“What would the chances be for the cruise missiles and stealth bombers, General?” Vice President Page asked.
“No better than fifty-fifty, ma’am,” Hayes said. “The S-500 is that good. Our air-launched cruise missiles have twice the range of the S-500, but the S-500 is mobile and can be moved and set up quickly, so the chance of an inertially guided cruise missile targeting just a set of geographic coordinates at the battery’s last known position and getting one is not very good. The extended-range version of the Joint Air-Launched Standoff cruise missile has an imaging infrared sensor, so it would be more capable against mobile and pop-up targets, but it’s subsonic and the S-500 would be very capable against it. The twelve refurbished B-1 bombers we obtained are good, but we don’t have experienced crews yet. B-52s would have zero chance. They would have to get past the Russian’s primary air defense system, the S-400, and then take on the S-500s protecting the spaceports and launch sites.” He turned to the president. “The space weapons are our best option, sir. We shouldn’t deactivate the Skybolt module—in fact, my recommendation is to activate Skybolt and the Kingfisher satellites already in orbit, send up spaceplanes, and have them place the garages that are in storage back into their orbits to complete the constellation.”
It was obvious the president didn’t like that recommendation. “I don’t want the Russians taking potshots at our spaceplanes, Fred,” he said after a long moment of consideration.
“They could still do that if we detached the Skybolt module, sir, and then we would’ve given up a major weapon system that could help fight off an attack on the station or the weapon garages.”
The president nodded. “How long will it take to deploy the Kingfisher garages back into orbit?”
“Several weeks, sir,” Hayes said after consulting some notes on his tablet computer. “The garages are being stored on Armstrong. They would have to load the modules aboard a spaceplane, then either wait for the proper moment or fly into what is called a transfer orbit to get into the proper position to insert the module into its orbit.”
“And the Russians will be observing this activity the whole time, I suppose?”
“Undoubtedly, sir,” Hayes replied. “They can see as well as anyone what orbits need to be occupied in order to complete the coverage—all they have to do is monitor those orbits. In the meantime, they can place S-500s and MiG-31Ds in the right places to take shots at the garages whenever they please, and of course they can do that now with Armstrong—in fact, we believe they have as many as six S-500s and MiG-31Ds with antisatellite weapons targeted against Armstrong right now in its current orbit. If we move the station’s orbit, they simply move the antisatellite weapons wherever necessary.”
“So Armstrong is vulnerable to attack?” the president asked.
“The Hydra COIL defensive laser is operational, and the Kingfishers currently in orbit and the Skybolt laser can be activated fairly quickly,” Hayes replied. “Each Kingfisher garage carries three antisatellite weapons as well as three land-attack projectiles. I believe the station can defend itself very well once all systems are back online.” He spread his hands. “After the two-day deadline, the Russians would see that we have not disconnected Skybolt, and that’s when we see if they make good on their threat.”
“Gryzlov has already gone on international television—if he backs down, he loses face in the eyes of the whole world,” National Security Adviser Glenbrook said. “He could do a minimal attack to try to look serious . . .”
“Gryzlov doesn’t strike me as a guy who would do something halfway,” Ann said. “I don’t think he’s concerned about losing face—the guy is just plain maniacal. I think if he decides to go, he’ll go all-out.”
“What would we lose if we lost Armstrong, Fred?”
“Fourteen personnel, including the two college students,” Hayes said. “A multibillion-dollar investment. Several different weapons and sensors with advanced capabilities. We’d still have control of the weapon garages from U.S. Space Command headquarters, however.”