“It’s not like no one has ever done it before,” Dan says defensively.

“Uhn.”

In fact, as they both know, the strategic defense program has a long history of such meaningless tests, beginning under its first R&D PM. They blew up Sidewinder missiles with lasers, when Sidewinders were designed to seek out energy sources and therefore were targets that would latch on to the beams destroying them. They sent electron beams through rarefied gases, and claimed that the beams would work in the very different environments of vacuum or atmosphere. They bounced lasers off space targets and claimed progress, when astronomy rangers had done the same for decades. And they set target missiles on the ground, and strained them with guy wires so that they would burst apart when heated by lasers, in the famous “strapped chicken” tests. Yes, there’s a history of PR tests that goes right back to the beginning of the whole concept. You could say the ballistic missile defense system was founded on them.

But now—now the system is being produced and deployed. It’s the real thing now, sold to the nation and in the sky, and with a strapped chicken in their part of the system, they’re in serious trouble. The Pentagon is not as lenient with private contractors as they were with their own research program, needless to say. The company could even be liable to prosecution, though it seldom comes to that. It doesn’t have to to ruin the company, though.

And here Lemon has put him into this program! McPherson already knew that Lemon gave him the task out of malice; it complicated his primary work quite a bit; but this! This! It goes beyond malice.

“Does Lemon know?”

“… No.”

But McPherson can see in Dan’s face that he’s lying, trying to cover for his boss, his friend. Amazing. And there’s no way Dennis can call Dan on it, not now. “My God.” He stops a waitress and orders another pitcher of margaritas.

They sit in silence until the new pitcher arrives. They fill up. “So what do you think we should do?” Dan says hesitantly. There’s a certain desperation in his voice; and he’s drinking the margaritas as fast as he can.

“How the hell should I know?” Dennis snaps. The question makes him suddenly furious. “You’ve got Art and Jerry’s people working on the pulse problem?”

“Yeah. No go so far, though.”

McPherson takes a deep breath. “Would more power help?”

“Sure, but where will we get it?”

“I don’t know. I suppose…” He is thinking to himself now. “I suppose the best thing to do is try jamming all the power we do have into as short a burst as we can manage. And focus it to as small a space.” He sighs, picks up the pen and starts scribbling formulas. The two of them bend their heads over the table.

Chapter 24

24