Second Chances (116 page)

“Nyet,” Piotr said. “At least two, possibly three more days of storms.”

“Okay.”

“The first arrays will be for fixed installations until we've got all the bugs out. Once we do we can go into production for smaller units for aircraft and vehicles,” Akira reported.

Mitch nodded. Aircraft certainly he thought, but he wasn't sure about vehicles. Oh sure, his trucks and vehicles had small radar arrays, but he doubted they'd get their manufacturing down to that scale anytime soon.

He was also unsure about the robotics and defensive projects. Most of the military personnel wanted radar operated guns, something along the lines of the Phalanx CIWS or Centurion C-ram if possible, or a radar controlled laser if they could swing it.

Even Colonel Dunn, Mike and Jack were on board with the idea.

“Once you get the scaling down, we can put them into the satellites,” Jim Conklin said. He grimaced. “Which just reminded me, we'll need to redesign them. The one we currently have is...shit,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“One step at a time,” Mitch said. He realized that mass production of the radar arrays meant a redesign of the satellite. For him that was a good thing; they were behind on the rocket testing anyway, what with the weather. “You've got the time since the weather is shitty. Akira, you think you are how far away from mass production?”

“I need to check with logistics supply. Some of it is a pain in the ass and I don't know if we have the rare materials in stock.”

“Molecular furnace,” Conklin said, still distracted by his own thoughts. He stared at the tablet, going through the designs. “Any idea on the size of the array?”

“Molecular furnace is offline. It draws too much power,” Mitch said.

“And no, not yet. Like I said, I need a field test before we start miniaturizing it,” Akira warned.

“Okay, okay,” Jim sighed.

“Tao and Candy were looking into a production run of FLIR components right?” Akira asked, looking to Mitch. Mitch nodded. “Thought so. I wasn't sure about the timing though, I think I've lost some time,” he said wryly.

“It happens in the winter. And when you are on a project,” Mitch replied with a nod. “If we get a break in the storm, could you do a test with the hangar door open? With the array inside pointed out? Or mount the test platform on a cart or something, tow it out, do a series of tests, then bring it back in before the window closes?”

“I'm...not sure,” Akira said.

“Part of the problem is the windows between storms are at night,” Piotr explained. Mitch grunted. “It is also bitterly cold,” he warned.

“Which makes me concerned about the temperatures effecting the components,” Akira said.

“That...is a problem,” Jim said, looking up. “In space...”

“One thing at a time Jim,” Mitch said shaking his head in exasperation. “Not everything is about the satellite project. Akira just finished telling us he has to get it working on the ground
first
. Then he can work on scaling it for platform use.”

“I...sorry,” Jim said, running a hand through his hair. He brushed the bangs out of his eyes and then frowned. “I need a haircut.”

“Go see, Anne,” Piotr said. “She has a couple girls that do trims,” he said as he turned to Mitch. “I have a place I'd like to locate the first array. I've planned several. I know you want to trade them as well, but if we could set up at least three here,” he held up his tablet and pointed to the map. “Here...”

“I think you've shown me a few times, Piotr,” Mitch chuckled, waving the display away. “Let's give Akira the time to finish testing his baby and then get it into production.”

“I'm just putting the request in.”

Mitch nodded. “I know,” he turned to Jim. “And I know you want them for ground control for aircraft and rockets. Got that too. One step at a time,” he said. “And,” he turned back to Piotr, “remember, when we trade an array to the other communities, if we play our cards right they will be tied into our Internet. That means you will have access to their data too.”

“And they'll pay for it! And the upkeep!” Piotr said, smiling beautifully. “Genius!”

“Something like that,” Mitch snorted as Akira caught on and chuckled. “And yes, they'll have to have someone like Akira come out to service it. If he's not willing, they'll have to send someone here to train to do it, probably several someones,” he said. “And buy parts from us,” he said.

Akira frowned at those concepts and then shrugged. He admired that Mitch was a couple steps ahead in the planning though. He felt a bit of relief there.

------*------

Akira's radar field test proved a success. The phased array blueprint was an established design; once it was proven functional, he passed the blueprints for the first ground arrays over to Tao. Tao had anticipated the array order, but not the quantity. He went to Mitch about it. “Build what you can with what you have. One if necessary. Once we're certain it works then move on to the next project or the smaller arrays.”

“I just wanted you to understand. We only have so much material. The large ground arrays use quite a lot. The platform versions should use a lot less. We can produce several of them,” he said.

“Okay,” Mitch said thoughtfully. “You left a space in the Hercules right?” Tao nodded. “Then she can be the first platform test bed. Once we get her sorted out,” he said, exhaling noisily.

“Akira has been so wrapped up in this project he hasn't had the time,” Tao said.

“And I know how he feels about running down bugs. I hated it myself. It's so much more satisfying to build a new project than to diagnose or fix something else,” Mitch said.

“But it has to be done,” Tao said. Mitch nodded.

“I'll see if Lisa can give him a hand. With the vehicle fleet in the garage she's caught up on the deferred maintenance. I know Brain has said something along the lines that she's bored. She can learn a new trade,” he said, smiling. Tao nodded warily.

“We're still a bit aways from LIDAR,” Mitch sighed.

“Chicken and the egg as you like to say. Laser technology is still being developed as our infrastructure and supply improve. We have only just now had the refined materials to make production of the radar arrays worth doing,” Tao reminded him. Mitch nodded.

“One step at a time,” Mitch murmured.

------*------

While Jim Evall and Sun Ling worked on the Delta II rocket, Jim Conklin worked with the computer's CAD program on the redesign of the satellite. The redesign of the satellite used off-the-shelf components from the previous design as much as possible, but took an extra two weeks to produce and test. The shake tests to make certain they would survive lift off were fine for all but two components. They required a bit of retooling and then additional testing before they passed. Fortunately all of the components passed the temperature and other tests.

