Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (43 page)

Jeff shook the
President’s hand. “Sir, we are greatly honored by the invitation, and it’s one
I wouldn’t know how to turn down even if I wanted to.”

“Good. Glad to
have you here. And this must be Dr. Frederick.”

Gabe swallowed
hard and nervously held out her hand. “Yes, yes, sir.”

“Doctor, I’ve
been told you were tall but… wow.”

She gave him an
embarrassed grin.

The President
shook Gabe’s hand then took a step back and eyed her up and down. “That is some
dress. You know, when my daughter sees that she’s gonna want one just like it.”
The President shook his head and smiled. “She’s not gonna get it. But on you,
it is spectacular. It’s a real pleasure to meet you Doctor.”

“Thank you,
sir.”

“And who have
we got over here?”

Jeff stepped
over toward the others. “Mr. President, I’d like to present Dr. Susan Lú.”

“Doctor Lú, a
pleasure.”

Susan bowed
then extended her hand. “The pleasure is mine, sir.”

“Now, I’ve read
your Senate testimony – frankly, that’s one of the reasons you’re here tonight
– and I recall Doctor that you speak fluent Mandarin. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Cantonese,
as well?”

“Not quite as
well, but yes.”

“You were born
in China?”

“Yes, sir. My
parents immigrated when I was very young.”

“Well, China’s
loss is our gain. Pleasure to have you here this evening, Doctor. And that is
also a magnificent gown. Is that Chinese?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Lovely.” He
turned to Jeff. “I have to say, you’re the best dressed bunch of astronauts I
have ever seen.” He looked around to some of the others present. “No offense to
you NASA folks, but
this
is how to dress.”

Jeff motioned
to Abby, “Sir, this is Lieutenant Commander Abigail Nolan.”

“Commander
Nolan, it’s a pleasure. I understand you’re a fighter jock.”

Abby grinned,
“Yes, sir.”

“And you flew
the Super Hornet in Iraq?”

Jeff marveled
at the President’s memory, he couldn’t have prepped that much for something as
trivial as this dinner.

Abby nodded.
“Yes, sir, two tours.”

“I just may
have to have a word with the CNO about putting more women in jets. I’m glad to
have you on our side. God bless you, young lady.”

“Thank you,
sir.”

“And Mr.
President, may I present Ms. Christine Mallory.”

“Ah, yes,
Christine. You’re the one that gets left behind, right?”

“Yes, sir,
somebody has to stay and mind the farm.”

“Indeed. You’ll
be running ground control?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, somebody
has to do it. And their lives will likely depend on you.”

“Yes, sir. And
I have every intention of bringing them safely back home to us.”

“I have no
doubt that you will.” He again turned to Jeff. “Jeff, could I have a word alone
with you before we head in for dinner?”

“Of course,
sir.”

“Good. Excuse us for just a moment
everyone. Jeff, why don’t we step into the Blue Room here for a minute?”

            Jeff pried himself loose from Gabe and followed
the President through a short hallway joining the Red and Blue Rooms closing
the door behind them.

            “Jeff, do you know why you’re here tonight?”

            “I have a pretty good idea, sir.”

            “Good. If I’d had to explain it, it would have
been a short evening.”

            Jeff smiled.

            “My predecessor liked to do this kind of thing
out on the porch over a couple beers. Personally, I think the office demands a
bit more decorum and formality.”

            “I couldn’t agree more, sir.”

            “I like dressing for dinner. Gives everyone a
chance to show off their finery and good behavior. And you don’t need to be
rich and famous to appreciate fine things and be well mannered.”

            “No argument, sir.”

            “Jeff, as you are well aware, there are a lot of
issues here.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Not just technical and economic issues,” the
President shook his head, “but enormous philosophical, social, political, even
environmental issues. It’s not just a question of whether or not you can do
this, but whether or not you should.”

            “I understand, sir.”

            “I have no doubt that you do. As I said in
there, I’ve read your Senate testimony; you did a good job, and I like what you
had to say. But, as the guy that some would argue is the leader of the free
world, I need to take a position on this. This plan of yours could be the
greatest accomplishment ever, or the greatest disaster. Now, I have thousands
of people working for me that could sit down with you at a conference table and
talk till you’re all old and gray and not settle anything. So I’ve invited you
here to get the straight skinny.”

