The Red Box

This novel primarily takes place on the paradise island of Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize in Central America. The Flynn bothers, Matt and Murray, have invented an antigravity device, the Red Box, which makes a host platform weightless. Their first application of the technology is a seaplane called Baldie after the American bald eagle. The Red Box is replete with attempts by thieves to steal this toaster-size device and reverse-engineer it to bolster national economies. As a result, many action scenes from Paris to Hong Kong remind the reader of famous car chase scenes. Armed with patents and preliminary approval to operate in American airspace, the Flynns conclude a production agreement with a global transportation company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. While the first five Baldies are assembled in Homestead, Florida, so they can fly over the Everglades National Park en route to Belize for flight testing, Baldie 6 rolls off the production line in Vance, Alabama. The Red Box can create a million high-technology jobs within the American transportation systems and even in the space industry. A president running for reelection understands its impact and uses the Baldie to his advantage in a national barnstorming tour and the 1M campaign. Congress authorizes an annual $1 billion tax-free licensing fee required by the Flynns in hopes of gaining large tax revenues. The final chapter has an American-German team selecting the next applications after the Baldie. The rationale for the selections challenges the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. By the end of the story, the reader realizes that a Red Box, should it ever become a reality, could put a miniature Baldie in every garage.