“You’re kidding me. They put that weapon on the back side of the moon, firing at satellites out of Earth’s view? That would definitely explain why our orbiter came around in pieces—because they destroyed it,” said the president as he swiveled his chair and looked out the window.
“Yes, sir,” Jack said as he looked at the side of the president’s head, “and by them doing it on the back side, we were unable to monitor the LRO up to the point of destruction, thus unable to prove what happened. They obviously calculated all this out. So the only evidence we have that we landed on the moon is what we have here on Earth.”
The president swiveled his chair back around and sighed. “And we are learning that evidence might not be good enough. What about Chinese satellites? Will it fire at those?”
Jack nodded. “Yes, sir, if it is an unmanned satellite. One of our SID agents worked undercover with the laser company we think supplied China with the technology they are using. It’s my understanding the laser is designed to shoot at any satellite that comes into range, regardless of what country it’s from. However, the laser can be disengaged. This is done by a disarming code inputted into the laser’s computer, which can only happen on the back side when receiving transmission. Unfortunately this must be done manually. So as long as China continues to send up manned missions, they can disarm the laser, do their mission, and then re-arm it before returning to Earth.”
Bill rubbed his chin. “So sending an unmanned automated system to reprogram the laser wouldn’t work?”
“No sir. Apparently China was concerned with the countries already sending satellites to the moon. They feared their codes could leak out to one of these countries and they could send an unmanned satellite to do just that. By designing a system that requires human involvement, which from our understanding is inputting a random number flashed on a screen, they prevent this.”
“What if NASA sends up a manned mission—could we disengage it?” Bill asked Jack.
Doug sputtered. “Sir, we are years away from getting an American back to the moon.”
The president whipped his face toward the NASA man. “Damn it, Doug, that’s not what I asked.” He again looked sternly at Jack and asked, “If we send up one of our astronauts to the moon, could he disengage it?”
Jack liked the president’s train of thought; he felt this was something for SID to handle. “If we could get the right astronaut to the moon with knowledge of the laser and its operating system, it probably could be disengaged.”
There was a solid knock at the door, and Secretary Russell stormed in. He had a discouraged look on his face.
Bill resettled himself in his chair, as though bracing himself. “You don’t look like you have good news. With all the bad news I’m getting here, that’s not what I want to see,” he snapped.
“It’s not looking good,” replied the secretary. “From my sources at the UN, it sounds like no evidence was supplied that would prove the landings happened. According to my source it seems the rocks and camera shots China supplied could have been from the moon. But since they claim theirs are from Earth, it puts our rocks and photos in question. The UN also says they have a source within NASA who claims the landings were a hoax. Since there was no concrete evidence supporting the landings, the UN cannot make a ruling on this. It will probably be passed on to the International Court of Justice to come to a final judgment.”
Doug’s jaw hung open. “You have to be kidding. The UN has someone from NASA stating the landings never happened? Unbelievable!”
Right away Jack thought of Chris Riddick. Gavin recently informed him of a serious gambling problem Chris had and it might be compromising his job. Jack instructed Gavin to find out more before he brought the issue up with Doug. He needed to let the president know his suspicions, but had to do it when Doug was not around.
“That’s what I’ve been told—and it gets worse,” Steve said.
Jack and the president looked at each other, wondering how it could get worse.
Steve went on. “This NASA insider also claims we have satellites in space armed with one-half-ton warhead ballistic missiles.”
“What! What is this bullshit? Who is this guy?” yelled the president.
This was getting worse by the minute.
Steve shook his head. “I haven’t been able to find out who it is. I was told he is going to be kept a secret. Of course, China is also supporting this claim. They pointed out how we withdrew from the Antiballistic Missile Space Treaty in 2002. They claimed that was the time we started deploying these weapons in space and we’re sending them up with the Air Force’s X-37 Orbital Space Vehicle.”
“China and the UN know why we didn’t re-sign that treaty. It was pure defense. They understand our dependence on space-based capabilities, and how we have to respond to any space infrastructure threat. We have too much to lose not to be prepared for an attack against our satellites in space. It doesn’t surprise me they are referencing the X-37 project, since its purpose has been kept secret. But China’s intelligence knows it’s an unpiloted spacecraft. Unmanned, there is no way it could deploy ballistic missiles. They’re just mentioning that program because we keep its exact function a secret, which we all know is to deploy spy satellites and do reconnaissance.”
“Well, sir, it still gets worse,” added Steve, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Hell, what could be worse?” demanded the president, waving for Steve to go ahead.
“Pressured by China, the UN has recommended that America should be grounded from all space flights until a formal investigation takes place to determine if we do in fact have weapons in space. I think the UN went along with this knowing the Shuttle program has been shut down and we have been relying on Russia to fly into space anyway.”
“This is horseshit! We still need to maintain our satellites and test our future rockets. We’re being blindsided by China on all this crap. You know China is behind this NASA insider coming out with this false claim. They must have paid this guy off. Doug, I want you to find out who this guy is! If the UN grounds us, they will prevent us from sending up a rocket to prove China’s claim wrong. This cannot and will not happen! Not on my watch, goddamn it!”
