John watched as data began to appear. He had told Julie what was happening and that he would be flying one of the two shuttles. She hadn’t liked hearing that. She didn’t want John putting himself in danger.
“I’m glad we armed these shuttles,” Strong said, looking back at the two marines sitting at the missile interceptor console behind them.
Turning, John looked at Corporal Cathy Cooper who operated the targeting and fire control console that had been added to the shuttle. The lithe redhead, in her marine uniform, was finishing her preflight check confirming the status of the ship’s armaments. Another marine sat next to her assisting with the computers.
“Black Knights check out okay, Sir,” she reported smartly, tossing her head back and gazing at John. “Let’s knock some of those bastards out of space!”
Smiling, John nodded, then spoke into his com unit. “This is Lexington; we are ready for immediate launch.”
“Confirmed, Lexington,” Lieutenant Commander William’s voice came back over the com system. “Good luck and good hunting; you are cleared for launch.”
John diligently activated the shuttle’s maneuvering RCS thrusters and moved the shuttle up and away from the Space Platform. From all the added weight the Lexington now carried it maneuvered more sluggishly than what he was used to. John made several adjustments, increasing power to the lateral thrusters and bringing the ship smoothly around. On the shuttle’s main screen, the platform gradually grew smaller as John moved the Lexington to a safe distance.
“Maneuvers like a damn whale,” John mumbled as he brought the shuttle around to her launch position.
“It’s all the extra weight,” Strong replied as he checked the boosters.
“I just hope all of this works like they said it would,” John added, gazing at the new set of controls that operated the boosters.
“Course entered on the flight computer,” reported Strong, flipping a row of switches. “Ready for booster firing.”
“Confirmed,” responded John, making sure the straps across his chest were secure. “Stand by for booster ignition.”
John’s thumb pressed the large red booster-firing button. The flight computer took over, lighting the two powerful rocket boosters. John felt himself pressed back into his acceleration couch as two gravities of acceleration built up quickly and the shuttle rapidly accelerated away from the Space Platform.
The twin boosters burned brilliantly, leaving a dim, gaseous trail behind them. A gentle vibration could be felt in the shuttle as its speed rapidly increased. For six minutes, the boosters burned until half their fuel was expended, and then they shut down. The shuttle was suddenly quiet as it rushed down toward Earth and the deadly flock of missiles waiting in the darkness.
“We are in the groove,” Strong said, checking out their trajectory on the flight computer. “Speed is at 16,000 miles per hour. Estimate contact with targets in eight hours, forty-two minutes.”
“Very good,” replied John, loosening his safety harness and looking back to check on Corporal Cooper. She was looking slightly pale and shaken from the acceleration. “You’ll get used to it,” John said, giving her the thumbs up sign and an encouraging smile. The other marine seemed to be okay.
Cooper nodded, forcing a wane smile on her face as she checked her console for any problems caused by the launch. All eight Black Knight missiles still showed in the green.
Behind them, the second shuttle launched, accelerating rapidly to take up a position slightly behind and to port of the Lexington. The Pericles and the Lexington would attack simultaneously, trying to eliminate as many incoming missiles as possible. John hoped that their controllers on Earth wouldn’t realize what was happening until too late. With any luck, the shuttles would eliminate the threat to Star One before the people back on Earth knew what had happened.
-
Down on Earth, Senator Harlen Farley leaned back in his large deeply cushioned chair. He was in a heavily shielded underground bunker far beneath the Pentagon. He stared wolfishly at the missiles being tracked on the big screen, which covered an entire wall. Technicians were busy monitoring the missile’s progress and communicating with the tracking stations.
In the past several weeks, he had used his control of the military to gain a firm hold on the country, along with the Northern part of Mexico and all of Canada. No one dared resist him, especially with the threat of nuclear destruction hanging over their heads. Farley had made it abundantly plain to the other nations of the world that he would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against anyone that might oppose him. As long as they left him alone, he would leave them alone. He now had more power than any other president in history.
Using new evidence from some of the scientists that he controlled, they had presented enough data in the past several weeks to discredit the neutron star rumor. Senator Farley still found it laughable how intelligent people could have fallen for such a ruse. A neutron star! You would have thought that Steve Larson and the former space happy government could have come up with something more believable.
His people had presented enough evidence to the United Nations to disprove that ridiculous story. The object detected by the Farside array was nothing more than a large, distant comet. The Third World president of that body had confirmed that the evidence presented by Senator Farley’s people was true. The President of the U.N. had stated that other scientists in other countries had confirmed that the neutron star story was a farce. Senator Farley had thoroughly discredited the former president as well as the scientists and astronomers on Star One and the Farside array.
There were still rumors being spread on the Internet that the neutron star was real. Several reputable astronomers even claimed that a black hole had been detected approaching with the neutron star. Anytime these stories popped up they were quickly downplayed or discredited by Senator Farley’s people. People who posted such rumors were swiftly detained and locked up if they could be located.
