“Look, short stuff, use your own common sense with this thing. Personally, I think our director could have chosen any number of geologists for this screwed-up plan of his.”
“He needs people he can trust up there, Jack. Besides, it looks like we’re the backup plan here. NASA and JPL threw a fit about axing their more experienced teams. They go first on Ares, at least that’s the word we’re getting.”
“Wait,” Everett said, looking down at the diminutive McIntire. “They get the new system and you’re going on that old relic, Atlas?”
“It probably won’t even work,” Sarah said with a smile, just as Mendenhall and Ryan walked up with their flight bags slung over their shoulders.
“That’s my damn point, the Atlas V is ancient,” Everett argued, angrier than even Jack had been a moment before. He looked at Jason Ryan and fixed him with a look that could kill. “And I don’t think Mr. Ryan can fly this one. It’s not a helicopter or a fighter jet but a million pounds of liquid explosive sitting under his ass. And where in the hell were you, Lieutenant McIntire, when the plane carrying you, Virginia, and the director took off without a preflight check? Were you in a hurry? Oh, by the way, you left Houston with a bomb attached.” Carl was actually leaning toward Sarah. “Everyone here is failing to take the right precautions on this thing, and for a bunch of brilliant people, that’s just damned stupid!”
Sarah seemed to wilt from his accusation, and the way Everett accused her of negligence made Jason and Mendenhall just as angry.
“We’re following orders, just like everyone else,” Mendenhall started to say, but he stopped when an angry Collins stared him down.
“At ease, Lieutenant,” Collins hissed.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Sarah said. “Why are we being attacked? We’re only-”
“Following orders, we know,” Everett answered for Jack. “But last I heard you can only volunteer for the astronaut corps. And one more thing: There are people out there who would like to blow up every attempt at getting up there, in case you haven’t been following the news.”
“Oh, you two are ones for the books,” Sarah answered with a set jaw and firm stance, taking up the challenge of both Jack and Carl. “Like you don’t do crazy stupid stuff all the time!”
“Yeah, and Jason and I always get left behind,” Mendenhall said, becoming angry for the first time he could remember where the colonel was concerned. All of the past came flooding back to him, all the times he and Ryan were left on the sidelines as Everett and Collins took all the risks. The funny thing was, this time Mendenhall knew the best bet was to back out of this crazy thing. Being bullied into it was something altogether unacceptable, especially from Colonel Collins.
The small group was being watched and avoided by many men and women in the hallway. The group looked as if it were about to come to blows. Sarah stepped forward, close to Collins’s chest with Mendenhall right beside her. Ryan dropped his bag and took an angry step toward Everett, who smiled and waited.
“That’s enough!” The voice echoed off the plastic walls from down the hallway.
Everyone stopped talking when the voice sounded. Standing in the carpeted hallway was Niles Compton. He had a look on his face that no one had ever seen before. His clipboard and files were tucked under one arm and his glasses perched on his forehead.
“What in the hell is wrong with you people?” he asked as he approached. “Angry at each other because one group perceives the other is taking the biggest risk? Colonel, what these three are doing is dangerous. I know because I’m in charge of the attempt to get this madness under control. You’re right, Mr. Everett. Space is a voluntary act. I have ordered no one to do anything. Are we clear on that?”
Both Everett and Jack looked away, still angry, but far more embarrassed than they had ever been.
“Now, I think you two have a long-range aircraft waiting for you at Nellis. I’d suggest you get on it and try to find something that will make going to the Moon a moot point.” Niles started to walk past the stunned group of five but stopped when he saw that no one was moving. “I said, now!”
Sarah swallowed and reached for her bag, as did Mendenhall and Ryan. Jack stayed her hand and tried to smile. Everett just held out his hand to Ryan and looked him in the eye.
“Good luck, flyboy,” he said, shaking Jason’s hand. Everett then held out his hand for Mendenhall. “And watch after Will. He doesn’t do too well flying.”
Collins pulled Sarah off to the side.
“I don’t know what the hell is running through my head anymore, so all I’ll say is go and do your geology thing, short stuff. I’ll be here waiting for you. Good luck.”
Sarah smiled and looked around. Then she went to her tiptoes and kissed Jack.
“You too, jackass.” She gave him a small smile.
Jack looked at Will and Jason. He shook his head. He knew they were only doing what he had trained them to do and no one could be more proud of two young men. He shook each of their hands, and then the two groups separated after having gone through the first harsh words exchanged between any of them. Jack and Everett entered the elevator and watched as Ryan, Mendenhall, and Sarah turned and smiled. The doors closed and that was when Jack looked at Everett.
“That, Mr. Everett, could have been handled a little better.”
“We are a couple of asses, aren’t we?” Everett said, smiling at the closed elevator doors.
“And the fact that we’re asses amuses you?” Collins asked.
Everett set his bag down, then turned and looked at Jack, the smile still on his face.
“I really thought Ryan was going to kick my ass there for a minute.”
They both laughed as the elevator took them up to Level 1. The smiles didn’t last long as each of them thought about their friends and the mission they had been chosen for.
The two officers knew that the fates of Will, Jason, and Sarah, along with many others, could very well be in their hands, and at the moment they didn’t know if they could help them at all.
For one of the first times in Collins’s memory, things were happening faster than he had the ability to keep up with and that was what he hated above all else.
“Jack?”
“Yeah,” he said, as the doors opened.
“You know the main reason we were so angry back there?”
Jack threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and stepped out of the elevator.
“Yeah, I know. It’s because we’re too damn old to do what they’re doing.”
The New York Times
It has been widely reported that Russian commandos stormed several locations today in the Republic of Georgia, seeking out extremists in connection with the devastating attack in Kazakhstan at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The terrorist cells that were attacked had long been known for their ties to Muslim extremist groups, including al Qaeda, where Russian authorities claim the plan had originated. Russian officials have not commented as of today about the link between Georgia and the Middle Eastern terrorist cells they claim to be responsible for the attack. There was no word on casualties in the seven separate military raids. In a related story, Chinese officials have been silent about the reports coming out of Beijing regarding large-scale protests by Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists in the wake of the Russian attack. It has been confirmed, however, that more than a thousand people have been detained by the state for illegal assembly and seven have been arrested for unspecified crimes against the state. Many slogans have begun to appear in graffiti across this city, some about the corrupt attempt to reach the Moon by this government. The fervor of these protests has not been seen in China since the Tiananmen Square incident two decades ago. Thus far, the People’s Republic has had no official comment about breakaway religion and their concerns about Chinese missions to the Moon and their true intent. Other nations are starting to report large protest demonstrations concerning the expenditure of massive amounts of money and religious ignorance of the space programs involved. Many private think tanks wonder about the cost and the danger involved in such a venture.
The conference room was full.
The hookup was a five-way link among the Event Group at Nellis, the White House Situation Room, the
