Legacy (49 page)

The same attack pattern had been chosen by the computers on the second set of AMRAAMs, but this time only one of the expensive missiles detonated above the Stingers. The second traveled on to meet its target—the space shuttle
Atlantis
.

*   *   *

Hugh Evans thought quickly. The scenario had run a thousand times in his mind and had been discussed with the engineers and flight planners. It had been mapped out with the shuttle commander. The plan was crazy and could end up costing the lives of all twelve astronauts anyway, but he knew now they had no choice as the second Stinger was nearing the streaking
Atlantis
.

“Now!” Evans shouted.

“
Atlantis
, Houston, execute early handoff, now!” CAPCOM said as calmly as he could.

“Houston,
Atlantis
, executing early handoff.”

As the long-range cameras gave the ground station a grainy view of events, the explosive bolts holding the giant external tank in place on the belly of
Atlantis
detonated. This happened a full two minutes before it was supposed to; Evans knew they had no choice. They were now deploying the largest and most explosive defensive warhead in history.

The fuel tank broke away and fell right into the path of the Stinger as it was nearing the end of its range. The warhead struck the fiberglass container and detonated. The tank exploded and, as it did, the expanding gases struck
Atlantis
, increasing its speed by over five hundred miles an hour. This pushed the heavy shuttle well beyond its designated flight path, its nose coming dangerously close to flipping, which would have torn the eggshell-like airframe to pieces. The shuttle pilot took a chance and fired the OHM’s maneuvering jets on the lowest point on the nose. At first
Atlantis
didn’t respond, and then it started to right itself as the explosion of the external fuel tank lessened. Soon
Atlantis
was back on course. It would soon be discovered, however, that the shuttle had suffered three holes that punctured the thin outer skin of the engine mounts and continued through the cargo bay, with one piece of the shrapnel actually shearing away the strap on Ryan’s safety harness.

Hugh Evans didn’t celebrate because the emergency maneuver had left the shuttle dangerously low. There were also holes punched in the orbiter and three crewmen who were about to burn up if he didn’t get those cargo bay doors open to the cold of space. He shook his head and looked over at communications. He nodded as everyone in the room took a deep breath before they started calling out their telemetry statuses.

“Inform
Atlantis
they are a go for low orbit insertion, and tell them to get those three crewmen the hell out of that cargo hold before they burn up.”

“
Atlantis
, you are a go for low orbit insertion, and Flight recommends you start your cargo door cycle early to relieve your three crewmen. Get them out of there, over.”

“Houston, we are way ahead of you. We can report that the three crewmen are all fine—a little shaken—but in good shape, over.”

Hugh Evans reached out and picked up the phone. “Put me through please.” He waited until his call was complete. Then he closed his eyes and relaxed for the first time in a month. He opened his eyes as his people started to figure out an adjusted flight plan for the shuttle, which was now on a course to meet up with the Atlas and the International Space Station.

“Mr. Evans, that was some piece of maneuvering,” said the voice of the president.

“Thank you, sir, it’s not over yet, but we are on our way.”

“Excellent. Now, we just received word that that the Russians are preparing to launch once again in two days. So, with the Chinese two days out from the Moon, we need to keep Dark Star on a strict timetable. We still don’t know if the Russians are with us, or against us.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good job, Hugh, it won’t be forgotten.”

“I think you need to start with that little bald fella that planned all of this. He’s the one that came up with the backup plan.”

“He knows how I feel, now get our people to the Moon.”

“Yes, sir, the Dark Star mission is on its way.”

When four Apache attack helicopters reached the scene of the Stinger launches the crews were amazed to see all four of the suspects in the attack subdued. They were being manhandled by a large crowd of onlookers on Cocoa Beach. The Army warrant officers watched, taking their time as they guided the local police authorities in to stop the lynching that was about to take place.

PART THREE

OPERATION COLUMBUS

Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!

You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.

—Pink Floyd

11

EVENT GROUP COMPLEX, NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA

Niles watched Virginia sleep.

Her eyes fluttered open and her vision fixed on Niles.

“What? Was I slobbering or something?” she asked weakly, as she tried with much difficulty to sit up in bed.

Niles reached out and placed a firm hand on her left shoulder, easing her down onto her pillows.

“Take it easy, and no, you weren’t slobbering,” he said with a small, worried smile.

Virginia’s eyes fixed on the clothing Niles was wearing and then looked up into his eyes. Niles was aware how he looked out of his normally dark suit and tie and figured Virginia would figure it out quickly enough.

“You’re going to be running things right from this bed, Virginia. We have nothing going on at the Group that will require anything more than a signature, so you shouldn’t have any difficulties. You can have all four of my staff.”

“Where are you going?” she asked as she sat up, forcing Niles’s restraining hands away.

“I’m going where everyone else seems to be at the moment—Ecuador. Alice and the senator landed there about six hours ago, according to Jack.”

“What?” Virginia asked, wincing at the pain that shot from her forehead to the back of her head. “He’s not dying fast enough? He has to go to Ecuador?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Niles said as he handed her a glass of water. “Anyway, let me catch you up on your plan. Two elements of Dark Star have been destroyed. We lost the
Endeavour
and the
Discovery
, all hands.
Dark Star 3
is now in geosynchronous orbit over North America and is at the rendezvous point with the space station. The shuttle
Atlantis
was slightly damaged in the attack and has already docked with the ISS.” He saw the concern in Virginia’s face. “Yes, Sarah, Will, and Jason are fine, as are the rest of the crew.
Atlantis,
on the other hand, will never see the Earth again—she’s just too damaged.”

