Quarantine

by William Hayashi

  “And this live fire exercise is a prelude to exactly what, General?”

  “It’s a test of the DS500's ability to destroy a target in low Earth orbit, nothing more, Admiral. If you thought it was anything else, you’re reading too much into it. Now how long will it take you to prepare?”

  “As it’s not a defensive combat exercise, I would suggest the first of next week,” Park replied.

  “Then get it done. As soon as you’ve scheduled the test, and have a satellite retasked for direct observation, notify me. I’ll be awaiting your call. That will be all.”

  Park was seething as he left. First, to be summoned to the chairman’s office when a message or telephone call would do, just to satisfy a monstrous ego was annoying enough. And knowing almost for a certainty that Archer was planning some sort of preemptive strike on the colonists in orbit was putting not only his, but the entire country’s safety in jeopardy.

  Fresh in Admiral Park’s mind was the deployment of Navy SEALs to the lunar surface in direct violation of President Bender’s orders, stranding the team on the Moon for years. If it had been up to the military, the SEALs likely never would have made it back to Earth. The U.S. still hadn’t really recovered from the political fallout from Kaminski’s act of treason. Too many leaders from other technologically advanced countries blamed the United States and Russia for the embargo and whatever deprivations they were enduring as a result.

  In the last dozen years, no country was able to launch any kind of hardware into space, which included science, research and communications satellites. The mastery of space travel the colonists demonstrated, did nothing to diminish the determination of many in the military to tear them down, or at least coopt their technology.

  Once Admiral Park reached his office, he told his adjunct that he would be unavailable until further notice. Retrieving the details of the target satellite, Park created an ordinary spreadsheet that detailed the time and coordinates of the satellite when it would be in opposition to the colonist’s space station. For an entire week, he pulled up the U.S. military’s list of spy satellites that had the requisite optical resolution to observe the target during the various test windows and added them to additional columns. When he was done, he had to decide where he would deploy the USS Ardmore to maintain a low profile. The ship would definitely have to be out to sea, well away from any landmass where it, and the railgun projectile as it tore a hole through the atmosphere, would be observed.

  The USS Ardmore was currently taking on stores and crew in San Diego and was scheduled to head out to sea the following week, so deployment for the test wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.

  Park began drafting the orders. For the most part there were no unusual or even additional stores necessary for the exercise. He decided to deploy the Ardmore to Pearl Harbor, with the live fire exercise taking place en route. Even as he was lost in the details of planning the exercise, Admiral Park’s anger had not dissipated, nor had his apprehension over General Archer’s motives. Flicking the nose of the bull was never a good idea and trying to destroy the colonists’ space station or spacecraft was nothing short of military suicide as far as Park was concerned. He was ambivalent about the whole situation. If he was ordered to attack the colonists, he really didn’t know if he would, or could, follow that order. There was little question in Park’s mind that President Wilcox had no idea what the Chairman was planning. Park was of a mind to get word to her about General Archer’s planned weapons test and to what use he believed the chairman was going to put the U.S. military’s premier weapon system. The problem was, if he made an appointment to see President Wilcox, the moment he stepped into the White House, Chairman Archer would for damn sure find out. He was going to have to find an indirect means of getting the information to POTUS and let her decide how to proceed.

  * * *

  It was almost quitting time, late in the afternoon at the White House. There had been a lull in the events of the day, nothing jumping out that required any kind of damage control and for that, President Wilcox was thankful. Far too often, just getting up in the morning felt like an exercise in futility,

  President Wilcox pressed the intercom key, wondering what was up as it was going on 6 P.M. Most everyone should have been out the door already.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s Nate. We have to talk, ma’am. You busy?”

  “Not really, Nate. Just cleaning up some paperwork. Come on in.”

  Moments later the Chief of Staff knocked on the door, then entered.

  “Am I going to need a drink for this?” she asked, half joking.

  “More like a sedative,” he said, going over to the liqueur cart.

  “Scotch, neat,” Wilcox sighed.

  He had brought her drink and set it on the desk, “Lauren, we have a problem.”

  “Shit. What is it now?” she asked.

  “I ran into Fleet Admiral Park on my way out of Senator Mason’s office, and it wasn’t an accident, even though he played it off like it was.”

  “What did he want?” she asked, apprehensive.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Nothing. He wanted to convey some back-channel information to you in confidence and couldn’t take the chance of being discovered.”

  “And so?”

  “And so, Chairman Archer is planning a live fire exercise to destroy a satellite in orbit with a Navy railgun,” explained Slade.

  Wilcox gulped down half of her scotch. “Okay. Isn’t that one of the original reasons they were developed? On its face, that doesn’t sound out of line. What the fuck, Nate?”

  Slade paused, “Park thinks Archer is planning an attack on the colonists’ space station or their spacecraft, or both. He’s not absolutely sure. Park also said the chairman was in the process of trying to procure twenty-five more of the heavies, the DS500s, from GST under the table.”

