“And HAARP is shielded on the virtual plane,” Mentor noted. “We have no influence with Washington. We’re helpless.”
Dalton had been considering the problems as he was warmed up and brought out of the isolation tank. “How long until the CS-MILSTAR satellite is on-line?” he asked Mentor.
“Two hours, five minutes.”
“They were leaving Saba,” Dalton said. “And the psyche I ran into…” He paused as he mentally searched through the various images he had picked up. “Naldo said something about a ship. I saw a ship in the psyche I ran into. A large one. With big satellite dishes taking up most of the deck space.”
Mentor was already at a computer, typing. “Fortunately we’re not locked up like Space Command. We tap into the commo trunk going both ways, but we’re outside the complex, not under control of their mainframe, so we still have an outside link.” He continued typing, then paused. “Here it is. The Yuri Gagarin. It’s Russian. According to the CIA, it’s currently located about two hundred miles from Saba.”
Dalton nodded as he peered over Mentor ’s shoulder at the image on the screen. “That’s it. That’s what I saw.”
Hammond was also looking. “They could use that as a mobile HAARP-type platform. Those dishes would be perfect.”
“We know where the Ring is now,” Dalton said, “and we know where HAARP is.”
“In opposite directions from here,” Jackson noted.
“And what about Barnes?” Hammond threw in. The body of the third member of their PW team floated in its isolation tank. “He’s out there somewhere, but I can’t reach him.”
“Keep trying,” Dalton said.
“I will.”
“I’ll take care of the ship.” Dalton turned to Jackson. “You’ve got HAARP.”
“How?” Jackson asked.
“We don’t have time to get there any other way than via virtual jumps,” Dalton said.
“But-” Jackson began.
Dalton halted her by holding up his hand and turning to Mentor. “You said we’re tapped into Space Command’s commo. Can we order the shuttle to abort the mission?”
“No. We don’t have the proper authorization codes.”
“What do we have codes for?” Dalton asked.
Mentor frowned. “What do you mean?”
“This thing was founded as an alternate command post for the President, for God’s sake,” Dalton said, slapping the side of the computer. “We’ve got to have at least access to all National Command Authority functions, even if we don’t have the authorizations, right?”
Mentor shook his head. “We don’t have any control. The President would bring his own authorizations here.”
Dalton had figured that would be the case. “Then we have to get some help that doesn’t require authorization, right?”
“What kind of help?” Mentor asked.
“We have access to both normal MILSTAR communications channels and GPS, right?” Dalton pressed.
Mentor was thoughtful. “Yes.”
Dalton grabbed a chair and indicated for Jackson to pull one close. “I have a plan if we can find the right pieces to play.”
Souris transferred from the helicopter to Cesar’s Lear at Colorado Springs. As the plane accelerated down the runway, she contacted the Gagarin via SATPhone.
“Yes?” Cesar answered on the first ring.
“I have the code.”
“Give it to me.”
Souris rattled off the letters and numbers.
“I’ve got it,” Cesar acknowledged.
“I will be there in six hours,” Souris said.
“It will be over by then,” Cesar said.
“I know.” A smile crossed Souris ’s face. “I know.” She had her laptop on her knees and was typing in what she had learned about the Psychic Warrior program. Aura no longer interested her, nor did Cesar. She cut the connection.
McFairn stood in front of the large stainless steel vault door. Her pulse was racing and she forced herself to slow her breathing before she fainted from hyperventilation. A part of her was almost grateful that she couldn’t send the code to Boreas. But that part was overwhelmed by the knowledge that the code had been stolen; regardless of how much she agreed with Boreas, she knew that she would rather be on his side than whoever his enemy was.
Dalton felt the embryonic fluid around his feet, then legs as he climbed into his isolation tube. The process was as brutal as all the previous ones, but his focus was on the upcoming mission. They had found the right piece for Jackson to use in Alaska, but hadn’t been able to find him anything near the Gagarin. He was going in on his own and hoping he could come up with something once he was on the ship. At least it wasn’t virtually shielded.
“Focus on the white dot,” Hammond ’s voice echoed inside his head.
24
The cargo bay doors of the shuttle swung open to space. Sitting in the lower level of the flight deck, facing the cargo hold, Eagle Six had his hands on the controls for the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), a fifty-foot-long articulating arm. The tip of the RMS was attached to CS-MILSTAR. Earlier, while the doors were still closed, he had gone in and removed the locking bolts on the satellite, freeing it.
Boreas checked the computer program for the tenth time in the past hour. It was all set. Millennia of battling would be over in a minute. If he had the unlock code for CS-MILSTAR. He pressed Redial on his SATPhone once more.
He cursed as the phone rang and rang without an answer.
The dishes on the Yuri Gagarin shifted in orientation, aiming toward the nearest MILSTAR satellite. In the communications center, Cesar was with Valika, the crew under strict orders to leave them alone.
“We will destroy HAARP first,” Cesar said. “Then, I think, maybe the Pentagon.”
Valika frowned. “Señor Cesar, I do not see why-”
Cesar smiled. “Valika. Call me Hector.”
“Why are you doing this, Hector?”
“Because it is-” A confused look came across Cesar’s face. “Because.” The confusion disappeared and anger replaced it. “Goddamn it, can’t anyone do what I tell them to, just because I tell them?” “I’m sorry, sir,” Valika said.
“We have the power!” Cesar said. “Don’t you see that?” “But it makes no sense for you to do this.” “You are like Naldo,” Cesar said. “A coward.” Valika stiffened. After all she had done for Cesar, he was treating her like the Soviet Union had done to its faithful soldiers, turning its back on them. She got up and left the communications center, slamming the hatch behind her, leaving Cesar staring at the program on the computer screen that Souris had set up.
In the small cabin she had been allocated, Valika looked around. Her weapons cases were laid out on the bed, along with the small bag containing her few personal items. She tried to calm down, but her chest hurt and she felt as if she might be ill.
She realized this was the sum of her life. The original of the photo that Souris had used in the simulation, of her parents, was in her bag. Valika sat down next to the case holding her sniper rifle and took the picture in her hands.
Jackson saw the field of antennas. And she could feel the psychic wall like a dog would feel an electronic fence. She hung in the virtual plane, waiting, close by. While she was there, she cast about, searching for others, but there was nothing, just the cold wind over the icy mountains.
“ Mentor ?” she relayed through Sybyl. “Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“Have you pinpointed my help?”
“Yes,” Mentor replied. As he relayed the information she needed, Jackson was already moving.