“And it is not only the Western powers that have taken the side of the Americans and their warnings, but our allies as well. We are now alone in our contempt of the situation,” offered the general. “We must cooperate or chance the annihilation of our species in less than three years.” He saw the chairman smile contemptuously. “And that had also been confirmed by our astronomers.”
The chairman finally sipped his tea. He shook his head, savoring the rich taste, and then he sipped again.
“You may leave me. The decision has been made. We move on the American spacecraft inside the hour. You may believe the Americans and their Case Blue warnings, but I have lived through their deceit many times before. We have no imminent threat from regions far beyond this planet. Case Blue is a pack of lies. Good day, gentlemen.”
The two men stood before the chairman without moving. He put the teacup down and raised his eyebrows, wondering why the men weren’t leaving his office.
“I said you may-”
The men didn’t react as the chairman suddenly ceased moving. He tilted his head and raised a shaking, liver-spotted right hand to the top button of his tunic. The question on his age-lined face was evident as he tried to make room for more air that seemed to have disappeared.
The vice chairman reached out and gently, methodically pushed down on the intercom button.
“Please summon the doctor to the chairman’s office, he seems to be in some distress,” Wang said. He let the button pop free, not waiting for the chairman’s assistant to reply.
The old man tried to stand, but faltered as he reached out to steady himself. The two men standing before the chairman stepped back to avoid being hit by the liquid. Finally, the old man settled into his large chair and looked up at the general and his vice chairman.
“You have done many great things for the people,” Wang said. “It is time for you to rest. We thought retirement the best course. Unfortunately, the Western powers would be hesitant to deal with the People’s Republic if you were still alive and angry over your loss of power, so we had to take this to the extreme. It is time we join the league of men who will eventually have to defend this planet from outside forces, and we can’t do that by continuing the old ways.”
The chairman tried desperately to pop free the topmost button of the tunic. When he found no strength in his fingers, his arms fell to his lap. As they did, the double doors opened and three men ran inside. Two attendants flanked the uniformed army doctor as he hurried to the chairman’s side.
“I believe the president is having a heart attack,” the general said. He moved to the far side of the room, placing his hands behind his back.
The army doctor felt the neck for a pulse and then the wrist. The chairman’s eyes were wide open and staring at nothing.
The general looked to his left as guards came rushing inside.
“Please secure the vice chairman of the People’s Party. He is as of now the acting president.”
Wang Zhaoguo stood while two of the guards flanked him just as the doctor straightened and faced the men in the room. Then he looked at his watch, noting the time.
“The chairman is dead.”
Sarah knew they had a long walk ahead of them, and she had one angry LEM pilot on her hands. Since she was now the mission commander, it had been her duty to inform Jason Ryan that he was no longer a part of the excursion team into Shackleton. His fit lasted three minutes as he tried to stomp his feet in anger, but found he couldn’t find purchase enough in the zero gravity to throw the tantrum in style. Finally, she calmed him enough to make her case as to why he couldn’t come along. He was the only fully trained LEM pilot left, and in order for them to lift off the uppermost decks of Altair, they needed Ryan safe and sound aboard the ship.
It had taken the strength of Will Mendenhall to help make Ryan see the light of day. As it was, he sat in the command deck of the LEM and started making his checklist for the eventual liftoff of Altair for the rendezvous with Falcon 1.
The weapons for the excursion into Shackleton were handed out to the seven Green Berets who made up the lunar surface team, plus Mendenhall and Sarah. One of the deadly devices would be left to Ryan for the defense of Altair, in case it was needed. The compressed-air-launched M-39 rocket-assisted projectile weapons were a development of IBC Corporation of Lansing, Michigan. Designed to replace unreliable powder and projectile weapons, including handguns and rifles, the M-39 air-launched a solid kinetic energy shot from its twenty-round magazine, which after it cleared the tungsten barrel became a ballistic assist weapon. A small charge of solid propellant sent the round where it was aimed at six times the speed of sound, allowing the solid metal bullet to penetrate almost anything with up to two inches of armor plate.
Each member of the crew had become adept at targeting the heavy-bore weapon that was equivalent to a. 50 caliber steel shot. The stock was solid plastic and the barrel was made of hardened steel designed by Winchester Firearms. The trigger was as large as a household tablespoon and the guard was as large as a jar lid so that a large gloved finger could get access to the trigger. The weapon basically looked like an old-fashioned Henry Repeating Rifle from the Old West, which caused the designers at IBC many a sleepless night after every person on the excursion team laughed at the ancient-looking “modern” weapons they were wielding.
As Sarah looked over her team, she saw Jason poke his head down the access hatch from the command deck. He had his helmet on and was prepared to start placing the first four crewmen into the small airlock on the starboard side of the crew module. He locked eyes with Sarah as he moved past and he nodded his head inside the helmet.
“I’ll have the fire in the fireplace nice and hot when you get back, and a warm cup of soup ready.”
Sarah returned the smile as Ryan patted each individual on the backpack, a gesture of good luck. He stopped at Mendenhall, who would egress with the first four soldiers.
“Don’t let these Green Beret fellas push you around out there,” he said as he half smiled at his friend.
Mendenhall didn’t say anything in return. He knew Jason was worried about them all and didn’t know how to express it any other way than with a snide remark or a joke.
“All right, no company while we’re gone-no women, and no booze,” Sarah said and stepped to the rear of the line.
“You got it, Ma,” Ryan said. He reached out and hit the overly large button for the access port. “First four crewmen of the excursion team, step forward and say status.”
“Mendenhall, oxygen good, COM good,” Will said, as she slid easily into the compartment.
“Andrews, O good, COM good.”
“Johnson, O good, COM good.”
“Martinez, O good, COM good.”
Ryan looked one last time at each crew member’s environmental suit and hit the button again. The door hissed closed on its pneumatic track. As Jason stared through the window, he waited until Mendenhall looked up from the front of the small compartment. The black lieutenant raised his chin inside his helmet in a farewell nod, just as if he were going to see Ryan later for a luncheon date. Ryan nodded and made sure he had a good seal. Then he turned the knob beside the portal and purged the oxygen from the compartment.
“Okay, I want a thumbs-up from each man. Come on,” he said, as he watched the four men.
Each gave him a thumbs-up.
Mendenhall watched as the three Green Berets took up station in a triangular position surrounding Altair. Will stayed pretty much out of the way as he admired the bleak and barren landscape of a place he never in his wildest imagination thought he would set foot on. He moved his legs and felt the resistance of the low gravity. It was just enough that he could feel it though his suit. The weapon he was holding was so light he could very easily forget that he was carrying it. He tried a small hop and was delighted at the height the small effort achieved. He wanted to tell someone, but he felt uncomfortable saying anything to the soldiers around him. He wished Ryan was here. They would have had something to say to each other.