  Wilcox sat back in her chair, thinking through the ramifications of the chairman’s moves, mindful of the chaos General Kaminski caused with his treasonous deployment of the SEAL team to the surface of the Moon.

  “What else did the Admiral tell you, and who saw the two of you together?” Wilcox asked.

  “A handful of people. But we were playing it cool, like we had just bumped into each other. You know, back slappin,’ say ‘hi to the President’ kind of thing. He didn’t even have an aide hanging around.”

  Wilcox rubbed her eyes, then ran her fingers through her hair, leaving it a mess. “Archer is going to be the death of me, or worse, a whole lot of his people if he actually fires on the colonists. What do you think we should do?”

  “What do you mean we, paleface?” replied Slade, drawing a bark of laughter from Wilcox.

  “Yeah, no shit. The buck always stops here. Seriously though, my options at this point are severely limited. If I call him out before he does anything, he’ll just deny it. I could wait until after the test is over, then order all such exercises on hold until further notice.”

  “If you fire him, that effectively takes him out of the chain of command. It’ll also make damn sure no one will follow any order he issues to fire on the colonists,” suggested Slade.

  “I have no options that don’t create a shit storm one way or another. I’m going to have to let the live fire exercise play out, unless the satellite is a dodge. If he’s going to target the space station instead, then all bets are off. Do me a favor, Nate. Find a way to get in the loop. Somehow, get word to Admiral Park that I need to know exactly when this test is scheduled to take place. Any suggestions on how to keep track of the Chairman's dealings with GST about the extra railguns?” she asked.

  “That’s easy. After the test, I’ll call the CEO and ask to be confidentially kept in the loop, implying that to do so may shortstop GST from being investigated by a special select committee of congress, or maybe an I.R.S. audit down to the board members’ socks. Imagine that, me threatening powerful, rich white folks!�
� Slade laughed. “With the financial hit GST took when the embargo was imposed, they’re still hurting financially. I know how to play it, I live for this shit!”

  “I bet you do!” Wilcox said, laughing.

  * * *

  Benjamin and his friends put together missions to the asteroid belt, to Jupiter and to Saturn, trying to cover all possibilities once the colony’s’ Operations Group decided to send the new hab to collect the necessary water to bring it up to full operation.

  While Benjamin was en route to the new habitat, the colony’s A.I. called.

  “Excuse me, Benjamin. I have information you requested.”

  “Yes, Genesis, go ahead.”

  “Operations has decided to send the new habitat to the rings of Saturn in a joint scientific and construction mission. Operations has tasked the astronomy department to locate ice asteroids in orbit around the planet to mine. Is there anything else I may assist you with, Benjamin?”

  “Yes, could you ask Joy, Sam, Virginia, Lois and Piper if they can meet tonight at 19:00 hours in the commissary?”

  There was a brief pause while the A.I. queried the others. “Everyone can make the appointment, although Sam said he would likely be a few minutes late. Is there anything else I may assist you with, Benjamin?”

  “No thank you, Genesis.”

  Benjamin was thinking about how he was going to sell going to Saturn to his father. But first, he was going to have to put together a mission that was Saturn-specific and scientifically valid. Already Benjamin was thinking along the lines of a Titan specific mission. It had an atmosphere and liquid on its surface. Its surface gravity was stronger than Earth’s moon, but the colonists hadn’t yet exploited an opportunity to visit it. Most of the solar system was still unexplored even though they had the means.

  One strategy would be to frame the mission as an in-depth training exercise for the planning of missions to every planetary body in the solar system. They could develop science, research and safety protocols that could become the framework of an overall mission manual for the science department. One important aspect of the culture of the colony where it differed greatly from that of American culture, the work of the young was not automatically discounted merely because of their age.

  Even though he couldn’t wait to get together with the rest of the team that evening, his piloting between the new habitat and the colony was just as precise and safe as always. Nor, when his workday was concluded, did he skimp on the required maintenance on his pressure suit and helmet.

  Benjamin was a few minutes late getting to the commissary after taking a quick shower, with Sam beating him by a couple of minutes. Once he and Sam had made their selections and sat, everyone could tell he had news. And though Piper already knew the details, she held her piece. When he had everyone’s attention, Benjamin announced, “Well ladies and gentleman, it’s Saturn!”

  Everyone began to talk at once, excited at the prospect of planning a mission to Saturn, the rings and to Titan. Benjamin just grinned and when he caught Piper’s eye, she winked at him and smiled.

  After letting the chatter go on for about five minutes, Benjamin got their attention. “I have to say that the prospect of actually planning a mission to Saturn for the purpose of exploration is about the most exciting thing I’ve thought about doing—science-wise I mean. But this is going to be a serious science and exploration mission because I want to take away every reason for the science and exploration people to say no before we submit it, and if we all work together, and if Piper can help guide our work, we’re going to go to Saturn!”

