Spit bounced off her cheek as he clutched her lab coat. She knew he was ready to go over the edge. He was certifiably insane. This was not the time or place to say anything that would anger him further. She let her shoulders go slack and the tension drain out of her as best she could. He was crazy.
“Have it your way general. I get the message,” said. “Now, would you please let go of me. This is hurting my hand.”
He released his grip on her and straightened his shirt and tie.
“Just so we understand each other Doctor Yuriss. You will continue to work as before, but be assured, I will be keeping an eye on everything you do from this point on,” he said.
His voice had become calm and he seemed to be back in control.
“I got the message,” she said and climbed out to the Hummer.
As she was about to shut the door the general said, “Doctor. Just one more thing. Hand your coat to the guard. You can get another one inside.”
She took off the lab coat and threw it at the guard and walked off briskly.
She was shaking by the time she got to the building. She rushed to the bay and leaned against the door once she was inside.
He was definitely certifiably insane, she thought. What could she do about this situation? She had no doubt that he would be watching every move she made. Knowing how sick he was, she wondered if her room was bugged or worse yet, have hidden cameras.
Hold on, she told herself, she didn’t want to get a paranoid as that crazy bastard. If he was having Raymond held, she was sure he would have no trouble making good on his threat. No matter what, she was going to have to come up with some plan. With him watching her every move it wasn’t going to be easy.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Devin was watching from the tower as they rolled the Su-12 out of hanger 18. He looked at his watch, it was 02:16. He smiled, they were exactly on time. The Su-12 rolled slowly down the ramp way to the taxi strip. He watched as it reached the far end of the almost five mile long runway.
“Control, Fastmover, in position for departure.”
“Fastmover, Control. You are cleared for immediate departure.”
The general watched as the magnificent machine started accelerating, gaining liftoff speed of two hundred and fifty knots within the first mile. Slowly its wheels lifted off the runway and its momentum took an immediate leap. The giant bird gained altitude rapidly and was nothing more than a spec by the time the roar reached the tower.
“Control, Fastmover. Switching to one-five-one-two point five.”
“Fastmover, Control. Copy one-five-one-two point five.”
“Control, Fastmover One. Read back correct, out.”
“Control, out”
Within minutes the Su-12 Fastmover was already reaching an altitude of sixty thousand feet. It was time for the next phase. The general left the tower and walked a few hundred yards to a giant dish pointed toward the sky. He opened a door in the base of it and went to the control panel. The computer displays were already on.
On one screen he could see the two pilots. Another gave him a view out the front of the craft and a third the instrument panel. The general set the frequency to one-five-one-two point five and pressed the microphone key.
“Fastmover, Thor, do you copy?”
“Thor, Fastmover, we have you five by five.”
The general flipped a switch and watched as an oscilloscope danced across one of the screens.
“Fastmover, I have initiated the voice modulator control. Do you read me?”
“Yes sir. You’re still five by five.”
“Good. I see you’re approaching 100,000 feet. Everything looks good from here, how does it feel to you?”
“As smooth as baby’s butt. It doesn’t get much better.”
“Excellent. Head for the ceiling”
“Initiating pulse engine sequence in five, four, three, two, one, Mark.”
The general watched the monitor as the altimeter began to wind up like a spinning clock. The Su-12 cleared 200,000 feet in less than a minute and had reached 18,000 miles per hour. He couldn’t help but stand there with a smile on his face. A little over a minute later he could see the altimeter starting to slow and then hover as Fastmover reached the top of the thermosphere.
He watched as the outside temperature started to climb. They had reached the point where the sun's energy would rapidly heat the exterior of the craft.
“We are at 400,000 feet,” the astronaut reported.
“Ten-four. How was the ride?”
“A little buffeting at 300,000 feet, but it only lasted a few seconds.”
“Outstanding. You are go for one orbit,” the general said.
“Don’t go anywhere, we will be back before you known it,” the pilot joked.
The general sat down at last and clasped his hands together. All they had to do was bring it home safely and then he could move to the final stage of his plan.
Once the BlackStar was in orbit he would tie up any loose ends. Eller, Dr. Yuriss, Beck, and the two guards at Beacon would all have to be disposed of. It was a small price to pay for the end result, at least in his mind. Of course Gimbel would have to go at some point but not until he was sure he was of no further value to the program.
While waiting, he called the tower for a report on what they had on radar both the short and long range.
“Just our normal traffic outside the restricted fly zone. Nothing out of the ordinary,” the controller said.
“Good, very good,” was all he said.
No one would know the Fastmover was completing an orbit except the astronauts and him.
“Thor. This is Fastmover.”
“Go.”
“We are nearing completion. We will be starting our reentry procedure in four minutes.”
“Just bring the baby on home safe and sound.”
“You can count on that,” the pilot replied.
All Devin could do for now was wait. His eyes were transfixed on the monitors. He could see the two pilots going through the checklist.
“Initiation in three, two, one, now.” He watched as the pilot punched a few buttons and the cockpit pitched to a downward angle. The altimeter started to unwind, moving faster and faster as they started the descent from seventy-five miles up.
He watched the commander of the craft start to pull the nose back up so that the tiles would dissipate the heat. The craft hurled through the mesosphere, and he could see the flames start to stream past the cockpit as the heat built up, allowing the friction to slow the rate of descent. Then came the stratosphere and finally the troposphere.
They were directly in the center of the projected glide path to bring them to the approach to runway 14L. They would have nearly five miles to bring the craft to a halt. The general watched as it broke through the 50,000 foot mark and started to line up for final approach.
“On final,” Fastmover said.
“You are five by five here.”
Triple sonic booms echoed across the desert as the Su-12 streaked toward touch down.
The craft came in and flared slightly before touching down in a cloud of burned rubber and dust. They were down safe. He could see the pilot deploy the parachute as the speed bled off. Three miles down the runway it was traveling at only 150MPH. At mile four it rolled to a stop. They were home, safe and sound.
“Welcome back, Fastmover.”
“Thank you. Can we do it again?” the pilot said.
“And again, and again,” the general joked back.