Star One: Dark Star

by Weil, Raymond L.

  Everyone in the room looked shocked at what they knew must be happening back down on Earth. Under Senator Farley, Freedom of Speech and many of the other basic rights everyone had taken for granted for generations would be gone. Senator Farley would strictly control what news and information the public received.

  “But surely with all the information his people found, he has to know the truth about the neutron star?” interrupted Julie Gray, looking around the room. “I mean how much more evidence does he need? There are countless scientists on Earth that understand what’s happening.”

  “I don’t believe the man will ever accept the reality of the neutron star, even when he can see it plainly in the sky above him, and the Earth begins to die,” Martain Blackwater stated sadly. “It’s part of his paranoia.”

  “Why’s that?” asked Steve, curious. He wanted to know everything he could about Senator Farley.

  Steve had found it hard to believe that Senator Farley could continue to refute all the hard evidence they had. Steve had always thought that, at some point, even Senator Farley would have to admit that the neutron star was real and a serious threat.

  “The man is suffering from a prosecution psychosis,” began Martain Blackwater, looking at Steve. “He has been so fervently against the space program, Star One, and everything that it stands for that he sees the neutron star as a personal threat to his career. He has blinded himself in the belief that it’s a fraud and nothing anyone can say will ever convince him otherwise, until possibly at the very end, and I do mean the very end. Even madmen at times become sane when they are faced with imminent death.”

  “What about the rest of the world?” asked Jennifer, finding it hard to believe that no one else on the planet was willing to help them. “Is there no one that we can turn to for help?”

  “All of Europe is currently involved in what the twentieth century would call ethnic cleansing,” replied Teela, trying to keep the disgust out of her voice. “After the nuclear attack many governments, which were already weak, fell. The infrastructure of Europe has largely been destroyed. Many of the great cities have been looted, and rioters have burned down large areas. Africa is currently engaged in a series of border wars that show no signs of stopping.”

  “What about China and Russia?” asked Stoler. “With the size of their armies, particularly China, I can’t see civil unrest taking them down.”

  “China and Russia are largely intact,” Teela responded. “News reports and spy satellite data indicates large troop movements around their adjoining borders. Both have been making threats for weeks toward each other. The threat of the neutron star and the wars spreading close to their borders has brought back the communist party in Russia with a vengeance. War will probably break out there at any time.”

  “Are there any safe areas?” asked Julie, shaking her head at everything that was going on down on Earth. It seemed as if the world was falling apart.

  “The only safe areas currently seem to be Japan, Australia, and perhaps South Africa, but they dare not offer us any help,” Teela replied. “Senator Farley has been contacting all the surviving world governments and making it very clear that Star One and Tycho City are off limits.” Teela stopped and sat back down. She knew that her report had not contained any good news.

  “We are on our own then,” Steve said flatly. He had expected this. “I have all the confidence in the world in each and every one of you. We will continue to receive raw material from Tycho City for our processing plants. The fuel storage facility is nearly complete, and we have the FarQuest mission that must be monitored.”

  Steve opened up a large folder in front of him. “I want to spend some time going over each department and where we currently stand. Julie, lets begin with yours.”

  For the next several hours, the group discussed Star One’s current condition and made plans to cover future operations. Much of the conversation was extremely detailed, with Teela helping to furnish each department head with needed information.

  -

  Later that evening, Christy paused hesitantly outside Steve’s door to his quarters. Then straightening her shoulders, she placed her hand on the touch pad. Almost instantly, Steve was standing before her with a surprised look on his face. “I gave up on you coming to my place,” she said demurely “Aren’t you going to ask me in?”

  Taking Christy’s hand, he pulled her into his apartment and they were soon locked in a hot, passionate embrace. It would be a quite a while before she returned to her quarters that night. However, they would both feel extremely rested the next morning. For a little while, they would be able to forget about the new, harsh reality that now existed around them.

  Chapter Seven

  Senator Farley gazed in unbridled anticipation at the large viewscreen in the underground command center. The screen showed a powerful missile rising up into the air on a pillar of fire. On top of the missile was a warhead containing multiple nuclear weapons. “God damn it,” he muttered, watching the rising missile. “So you thought you could escape me General Karver! Well, this is my answer to you and Steve Larson.”

  “The missile is on course,” the general in charge reported after checking a data screen.

  “What about the other missiles?” Farley demanded, his dark eyes finding the general.

  “All twelve are launched and are on target,” the general replied carefully. “Star One and the Space Platform will both be history by this time tomorrow.”

  Senator Farley sat back down in his cushioned chair lighting up a cigar. “They’d better be,” he warned, his dark eyes glaring at the general.

  The general almost reminded the senator that smoking was not allowed in the underground command center. However, thinking better of it, he decided it might be best to let this particular infraction slide. He drew in a deep breath, gazing at several small screens that showed some of the other missiles. The general was markedly relieved that all twelve missiles had launched successfully. If even one had failed, there was no doubt in the general’s mind that Senator Farley would have gone mad with anger.

