Warhurst glanced at the suspiciously empty table—no wrappings, no crumbs. “I see.” He sniffed. “Lime cookies? Smells good! I don’t suppose you have any for your CO.”
“Uh, sorry, sir. That was the last one!”
“Very well. Carry on, then!”
“Aye, aye, sir!”
“Almost taps, people. You’d better break this up. We start weapons training early tomorrow. M-580, stripping, cleaning, and troubleshooting. You’ll need clear heads.” He gave Nodell a hard look. “All of you!”
He turned and walked out, as the Marines at the table slowly, ever so slowly, relaxed again.
“Jeez! We coulda all been busted!” Lucky said.
“I don’t think so,” BJ said. “He knew!”
“Nah,” Dave said. “No way.”
“So…what kind of skipper is he?” Corporal Mayhew asked. He was the company’s current newbie, newly arrived from Space Training School at Quantico.
“Damned tough,” BJ told him. “So tough I’d follow him to hell.”
And the others agreed. Lucky wasn’t quite that trusting…but was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was willing enough to consider following the guy to hell.
But…to Europa?
23 SEPTEMBER 2067
Tiantan Shandian
Solar Orbit
1412 hours Zulu
They’d been extending the tether for the past thirty hours, allowing the fifteen-kilometer cables to play themselves slowly out into the night. At the far end of the four superconducting cables, a twenty-ton doughnut of steel, ceramics, and titanium used electrostatic forces and tiny rocket motors to maintain tension against the cables as they unspooled from the Heavenly Lightning’s blunt prow. Lasers ensured perfect alignment, while powerful optical and infrared telescopes assured proper tracking and aim.
On the Lightning’s bridge, drifting beside the communications suite, Captain Lin Hu Xiang grasped a handhold and pulled himself alongside the communications officer, head down. “Do we have our final word?”
“Yes, Captain!” The comm officer’s young face betrayed the flush of excitement. “It is confirmed both by Mission Control and the Star Mountain. Jia you!”
Go.
“I can’t help but feel certain…misgivings,” Lin said. “We advance blindly into an unwise war…”
“Sir! The Space Military Directorate would never—”
“It’s not the Directorate I’m worried about. It’s our inspired leaders in the Great Hall of the People. The men who put us here, who decided we should begin a war launched against the entire world.”
The comm officer looked shocked. Evidently, he’d never expected to hear a commanding officer criticize the government. “I…I am sure they have their reasons.”
“No doubt. And urgent ones, I imagine. Still…how is your military history, Lieutenant?”
“I am a graduate of the Beijing Academy, sir. First honors!”
“Which guarantees nothing. Do you know the name Zhu-gang?”
“No, Captain.” He looked puzzled. “Is that a place in the homeland?”
“No. But our actions today will draw inevitable comparisons. I hope our leaders are prepared to accept the consequences.” Turning carefully in midair, he addressed the Lightning’s weapons officer. “Mr. Shu. Are we on target?”
“We are, Captain. Target One is locked in. The computers are programmed to execute a five-degree yaw to bring Target Two to bear, as soon as Packages One and Two have been released.”
“And our little distraction is ready?”
“Ready for launch, Captain.”
He looked at Commander Feng Sun Wa, the Executive Officer. “And the crew?”
“All crew members report themselves strapped in and ready for action.”
“Very well.” There could be no further delay. “Mr. Shu, launch the decoy.”
An eight-ton Zhuongshu missile sped from the Lightning’s launch bay, accelerating in a burst of energy at nearly twenty Gs. Its course took it back along the path traversed by the Lightning, chasing after a bright blue star and its tiny, grayish consort—the Earth and the Moon, now 50 million kilometers distant. Before long, the fast-moving missile had canceled the original velocity imparted by the Lightning away from Earth and begun closing with the distant planet.
Not that Earth was the target. After six minutes, the range between the Lightning and the missile had opened to 20,000 kilometers. A quick targeting check made certain that the missile was precisely aligned between the Lightning and distant Earth, and then the Weapons Officer pressed a key, triggering the detonation sequence over a lasercom link.