Lenny maneuvered over the center of the building, and when Andrea announced he was in the right position, Damien cut power to the tractor emitters and released the huge blob of compressed metal. Andrea and Christopher watched it drive itself through the roof, smashing through the floors and coming to a rest in a sub-basement.
Both jumpers immediately climbed to 200,000 feet to avoid over a dozen missiles fired by the fighters, Christopher wanting to keep their shields a secret for the time being. Christopher then had G3 put him in touch with whomever was in charge at the Star City space port. When he finally got an English-speaking technician on the line, he demanded to speak to the Svoboda mission commander. In moments he was connected to a General Rowan.
“General Rowan, my name is Christopher Wright, and I am the titular leader of our colony. One of your people attacked my home—,” he began.
General Rowan interrupted, saying, “You will pay for this outrage! Who do you think you are, destroying our peaceful scientific installation?”
“I suggest you shut the hell up and listen to me, or I will destroy the whole space port,” Christopher said, causing Rowan sputter in anger. “General, a man under your command committed an unprovoked attack on a civilian population. That man is guilty of a war crime, as, I imagine are you, having equipped the spacecraft with offensive weapons in violation of U.N. treaty. What do you have to say about that, general?”
The radio was silent, as Rowan digested the accusation.
“Now that I have your attention, I will warn you once, and only once. If you ever even sneeze in the direction of my home, I will end you. Do you understand?”
The radio remained silent. Then General Rowan started anew, “Who do you think you are, you coward? I do not see your spacecraft anywhere near the building you just destroyed! Why not come back and face me like a man, or are you just a man who makes empty threats!”
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Christopher.
“Absolutely not!” Andrea shouted. “Have you lost your fucking? We’re not here to start a war.”
“You’re right, we’re here to make a statement.”
“Forget it. We’re not going back down there. You saw that there were a dozen fighters when we arrived, there’s got to be twice that by now. No way, Chris. Don’t make me do it, I can’t.”
“Lenny?”
“What up, Chris?” Lenny replied.
“Would you like to do me a favor?”
Lenny hesitated, then said, “What’s that? It’s not going to get me in trouble, is it?”
Christopher looked at Andrea and she just glared at him in anger.
“Lenny, how do you feel about flying through the building you just dropped that piece of shit ship through?”
“Um, what about the fighters?” Lenny asked uneasily.
“G3?”
“Yes, Christopher. How may I be of assistance?”
“Can you access the weapons systems of those Russian fighters?”
“One moment … checking … yes, I can.”
“Can you keep them from firing?”
“I can slow down the release of the missiles, but I cannot prevent the onboard guns from firing.”
“Shit! What else can you do to disable those fighters?” Christopher asked.
“I can activate the emergency ejection systems.”
“Excellent. Do you have any data on surface-to-air missile installations on the base?”
“There are three installations. However they are placed well outside the perimeter of the base. If you descend straight down over the base, the missile batteries will not be able to get a lock on either jumper while I jam the missile battery’s radar.”
“Did you hear that, Lenny?” Christopher asked.
“Damn skippy! Andrea, take position echelon right, one hundred feet above.”
Andrea sighed, and shot a glance at Christopher. “If they get hurt or their ship is damaged, it’s on you!. On your right, Lenny. I’m following you in.”
“G3, when we’re almost in range I want you to trigger the ejection systems on the fighters, call out when everyone is free of their birds.”
“Affirmative, Christopher, standing by. Lenny, proceed when ready,” the A.I. announced.
Lenny’s jumper began to drop with Andrea right on his tail. When he was five thousand feet above the ground, G3 announced that all the pilots had been ejected from their fighters and that the fighters had either self-destructed or crashed.
Lenny halted his descent when he was a twenty feet above ground, pointed straight for the partially destroyed command center. As he flew toward the building he could see people scattered around the grounds, but the area around the building still looked clear.
“Shields at maximum,” Lenny announced.
Christopher watched from above as Lenny’s jumper plowed through the damaged building, exiting the far side without having slowed. The building began to fall in on itself as the damage inflicted by the jumper took out the internal supports.
“You okay in there?” Christopher radioed.
Damien shouted, “Woohoo! We barely felt a bump, Chris. Peanut’s shields are unbelievable!”
“How do you feel about another trip through the building?”
“You mean take it down completely?” Damien asked as Lenny looped around to fly through the building from another angle.
“Exactly,” Christopher answered.
“Your wish is my command! Any signs of trouble, Andrea?” Lenny asked.
“Not a thing in the sky but birds,” Andrea reported.
Lenny dropped to within just a few feet off the ground and flew through the building once more, slowing as he emerged on the other side. When he was clear of the building, he rotated the jumper to inspect his handiwork.
“How’s that?” he asked as two of the outer walls completely collapsed.
“Perfect. Let’s get back in orbit. G3, what’s the general saying?” Christopher inquired.
