“What?”
Scott glanced at Mini, who gave him a go-ahead nod.
“She’s my ex-wife, remember?” Scott asserted. “I know her better than anybody else, even the shrinks. She’s driven for success, and she’d do almost anything to get her way.”
“Of course I know that,” Simone snapped. “She’s an astronaut, not only a scientist.”
“She’s both. And that’s what makes her dangerous to the terrorists.” Scott hesitated briefly. “Do you know that if her last extended interview with NASA’s psychologist had gone any longer than two hours she would have probably gone off script and said something that would’ve flunked her out of the application process?”
Simone stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Just that she’s incredibly bright, extremely competent, and can only contain herself for a limited amount of time when she’s dealing with stupid rules, stupid interviewers, or someone who’s trying to stop her from reaching one of her goals. The NASA psychologist tried to trip her up—like he tried to trip up all the astronaut applicants—to see if she’d do something out of the ordinary. Of course, she didn’t. But she would have if he had kept her cooped up in that room for another half hour.
“You think I’m spontaneous? She’s not an ex–fighter pilot, or a SEAL who would never go off script and deviate from the mission. But after a certain amount of time, if she’d tried all the approved procedures that she’d needed to survive, she’d figure out something new and come out on top. She’d reinvent the rules. And win.”
Simone was silent for a moment. Then, “So she won’t sit still and wait for that software patch to arrive, even though CAPCOM ordered her to stay put.”
“No she won’t.” Scott shook his head. “I’d give her another couple of hours at the most. Then she’s going to go after the terrorists and get herself killed.”
Dead silence. Until Mini spoke up. “So what do we do? The rescue mission launches in two days, but if Kimberly doesn’t wait for that patch and tries to take out the terrorists on her own—”
“They’ll kill her,” said Scott.
“We can’t be sure of that,” Simone said, drumming her fingers on her desk.
“The hell you can’t,” Scott growled.
“Whatever you do,” Mini said to Simone, “don’t remind her about the Burnt Haunt option. Net yet.”
“I told you she already knows,” Scott said. “She’s not stupid. And it’s probably at the top of her mind, driving everything she does.”
“But maybe…”
Scott’s chin went up a notch. “Madam Administrator—”
Simone focused on him. “What is it, Basher? You’ve never called me that before—at least, not in private.”
Scott pressed on. “I didn’t make a fuss about not being manifested on the Dragon crew.”
Simone rolled her eyes and Mini suppressed a snort.
“Well … not much of a fuss,” Scott continued. “Especially since everyone knows I’m the best qualified to command the rescue mission.”
“We’ve been over this before, Basher. You just said she’s your ex-wife, remember? You reminded us about that with your little story of how she beat the psychological exam. So what is it?”
Taking a step toward Simone’s desk, Scott answered, “And I respect your decision to not send me on that flight. But look, there’s a Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule on Pad 39B down at the Cape. It’s scheduled to launch next month, carrying fuel and other supplies to the ISS.…”
“We can’t have another launch trying to meet a ten-second window, Basher,” Simone said firmly. “And not with that booster. If we lose one rocket, no way am I going to authorize another one—”
“I’m not talking about a ten-second window, Patricia. I’m talking about a normal, NASA risk-averse launch using a two-hour window. Look.” Scott turned and pointed to a small, scale model of the International Space Station that hung from the ceiling by the TV set. “If the Dragon reaches the ISS—no, when it reaches the station—Kimberly will have already taken control of the ISS and used all its reserve propellants to boost it back up to altitude, or the Dragon’s crew will use all the station’s reserve propellant after they board.”
“What are you getting at?” Simone asked.
“In both cases the ISS will be out of propellants, and not have any left for normal station housekeeping. Not have enough to use the Soyuz or the Dragon for an emergency egress, much less the old Soyuz we’re keeping as an escape vehicle. And certainly not enough fuel to boost up in another few weeks to counter atmospheric drag.”
Mini objected, “But the two Soyuz capsules already have their own propellants. That’s why they’re set aside as emergency vehicles for a return to Earth.”
“No, they won’t,” Scott insisted. Turning back to Simone, he went on, “Kimberly’s going to use all the propellants on the station, every last drop, to re-boost the ISS back to altitude after what the terrorists have already done. And it doesn’t matter if Kimberly gets the best of the terrorists or if the Dragon team overpowers them. If she uses all the reserve propellant, including what’s in the two Soyuzes and the Dragon capsule, then the station is eventually going to deorbit from atmospheric drag and not because of the terrorists. Kimberly won’t even have enough fuel left to boost the ISS to counter atmospheric drag. And that needs to be done within a few weeks, at best. Right?”
Simone nodded reluctantly. “You’re … right. Much as I hate to say it, we’ll have to accelerate the Boeing launch anyway, in order to resupply the ISS with propellant. The Russians aren’t due to launch another Progress resupply vessel for another eight weeks. That’s much too long.”
Scott pushed ahead. “The CST-100 won’t need a ten-second launch window, and you know I’m the best qualified to command that mission. I helped Boeing establish the two-week training course for their Starliner, and just taught the first course. If I can launch after the Dragon, I can get there as soon as a half day after the rescue mission and be able to resupply the ISS with more than enough propellants. I’ll give the station the ability to boost to a higher, stable orbit.”
Mini objected, “The CST hasn’t been approved to carry people yet, Basher. Just fuel. We’d have to certify it for human use, and that would take weeks, way beyond our timetable for saving the ISS.” He shook his head. “So don’t go there, Basher. It was hard enough certifying the Dragon.”
Before Scott could reply, Mini went on, “Besides, like you said, the CST is on Pad 39B, mated with the NASA Space Launch System booster. Which is only a little over a mile and a half from the Falcon 9 carrying the Dragon on Pad 39A. If the Falcon 9 blows up on launch it could take out the Starliner with it. Then we’ll lose the ISS for sure, even if Kimberly takes out the two SOBs, because we won’t have any boosters left to launch.”
Simone nodded, tight-lipped. “So we’ll have to send the CST unmanned.”
Glaring at her, Scott argued, “You mean you’d risk not being able to dock the CST to the station if the terrorists have screwed with the IDA port, or a hundred other things?” His voice edgier, he went on, “Look, the Starliner is rated for humans; it was designed that way. It just hasn’t been certified. And you have the authority to put me on board. All it takes is a waiver, since that capsule hasn’t been scheduled for a manned mission. This is an emergency, dammit! Are you going to help save the ISS by putting me on that launch, or are you going to let some bureaucratic bullshit kill the ISS? And Kimberly?”