she and all American forces weren’t going to be intimidated by hostile actions in open and free airspace,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Taylor Bain said. “There’s no reason for the Russian fighters and then their ships to engage the bomber-it was on a routine and legal patrol, one sanctioned by the Kremlin. There may or may not have been some other sort of emergency that the Russians were dealing with, but it doesn’t matter-Colonel Cazzotta had every right to fly there-”
“But what gives her the right to buzz those ships like that, General?” the president asked incredulously. “She is going supersonic and heading right for those ships! If it was me, I’d definitely think I was under attack!”
“Sir, international law prohibits overflying any vessel below one thousand feet altitude,” Bain said. “The bomber didn’t overfly any of those ships.”
“Don’t give me that crap, General-she may not have overflown them, but crossing in front of them at supersonic speed close enough to spray them with water kicked up by her shock wave? I’ll bet the law says something about flying close to a ship in a careless, reckless, or dangerous manner. The Russians were obviously spooked and opened fire.” He pointed again. “The Russian cruiser fires missiles but are either jammed or…what? What happens to the Russian missiles here? They just stop flying. Why?”
“The bomber has an advanced self-protection system that fires lasers at incoming missiles,” National Security Adviser Carlyle explained, “that are hot enough to destroy the missile’s guidance system.”
“But one gets through?”
“Yes, sir, one gets through,” Carlyle said. “An AA-12 radar-guided missile. A copy of our AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, fired from one of the Russian fighters. It explodes near the bomber’s tail, severely damaging it.”
“But the bomber not only keeps going, but shoots down the Russian fighter? How does it do that? With the laser?”
“The bomber is an EB-1C Vampire, a highly modified version of the B-1B Lancer bomber,” Carlyle said. “It can carry a variety of weapons, including air-to-air missiles.”
“McLanahan’s magic bombers,” President Gardner said, running a hand through his hair wearily. “I should have known. The guy could be thousands of miles away but still somehow involved.” He turned to Chief of Staff Kordus. “Didn’t you say McLanahan is personally involved with that bomber’s pilot?”
“Yes, sir,” Kordus said. “They’ve been seeing each other for a few years.”
“Maybe McLanahan was involved in this,” the president said. “Find out where McLanahan is; see if there’s enough reason for the Pentagon or the FBI to question him.” Kordus made a note to himself on his PDA to follow up with Defense and Justice. “This whole incident could have been invented by McLanahan to goad the Russians into attacking one of our planes. Then he can go on the campaign trail and complain that I’m not being tough enough on the Russians.”
“The campaign trail?” Secretary of State Barbeau exclaimed, looking up from her notes in surprise. “McLanahan? What’s he running for, Mr. President?”
Gardner realized he had way outspoken himself, so he waved a hand dismissively at the videoconference camera. “I meant lecture circuit, Stacy,” he said. “But I wouldn’t put it past him to do something crazy like that.” Judging by the blank expressions on their faces, many of the president’s advisers obviously didn’t agree, but no one said anything. The president turned their attention back to the holographic replay. “The bomber meets up with the tanker; they get jumped by four fighters from that carrier, and then one is taken out…how?”
“By one of those Thor’s Hammer interceptor projectiles from a Kingfisher weapon garage,” Carlyle said.
“Direct hit, too,” General Bain said, a boyish grin on his face. “Blew that plane into pixie dust-literally. Obliterated by a guided rod of tungsten steel traveling at fifteen thousand miles an hour!”
“And who gave the order to launch one of those things?” the president asked. “You, General?”
Bain quickly wiped the smile off his face. “No, sir.”
“I know I certainly didn’t! Miller?”
“The interim commander aboard Armstrong Space Station, a Major Jessica Faulkner, gave the order, sir,” Turner said.
“We may set an all-time world record for the number of persons whom I am going to shit-can, kick in the ass, or both!” the president thundered. “A major ordered the destruction of a Russian fighter, and it wasn’t in self- defense? What’s next-an airman one-striper is going to sink their aircraft carrier? I thought I ordered that those Thor’s Hammer things not be used and be removed from orbit? Include the space-station personnel, Ann Page, and the Secretary of the Air Force in the incident investigation.”
“Undersecretary Page resigned her post, sir.”
“I don’t care. I want her included in the investigation.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the crew from that Vampire bomber, Miller?” Vice President Phoenix asked.
“Still listed as missing, sir,” the secretary of defense said. “The Reagan carrier group is heading west and launching a rescue mission as we speak.”
A phone buzzed, and Kordus picked it up, listened, then put the call on hold. “What the hell is it, Walter?” the president asked.
“President Truznyev of Russia on the line for you, sir.”
He motioned for everyone at the conference table to pick up their dead-extensions, then punched the “HOLD” button again.
“Put him on.”
A moment later: “Mr. President, this is President Truznyev, via an interpreter.”
“Hello, Mr. President. This is about the incident in the Gulf of Aden, I presume?”
“‘Incident’? Three Russian airmen are dead and one is missing,” Truznyev said. “In addition, several sailors were injured due to your bomber’s provocative high-speed pass near our vessels, which also sustained some damage. This is more than just an ‘incident,’ sir-it is an act of war!”
“What it is, Mr. President, is a terrible misunderstanding, a complete lack of communication, and the case of a bomber pilot who far exceeded her authority and performed in an extremely careless and reckless manner,” Gardner said. “But that doesn’t excuse you sending four more jets out there and attacking the bomber and its tanker.”
“I understand that you would choose to forget about the Russian pilots killed by missiles launched from that very same bomber,” Truznyev said. “But I have another grave concern to ask you about, Mr. Gardner, and I hope you will be truthful with me, because tensions are already high in that region, and lying would only make matters worse.”
“Lying? Mr. President, I’m not in the habit of lying. What is it that-”
“It is our finding that one Russian airman was killed at the very same time that one of your space-based attack weapons was detected deorbiting in the same area,” Truznyev interjected. “We have not been able to extensively interview the surviving pilot yet, but it appears to us that an American space-launched interceptor weapon destroyed one of our planes. Is this true, sir?”
“Stand by, please, Mr. President,” Gardner said, hitting the “HOLD” button again. “Shit, he knows about the Hammer thing taking out one of his planes! How could he know that?”
“ Russia operates space surveillance and intelligence-gathering sites from an island off the coast of Somalia, from India, and from ships that can be deployed anywhere, sir-they might even have one in their task force out in the Gulf of Aden,” Director of National Intelligence Gerald Vista said. “I’m sure they carefully track any of our spacecraft in range, especially the weapon garages.”
“Well, what the hell am I supposed to say now?”
“Mr. President, if you tell Truznyev that Major Faulkner acted without authorization,” Vice President Ken Phoenix said, “it’ll appear as if the entire U.S. military is out of control.”
“It does look like it’s out of control, Ken!” Gardner snapped.
“Colonel Cazzotta and Major Faulkner were doing their jobs, sir-Cazzotta had been ordered to inspect and report on the Russian fleet, and Major Faulkner was ordered to protect American interests with their space-based weapons.”
“I didn’t tell the bomber pilot to race around the ships as if he-I mean she-was getting ready to attack them, just fly nearby and show the damned flag!” Gardner exclaimed. “And I ordered those Thor’s Hammer things not to be used, and I was in the process of doing away with them.”
“Sir, I recommend you use this opportunity to challenge Truznyev,” Phoenix said. “This whole thing started when the Russians gave us permission to inspect their task force, then engaged the bomber offensively with radar