Once the full array was under construction, Tao found a bit of room in the schedule to make a small run of phased array components for the platform and aircraft. Since the Hercules was still grounded, Jackie and Akira outfitted An-38 alpha as a test bird. They ran some tests on the ground to calibrate the device, then took her up for a couple tests. Akira wanted to fiddle with the device a bit more, but he admitted most of the changes were software related so two devices were passed over to Jim Conklin for the satellite program. One he used as a test guinea pig, running it through the shake platform and then the battery of temperature and quality control tests. When he was sure it would work he put on his clean suit and plugged the second component into the satellite and hooked up its coolant lines and electrical lines.

------*------

The second Delta II launch occurred on a clear but cold day three weeks before spring started. Most of the community turned out to watch the launch from the safety of the wall. A few couldn't handle the brisk cold and opted to watch it indoors on the video screens with a cup of something hot. Mitch snorted and ignored Sandra's entrees and hints to bring Tucker inside.

They weren't disappointed. Jolie handled the countdown; her voice growing more and more excited as they got closer to the launch. When she got to zero absolutely nothing happened for a few seconds, making Mitch and others wonder if something had gone wrong again. Then there was a bright flash on the horizon, and Jolie's voice crackled over the radio. “We have lift off!” she said ecstatically just as the crowd heard and felt the sound of the distant thundering rockets. It had taken a second for the sound to catch up with the light of the rocket's ignition.

Mitch shielded his eyes as he hefted Tucker up on his shoulders. He pointed to the tall pole as it climbed into the clear blue sky. “See?” he said. Tucker's hands were in his hair; he wasn't sure if the boy was paying attention to the distant dot as it lifted off and climbed steadily into the sky. He knew one thing, his son was...he sighed mentally. Yup, he was concentrating on something all right. And right when he was on his dad's shoulders, Mitch thought, wrinkling his nose. Apparently the boy still had a ways to go before he was fully potty trained he thought wryly. Hopefully he was wearing a diaper! That thought made him reach up and check under his son's jacket superstitiously. The rustle of cloth and the familiar feel of a diaper was stopped when his son defensively covered his exposed side from the cold. Mitch refocused on the rocket.

As it rapidly climbed out of sight people milled about, then a few decided to go inside. The few were enough to get the herd to follow. Mitch dropped Tucker into his arms making the boy squeal. He looked at Sandra as she looked at him reprovingly. “Totally worth it,” he said.

“If he doesn't get sick,” she said.

“I'm surprised at you, Doctor,” he mocked. “You of all people should know you can't catch a virus from being out in the cold,” he teased. She still scowled at him as Tucker squirmed and giggled in his arms. “Bit hard to tickle the little snot when he's all bundled up though,” he said. He handed the toddler over to his mother. “Here, he comes gift wrapped,” he said.

“Gee thanks,” Sandra said. Mitch trotted for the door. She snorted, then inhaled. When she did she coughed. “Mitch! You....” She stopped herself when she noted her son in her arms. Her husband turned to give her a grin and wave and then kept going.

“I hope you shit on his head,” she muttered, tucking her son against her hip. “You are getting heavy,” she observed. The one good thing about her son's...bout with nature was that people gave them a wide berth. She tried not to breathe through her nose as she picked up her pace to go inside. A few people did as well, wanting to get upwind fast.

“Run, Mommy!” Tucker said in a small happy voice. She chuckled.

------*------

Mitch got to the improvised control room, pulling off his hat and opening his coat just as Jim Evall reported they were at the three minute mark and everything was still green.

“Too bad we have to lose the SRBs,” Evall grumbled.

“Can't be helped,” Mitch said.

“Wait, we're going to just throw them away?” Jolie asked, turning to them. “I thought they'd parachute or something?”

“Nah, we'd have to recover them in the eastern sea. No way is that going to happen, no one has ships big enough, and hell if I'd get on one with the monsters out there!” Jim said.

“So why throw all that away?” Jolie asked.

“A lot of people have been asking that. We'll see in a minute if we have an answer for you,” Mitch said, nodding his head to the telemetry feed. It sucked that they didn't have any video anymore; the rocket was too far away.

“I think we need to go the Burt Rutan path. Make the rockets smaller and launch them from a mother craft. That way we can reuse something,” Evall admitted. “The problem is, we don't have a functional jet engine.”

“Yet,” Mitch added.

“Yet,” Evall agreed. “So this was our next best option. We tried to launch a rocket from a balloon. It failed,” he said, sounding disgusted. “It's too complicated.”

“I'm still concerned about the Rutan method. If we drop the rocket to get clear, it'll have to stabilize in flight, ignite, and then reorient up to space. That's a lot,” Mitch said. “If any one step goes wrong it could endanger the mother craft or come down on someone's head,” he said. Evall winced. Jolie frowned. Finally she turned back to her station.

“We'll figure it out or something else out eventually,” Jim murmured as he flipped a case up over a red button. “Coming up on SRB 1 separation in five, four...three...two...one,” he said. He pushed the button.

Explosive bolts kicked off, blowing the six SRBs clear of the mother craft. Their solid rockets continued to fire for a few moments more before they ran out of fuel and then they started to fall to the ground. The rocket in the center of the stack blew clear as well. The entire craft coasted for a second before the second stage ignited.

“We have ignition of stage two. On track for orbital insertion,” Jolie said. “I think,” she murmured.

Jim Conklin looked over her shoulder to the planned trajectory and the one their sensors said the rocket was on. It was a bit sketchy though; they were relying on a weather radar array and the rockets on-board sensors. “It looks good,” he said. “I think,” he qualified.