by Dale Brown
ABOARD THE XR-A9 BLACK STALLION SPACEPLANE
THAT SAME TIME
“Two minutes to re-entry initiation, crew,” Major Jim Terranova announced. “Re-entry countdown initiated. First auto countdown hold in one minute. Report when your checklist is complete.”
“S-One, roger,” Macomber responded.
“How are you feeling, Whack?” Terranova asked.
“Thanks to copious amounts of pure oxygen, a little Transcendental Meditation, not using the eye-pointing electronic checklists, and the mind-numbing routine of still more damned checklists to perform, I feel pretty good,” Macomber responded. “Wish this thing had windows.”
“I’ll put it on the wish list, but don’t count on it anytime soon.”
“It’s a pretty spectacular sight, guys,” Frenchy Moulain said. “This is my eleventh flight in orbit and I never get tired of it.”
“It looks pretty much the same after the first orbit,” groused Chris Wohl. “I’ve been on the station three times, and it just feels like you’re standing on a really tall TV tower, looking down.”
“Only the sergeant major could minimize a sight like this,” Moulain said. “Ask to spend a couple nights on the station, Whack. Bring lots of data cards for your camera. It’s pretty cool. You’ll find yourself waking up at all times of the night and scheduling window time a day in advance just to take a picture.”
“I doubt that very much,” Macomber said dryly. He received a notification beep in his helmet. “I’m getting another data dump from the NIRTSats, guys.” NIRTSats, or Need It Right This Second Satellites, were small “microsatellites,” no bigger than a refrigerator, designed to do a specific task such as surveillance or communications relay from low-Earth orbit. Because they were smaller, carried less positioning thruster fuel, and had substantially less solar radiation shielding, the NIRTSats stayed in orbit for very short periods of time, usually less than a month. They were launched from aircraft aboard orbital boosters or inserted into orbit from the Black Stallion spaceplanes. A constellation of four to six NIRTSats had been put into an eccentric orbit designed to maximize coverage of Iran, making multiple passes over Tehran and the major military bases throughout the country since the military coup began. “Finish your checklists and let’s go over the new stuff before we get squished again.”
“I don’t think we’ll have time unless we delay re-entry for another orbit,” Terranova said. “You’ll have to review the data after we land.”
“Listen, we have time…we’ll make the time, MC,” Macomber said. “We already launched on this mission without any proper mission planning, so we need to go over this new data right away.”
“Not another argument,” Moulain said, exasperated. “Listen, S-One, just run your checklists and get ready for re-entry. You know what happened last time you weren’t paying attention to the flight: your stomach gave you a little warning.”
“I’ll be ready, SC,” Macomber said. “Ground team, finish your checklist, report when complete, and let’s get on the new data dump. S-One is complete.” Turlock and Wohl reported complete moments later, and Macomber reported that the passengers were ready for re-entry. Moulain acknowledged the call and, tired of arguing with the zoomie again right before an important phase of flight, said nothing else.
Cautiously, Macomber opened the new satellite data file using voice commands instead of the faster but vertigo-causing eye-pointing system, allowing the data to flow onto the old imagery so he could see changes to the target area. What he got was a confusing jumble of images. “What the hell…looks like the data’s corrupted,” he said over private intercom, which allowed him to talk to his Ground Force team members without disturbing the flight crew. “Nothing’s in the right place. They’ll have to resend.”
“Wait one, sir,” Wohl said. “I’m looking at the computer frameholders on the two shots, and they’re matching up.” As Macomber understood them — which meant he didn’t understand them hardly at all — the frameholders were computer-derived marks that aligned each image with known, fixed landmarks that compensated for differences in photograph angle and axis and allowed more precise comparisons between images. “Recommend you do not delete the new data yet, sir.”
“Make it quick. I’ll rattle HQ’s cage.” Macomber cursed into his helmet, then switched over to the secure satellite communications network: “Rascal to Genesis. Resend the last TacSat images. We got garbage here.”