            “I understand, sir.”

            “Jeff, this is your trial by fire. You and your
people convince me and my people that this mission of yours not only can be
done but should be done, and you’ll have my full support. Fail in that, and
you’re not going anywhere.”

            “That’s fair enough, sir. I would expect nothing
less from this office.”

            “Alright. Those people out there are going to
ask some hard questions tonight. I expect honest answers.”

            “I don’t know of any other kind, sir.”

            The President stepped forward and held out his
hand to Jeff. “I’ve read your Navy Cross citation, and I believe you.”

            Jeff took his hand. “Sir.”

            “Well, it’s Friday and I’m told the menu
includes ‘Surf & Turf’. What say we eat?”

            Jeff nodded and smiled. “Sounds good to me,
sir.”

            Back in the Red Room the president announced,
“Emily Post would be horrified at our lack of etiquette this evening but she’s
not here and what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. So what say we all head for
the dining room?”

            The long narrow dining table was
unconventionally laid out with nine place settings on each side and none on the
ends. The President was seated in the center on one side, flanked on his right
by the Vice President, NASA administrator, Senator Landers and the First Lady,
and on his left by the chief of staff, science advisor, chief astronaut and
Mrs. Landers. Jeff sat opposite the president, with Gabe, Chrissie, Mrs.
Fairfax and Mrs. King, to his right and Abby, Susan, Mrs. Surtees and Mrs.
Jensen on his left. Clearly the arrangement was meant for business, not social
conversation.

            “Let’s not stand on ceremony,” said the
President as the staff began serving Caesar salad, “and get right to it. I
think NASA probably has the lion’s share of questions for you so I’m going to
let Dr. Fairfax kick things off. Lou?”

            “Yes, sir. Captain, from what I’ve read and
heard of your plan, I must applaud the elegance of its simplicity. Yet, one
aspect would appear to be exceedingly complex. I understand that you plan to
launch something in the neighborhood of half a million pounds of payload. How
do you propose to do that?”

            “Sir, our forthcoming launch involves what we
have managed to cobble together for these inaugural missions: two Atlas Vs, one
Delta IV heavy, and a Falcon Heavy. Quite obviously, that is a very awkward and
expensive way to do it. And, were we to be forced into utilizing nothing but
conventional and available heavy lifters, we anticipate the need, a bit over
two years from now, for at least fourteen vehicles to fulfill our requirements
for the second cargo, return trip resupply, and crew launches.”

            Dr. Fairfax grinned, “There aren’t that many.”

            “Well, yes, sir, there are. It’s just that there
is competition for them, principally for support of the ISS, which we recognize
has a rather high priority. Still, we have already conducted discussions with
ULA and SpaceX, as well as the European, Russian and Chinese space agencies –
to gauge interest – and our assessment is that it is, in theory, feasible to
support both our mission and the ISS. In addition to the Atlas V, Delta IV, and
Falcon Heavies, also potentially available are the Ariane 5 and Proton, and
possibly even the Long March 5 and the Angaras. Nevertheless, we would prefer a
simpler solution. Thus, at least for now, we’re putting our money on Jupiters.
As you’re well aware, Congress has, in part, funded development of the
Jupiter-like Space Launch System in response to cancellation of the Ares, and
that development is coming along nicely, albeit slowly. The first SLS is
scheduled for test launch in four years though personally, and meaning no
offense, sir, I don’t think you’re going to make that. We don’t see the J-241
as a big problem as it’s little more than a reconfiguration of the shuttle from
piggyback to inline.

