“Plus another two days, maybe three, to plug in the free-electron laser, with at least one spacewalk,” Valerie Lukas added. “Plus a day or so to test it. We could sure use some technical assistance and more hands to help.”
“Trevor, get Alice together with the Starfire people and start to work getting the microwave generator uninstalled,” Kai said. The station manager, Trevor Shale, turned to his communications panel and started making intercom calls. “I’ll call U.S. Space Command and start getting some help and permissions to reinstall the free-electron laser and get it ready to go.”
“Do you really think Gryzlov would attack the station, sir?” Brad asked.
“You heard him, Brad; the guy thinks we’re going to start razing towns, villages, and the countryside with death rays,” Kai replied. “He’s given us an ultimatum of just ten days, and anyone that overflies Russia will be subject to what he calls ‘neutralization,’ whatever that means. Those are some pretty serious threats. I want this station fully operational just in case he’s serious.”
Kai heard the incoming-call alert tone and hit a button on his command console. “Just getting ready to call you, General,” he said after the encryption channels locked in.
“I take it you’ve heard Gryzlov’s remarks, Kai,” General George Sandstein, commander of Air Force Space Command, said.
“Pretty outrageous, General,” Kai said, “but I’m believing every word. I want to reactivate the free-electron laser and start rebuilding the Kingfisher constellation right away.”
“Unfortunately, the order from the White House is to deactivate Skybolt and detach the module from the station, Kai,” Sandstein said.
“Say again, General?”
“That’s the order from the president himself,” Sandstein said. “We’re launching an S-19 and an S-29 as soon as possible to get the students off the station and bring up some extra personnel—including Skybolt’s designer.”
The entire command module occupants gasped in surprise. “They’re sending up the vice president?”
“You heard me right, Kai,” Sandstein said. “It sounds a little loco, but she’s an experienced astronaut, and there’s no one who knows Skybolt better. Sorry about Skybolt, Kai, but the president wants to defuse the situation before things get out of hand. Everything else in the green?”
“The Hydra laser is operational,” Kai said, shaking his head in disbelief. “We are also able to use the Kingfisher modules on the central truss for station self-defense.”
“Excellent,” Sandstein said. “Good luck up there. We’ll be watching. Hopefully everyone will stay nice and cool, and this will all blow over soon.”
MCLANAHAN INDUSTRIAL SPACEPORT, BATTLE MOUNTAIN, NEVADA
LATER THAT DAY
“Thanks for coming in so quickly, guys,” Boomer said as he strode into the crew briefing room. Seated around the room were the six spaceplane student pilots and four instructor spacecraft commanders, along with mission support and maintenance technicians. “This might sound like some cheezy World War Two novel, but I’m sure you heard Gryzlov’s nonsense, and I think we are inching toward war with the Russians. The president has canceled the rest of his campaign and is on his way back to Washington to make an address about the Starfire thing. He has ordered the deactivation of the Skybolt laser and detaching it from Armstrong.”
Everyone in the briefing room looked horrified. “This is bullshit!” Sondra Eddington exclaimed. “Gryzlov spouts off, makes all kinds of outrageous claims, and threatens us, and we kowtow to him? Why don’t we tell him to bugger off instead?”