Eagle Station

Right now, standing up the Space Force as a fully functioning outfit was still very much a work in progress. The other services weren’t happy about losing big chunks of budgetary authority and seeing many of their best young space-minded officers and enlisted personnel reassigned… and they were dragging their feet wherever possible. Fortunately for Farrell, Martindale and Patrick McLanahan were both old hands at circumventing bureaucratic resistance to new ideas. Their advice made it easy for him to distinguish between reasonable objections to his directives and purely parochial, empire-building bullshit.

“We’re not quite where we need to be yet,” Patrick told him bluntly when Farrell asked how things were going. “At least when it comes to getting the Space Force full control over its own procurement and logistics. That’s where the dead-enders in the various services are putting up a real bitch of a fight.”

Farrell nodded. Although procurement and supply functions weren’t seen as especially glamorous, they always absorbed a huge fraction of the budget in any big organization. They also tended to attract men and women who were very good at operating within clearly defined limits… but who were often leery of the whole idea of change. “What about the operations side of the Space Force?”

“That’s running considerably more smoothly,” Martindale replied. “For example, Eagle Station is now fully crewed by active-duty Space Force personnel. I just got the word from orbit on the way over here. Our Scion team finished its formal handover of all systems about half an hour ago.”

“Now that is some seriously good news,” Farrell said enthusiastically. They’d needed Scion technicians and mission specialists to run Eagle Station’s sensors, weapons, and fusion power generator after its capture from the Russians. But there was no denying that the company’s continued control over the space station had been a huge public relations headache. Typically over-the-top Russian propaganda blamed Scion’s “homicidal space pirates” for the deaths of Gryzlov and hundreds of others when the center of the Kremlin got blown to smithereens. Nobody who counted bought that line of bull, although it had been judged expedient to disarm the remaining Rapira missiles aboard the station as part of the ensuing cease-fire agreement with Moscow. What mattered more were those in Congress and in the media who hadn’t been happy about a for-profit private corporation running a strategic military asset like the armed orbital station. He made a mental note to have his press secretary make an announcement, preferably with a live television feed from Colonel Reynolds, Eagle’s new commander.

“The first active-duty spaceplane squadron is working up pretty fast, too,” Patrick reported. “We’ve been running likely candidates through intensive training out at Battle Mountain, using the simulators there. As you’d expect, the washout rate is pretty high, but Hunter Noble and his instructor team have already certified a full crew as flight-ready. In fact, they’re taking the new S-29B Sky Masters just delivered into orbit tomorrow for its final test flight and systems checks.”

“One rookie crew and one spaceplane fresh off the factory floor doesn’t exactly add up to much of a squadron,” Martindale commented dryly.

“Maybe not yet,” Patrick allowed. “But there are two more Shadows nearing completion. By the time Sky Masters rolls them out, we’ll have enough trained pilots and crew specialists to fly and fight them.”

Farrell considered that. While the S-29B was only an armed version of the original S-29 spaceplane, intended to carry passengers and cargo into orbit, it was still a remarkably complex and expensive machine. Plus, the design had already proved itself in action, both inside the atmosphere and in orbit. So watching the United States put three fully operational Shadows out on the flight line in less than a year should definitely send a chill up certain spines in Moscow and Beijing — and firmly signal America’s resolve to maintain its current edge in space combat capability. He looked at both men. “Basically, cutting to the chase, it sounds like y’all agree that we’re in pretty good shape militarily.”

Martindale glanced quickly at Patrick and then back at the president. “In general, I guess that’s a fair assessment,” he said. “The lack of real-time satellite intelligence is still a problem, but that should diminish as we launch new recon birds into Earth orbit. Plus, as we move additional S-29s to operational status, we can use them for directed space reconnaissance against high-value targets.”

Farrell eyed him closely. “Seems to me I’m hearing a mighty big unspoken ‘yes, but’ hanging out there, Kevin.”

“True,” Martindale said with a rueful smile. “Based on what we know, our current strategic situation seems mostly satisfactory.” He hesitated. “It’s what we don’t know that I find worrying.”

Farrell frowned. “Anything in particular?”