by T I WADE
“Maggie, get back in the shuttle, I need Jonesy to detach from the ISS immediately.”
“Roger, injuries are not severe; I’ve stemmed Fritz’s bleeding. I haven’t heard from VIN yet; he is somewhere in the station. I will be inside the shuttle in two minutes. Out.”
“General Ming, my astronauts believe you are firing at my ship, or the ISS. I am now going to destroy your ship. You have two minutes to change course, or I have no choice but to fire back. We have two lasers locked onto your space station. I have one up here and one laser blast will destroy your country’s space efforts.”
“I do not believe you. Your laser weapons cannot be so powerful. I don’t believe the words of an American capitalist.”
“Do you remember those tanks that were destroyed north of Israel? Do you remember the North Korean tanks and troops destroyed attacking South Korea? I’m sure your government allowed you to know about those attacks.”
“I heard about them. Some sort of weapon your American government had given the Israelis and Koreans I was told,” the general replied.
“Well, you were told wrong. That was my laser gun, the same one now aimed at your space station and the controller is sitting three feet away from me here on my Bridge. And just for your information, General, we are reasonably accurate at 2,000 miles and deadly accurate at 1,000 miles. Our range with limited accuracy is 20,000 miles and you are well within that range. You have one minute to change course, or I will commence firing.”
***
VIN had never seen the inside design of the ISS before. It was certainly full of equipment as he floated down the main, now lighted, corridor. It was totally silent; the noise of the general had stopped. He stopped every few yards and listened. He had a baton in his right hand, the useless laser gun aimlessly floating around his wrist.
He opened the first hatch and found an empty room. The second was the same. It was a storeroom of some sort with cameras, lenses, and other equipment. In the third hatch he found what he was looking for. This compartment had an exercise bike and desks. It looked like the same communal room aboard Ivan, but smaller with all the equipment around the walls.
On one side were five gagged people, alive and all staring at him with wide eyes. He suddenly saw a drop of blood float in front of his eyes and realized that he must look a mess.
“Which one of you is the commander?” he asked, and all eyes turned to one man sitting at the end of the row. VIN untied the man’s gag and looked for a knife to cut the cords.
“Up there on the wall. It is good enough to get through these cords,” Commander Jack Philips offered, understanding what VIN was looking for. VIN cut the cord around the man’s hands which was also connected to his feet.
“That Chinese chick sure knows how to tie people up,” stated VIN.
“Who are you?” the commander basked.
“Lieutenant VIN Noble, United States Marines, ex Force Recon unit, sir,” stated VIN beginning to ungag the others.
“Water, I need water,” stammered the first woman he ungagged. She was extremely pretty. Commander Philips tried to straighten up, but he was too stiff to move his body. He just began floating off the floor on which they had been laid flat.
“You’ve been tied up like this for forty-eight hours?” VIN asked finding a water tube in the compartment the pretty lady was trying to stiffly point at.
“Yep! It feels like weeks. She let one of us go to the bathroom every few hours and gave us a pouch of water and food once a day. She only allowed one person to eat and drink at a time. She was waiting for the Chinese space station to come and pick us up.”
Slowly, as VIN untied each one, they began to move their bodies and look at him. One of the tied up girls was also Chinese. He decided not to untie her.
“Commander, please hand me the first aid box, this guy is bleeding everywhere,” stated the pretty girl slowly floating towards VIN. As he untied all but the last person, a Russian by his flight suit, he felt her hand touch the top of his head and winced as something sharp made him jerk. “Only a bit of alcohol, it will sterilize the wound. I know you have business, and our lives to save, so let me put on a quick dressing and bandage your head and you can go and sort out the rest of the ship. I see you found the bad side of that Chinese woman. She’s pretty mean.”
Within a minute she was done. VIN thanked her, realized that the crew could take care of themselves and returned to where he and Fritz had entered. Maggie was gone, but he found Fritz with his baton over the head of the awake Chinese girl who was looking at him menacingly. VIN also noticed that Fritz’s head also had been bandaged making them look like twin sheiks.
“Not a good way to start a relationship,” suggested VIN going back to turn on the radio so that they could listen to the battle outside.
“Twenty seconds, general. We see blue emissions coming from the roof of your station. That will be our target in eighteen seconds. This is your last warning,” VIN heard Ryan state. Ryan left the channel open and he heard his boss giving orders to the person he thought would be Michael Pitt manning the laser. It wasn’t Michael, he was with Penny in SB-I. He heard Captain Pete himself state that he was locked onto the target. He, Michael Pitt and Captain Pete had spent hours going through the laser system, often aiming and locking onto pieces of space junk coming close. Captain Pete had been the most accurate, hitting a piece twelve inches across at 1,900 miles. He knew that the Chinese now had a real problem.
***
Ryan had given the Chinese far more time than he had promised them. Ten minutes had passed since his first warning. Their ship hadn’t changed course and it looked like its laser was firing every 170 seconds, just under once every three minutes. So far and still at 3,000 miles, the Chinese laser had inflicted no damage to the ISS and his shuttles. America One was now closer to the enemy at 3,000 miles. In different orbits, the ISS was still 5,000 miles away from the firing ship, but America One’s range would start increasing again in two minutes when the two craft would have reached their nearest orbital pass, both at the same altitude and just under 2,000 miles apart.
