Lash-Up

by Larry Bond

National Military Command Center

  The Pentagon

  October 7, 2017

  Ray looked around the fabled war room. Every available chair was filled, most by someone wearing a uniform with stars on it.

  The Joint Chiefs themselves sat on both sides of a long table, with the chairman at the head on the left. A briefer’s podium stood empty at the head, and behind the podium, the entire wall was an active video display.

  Several rows of chairs to one side of the main table were filled with a gaggle of aides, experts, and assorted hangers-on, including Ray. Nervously, he typed on his tablet PC, working on the design that was never finished.

  The vice chairman, a navy admiral, stepped up to the podium, and the buzz in the room quickly died. “Gentlemen, the Chairman.”

  Everyone rose, and Ray saw General Kastner, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, enter and take his seat. McConnell wasn’t normally awed by rank, but he realized that this collection of stars could really make things happen. They literally were responsible for defending the country, and that’s what they’d met to do.

  The vice chairman, Admiral Blair, clicked a remote. A chart appeared on the screen. It was titled “Protection of Space Assets.”

  “Gentlemen, our task today is to find a course of action that will protect our satellites from Chinese attack. Any solution we consider”—and he started to tick off items on the list—“must address the cost, the technological risk, the time it would take to implement, and any political repercussions.” He glanced over at Kastner, who nodded approvingly.

  Blair continued. “Above all,” he said, scanning the entire room, “it must work, and work soon. The material costs alone already have been severe, and the potential effects on American security are incalculable.

  “For purposes of this discussion, while cost should be considered, it is not a limitation. Also, the president considers these attacks by China an attack on American vital interests, although he has not made that decision public.”

  Nor will he, Ray thought, until we can do something about them. So cost wasn’t a problem—just shut down the Chinese, and do it quickly.

  Blair put a new slide up on the display, listing some conventional methods of attack. “You’ve all sent analyses indicating that these are not viable options. Our purpose is to see what other means you’ve developed since then.”

  Kastner stood up, taking Blair’s place at the podium. Blair sat down at his left. The chairman looked around the room. “To save time, let me ask a few questions.”

  The chairman looked at the chief of naval operations. “Can we use a missile to shoot down the kill vehicle?”

  Admiral Kramer answered quickly. “We’d hoped that would work, sir, but we’re sure now that we can’t. We had two Aegis ships in a position to track the last ASAT shot seven days ago. We’ve been analyzing the data since.”

  “The Tien Lung”—Kramer pronounced the Chinese name carefully—“is too fast. Our SM3 missile can shoot down a ballistic missile, but as hard as a missile intercept is, it’s easier than this. At least a ballistic missile is a closing target, but the ASAT vehicle is outbound the whole way. It’s a tail chase from the start. Even if we launched at the same instant, the intercept basket is nonexistent.”

  “Does the army concur?” Kastner looked at the army’s chief of staff. The army also had an active antiballistic-missile system.

  “Yes, sir. It’s simply impossible from the surface of the earth.” General Forest didn’t look pleased.

  Ray realized the general had just told the chairman that the army didn’t have a role in solving the crisis. Of course, the commandant of the Marine Corps looked even unhappier. This was one beach his men couldn’t hope to storm.

  General Kastner announced, “I’m also allowed to tell you that there are no special assets that might be able to destroy the launch site using unconventional methods.”

  In other words, Ray thought, they can’t get an agent into the area. He didn’t even want to think about how he’d destroy the launcher. Talk about The Guns of Navarone …

  Which meant they were getting desperate. Ray saw what Kastner was doing: eliminating options one by one. He knew about Defender. He had to know. Ray didn’t know what to feel. Was this actually going to happen? Fear started to replace hope.

  General Warner finally broke the silence. “Sir, the air force thinks we can make the Defender concept work.”

  Admiral Kramer shot a surprised look at Schultz, sitting next to Ray. Then both looked at McConnell, who shrugged helplessly. He was equally surprised and confused. Warner’s aide began typing commands on the display, and Ray saw Defender’s image appear on the wall. This was becoming a little too surreal.

  Others in the room thought so as well, although for different reasons. A low murmur rose and quickly fell, and Ray saw many shaking their heads in disbelief. Just because all other options had been eliminated didn’t mean they’d automatically accept this one.

  “Captain Barnes from our Rapid Capabilities Office has put together a presentation on the design.” Ray saw a black air force captain with astronaut’s wings step up to the podium. As he started to speak, McConnell suddenly felt irritation, an almost proprietary protectiveness about the ship, especially when he saw that the graphic on the front had been changed to add U.S. insignia and “USAF.”

  It was his idea. Ray wanted to speak up, then silenced his inner voice. This was what he’d wanted, to have his idea accepted and adopted. After all, the goal was to stop the Chinese and protect U.S. satellites. Remember the big picture, he thought. But the irritation persisted.

  Barnes seemed enthusiastic about the design, and had to be some sort of engineer. He spoke knowledgeably and had resolved some design issues. Ray wasn’t familiar with all of the gear Barnes had added, but he understood its function. Some of the changes made sense, but the captain completely missed the boat on others. Ray tried to be fair. Nobody knew Defender as well as he did, or, at least, that’s what he wanted to believe.

