. You are on the trail of something that Walt Disney understood needed to be protected, hidden, and kept secret. It was a secret given to him by his friend Wernher von Braun. Its discovery could turn the world upside down…then and now. All you have to do is go get it…the same place it was found…and then you decide what happens next. I’m not worried about whatever that next might be, because like Walt, you are great. Your brilliance and bravery are guided by wisdom, and I know Walt would be proud of you, just like I’m proud of you.”

The screen went blank.

“That’s it.” Ollie turned the phone back toward himself, hit a few buttons, and then put it back in his pocket. “You have everything you need. Like I told you earlier, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do or exactly what it is you’re looking for. I just know that Farren told me to show you this if you came back with the ring. You did, I did, so now it’s up to you.”

“What’s up to me?” Hawk asked.

“It is up to you to save the world.”