Read Online Test Pilot's Daughter II: Dead Reckoning by Steve Ward - Free Book Online
Authors: Steve Ward
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in the shuttle and prepare for the secretmission at hand. Nothing happened quickly in space, and she was losing patience.
Come on already, she thought , let’s get this party going. She was tense. No one knew exactly what would happen when they tried to destroy the satellite. Failure was unacceptable. Left in orbit, the Iranian controller was capable of killing millions of Americans. She felt a great burden on her shoulders.
“Okay, Flash, we’ve done our part. It’s all yours, buddy,” she handed control over to the man she had only met a few days prior.
“Ground Control, this is Flash. The duck is ready to quack and all lights green. Need permission to proceed.”
After a small delay Udahl relayed the message, “Permission granted.”
“Got it. All systems powered. Laser scan initiated and we have acquisition. Moving forward. There she goes, two-hundred meters per second. . .range three clicks. . .handover to continuous laser. . .fifty meters per second, one click. Target clearly visible now in Duck video. Approaching final video tracking sequence. Twenty meters per second and slowing. Standby for handover.”
Because of the tight security, target video was not sent to the ground. Even if it were scrambled, there was a chance someone could figure out what they were up to. Between Flash and Christina, they were on their own with just a few coded messages to be transferred between orbit and ground.
“Duckbill. . .hello Duckbill, Daffy Duck’s on his way,” Christina reported to Mission Control.
“Roger, standing by.”
Short range telemetry from the attack robot did, however, deliver target video to the shuttle for observation and recording. The crew nervously watched the Soyuz 23 payload growing in the screen. It was a strange looking satellite with a wide array of grids and antennae. With a large red panel on its back, it looked like a monstrous black-widow spider, a formidable creature poised and ready to bite.
“Funny,” Sandy said, “doesn’t look like a weather satellite.”
“No it doesn’t,” Christina agreed.
Suddenly, just as guidance switched to video tracking the picture veered to one side and started spinning. Warnings went off on Flash’s console, and The Monster tumbled out of control.
“What. . .what the hell?” Flash yelled. “No, no! Oh God, I’m losing it.”
Before anyone could say anything, there was a brilliant flash in the shuttle ports as The Monster exploded. Of course, there was no sound in space, but the result was clear as the video screen went black. The Monster had disappeared, and the Soyuz 23 payload remained, untouched. The crew looked at each other in disbelief. Flash dropped the remote, and it floated away in a tumble.
“It was going so well, what happened?” Christina pleaded as she snatched the remote and stared at the indicators.
“I don’t know, it went nuts on Stage III video tracking, lost acquisition and auto-destructed. My God, think of the implications!” Flash looked like he had just seen a ghost. The deadly threat remained, and his career was over. The military strike was a colossal failure.
Christina felt even worse. This was her baby, and DROID had bombed. “Duckbill, Duckbill,” she called Udahl. “We got a little problem up here.”
“How did it go?” Udahl replied.
“Not sure what happened, but we lost the Duck, went out of control and destroyed itself. No fortune, no fortune. What’s our backup?”
“How do you know it self destructed, Stick? It may have been attacked by. . .well, you know,” Udahl sounded quite concerned.
She looked at Flash for some confirmation. He just spread his hands; he didn’t have a clue. She spoke back, “I can’t imagine that would be feasible, but you are correct. I didn’t think of that scenario. Do you want us to try to rendezvous and acquire it with the shuttle arm?”
“Hell no, Stick, get the
Come on already, she thought , let’s get this party going. She was tense. No one knew exactly what would happen when they tried to destroy the satellite. Failure was unacceptable. Left in orbit, the Iranian controller was capable of killing millions of Americans. She felt a great burden on her shoulders.
“Okay, Flash, we’ve done our part. It’s all yours, buddy,” she handed control over to the man she had only met a few days prior.
“Ground Control, this is Flash. The duck is ready to quack and all lights green. Need permission to proceed.”
After a small delay Udahl relayed the message, “Permission granted.”
“Got it. All systems powered. Laser scan initiated and we have acquisition. Moving forward. There she goes, two-hundred meters per second. . .range three clicks. . .handover to continuous laser. . .fifty meters per second, one click. Target clearly visible now in Duck video. Approaching final video tracking sequence. Twenty meters per second and slowing. Standby for handover.”
Because of the tight security, target video was not sent to the ground. Even if it were scrambled, there was a chance someone could figure out what they were up to. Between Flash and Christina, they were on their own with just a few coded messages to be transferred between orbit and ground.
“Duckbill. . .hello Duckbill, Daffy Duck’s on his way,” Christina reported to Mission Control.
“Roger, standing by.”
Short range telemetry from the attack robot did, however, deliver target video to the shuttle for observation and recording. The crew nervously watched the Soyuz 23 payload growing in the screen. It was a strange looking satellite with a wide array of grids and antennae. With a large red panel on its back, it looked like a monstrous black-widow spider, a formidable creature poised and ready to bite.
“Funny,” Sandy said, “doesn’t look like a weather satellite.”
“No it doesn’t,” Christina agreed.
Suddenly, just as guidance switched to video tracking the picture veered to one side and started spinning. Warnings went off on Flash’s console, and The Monster tumbled out of control.
“What. . .what the hell?” Flash yelled. “No, no! Oh God, I’m losing it.”
Before anyone could say anything, there was a brilliant flash in the shuttle ports as The Monster exploded. Of course, there was no sound in space, but the result was clear as the video screen went black. The Monster had disappeared, and the Soyuz 23 payload remained, untouched. The crew looked at each other in disbelief. Flash dropped the remote, and it floated away in a tumble.
“It was going so well, what happened?” Christina pleaded as she snatched the remote and stared at the indicators.
“I don’t know, it went nuts on Stage III video tracking, lost acquisition and auto-destructed. My God, think of the implications!” Flash looked like he had just seen a ghost. The deadly threat remained, and his career was over. The military strike was a colossal failure.
Christina felt even worse. This was her baby, and DROID had bombed. “Duckbill, Duckbill,” she called Udahl. “We got a little problem up here.”
“How did it go?” Udahl replied.
“Not sure what happened, but we lost the Duck, went out of control and destroyed itself. No fortune, no fortune. What’s our backup?”
“How do you know it self destructed, Stick? It may have been attacked by. . .well, you know,” Udahl sounded quite concerned.
She looked at Flash for some confirmation. He just spread his hands; he didn’t have a clue. She spoke back, “I can’t imagine that would be feasible, but you are correct. I didn’t think of that scenario. Do you want us to try to rendezvous and acquire it with the shuttle arm?”
“Hell no, Stick, get the
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