October 1st, Passignano sul Trasimeno
Gaetano Crocco and
Antonio Ferri almost bumped into each other as the door to the
SAI Ambrosini[1] headquarters was opened by the doorman.
"My apologies." Antonio said. "My mind was elsewhere."
"I know the sort well." Gaetano replied. "Gaetano." He extended his hand.
Antonio returned the offered handshake firmly. "Antonio. I think we might be here for the same reason."
"Tho it seems they chose to keep that a mystery." Gaetano replied. "Whatever they did, it did not sit well with my previous employer[2]. I am forced to assume there was a large exchange of money or lawers."
Before Antonio could muster a reply, a man in a sharp suit, his posture oozing with a distain for those lower then his social status. "Ah, you must be the two men I was requested to retrieve." The tone of the comment was just short of acidic. "If you will come with me." He turned and began moving to the staircase. Gaetano and Antonio followed. After winding though hallways, the arrived at a set of double doors. There escort opened one and motioned for them to go inside.
A man sat behind the large desk near the windows, ideally fiddling with a model of a plane. Several more adorned the desk along with the usual trappings of an executive. Looking up, he addressed the two men in the doorway. "Ah, you are here early, please be seated." he did not move from behind the desk and continued to fiddle with the model.
Antonio and Gaetano exchanged glances, and then took the offered seats. The door closed behind them.
"Now, I am going to cut to the chase gentlemen." The model reoccupied its display stand. "I have brought you here for one reason. You are the brightest minds in aerodynamics and reaction-gas propulsion that this country has [3]. I want to put you together for a task that will resonate thought history. I want you to make a man travel faster then the sound of my words."
[1] Selected for this project because of the Sagittario and Sagittario 2
[2] After his historical tenure at Aeronautic Engineering School ended in 1942 (historical), he joined the team at Fiat working on turbojets.
[3] Luigi Broglio is still in the service of the Aeronautica Militare and might join the project at a later date.