Now with these powerful missiles, his military leaders promised him they would obliterate Star One. Then a few weeks from now when the rest of the missiles had been modified, they would take out Tycho City as well. Once Star One and Tycho City were eliminated, all of these divisive rumors would come to a stop.
In a little over sixteen hours, Steve Larson and General Karver would be dead. Feeling confident that everything was going his way, Farley took a long draw on the expensive Cuban cigar he held in his right hand. Glancing at the cigar, Senator Farley reminded himself to have one of his aides order several more boxes. These were the best damn cigars he had ever smoked!
The senator had been extremely disappointed weeks earlier when General Karver had escaped the cape in the last shuttle. He had wanted to see the general die. He could still picture, with barely controlled glee, the shuttle explosion and the resulting fireball that had taken out Jane Kinsey and Tim McPhryson. The fighter pilot that had launched the missiles had been personally awarded in a special ceremony held at the White House by Senator Farley.
“Senator Farley,” a stern faced general said, walking up to him. “We have detected two shuttle launches that may be aimed to intercept our missiles. We would like to MIRV the warheads before interception to decrease any chance that they might be able to knock out some of our birds.”
“What can those shuttles possibly do?” huffed Farley, blowing smoke up into the air, and watching it drift upward to be caught and drawn out by the room’s ventilators. “Star One isn’t armed; it never was. The only thing they can hope to do is ram our missiles with their priceless shuttles. I can’t see them doing that.”
“We don’t know what type of weapons they might have shipped up there, especially from the two military launch centers,” the general objected, concerned, knowing that his future rested on the success of this attack. “We have to assume that Star One is not totally defenseless.”
“We questioned a lot of the cape survivors, General,” replied Farley, becoming aggravated. He hated it whe
n anyone questioned his decisions and authority. Why couldn’t these people in the military just do what they were told?
“There were no weapons shipped from the cape, and we took out the two military launch centers with nukes. They didn’t have time to get anything useful up to Star One,” Farley said with a trace of arrogance in his voice. “They were concentrating on people and supplies.”
“So we’ve been told,” the general responded still not convinced. “But we don’t know for sure what General Karver might have sent them. I don’t believe we should take the risk.”
“With the suddenness of our original attack they didn’t have time to gather anything that could be made into a useful defensive weapon,” insisted Farley, turning angry eyes toward the general.
“But it still took us four weeks to take the cape,” the general reminded the senator. “A lot could have been done in those four weeks!”
The general knew with General Karver’s outstanding military reputation that he should not be underestimated. If something could have been done, General Karver would have done it. By now, some type of defense had to be in place. He just wondered what it was and if these two shuttles might be part of it.
“I personally saw to it, while in Congress, that nothing that could be used as a weapon was ever sent up to that damn station!” Senator Farley replied in a louder voice, beginning to express his anger at the general. “No, General; they are defenseless. In a few more hours, they will all be dead. Those shuttles probably contain refugees trying to escape to Earth before the station is vaporized by our missiles.”
“Perhaps,” the general replied with a frown on his face. “I would still like to go ahead and MIRV the warheads.”
“Not only that,” Farley went on, gazing sternly at the general. “You said earlier the later we waited to MIRV the missiles the more warheads would arrive dead center on target. I want Star One and their precious Space Platform annihilated!”
Pausing, Senator Farley drew in a deep breath. “Have people ready to seize whoever is in those shuttles when they land; I don’t care where they come down. I want everyone on board brought to me.”
The general nodded, not wanting to bring down Senator Farley’s wrath. He had already watched too many good men and women die for questioning the senator’s actions. Turning, he went back to his station and ordered his people to track the two shuttles and let him know as soon as possible where they might be landing. He still had a bad feeling about those two shuttles. He wished General Karver wasn’t on Star One.
-
On Star One, the main subjects of Farley’s anger watched hours later as the shuttles and the missiles rapidly closed their range. So far, the missiles were still intact and none had MIRVed to release their deadly cargoes of nuclear warheads. They had maintained radio silence with the two shuttles so as not to give anyone listening on Earth a hint as to what was planned. Total surprise was essential.
“The two shuttles will be in weapon range for only two minutes,” commented Teela, checking her calculations once again. “The missiles and the shuttles are closing on each other at over 25,000 miles per hour.”
“Can the Black Knight missiles handle intercepts at that speed?” asked Steve with concern, looking over at General Karver who had been pacing back and forth between the weapons console and Steve’s command console. He had stopped several times to talk to Lieutenant Sandy Emerson at her weapons control station. This was a different type of warfare than what he was used to.
Every once in a while General Karver would stop and talk with Captain Gerald who was standing watchfully behind Lieutenant Emerson. The minutes before a battle had always weighed heavily on the general’s mind, especially when so much was at stake. He knew that Captain Gerald’s people were the best that could be found. He had personally handpicked many of the men and women that were in Captain Gerald’s unit.
“No problem,” replied Karver, confidently. “The Black Knights were our country’s biggest military secret. With them, we felt we could knock down any incoming missile launched against us with impunity. In case of a nuclear war, they were to be our main defense. It was estimated that they could knock down nearly 90 percent of a saturated missile attack against the U.S. once they were deployed.”
