“Now general, this is the way it appears to have happened judging from all of the data we have gathered. Here is the initial phase for reentry. See the panel? Everything is green and they are in line for approach” The flight data recorder confirmed that everything was ready for reentry.
“Okay, now here they start to hit the atmosphere, everything is still normal. Ten seconds into the reentry path the warning light for the number one bay door starts to blink yellow. Five seconds later it goes to red and then goes out,” the technician narrated. Devin was watching the reading intently.
“Now. Here is where it all starts to go really wrong. They are twenty-nine seconds into the descent; all lights except the number one cargo door are green. The heat is starting to come over the top of the shuttle and it is hitting the leading edge of the cargo door. Ten seconds later the door starts to open from the buffeting.”
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the display. Other than the technician telling them what was happening, it was totally quiet.
“Fifteen seconds later fire was being sucked into the cargo bay. The pilot tries to correct the drifting but the craft was not responding fast enough. Now the nose is starting to come up as the heat is sucked into the bay and hitting the back wall. This is forcing the tail down and the pilot was desperately fighting to stay on the correct glide path and the proper AOA.”
They could all see how the nose was starting to pitch up and the pilot trying to shove the nose down to get back to the proper angle of attack. Lights on the instrument panel were all starting to turn from green to red and several warnings were being issued.
“At this point, they were at about 140,000 feet, and this is when the cargo door peeled back, slamming into the left wing, severing various electrical and hydraulic systems. The pilot switched to the backup hydraulic pumps as he tried to fight for control,” he said in a flat voice.
It was almost as if no one was even breathing, it was so quiet in the room.
“At 95,000 feet the heat started to melt through the back wall of the bay and is beginning to enter the engine compartment. Then, at 90,000 feet the other cargo bay door started to lift off and five seconds later, it peeled back and slammed into the rear stabilizer. The nose comes up vertical and at 75,000 feet the Su-11 breaks apart.”
No one said a thing for several seconds.
“My God,” someone finally said, breaking the silence.
“Well, that certainly eliminates pilot error. That we now know for sure,” the general said.
Even he was not his usual brisk self.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what those pilots were thinking when the back started to come around,” he said in a low voice.
“If it makes any difference general, they were so busy that I doubt they had time to think about much. Once it went vertical, they would have died instantly,” the technician said quietly.
“I understand but still…”
Everyone that had crowded into the flight simulator started to slowly file out. Once they were all assembled in the hanger bay the general addressed them.
“I know that what we just witnessed is sobering and dreadful but at least we know why now. Your hard work and efforts here will save many lives in the future and for that, you should be proud. We cannot let this slow us down. We must fight through this and keep our spirits up. The two brave pilots on Su-11 need to be vindicated and you are the only ones who can do that. I want to tell each one of you that I am proud to have you under my command and I am confident that Dr. Dean and his entire team will persevere. Once Lockheed is notified of our findings and makes the necessary changes to the latching system, I will have the Su-12 flown out so that you can start final fitting for deployment. This will not derail the project.”
They all clapped but it was more somber than usual. They knew he was doing his best to cheer them up and motivate them, but they all had heavy hearts. The general gave Dr. Dean a pat on the back and headed out of the hanger.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Raymond was startled when he awoke. He was disorientated and stiff from sleeping on the back seat. The motor was still running as he sat up and looked around, trying to get his bearings. He wiped his face with his hands and ran them through his hair. He got out, stretched and rotated his neck and head. He was surprised that he had gotten any sleep at all.
The sun was just starting to change the sky from dark purple to a pale orange. He looked all around, trying to figure out where he was exactly. Taking the map out of the center console, he unfolded it, and started looking for landmarks. He was sitting on the hood of the Hummer with the map on his knees when three F-15 Strike Eagles came skimming across the desert floor.
He watched in fascination as they skipped along the nap of the earth and in unison slid up and over the top of a mountain range. In seconds they were gone and the stillness returned again. Now that it was starting to get light he could better determine his position. Within minutes he felt sure he knew where he was and which way to go.
Raymond got back in the Hummer and started heading east. Ten minutes later he could see the main base and runways at Area-51. It took an additional fifteen to get to the base and he was going to just go to his quarters and clean up but he spotted the general walking out of the Su-11 hanger. He pulled up, stopped the Hummer and got out.
“General. I need to have a word with you.”
“Certainly Mr. Eller. You look a little rugged. Did you have a rough night?” he asked innocently.
“You might say that. I was coming back to my quarters and someone took a shot at me,” Raymond said.
The general looked surprised, “A shot? At you?”
“That’s what I said. Look,” Raymond said pointing to the windshield.
“I don’t even know what to say. You were on the road I take it, when this happened?”
“Hell yes. I was taking a leak when someone shot my windshield. If I had been the damn thing I could have very well have been hit,” Raymond said.
“I’ll have my people look into it but I suspect that what happened is one of the guards took a shot at a coyote and it ricocheted and hit your windshield. That happens out here. We try to keep them out of the facility but sometimes one will get in. The guards have permission to shoot any that wander onto the range property,” the general said.
“That seems a little dangerous with the traffic,”
“Well, we don’t have much traffic out here at night. It is too easy to get lost. Most people are where they are supposed to be by sundown. What time did this happen?”
“I don’t know, 1:00 a.m. or so, I would guess,” Raymond said.
“And you were on the main road back to the base?”
“No. I made a wrong turn and was trying to get my bearings when I decided to step out of the Hummer and take a leak.”
“Well, that explains it. The men are trained never to fire toward the base or where the main roads go. I suspect we will find that one of the patrols was shooting at a critter of some kind and it just happened to hit your vehicle,” the general said.
He was doing all he could to keep from laughing. They should have shot out one of his tires so he would have had to change it, he thought.
“I’ll need a different Hummer,” Raymond said.
He realized that he had just been dressed down in a roundabout way. The message was clear. Stay on the main roads and don’t run around in the desert after dark.
“I’ll have a new one delivered to your quarters. Did you sleep in the Hummer?” he asked with a slight smile on his lips.
“I tried,” was all Raymond could think to say as he got back in the Hummer and drove to his quarters.
He was more exhausted than he had realized. He took a long shower and flopped down on the bed. One minute later, he was sound asleep.