“I want our Homeland Security head, Rick Bellamy, on the inside of this mission. His wife, Ellen, is more than a TV star, she’s a sharp lady with a top-secret clearance. Think of her as Rick’s partner, which she is in more ways than one.”
He looked over Jake Arnold’s shoulder and pointed.
“What the hell is that?” He said.
“Oh, dear God, Mr. President, it looks like snow. I guess you’ll be giving another weather report soon.”
“Okay, wise guy, get me up to speed on what this is all about. Call Bellamy’s office first. He has a way of being on top of things before anyone else.”
“Yes, sir. Should I alert the First Lady?”
“No, I’ll call her. She’s taking a well-deserved nap after her trip.”
“Hi Dee, I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“Don’t worry about it, hon, I need to get up anyway. Holy shit. Have you looked out the window?”
“Yes. I wanted to ask you if you cared for a sleigh ride.”
“I’ll take a quick shower and I’ll be right down. Something tells me we have another crisis to talk about.”
“More than that, hon. Jake and I will bring you up to speed when you get there.”
“Let me guess—it has to do with Stargazer.”
“To think that I married you for your looks.”
Chapter 55
August 16
“Good morning, gentlemen, I’m Navy SEAL Commander Mike Patterson. I will be in command of our mission aboard the Ranger. Our objective is to board Stargazer and possibly rescue its crew, astronauts William Cranston and Nancy Mullin. Our job is to bring the astronauts back to earth. Lieutenants Frank Wilson and Jack Simmons will take over as the new crew for Stargazer. The other three of you will serve as a possible combat team, although we hope it won’t come to that. As you’ve already been briefed, the Stargazer is in a communications blackout, or at least we think she is. Our intelligence tells us that another supply pod docked with Stargazer. We believe that the replacement pod is hostile and is manned by two people. We will encounter one of two scenarios. First, astronauts Cranston and Mullin engaged the hostiles and killed them. They’re both combat tested military veterans. The other scenario is that the two hostiles killed Cranston and Mullin. If the hostiles are in control, our job is to kill them and take over the station. When we get close to Stargazer we will communicate by shortwave radio. We’ve all listened to hours of recordings of the voices of Cranston and Mullin, so it should be easy to tell who’s running Stargazer. If we determine that the hostiles are in control, we’ll have a problem. So, this operation will either be a pleasant reunion with a couple of fine Americans, or a combat mission to kill the enemy. We board Ranger at 0800 tomorrow morning and launch at 0845. Any questions?”
“Commander,” asked Frank Wilson, “since the snowy weather has returned, are there any concerns about launching into a blizzard?”
“Ever since the Challenger exploded after takeoff a few years ago, our entire space establishment has been focused on weather and flight protocols. As of now, we’re good to go in the shittiest weather you can imagine. I’m much more concerned about a possible gunfight than I am the weather. We’ll meet here in the briefing room at 0730 and then head to the launch pad. Lock and load, gentlemen.”
Chapter 56
August 17
“Mr. Secretary, Jake Arnold here at the White House. The president asked me to let you know that your trip to Washington is off. It’s too dangerous to fly during this wicked blizzard. The meeting will be conducted from the White House Situation Room, so it will be totally secure. Please arrange for your wife Ellen to be with you and call us at noon today. The circumstances have heated up to say the least.”
“We’re going on offense, Rick,” President Blake said. “We’re about to launch an extremely dangerous mission with our heads partially up our asses. As you know, Commander Mike Patterson will head a team of six SEALs to connect with Stargazer. Their craft is known as Ranger. Because of the communication blackout, we’re not sure of the status of Cranston and Mullin, Rosetta’s two astronauts on Stargazer. We know that a hostile craft has docked with the station. What we don’t know is the outcome. The two possibilities are that the hostiles boarded Stargazer and killed Cranston and Mullin. The second possibility, a strong one, is that Cranston and Mullin engaged the hostiles and killed them. We won’t know until Commander Patterson and his people attempt to board.”
“Mr. President,” I said, “our people feel confident that Cranston and Mullin pulled it off. They’re both tough as nails, and they know when something is out of line. It will be a tense situation when Commander Patterson and his men attempt to board. They will first try to communicate with Stargazer when they’re close to the ship, using shortwave radio. Patterson’s first job is to convince them that he and his team are on the right side. The last thing we want is a fire fight between two friendly groups.”
“Rick, Dee Blake here. I’ve researched the situation to death and I’ve concluded that firing weapons will present a minimum danger. Contrary to common belief, gunfire is possible in a weightless environment. The bullets are fired with spring action and the lack of gravity is not an issue. But we still don’t know who came out on top in a gunfight between the hostiles and our astronauts.”
“Now what?” Bill Cranston said. “Any guesses?”
“My hunch is that whoever is running this show is aware that their mission failed. I think they’ll try to launch another resupply craft. But it’s also likely, 100 percent likely, that our government will launch a craft as well. President Blake is not about to sit on his ass and hope for the best. He has a well-earned reputation as a tough SOB. I’m guessing that an American ship will be headed our way shortly.”
“I agree, but what if the enemy launches another supply ship at the same time? When we see another supply pod approach, you and I will have to make a quick decision whether to open fire or spread a welcome mat.”
“Hey, Bill, don’t you Marines have a bunch of passwords that you use for a situation like this, a password to identify a good guy?”
“Yes, but it changes all the time. All I need to hear is one of the code words we used in Afghanistan and we’ll know if our visitors are friendly. We have to assume that the hostiles are not so deep inside that they know the words too.”
“While we’re waiting, let’s work on our wedding guest list,” Nancy said.
“You make it easy to love you, Nance. We’re not sure we’ll make it out of this alive, and you want to work on a guest list. I’ve already started mine. Let’s compare notes.”
“Hey, handsome, check out your 45. It looks like the safety’s off.”
“Yes, ma’am. Shall I salute you or give you a kiss?”
Chapter 57
August 18
The snow blew constantly at the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Florida. The temperature was relatively moderate, relative to the strange times, with a thermometer reading of 31 degrees Fahrenheit.