Isaac Mannheim stumbled through the torrential rain, wondering if the
terrorists were stupid enough to try a launch in this kind of weather.
Actually, he found himself thinking, it might just be possible. The
guidance system would be tested to the limit, but if the weather eased
up a little . . .
The aboveground structures for Launch were just ahead, including the
two pads with the vehicles sprouting into the sky. From the looks of
things, they were both unharmed, with VX-1 clearly prepped and ready
for launch. Then he paused to examine the collapsed gantry and shook
his head in dismay, heartsick at the sight. That was going to cost a
fortune to repair.
He shrugged sadly and moved on.
He knew it was going to be a beehive of activity inside the tech areas
now. The entire SatCom Staff was on duty, which was standard for a "go"
power-up situation. Which meant that they had to be holding Vance
somewhere out of the way. The question was where. Where? He tried to
think.
There were some spare-parts bays, locations where items that constantly
needed replacing could be held ready to hand. But everything was
clicking now, with those areas pretty much out of the loop. So . . .
maybe that would be the place to start checking.
The main entry-points for the bays were, naturally enough, from the
inside. But there also was a large loading dock on the south that
allowed gear to be delivered directly from the warehouse. Maybe that
would be the logical place to try and slip in. He was feeling better
now, energized. Why not go in, have a look.