They were again in the pilot's compartment when the driver shouted up in Russian. Maria hurried down the ladder. "Phone call," explained Sergei. "The Director was calling for her."
"I'd call for her, too," David muttered
Maria came back in moments, hurrying just as fast as she had left. "You have a telephone call, Mr. Weatherly," she gasped between pants. "It's from Moskva. Deputy Head Gorneliev's office. Please come now. We cannot keep the Deputy Head waiting!"
"Ah, Mister Weatherly," Gorneliev's secretary answered. "The Deputy Head would like to know if you can be available here at 1300, day after tomorrow?"
"Of course. Please tell Deputy Head Gorneliev I will be there. I don't know the flight schedules to Baikonur. I may have to have a charter fly in. But I will be there."
There was a pause on the other end, then Gorneliev's voice came on. "Don't worry about that old Tupelev. I will send an aircraft for you. It will arrive tomorrow. We need a meeting."
Frank gaped at the phone. "Yes, sir. I'll be there!" Frank did not know how to react to this message. He'd been expecting the call back to Moscow. But what could be urgent enough to Gorneliev to make it desirable to send a plane? Of course, it was urgent to him, but the Burans had been sitting around for over twenty years. Why the urgency now?
The plane Gorneliev sent was a sleek Ilyushin business jet. Frank suspected it was Gorneliev's own transportation. In a few hours they were landing at Ramenskoye Airport, south of Moscow, a semi-military base and flight test center for new Russian aircraft. A late-model Mercedes was waiting for him, and he learned that he was staying in the same room of the same hotel he'd occupied before. He was getting VIP treatment. Why?
He spent the evening reviewing the report he'd given Gorneliev, the notes he, David and Sergei had made, and worrying about the coming meeting.
Chapter 3
When he arrived, he was whisked directly into Gorneliev's office, where he found not just Gorneliev, but also two other middle-aged, suit-clad men. Both had a look that screamed "businessman," not "government man." One of them simply nodded politely, but the other positively beamed, and gave Frank an excited nod of his head.
Gorneliev took the lead. "Good morning, Mr. Weatherly," he began. "Please allow me to introduce Gennady Stoltznitz, a Vice President at NPO Molniya, and Dr. Anton Ternayev, Deputy Director of Engineering at RKK Energia." Stoltznitz, a rather portly man with the look of a bookkeeper, merely nodded again. Ternayev, however, bounced to his feet and pumped Frank's hand enthusiastically. "I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Weatherly. I have seen your plan, and I am most enthusiastic about it." Ternayev was a rather short man, with a medium build and light brown hair. But enthusiasm showed in every line of his body. Frank suspected he had a true believer.
Frank looked at Gorneliev, who merely shrugged. "You authorized me to show the briefing to anyone, and what you don't know is that much of the Buran equipment and data belong to these two companies, not the government."
Frank nodded. "I see," he replied noncommittally. The four of them adjourned to a conference room next door to Gorneliev's office.
"So," Gorneliev began when they were all settled and had a cup of the lethal Russian coffee, "have you examined the Burans at Baikonur?"
Frank nodded. "Yes, in a general way. I have not had the chance to examine them in detail. I have seen two Burans and an engineering mockup that was little more than a skeleton. One of the Burans has been stored outside for some time. It suffers from weathering and severe corrosion of the airframe. I am not sure it is repairable. The other Buran, however, seems perfect for my purposes. Corrosion appears to be minimal, and it appears to be complete."
Gorneliev cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Yes," he began slowly, "There is a problem with that one, however. You see, Russia does not own that one. It belongs to Kazakhstan."
Frank looked puzzled. "Really? I wasn't aware that Kazakhstan had a space program."
Gorneliev shook his head. "They don't. But when kazakhstan gained its independence, Russia insisted on being allowed to lease Baikonur. The kazakhs decided that if the country was to host a cosmodrome, they should at least have a space vessel. So, as part of the lease, they insisted that they must be given a 'space ship'. Buran was the only space vessel at Baikonur that fit their preconceptions of what constituted a 'space ship'. So, they were given Buran OK-1K2, the one you examined. The lease also requires that we store the Buran 'until such time as the government of Kazakhstan should have need of it.' I estimate that will be sometime in the 23rd century."
Frank sighed. "Then I guess I'll have to go to the Kazakh capital."
Ternayev replied. "They would not sell it to you, Mr. Weatherly. They consider it an important part of the Kazakh 'heritage'" he grinned. "However, all may not be lost. If we can come to an agreement, I'm certain that a repairable, flyable Buran can be located-one way or another." He grinned, but Gorneliev's frown said he wasn't happy about the statement.
"To continue," Gorneliev said, "From your summary, it was obvious that you were placing much emphasis on a photo taken in 2001, showing the Buran in a hangar at Baikonur, mounted on the Energia booster. I'm sorry to tell you that it was disassembled that same year. There had been some consideration given to reviving the Buran program at that time, but other proposals were adopted. The booster you saw was reclaimed by Energia, though it remained at Baikonur for some time. I am uncertain of its present location."
Frank nodded. "I understand. I actually did not expect the entire assembly to be sitting in the hangar after ten years, waiting for me. Well, to be honest, I hoped, but I didn't really expect it. Dr. Ternayev, your words indicate that an agreement is possible. May we discuss it?"
Gorneliev smiled. "Of course, Mr. Weatherly. The two companies and the Russian government have discussed your program at length. We have concluded that it is interesting, and perhaps even possible. However, since much of the information and equipment you desire to purchase is the property of these two companies, any agreement will of necessity require their participation.
"NPO Molniya is the company that originally built the Burans, and was responsible for much of the testing. Nearly all of the engineering data you require is in their possession." Stoltznitz, who had been sitting stone-faced so far, nodded soberly.
"And of course, RKK Energia," Gorneliev continued, "is the company that designed the booster for Buran which, I might add, functioned perfectly in the single completed launch. Dr Ternayev, as you will have noticed, has become a very active proponent of your plan."
Ternayev nodded enthusiastically. "Do you know, sir, that we still have plans to use the heavy-lift booster? We call it 'Vulkan'. And the one you saw in that photo does still exist. But I think we can upgrade the entire booster and raise the payload significantly."
Frank nodded. "I saw that on your website. It looked very interesting. And since the U.S. retired the Saturn V, no other available booster approaches the payloads possible with your booster. If the air launch idea fails, I had already planned to discuss buying a booster from your company."
Ternayev grinned widely. "Yes, I noticed in your briefing how much emphasis you placed on the air launch concept. The reason it was discarded was simple; the Mriya, the Antonov 225, did not have sufficient capacity to lift both the Buran and the fully-fueled booster, and of course the Buran did not have onboard main engines, like the American Shuttle.
"I have been giving it some thought on my own, though, and I suspect that it might barely be possible with today's technology; perhaps upgraded aircraft engines and only partially filling the booster tank. I have not, how you say, 'run the numbers', though, so I may be wrong."