  Ray spoke softly to Schultz beside him. “He’s made some mistakes. Power management will not work like that.” Schultz lifted one eyebrow in response but didn’t say anything. The admiral pulled out his tablet and typed quickly. Kramer, watching the presentation from the long table, glanced down at his pad and tapped something, then looked over at Schultz, nodding. They watched the rest of the brief in silence. There was nothing about the larger questions that Vice Admiral Schultz had raised earlier that morning.

  The last slide read “Questions?” and General Forest started to ask a question, but Admiral Kramer spoke up. “Excuse me, General, but Mr. McConnell, the engineer who led the Defender design team, is here, and can add to what Captain Barnes has presented.”

  Schultz nudged Ray, and the engineer stood up and moved toward the podium. As he passed Admiral Kramer, the naval officer muttered, “Go get ’em, Ray.” The engineer had never felt less like getting anyone in his life.

  As he approached the podium, Captain Barnes shot him a hard look, seemingly reluctant to leave. Ray said, “Hello,” conscious of the captain’s sudden obsolescence, and tried to smile pleasantly. Barnes nodded politely, if silently, picked up his notes, and returned to his chair.

  Ray was acutely aware of the many eyes on him. He linked his tablet to the screen and transferred his own presentation to the display. He used the moment’s fiddling to gather his wits. He’d given dozens of briefs. This was just a little more impromptu than most. And much more important.

  “As Vice Admiral Schultz said, I’m Ray McConnell, and I led the team that produced the Defender concept. It uses the Lockheed Martin VentureStar prototype with equipment currently available to detect launches, maneuver to an intercept position, and kill the attacking ASAT vehicle. It also has the capability to attack the launch site from medium Earth orbit.”

  Barnes had said that much, Ray knew, but he’d felt a need to also make that declaration, to say to these men himself what Defender was and what
it could do.

  He opened the file and rapidly flipped through the large document. McConnell realized that the pilot had done a pretty good job of summarizing Defender, so he concentrated instead on the work that had gone into selecting and integrating the different systems. That was his specialty, anyway, and it improved the credibility of his high-tech offspring.

  A message appeared on his tablet from Admiral Schultz as he talked. “Are there any army or Marine systems in the design?” Ray understood immediately what Schultz was driving at. There wasn’t a piece of army or Marine gear anywhere on the ship, and Ray mentally kicked himself for not understanding the importance of Pentagon diplomacy.

  Ray spent most of his time explaining the command and control scheme and how the spacecraft would be supported on the ground. By the time he finished, he felt positive as he assured the assembled generals that there were no insurmountable problems in building Defender. He glanced at Barnes, but the captain was head down, typing.

  “Thank you, Mr. McConnell.” Kastner rose again, and Ray quickly returned to his seat, barely remembering to grab his data pad. “I’m much more confident about Defender’s ability, and possibility, than I was at the start of this meeting. It is my intention to recommend to the president that Defender be built, and soon.”

  Ray felt a little numb. Schultz gave him a small nudge and smiled.

  “We haven’t really discussed the political implications of arming spacecraft.” General Forest’s tone was carefully neutral, but his expression was hard, almost hostile. Would he fight Defender?

  Kastner was nodding, though. “A good point, Ted, and part of our task.” He looked around the table. “Admiral Kramer?”

  “I believe the Chinese have solved that issue for us, sir. They’ve fired the first shot, and said so proudly and publicly.” He smiled. “I think Defender’s name was well chosen.”

  General Warner added quickly, “I concur. There’s no guarantee that the Chinese will stop with just GPS satellites, and there’s every likelihood that their capabilities will expand. More frequent launches, and the ability to destroy satellites in higher orbits. That puts our communications satellites, even our nuclear-warning satellites, at risk. Consider the political implications of not acquiring this capability.”

  “All of our public statements will emphasize that we are taking these steps only as a result of Chinese attacks,” Kastner stated.

  Admiral Kramer quickly asked, “Should Defender even be made public? So far, it’s only been circulated on SIPRNET, so we can keep its existence classified. With enough warning, the Chinese might be able to take some sort of countermeasure.”

  Kastner considered only a moment before answering. “All right. My recommendation will be that Defender remain secret until after its first use.”

  General Warner announced, “I’ll have my people look for a suitable development site immediately. With all the air force bases we’ve closed…”

  “Your people aren’t the only ones with runways, General. This is a navy program. Mr. McConnell is a navy employee,” Kramer interrupted.

  “And that’s why he put his design on SIPRNET, because of the tremendous navy support he was receiving.” Warner fixed his gaze on Kramer, almost challenging him to interrupt. “It was my understanding that he offered this design to the DoD as a private citizen. Certainly the air force is the best service to manage an aerospace-warfare design. We’ll welcome navy participation, of course.”

  “The navy has just as much technological expertise as the air force. And more in some of the most critical areas…”

  Ray understood what was going on even as it horrified him. Defender would mean a new mission, and, if it worked, a lot of publicity, and more important, money. That mattered in these lean times, but the implications went beyond just a bigger slice of the pie. A revolutionary capability could have a significant impact on the defense industry, recruiting, and even the manned space program. It could also change the future in ways they couldn’t even guess. But now they were arguing over the prize like children.