“So, we managed to retire the complete shuttle roster in one day,” Virginia said, thinking about the twenty-four crewmen lost on
Discovery
and
Endeavour
.

“My plan, my losses,” Niles said, then turned and looked away in thought. “The chairman of the People’s Republic is still uncooperative, and the
Magnificent Dragon
spacecraft is twenty-four hours away from a landing attempt.”

“Are the Chinese personnel still onboard with our plan?” she asked, trying to get Niles to tell her everything.

“Our sources in Beijing, along with the vice chairman, have assured us that the crew understands Earth’s plight and is sympathetic to our plan.”

“So we don’t know,” Virginia said as she watched Niles finally turn around.

“We don’t know. Won’t know until
Dark Star
arrives on the Moon and we find out whether we’re welcomed by the Chinese crew or fired upon.”

“And if they’re welcomed, what will happen in China?”

“A coup—when you say the words, it sounds so simple. But there it is. We’re hoping for a coup.”

“Why won’t the chairman listen to reason? He’s had five years to make up his mind. We’ve given him all of the evidence and information from Matchstick that we have and he still doesn’t believe there’s a threat. We need that technology, Niles. We’re desperate for it. Without it we’re a doomed race.”

“We may have a chance if the ESA spacecraft makes it. Otherwise, it’s all up to
Dark Star
.”

“When are you going to let Jack and the others in on what’s really happening?”

“The president has labeled this Black One. No one is to know. I hate it as much as you do, but we’re talking about the most guarded secret in human history. The words ‘Case Blue’—if any person says them out loud, it will get that person killed.”

“We need Jack’s thinking on this, or at least the senator’s while he’s still with us. I’ve said that since the beginning.”

“And I’ve argued the point since the start and you know it. The president won’t budge on this. You, I, the president, and the heads of state of Britain, France, China, and Russia are the only ones who know what’s happening. A few others may have guessed, like the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but that’s it. It was a brilliant ruse by the president to publicly slash the budgets of NASA, DARPA, and the rest of the space program. That alone should keep the press away from Case Blue for at least a year.”

“How are the people taking the Moon shots?” Virginia asked, watching Niles closely.

“The tide has turned for the good there. The polls are saying eighty percent of the people are now backing the space program. That means we’ll have a budget to work with after the mission’s complete—at least to start with. We won’t have to hide so much from the pencil pushers.”

“Too bad it took all of those deaths to get the people back.”

“It’s a shame. Anyway,” Niles said, placing a hand to Virginia’s cheek, “I’m off to see if we can uncover Columbus. that would go a long way to guaranteeing some kind of defense against what we know is coming.”

“Tell Jack, Carl, and the senator what’s going on,” Virginia said, her eyes pleading with Niles. “It’s bad enough that we have Sarah, Will, and Jason up there in the dark. Don’t do it to Jack.”

Niles removed his hand and turned away, moving toward the door. “Sarah knows. I told her.”

“Why just Sarah?” Virginia asked, watching Compton open the door.

“We need to know if that mineral can help us. And she needed to know why we wanted it. An explosive as powerful as nuclear fission with no aftereffects—” He turned one last time to face Virginia. “Besides, any alien technology we may find along with that mineral would be a godsend.”

Virginia watched her boss leave and then decided she couldn’t stay in bed. She sat up and, on wobbly legs, slowly walked to the door and opened it. She saw Niles stepping into the hallway that led to the bank of elevators. She didn’t care if the hospital gown opened all the way in the back as she called out to him.

“You have to tell them, Niles. They’re the only ones who have any experience in this. You have to tell them of the increasing probes and attacks. You have to!”

She saw Niles step into the elevator and the doors close. She lowered her head as one of the shift nurses came toward her. Virginia held up her right hand and fixed the young girl with a stern look.

“I don’t want any grief from you, young lady. Get me my clothes. I’m going back to work.”

As the girl turned to leave, Virginia turned away and went into her room. She sat on the edge of her bed, thinking about the events leading to this rush to the Moon and the reasoning behind it.

“If we don’t recover that technology and mineral, Earth and everything on it will die.”

50 MILES EAST OF QUITO, ECUADOR

Jack was looking straight at Garrison Lee as Alice injected him with a massive dose of morphine to kill his pain. The old man had held up well through their run from the capital city and thus far had handled the overnight stay in the forested area just below the Andes, but now the fare for their little ride was coming due and the senator was a little short.

They were now held up behind some ramshackle buildings off the main road in the foothills. Alice, in her infinite wisdom, had set up a rendezvous with Pete Golding, Charlie Ellenshaw, and the remaining German commandos at the remote location. Thus far the men from the plane were a no-show and the five of them were getting hungry.

“You have something on your mind, Colonel?” Lee asked, as he rolled his shirtsleeve down, flexing his arm as he did so.

“I want to know exactly why you’re here,” Collins said as he handed Lee a bottle of water.

The former senator from Maine accepted the water with a nod of his head. The fedora he was wearing was tilted at an angle that leaned toward his eye patch.

“Same reason you’re here. I want to know what’s under this mountain.” Lee looked from Jack to Alice. Then his eye fixed on the German. “It was a kind gesture for your chancellor to allow you to assist our boys here.”