It was actually going to happen. Everything was coming together. By tomorrow night he would know for certain how effectively the weapon would work. He didn’t even consider the possibility that it would not.
Within hours they were finishing up the crate that would cover the weapon. While it wasn’t top notch carpentry work, it wasn’t all that bad for a group of scientists who still referred to a Phillips screwdriver as the ‘pointy’ one.
Gimbel started working on how he wanted the series of tests to be conducted. He knew that each of the tests had to be scheduled during a dark window. That was the time when no overhead satellites were looking down on the test site. He called up the timetable on the NORAD government site and worked up a schedule from the information provided. He was thankful that he was proficient in reading the data.
Over 11,000 pieces of space junk were in orbit around the Earth. It included everything from nuts and bolts to rocket engines and nuclear reactors from Russian experiments. Most of the space junk was in the first 600 miles of the earth’s gravitational field but many of the stationary spy satellites were much higher up at almost 2,300 miles.
Once he calculated the dark windows, he was ready. Now all he had to do was try to shut his mind off and get some rest. He crawled into his bed with his clothes on to try to get at least a little shuteye before 0200.
Within minutes, or so it seemed, his alarm went off. He washed his face and went to the lab. The general was already there waiting for him. When the rest of the team arrived they shoved the dolly holding the crate into the freight elevator. Once on the surface at Level–1, it was apparent that Devin had made sure that no one was poking about.
It was eerily quiet in the giant hanger. Four armed guards and a fork lift operator were all that were present. The crate was quickly loaded and immediately set off for the South Base facility. When it arrived, the BlackStar was uncrated and welders went to work attaching a rig to hold it in place. The work was accomplished in less than two hours.
It was 0425 when the BlackStar, now attached to the rigging, started its trip to the hump. The 6 x 6 flatbed groaned as it threaded its way up the narrow dirt road. Even though it was only a 5700 foot climb it took nearly an hour and a half.
The sun had broken over the top of the mountains by the time they arrived at the power generators. The truck was quickly maneuvered into place and the drivers were shuttled back down to the base by a Hummer that was waiting for them. A large tarp was rigged to cover the entire truck. The scientists went to work and made the final electrical connections from the generators.
Gimbel set the positioning relay and aimed the weapon at the target area, 5725 feet below them. Devin was pacing around like a rat caught in a cage. While he didn’t say anything, they were all aware of his state of anxiety.
“General. I think we are about ready. I am ready to warm her up and put in the final commands,” Gimbel said.
“Excellent. Here is the first target,” he said, handing him the numbers.
Gimbel quickly went to work on the keypad and entered the coordinates. He double checked to make sure he had no transposition errors. They were all correct.
“Well, we are as ready as we will ever be,” Gimbel said.
“We need to wait two more minutes,” the general said looking at the NORAD schedule that Gimbel had printed out. It was the longest two minutes either man had ever spent.
“All right Dr. Gimbel. Let’s see if we can make history.”
Gimbel smiled and set the power level to P-1, the absolute lowest level possible. The BlackStar would generate an electronic anti-mater flux field and when the button was pushed, photons would be stripped off and sent down the alignment phase generator to the designated coordinates. The process would take milliseconds. Gimbal's hand hovered over the fire button.
“Base 1 indicates they are ready,” one of the team members said, wearing a headset and microphone.
“Base 2 is ready to fire on my mark,” Gimbel said.
The tension was heavier than the morning mist on the distant mountains. Gimbel rested his thumb on the button. It would either work or they would all most likely be dead when the photon stream was released.
“Three, two, one, mark.”
He hesitated for only as second and then pushed it down. The BlackStar hummed for a few seconds and then, nothing. It was over. It was totally anticlimactic. Just that quick, the photons, traveling at the speed of light, slammed into the target area.
“Base 1, firing complete. Please proceed to target Tango-Tango One.
“Base 2. Copy, firing complete. Proceeding to Tango-Tango One.”
“Copy, proceeding Base 2.”
It was several agonizing minutes before the report came back.
“Base 2. Base 1. All targets at Tango-Tango One confirmed Delta 10.”
The general and the team let out a huge yell. It was a successful test on the first target.
“Copy Delta 10,” the scientist said after a few seconds.