  “The army’s experience with ballistic-missile defense means we should be able to contribute as well.” General Forest’s tone wasn’t pleading, but his argument almost did.

  Kastner spoke forcefully. “We will meet again at zero eight hundred hours tomorrow morning. Every service will prepare a summary of the assets it can contribute, and any justification it might feel for wanting to manage the project.”

  Oh, boy, thought Ray. It’s going to be a long night.

  7

  Genesis

  CNN Early News

  London, England

  October 8, 2017

  Trevor West stood outside Whitehall while morning traffic crept past him. His overcoat and umbrella provided some protection against the typically rainy London weather, but the brisk wind fought his words. He spoke loudly and held the microphone close.

  “After an emergency meeting of Parliament this morning, in which the prime minister spoke at length on China’s intentional disabling of the American GPS constellation, Her Majesty’s government has issued a stern condemnation of the Chinese attacks and has demanded that they cease immediately. The official démarche, presented to the Chinese ambassador approximately half an hour ago, protests not only the attacks themselves but also the militarization of space.

  “The Chinese ambassador received the diplomatic note without comment. The American ambassador was provided with a copy of the démarche and welcomed the British support, stating that the United States was doing everything in its power to defend its interests and property.

  “Ministry of Defense sources are unsure what the Americans plan to do about the Chinese attacks. MoD officials believe a direct attack on the launcher in southern China would be quite difficult given the Chinese air defenses and how deeply buried the gun is in the mountainside. And, of course, the GPS satellites themselves are entirely defenseless.

  “One source speculated that the Americans may try to threaten Chinese interests elsewhere in Asia, pressuring them into stopping their attacks. They say they’ve even seen some signs that this may already be occurring. Of course, military pressure risks widening the conflict—including open hostilities between the United States and China.

  “MoD officials refused to speculate what Her Majesty’s government’s position would be in such a situation.”

  Office of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force

  The Pentagon

  October 8, 2017

  Biff Barnes leaned back in the large leather chair and rubbed his eyes. He tried again to focus on the plans for Defender’s fly-by-wire system—no luck. All the lines, numbers, and letters had become fuzzy. Standing, he stretched and suppressed a large yawn. It had been a long night. He and a dozen other officers had spent it in the posh executive conference room, laboring nonstop to transform the Defender design concept into a proper air force acquisition program. The large flat-screen displays at the end of the conference table showed the overall Defender design side by side with the standard DoD chart showing a program’s plan of action and milestones. Blueprints, data printouts, and tablet PCs covered the table, mixed with an army’s worth of empty Styrofoam coffee cups, Chinese takeout boxes from the night before, and doughnut boxes from that morning.

  The past forty-eight hours had compressed into an indistinguishable blur. First, the mad rush to meet with the chief of staff, and then essentially being drafted to be the air force’s lead on the Defender program. The run-up to the JCS meeting that followed was just as fast-paced, with Barnes preparing and then presenting a logical argument for why Defender was not only plausible but was their best chance to level the playing field with the Chinese. And, oh, why the air force should own Defender. But the navy had effectively upstaged the air force and him with Ray McConnell. Like any fighter pilot, Biff didn’t take being outmaneuvered well. It was also his first real run-in with honest-to-God interservice rivalry.

  Of course, Biff was well aware of th
e competition between the various services. No one who served in Washington, D.C., could miss it, but he hadn’t been a participant in a bare knuckles fight at the general-officer level before. Barnes considered himself a damn fine pilot, but he had no delusions about his place in the grand scheme of things. He was just another minor cog in a much greater machine.

  And yet he suddenly found himself dragged into the “stratosphere,” the highest levels of the U.S. Air Force, tasked to do new and challenging things. Things that had never been done before, and those things would change the very nature of the air force. Biff found it all very exciting, and at the same time somewhat unsettling. The risks were considerable, but then so, too, were the potential rewards. The fighter pilot in him eagerly embraced the challenge. But in a dark corner of his mind, a small voice asked if this was going to help or hurt his chances of making major.

  * * *

  When the air force contingent had left the JCS meeting eighteen hours earlier, General Ames had come up to Barnes and said, “You did a good job on your presentation, Clarence.”

  Barnes, already in a foul mood, interrupted. “Please, sir, just ‘Biff.’” Why was the general getting on a first-name basis?

  Ames smiled. “Fine then, Biff. Who knew the navy would back Defender as well? I certainly didn’t expect they’d bring in McConnell himself to argue their case. All things considered, you did very well.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Biff was unsure where this was going, but the hairs on the back of his neck were starting to tingle. His instincts told him to check his six o’clock.

  “I need someone to put that presentation together, Biff. I’ll give you as many of the staff as you need, and you can set up in my conference room. We’ve got until zero eight hundred tomorrow to come up with a strong argument that will sell General Kastner on the air force owning Defender.”

  “Maybe you should get a lawyer,” Biff suggested. He was half-serious.

  “No, I want a pilot, and you’re the only one in sight who’s also been an astronaut.”