Ozuki taps at his keyboard for a moment, looking something up. “Yes. But every country registers an orbital track for their satellites. This is another means of establishing ownership.”
He knows I know the CS had changed orbit to shoot at our GRD satellite. “Correct. This satellite was not in a registered orbital trajectory.”
“But you could have inferred who it belonged to or asked?”
“Perhaps. Or the Chinese could have told us. In this case, the most expedient thing to do was to board the satellite and find out.”
“And when you boarded this satellite, what did you find, in reference to an occupant?”
“There was an astronaut in dire need of medical attention.”
“Did he specifically ask you for this?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our CIA liaison…”
“Kevin Flavor?” adds Ozuki.
“Yes. Kevin Flavor cut our translator from the transmission before he could interpret what the man said.”
Stennis is making notes. I don’t know if this is good or bad.
“He cut the translator?” asks Ozuki. “Are you certain that’s what happened? I have a report here that says the call was accidentally dropped.”
“I can’t tell you if that was the case. But I recall Flavor ordering the translator specifically not to tell me what the astronaut said.”
“Let us hear that again.”
“Flavor told the translator to not interpret for the astronaut.”
“So how did you know the astronaut wanted assistance?”
“I inferred that when he grabbed my ankle. I had to raise my visor to hear what he was saying, but I roughly recall it sounded like Chinese for “Help.””
“But you’re unsure?” presses Ozuki.
“Of the translation? Yes. Of the intent? Absolutely not. He eagerly followed me into the airlock and into my spaceship.” Okay, that’s a stretch.
Ozuki turns to Stennis. “Do you know if Mr. Flavor speaks Chinese?”
“I have no information to that effect,” she replies coldly.
Ozuki checks his computer. “Didn’t he study Chinese at Georgetown?”
“I don’t have his personnel file in front of me, so I can’t comment.” She’s not amused.
I steal a glance at Jessup, but he’s too much of a pro to react.
What I think just happened is Penumbra threw this in the CIA’s face, telling them their boy screwed up big time and brought this mess about himself.
I guess that’s good for me. I just can’t tell if Stennis is actually glad to have a reason to go back to her bosses and tell them Flavor fucked up, or upset that they can’t pin it all on me.
What I can tell is that Ozuki has been on my side all along, despite his strongman tactics. He was counting on me to know my stuff. Thank god I did.
“Unless anyone else has any more questions, I think we’re done with this part of the meeting.”
Ozuki turns to Stennis. “Questions?”
She shakes her head.
“I have a question,” says Saul. “David, did you know that raising your helmet would potentially expose you to harmful doses of radiation?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you do that?”
“So I could understand the astronaut.”
“Would that have been necessary if you still had the translator on the line?”
Oh, man. She’s out for blood. Flavor’s… “That would have potentially made it unnecessary for me to do that.”
“And where have you been since the mission?”
“I spent three days in the hospital undergoing radiation exposure treatment.”
“Throwing up, from what I’ve been told.”
She’s laying it on thick. It was medically induced vomiting. But the people across the table don’t need to know that. “Correct.”
“I understand that after their rapid intervention, outside of any potential long term effects, the doctors have declared you fit to return to work?”
“Correct.”
“Are you willing?”
Willing to what? Don’t ask. Just go with it. “Absolutely.”
Twenty-Five
Operative
When I’m brought back into the conference room an hour later, only Saul, Ozuki and Jessup are still there. When Stennis exited through the lobby, she gave me a look over her shoulder that I couldn’t figure out if it was contempt or pity.
“Do you understand what that was all about?” asks Saul.
“Not a clue. If I had to guess, it was some inter-agency push the blame around thing.”
“Essentially. Bringing back that astronaut has caused a world of trouble.”
I shrug. “I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same thing again.” I know Jessup wants me to play along, but I have to be upfront about that.
“I believe you would. To be honest, before the CS operation, I still wasn’t quite sure what kind of man you are. You killed two cosmonauts and shot three Americans in the interest of self-preservation.”
Did she just say, “shot” instead of kill? Did Vaughn and his goons survive? I’ve got a million questions but I can see from Jessup’s cold expression I should keep my mouth shut.
“Bringing that man back jeopardized the entire mission. Why did you do that?” she asks.
“I thought we just went over that?”
“I’m not talking about the legal reasons. Why did you do it?”
“Because it was the right thing. I’m an astronaut, not a killer.”
“You’ve killed more people in space than anyone else,” says Ozuki.
Ouch. I glare at him, forcing myself to bite my tongue. I take a deep breath. “Lives were at stake. It was the only option. There’s a not a night where I don’t wake up thinking about what happened.”
“Good,” replies Saul.
I turn to her. “Good?”
“It means you’re human and not some robot sociopath. That’s what Flavor wanted. And that’s what the CIA thought they were getting in you.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“We’re not. You might have more use for us, yet. How comfortable are you in zero-g?”
“I’ve never had any problems with nausea in my three trips or on the zero-g test plane.”
“Do you think you could handle an extended stay?”
Where is this going? “Yes. I live for that opportunity.”
She reads her laptop. “You tested equipment for iCosmos?”
“Yes. Spacesuits, tools, habitats. Everything.”
“How do you deal with small environments?”
“Like the DarkStar? Well enough.”
“I mean space habitats.”
“I’ve spent weeks inside the iCosmos test compartments at the bottom of a pool and in the ocean.”
“They put them under water for that long?” asks Ozuki.
“Yes. Psychologically, it’s better to put someone in as isolated as an environment as you can. When you know help is just on the other side of the fake airlock, it’s not the same.”
“And you were okay with this?” asks Saul.
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“And how are you working in teams or small groups?”
“I spent a month inside the iCosmos test lab with seven other people. I didn’t have any problems.” Others did, but there’s no need to mention that.
“George, do you have any questions?”
“I’m satisfied,” says Ozuki. “We’re still going to have to deal with the blowback from the other agencies. But I think we’re okay on our end for now.”
“Admiral Jessup?”
He nods to me. “I say ask him.”
And here we go. This is what that weird story about the cat peeing on the carpet was all about. They’re going to ask me to do something space-related. Turning it down could mean they suddenly won’t be so interested to intervene on my behalf.