“We need those spaceplanes, Mr. President,” Phoenix said.
“They represent as much a danger to Russia as your Skybolt laser, Phoenix,” Gryzlov said. “Maybe even a greater danger. No, sir. The United States flew in space for decades without a spaceplane, and you now have several commercial operators who can service the space stations and do other tasks. The commercial spacecraft are permitted to overfly Russia, as long as they report their mission details before they launch. But after ten days’ time from today’s date, we will consider any overflight by the spaceplanes or the weapon garages to be a hostile act and will respond accordingly. Do we have an agreement, Phoenix?”
“No, you do not, sir,” Phoenix said. “The spaceplanes allow us access to Earth orbit and to our in-orbit assets. They are not military weapons. We will agree to keep informing you of future launches and their flight paths, and we will keep the spaceplanes from overflying Russia in the atmosphere if possible, but we insist on access to space for all our vehicles, including the spaceplanes. Are we agreed, Mr. President?”
After a long pause, Gryzlov said, “We will be watching your military space station for signs that the laser module has been deactivated and detached. Then we will speak again.” And the call was terminated.
Phoenix pressed the button for the communications officer. “Yes, Mr. President?” she answered immediately.
“I want to speak with the national security team back at the White House again,” he said. A few moments later, the vice president, national security adviser, and secretary of defense appeared again on the video teleconference screen. “I made a deal with the devil, guys,” he said. “I want the Skybolt module detached from Armstrong Space Station as soon as possible. Ann, get up there as quickly as you can.”
ABOARD ARMSTRONG SPACE STATION
A SHORT TIME LATER
“Is he insane?” Brad exclaimed. “Gryzlov wants us to detach Skybolt and deorbit it? And now he’s going to restrict all the airspace over Russia out to three hundred miles up? That’s craziness!”
“Guys, I am so sorry about this,” Kim Jung-bae said over the satellite videoconference feed from the White Sands Missile Test Range. “I never said it was a space weapon—that was Dr. Nukaga’s conclusion. I’m sorry I told him we used the MHD generator, but all I did was admit to him that my power transfer relays did not work, and he asked me what power source we did use. I am so sorry, guys. I had no idea this would blow up like this.”
“It’s not your fault, Jerry,” Brad said. “I think Dr. Nukaga thought it was a weapon from day one. But he supported the project because of you, and then when Cal Poly won that big grant and we went international, he was fully on board.” Jerry still looked ashen and dejected, as if he had just lost his best friends in the world by getting caught stealing from them. “The question is: What do we do now?”
“That one’s easy, Brad; as soon as we can, we’re going to bring a spaceplane up and get you and Casey off station,” Armstrong Space Station’s director Kai Raydon said. He was seated at the command position, and every other combat position was manned as well—including the Skybolt station, even though the Starfire microwave generator was still installed. “After that, I want to get this station ready for war, not only on the ground but imminently in space.”
“Can any orbiting body completely avoid overflying Russia?” Casey Huggins asked.
“Any orbit less than about thirty-five degrees inclination will not overfly Russia,” Valerie Lukas said. “We can still look pretty deeply into Russia, although we miss most of their farthest north regions, depending on the altitude. In contrast, if we put up the same restriction, Russian spacecraft would be limited to no more than about twenty-five degrees. But except for geosynchronous orbits or for ocean surveillance, equatorial orbits are mostly useless because so little of Earth’s population lives on the equator.”
“But that’s not the point, Valerie,” Kai said. “There are thousands of spacecraft that overfly Russia every day—Gryzlov can’t simply tell everyone that they have to move them. It’s all bluster. Even if he had enough weapons to attack satellites that overflew Russia, he knows he could spark a world war if he even attempted to shoot down a foreign satellite. Gryzlov is making wild accusations, and using his trumped-up scenarios to try to institute an emergency edict and circumvent international law.” His serious expression turned even darker. “Casey, how long would it take to get your microwave generator off Skybolt?”
“Less than two days, sir,” Casey replied, “with at least one spacewalk.”