“Contact in three minutes,” reported Teela, looking over at Christy, noting that her face was almost white.
Teela also felt tense. She had turned several of the Earth spy satellites outward toward space to show the interception.
“It will be all right, Commander,” Teela spoke quietly to Christy. “We will destroy the missiles.”
“I know, Teela,” replied Christy, trying to smile.
Christy knew Teela was trying to reassure her, and she appreciated it. But so much was at stake, they couldn’t afford to miss a single missile. Christy also knew that Teela was keeping Julie informed as to what was happening. Christy could just imagine how worried Julie was about John.
Teela nodded and turned her attention back to the missiles. She was constantly running simulations on the intercept of the missiles by the shuttles.
-
John watched intently on the Lexington’s radar screen as the nuclear missiles came ever so much closer. In order to all arrive and strike Star One together, they were fairly closely bunched. Even in space that meant a distance of a mile or more between most of the on rushing missiles and their deadly cargoes.
As the two shuttles drew within firing range, John felt tension and adrenaline flood his body. “Stand by for weapons launch,” John said, firing the RCS thrusters to line the shuttle up with the oncoming missiles.
Next to him, Alvin Strong used the ship’s radar to paint each individual missile, transmitting the data back to Corporal Cooper’s console. “Tracking looks good,” he reported as he had solid contacts on all twelve of the missiles. “Let’s hope this works.”
John looked back at Corporal Cooper, who was busy at her console assigning targets to the interceptors. John hoped that they would all still be alive in a few more minutes. There was a chance, a very remote chance, that they could collide with one of the oncoming missiles. If any of the warheads went off too close to the ship, the shuttle could be destroyed. They would launch first followed by Pericles two minutes later. Under his orders, everyone had donned their in-flight spacesuits as a safety precaution.
-
Down on Earth, Senator Farley watched with nervous excitement as the missiles and the shuttles neared one another. At any moment, he expected the shuttles to activate their thrusters and avoid the oncoming missiles. He didn’t think the pilots would risk colliding with one of them. Why hadn’t they turned away from the missiles already?
The general in charge watched the screens with a growing feeling of dread. He knew if the shuttles were going to evade the missiles they should have already done so. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that General Karver had sent the shuttles to destroy the missiles. There was something definitely amiss here.
The general was tempted to go ahead and MIRV the warheads on his own authority. But if he did and he was wrong, Senator Farley would have him shot. Maybe it would be better if he could find some excuse to leave the underground command center briefly. Once outside, he could requisition a vehicle and flee. He glanced over at the exit, wondering if he could step out without Senator Farley noticing.
-
“Launch at your discretion, Corporal,” spoke John, tightening his chest harness and looking up at the main viewscreen that showed the empty space between them and the distant Earth. Star One and Julie were waiting and watching far behind them.
Corporal Cooper watched as the nuclear missiles reached the Black Knight’s extreme interception range. The Black Knights were smart missiles; fire and forget. They would seek out and destroy any target assigned to their tracking computers. Corporal Cooper waited a few seconds until she was satisfied that all the interceptors were targeted properly. She was confident the missiles would easily find their targe
ts. Reaching up on her console, she flipped eight switches rapidly, one after another.
From the outer wings of the shuttle, sleek black interceptor missiles blasted away on their powerful boosters. Small targeting computers made minor course corrections as the Black Knight interceptor missiles closed with their doomed targets. As each missile launched, the Lexington rocked slightly as the interceptors dropped away and dwindled rapidly from sight.
-
Down on Earth, Senator Farley sat up straighter in his chair when the tracking screen suddenly blossomed with eight new blips that appeared at the location of one of the shuttles and then raced off toward his missiles. “What the hell are those?” he demanded, looking over at the general who had a horror-stricken look upon his face.
“Interceptors,” the general groaned aloud, knowing he was done for. “They’re damn interceptors, and they have targeted our missiles. They are nearly invisible to radar; we are tracking their rocket flares.”
-
The interceptors sped toward the nuclear missiles, closing with their targets and then exploding on contact in a bright fireball. Missile after missile was annihilated in fiery explosions as the interceptors met them head on.
On the main viewscreen, John watched as small, bright explosions lit up space in front and to the side of the shuttle. He could picture the Black Knight warheads vaporizing the nuclear missiles and spreading their debris across their path. He was already firing the RCS thrusters, trying to move the shuttle away from the expanding debris field.
“We got some hits!” exclaimed Strong excitedly, seeing the bursts of light on the screen. He turned his attention back to the radar trying to see how many missiles they had managed to destroy.
John knew he would have to watch the radar closely. Even though the shuttle had a light coating of Luxen on its outer hull, a large piece of debris encountered at high speeds could still spell disaster.
“Six confirmed kills and one probable,” reported Corporal Cooper, checking her data and sounding slightly disappointed. She had hoped for a kill from each interceptor. “One of the Black Knights suffered booster shutdown too soon and did not reach its target.”
Star One: Dark Star Page 16