“It did not fail today, but . . . it was not one hundred percent reliable,” Jerry said uneasily, “and with the president of the United States attending the test firing at Cal Poly, we wanted to ensure we could hit the rectenna with maser energy.”
“Well, you did so,” Nukaga said. “The test was a success. I don’t understand.”
“Well, we . . . we did not use the energy we collected with the nantennas and stored in the capacitors.”
“Then what energy did you use?”
“We used power from the . . . the magnetohydrodynamic generator,” Jerry said.
There was silence on the line for several long moments, and on the video monitor Jerry could see the growing expression of disbelief on Nukaga’s face; then: “You mean, you activated the laser aboard Armstrong Space Station, Jung-bae?” Nukaga asked in a breathless, low, incredulous tone.
“No, sir,” Jerry said. “Not the laser. The free-electron laser itself was deactivated so we could use the laser’s subsystems for Starfire. We just used its energy source to—”
“That MHD generator was still operational?” Nukaga asked. “I was led to believe that all of the components of the Skybolt space laser had been deactivated.” Jerry had no response to that. “So the one-point-four megawatts you collected with the rectenna came from the MHD and not from Starfire?”
“Yes, sir,” Jerry replied. “We had validated everything else: we collected solar energy, stored the electricity, powered the microwave generator with it, and shot maser energy with the Skybolt’s reflectors, collimators, and steering systems. We just needed to hit the rectenna with maser energy. We wanted to do it on the first try, with the president of the United States watching. The MHD generator was our only—”
“Jung-bae, you fired a beam of directed energy at a target on Earth,” Nukaga said. “You shot one megawatt of energy for over two minutes at a distance of over two hundred miles? That’s . . .” He paused, running the calculations in his head. “That’s over three million joules of energy fired by the MHD from that military space station! That’s three times the legal limit, at a distance almost four times the allowed range! That’s a serious violation of the Space Preservation Treaty! That’s an offense that can be prosecuted by the International Court of Justice or heard by the United Nations Security Council! Space weapons, especially directed-energy weapons, are not allowed to be employed by anyone, even students!”
“No, sir, that cannot be right!” Jerry said, confused, afraid he had said too much and betrayed his colleagues, and afraid of raising the anger of his favorite professor and mentor. “Starfire is a solar power plant, not a space weapon!”
“It was, Jung-bae, until you abandoned using solar power and used the illegal military space laser’s power source!” Nukaga cried. “Don’t you understand, Jung-bae? You can use fireworks to celebrate the New Year, but if you use a Scud missile to do so, it changes and contaminates the very nature of the spirit you were trying to express, even if you don’t attack anyone or blow something up. That’s why we have laws against using such things for any purpose.” He saw the panicked expression in Jerry’s eyes and immediately felt sorry for him. “But you were in New Mexico, were you not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did they consult with you on the decision to use the MHD generator?”
“No, sir,” Jerry said. “There wasn’t time, and I was on a teleconference with my team trying to come up with a solution to the relay problem.”
“Do you know who came up with the idea to use the MHD?”
“I believe it was Mr. McLanahan, sir,” Jerry said. Nukaga nodded knowingly—he could have easily guessed that. “He brought the idea up to General Raydon, the station commander, and to Sergeant Lukas, the station’s operations officer.”
“These are all members of the military?”
“They are all retired, I believe,” Jerry said, “but knowledgeable in space-station operations and hired by a private defense contractor to operate it.”
“?‘Private defense contractor,’ eh?” Nukaga sneered. “Was it that company in Nevada, the one that presented the university with the seed grant money?”
“Yes . . . I . . . yes, sir, it was,” Jerry said . . . and moments later the realization began to sink in.