Ephialtes (Ephialtes Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

Andrews was
nodding her head in all the right places, her brow furrowed with
concentration.  Rawls was looking content, like a proud father, and Cain
was beaming like he’d just received the best birthday present ever.  Lund
continued.  “The ratio of thrust to fuel weight with a nuclear fusion jet
engine is simply enormous.  That means that for a trip to Mars we can
accelerate to a speed far beyond what has been used up to now, because the cost
in fuel weight is so low.  It also means we don’t have to wait for a
window when Earth and Mars are at their closest.  We can go whenever we
want, because we’ll have more than enough fuel left to decelerate to the
necessary speed when we arrive at Mars.”

“So three
months from now, we could send the carriers off?”

“Yes.”

“And how long
would it take them to reach Mars?”

Askel
frowned.  “I think, given the current positions of the two planets, if we
launched in three months’ time it would take approximately six to eight weeks
to arrive in Mars orbit.”

Andrews
looked impressed.  She leaned back and spoke to one of the men behind her,
nodding at him as she turned back to the screen.  “If we can get the funds
and other resources, smooth out some of the paperwork, you can get us two
carriers in orbit around Mars within five months.  I’ve understood you
correctly, Ms Lund?”

“Yes,
Secretary.  If we start now.”

“Thank
you.  And thank you for the documentation.  I assume the costings are
in there?”

Rawls cut in,
“Audrey, that’s the one on top of the pile.”

Andrews
smiled.  “I’ll be taking this to the president.  In the meantime, can
you assume you have approval?  Get things going?”

Rawls puffed
his cheeks.

“If for any
reason this doesn’t come off we’ll reimburse you for any losses.  But we
need to hit the ground running.”

“I wouldn’t
do this for anyone other than you, Audrey,” Rawls said, and chuckled to
himself.

“That’s
great.  Thank you for your time, we’ll speak again soon.”  Andrews
stood up and the screen cut back to the head and shoulders of the woman. 
“Dallas here, were finishing the conference at 08.47, London time, is there
anything else?”

“We’re all
fine here,” said Cain.  “Good morning to you, Dallas!”

“Good morning
to you too, sir, have a great day, Dallas out.”  The image cut and the
wall was a wall once again.

Rawls turned
to Lund.  “Need a ride home?”

“Sure. 
There’s a million things I need to do.”

Rawls
nodded.  “And you’ll need to pack, too.”

Askel gave
him her quizzical glance.

“Your new
position.  It’s based on
Ephialtes
.”

Askel didn’t
like spaceflight.  The prospect of spending the next few months on
Ephialtes
filled her with a mild dread.  Still, at least she would be busy.
 She’d hurriedly packed some things and had asked a neighbour to keep an
eye on the apartment; she would be gone about three months.  She’d made a
few calls to a few people, letting them know she’d be gone, cancelling the odd
arrangement.  Then she’d taken the ride out of town in one of Rawls’ cars,
which he’d sent over for her.  She’d left London at dusk and now found
herself heading out to Foulness Island in the growing darkness.  She could
see the port on the distant horizon, all glimmering lights and wisps of
propellant venting off into the night.

She was met
at the port by a no-nonsense sergeant, briefed to see her aboard the bone-shaker
taking her up to orbit.  He was thorough and impersonal, which suited
Askel just fine.  She was in no mood for small talk and
pleasantries.  Her mind was occupied with the low-level fear of
launch, overlaid with the million and one things she needed to do, check or
delegate at the next opportunity.

She had never
been to
Ephialtes
before but it was practically the same ship as
Otus
, where she had spent some months soon after its
float-out.  She had contributed to the design of both ships,
particularly in terms of their accommodation of dropships and drones.  She
knew the Commander Program well and she knew the dropship carrier system
probably as well as anyone on the original design teams.  Her AIs had done
most of the design work and she had overseen the linking together of the two
systems, carrier and dropship.  The two great carrier ships, known
together as the
Aloadae
, were the pinnacle of the Commander Program
system.  They could dispatch a fearsome fighting force anywhere in the
world within hours, and with minimal notice.

She had been
moved to the NFJ project just before
Ephialtes
began fitting-out. 
It was a great opportunity to raise her stock even higher within Helios. 
She knew she had impressed Rawls and that he had great faith in her.  She
had been determined to prove him right.

As well as
the technical challenges of the NFJ project (designated
Aphrodite
) there
were personal ones too.  The project was based in Dorset, England and took
Askel away from her settled home life in Kentucky.  It took her away from
Bobby Karjalainen.  Initially, a long distance relationship seemed
doable.  Bobby was often posted overseas anyway.  But it had put a
huge strain on the relationship from the very moment Bobby had meekly responded
‘Okay’ to the proposal, rather than being taken aback like Askel had
expected.  Suborbital flight meant that the UK and North America were less
than forty-five minutes apart, but the connecting journeys either end
increased the length of the trip by a factor of ten.  Over time the
relationship faded and crumbled.  Askel missed Bobby but she had no idea
if he felt the same way.  She’d noted that he hadn’t mentioned her in his
book.  Whether that was due to his respect for her privacy or whether he
had airbrushed her from history she did not know.  But he was gone. 
The last she heard he was truly gone - headed back to Mars.

She checked
her baggage with the sergeant and was fitted for a flight suit.  She was
given a medical scan, signed some papers and was then put on a bus with some
other Helios personnel.  She recognised some faces - many
of the
Aphrodite
team were there, but there were some from other
divisions who she did not know.  One way or another they were there at her
behest.  She had detailed all the personnel she would need by skill and
ability and here, less than forty-eight hours later, some of them
were.  Frantic dealing was still going on in the Helios HR and purchasing
departments.  It was an overtime bonanza as favours were called in, deals
were struck and backs were scratched.  There would be more flights like
this, freight flights, too, over the coming weeks but, appropriately, Askel was
at the vanguard.

