On his way to the beach home, Elizabeth calls again. He wants to answer but is still stubbornly angry. He knows it’s childish but feels like he needs to prove it isn’t all in his mind. His meeting with Carl isn’t sufficient evidence and he can’t share any of it on an open phone line anyway.
She texts, “Where are you?”
He texts back, “Texas.”
Her response is instant. “Damn it, Josh. You ran off without even bothering to tell me. I thought you’d been mugged.”
“I was.”
“You think that’s cute but it’s not funny. I was worried.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have told you. I just need time to figure some things out.”
There’s a delay. “Ok, but we really need to talk soon. Please stay in touch. I saw Joe Meadows at the U.N. yesterday. I think he’s back in Houston. Maybe you should look him up.”
“Good idea.” In fact, it is a good idea and one of the reasons he returned to Houston.
She replies. “I’ll come there as soon as I can.”
“I appreciate that but I don’t need a baby sitter. You’re doing important work and you need to keep doing that. I’ll be fine.”
Josh drives to the Johnson Space Center where the International Space-based Laser and Observatory operations are located. The new building is more industrial looking than it is pretty, but it’s now the largest building at the Center. The sign in front reads, “Space Based Planetary Defense.” Under it, in smaller letters, “United Nations Global Security Directorate.”
The lobby is large. He goes up to the main receptionist and says, “I’m Josh Fuze, here to see Admiral Meadows.”
She smiles and nods, and then looks at her screen. Frowning, she looks up. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t see you on the appointment calendar.”
“I’m not scheduled.”
She becomes all business. “I’m sorry sir. Admiral Meadows is extremely busy and doesn’t take unscheduled meetings.”
“I understand but could you please let him know I’m here. I can return later if needed.”
She gives him a professional smile. “Yes, of course,” but doesn’t pick up the phone or make any keyboard entries.
He thanks her and sits down in the waiting area directly across from her. He keeps a smile on his face but continues to watch her.
With a mild look of irritation, she finally picks up the phone.
A minute later, he hears Meadows’ booming voice, “Josh, get your butt over here!”
Josh stands up and meets him in front of the surprised receptionist. Meadows hugs him and pounds him on the back. Turning to the receptionist, he says, “This is the true unsung hero of the comet deflection effort.”
They take the elevator to the top floor. Meadows’ office is impressive in both size and view. As they sit, Meadows says, “Congratulations on your wife’s promotion. I was tickled to hear Turan stole her from the Humanitarian Department. She now makes more money than I do.”
Josh nods. “And that forth star looks really good on you. No one deserves it more.”
“Ultimately, I have you to thank for that. If you hadn’t knocked on my door, I’d be a retired Navy Captain sitting on a beach somewhere.” He frowns and with a slight laugh adds, “Wait a minute. That actually sounds pretty good right now.”
“You’d have lasted a month on that beach before you were bored out of your mind. You’ll have to trust me on that.”
Looking serious, Meadows says, “Man, I hated to hear about Tim. He was a damn good man and we couldn’t have pulled the deflection off without him. He’ll be sorely missed.”
“Yeah, that’s one of the things I want to talk to you about.” He looks him in the eye. “Can we go for a … walk?”
Meadows looks surprised and then nods. “Of course.”
Within a few minutes, they’re walking in a nearby park.
Josh quietly says, “Sorry for the precaution, but I met with Brian Davidson a couple days before he died. He was concerned there’d been a high-level breach of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement and wanted me, as an outsider, to investigate.” Josh shakes his head. “I have no evidence but I find it hard to believe he died of a massive heart attack. Then, within days, we lose Tim.” Josh glances around and in a barely audible whisper says, “Just talked to Carl yesterday. He effectively dismissed it all as a coincidence, but then used the term ‘almost court marshalled.’”
Meadows frowns and in an equally soft voice, says, “I remember that. On the Resurrect Program ‘expert’ was his authentication code and ‘almost court marshalled’ was his emergency hostage code.” He shakes his head. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he’s being monitored, he either has to lie or risk putting his family in danger.”
“Josh, there are people and organizations terrified about the world’s path toward global government. It’s not public knowledge, but Turan’s been the target of more than one assassination attempt. Davidson and Turan worked together on several counter-terrorism projects. If there is a threat, I’m afraid Turan’s also at risk.” He pauses again. “There’s something else. The ISLO is harnessing a phenomenal level of energy from a high-output nuclear reactor. The whole thing is a tinker toy looking space station surrounded by vacuum and rotating around Earth eight times faster than a rifle bullet. That makes it incredibly vulnerable. It’d take little to destroy it.”
Josh shakes his head. “After our brush with the comet, it’s hard to imagine even a terrorist group opposed to protecting Earth from another impact.”
With a half-smile, Meadows says, “Course, it was hard to imagine the CIA trying to blow us up too.” He pauses and then more seriously, adds, “For some insane terrorist group, it would be a very visible and spectacular achievement. We have strong station security, but we recently detected an encoded message sent from the station.”
“From the station?”