“The Jupiter-241, of course, does
require development of the upper stage – the Earth Departure Stage. Still,
design is complete – essentially an oversized S-IVB – and, in our opinion,
sound. It simply needs to be built. Given Jupiter’s availability, we could
fulfill our requirements with four J-241s. But therein lays one problem: that
being the EDS engines. The J-246 is out since we understand that Rocketdyne
simply can’t build the required twenty-four RL-10B-2 engines within that time
frame. Further, development of the J-2X is sorely lagging, owing to lack of interest.
Our solution would be to utilize existing legacy J-2 engines in the J-241
configuration. I believe there are twelve J-2s in existence, either in storage
or on display. We’d like to put a few of them to good use. Further, a
Jupiter-241 with a J-2 powered EDS would make for an easy transition to a J-2X
powered EDS on down the road. And, in our opinion, all of that is entirely
doable within two years.”

“Construct four Jupiter-241s in two
years?” Fairfax laughed. “Sorry Captain, but that’s impossible.”

“Again, meaning no offense, sir, but given the way
NASA and the government do business, yes, I absolutely agree. However, we are
not NASA, we’re the private sector and we do business a bit differently. Except
for the EDS, every required part for four J-241s already exists and is sitting
out there somewhere just waiting to be gathered together and assembled. If one
extracts politics, bureaucracy and indecision by committee from the equation,
this can easily be done.”

“No offense taken, Captain,”
Fairfax nodded and smiled, “I do understand what you’re saying. But, you’ll
need a lot more than four. You’ll need test launches as well. Further, where
will you get the main engines?”

“Main engines? From you.”

Fairfax frowned. “Huh?”

“Sir, you have 16 serviceable SSMEs
in storage. You’re never going to use them. Ultimately they’ll just end up as
museum curiosities. Why not give them to us? We’ll make good use of them. So
far as testing is concerned, our launches will
be
the test.”

            “You’re willing to take the risk of launching in
an untested vehicle?”

            “If you’ll forgive me sir, I’m going to let Abby
address that while I take a few bites of this fine looking salad.”

            Fairfax laughed, “Of course.”

            Abby swallowed quickly. “Yes. Sir, we’re not
opposed to taking risks. As you are no doubt aware, this entire plan is high
risk. Still, we’re not suicidal. Crew launch would be the last in a sequence of
four launches over a three-month period. By the time we launch, the Jupiter
will have been tested and proven. If, by that point it is not, well, we take a
long, well-deserved vacation, then go back to the drawing board.”

            “I see. Alright, I’ll grant that it may be
possible, though I’m very skeptical.”

            “We’re not unfamiliar with skepticism, sir…”

            The President laughed.

            “… but,” Abby continued, “if it is ‘possible’
then it is ‘doable.’ And we intend to proceed on that assumption.”

            Fairfax nodded and turned to Colonel Creighton.
“Sylvia?”

            “Thank you, sir. This isn’t a decision that I
would be at all involved with, but I am rather curious. I understand that you
have requested to – borrow – an Apollo CSM?”

            Jeff nodded. “That’s correct. Gabe?”

            Gabe set her fork on her plate and was
momentarily surprised to see her plate whisked away. “Uh, yes. Well, as
everyone knows, the developmental cycle for a Crewed Exploration Vehicle – CEV
– is very long and very expensive. See for example, NASA’s own Orion Program.
The simple fact is: we have neither the time nor the necessary funding to
embark on a CEV development program. It just takes too long and costs too much.
Further, in our opinion, it’s entirely unnecessary, as it simply constitutes a
reinvention of the wheel. The Apollo program was enormously successful.
Arguably America’s most successful space program ever. Yes, there were failures
along the way, Apollo 1 and Apollo 13. Still, overall, the program was a
remarkable success. There are today, something on the order of twenty-seven
Apollo command modules – and at least three service modules – on display. The
service modules, obviously, and many of the command modules have never flown.
This is tested and proven technology that is built, available, and has already
been paid for. Certainly some refurbishment and modern retrofit would be
required. But the time required and cost of doing that is miniscule compared to
an entirely new vehicle development program. The Skylab rescue module, on
display at Kennedy, would suit our needs perfectly. And there are two service
modules on display at Johnson. Our position is: this is technology that has been
proven to work, suits our needs very well, and that America’s taxpayers have
already paid for. Let’s make use of it. Let’s give the taxpayers something for
their money beyond simply
very
expensive museum pieces.”