motionless. The body language said it all. He knows what's going on. And he's not saying a thing, either.
Jack broke out in a sweat. This was why the crew wasn't talking.
They had made their own decision, and they were forging ahead with it.
The Air Force would not be in the dark for long.
Through their Space Surveillance Network of radar and optical sensors, they could monitor objects as small as a baseball in low earth orbit. As soon as the CRV separated, as soon as it became independent orbital object, it would come to the attention of Command's control center in Cheyenne Mountain Air Station. The million-dollar question was, How would they respond?
I hope to God you know what you're doing, Emma.
After CRV sep, it would take twenty-five minutes for the evac vehicle to bring up guidance and landing targets, another fifteen minutes to set up the deorbit burn. Another hour to land. U.S. Space Command would have them identified and tracked long before the CRV could touch down.
In the second row, the OSO flight controller raised his hand in a casual thumbs-up. With that gesture, he'd silently announced news, The CRV had separated. For better or worse, the crew was on its way home.
Now the game begins.
The tension in the room coiled tighter. Jack hazarded a glance at the two Air Force officers, but the men seemed oblivious to the situation, one of them kept looking at the clock, as though to be elsewhere.
The minutes ticked past, the room strangely quiet. Jack leaned forward, his heart hammering, sweat soaking his shirt. By now CRV would be drifting outside the station's envelope. Their target would be identified, their guidance system locked onto GPS satellites.
Come on, come on, thought Jack. Go to deorbit now!
The sound of a ringing telephone cut the silence. Jack glanced sideways and saw one of the Air Force monitors answer it. Suddenly he went rigid and turned to Woody Ellis.
'What the hell is going on here?' Ellis said nothing.
The officer quickly typed on Ellis's console keyboard and stared at the screen in disbelief. He grabbed the phone. 'Yes, sir. I'm, that's a confirmation. The CRV has separated. No, sir, I don't know how it -- Yes, sir, we have been monitoring the loop, but -- ' The oficer was red-faced and sweating as he listened to the tirade from the receiver.
When he hung up, he was shaking with rage.
'Turn it around!' he ordered.
Woody Ellis answered with barely disguised contempt. 'It isn't a Soyuz capsule. You can't command it to drive around like a goddamn automobile.'
'Then stop it from landing!'
'We can't. It's a one-way trip home.' Three more Air Force officers walked swiftly into the room.
Jack recognized General Gregorian of the U.S. Space Command -- the man now in authority over NASA operations.
'What's the status?' Gregorian snapped.
'The CRV is undocked but still in orbit,' the red-faced officer replied.
'How soon before they reach atmosphere?'
'Uh -- I don't have that information, sir.' Gregorian turned to the flight director. 'How soon, Mr. Ellis?
'It depends. There are a number of options.'
'Don't give me a fucking engineering lecture. I want an answer. I want a number.'
'Okay.' Ellis straightened and looked him hard in the eye. 'Anywhere from one to eight hours. It's up to them. They can stay in orbit for four revolutions max. Or they can deorbit now and be on the ground in an hour.'
Gregorian picked up the phone. 'Mr. President, I'm afraid there's not much time to decide. They could deorbit any minute now. Yes, sir, I know it's a hard choice. But my recommendation remains the same as Mr. Profitt's.'
What recommendation? thought Jack with a surge of panic.
An Air Force officer called out from one of the flight consoles, 'They've started their deorbit burn!'
'We're running out of time, sir,' said Gregorian. 'We need your answer now.' There was a long pause. Then he nodded, with relief.
'You've made the right decision. Thank you.' He hung up and turned to the Air Force officers. 'It's a go.'
'What's a go?' said Ellis. 'What are you people planning to do?
His questions were ignored. The Air Force officer picked up the phone and calmly issued the order, 'Stand by for EKV launch.' What the hell is an EKV? thought Jack. He looked at Todd and saw by his blank expression that he didn't know what was being launched, either.
It was Todd, the trajectory controller, who walked over to their console and quietly answered the question. 'Exoatmospheric kill vehicle,' he whispered. 'They're going to intercept.'
'Target must be neutralized before it descends to atmosphere,' said Gregorian.
Jack shot to his feet in panic. 'No!' Almost simultaneously, other controllers rose from their chairs in protest. Their shouts almost drowned out Capcom, who had to yell at the top of his voice to be heard.
'I have ISS on comm! ISS is on comm!' ISS? Then someone is still aboard the station. Someone has been left behind.
Jack cupped his hand over his earpiece and listened to the downlinked voice.
It was Emma. 'Houston, this is Watson on ISS. Mission Specialist Ames is not infected. I repeat, he is not infected. He is only crew member returning aboard CRV. I urgently request you allow the vehicle's safe landing.'
'Roger that, ISS,' said Capcom.
'You see? There's no reason to shoot it down,' Ellis said to Gregorian.
'Stop your EKV launch!'
'How do we know Watson's telling the truth?' countered Gregorian.
'She must be telling the truth. Why else would she stay behind? She's just stranded herself up there. The CRV was the lifeboat she had!' The impact of those words made Jack go numb. The heated conversation between Ellis and Gregorian suddenly seemed to fade out.
Jack was no longer focusing on the fate of the CRV. He could think only of Emma, alone now, and trapped on the station, with no way to evacuate.
She knows she is infected. She has stayed behind to die.
'CRV has completed deorbit burn. It's descending. Trajectory is on the front screen.' Tracing across the world map at the front of the room was a small blip representing the CRV and its lone human passenger.
They heard him now, on comm.
'This is Mission Specialist Luther Ames. I am approaching entry altitude, all systems nominal.' The Air Force officer looked at Gregorian. 'We're still standing by for EKV launch.'
'You don't have to do this,' said Woody Ellis. 'He's not sick. We can bring him home!'
'The craft itself is probably contaminated,' said Gregorian.
'You don't know that!'
'I can't take that chance. I can't risk the lives of people on earth.'
'Godddamnit, this is murder.'
'He disobeyed orders. He knew what our response would be.' Gregorian nodded to the Air Force officer.
'EKVS have been launched, sir.' Instantly the room hushed. Woody Ellis, pale and shaken, stared at the front screen, at the multiple trajectory tracings, toward an intersecting point.
The minutes went by in dead silence. At the front of the room, one of the women controllers began to cry softly.
'Houston, I'm approaching entry interface.' It was a shock to hear Luther's cheery voice suddenly crackle on the comm. 'I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd have someone meet me on the ground, 'cause I'm gonna need help getting out of this EMU.' No one responded. No one had the heart to.
'Houston?' said Luther, after a moment of silence. 'Hey, you guys still there?' At last Capcom managed to