Meadows nods. “I understand why Davidson wanted your help. Josh, that applies here too. You’re one of the few people that understand what we’re trying to do, and have both the technical and people skills to uncover anything that might threaten the station.” He pauses. “Turan’s flying in tomorrow for a program status briefing. If you’re game, I’d like to suggest to Turan that we send you up to the space station to check things out.”
Surprised, Josh says, “I’m not an astronaut.”
Meadows smiles. “Not yet.”
8
TURAN
Back at the Johnson Space Center for the noon meeting, Josh and Meadows are talking quietly in the lobby when Turan and his entourage arrive. Right in front of the receptionist, who is practically standing at attention, Turan shakes Meadows’ hand, and then grabs Josh’s hand with both of his. “Josh, it’s awesome to see you again. If it weren’t for you, none of us would be here today.”
Turan quickly introduces Josh to the two men and woman that accompany him. All three carry briefcases. The woman is clearly his executive assistant. He notices the men casually but constantly surveying the environment. They wear matching headsets. He’s sure their large sports jackets conceal bulletproof vests and their briefcases don’t contain laptops. Turan is arguably the highest-level and most recognized law enforcement chief in the world. Even without a plot, he’s a prime target.
As they head up to Meadows’ office, Josh can’t resist giving the receptionist a wink.
They arrive at a small executive conference room across from Meadows’ office. Meadows ushers them in as Turan politely asks his people to wait outside.
The three of them sit down around a small mahogany table.
Meadows starts with, “Doruk, I apologize for springing this on you, but I didn’t want to talk on the phone and this was a perfect opportunity. As we’ve discussed previously, we detected an encrypted message sent from the space station and now,” he looked at Josh, “Josh told me—”
“Should we be t
alking here?” Josh interrupts.
“This room is secure and I just had it rescanned to be on the safe side.” Continuing, Meadows says, “Josh met with Davidson shortly before he died.” He nods toward Josh.
Josh looks at Turan. “Brian was concerned about a high-level breach of U.S. and international intelligence and police agencies. He asked me to look into it just before he died. Then Tim Smith was killed in the car accident immediately after….” He leaves the sentence hanging.
Turan frowns. “Tim worked with me many years ago on a project. With his abilities and reputation, I find it hard to believe he would make that type of mistake. I can pull some strings and get a copy of the police accident report. As for Brian, I also talked to him shortly before he died and he expressed similar concerns.” He pauses, looking at both of them seriously. “I think they were on to something and we need to consider the possibility that they were both murdered.”
There‘s a moment of silence and then Josh adds, “In New York, I was followed by these guys.” He pulls the two driver’s licenses out of his pocket and sets them on the table. “I think I heard one of them speak Russian.”
Turan picks them up. “I’ll run their pictures through the system and see if anything comes up, but there are a lot of people who speak Russian in New York City.”
Josh pulls the small pistol out and sets it on the table. “One of them was carrying this.”
With raised eyebrows, Turan picks up the gun and slowly turns it over in his hands. “This is a Russian PSS silent pistol,” he looks at Josh, “an assassination weapon.” Frowning, he adds, “Probably Russian Federal Intelligence Service,” he pauses, “or Russian mafia.”
Josh continues, “Unfortunately, any leads or mandate for me to investigate died with Davidson.”
Turan nods. “I know the new DNI and the CIA Director. Unfortunately, if Davidson was right, we can’t be sure that any conversations we have with them won’t be leaked.”
Meadows adds, “I’m biased but I’d like to start with a defensive strategy to protect the ISLO. If there really is an organized plot, the space station could be a prime target. In addition to the encrypted transmissions, we’ve had sensitive technical information leaked. This is information that could only have come directly from the station. Doruk, with your permission, I’d like to send Josh up to the ISLO to investigate.”
Turan looks surprised and then frowns. “How would we explain his presence?”
“Josh isn’t a covert operative. He actually came up with the idea of punching a pilot hole through the atmosphere to maintain the Blaster’s beam integrity.” Looking at Josh, he asks, “Weren’t you an engineer and a fighter pilot?”
“I have a Master’s Degree in aerospace engineering and I was a test pilot.”
Meadows smiles. “He totally knows the lingo and we can quickly bring him up to speed on the program’s technical challenges. We could put him through the astronaut crash course we use with our guest scientists and engineers.”
Turan looks skeptical. Turning to Josh, he says, “I won’t ask you who you were working for previously, but I need to know where your allegiance lies today and what your thoughts are about the U.N. and our current path.”
Josh nods. “I understand.” He pauses. “I no longer work for any agency. I know a lot of people fear a world government, but so far, I’ve seen no curtailing of freedoms or sovereignty.” He gives Turan a half smile. “The new Secretary-General is a bit out there. I guess I’d like to hear what your vision of the future is.”
“Good answer and good question.” He pauses. “Josh, I grew up in southeastern Turkey. My family loosely followed the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism. Not being Muslim, and with Syria just across the border, I witnessed a great deal of prejudice and bloodshed. Right after I left for college, my village was overrun by Jihadists. By the time the village was liberated, there was nothing left and few alive. The victims included my parents.”
Josh says, “I’m sorry.”
