“They’re not going to use the big generator, are they? I never authorized that.”
“The microwave-laser beam in Starfire is powered by the energy collected by the students’ solar cells,” Ann explained. “The MHD generator is still physically hooked up to Skybolt, but the free-electron laser cannot be fired without disconnecting the Starfire components and plugging the Skybolt parts back in place. I have no idea how long that would take, but the students got Starfire bolted into place pretty quickly, so if it’s needed I think we can get Skybolt back online fairly quickly.”
The president thought about it for a few moments, then nodded assent. “As long as the big ship-killing laser isn’t operable without my order, I’ll authorize the generator to be activated and tested,” he said. “I think we’ll hold off advising the Russians that we tested the big generator until sometime in the near future.”
“I agree,” Ann said. “But if you want to deal with the Russians, you may have to reverse yourself on your space policies and military drawdowns. Do away with declaring occupied orbits sovereign American possessions, for example—Gryzlov seemed particularly peeved at that one.”
“I will if I need to—hopefully not before the elections, though,” the president said. “That’s more ammunition for Barbeau.”
“We could leak the information Bill just briefed us on,” Ann said. “If we show Russia’s space-weapon buildup, your space policy looks like a legitimate national defense imperative.”
“But Barbeau could say that Russia is just responding to my space initiative,” the president said. “I’d rather not go down that road. I’ll consider toning down my policies, especially regarding the defense of our space assets and orbits— You’re right, I think that’s the part that got Gryzlov hot and bothered. Hopefully it can wait until after the election.” He turned to his national security adviser. “Bill, I need to know exactly how long it would take to deploy those Kingfisher weapon garages, and I want to put as many of those spaceplane boosters under our crosshairs as possible. I don’t want any forces moved, but I want to know how long it will take to take out anything that threatens our space assets. I remember we had a whole array of space-launched weapons at one time—I want to find out what Joe Gardner did with them.”
“Yes, sir,” Glenbrook said, and departed.
After he left, the president poured himself his third cup of coffee of the morning—that, he thought, was not a good sign. “I hate interjecting politics into these decisions, Ann,” he said. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to be done.”
“Maybe not, but that’s life in the real world, Ken,” Ann said. “The president of the United States probably can never divorce himself from politics, especially around election time. That’s just the way it is.”
“Then let’s get back to the campaign, Ann,” Phoenix said. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“You have the day off, and I suggest you spend it with your family, because you’ll be on the campaign trail almost every day until Election Day,” the vice president said. “The final West Coast swing starts tomorrow morning. We have Phoenix, San Diego, and Los Angeles booked, but the campaign staff suggested a few stops in northern and central California too. It’s late—the FAA likes to have more than two days for notification to close down the airspace around the airports you fly into for Air Force One—but if we notify them this morning it should be okay.
“I suggest three stops before we hit Portland and Seattle,” Ann went on, reading from her tablet computer. “First, the NASA Ames Research Center near San Jose, which is doing wind-tunnel tests on a variety of space technologies; the Aerojet Rocketdyne facility east of Sacramento, which is building the motors for a new class of heavy-lift boosters; and San Luis Obispo to attend the test firing of the Starfire solar orbiting power plant. There’s one meet-and-greet in each city and one fund-raising dinner in San Jose. After that, it’s on to Portland and Seattle, a memorial service at the former Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane for the American Holocaust anniversary memorial, and then Boise to wrap up the West Coast. Then you work your way eastward. Three cities a day until Election Day. I’ll make a few stops on the East Coast, and then I’ll head out west when you come east.”