Shadow Command

Adviser’s hand. “Signals, what the hell is going on? Where’s Cannon?”

“Stand by, sir, he should be connecting any second now.” A few moments later: “Cannon here, secure.”

“General Cannon, this is the President. Why the hell did you authorize that spaceplane to launch without my authority?”

“Uh…good afternoon, sir,” Cannon began, perplexed. “As I explained to the Secretary of Defense, sir, it’s a pre-positioning flight only while we await final approval for a mission inside Iran. With the spacecraft in orbit, if we got approval it would be easy to insert the team, do their job, then get them out again. If it was not approved, it would be equally easy to return them to base.”

“I specifically ordered no spaceplanes to cross foreign borders without my approval.”

“Sir, as you know, once the spaceplane is above the sixty-mile threshold, it’s—”

“Don’t give me that Outer Space Treaty crap!” the President thundered. “Do I have to spell it out for you? I don’t want the spaceplanes in orbit unless it’s to support the space station or it’s an emergency, and if it’s an emergency it had better be a damned serious one! The rest of the world thinks we’re getting ready to launch attacks from space…which apparently is exactly what you are planning, behind my back!”

“I’m not hiding anything from anyone, sir,” Cannon argued. “Without orders to the contrary, I launched the spaceplanes on my own authority with strict orders that no one crosses into any sovereign airspace. That is my standing general order from SECDEF. Those instructions have been complied with to the letter.”

“Well, I’m rescinding your authority, General,” the President said. “From now on, all movements of any spacecraft will need my direct permission before execution. Do I make myself clear, General? You had better not put so much as a rat in space without my permission!”

“I understand, sir,” Cannon said, “but I don’t recommend that course of action.”

“Oh? And why not?”

“Sir, keeping that level of control on any military asset is dangerous and wasteful, but it’s even more critical with the space launch systems,” Cannon said. “Military units need one commander to be effective, and that should be a theater commander with instantaneous and constant access to information from the field. The spaceplanes and all of our space launch systems are designed for maximum speed and flexibility, and in an emergency they’ll lose both if final authority remains in Washington. I strongly recommend against taking operational command of those systems. If you’re not happy with my decisions, sir, then may I remind you that you can dismiss me and appoint another theater commander to have control of the spaceplanes and other launch systems.”

“I’m well aware of my authority, General,” Gardner said. “My decision stands.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now who the hell is aboard that spaceplane, and why wasn’t I informed of this mission?”

“Sir, along with the two flight crewmembers, there are three members of General McLanahan’s Air Battle Force ground operations unit aboard the spaceplane,” Cannon responded tonelessly.

“McLanahan? I should have known,” the President spat. “That guy is the definition of a loose cannon! What was he up to? Why did he want that spaceplane launched?”

“They were being pre-positioned in orbit pending approval for a reconnaissance and interdiction mission inside Iran.”

“‘Pre-positioned’? You mean, you sent a spaceplane and three commandos over Iran without my permission? On your sole authority?”

“I have the authority to pre-position and forward-deploy forces anywhere in the world to support my standing orders and fulfill my command’s responsibilities, sir,” Cannon said testily. “The spaceplanes were specifically directed not to enter any foreign airspace without permission, and they have fully complied with that order. If they do not receive authorization to proceed with their plan, they are directed to return to base.”

“What kind of nonsense is this, General? This is the spaceplane we’re talking about — loaded with McLanahan’s armed robots, I assume, correct?”

“It’s not nonsense, sir — it’s how this command and all major theater commands normally operate,” Cannon said, trying mightily to keep his anger and frustration in check. Gardner was the former Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of Defense, for God’s sake — he knew this better than anyone…! “As you know, sir, I give orders to pre- position and forward-deploy thousands of men and women all over the world every day, both in support of routine day-to-day operations as well as in preparation for contingency missions. They all operate within standing orders, procedural doctrine, and legal limits. They don’t deviate one iota until given a direct execution order by myself, and that order isn’t given until I receive a go-ahead from the national command authority — you, or the Secretary of Defense. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about one spaceplane and five personnel, or an aircraft carrier battle group with twenty ships, seventy aircraft, and ten thousand personnel.”

“You seem to believe that the spaceplanes are simple little windup toy planes that no one notices or cares about, General,” the President said. “You may think it’s routine to send a spaceplane over Iran or an aircraft carrier battle group off someone’s coastline, but I assure you, the entire world is in mortal fear of them. Wars have been started by far less. It’s obvious your attitude toward the weapons systems under your command has to change, General, and I mean now.” Cannon had no response. “What members of McLanahan’s Battle Force are aboard?”

“Two Tin Men and one CID unit, sir.”

“Jesus…that’s not a recon team, that’s a damned strike team! They can take on an entire infantry company! What were you thinking, General? Did you think McLanahan was going to fly that kind of force all that way and not use them? What in hell were McLanahan’s robots going to do in Iran?”

“Sensors picked up unusual and suspicious activity at a remote highway airbase in eastern Iran that had previously been used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” Cannon said. “General McLanahan believes the base is secretly being reopened either by the Iranians or by the Russians. His satellite imagery can’t give him precise enough pictures to tell for sure, so he requested an insertion of a three-person Battle Force squad to take a look and, if necessary, destroy the base.”

“Destroy the base?” the President thundered, angrily slapping the handset into an open hand. “My God, he authorized McLanahan to send an armed spaceplane over Iran to destroy a military base, and I didn’t know about it? Is he insane?” He raised the receiver: “And when were you going to let the rest of us know about McLanahan’s little plan, General — after World War Four was under way?”

“McLanahan’s plan has been passed along to us here at Strategic Command, and my operations staff is reviewing it and will be presenting a recommendation to the Secretary of Defense,” Cannon replied. “We should be making a decision any moment—”

“I’ll make a decision for you right now, General: I want that spaceplane to land as soon as possible back at their home base,” the President said. “Do you understand me? I don’t want those commandos deployed, or that spaceplane to land, anywhere but back in Nevada or wherever the hell it’s from, unless it’s a life-or-death emergency. And I don’t want one thing to be launched, ejected, or otherwise leave that spacecraft that might be considered an attack on anyone…noth-ing. Am I making myself perfectly clear, General Cannon?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And if that spaceplane crosses one political boundary anywhere on the planet under that damned sixty-mile altitude limit, you will lose your stars, General Cannon…all of them!” the President went on hotly. “You overstepped your authority, General, and I hope to hell I don’t have to spend the rest of my first term in office explaining, correcting, and apologizing for this monumental blunder. Now get on it.”

The President slammed the phone down, then took his seat, fuming. After a few moments of muttering to himself, he barked, “I want Cannon fired.”

“Sir, technically he does have the authority to move his assets anywhere he wants to on routine missions,” National Security Adviser Carlyle said. “He doesn’t need permission from the national defense authority — you or the Secretary of Defense — for day-to-day operations.”

“But we usually tell the Russians before we move any weapon systems that might be confused as an attack, correct?”