Orbital

Fifteen Chinese Knock-Off

The last time I set foot in this hangar was when I was sealed away inside the DarkStar and carried up the road to the iCosmos launch facility inside a replica of the Unicorn launch vehicle. A lot has changed since then.

There’s almost fifty people working here. Technicians are checking the spacesuits and communications systems. Engineers are working behind laser-shielding screens, supervising robots as they weld and assemble the next generation of hardware.

At one end of the hangar there’s an entire 3D fabrication shop that can make everything from rocket nozzles to skin-tight spacesuits.

It’s a far cry from several months ago when Admiral Jessup and Markov had to call in a skeleton crew of bandits to pull of our risky heist.

In front of me stands a mockup of our next mission: a replica CS626 hastily made from 3D printed parts and plywood. It looks good from far away, but up close the illusion is shattered when you see the painted wood and foam blocks.

The real detail went into the hatch and what they believe the interior looks like. The whole thing is the size of a bus and splits apart in the middle like a movie set.

“I wouldn’t fly in that, if I were you,” says a familiar voice.

I’d heard the squeak of Laney’s crutches on the concrete as she entered, but didn’t want to call attention to that.

“How’s it going, Menace?”

I turn around, expecting a smile, but all I see is a frown. “What the hell, David?”

“What?”

She raises an aluminum support and points to the fake CS626. “This.”

“It’s not the real thing, Laney.”

“I know that, dumb ass. What are you doing, going back up?”

“Um, my country needs me?”

She rolls her eyes at how lame that sounds. “A million active-duty military personnel and here you are again, the one person they ask to pull this off?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Soon enough that won’t be the case. Besides, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Making sure you don’t get killed. Again.” She walks over to inspect the interior of the satellite. “Seems a little sparse.”

“We don’t exactly know what’s inside. This is just a guess.”

“Airlock on one side and this chamber here? Isn’t it a bit large? I mean this thing has almost as much interior space as Skylab.”

“It’s not that big.”

“There’s a full airlock. This thing is pressurized inside.”

I spot Russel and Baylor walking over. “Ask them.”

“What’s with the interior space?” asks Laney.

“Are you familiar with space-based laser systems?” Russel replies. “They take up a lot of room for power and cooling systems.”

“Okay. But why is it so big?”

Russel doesn’t seem to be very amused having to explain her area of expertise to a civilian. “So the technicians can work without pressure suits.”

“Got it.” She turns to Baylor. “So how do we know there isn’t some kind of burglar alarm or a defensive system that could kill David?”

“The system goes into a passive mode for several hours. Everything goes offline.”

“Everything that you know of…” Laney replies.

“Victor has been over the specs of the CS and all the related models. We’ve never heard of there being any kind of anti-theft countermeasures. The access hatch may have a physical lock, but we can use the DarkStar’s portable 3D printer to make a key if we need to.”

Laney geeks out a bit. “The new DarkStar has a 3D printer?”

“Yes. A small one that can print multiple materials in zero-g. It’s easier than trying to pack all the tools we might need.”

“Interesting.” Laney turns back to the CS626. “I assume this is powered by a reactor?”

Russel points to a small sphere at the opposite end from the airlock, just below the laser emitter. “The ring of cylinders are the capacitors.” She indicates a long tube. “This is the lasing chamber. We need Dixon to get access to here.”

“It seems awfully close to the reactor,” says Laney.

“It’s shielded.”

“To Chinese standards,” Laney interjects, “which are significantly less than even the Russian’s nuclear submarine ones.”

The tension is getting a bit intense. “I’m only going to be in there a little while,” I explain.

Laney waves her crutch at the CS. “We don’t even know what’s in here. It could be an extremely tight space.”

“The Chinese technicians managed just fine when they built the satellite,” says Russel.

“Have you seen their average military astronaut? Not the ones you see on TV, but the real grunts? None of them are much over five foot tall. They’re recruited from gymnastics programs.” She nods to me. “Have you looked at Big Foot over here? He probably weighs twice as much as one of them.”

“Hey! I’m in great shape,” I protest.

“Yeah, those shoulder presses are going to come in real handy as you try to shimmy through a conduit smaller than a mail slot.”

“Could I speak to you alone?” Baylor asks Laney, clearly frustrated by where this is going.

“Hold up,” I interrupt. “No need to take her to the principal’s office. Laney is onboard. She’s just pointing out some important details we need to be aware of. Right?” I stare at Laney.

“Yes. Of course. If he’s dumb enough to volunteer, the least I can do is make sure he stays safe.”

“Well, I am. And thank you Laney. We’re all glad you’re here.” I look back at Baylor and Russel. “The last thing we want to do is send me up without important details.”

“Victor is working on finding some more specs about the CS626,” says Baylor.

“Tell him to check out the SpaceFlightNow website,” says Laney.

“We’ve got the NRO and the NSA on this,” replies Russel. “I think we’re covered.”

“Oh. So you’ve seen the interior photos then?”

“Photos?” says Russel, surprised.

“Yeah. Some space geeks found a full-scale mockup, with quite a bit more details than this thing, in a scrapyard in Hainan. It’s what the technicians trained on before sending the satellite into space.”

Baylor exchanges a glance with Russel, then replies, “I think we’ll take a look into that.”

To Laney’s credit, she doesn’t even smirk. She waits until they depart then glares at me. “What the hell, David?”

“I’m just going to pop the hatch and have a look. And I get to ride back down to Earth in the Unicorn and land back on the pad like I’m supposed to. No mid-air bailouts. No reentry through the Devil’s Rectum. Just a civilized landing like a normal person.”

Laney doesn’t say anything. She just gives me a look that says volumes.

We both know that there’s no such thing as simple in my life.