  “This is timely as well as a great opportunity,” Piper said. “I can assure you that based on my experiences with the science departments, any mission plan we produce will be getting serious consideration. And if we cheat toward the six of our particular specialties, the chances are pretty good that we’d be considered as a team.”

  “Then we should begin boning up on everything Saturn, the rings and the moons, especially Titan. If it’s all right with everyone else I would like to take Titan, to get a handle on everything we know,” Sam requested.

  “May I join you, Sam?” asked Virginia.

  “That would be great! We need to know everything we can, regardless of whether or not we have a Genesis clone along for the ride.”

  “Then I’m going to concentrate on the rings,” Lois announced.

  “Me too,” added Joy. “I think there’s a wide range of materials useful to the colony besides water in orbit. Plus, close study of the rings themselves is of great interest in terms of orbital dynamics.”

  “Then Piper and I can concentrate on logistics as we’re the most senior pilots. Since the hab is going to be out in the rings, we’ll have safe harbor not too far away,” Benjamin pointed out.

  “Someone in Ops was suggesting that two whales and four jumpers accompany the hab on the collection mission. Perhaps we can borrow Chuck’s two Jupiter jumpers for the mission. There’s nothing that can damage those spacecraft,” Piper said. “We’re really going to have our “T”s crossed and our “I”s dotted. Ben and I are going to need all of you to feed us your ideas about what the mission should concentrate on. We have to include instruments, collection equipment, safety equipment, experimental equipment that the various science departments will want us to drag along since their own personnel probably won’t be coming along.”

  “So that probably means two jumpers, because we don’t really need the storage space of a whale unless we park two jumpers inside one of them for safety, and to increase our range because of the increase in cargo space for consumables,” Lois suggested.

  “We have a lot of planning to do and how long to do it, Piper?” asked Benjamin.

  “I overheard Chuck say something like sixteen weeks.”

  “That’s not a lot of time. If it makes sense, we should meet as often as possible. Is anyone in the middle of a project that’s likely to get in the way of us putting the mission together?” asked Benjamin. Everyone shook their heads, grinning.

  “I propose we name the mission, Saturn’s Young Guns to Titan!” Sam announced, making the others laugh.

  “How about we sleep on the naming idea and see what kind of ideas we can come up with,” Joy suggested.

  “Fair enough. Then let’s all get started on our research and meet back here tomorrow night at 19:00. I can’t wait!” Sam said.

  The In Crowd

  Admiral Park completed the plans for the live fire exercise for General Archer in days. However, in order to maintain the highest level of secrecy, the two decided to postpone the test until the 2025 RIMPAC Naval Exercise in the Pacific Ocean. And though the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand Navies were scheduled to participate, the firing of the DS500 could easily be overlooked, especially since no one other than the combat staff of the U.S.S. Ardmore would know the DS500's actual target.

  This year, Russia and China were scheduled to observe. In past RIMPAC exercises over twenty countries had participated, however due to the worldwide trend of austerity, reduced the participation to a mere handful of participants.

  During the exercise, Admiral Park identified four times when the target satellite would be above the horizon and out of direct sight of the colonists’ space station. He assigned the U.S.S. Ardmore to picket duty on the flank of the allied fleet, just over the horizon from the rest of the ships. General Archer left the details of the operation to Park, planning to observe from the Pentagon.

  So far, GST’s Ted Franks couldn’t guarantee delivery of the twenty-five DS500s General Archer wanted for at least three years, maybe longer. Franks was concerned how the Chairman was going to get the funding to pay for them. If they were going to be included in the 2026 military appropriations bill, then everything would be fine. But if General Archer was intending to pull some illegal sleight of hand to get GST the money off the books, then the GST board would have to decide if they wanted to engage in
that kind of subterfuge. Delivery of twenty-five DS500s would be impossible to conceal.

  When Slade told President Wilcox about the test being scheduled during the RIMPAC exercise, she was relieved he was able to nurture a back channel relationship, but was no less angry for the confirmation.

  “Any live fire weapons test is normally under the purview of the military and I refuse to get into a pissing contest with the Pentagon. And frankly, I’m curious to see if these DS500s work as advertised. What I will not continence is an attack on those space faring black folks, Nate.”

  “Understood, ma’am. And nor should you. Declaring war is not the province of the military, and to wave a red cape at the colonists cannot be allowed to happen.”

  “The American public has no idea of the shackles placed on the holder of this office. Unless I engage in nefarious, underhanded criminal enterprise, I have no more direct power than you do. But this constant assault on the constitution by these military assholes has got to stop. Thanks for bringing me this information, Nate. I need some time to think things over.”

  “Very well Madam President. I’ll be in my office for the rest of the day,” Slade said, rising to leave the office.

  * * *

  “Even though it’s all open and uncovered, it still has an elegant look to it.” Valerie said, walking around the stand holding the finished prototype of the new laser display.

  “You ready to power it up and see how it runs?” asked Aidan.

  “Hit it! I really didn’t think it would take nearly a week to get it built, but power it up, I have the thermal sensors all connected to the computer and recording.