  Senator Farley took a deep draw on the cigar and then blew the smoke out, watching it slowly rise toward the ceiling. “You guaranteed me that these missiles would do the job, General,” Senator Farley reminded him in a sharp voice. “Don’t disappoint me.”

  The general in command listened quietly. He was use to the senator’s tirades. For weeks, military technicians had been working on the missiles modifying them for this attack on Star One and the Space Platform. Senator Farley had made it abundantly clear to the general that he wanted Star One and the Space Platform annihilated. But more importantly than that, he wanted General Karver and Steve Larson dead!

  -

  General Karver, Steve, Christy, and Captain Gerald were all in Main Control. Lieutenant Commander Kevin Anderson had hastily summoned them when Teela had detected missile launches from the surface of the Earth. They were waiting tensely for the final confirmation reports from the Earth spy satellites, which Teela still controlled. Numerous attempts had been made to retake command of the spy satellites, but Teela had easily blocked them all. No computer on Earth could come close to matching Teela’s current abilities.

  “It’s confirmed, Sir,” reported Teela, materializing in her normal spot at Steve’s side. Her rich blue eyes gazed at the commander, and her dark black hair lay against her shoulders. Not a strand was out of place.

  “So they have finally launched against us,” Steve spoke sharply, his eyes focusing on Teela. He heard Christy take a deep breath behind him.

  “I was hoping they wouldn’t actually do this,” Christy sighed. “Why couldn’t they just leave us alone?”

  “Senator Farley wants us all dead,” answered General Karver, looking over at Christy. “We represent the only resistance to his rule, and my being here doesn’t help matters either.”

  “From the spy satellites and our own detection instruments we have confirmed twelve launches from the United States
within the last twenty minutes,” Teela spoke with a slight nod. “From the scans, the missiles are all modified long range missiles, and they are all on trajectories to intercept us here at Star One!”

  “Can you show us one of the missiles up close?” General Karver asked with concern evident in his normally deep voice. He had been expecting this attack for some time now. He was curious to see which missiles Farley was using for this attack.

  “Yes, Sir,” replied Teela, respectfully. Over the past several weeks, she had discovered that General Karver was highly professional and businesslike, and even treated her courteously. “Several of the spy satellites picked up some excellent close up shots of the missiles on their way up. I’ll project their images on the main viewscreen.”

  A large two-stage missile was depicted rising up into the sky. A plume of fire and smoke trailed for miles behind the rapidly rising missile, tying it to the ground far below. It continued to rise as both boosters burned out and fell behind, until only the warhead and a small course correction booster remained. Teela magnified the deadly warhead until it swelled to fill the entire screen.

  “A Hammer Head 2 warhead,” Captain Gerald stated, sharply drawing in his breath and his eyes widening as he recognized the warhead on top of the missile. “It contains six 150 kiloton nuclear warheads which can be independently targeted. They’re the most advanced weapon in the U.S. arsenal. Test results from trial launches showed 100 percent accuracy in the independent targeting systems.”

  “One single warhead has enough firepower to incinerate this station completely,” added General Karver, taking his eyes off the screen and addressing Steve. We can’t risk any of those warheads coming anywhere near the station or the Space Platform. Who ever is in charge down there certainly picked the right weapon for the job.”

  “That’s 72 warheads coming at us,” spoke Steve, frowning. Senator Farley must really want them dead. In normal circumstances, this would be overkill. “General what would you recommend?”

  “These missiles were designed to take out hardened defensive installations and enemy military targets,” replied General Karver, gazing back at the large viewscreen and the deadly missile warhead being displayed.”

  “Each warhead has ten times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb,” commented Captain Gerald, looking over at General Karver. “If the controllers back down on Earth are smart, they will MIRV the warheads early. That would give them a better possibility of overloading our defensive envelope.”

  “What are the chances that they don’t know how well Star One is defended? They may not know about the new missile platforms or the railguns,” suggested Christy, looking at the lethal warhead still up on the screen. She felt a cold shiver run across her back. Those missiles were aimed at destroying Star One and the Space Platform.

  “They can’t know much about what we have done,” Captain Gerald replied, his eyes turning to Christy. “The Black Knight missiles and even the new Luxen railguns were top secret.”

  Christy knew that Senator Farley must have pushed his military extremely hard to launch a strike against Star One so quickly after destroying the two military launch facilities and capturing the cape. Fortunately, General Karver had ensured that the cape was useless to Senator Farley. The demolition charges he had set had taken care of that. Spy satellites had confirmed the devastating destruction wrought by explosives. It looked as if a war had been fought across the cape.

  “The size of this attack indicates that they must feel the station isn’t totally defenseless,” Steve said, indicating the screens, which were currently tracking the twelve inbound missiles. “General Karver, Captain Gerald what are your recommendations?”