“He ceased transmitting when the jumper impacted the building the first time. No one is broadcasting at this time except for the homing signals from the ejected pilots. There were no apparent injuries to the pilots, nor anyone on the ground from falling debris,” G3 reported.
“Good. Let’s head back upstairs, I’m starving,” Christopher said, completely missing the look of disbelief on Andrea’s face.
In less than fifteen minutes the jumpers were parked within sight of the Jove spacecraft and the construction space station. When she shut down the jumper’s drive, Andrea unstrapped and got right in Christopher’s face.
“That was reckless and unnecessary. What if someone was still inside that building? There’s no way they could have lived through what we just did down there,” she said in anger and frustration.
“I did what I had to do. I should have done something like this ten years ago when they sent soldiers to the moon. This lesson is long overdue. Don’t you understand that there’s a whole lot of people out there who think that attacking us is okay? And that asshole was a part of the plan to attack us, otherwise there wouldn’t have been those damn rockets on their ship! They needed a lesson taught about attacking us. Next, the U.S. authorities have to understand that confining our people is completely unacceptable.”
Christopher unstrapped and stood up, forcing Andrea to back up. “I know this is extreme, but everything I’ve planned is necessary, trust me. And make no mistake about it, this isn’t what I wanted at all.”
* * *
When Debra Dawkins arrived in the White House bunker observation room she found the president watching video of the destruction of the Star City Operations Center. They watched the feed from one of the site’s security cameras, which had recorded the spacecraft as it flew through the building, completely destroying it in the process.
“What did I t
ell you?” Dawkins said, dropping a pile of folders on the big table.
“The Russians were responsible for their bird being armed, and a Russian fired those missiles at their colony,” Laughlin countered.
“And we have two of their people in custody,” she said, watching the video loop through the destruction of the building again. “Is this what we’re in for? And where would they hit? NASA? The Pentagon? Here? I’m sorry if I sound like I’m beating the same dead horse, but we now know that they are bent on retribution.”
“Here, read this,” he said, sliding a military dispatch across the table to Dawkins.
She read through it and looked up incredulously. “All the Russian fighter pilots ejected? How the hell does that happen?” she asked.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Most of our guys think the Russians bailed when they saw what was going on, removing themselves from a no-win combat situation. A couple of the analysts think that maybe the separatists have some means of jamming control systems.
“We screwed up royally by not addressing the racial issues in this country half a century ago. That’s what brought us to this point. Imagine if those couple of thousand people in that colony were still here, doing the same things that they’ve done out there. We would have gravity technologies, better health, and who knows what else?” Laughlin said with fatigue. “And now we have all these racist assholes coming out of the woodwork pulling absolutely unacceptable crap because they know that they’re going to become a minority in this country in a generation. What we did was killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.”
“It never would have happened, Stuart. There’s too many mouth-breathing, racist white folk in this country, and the people in that colony would have faced the same crap the rest of us still do. And now the separatists have destroyed any notion of white superiority here in the U.S., or anywhere else on Earth for that matter, once and for all. Things have just gotten worse in the last decade,” Dawkins said cynically.
“Bottom line is that we’re no closer to duplicating the technology they have than we were a decade ago, and this country needs it,” Laughlin explained. “And if there’s anything I can do to get it, including blackmail, then that’s what has to happen. The two ships that visited the destruction in Russia are back in orbit not far from Jove. And Dr. Roscoe radioed that they were instructed by one of the separatists to stay put, and not release the Svoboda crew, although damned if I know where they could go. The Jove people have enough stores for more than six months if need be. However, the next move is theirs, the separatists I mean. You may very well be right, they might want to teach us a lesson like they did the Russians, but we treated their people well and didn’t subject them to any harsh measures.”
“That’s a matter of opinion and unfortunately yours isn’t really going to matter to those folks up there. It’s too late to move them here. Besides there’s obviously nowhere those ships can’t go,” said Dawkins.
“Take another look at that video. Look closely at the debris falling on the ship, it looks like it’s not even touching the hull. One of the generals pointed it out to me. It appears they have shields capable of deflecting solid objects, and of considerable mass, judging by how easily they plowed through that building.”
“Wouldn’t that follow when you’re traveling at a half a million miles an hour? I would imagine without something like that, a pebble could destroy an unprotected ship.”
“That’s what Paul Milton said. He told me that their ships would probably be invulnerable to any conventional weapons, maybe nuclear ones as well. He did say that there was a remote chance that a neutron explosion might have some effect, but most likely not. The question is moot anyway. There’s no way the use of nuclear ordinance is on the table. The White House or the Pentagon could suffer the same fate as Star City mission control. Let’s hope that’s not going to be my legacy …”
* * *
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Chuck shouted at Christopher over the comm link. “You have taken leave of your senses. This isn’t going to get Lucius and Julius back!”
“Wanna bet?”
