The Last Second (A Brit in the FBI #6)(92)

“Well, Thomas, figure it out. We’re running out of time.”

“These are precise calculations, sir. The math is being run as we speak.” He coughed. “We aren’t one hundred percent sure we can get the numbers to work in time.”

Vice President Sloan sighed deeply. “And the space station? It would be compromised should an EMP go off in its orbit, yes?”

Henry Castelli, the head of NASA, said, “Yes. Though the ISS is hardened against a natural EMP event, solar flares and the like, we can’t chance it. Anything else in the area not already hardened will be compromised. As a result, ISS has been given instructions to deviate from course and they have laid in new navigation. They’ll be out of the way, further north, as safe as we can make them, very soon. The thing is, this course correction is already being quietly reported in the community. Enthusiasts who watch would certainly have noticed the new course, and people love to talk. We don’t have more than an hour before it gets into the public domain. Once it starts trending on Twitter, all bets are off. We’d like to avoid a panic, if at all possible.”

Bradley looked to a countdown clock running in the top left corner. “Come up with an excuse—space junk in their way or something. That’ll give the armchair astronomers something to buy.”

“Sir, it’s not that. I’m concerned that if Dr. Patel realizes the space station has moved off course, it will give away our knowledge the bomb exists and is in play. And that could mean she might blow it early.”

Bradley slowly nodded. “Ah. Good point. We have a little more than one hour until the apex of the lunar eclipse in the area over Nepal. Is there a chance we’re wrong about this timing?”

“Anything’s possible, sir,” Castelli said. “It’s the unfortunate part of this, we don’t know for sure.”

“And your people, Carl? Their operation depends on them reaching this jungle-bound facility. Do they have the proper tools to stop this?”

“They do, sir. I don’t need to remind you, Drummond and Caine are formidable weapons, exactly what we need for shutting down the computers. Drummond’s hacking skills are top-notch. We don’t have anyone better. And Caine is capable of handling the physical side of things, should a fight ensue. Combine the two of them with my people, and we’re sending in a missile strike team, just warm-blooded instead of mechanical. And as you can see, they are very close.”

The red heat blooms were in fact close to the main gate.

The president said, “I can’t believe we don’t have any other options in place to handle this threat.”

Grace said, “We can only be so proactive, sir, when dealing with a nuke two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth on a rogue satellite we aren’t sure yet we’ve accurately traced.”

Bradley slammed his fist on the table. “We’re going to change this, trust me. We are never going to have this situation on my watch again, do you understand?”

“Happy to hear it, sir,” the chief of staff said. “Get Congress on board and we have a deal.”

Bradley said, “Good, all right. I know Drummond and Caine well, I would trust them with my life. But there’s no reason why we can’t have a backup, just in case. Callan?”

Sloan nodded.

Bradley said, “Then it’s settled.” He said to the chief of staff, “Move our missile defense batteries into place in case things go south and Russia or China decide to lob a nuke our way in retaliation. Get the ICBMs ready for a launch. Even if this is out of their range, I want to be prepared. We must be ready in case our other attempts to stop this fail. But I do not want things getting that far down the road, am I understood? You verify you’ve indeed found this rogue satellite, get the air force on the horn, talk to their Rapid Capabilities Office, and tell them to get the Orbital Test Vehicle on the move to intercept and destroy. And tell your people to tune up their calculators, find that satellite. That’s an order.”

General Clarke spoke from Strategic Command. “Yes, sir. It’s more like running a billion calculations per second through a supercomputer than punching in some numbers, but—we’re on it.”

Sloan watched the red dots moving on the screen. “Even if the team makes it inside the gates, they’re facing an armed force, and they’re in the northwest wall of a hurricane.”

Castelli, NASA, said, “A slight bit of good news.” He popped the storm satellite view on a small quarter of the screen. “Here’s the most recent view from space. The eye of the storm will be on them soon, and they’ll have about an hour of relative calm to get this thing stopped. I fear all we can do is wish them Godspeed.”

And at that moment, the screen showing the team’s progress toward the Aquarius Observatory bloomed bright white.

Bradley cried, “What’s that white? What just happened?”

Grace looked from the screen to his president, feeling the first bursts of panic in his chest. “An explosion of some kind, sir.”





CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR


T-MINUS 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

Nearing the Aquarius Observatory

Sri Lanka

It was fully dark now, the storm eerie and keening above, making the treetops whip around. Debris rained down on them with every step, and the ground was slippery muck. It was cold and wet and miserable.