Star One: Tycho City Survival (17 page)

-

The
next day, Mase was in the large conference room next to his office with Adam
Strong, Charles Turner, Isaac Anderson, Steffan Darrow, Jackson Pierce, and
Jolene Lang. Linda was sitting in to take notes of the meeting. He handed out a
report to each one describing what Teela had discovered. What she had found
with the array was frightening beyond belief.

“A
black hole?” spoke Charles skeptically, as he looked at the data. “How is that
possible? According to Teela, the neutron star is orbiting a black hole that is
forty-two miles in diameter and twelve times the mass of the sun.”

“A
black hole,” muttered Isaac, wondering how this was going to affect their plans.
This situation couldn’t get any worse. All their planning may have been for
nothing!

“The
neutron star in is orbit around the black hole at a distance of 12,000 miles,” Adam
commented as he continued to read the report. “No wonder our data has been off.”

“I
guess the dust cloud could have been masking it,” Charles said, running his
hand through his hair. “It does explain some of the discrepancies in the
readings from the neutron star.”

“What
are we going to do?” Isaac asked as he looked at the predictions from Teela on
how quickly conditions on Earth were going to deteriorate. “According to Teela,
life on Earth will be questionable in six to eight more months. The launch
centers could only be expected to function at most for four more months.”

Mase
let out a deep breath as he considered the ramifications of Teela’s discovery.
“We continue as we had planned. Even if Earth becomes untenable, we can carry
on our work here. We also need to prioritize what the shuttles are bringing up.”

“Teela
mentions there is a forty percent chance the Sun could go nova,” Charles spoke,
his face creased in worry. “If it does, even the new Tycho City won’t be safe.”

The
room became very quiet as everyone thought over what Charles had just said. Did
it mean all of their hard work would be for nothing?”

“But
there’s a sixty percent chance that it won’t,” Mase pointed out. “Let’s assume
the nova is not a threat and continue from there.”

Everyone
nodded in agreement, but the worry and fear about the nova would be in the back
of their minds for quite some time.

Linda
listened carefully to what everyone was saying. The black hole stuff she didn’t
quite understand. She would have to ask Mase about it after the meeting was
over. She also knew that she needed to get Karen up to Tycho City as soon as she could. After what had been occurring on Earth, Linda didn’t feel it was
safe for Karen to be there any longer.

-

A
few days later, Mase was inside the Control Center with Captain Daniels as the
first of two special military shuttles arrived from Earth. The two shuttles had
been launched from one of the military’s two space launch centers.

“I
wonder what General Karver is sending us?” Daniels asked as the first shuttle sat
down smoothly on a landing pad.

The
pad gradually began to descend and deposited the shuttle safely in one of the
underground hangars. The second shuttle was in the process of commencing its
descent and would be arriving shortly.

“I
don’t know,” Mase replied a little uneasily.

“It
has to be some type of weapons,” Daniels said. She knew that General Karver had
promised to send them what was needed to defend Tycho City if it became
necessary.

 Mase
nodded in agreement. Knowing General Karver, anything could be on the two
shuttles. He watched as the second shuttle landed and was taken down below.

“Let’s
go find out from the pilot’s just what’s going on and what they brought us.”

“I’m
guessing it’s weapons,” Daniels said. She knew that if she were General Karver
that’s what she would be sending up to Tycho City.

A
few minutes later, they were at the first shuttle and watched as its hatch
opened and a young marine captain stepped out. Spotting Mase and Captain
Daniels, he came over and saluted.

“Captain
Struthers reporting for duty, Sir,” he said, snapping smartly to attention.

“At
ease, Captain,” replied Mase, returning the salute. “What’s going on?” Mase
could see other marines coming out of the shuttle. He hadn’t expected this and,
looking over at Captain Daniels surprised face, she evidently hadn’t either.

“I
have some information from General Karver and the president that will explain
everything, Sir.” Struthers replied as he reached into a pocket and handed Mase
two small computer disks.

Mase
nodded. There was a small conference room next to the Control Center. They could view the disks there.

A
few minutes later, they were in the conference room, and Mase placed the first
disk into the computer terminal for playback. The message would be displayed on
the single large viewscreen on the wall. The screen flickered on instantly with
a view of the president and General Karver sitting in her office, looking grim.

-

“I’m
sorry to have to keep this mission so secret, Commander Colton,” President
Kateland began amiably. “But if the word was to get out it would create a
serious uproar and possibly even an international incident. Who knows what
Senator Farley would do with this information?”

Pausing
she looked over at General Karver before continuing. “We presume from the
activity with Teela and the Farside array that you now know about the black hole
that is with the neutron star.”

Mase
looked at the screen in surprise. What was going on? How could the president
know about the black hole? They hadn’t sent that information to Earth yet.

 “The
Super Crays located the black hole several weeks ago, and we have kept it a
secret,” President Kateland continued evenly. “If the word were to get out, we
believe the entire world would go off the deep end in just a matter of a few
days. Yes, we know that the Earth probably cannot survive the passing of both.
We also know that when people and nations here on Earth realize that Star One
and perhaps Tycho City are the only hopes of real survival there could be
attempts made to seize or even destroy one or the other, or even both. That’s
what these military shuttles are there to prevent. The two shuttles contain eighty
highly trained men and women in equal numbers whose job it will be to protect Tycho City and Farside. I will let General Karver explain the particulars,” she stopped,
looking over at the general.

