“Gonzo? How do you hear?”
“Loud and clear, General,” Gonzo replied, her voice sounding almost normal. “We were getting oxygen and data from station, but that’s cut off now.”
“We’ll get it back for you as soon as we can, Gonzo,” Kai said. “Stay strapped in. Those attacks put a slight spin on station, and our attitude-control systems are down right now, but we’ll get them back soon.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Update on those spaceplanes?”
“First Elektron is in a matching orbit to ours, about a thousand miles away,” Christine reported. “No contact on four and five. Two and three seem to be in the same orbit and the same altitude as ours, but the orbit is different than ours. They’ll make their closest approach to us in about an hour . . .” She turned to Kai and added, “About five minutes before we overfly DB-One.”
“The Russians timed those spaceplane launches down to the nanosecond,” Valerie exclaimed.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll shoot down their own spaceplanes,” Kai said. On intercom he spoke: “Attention on station. I want all off-duty personnel in space suits. Rehearse the lifeboat evacuation procedures and make sure you’re ready to board the lifeboats as soon as I give the warning. We’re down to just a few engagements with our defensive weapons, and the Hydra still hasn’t come back up. Casey, time’s up. I want you in a space suit right away. Someone in Life Support give her a hand.”
“Thirty minutes to DB-One,” Christine reported.
“Status of the Hydra?” Kai asked.
“Still down,” Henry said. “I’ll do another hard reset. Trinity fire control is back up, but the station’s spin might be a problem launching interceptors.”
“Command, this is Jessop in Life Support,” came a call a few minutes later.
“Go ahead, Larry,” Trevor responded.
“I can’t open the hatch to the Skybolt module. It appears to be locked from inside.”
Kai’s eyes flared in surprise. “Casey, what are you doing?” he thundered on intercom.
“I can fix it!” Casey radioed. “I almost had it before the last brownout! Just a few more minutes!”
“Negative! Get out of that module right now!”
“I can fix it, sir! It’s almost ready! Just a few more—”
“Radar contact, spacecraft,” Christine interjected. “Same altitude, different orbit, range four hundred fifty miles! It will pass by at fifty miles!”
“Status of the Trinities and Hydra?” Kai asked.
“Hydra looks like it’s coming up now,” Henry said. “About ten minutes until ready. Trinities are ready, but with the station spin, they might have to expend extra fuel to steer an intercept—”
“Second radar contact, spacecraft,” Christine reported. “Intersecting orbit, range four hundred eighty miles, passing approximately thirty miles!”
“Launch commit the Trinities, Valerie,” Kai ordered.
“Trinities are ready, showing launch commit,” Valerie said. “The computers should adjust the launch for the station spin.”
“Three hundred miles on first spacecraft.”
“Trinity one away . . . Trinity two away,” Henry said. A moment later: “Trinities off course . . . wait, regaining course . . . back on course, good track . . . Trinities three and four away . . . good tr—” And suddenly there was a loud BANG! The station shuddered, and several alarms sounded. “Trinity four hit a solar panel!” Henry shouted. “Trinity five away!”
“Batteries not fully charging,” Alice Hamilton in the Engineering module reported. “Discharge rate is slow, but the other solar panels can’t compensate.”
“Shut down nonessential equipment,” Kai said. “Casey, get out of that module now! I’m going to power it down!”
“Hydra is reporting ready!” Henry said.
“Radar contact spacecraft!” Christine said. “Same orbit, four hundred miles and closing slowly.”
“Lost contact with Trinities one and two!” Henry shouted. “May have been downed with a laser from that Elektron!”
“Two hundred miles and closing on spaceplane one.”
“Engage with Hydra,” Kai ordered.
“Roger, Combat, clear to engage with Hydra!” Valerie said.
“Combat copies,” Henry said. “Hydra firing!”
“Missile launch detection!” Christine reported. “Multiple S-500 launches from near Chkalovsky Air Base!”
“Direct hit on spaceplane one!” Henry reported. “Nailed him! Shifting track to target two!”
“Command, Engineering, battery power down to seventy-five percent,” the technician said. “You can fire Hydra two, maybe three more shots! Our solar panels are charging the batteries at only half rate—it’ll take hours to fully recharge them even if you don’t fire any more weapons!”
Kai thought quickly; then: “Take out that second spaceplane with the Hydra, and use any Trinities we have left on the third spaceplane,” he said.
Just then they heard Casey shout, “It’s ready! It’s ready!”