“Stand by, Rascal.” Jeez, I really hate that call-sign, Macomber complained to himself. A few moments later: “Rascal, this is Genesis, set code Alpha Nine, repeat, Alpha Nine. Acknowledge.”
“What? Is that the abort code?” Macomber thundered. “Are they telling us we’re not going in?”
“Shut up, S-One, until we get this figured out,” Moulain snapped. “MC, did the authentication come in?”
“Affirmative — got it just now,” Terranova said. “The mission’s been scrubbed, crew. We’re directed to remain in present orbit until we get a flight plan change to a transfer orbit that will bring us back for a refueling and landing ASAP. Canceling re-entry procedure checklist…‘leopards’ secure, checklist canceled.”
Macomber punched a fist into his hand and was instantly sorry he did so — it felt as if he punched a steel wall. “What in hell is going on? Why didn’t we get a clearance? This is bull—”
“Rascal, this is Genesis.” This time it was David Luger himself, calling from the battle management area at HAWC. “That data dump was valid, Rascal, I repeat, valid. We’re looking it over, but it looks like the landing zone is hot.”
“Well, that’s the reason we’re going in, isn’t it, Genesis?” Macomber asked. “Let us drop in there and we’ll take care of business.”
“Your mission was scrubbed by the White House, Whack, not us,” Luger said, the tension obvious in his voice. “They want you guys back home right away. We’re computing a re-entry schedule now. It’s looking like you’ll have to stay up for at least another day before we can—”
“Another day! You’ve gotta be shitting me—!”
“Stand by, Rascal, stand by—”
There was a moment’s pause, with a lot of encryption clicking and chattering on the frequency; then a different voice called: “Rascal, Stud, this is Odin.” This was from McLanahan, up on Armstrong Space Station. “Recon satellites are picking up strong India-Juliet radar signals coming from your target area. Looks like a long-range search radar. We’re analyzing now.”
“A radar, eh?” Macomber commented. He started studying the new NIRTSat images again. Sure enough, it was the same Soltanabad highway airbase…but now all the craters were gone, and several semi tractor-trailers, troops and supply trucks, helicopters, and a large fixed-wing aircraft were parked on the ramp. “Looks like you were right, Odin. The bastards are setting the place up again.”
“Listen to me, guys,” McLanahan said, and the tone of his voice even over the encrypted satellite link was plainly very ominous indeed. “I don’t like the smell of this. You’d be safer if you deorbited, but you’ve been ordered to return to base, so we have to keep you up there.”
“What’s the problem, sir?” Moulain asked. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
“You cross the target’s horizon in eleven minutes. We’re trying to compute if we have enough time to deorbit you and have you land in central Asia or the Caucasus instead of overflying Soltanabad.”
“Central Asia! You want us to land where…?”
“Button it, Whack!” Moulain shouted. “What’s going on, Odin? What do you think is down there?”
There was a long pause; then McLanahan responded simply: “Stud One-One.”
He could have not made a more explosive response. Stud One-One was the XR-A9 Black Stallion that was shot down over Iran in the early days of the military coup, when the Air Battle Force was hunting down and destroying Iranian medium- and long-range mobile ballistic missiles that threatened not only the anti-theocra
tic insurgents but all of Iran’s neighbors as well. The spaceplane was downed not by a surface-to-air missile or fighter jet but by an extremely powerful laser similar to the Kavaznya anti-satellite laser built by the Soviet Union over two decades earlier…that had appeared not over Russia, but in Iran.
“What do we do, sir?” Moulain asked, the fear thick in her voice. “What do you want us to do?”
* * *
“We’re working on it,” Patrick said from Armstrong Space Station. “We’re trying to see if we can start you down right now in time to stay out of line of sight, or at least out of radar coverage.”
“We can translate right now and get ready,” Terranova said.
“Do it,” Patrick said immediately. He then spoke, “Duty Officer, get me the President of the United States, immediately.”