The bus
ferried them to the
launchpad
where they got out and
ascended the tower by elevator.  Askel attempted some small talk with her
team members but, with her mind racing from the fear of the launch and the
enormity of the task at hand, she kept falling back to talking shop.  She
was constantly making lists in her mind and delegating tasks here and
there.  They got out of the elevator and were ushered across a gangway
into the craft itself.

The Heavy
Lift Vehicle was a large SLSVII class rocket, the fundamental design of which
had not changed in more than two hundred years, though it had been hugely
refined.  The cabin of the cylindrical spacecraft on top was divided into
two floors.  Each had around thirty seats, set out in rows and aisles like
some sort of futuristic bus tipped up on its rear.  The seats were large,
with harnesses and ports for various life support, monitoring and coms
systems.  The passengers had to climb up a retractable ladder mounted in
the aisle and then work their way along a small gantry above the rows to their
seats.  Askel worked her way to her seat in the front row on the top deck,
plugged herself in, and waited.

Coms crackled
over
Askel’s
headset informing her that conditions
were good and that launch was on schedule to proceed within fifty
minutes.  She was informed that a countdown was available should she wish
to patch it through, but she declined.  As she lay back into her chair she
could feel it adjusting to accommodate every curve of her body.  She
absentmindedly thought about getting one for home - surely she
could swing it with Rawls - but then her mind was racing again
with a controlled anxiety about the project and about the flight.

The last five
minutes were the longest.  She kept trying to distract herself but it
didn’t work.  She told herself it would be over in ten or fifteen
minutes.  She would be in orbit, and it would be over.  Her colleague
next to her tapped her on the arm and told her when it was T-1
minutes.  She nodded and smiled weakly at him, closing her eyes.

When it began
the first thing she felt was the rumble, which started powerfully and grew ever
stronger.  It felt and sounded like she was in a collapsing building, then
there was a sudden kick in her back.  It felt like one of those awful
falling nightmares, except instead of falling she was rising ever faster and
she didn’t wake suddenly, as much as she longed to.  The incredible force
and roar could hardly fail to impress, but
Askel’s
mind was in a place far away from such things.  She was in a zone
somewhere between serenity and panic, knowing that there was nothing she could
do.  She was committed to this and all she could do now was just
be
,
until it was over.

Very
soon - Askel couldn’t tell if it was minutes or seconds - the
violent shaking smoothed out and the incredible pressure she had felt on her
body eased off.  She felt the tension in her body relax a little and she
started to feel light.  She turned to her colleague and nodded a smile at
him.  He smiled back and gave her the thumbs up signal.  A voice came
over the com.  “All passengers, following a successful launch we are now
in orbit around the Earth and are due to dock with
Ephialtes
in
approximately two hours.  Please remain seated for the rest of the
journey, if you have any problems we are right here for you.  Thanks.”

Askel let
herself relax.  It was going to be a tough three months and she thought
she’d earned it.

It was dark
when Andrews reached the New Oval Office.  She spoke briefly to Cortes’
personal assistant and let herself in.  The lighting was low and Cortes
was in his chair, turned away from the great desk of office, facing the
window.  At first she thought he might be asleep and she approached
cautiously.

“Thanks for
coming, Audrey,” he said without turning.  “Take a seat over on one of the
sofas.  I’ll be over in a minute.”

“Yes, Mr
President,” Andrews said, and she walked over to one of the sofas and sat
down.  She felt a little awkward, like she was intruding on some intensely
personal moment.  She was surprised when Cortes spoke again.

“You know,
it’s been quite a day,” he said.  “I got the intelligence briefing this
morning.  I guess that’s what you’re here to talk about.”

“It is, Mr
President.”

“I thought
so.  You know, this job never ends.  It’s just one damn thing after
another.”

“I guess so,
Mr President.  I guess that’s what our jobs are; dealing with issues, one
after another.”

Cortes
chuckled.  “Well, that’s true enough,” he said.  He turned in the
chair and stood up.  As he walked over to Andrews he asked the question
she had been preparing for all week.  “What have you got for me, Audrey?”
he said.

“Well, sir,”
Audrey replied, “I’ve spoken to Helios.  They can refit the
Aloadae
for interplanetary flight.  They have experimental nuclear fusion engines
they can use.  We can have the
Aloadae
in orbit around Mars within
six months if we need it.”

Cortes
nodded, impressed.  “I guess that wouldn’t be cheap,” he said.

“Well,” said Andrews,
“not financially, of course not.  But it might be cheaper than losing a
planet.”

Cortes
thought for a moment.  “They can really do that?  In six months?”

“They’ve
assured me they can,” said Andrews, “and I’ve no reason to disbelieve them.”

Cortes paced. 
“How would that look, politically?  Is it overkill?”

“Not at all,”
said Andrews.  “We have these ships, more-or-less redundant
now over Earth.  Think how powerful we look if we can send them to
Mars.  Not just to the Martians but to the Asian Bloc, the non-aligned
countries, even to our own country.  It would be a great demonstration of
our power.  Reassuring to those at home and impressive and intimidating to
those abroad.”

Cortes
stopped pacing.  “What do you need from me?”

“I just need
the executive order authorising the expenditure.  You still have the
elevated powers from the war.  If you want to go ahead, let me know now
and I’ll tell Helios to proceed immediately.”

“How much
will this cost again?”

“I sent you
the costings.  It’s a lot, but we can afford it.”