  “They may suspect that we have been able to put together some type of defense,” responded General Karver, crossing his arms. “If anyone with any real intelligence is still in charge down there, he won’t take any chances. That’s probably why they launched twelve missiles. They can’t know about the Black Knight interceptors. They were one of our most closely kept defense secrets. The few people that did know are dead. They were killed when the military launch sites were taken out with the nukes.”

  “They may suspect that we have put together some type of defense, but nothing that could stop this type of attack,” suggested Steve. “That may be an advantage for us.”

  “That would be my assessment,” General Karver replied, nodding his head in agreement. “That’s why the overkill with the missiles they launched. They probably believe we can take out one or two, but not all of them.”

  “They can’t know about the railguns either,” added Captain Gerald as he listened to General Karver. “Everyone still thought they were in the design stage, waiting for the correct power source.”

  Pausing, the general looked around Main Control. The crew was all at their posts and doing their jobs. They were all very professional, even in this situation with a dozen nuclear-armed missiles coming toward them. General Karver was genuinely impressed by the quality of people that Steve had on the station.

  “We have an advantage in the fact that they probably don’t know how well we can defend ourselves,” Steve commented. “They can’t know that we have armed two of our shuttles either.”

  “Of course, if Senator Farley is commanding this operation, he may just be trying for overkill,” General Karver spoke his eyes returning to look at Steve. “He may not be listening to his military people. He may be wanting to make an example out of us for the rest of the world.”

  “Senator Farley has moved into the White House,” commented Teela, putting a picture of it up on the main screen. “Over the last several days, there has been a lot of encrypted communication between the White House and the missile launch facilities.”

  “I just don’t understand how anyone can feel the type of hate that Senator Farley does,” Christy said, shaking her head with an angry glint in her eyes. “Why is he so bent on destroying us?”

  “We are a symbol,” replied Steve, staring at the White House on the screen. He noticed that all signs of the recent fighting had been cleaned up. He wondered what else Senator Farley had changed inside. “We are a constant reminder that he does not rule and control everything.”

  “He has shown a definite lack of faith in anything the military or other people have tried to tell him in recent weeks,” General Karver continued. “Even in the attack on the cape he wasted a lot of lives trying to break through our lines.”

  The general had spent a lot of time with Teela and Captain Gerald using the orbiting spy satellites to keep an eye on what was going on down on Earth. There was very little that had escaped their notice over the past weeks as they watched developments on the ground.

  The civilians, who had expected things to change once the old government was overthrown, still found martial law in effect. The excuse being used now was to protect the population from terrorist attacks from renegade military units still loyal to the old government. What the people were not being told was that there were no renegade military units.

  “So you think he is running this show, and not his military people?” asked Steve, surprised. He felt Christy’s hand touch his shoulder. She was listening intently to what General Karver was saying.

  “That could give us a distinct advantage,” responded General Karver, looking over at Captain Gerald. “I recommend that we launch the two shuttles that we have armed with Black Knight interceptors immediately. We can intercept and destroy most if not all of these missiles before they become a threat to us.”

  “Captain Gerald, are the shuttles ready for this type of action?” Steve asked. He knew that Lieutenant Commander Williams and Captain Gerald had been working extremely hard on the two shuttles trying to get them ready.

  “Yes, Sir,” replied Captain Gerald, nodding his head in affirmation. “We can be ready to launch within two hours. I just need to let Lieutenant Commander Williams know to get the two shuttles prepped.”

  “If these missiles have a chan
ce to MIRV we will be dealing with 72 separate targets that will need to be destroyed,” General Karver warned. “By launching the shuttles back toward Earth, if Senator Farley is controlling this attack he may believe that it’s only refugees trying to escape the station’s destruction. He may believe that Star One is defenseless. It may get him to hold off MIRVing the missiles until it’s too late.”

  “We’ve also modified the shuttles over the past several weeks so they can now carry eight Black Knight interceptors,” Captain Gerald informed them. Teela had worked closely with them in the design modification. “Each missile can be targeted separately from the fire control computers we have installed in the two shuttles.”

  “Let’s do it then,” ordered Steve, knowing it was their best option. “I want to destroy as many of those missiles as far away from the station as possible. Perhaps in all the confusion the shuttles can make their return safely.”

  “We will hold the railguns back in reserve,” General Karver said. He intended to destroy all the missiles before they even got close to the station. “We will use them if needed, but I think it would be wise not to reveal all the cards we are holding too quickly in case there are future attacks.”

  -

  Two hours later, on the Space Platform, John Gray was running quickly through his prelaunch checks along with his co-pilot Alvin Strong. Both of the defensive shuttles had been recently equipped with new long burning boosters similar to those that had been used on the FarQuest. With liberal use of the boosters, it would give them the ability to get to their targets as quickly as possible and much faster than what the Earth military expected.

  “Twelve nuclear missiles,” commented Strong frowning and then, looking over at John, he added. “I guess the people down on Earth genuinely don’t like us anymore.”

  “Senator Farley has made us into the enemy,” replied John, reaching up and turning on two computer screens.