Colchev was wearing his, and the absence of air-conditioning in the hangar was beginning to make the suit stifling. Tyler and Jess struggled into the suits, which consisted of both an inner insulating layer — to protect against the freezing cold of the vacuum at seventy miles — and an airtight outer skin.
“What are you going to do with those men?” Tyler said, pointing at the storage room.
“They’re going to ensure my legacy,” Colchev said with a smile. “Did you recognize any of them?”
“Call me crazy,” Jess said. “but I’m pretty sure one of them is Trent Walden.”
“The action movie director?” Tyler said.
Colchev nodded. “Correct. He was supposed to be one of the passengers on the flight. The other passenger is a Russian producer named Mikhail Arshan. They were planning to film shots of the Earth from space for an upcoming movie they’re making together. They and ExAtmo thought it would be good cross-publicity for both ventures. Who better to reveal what I’ve accomplished here today?”
“You’re letting them live?”
“Of course. Not only will the Russian government have no doubt about my patriotism, but the Russian people will hear of my glorious triumph.”
“And the American government won’t rest until they bring you back here or kill you.”
Colchev smiled. “If they thought I was still alive. But why would they think I could survive such a cataclysmic event? Then it will just be a matter of getting a new face once I’m back in Russia. Your country isn’t the only one with a program to give its citizens new identities.”
Static from the pilot’s walkie-talkie told Colchev a call was coming in from the flight director. He left Zotkin to watch them while he answered.
“Yes?”
“We’re ready out here. Are you suited up?”
“Acknowledged.”
“Good. The driver is on the way to get you. Out.”
Colchev returned and gave Tyler and Jess their helmets. The mirrored visors would make them unidentifiable.
“I will be by the Killswitch at all times. The helmets stay on. If you take them off or you make any gestures for help, I will press the button. You understand?”
“We understand,” Tyler said. “If you do that, you’ll kill tens of thousands of people for nothing. And if you set it off in space, it’ll be just as meaningless.”
“Wrong! It will finally tip the scales in Russia’s favor. With this single action, I will change the equation that has dominated world culture since the Cold War ended. Now America will know what it’s like to be a second-class world citizen.”
“You don’t know my country very well. We’ll bounce back like we always do.”
“You don’t understand the power of chaos. I’ve seen it myself when the Soviet Union fell. All it takes is a push to unbalance the situation. And thanks to your own military-industrial complex, we have the weapon to give that push. I’ll never tire of the irony.”
“If your men were captured, the police will know you’re here,” Jess said. “They’ll stop us before we even get to the spaceplane.”
“Then why did I get a call from the flight director a few minutes ago saying that they’re ready?”
“Maybe it’s a trick to lure you out.”
Colchev knew she was right, but he had no choice now but to march on assuming victory. “For the sake of everyone here, I hope you’re wrong.”
A knock on the door, followed by a shout. “Your bus is here!”
Colchev put on his helmet and told Tyler and Jess to do the same. Zotkin hefted the bag containing the Icarus parachute system and his own normal parachute as well as several bungee cords. Colchev took the handcart, the Killswitch now in a black padded duffel. His hand was inside the zippered opening, his finger near the arming button.
“They’ll notice you’re carrying that,” Tyler said.
“Oh, you mean Walden and Arshan’s film equipment?” He gestured at a pile of cameras and lenses heaped on the floor.
That shut them up. They couldn’t see it underneath his helmet, but Colchev was grinning.
Zotkin opened the door and ushered Tyler and Jess outside. Colchev followed with the handcart. When they all got on the bus, he made sure to keep the Killswitch between him and Tyler.
The driver eyed the luggage but said nothing. He closed the door and drove off.
As they approached the Skyward, Colchev spotted the massive crowd that had gathered to watch the crew board the ship. They would have plenty to tell their grandchildren someday, provided they weren’t in an airplane or a car when the Killswitch went off.
Colchev leaned over to Tyler and Jess. “Remember: wave, but no other gestures. And say nothing to the ground crew. I will be listening.”
When they got out of the bus, the crowd cheered. Colchev gave them the thumbs up, and the mob went wild. They had no idea that he was sending them an insult. As opposed to signifying that everything was great, in Russia the thumbs up meant “up yours”.
Tyler waved, and Jess put up both her hands in the V sign to the crowd’s delight.
After a few more waves, the ground crew escorted them to the open hatch of the Skyward. With Zotkin making sure that Tyler stayed too far away to attempt anything, Colchev went first and brought the Killswitch up with the ground crew’s help. Then Tyler and Jess climbed aboard. Zotkin was last and pulled the hatch closed behind him. The Lodestar’s four engines were already spooled up and humming.
The interior of the Skyward was flooded with light from the myriad triangular windows covering the fuselage, so they were still in full view of the spectators. Three rows of seats, one on each side, straddled the center aisle. The pilot’s chair sat in the front center of the ship. With weight at a premium and flights costing more than $200,000 per person, there was no room for a co-pilot.
“Rear seats,” Colchev said.
While Tyler and Jess were standing at the rear of the spaceplane, Zotkin ordered them to turn their backs to the windows. Pretending he was adjusting their suits, he wrapped bungee cords around their wrists and guided them into seats across the aisle from each other. Zotkin belted them in with the four-point safety harnesses so that their arms were under the nylon straps. Once they were secure, Colchev and Zotkin lashed the Killswitch and Icarus between the seats.
Zotkin climbed into the carrier jet, and Colchev closed the hatch behind him before taking his seat in the pilot’s chair. He plugged his helmet into the onboard communications system. By switching the unit between channels, he could either talk to the flight control or to Zotkin on the Lodestar.
“All right, Skyward,” the flight director said, “now that you’re on board, let’s begin the checklist.”
“Roger, control,” Colchev said. Before the director could get any further, Colchev switched to Zotkin’s channel. “Are you ready?”
“The flight controls are exactly what I anticipated. I’m ready to taxi.”
“Then do it while they still think you’re the real pilot.”
Colchev switched back to the flight director’s channel just in time to hear, “—Skyward, do you read me?”
“I read you loud and clear, control.”
“Why aren’t you following the established takeoff procedure? What’s the problem?”
“No problem here. Skyward signing off.”
He should have closed the channel, but he rather enjoyed listening to the flight director’s confused shouts as the engines powered up and the spaceplane rolled across the tarmac to the runway.