Daily activities were gradually returning to normal. Mike Harris had been following the developments but had never let his demanding work load moderate. His frustration level had risen sharply with the original nuclear attack and it rose again with the announcement of The Visitor's sighting. His crew became less dependable as society in general ground to a halt. His deadline for completing the flight test on the latest model space plane had come and gone without his test being completed. The major remaining problem was a Helmholtz resonator which was created with the deployment of the landing gear. This transient harmonic produced sound levels of 140 decibels in the cockpit. The noise level was so high that it produced pain and disrupted the pilot's concentration. He had drawn up plans for several possible dampening shields for the gear openings, but the manufacturing section had all but closed down and the shields remained unbuilt. Mike walked into the maintenance section and found only the section chief working. He asked the chief if he could build the sound shields out of plywood for the next test flight. The chief reported that using plywood on the space plane seemed inappropriate but Mike explained how the shields worked only as sound baffles and were in a low pressure region. The chief agreed and they built the sound shields out of 2 inch plywood. They then installed them with simple hardware to the sides of the landing gear so that they partially divided the gear opening, hopefully preventing the harmonic. The test pilots inspected the installation and shook their heads but agreed to the flight. The takeoff was normal and the gear came up normally. They accelerated to just below Mach 1 and then after trial maneuvers returned to Boeing Field for a landing approach. As they slowed to "gear down" speed they unconsciously clenched their teeth expecting the howling vibration to set in. They were amazed at the lack of noise and excitedly called Mike at Boeing to congratulate him. After landing they taxied back to the hangar, where Mike and the maintenance chief were waiting. As soon as the engines were shut down, Mike ran out to inspect the plywood shields. They were intact and the experiment a success.
When Administration finally read the test reports, they were in an uproar over the unorthodox methods Mike had used. The labor union was even more upset because of the inappropriate use of management labor to construct the sound shields. After Mike had listened to the complaints and admonishments he announced, "Enough is enough and I quit."
The administrator looked shocked and said, "Mike as head project engineer you cannot just quit."
Mike laughed and left. As Mike was leaving the parking lot, he decided to stop at the local watering hole. As usual, several of the engineering staff were on hand, fortifying themselves for the drive home. The junior engineers acknowledged Mike as he entered, but instead of joining their group he sat at a table by himself. Mike had a few beers but found no solace in the alcohol and he decided to leave. As he was leaving, the project manager came in and saw Mike. Mike wanted to avoid him but he could not leave without passing him. They ended up at the table together. Mike was asked why he had blown up and quit. Mike responded, "I had enough B.S. and figured that it was time for me to make a change." The project manager asked him to reconsider saying that the project really needed his skills and that administration would leave him alone. Mike genuinely appreciated the offer but rejected it. He said, "This project is almost done and I need to take some time to figure out what I want to do. I have not yet taken time to recover from my divorce, which I did not want in the first place. It was that damn church, which brainwashed Tisch into believing that my work was evil, causing her to divorce me. Now is a good time for me to work on my own life." He was uncertain as to his future, but he vowed to use his engineering skills somewhere he was appreciated.