Doug held up both hands in surrender. “Sir, I am shocked someone within NASA would ever make such a claim. I’m embarrassed for the program. It just can’t be true. I will investigate this myself and see what I can find out. But, sir, it still would only be a matter of time before another nation eventually sends men to the moon and locates the U.S. hardware. China would then be exposed to the world.”
“Doug, you and I could be dead by then,” the president snapped. “Shoot, China could become an unbelievable superpower because of all this and eventually be the only nation going to the moon. I understand what you’re saying, some time in the future the facts will come out. The point is we cannot afford to wait. We need to act now. Besides, if China can keep all nations from circling the moon with this weapon, how can we say they don’t eventually destroy our hardware left on the moon, erasing the evidence forever? We need to act now!”
The president looked at Jack. “If this is all true, do you have a man we can send up in space to take care of this, disengage the laser and take pictures of our landing sites?”
Peter flashed across Jack’s mind. “Sir, I have the perfect man for this job. He is part of SID and is a top notch astronaut, and happens to be familiar with the laser being used.”
The president turned to Doug. “What would it take to get a SID agent to the moon? I know you said we are years away, but I want you to think outside the box on how we could get a man in deep space as soon as possible. Assume the UN grounds us, what would it take to get a man to the moon?”
“A miracle!” exclaimed Doug.
“Well how can we make a miracle happen?” the president asked seriously.
Doug rubbed the side of his face, staring toward the floor for a minute. Slowly he looked up. “Sir, I just don’t
know if such a mission is possible, especially not using NASA or Air Force rockets.” He started tapping his fingers on his chair’s armrest as he stared out the window. He gradually turned back to the president waggling his finger. “However, we did have a meeting on a situation similar to this a few years ago. We gathered some of our top engineers and challenged them to come up with the best and quickest way to get an astronaut to the moon. We stated in the scenario that it was a national emergency and to consider all resources and possibilities. Many ideas were suggested, using old technology, rushing current rockets to launch before they were tested and ready, all of which were dismissed as too risky or too long of a time frame. The most common and possibly best solution discussed was hitching a ride with another nation that was farther along. Of course, the only nation farther along is China. Russia was suggested too since they are not too far behind us.”
“Well obviously China is out, and right now Russia is staying neutral,” the president stated.
Doug posted a finger in the air. “There was one creative idea suggested by one of the engineers. He recommended using the Soyuz escape pod on the International Space Station. He concluded since it was already out of Earth’s atmosphere, there would be no need for a large rocket. The problem with this situation is the Soyuz engine is not powerful enough to provide sufficient thrust to boost it out of Earth’s orbit. In order to get it going to the moon, the engine would have to fire constantly. The dilemma is its low thrust would only be able to push it into a slightly higher orbit each time going around the earth. So the engine would have to continuously fire, taking the Soyuz around and around the earth until it eventually escapes the earth’s gravitational pull. Unfortunately, we calculated this would take weeks before it escaped and was headed to the moon. Though I guess you could say this is a possible solution, the chances of success are very slim. The Soyuz engine just isn’t designed to fire constantly for that long a period. Of course, you would also need a great deal of fuel for this to happen, which currently doesn’t exist on the ISS.”
The president let out a loud grunt as he got up from his chair and walked over to the window, thinking. All were quiet waiting for him to speak. The president abruptly turned to Doug. “Damn it, there has to be a way. We are the leading country in space exploration. We’ve already sent men to the moon. You would think with all this experience and expertise at NASA we could figure out how to get a man back if it was a national crisis. Doug, think! There has to be a way!”
Doug was visibly struggling, trying to come up with some kind of solution. The room was quiet waiting for him to respond. All of a sudden he perked up. “Well, maybe there is a way! In one of our last Shuttle missions before they were retired, we took up a new engine that was going to be tested in space. This booster rocket is called the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMR, which is an electro-magnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion, like a plasma rocket.”
Bill waved his hands around. “Wait…wait…you are getting too technical for me. Please say it in more layman’s terms.”
“Sorry, sir. The VASIMR engine is not suitable for operation in our atmosphere. It needs to be in a vacuum or in space to operate correctly. It’s an engine that is more fuel efficient than our current boosters and the hope is to use it on future explorations in deep space, such as flying to Mars. In order for us to even consider flying to Mars or far off asteroids, we need more efficient engines. We wanted to get as accurate a test as we could, so we chose to do this in space. Since the space station needs to be periodically boosted into a higher orbit to keep it from falling to Earth, we concluded this test could be that boost. The test worked perfect. Because of its success, and the fact the propellant for the engine is hydrogen, which is a byproduct of the ISS, NASA chose to continue using the engine for altitude reboosting. Using the VASIMR rocket instead of the current chemical rockets to boost the ISS saves $200 million dollars in fuel costs annually.”