“Yes, General McLanahan,” the computer-synthesized female voice of Dreamland’s virtual “Duty Officer” responded. A moment later: “General McLanahan, your call is being forwarded to the Secretary of Defense. Please stand by.”
“I want to speak with the President of the United States. It’s urgent.”
“Yes, General McLanahan. Please stand by.” Another long moment later: “General McLanahan, your ‘urgent’ request has been forwarded to the President’s chief of staff. Please stand by.”
That was probably the best he was going to do, Patrick thought, so he didn’t redirect the Duty Officer again. “Inform the chief of staff that it’s an emergency.”
“The ‘urgent’ request has been upgraded to an ‘emergency’ request, General. Please stand by.”
Time was running out, Patrick thought. He thought about just having the Black Stallion crew declare an inflight emergency — there were dozens of glitches occurring on every flight that could constitute a real no-shit emergency — but he needed to be sure the Stud had someplace to land before ordering them to drop out of orbit.
“This is Chief of Staff Kordus.”
“Mr. Kordus, this is General McLanahan. I’m—”
“I don’t like being called by your computerized staffers, General, and neither does the President. If you want to talk to the President, show us the simple courtesy of doing it yourself.”
“Yes, sir. I’m on board Armstrong Space Station, and I’m—”
“I know where you are, General — my staff was watching the live broadcast with great interest until you abruptly cut it off,” Kordus said. “When we give you permission to do a live interview we expect you to finish it. Mind telling me why you cut it off like that?”
“I believe the Russians have placed an anti-spacecraft weapon of some kind, possibly the same laser that downed the Black Stallion over Iran last year, in an isolated highway airbase in Iran once used by the Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Patrick responded. “Our sensors picked up the new activity at the base and alerted us. Now our unmanned reconnaissance aircraft are picking up extremely high-powered radar signals from that very same location that are consistent with the anti-spacecraft laser’s acquisition and tracking system. I believe the Russians will attack our Black Stallion spacecraft if it passes overhead still in orbit, and I need permission to deorbit the spacecraft and divert it away from the target area.”
“You have positive proof that the Russians are behind this? How do you know this?”
“We have satellite imagery showing the base is now completely active, with fixed-wing aircraft, trucks, and vehicles that appear similar to the vehicles we detected in Iran where we believe the laser that downed the Black Stallion came from. The radar signals confirm it. Sir, I need permission immediately to divert that flight. We can have it come out of orbit and maneuver it as much as possible with all but emergency fuel until it reaches the atmosphere, and then we can fly it away from the target area to an alternate landing site.”
“The President has already ordered you to land the spaceplane back in the United States at its home base, General. Did you not copy that order?”
“I did, sir, but complying with that order means flying the spaceplane over the target base, and I believe it will be attacked if we do so. The only way we can protect the crew now is to deorbit the spaceplane to keep it as low as possible on the horizon until we can—”
“General, I don’t understand a word of what you just said,” Kordus said. “All I understand is that you have a strong hunch that your spaceplane is in danger, and you’re asking the President to countermand an order he just issued. Is this correct?”
“Yes, sir, but I need to stress the extreme danger of—”
“I got that part loud and clear, General McLanahan,” Kordus said, the exasperation thick in his voice. “If you start bringing the spaceplane down, will you be overflying anyone’s airspace, and if so, whose?”
“I don’t know precisely, sir, but I’d say countries in eastern Europe, the Middle East—”
“Russia?”
“Possibly, sir. Extreme western Russia.”
“Moscow?”
Patrick paused, and when he did he could hear the chief of staff say something under his breath. “I don’t know if it will be below the sixty-six-mile limit, sir, but depending on how fast and how successful we are at maneuvering the—”
“I’ll take that as a yes. Perfect, just perfect. Your spaceplane coming out of orbit right over the capital of Russia will look like an ICBM attack for damned sure, won’t it?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “This is precisely the nightmare scenario the President was afraid of. He’s going to tear your throat out, McLanahan.” He paused for a moment; then: “How long does the President have to decide this, General?”