“These
men and women are highly trained in various fields and can be used to help
wherever needed as well as in their military capacity,” General Karver began. “On
the other disk Captain Struthers has given you is a complete dossier on each
member of his team. You have final say so in all matters, and Captain Struthers
understands that you, then Isaac Anderson followed by Captain Daniels, are the
direct line of command. Captain Daniels is also promoted immediately to the
rank of major.”

Steve
looked over at the young marine captain and then over at now Major Daniels. She
looked stunned by the sudden promotion.

“Captain
Struthers and his marines have been instructed to obey your orders without
question,” General Karver continued. “In the cargo holds of these two shuttles
are forty Black Knight interceptor missiles, similar to the ancient Patriot
missiles of the late twentieth century, but highly upgraded versions. The
missiles are fourteen feet in length, contain conventional explosives, and are
capable of intercepting any threat that may come within 250 miles of Tycho City or Farside. We are sending a larger contingent of marines and missiles to Star
One as they are between you and Earth. If an attack comes, they will bear the
brunt of it.”

 “There
is an awful lot of behind the scenes maneuvering currently being done by
Senator Farley,” President Kateland began after General Karver had finished.
“He has been contacting people in the military and other power groups around
the country. Some of my people have even suggested that we arrest the senator,
but the general and I feel that would only ignite the powder keg that is coming
even sooner.”

The
president paused, looking over at General Karver before continuing. “We are
sitting on a time bomb that could go off at any moment. I have instructed Jane
Kinsey to increase shuttle launches to the maximum possible without violating
too many safety protocols. I fear that we will not be given the time to get as
many people up to the Moon as we had originally hoped,” she paused and took a
deep breath. She had an extremely sad and haunted look in her eyes.

“Tycho City has a remote chance of surviving if the underground caverns can survive the
stress from the neutron star and the black hole. We are still working on the
two secret underground complexes in Colorado. They might survive if the Earth
doesn’t break up due to the stresses it will be subjected to from the neutron
star and the black hole. Their top-secret communication frequencies are on the
other disk. Make no attempt to contact them until after the black hole and
neutron star have passed. Several other countries are also building underground
shelters that might have a slight chance of surviving. You need to prepare for
the worst. We will be in touch,” she finished as the screen went dark.

Mase
looked over at Captain Struthers as he tried to decide what to do with the
marines. “Captain, for the time being, we will be putting your people in tents
on the outside of Tycho City.”

“We
were expecting that, and brought our own tents,” the captain responded. “We
will be quite comfortable in them.”

“We
also need to decide where to store these missiles of yours for the time being.”

“Commander,
we have an empty hangar that can be locked that would serve,” Major Daniels
said as she considered the options that were available to her.

“Very
well, Major,” Mase spoke. He had called Stephanie captain for so long it was
going to take awhile to get used to calling her major. “See to it, and once you’re
done contact Linda and inform her. I will check and see where the best location
for Captain Struthers and his marines will be to set up their tents. Also,
Captain, I would feel more comfortable if a guard or two were placed at the
hangar with the missiles for security reasons. I don’t expect any problems, but
I want to make sure those missiles stay secure.”

“Yes,
Sir,” Captain Struthers replied. “I will take care of it. Two of my marines
will be on guard at all times.”

Mase
nodded. Thinking about what the president and General Karver had said, the
future was quickly growing much more dangerous. If the situation on Earth fell
apart, then none of them would survive. The launch centers had to stay
operational for at least a few more precious months.

Mase
also knew he needed to get his brother Phillip up to Tycho City as soon as possible, as well as Linda’s sister Karen and Anthony’s sister Jean. Mase let
out a deep breath; there were so many decisions that needed to be made. At
least some might be able to save a few lives.

Mase and
Anthony were on the outskirts of Tycho Crater. With the aid of some engineers
and several of Captain Struthers marines, a large platform had been built and
two missile batteries set up. Three small white domes set off to the side
contained the controls for the missile batteries as well as quarters for the
four marines that would be stationed here. Each missile launcher contained four
of the deadly Black Knight interceptor missiles.

“I can’t
believe we’re actually doing this,” Anthony spoke as he watched one of the launchers
swivel around until it was pointed almost directly toward Earth, high above the
horizon.

“You should
see what they’re doing on Star One,” Mase replied. Steve had told him that
General Karver had sent ten of the new experimental railguns to the giant space
station to aid in its defense along with the Black Knight missiles. Nothing
could reach the Moon without going past Star One first, and Steve didn’t intend
for that to happen.

Anthony gazed
up at the distant Earth. “Do you really thing it’s going to get that bad,
Mase?” From here, the Earth looked the same as always.

“It might,” Mase
said, looking over at Anthony. His tinted visor was down, and his face was
barely visible through his spacesuit helmet. “The situation is getting worse
each day. The last I heard, General Karver was moving even more marine and army
units around the launch centers.”

“They have to
hold those launch facilities,” replied Anthony, hoping that it didn’t come down
to Americans fighting one another. That hadn’t happened since the Civil War.

Mase gazed
across the crater. He knew on the far side another set of missile batteries had
been installed. Major Daniels and Captain Struthers were both over at that site
conducting an inspection. The crews would be rotated once per week.

Nearly eight
weeks had passed since Captain Struthers and his men had arrived at Tycho City. In that time over three thousand men, women, and children had been sent to Tycho City from the cape launch facility. Every day at least two shuttles landed, one containing
forty more evacuees from Earth and the other with essential supplies. On some days,
they received three of the large shuttles.