“This isn’t a game, Chris. This is why no one wanted you to come on the shopping trip, and then you find the perfect excuse to show up anyway.” Chuck went silent, trying to calm down. A moment later he asked, “Are you ready to tell us what your plan is?”
“Not everything. But you, Todd and Sondra need to hold your positions because we might just have to do the razzle-dazzle in reverse. I believe that Sondra is going to be the one to bring our boys back. You and Todd may have to fly interference for Andrea and Lenny,” Christopher explained.
“Our shields are good, but nowhere near the strength of your jumpers; what do you expect us to do?” asked Chuck, confused and worried.
“Not a problem, you can outrun anything in the air force’s arsenal. That’s probably all I’ll be needing from you, and under no circumstances is anyone to put the whale at risk. Not only will the rest of the ground crew be transported home in it, we damn sure can’t afford to lose the cargo. So, revenge isn’t at the top of the list of my priorities.
“Basically, I’ve decided to deal directly with the president, one sovereign to another, so to speak. I doubt I will have to leave the ship, Andrea probably wouldn’t let me go in any case, but I intend to deal with him and only him. I may need you and Todd to get to Chicago as fast as possible, but not before I make my move because normally those damn detectors are going to see you the moment you fire up the engines. And Sondra must remain undetected until the last moment, she’s got the most vulnerable and valuable ship at this point.”
“I really wish you would tell me what you’re up to,” Chuck said in a deceptively reasonable manner.
Christopher laughed. “I’ll just bet you do! Look, Andrea was sent along by Maxwell and the rest to ride herd on me. She’s not about to let me do anything epically stupid. But neither will she dissuade me from making my point with the president. Let’s not forget that there are seven soldiers squatting in our former home, soldiers whose orders were to shoot down my door and demand a ride home in my car. Not to mention them refusing to let Lucius and Julius go free in Chicago,” Christopher said bitterly.
“Then at least let us help, tell us what you’re planning to do so we can back you up.”
“When the time comes. What I’m about to do has to be done. And the last thing I need is to have you, Peanut, Maxwell or even Patricia distracting me, trying to make me change my mind. If I don’t put an end to their bullshit once and for all, every time they send up some probe or ship, we have to expend time and resources to ensure they don’t have malevolent intent. The last thing I want to happen is for any one of our people to get hurt.”
“Then let us help you.”
“Sorry, you’ll all play your parts, just stay cool and everything will play out well.”
“Yeah, right. And when does this all get started?”
“Soon. I want everyone well-rested. I take it you’ve been keeping Lucius briefed on what’s going on out here?”
“I have. You can speak to him, but he can’t respond. He uses the one-tap for ‘yes’ and two-taps for ‘no’ code. You should give him a call around midnight, he’d love to hear your voice—both of them would; let them know that rescue is on the way.”
“I will. I’ll check in with you tomorrow, and let the ground crew know they may have to swoop in and grab Julius and Lucius from outside the building they’re being held. And have them scope out a boat they can rent, borrow or steal. I want them able to get out to the whale on their own if need be.”
“Will, do.” Chuck said, signing off.
Christopher spent the rest of the day in consultation with G3, G4 and G2. In order to avoid any identification problems, he only spoke to G4 in Lenny’s jumper and G2 under Lake Michigan through G3, installed in his jumper.
Andrea was still upset with his destruction of the Russian mission control building and was avoiding any unnecessary conversation with him. She sent a summary of their activities back to the council to keep them informed of their activities. She received a written message asking if she wanted Patricia to confront Christopher on his actions, but as much as she was angry with him, she still supported his plan because of her respect for his authority and intellect, so she declined.
The Russian media were silent about the destruction of their facility. Fortunately, because of G3’s warning, everyone had made it out of the building safely. The fighter pilots who had ejected from their aircraft were confined to their barracks pending an investigation. The problem was, with all the fighters having self-destructed or crashed, there was little evidence available to help determine exactly what had happened.
The European Union was preparing an orbital craft for the extraction of the Svoboda crew from Jove even though NASA had informed them that neither crew was leaving orbit until they had undergone a number of medical tests.
Two GST shuttles were being prepared for launch into earth orbit as well. Once Dr. Milton was convinced it was safe, he wanted the Jove crew back on Earth. Meanwhile the crew was finishing whatever science experiments they could while completing the various shutdown tasks for the spacecraft. The Svoboda crew was still confined to the emergency module, completely isolated from any outside contact. GST had two technicians posted at the space station before Jove arrived. Their task was to prepare portions of the station for tourists, said preparations consisting of installing thicker compartment partitions for better privacy, and increasing storage for a much larger water supply as high-ticket tourists wouldn’t be required to observe the same strict rationing as members of the construction crew. Several modules had been joined together, their interior partitions removed to create large, common areas for gatherings. Several new transparent panels were installed to allow guests to enjoy the spectacular views of Earth and the heavens.
Confrontation Page 57