“About five minutes, sir.”
“For God’s sake, McLanahan! Five minutes? Everything is a crisis with you!” Kordus shouted. “But poor planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on our part!”
“Lives could be at stake, sir.”
“I’m well aware of that, General!” Kordus snapped. “But if you had bothered to wait and have this plan approved by the White House and the Pentagon before launching the spaceplane, none of this would be happening!” He muttered something else under his breath; then: “I’ll take this request to the President right away. In the meantime, stay on the line because you will have to explain all this to the National Security Adviser so he can properly advise the President, because I doubt if you have the capacity to explain it clearly enough to him to his satisfaction — or that he would even listen to you if you tried. Stand by.”
* * *
“Crew, be advised, we’re doing a y-translation in preparation for deorbit. Stand by.” Using her multifunction display and her piloting skills, Moulain used the Black Stallion’s hydrazine thrusters to flip the spaceplane around so it was flying tailfirst. The maneuver took almost two minutes — a record for her. Everything felt exactly the same to the crewmembers in the passenger module, and even Macomber’s stomach didn’t complain. “Maneuver complete, Genesis. When do we start down? When can we fire the ‘leopards’?”
“We need to find out if you can reach a safe landing runway if you deorbited right now,” Dave Luger interjected. “We’re also looking for a tanker that can refuel you in case you can’t reach a suitable airport, and we need permission from the White House to bring you down over national boundaries.”
“You need what?” Macomber retorted. “You think the Russians are going to shoot at us with a fucking laser, and you need permission to get us the hell out of here?”
“We’re running the calculations, Major — put a sock in it and let us do our work,” Luger said sternly, unaccustomed to being yelled at by a field-grade officer. Still, the tone in his voice made it obvious he wasn’t all that happy about the circumstances either. “Stand by.”
“Do it, Frenchy,” Macomber said on intercom. “Get us the hell out of here.”
“I can’t do that without authorization, S-One.”
“The hell you can’t. You’re the spacecraft commander — you made that real clear to me, r
emember? Exercise some of your authority and get us the hell out of here!”
“I can’t just drop us out of the sky without knowing where we go once we re-enter the atmosphere,” Moulain said. “I need to know where we’ll be when we resume atmospheric flight, what our best range will be, which runway we’ll approach, what the terrain is, how long the runway is, what the political, diplomatic, and security situation will—”
“For Christ’s sake, Frenchy, stop asking questions and hit the damned button!” Macomber shouted. “Don’t wait for some politician to wave his hand or give us the finger — just do it!”
“Shut up and stand by, Macomber!” Moulain shouted. “We can’t just pull over and shut off the engine. Just hold your water, will you?”
“We’ll be crossing the target area’s horizon in about two minutes,” Terranova reported.
“We briefed several recovery, alternate, and emergency bases in eastern Europe, India, and the western Pacific,” Macomber persisted. “We know we have alternates. Just declare an emergency and land at one of them.”
“We’ve already passed most of the safe emergency bases,” Terranova said. “The alternate landing sites we had picked were designed in case of failure to insert into orbit, failure of re-entry burn engines, or alternate landing sites if we started deorbit but weren’t authorized to go into the target area. We’re past that point now. If we didn’t deorbit by now, the plan was to overfly the target area, transfer orbits if we had enough fuel, or stay in orbit until we could land back at Dreamland. We can’t just turn on a dime and head back the other way.”
“So we’re screwed,” Turlock said. “We’ve got to overfly the target area now.”
“Not necessarily, but the longer we delay firing the ‘leopards,’ the fewer options we have,” Terranova said. “We can always bleed off more energy and drop faster through the atmosphere to try to stay as low to the horizon as possible, then once we’re back in the atmosphere we can use the rest of the available fuel to fly away from the tracking radar.”
