Stephen Coonts - Combat

Ray’s heart sank. He hadn’t known that, and had assumed the spares were being kept in reserve.

“I will also tell you that although contracts have been let for replacement satellites, the President has decided that none be launched until the threat is contained.”

Reasonable , Ray thought. No sense giving the Chinese another three-hundred million-dollar target to shoot down. It’ll take a long time for those replacements to be built, though.

Peck continued. “The Chinese appear to be able to launch one vehicle a week. Given the number of satellites destroyed, at that rate the system will be fifty percent destroyed in seventy days. That is how much time we have to build Defender. ”

Suddenly, that three hours of sleep seemed like a lot.

One of Admiral Schultz’s first requisitions had been an Air Force C-20F transport plane. The militarized Gulfstream executive jet was equipped for “special missions,” which meant transporting high-ranking officers and government officials. It was loaded with communications equipment.

As the plane taxied for takeoff, Ray McConnell listened to Admiral Schultz as he argued with the Office of Personnel Management. Technically, as a civil servant, Ray worked for them.

“Of course I understand that you’d want to verify such an unusual order,” he said calmly, almost pleasantly. “It’s now been verified. And I need you to process it immediately. I know you’ve spoken to your director.” His voice hardened a little. “I’m sure I won’t have to speak to the director as well.”

Schultz smiled, listening. “Certainly. There will be other personnel requests coming though this same channel, possibly quite a few. I’m certain you’ll be able to deal with them all as swiftly as this one.”

He turned off the handset and turned to Ray. “Congratulations. Say good-bye to Ray McConnell, SPAWAR engineer, and hello to Ray McConnell, Technical Director, U.S. Space Force.”

Automatically, Ray protested. “I’m not senior enough …”

The admiral cut him off. “You’re as senior as you need to be. You’re now an SES Step 3, according to OPM.” Schultz saw Ray’s stunned look and smiled. “It’s not about the money. You’re going to be doing the work of a technical director, and you’ll need the horsepower. If there was ever a test of the Peter Principle, this will be it.”

Schultz leaned forward, and spoke softly and intently. “Listen, Ray, you’re going to have to grow quickly. I gave you this job not because Defender was your idea, but because you had an original idea and put the pieces together to make it happen. Now you’re going to have to do a lot more original thinking. You’re going to build Defender , and set speed records doing it. Don’t worry about bureaucratic limitations. Those are man-made. Our only barrier is the laws of physics, and I want you to bend those if you need to.”

Schultz leaned even closer. “I’m also going to give you this to think about. This isn’t just an engineering problem. You’re going to deal with people — a lot of them, and you can’t expect them all to automatically commit to Defender the way you have. There’s a transition everyone in charge goes through as they increase in rank, from foot soldier to leader. Foot soldiers only have to know their craft, but leaders have to know their people as well.”

He straightened up in his chair. “End of lecture. We’re due to land in San Diego in five hours. By then, I’ve got to find us a headquarters and a place to build Defender . Your first job is to set up your construction team. Use names if you can, or describe the skills you need and let the database find them. After that—” He paused. “Well, I’ll let you figure out what to do next.”

Ray thought of plenty of things to do next. During the flight, Ray found himself searching thousands of personnel records, balancing the time it took to review the information with the need to fill dozens of billets. Taking a page from Admiral Schultz, he was careful to take people from all the military services, and to look for key phrases like “team player” as well as professional qualifications. He also included people from NASA, the National Weather Service, and even the FCC.

Then he went outside the government, requesting people from private industry. The government couldn’t order them to participate, but if he had to, he’d hire them out from under their employers.

Remembering the JCS meeting and Captain Barnes, he called up the officer’s service record. Eyes widening slightly, he’d added the pilot to his list. He could find a use for a man with his qualifications.

He added Jenny as well, without looking at her record. Somehow it seemed improper. He knew he needed comm specialists, and that he’d never have to wonder about her commitment to the project.

He also took five minutes to call Jim Naguchi at home. Ray had decided not to include Jim on the list. Although he was a good friend, he was very much involved with his own work, designing a new naval communications system. Naguchi had never shown up for any of the design sessions, either, although he knew all about Defender . Ray had been a little disappointed, but not everyone was as crazy as he was.

It was just before seven in California, and McConnell knew the engineer was still getting ready for work. “Naguchi here.”

“Jim, I need you to clean out my office for me, and keep the stuff for a day or two. I’ll send someone around to collect it.”

“What?” Naguchi sounded surprised and worried at the same time. “I knew Carson was pissed. Did he bar you from the building?”

“No, it’s nothing like that, Jim.” Ray almost laughed. “I can’t tell you everything, but I’m going to be very busy for a while. Remember Defender? ”

“Sure.”

“Has Jenny been keeping you briefed?” Ray asked.

“No, I haven’t seen her for a while,” he replied. “We only saw each other a few times. I was too laid-back for her. She’s really competitive, Ray. We weren’t good together.”

“She’s been over at the house a few times, with the design group,” Ray remarked.

“Good for you, Ray. Brains and looks. But watch out. She’s a hard charger.”

Ray grinned. “I will. But get all my stuff from my office, would you please?”

“Sure, if someone doesn’t think I’m ripping you off.”

“No, I sent an e-mail to Rudy. He’ll know. And don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Okay, and later you can explain where you are.”

“I promise.” McConnell hung up and sat, holding the phone. He had a hundred things to think about, but Jenny kept on moving to the top of the pile. Deal with it, Ray.

He used the phone to send her some flowers, with the message, “You’ve saved Defender. ”

Miramar was a big base, over twenty-three thousand acres of desert west of San Diego. During the Cold War it had been a Naval Air Station, home to the famous “Top Gun” fighter school. During the defense build-downs of the 1990s the Navy had moved out and the Marine Corps had moved in. They hadn’t needed the whole base, though, and that made it attractive to the new U.S. Space Force.

Miramar had several airstrips, and the newly formed Defense Systems Integration Facility took over the most remote, along with a complex of unused buildings nearby. Authorization for the transfer had come in within an hour of Schultz’s request, and they’d diverted the Gulfstream from their intended destination, North Island Naval Air Station, to land at Miramar.