Nelson

"This the oldest forest on Atlantis," Enoch said. "It was planted thirty-two years ago, shortly after the rise was considered to be complete."

"Not bad," Matt said. "Knowing how long the continent has been above water makes it easy to keep track. How big is it?"

"Something over a square mile. Entirely oak, about a dozen species as I recall. Sir Walter had them planted, the acorns harvested and transported here within weeks after falling from the trees in America. They're spaced for optimum growth, so it looks a little thin now. Another twenty years and the canopies will be close to shading the entire area the sun, it will be dark here."

"Sir Walter always thinks ahead," said Matt. "In everything."

"He does. It's the main reason he's the de facto leader of the Lords. Besides being the first one, the one Edward Beaumont chose to help him put the Knights together. The other eight were jointly chosen by him and Beaumont. First among equals as it is said, although Sir Walter has never considered himself anything other than a peer in the Nine."

"I'll show you a few other projects later. For now let's get over to the airfield."

AAF Manchester was the first Atlantean Air Force base and was the center of Atlantean military aviation. Sir Walter had been responsible for the development of Atlantean aviation - military and civilian - and still was actively involved. He was often present at Manchester or other installations but not today.

"Sir Walter is in the U.S. for meetings with the Coalition leaders," Enoch said. "The war there is coming to an end, possibly before the end of the year. He and the other Lords will be busy for a while with that."

Matt was well aware of the situation in his homeland. He had first come into contact with Atlantis during the early days when he encountered a team of Sir Walter's operatives. Before long he found himself not only involved in Atlantean operations but actually flying to Atlantis. Now he was here for an extended tour.

"I suspect he will," Matt said. "They seem to have things in hand."

The car had stopped in an area populated with military-type buildings - Quonset huts of various sizes, some quite large, and larger sheet metal buildings. The control tower was just a couple of hundred yards away.

"That's the main runway," Enoch said, indicating the control tower. "Just over three miles long. Take us over to sector C."

The driver complied, turning onto a road that ran along the perimeter. After about a mile they entered sector C. The driver parked and they got out. A small vehicle like a golf cart, driven by a young man in the uniform of the AAF, was waiting. The driver got out and greeted them.

"I'm Captain Nunn," he said. "Colonel Halt advises me you're here to see the 216. It's just over there."

They got in and the captain drove through the small maze to an aircraft parking area. The large concrete pad was about a hundred yards long and wide, in the center a large dark grey aircraft was parked. The captain drove to within fifty feet or so and stopped. Enoch and Matt got disembarked and walked nearer.

"Officially the A-36," Enoch said. "Still referred to as the 216 by those associated with the development."

"Nice-looking aircraft."

"It is," said Enoch. "Sir Walter says - as do most when it comes to aircraft - that form follows function. As you know Sir Walter is fond of what he calls the Golden Age of military aviation. Primarily the US Air Force of that era, although the Russians and even the Europeans had some interesting things. As a young man he served a few years and became interested in the development of aircraft. He believed that they lost their way after 2000 or so.

"He believed that politics ruined all things military and the Lords don't want to make that mistake, so Atlantean aircraft utilize a lot of old designs with a judicious use of new techology where warranted. The 216 project was something he conceived from that theory. He was familiar with a couple of aircraft from the Vietnam era and believed that combining them could result in a formidable aircraft for some purposes.

"The F-105 was a big aircraft, too large to be an effective fighter - even so 105s scored a number of kills on MiGs. Its primary mission was as a penetration bomber capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, thus it had an internal bay and could fly supersonic at low altitudes. It had a 20-millimeter cannon and could carry air-to-air missiles.

"The F-111 came into service later and also saw service in Vietnam and performed some impressive missions later. It was also too big to be a fighter and like the 105, more so actually, was optimized for low-level penetration. Sir Walter took some of the best properties of both and designed what he called the 216 - adding the two model numbers together.

"It had the internal weapons bay of both aircraft with the side-by-side crew seating. Like the 105 it had a cannon - in this case a one and a quarter inch, just a hair larger than 30 millimeters. The variable geometry of the 111 was not included, instead it has a delta wing with a canard. Like the 111 it has two engines, and is capable of slightly over Mach 3 in some configurations, generally it's in the 2.6 to 2.8 range. Like the 111 it has TFR and can run down on the deck in the dark as they say. It can do well over Mach 1 at that level - the target doesn't hear it until it's past."

"Impressive," Matt said. "Being able to afford it is a luxury few have."

"None have it," said Enoch. "The U.S. was on its last legs before the civil war began, in terms of being able to dominate world affairs - whether economically of in politics. Military force proved pitifully inadequate when it fell apart. A good thing actually - if they had had the ability, or believed they had it, they would have gone to war on two fronts at once when they couldn't handle one.

"Except for a few tiny insignificant countries all nations have substantial debt and while that doesn't stop them spending money they don't have it does mean that they can't do what Atlantis can. The 216 is somewhat frivolous even for us but we can afford it. But there are missions for which it can be better than anything else in existence."