"Master Xavier, I have received word from your Father. He wants you to come up with a name for your aerospace company, and a logo" said Nina, popping her head into my room, which had been finally converted from a pastel-covered nursery into a more functional bedroom for me.
"I anticipated as much, Nina. Here, have a look." I said, pulling up the details on my computer screen.
Nina walked over to the computer, and looked at the screen.
"Black Star Aerospace. Sounds ominous, and quite like you." she remarked looking at the name and the logo of a 5-pointed black star on an ivory background.
"Here, you can send this." I said, handing her a USB drive.
Nina took the USB drive, and left the room.
I sat back in my chair, and looked around the room. It was a far cry from the pastel-covered nursery that it had been. The walls were painted a deep blue, with a large bookshelf filled with technical books, and a desk with my computer. The bed was a large four-poster bed, with a dark blue canopy. The room was lit by a large chandelier, and the floor was covered in a thick blue carpet.
I looked over the designs I had come up with. A massive low-bypass turbofan engine with afterburners, a supersonic transport/strategic weapons platform, and a pressurized water based cooling system. While I had told Father that I wanted to build something by myself, I still wanted his own empire to grow, and I did owe him for providing me with the start-up resources.
To repay him somewhat, I had also designed steam turbines for the nuclear power plants, and a new reactor core design that would allow for a closed fuel cycle and reduce the amount of waste produced.
I sighed, and leaned back in my chair. Father had gone for over a month now, I was starting to miss him, and wonder what he was doing.
----
I groggily awoke to the clip-clopping of Nina's heels as she opened the blinds in my bedroom. I yawned and sat up from the bed.
"It's early Nina" I grumbled petulantly.
"Your father is back, Master Xavier. He will arrive at the manor shortly. You need to get ready" she said, as she walked over to the wardrobe.
I sprang from the bed. "Father's back?!" I exclaimed, as I ran over to the wardrobe.
"Indeed he is, and he has brought a few guests with him." chuckled Nina as she helped me into my now signature black suit with an ivory cravat.
It took nearly all my self-control to walk instead of bound down the stairs to the main hall, and I saw my father standing with a small group of men, looking around the same age or even slightly older than him. I fought down the urge to run and hug him, but then he saw me, got down on one knee, and held out his arms. My resolve broke, and I ran into his arms.
"Father! You're back!" I exclaimed, as I hugged him.
"Indeed I am, Xavier. And I have brought some guests with me." he said, as he let go of me and stood up.
I turned to face a group of men, looking down at me with sceptical expressions on their faces.
"Xavier, meet your new engineering team. They will be working with you to bring your designs to life." said Father, gently nudging me forward.
"Gentlemen. Welcome to Black Star Aerospace, I am Xavier Blackthorn. I may be young and inexperienced, but never mistake that for incompetence. I look forward to working with all of you." I said, as I extended my hand to the group.
A tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward, and shook my hand.
"I am Kurt Heisenberg, I look forward to seeing what you are capable of, Herr Xavier. Even if my colleagues are sceptical." he said in a thick German accent.
I smiled, and turned to the rest of the group, but their expressions were now both sceptical and hard.
"Hey Blackthorn! When you said we'll be working with your son, I assumed he was an adult, not some pint-sized pipsqueak!" snarled a man with red hair and a thick Yorkshire accent.
"Yeah, I ain't leaving BAE Systems to babysit some snot-nosed brat who thinks he knows how to build a jet engine!" sneered another man in his early 40s with a thick Cockney accent.
"Very well, anyone who thinks of me that way are free to leave. However, if you trust Herr Kurt's assessment, I guarantee it won't be misplaced." I said coldly.
The rest of the men in the group just snorted derisively, stalked out of the house.
Kurt Heisenberg turned to me, and smiled a pained smile.
"I'm sorry, Herr Xavier. I am considered somewhat of a black sheep in the industry." he said.
I smiled back at him. "It's alright, Herr Kurt. I'm used to scepticism. I just need to prove them wrong." I said, as I turned to my father.
"Father, I assume you have a plan for the rest of the day?" I asked.
"Indeed I do, Xavier. Come along, I'll show you." he said, as he led me out of the main hall.
----
I blinked dumbfounded at the sight before me. A massive underground facility, with fabrication equipment, a wind tunnel, and a test stand for engines, and almost every other piece of equipment that was needed to build aircraft, had been built under the Blackthorn estate.
"Herr Kurt, I appreciate your trust in me, but I think we will need a bit more people than just to two of us." I said as I looked around the facility.
"Who said anything about it being just the two of you? This is our reactor fabrication and testing facility. It has only been expanded to include a wind tunnel and a gas turbine engine testing bay." chuckled Father.
I turned to him, and blinked. "You mean to say that you have already hired the rest of the team?" I asked.
"No, I have not. I have my own nuclear engineering team that I can let you 'borrow' for a while." said Father.
I turned to Kurt, who was looking around the facility in awe.
"Looks like we have our work cut out for us, Herr Kurt." I said, as I extended my hand to him.
He took it, and smiled. "Indeed we do, Herr Xavier. Let's get to work." he said, as he led me to the CNC machines.
----
"Helga, Olga, Liesel, and Monique. I am assigning you to the Black Star Aerospace team. You will report directly to Xavier." said Charles Blackthorn, to the four women seated in front of him in his office.
Liesel timidly raised her hand. "Sir, isn't Xavier only 5 years old?" she asked.
"Yes he is. However, he fancies himself an engineering genius. So I've decided to indulge him a bit and see what he comes up with" said Charles, a steely glint in his cold blue eyes, that implied that regardless of what they thought or believed, they didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
The four women exchanged glances laced with curiosity and fear. They realized that they were not being asked but assigned. They all nodded.
"Very well, sir. We will report to Xavier." said Monique, and Charles dismissed them.
"Well ladies, it seems like we have won the babysitting lottery." chuckled Olga, as they walked out of the office, the absence of Charles immediately releasing their tension.
"Five years of engineering school, six months of hands-on training, and now I'm stuck building toy planes with the boss-man's kid." grumbled Liesel.
"Oh come on, Liesel. We're all engineers. We can go back to our real jobs after a few days of humouring the little lord." said Helga.
"I've heard that Xavier is extremely adorable. I'm sure playing aerospace engineer with him for a few days will be a nice holiday from working on reactor cores." giggled Monique.
"Adorable or not, rumour has it he's even more obsessed with high heels and tights than his father. Must be a Blackthorn family quirk." chuckled Olga.
"Just what I need. Having to run behind a five-year-old who thinks he's an engineering genius while trying not to twist an ankle." grumbled Liesel.
"You keep complaining about that, Liesel, but you're the one wearing the highest heels." teased Monique.
"T-That's because all of you are so much taller than me!" protested Liesel, blushing crimson and smacking Monique on her arm as they walked to the Black Star Aerospace section of the facility.