The Chinese ship could now see the much larger mother ship of the enemy; she was the closer target. They weren’t doing much to the ISS at such a distance and began to turn towards America One. Ryan noticed this immediately and got back on the radio.
“To all listening in to this radio frequency please confirm that you can hear me.”
“Houston reporting, we are hear you.”
“Plesetsk Command Authority in Russia, we are listening, so are all our other launch sites, and Moscow, I believe.”
“Hans Burger here at the European Space Command for Germany. We got your frequency from Houston.
“Captain John Modes, United flight 407 out of Dallas.”
“James Peterson, MI6, London.”
“A representative from the German government, I will not state who I am.”
“Victor Neuchev,” head of the Russian Space Authority.”
Ryan was surprised how word got around the world so quickly. In 90 seconds he received 37 responses. They came from as far as the Australian Air Force, in Perth, a South African Airways flight over the Sahara, three ham radio operators from New Zealand, London and some little town in Arkansas, and a radio station in Hawaii. The vice president of the United States, now in charge of the country, was the second to last person to check in, and finally Martin Brusk, stating that he was with the ex-president in Canada.
“Well, it has taken longer than I realized it would. We have witnessed the first firing of the Chinese laser weapon towards my ship, America One,” he informed everybody listening in. “I know that this Chinese general, Ming, and his superiors are certainly listening in. To bring the world up to date: one of the Chinese crew members aboard the International Space Station took the rest of the crew captive forty-eight hours ago. We were told by a General Yan Ming that it was a takeover bid by the Chinese government to commandeer the station. That operative has been contai
ned, and the other five members of the crew are alive and safe. I now have the Chinese space station firing on my ship. I have explained the power of our laser weapons, and explained to the general what my lasers accomplished in the Middle East and South Korea. His ship is now within a 2,000-mile range. I have a choice: I can defend myself, or allow him to destroy me, my crew and my ship. May I have your opinions please, and remember the Chinese government and General Ming are listening.
Most of the listeners responded to the discussion as Ryan’s computers noticed another firing on his ship. Most told him to take out the Chinese space station. Only the politicians stayed silent.
“OK, General Ming, you have heard this discussion on whether your expensive spaceship is to be destroyed or not; then the U.S. ex-president intervened, as he always did.
“Ryan, that laser aboard the Chinese ship is a danger to peace down here on Earth if you ever leave orbit, and we lose your dominance in space. You have given the Chinese fair warning. As far as I, and the vice president are concerned, if they fire on you again, you have the permission of the United States government to fire back at the Chinese Space Station immediately.”
Everybody listening heard the statement and the radio went silent.
“General Yan Ming in China, I have the world’s permission to shoot your space ship down. Fire again and I will do so.
Somewhere in China the general’s phone rang. Somebody important told him that the American was bluffing—they always did—and to destroy every spaceship, including the ISS.
The computers recorded the Chinese laser gun firing from 1,900 miles away; Ryan calmly told Captain Pete to destroy the attacker.
On his seventh shot three minutes later, the Chinese space ship exploded into a bright ball of flame that could be seen by millions down on earth. Very few knew what was going on above them; even with so many lights up in the sky over the last weeks, this one was certainly something to look at.
America One was directly over the United States, and it was night there. Not another word was heard over the radio frequency, and Ryan knew that every country down on earth was going on their highest alerts possible.
Chapter 6
Fallout and pleading from Earth
For twenty minutes the radio frequency stayed silent. Ryan sat in his Command Chair totally depressed. He was sure that good men and women aboard the Chinese craft had died for absolutely no reason; they died from his lasers, lasers created to open caverns on distant planets, so that one day they could find a new home. Now—like in the Middle East and Korea—he had more blood on his hands.
He was relieved that the deaths were on his own hands, and not the hands of his crew. He had given the orders, and he was sure that half a dozen or more innocent astronauts had died.
***
VIN had a lousy headache thanks to the Chinese girl who, although she was extremely pretty, appeared as dangerous as a viper about to attack.
Everyone in the ISS had gathered in the module where the girl was tied down in a chair to prevent her floating around. One by one, they had stiffly floated in once they had relieved themselves. They were listening to the discussion going on over the radio and even the Chinese spy, and Jonesy and Maggie, floating a mile off and facing the incoming Chinese space station, listened to every word.
The Chinese spy smiled at VIN. “God! She is good-looking,” he thought to himself. “If I were a single man!”
“Our lasers are very accurate and powerful,” she told him with a confident tone, still smiling. “They will blast all your space craft into small pieces.”
“I don’t think so,” replied VIN.
“What real range do your Astermine lasers have, Lieutenant Noble?” the commander asked.
“Top secret, but far more than what the Chinese have,” VIN replied.
“Impossible,” laughed the sexy agent. “Our scientists have worked on the designs we got from the Russians, who by the way got them from your own air force a couple of years ago, Lieutenant. I heard that recent tests with our most powerful laser, the one aboard the fifth launch vehicle, verify it is accurate up to 500 miles, 480 miles further than the American one in Washington State, and 400 miles further than the most modified Russian laser.” VIN smiled at the offered information. He didn’t even need to warn Ryan, the Chinese craft would never get to within 1,000 miles of any of the other craft up here.
