Vance realized he was in a satellite "clean room," painted a septic
white with bright fluorescents overhead. Along one wall were steel
tables, several of which held giant "glove boxes" that enabled a worker
to handle satellite components without human contamination. Alongside
those were instruments to measure ambient ionization and dust. Other
systems in the room included banks of electronic equipment about whose
function he could only speculate.
And what was that? . . . there, just above the door . . . it looked
like a closed-circuit TV monitor, black-and-white. It seemed to be
displaying the vague movements of a large control room, one with banks
of computer screens in long rows and marshaled lines of technicians
monitoring them. He studied the picture for a second, wondering why it
seemed so familiar, and then he realized it looked just like TV shots
of the Kennedy Space Center.
Shivering from the cold, he moved closer to the screen, which was just
clear enough to allow him to make out some of the figures in what had
to be the command center. However, he saw only staffers; no sign of
Bill Bates. One individual stood out, his suit and tie a marked
contrast to the general open-shirt atmosphere, and he looked like he
was giving the orders. He was now chatting with a woman and another,
younger man, seated at a keyboard.
Then the well-dressed guy turned and beckoned one of the staffers
forward. He said something to him and then--Jesus!--he pulled a pistol. .
. .