Shaking her head, she replied, “No. But I bet they’re still trying to access the ISS system and regain control of the thrusters.”
“That’s what we think, too. We’ll keep the comm to a minimum so they won’t tumble onto the fact that you’ve opened up communications with the ground. We want them to stay in Central Post as long as possible, doing whatever the hell they’re doing, just as long as they can’t get the thrusters started up again. Our best scenario is for them to stay so busy they won’t detect the Dragon during its approach. Can you tell if they know it’s approaching?”
Kimberly turned back to the laptop and traced a finger across the computerized schematic. “I can’t tell what specific equipment they’ve powered up, but they don’t seem to be doing anything unusual, other than trying like crazy to hack into the system. I don’t know of any reason why they would suspect the Dragon will be on approach.”
“Again, that’s exactly what we want,” Tarantino said. Kimberly thought he sounded tired, his voice a bit scratchy. But he went on, “The Dragon will attempt to reach the Node 2 zenith berthing port by coming in from above, so they won’t be seen if one of the two happens to look out a viewport. But you should be able to spot them since Node 2 is next to your location in the JPM.”
Kimberly nodded.
Tarantino went on, “The Dragon will be expending more propellant than usual so they can approach from the zenith, but it’s critical that they reach the port undetected.”
Kimberly closed her eyes briefly, her mind racing through what she’d need to do to help them aboard. “Okay, but I’ll need a diversion, something to give me enough time to get to the U.S. lab and access the robotic arm. It’ll take several minutes to capture the Dragon with the arm and pull it in and dock it manually.”
“We’re working on that. And we’re reopening some of the links to engage the terrorists in psych warfare while you’re making your move.”
Kimberly felt a huge weight lifting off her shoulders. “Right.” So far, so good.
His voice edging slightly higher, Tarantino went on, “Finally, after you pull in the Dragon, we’ll need you to access all the ISS systems and interfaces during their engagement. So you scoot back to the JPM and stay there after they dock. It’s going to get pretty bloody when our team exits the Dragon, and you need to stay out of the way. Understand?”
Kimberly shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Kimberly, listen to me—”
“No, you listen. All the terrorists have to do is to surprise the Dragon team as they come through the berthing port. I’ve seen what they can do with that prybar. And then what happens?”
“Do you think they suspect something’s up?”
“No, and there’s no reason why they should. But still, if they do spot the Dragon approaching it’ll be pretty easy for them to kill the team while they’re coming through the hatch, one by one.”
“That’s even more reason for you to go back to the JPM!”
“But you can’t guarantee they won’t get lucky. Until I installed that patch from the NSA, they’ve been one step ahead of us the whole time. It’ll be much easier for me to sidetrack them after the team is docked than for the guys to be slaughtered when they disembark.”
“Kimberly!”
She pressed on. “I’ll create a diversion and make sure they’re away from the Node 2 berthing port.”
“Do not leave that module! That’s a direct—”
The lights in the JPM blinked out. In the sudden darkness Kimberly heard the air blowers sigh to a stop. The module went dead quiet. The only light came from the viewport and the laptop screen, now running on battery.
They’ve cut the power! They’ve done to me exactly what I did to them. Somehow they’ve gotten past the firewalls I’ve erected around the controls.
Her eyes rapidly adjusted to the faint light as she pushed off to open the window shutters, allowing sunlight to come through. Fifty minutes of sunshine to each orbit, Kimberly reminded herself.
She kicked off to the laptop. Grabbing the metal frame that held the computer, she rotated around and pulled herself close to the screen. The screen icon showed there was slightly more than two hours left on the battery’s charge. She was still tied in to the ISS system and was still able to access everything she’d controlled before.
They hadn’t yet cut the lines that carried the signals, but there was no doubt in her mind that they would go there next. They’d obviously been able to hack into the system and get around the firewall while their own power was cut. Kimberly saw light streaming from Node 2, just outside the JPM. They’d successfully brought their lights up while taking hers down. They might also physically unplug the power and data cables that ran through the vestibule region from Node 2 to the JPM, but since there were redundant cables, she didn’t think they’d even bother to try.
But the big difference was that now the Ka-band link to the ground was down, and she wouldn’t know when the Dragon would be making its final approach to the station. She still had access to her laptop, though, and she could probably still try to hack back in and turn on her power. But if she did, it would tip off Farid and Bakhet, and they’d probably physically disconnect her cables. Then she’d really be up a creek, trapped in the JPM.
She glanced at the time display at the upper right corner of the laptop screen. CAPCOM had told her that the Dragon would be on station in a little less than three hours. With the time that already had elapsed since then, Kimberly figured their ETA was now somewhere around two and a half hours.
The laptop’s battery must be draining like crazy now that its external power source was cut off; and if the guys hadn’t moved the other three laptops normally stored in the JPM, she could have switched out their batteries.
She doubted that the Dragon would arrive any sooner than the time CAPCOM had given her; astrodynamics was astrodynamics, and when not under thrust the vessel obeyed the physical laws that dictated orbital elements. So the laptop power would run out before they arrived, meaning she would be deaf, dumb, and blind: unable to monitor the Dragon’s approach or the ISS’s internal systems.
Which meant that she couldn’t rule out either Farid or Bakhet somehow getting lucky and detecting the Dragon capsule before it arrived. And then they’d do everything in their power to stop the rescue team.
The most straightforward and easiest thing to do was simply to deny them access to the berthing port. Very simple. And very effective. Putting the robotic arm out of commission would ensure the fiery deaths of both the rescue capsule and the hundred-and-fifty-billion-dollar space station.
So, in all reality, Kimberly knew there was little chance that the SpaceX Dragon capsule would be able to reach the ISS in time to save it. And with her power cut off, she couldn’t stop the terrorists from rotating the ISS again and renewing its death plunge.
So what can I do? she asked herself.
She was alone again, cut off from the rest of the world. But she knew she wasn’t going to roll over and play dead. Not by a long shot. The two terrorists had managed to hack back into the ISS system and overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. So she’d have to go them one better.