“And that is the only laser you have?” he asked. “Stop telling me about toy guns. Is that all you Chinese have?” For a second the pretty girl’s smile wavered, but she still smiled confidently.
“Each one of the sections of our ship is armed, and once all three lasers are in range, the other two have a 200 mile range; then all your spaceships will go, as you Americans say, kaboom! Beat that!”
VIN smiled and Commander Philips looked at him questioningly. “What is your boss going to do about their range? We only have minutes left at 500 miles.” he asked. “What is the range of your weapons?”
“I assume that your lasers use gas fuels for range?” VIN asked the agent.
“Of course, what other fuels are there for a laser?” she asked her face questioning, and VIN now had all the information he needed.
“Plutonium. Plutonium-238. Per pound it is four times more powerful than any strength and range the gas powered lasers can produce,” he smiled sweetly at the agent.
Commander Philips then smiled. “I heard that your boss got a pound of plutonium-238 from NASA a couple of years ago. Is that what’s powering up your laser?” he asked.
“Yes, and also the one out there on our shuttle floating a mile off from us.”
“So, that gives your laser about a 2,000 mile range?” gulped the Chinese girl, now looking a little paler.
“About right,” VIN smiled. “That’s our smallest one, and we have several pointed at your space ship right now from our mother ship.”
“And your most powerful one?” she asked now gathering information just as VIN had done.
Well, the next one up has ten pounds of brand new plutonium-238, a 20,000 mile range, and the rest is top secret.” He smiled at his audience.
“That far! Surely it’s not accurate at that distance?” the ISS commander asked. Even he was totally shocked. The Chinese girl was speechless. It was time for her to change sides.
“Semi-accurate up to 2,000 miles, accurate to within twelve inches at 1,000 miles.” VIN smiled at her. “Your space station was already toast several minutes ago. Everybody went silent listening to the ever-growing number of international participants on the radio frequency telling Ryan what they thought he should do.”
A few minutes later the bright light of an explosion lit up a couple of the crew’s faces as they peered out of the windows in the direction of the Chinese space station they couldn’t see yet. VIN just stared at the Chinese girl; her face was now white and full of worry. “Sorry, Lieutenant, I was dead anyway. The plan was to destroy this ISS with all the crew inside including me. China wanted to show the Americans and Russians the strength of their new laser weapons, and that General Ming and the Chinese government were the new controllers of the area of space above all the world’s countries.” My government was very angry about that American Air Force general destroying all our satellites; so many decades of work.”
“So, Lu, why didn’t you kill us two days ago? You were already up here weeks before this problem was started. How did they know what was about to happen?” asked the ISS commander.
“My first objective was to learn what I could about this station, for future Chinese advancement in space. I have two degrees, one in aerospace, and one in astro-engineering. I was to be a spy aboard and return peacefully, as well as keep an eye out on that slut you are sleeping with,” she stated with distaste looking at her Chinese counterpart.
Commander Philips and the Chinese girl blushed at the same time, but said nothing.
VIN suddenly felt like he was watching a soap opera.
“Our government kn
ew that you two were already sleeping together before she and I arrived up here, and my government was worried that you would make her defect to America,” continued the spy.
“How did they know?” Commander Philips asked shocked.
“A very important man in NASA leaked the information a few months ago. You had asked for her to join your team a year ago,” she replied.
“I sure know who that was,” injected VIN.
“My government wanted NASA to return her to Earth, but there were no manned supply ships available to take her down. My job was to terminate her if it looked like she would defect, if released from here. Then everything changed with the meteor shower and General Ming was ordered to destroy everything up here for revenge, and take over command of space. They did not know that Mr. Richmond was so advanced and powerful. We could not get any information out of his headquarters in Nevada. I heard from others that special agents were sent into America last year to get information out of the people who had worked for him, even terminating a few and their families, but we never got a thing.”
“Who was targeted?” VIN asked, now shocked.
“I don’t know of very many, I was sent up here, but I will trade you the names for my life.”
“That is not a decision for me to make,” VIN replied seriously.
Then one of the American scientists asked him a question that made him smile. It was the same lady who had bandaged his head and VIN, looking at her very attractive face, decided that she must be the doctor or surgeon they had talked about on the Bridge.
“Lieutenant Noble, your legs are extremely hard. Do you have metal legs?”
“Yes,” added the spy smiling her sweet smile at him. “I tried to kick him in the things you Americans call ‘nuts’ after I hit him over the head. Then, my whole body became paralyzed, but I felt my knee connect to something hard, like metal.”
“Both correct,” smiled VIN. “I’m a robot, one of Mr. Richmond’s new inventions. Want to see?” The whole crew nodded yes and Fritz smiled at the antics VIN was getting up to. He raised one of his flight suit trouser legs to show his sexy lower right metal leg. “Are you getting excited yet, Ms. Chinese spy? You should see the size of my robotic nuts, big metal nuts!”