“From that point, my dream was a world where no one could force their belief on others. It became my mission to stamp out terrorism and religious extremists who murder and torture women and children in the name of their twisted beliefs. And so began my career in intelligence. I quickly learned that combating terrorism doesn’t work in a fractured world of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.” He becomes more animated. “That pushed me into politics.” He nods toward Josh. “The comet forced the world to unite to protect humanity, and that created an incredible opportunity to build a world without terrorism. I believe countries can maintain their independence, laws and culture and still have globally connected law enforcement to prevent atrocities.”
Josh nods. “I can get behind that.”
Meadows looks at Turan.
Frowning, Turan says, “Who would he report to?”
Josh inserts, “There’s a real possibility someone in a high-level government position may be leaking information. I think it’ll be critical that no one knows about this but us, and that I report only to you and Joe.”
Turan stops frowning. “Ok, let’s do it. I’ll be flying back to New York after the ISLO status briefing, but I’m out here often if we need to talk in a secure environment.” With a smile, he shakes his hand and says, “Welcome to the astronaut program.”
Meadows pats Josh on the back and smiles. Then, looking at his watch, says, “Program briefing starts in a few minutes. I need to grab some notes from my office. Meet you in the conference room.”
After Meadows leaves, Turan says, “Sometime, I’d also like to talk to you about another subject.”
Josh nods but gives him a questioning look.
Turan hesitates and then quietly says, “Genetics.”
9
ASTRONAUT
Before the program briefing begins, Meadows introduces Josh to the ISLO’s Director, former astronaut and astrophysicist, Dr. Ed Lu. As Josh shakes his hand, Meadows says, “Ed’s the brains behind the operation as well as the architect of the ISLO.”
Lu says, “Good to meet you.” Frowning, he adds, “I understand you’re supposed to be going up to the station?”
Before Josh can respond, Meadows says, “Ed, Josh was the creator of the original covert Resurrect Program. He not only put the team together, he came up with the idea that allowed us to successfully punch the laser through the atmosphere, but he also has other skills.” Looking meaningfully at Lu, he quietly adds, “Remember those transmissions we intercepted from the station?”
Lu’s eyebrows go up as he nods. “I’ll tell the ISLO Commander, Colonel Dale, to assist you in whatever way needed.”
The program briefing lasts two hours and highlights the technical challenges. Building and powering the most powerful laser in the world in orbit — is bleeding-edge engineering. Without the International Space Station and the DE-STAR program, the learning curve would be a magnitude greater.
After the briefing, Josh says to Meadows and Turan, “I’m impressed you’ve done this so fast.”
Turan smiles. “It helps when you have the funding. Not since the moon landing has humanity had a mission in space that’s earned almost universal public support.”
Meadows nods. “It’s the perfect trifecta. Everyone knows the ISLO is the last line of defense from asteroids and comets.” He holds up one finger. “But to keep the laser array thermally stable and allow the infrared tracking telescope to be effective, we’re going to park the station in Earth’s shadow.” He points at one of the diagrams on his tablet. “Lagrangian Point Two isn’t just good for giant space-based lasers. It’s one of the most important locations for us in the solar system.”
“When Big Science found out we were going to put a crewed space station there, they almost wet themselves. It’s the perfect place to park the most powerful and expensive telescopes we have. Right now, if one fails to deploy properly or breaks, they just spent billions of dollars and a decade of work for nothing. With the ISLO on station at
L2, they’ll be able to deploy, repair and upgrade their telescopes.” Meadows holds up a second finger. “It gets better. We can actually use the laser to propel interplanetary probes across the solar system, faster and cheaper with less risk.”
Turan smiles. “That gives us support and funding from the science community, but where we capture the public’s support is the Mars missions.”
Meadows holds up a third finger. “L2 makes a perfect jump-off point for Mars. The crews get two weeks to do a shakedown flight on the way to the station. If something doesn’t work, they can fix it at the station or abort. Then, they replace the fuel they burned to climb out of Earth’s gravity well and launch to Mars with a velocity boost and a full tank of gas.”
Josh smiles. “So the ISLO will also be a gas station and repair garage.”
“Exactly.” Meadows thumps the table. “The cherry on top is that the laser’s phased array is modular. As we expand it, we’ll be able to increase the power and eventually push crewed spacecraft to Mars. That means they can either carry more cargo or get there faster, reducing the crew’s exposure and risk.”
Turan summarizes, “The International Space-based Laser and Observatory will protect all life on Earth and become humanity’s new port for exploration of the universe and expansion to other planets. It’s given the world a new vision. There’s hardly a kid on the planet who doesn’t want to grow up to be part of this.”
Josh shrugs. “Not just kids.”
Meadows nods but then frowns. “We just need to figure out a couple technical challenges. The laser needs a ton of power, and with the ISLO in the Earth’s shadow, we couldn’t use solar panels. Unfortunately, we underestimated the amount of heat we’d have to dump into space to keep the nuclear reactor cool. We’re also having communication bandwidth issues, which, by the way, Elizabeth’s TELEMED project is working on.” Pausing, he adds, “We’ll figure it out. Your job is to find out who the hell is sending encrypted messages from our station, and,” he gives him a wry smile, “survive tomorrow’s astronaut physical.”
Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3) Page 5