Doug took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “There is a possibility this rocket could be attached to the back end of the Soyuz and provide it with a powerful enough boost to get it out of orbit. Of course this is all a stretch. This has never been discussed or thought of, so I am not sure if this is even plausible. Plus I am not sure there is enough fuel at the ISS to accommodate such a boost. This is definitely thinking out of the box, sir.”
Jack asked, “Assume this engine worked—are there any other issues we should be concerned with?”
“Unfortunately, yes. First, the escape pod is not designed for deep space travel. It would need to be modified for barbecue mode, then—”
Bill interrupted Doug again. “Barbecue mode? What the hell is that?”
“Sir, that is where the spacecraft slowly rotates as it travels through space, preventing one side from being overexposed from the sun and overheating, kind of like a rotisserie chicken on your barbecue. All our moon missions had this.”
“It’s been awhile since I’ve barbecued, but I get it.” Bill smirked.
Doug went on. “Additionally, the Soyuz will need some liquid rockets for course adjustments. I’m not sure if the current thrusters can handle this, but I can have this looked into. Also, the VASIMR engine will need to be jettisoned from the spacecraft shortly after it fires, possibly with explosive bolts or a spacewalk so the Soyuz engine could be used—” Doug’s eyes suddenly widened before he started shaking his head and looked to the ground.
Bill asked, “What is it?”
Doug looked back up at the president and let out a deep breath. “Well, sir, with the VASIMR engine jettisoned, the Soyuz engine should be able to fire to slow the spacecraft down and allow it to get into lunar orbit, but…”
“But what?”
“Sir, there would be no way of bringing that spacecraft back to Earth.” Doug shifted in his chair, hands between his knees.
“Oh. Why?” asked Bill.
“There would not be an engine available to provide the boost needed to escape the moon’s gravitational pull and return the astronaut to Earth. Our astronaut would circle the moon until he ran out of supplies and died. So I guess that rules out that option.”
“Any other ideas?” asked Bill.
“I can’t think of any, sir.” Doug shrugged.
“Then I want your team to figure out how to get our man home,” said the president sternly.
“Yes, sir,” said Doug, crinkling his brow.
Jack turned to Doug. “Let’s say this miracle works and we get our man to the moon. Would he be able to reprogram the laser on the first pass?”
Doug thought for a moment before answering, “It would be tough. That first pass is the quickest going around the backside, only forty-five minutes. He would have to initiate and monitor the LOI burn. I guess it depends on how complicated inputting those codes are. He would definitely be a busy man back there on that first pass.”
Steve chimed in. “What’s the LOI burn?”
Doug said, “That’s the burn that slows down the spacecraft and puts it into lunar orbit. It happens on the back side of the moon.”
“How would we get him up to the space station?” asked Jack.
“SpaceQuest, probably. They’re the first commercial company we signed a contract with to resupply the space station. The first missions will be using unmanned cargo ships. I’m not sure what modifications would be needed to handle a manned flight, but I know that’s its ultimate design. So I doubt it would require too much change. Besides, their current trips need to handle live animals and plants. They’re probably our best choice if we can’t put him on a Russian flight. Unfortunately, they’re behind on launching their first resupply mission.”
“Russia is out, so it would have to be this company, SpaceQuest,” Bill said. “Plus, since they’re a private firm it’ll be easier to say we’re not involved.” Bill nodded to the NASA director. “Doug I want you to research this more, and determine exactly what it would take for this to work. Also, have your eng
ineers brainstorm and see if they can come up with any other ideas or suggestions, especially on how to get our man back. Make sure the specifics on why you’re looking into this are kept secret. I do not want the mole in your agency getting wind of this and forwarding it to China.” The president signaled the meeting was over by standing. “We’re going to get a man to the moon and prove China wrong! I want a report on my desk in twenty-four hours.”
Doug hesitated, but answered, “Yes, sir.”
The president called the meeting adjourned. As all three men got up, Jack mentioned to the president there was something he needed to discuss in private. The president motioned for him to stay as he shook the other two gentlemen’s hands.
“Sir, I’ll get you that report and see what I can find out on who the insider is,” said Doug.
After the door closed, the president asked, “What is it, Jack?”
“Sir, I think I might know who the mole is at NASA.”
Bill leaned against his massive desk, arms crossed. “Go on.”
“Chris Riddick.”
“Who’s Chris Riddick?”
“He’s the director of flight crew operations for NASA. He’s been with NASA ever since the moon shot years. He would be an ideal source for China, since he has a long history with NASA. Chris is our main contact at NASA for SID agents and training. Something seemed very odd with him to our director of SID, so he elected to have him tailed. We learned he has a serious gambling problem with high debts at two major Vegas hotels. The fact he has these high debts, I’m thinking maybe he was paid off in some way by China.”
“Damn. Why didn’t you mention this in the meeting?”
“Sir, I trust Doug. But I know he has a long relationship with Chris and I wanted to mention it to you first.”
“Well, see what you can find out. Check those hotels and see if there is any Chinese connection. We may need to inform Doug sooner than later if we decide to send one of your agents to the moon. I don’t want our plan leaking to the Chinese.”
Moon Hoax (Hoax Trilogy Book 1) Page 9
